Sunny Dunny Update #1

First off, i should mention that i am for sure living in Scotland for a year! All going well, i'll be staying through next year's workcamp at the end of July 2008.

So, i must be living in Scotland because i just made myself a Bebo account. The friends i've made over here refer to Dunblane on their profiles as Sunny Dunny, who knew?

Well, i thought i'd start with the basics, like where i am exactly. Okay, so i put a red dot right on Dunblane, so you can see i'm in a pretty central spot. Luckily for me, i'm right on the rail line. Just a hop, skip and a jump away from both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

So far i've been to Edinburgh and Glasgow the most. I went to the Highland Games in Crieff (from whence hails Ewan MacGregor). I've taken the old steam train through Aviemore, Boat of Garten and Broomhill, visited St. Andrew's, rode on a bus up through the Trossachs and down through Aberfoyle, and of course i've been to Stirling (the nearest town over) a bunch of times!

I love trains. At first it was a bit intimidating trying to learn the schedules and using the 24 hour clock which still kinda trips me up, but man, public transportation is grand! I had a rather exciting experience last weekend when i tried to catch the train to Stirling to buy a winter coat. The rails were being worked on, so they hired a bunch of busses to take people where they needed to go. There was a throng of people and people in neon vests shouting 'last call for Falkirk!' I hopped on one that promised to stop in Stirling, and that ride was pretty uneventful. I found a great winter coat! (see picture to the right. unfortch i'm in my PJs)

And then when i was done shopping, i hopped on a double-decker that said it was headed to Dunblane via Bridge of Allan. The driver was a maniac, and the experience seemed not unlike the Knight Bus one that Harry had! The guy showed a blatant disregard for pedestrians and jumped the middle of the round-abouts like it was nothing, careening through the small streets and stopping so suddenly i almost lost my packages!

I know i should have done this before now, but let me make a random list that i hope will give you a feel for my trip over here so far:

1. i sing with a Scots song troupe called The Liltin' Lassies

2. potatoes go with everything over here, and there are many ways to serve potatoes, one being baked and stuffed with cheddar cheese, tuna and coleslaw. it's good, trust me

3. it is really cold over here, a different kind of cold than we have at home

4. 'hen' and 'chickie' are common pet names that i get called over here. They're not really calling me chicken, i asked.

5. haggis is not bad, although i've only had the deep fried kind, and let's be honest, everything tastes better when fried. It's kinda spicy, which i think is weird.

6. everything closes at 5 except for the Tesco, which everyone's world centers around here in Dunblane.

7. there are 2 butcher shops on the High Street (which is like 'main' street) and one has gourmet meat pies like steak and Guinness, while the other ones has not-as-great pies, but has a cute assistant butcher with a big hoop earring and a cute smile.

8. speaking of, a lot of guys have the one lobe pierced with a herking earring. And they are still sporting haircuts with the razor details on the sides, you know like stripes and zigzags! Also, it's popular to have it cut it in what i like to call 'hedgehog' fashion which is oftentimes bleached and spiked.

9. Scottish people are super up on world politics and often say things to me like, 'i'm sorry about what's happened to your country.' That kind of comment doesn't bother me, because i agree with them, however i've heard some other not so nice things said about America, but mainly it's just about Bush. For the most part they know to differentiate between Americans in general and the American government, which i appreciate.

10. i eat lamb all the time, and i love it in stew, but i wouldn't recommend reheating it.

11. i've been doing a lot of walking over here. number one, i'm kinda forced to, not having a car and having to walk to the train station and all, but also because it just seems natural. It seems like everything is so old and beautiful over here, that it's like the best way to see things.

12. Indian food is to die for over here, my favorite is lamb biriyani and the rogni naan.

13. i miss my car, iTunes, Mexican food, 24 hour stores, my bed, a nice variety of clothing to choose from and making money. oh, and my family, friends, and my Pippin!

14. i'm a bit lonely here at the moment because we're waiting on the other volunteer to get her visa in order. Her name is Gulchehra, and she's from Tajikistan, but has to go through Kyrgyzstan to get her visa, that's what's taking so long. I'm excited just to have someone else in the flat! You should google/wikipedia Tajikistan, it's interesting.

15. Tomorrow i'm going on another hike by myself down the old Darn road which goes along the Allan Water to Bridge of Allan, which is a little town that has a nice cafe for me to have a hot chocolate and a good read in. Last time i went on a hike, i got rather ambitious and hiked up to Sheriffmuir, which was very rewarding, but quite the endeavor, and so i'm looking for something a little easier this time.

So, i promise to update more regularly now! This was fun! Peace.