in venice

chao friends!

im posting this from italy...how exciting is that? st. andrews is on spring break so my trusty travelling pal, rachel wyman and i have found ourselves in the italian paradise of venice. we're spending six nights and seven days in the lovely 'camping fusina' hotel resort. ha, just kidding. we're sleeping in a trailer 'cabin' and walking to the bathooms (where TP was NOT provided) to brush our teeth.

venice is an island... kind of a surprise to us! and we are staying on the mainland, which means a lot of public transportation to the actual venice. lots of buses... well that means lots of trouble/fun for me and rachel. we have chased after buses approximatly 4 times... rachel has forgotten(or something)to get OFF the bus at the right stop, even though I did get off, and i have been mauled by babies in strollers and old men with grocery cart things numerous times. they really pack people on the bus here... let me tell you.

it was super hard to be away from home on easter... but rachel and i celebrated in high style. first by eating cadbury creme eggs and drinking orange fanta for breakfast and then by sitting on top of san marco basillica (st. marks) in the heart of venice and reading the easter story to each other.

more stories later... now it is off to the island of murano to watch glass being made! cool!

Thoughts on a Sunday Afternoon

I love lazy Sundays in every country. Today has been an especially beautiful day in St. Andrews. When it is sunny here, it is just SO sunny. The ocean has been gorgeous this weekend. On Friday, the tide was so high it was lapping up to the retaining wall that divides Albany Park (and my house) from the shore. It just seemed so big... And the flowers here... Oh. There are daffodils and crocuses EVERYWHERE. There is a garden in particular near some old university buildings where the entire lawn is covered by crocuses... so breath-taking. It seems that everyday I discover something new about St. Andrews that makes it feel more friendly, more familiar, more like my home.

Friday night I was out with 2 friends and we took a kinda back-road way back to Albany, through the residential part of town rather than through the center of town. All of a sudden we came across a playground with swings and of course spent a good chunk of time running around, and swinging and laughing... There was just something about swinging at night and looking up at the stars and seeing the darkness that I knew was the ocean... It's the little moments like this that are going to stick in my head when I remember Scotland in 10 years.

I spent yesterday in Dundee, along with 5 other residents of Albany Park. Dundee is the third (or fourth?) largest city in Scotland. I think it goes: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen... Anyway, it is the closest city to St. Andrews, only a twenty minutes bus trip. It was an absolutly teriffic day. We shopped... a lot! And ate delicious Chinese food, (St. A's is severely lacking in the ethinic food dept... There IS a Thai restaruant... but its a little out of my price range... bummer) and saw The Life Aquatic. Ahhh, what a great movie! I love Bill Murray. It has been SO long since I have done the shopping-dinner-movie thing... it was great!

Traveling to Dundee made me realize that for the first time in 21 years, I am NOT living in a city. It was kinda crazy... in the middle of the shopping district in Dundee, I grabbed Kristi's arm, and said, "Look at all the people!!" I was thilled to see so many people and to be in a crowd. But at the same time, I love St. Andrews and enjoy SO much the "town" atmosphere. I didn't miss the city until I was in one again. Interesting.

I also realized that the entire contents of my wallet has been altered. Like, my Hamline ID is covered up with my St. Andrews ID. And my MN driver's license is now my International Student ID card. And where my cash card was, a Royal Bank of Scotland ATM card is now. And I have a cell phone "top-up" card and not a Video Update card. Its just symbolic is all I'm saying...

Take good care everyone!

Prince William Sighting #1

Yes, it is true... I saw the Heir to the British Throne!

It was very very very ironic since just the night before Rachel, Mary, Kristi and I had literally RACED across St. Andrews to get to the pub that William was supposedly at. Rachel got the tip from her new Scottish boy, and we got to the pub just about two minutes too late! BUMMER!

But...

Friday morning I was racing around town, returning library books and buying batteries for my trip to Bath. And as I hurriedly made my way to the bus station, I stopped at an intersection to wait for a big black SUV to turn in front of me. And I was kind of hesitating because I wasn't sure if I should cross the street or wait for the car to turn, when I realized... THE PRINCE was in the passenger seat. I think I did a pretty good job of not staring too much at him... But it was definietly him. And he definetly saw me too... We made eye contact. I'm pretty sure. Oh yeah.

And then I stood on the corner and squealed like a little girl.

An Update

PHOTOS! Click Here!
(These are just some funny pics of my casa. If you click the 'View Slideshow' link in the righthand corner, you see full size pictures. And make sure you scroll all the way down to read the captions.)

Don't worry, I am still alive and well over here in Scotland! I've spent the last two weeks learning a lot about true St. Andrews life and culture and trying to find my place in it. I had a little case of the study-abroad-blues last week, but this week has been fabulous.

It has taken a little while to get used to going out several nights a week. Everyone goes out on Tuesday nights, which is fine since I don't have class on Wednesdays. Which makes Wednesdays feel like Saturdays and then Thursdays feel like Mondays. However, Thursdays also feel like Fridays since I don't have class on Friday anyway. So people go out Thursday night, and Friday night, and Saturday. So if you're keeping track... there are four Friday nights every week in Scotland... and I'm constantly in a state of confusion as to what day it actually IS!

Monday I went to a supposed lecture on Globalization with one of Rachel's housemates, but according to the guys we had a drink with afterwards, it might as well have been a Socialist party meeting. Anyway, the little I understood was interesting, but the real fun started afterwards. A couple of us went to the pub across the street and one of the guys bought us a round and we started talking about the lecture and politics and America (of course). It was my first real political conversation here, and luckily the guy I was talking to did most of the talking and didn't express too much hatred for the US or Bush. He conveyed that there wasn't hatred towards America, just lack of respect.

I stayed out much longer than I intended ... which is so easy to do ... because of this buisness of buying rounds! I actually really like it, but it was both funny and frustrating on Monday. Hamza had bought the first round for us, then Sarah bought a round, and by the time it was my turn I realized that a) it was already 11 and b) i didn't want another drink and c) i didn't have enough money for 4 drinks but d) if people are buying you drinks, you have to buy them drinks. So borrowing money from Sarah, I bought the third round, downed my Pepsi and tried to leave... but I couldn't, because the 4th guy (whose name I never caught, so I'll just call him the mohawk guy) had brought me another drink! Oh, Scotland!

**EDIT**I'm doing more than drinking here, I promise. But Tuesday, I went out with my housemates and that was absolutly a riot. I went downstairs and asked if I looked alright (because they get all glam to go out) and Cate, from Belfast gave me a critical once-over and said, "You need more Bling." (Bling = really flashy jewlery) I laughed so hard because, well, it was hilarious. She lent me a necklace since I was so obviously lacking in that department. We went out and made the rounds to several of the more posh pubs, including the one Wills is rumored to visit, but no prince sightings yet! **I came real close tonight though! We got to the pub about 3 minutes after Prince William left. And not for walking the mile into town as fast as possible either!**

It was brought to my attention this morning before lecture that I have a 5000 word essay due right before Easter. And apparently 5000 words translates roughly into 17-20 double-spaced pages. HA! How is that an essay? And my topic is going to be something related to Plato's influence on Augustine's ethic of love. In the wise words of my father, "Woof!"

**EDIT** That will certainly take up some of my time in the next few weeks, but afterwards... oooh, I'm spending the first half of my Easter vacation in Greece. Heee heee! I'm ridiculously excited! Mmm, warm beaches. Plus, we'll be their over Easter which will be huge. And when I come back to the UK, my mom will be here the next day! And then Max and Pat! And then Kyle! **Scratch the Greece part... Looks like Rach and I will be spending about 6 days in Venice!**

Speaking of travels, I'm going on a weekend trip to Bath tomorrow. It is circled in the red section of the map below... on the west coast of England (Just for you, Mama!!) Looking forward to seeing the Roman Baths and a Jane Austen museum. And in honor of that, I'll be reading Pride and Prejudice on the train/plane trip down!



A handy reference map to refresh your memory (and my own) on Britain's geography.


And don't be shy to use the address I posted! Letters and packages have definetly been making my days lately!!