Spent the weekend in the beautiful town of Insch, Scotland. The study abroad program I came over here with set up a family stay, where each student is placed in a family, somewhere in Scotland for the weekend. I stayed with Maureen and Greg Manning (+3 dogs, a cat, a horse, a chicken and a parrot!) and loved every minute of it! Here is what I saw when I first arrived...
Amazing?! I mean this in the most literal sense when I say I was out in the middle of nowhere. It turned out, however, to be one of the best weekends I've had in a very long time. On Saturday morning we drove up to the Glenfiddich Whiskey distillery, where I learned that watching and learning HOW to make whiskey, does not make me actually like to drink it. Ha! The process itself was very cool, and we saw barrels of whiskey that had been sitting for over 30 years, just waiting until the perfect time to be bottled. Then, just by luck, the little town we were in happened to be holding its annual Whiskey festival! There were a dozen different groups playing bagpipes, little girls doing traditional highland dancing, food, music, and lots of fun things to look at! After that, it was off to Huntley Castle. The castle itself was hundr
eds of years old, and only half was still standing. Fortunately, we were allowed to walk around that half and see what it looked like on the inside! If you think that you have seen big houses in the U.S, you have obviously never been in a castle. There was a golf course built about 25 years ago right next to the castle. Talk about an amazing view! Headed back to the Manning's after the castle for "tea time." Which really exists here, and I am learning to actually look forward to most days! On Sunday, Maureen took us to Bennachie. (Pronounced Ben-he.) It is an old, but very tall "hill" that people hike up. One word...stunning! We went in the museum there and got to see coins that had been found on Bennachie from when the Romans invaded what is now Scotland in 83 A.D. Very cool! Then it was on to see the "Maiden stone." The story goes that this maiden made a bet with the devil that she would be able to bake so many loaves of bread before he could build a road up a hill. She lost, and was meant to marry the devil. She ran away and as she was running, prayed to God to help her, so in order to save her He turned her into a stone. Right as He did, the devil reached out and grabbed her shoulder, which is why there is a chunk of the stone missing. Here is a picture...
Afterward, we headed to the old "Stone Circles." Pretty self-explanatory; two large circles made entirely out of big rocks and stones. They were used as a place of worship, sacrifice, and cremation, but here is the catch. They were built and used 5000 years ago! And they are still there to this day! It was surreal to walk on rocks and stones, and to think that 5000 years ago, people were doing the same thing I was, in the very same spot. You would have to be there to understand the feeling. After that, it was back to the Manning's for lunch, and then time for me to head back to Edinburgh. A weekend that I was not looking forward to turned out to be quite an amazing experience!Am back in Edinburgh today, but unfortunately very sick. :-( Boo. Went to the gym to meet up with my trainer today, and got sent home in about 5 minutes. Nothing too strenuous today or tomorrow as far as classes go though, so I will be able to get lots of rest in. Tomorrow night the study abroad program is taking us all to dinner. Who am I to turn down free food?! ;-) Am looking forward to really getting going with my classes and getting past these first few "introductory" lectures. Have also been feeling a bit homesick. Miss my friends mostly, but am lucky that Facebook and Skype exist so that I get to talk to them quite a bit!
That is all for now. Nothing too exciting coming up this week, but will keep you updated! Until next time...
Sounds wonderful. Great to know you are seeing many different things while you are there. Love and miss you.
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