So... I'm pretty bad at this whole "correspondence" thing

Quickly! Before I leave on an 11 day hike about Scotland! Here is the summary of the last three weeks of my life:

I spent my birthday weekend recovering and taking it easy. I don't remember much about the week after; I think I just went to school. Not exactly the most exciting existance, but even in Scotland you've got to have some downtime so the exciting things still seem exciting.

The weekend after that (March 10th and 11th) was a busy one. On Saturday I got up early with my American buddies (Corey, Dave, and Kathy) and we went to a soccer match. The 4th ranked Aberdeen Dons played against the 3rd ranked Edinburgh Harts in Aberdeen. The match was amazing; we sat with the Aberdeen fans and rooted for the home team - andf they WON 1-0! I'm not a huge soccer fan but I really got into it. It's much different than any sporting events in the States... fans actually booed players off the field! It was a rowdy time.

Afterwards my friend Dom, who is a officially an honorary Texan, treated us to some delicious homemade pizza. I went to bed early that night because I had to be up at 9:00 for... SUPERTEAMS!

On Sunday I got together with six of my close friends (Corey, Dave, Amanda, Bronwyn, Hilary, and Denise) to participate in an Aberdeen University tradition: Superteams! What is Superteams, you might ask? Essentially it's a huge competition of physical ability among all the students and faculty on campus. But the fun part is you don't have to be exactly the fittest person in the world to participate - everyone gets in on the fun. So our rag tag group got together and registered as The Seven Deadly Sins, with Amanda as our Superwoman and yours truly as the Superman.

I can't say I started the day on the right foot... I set my alarm wrong and was the only one to wake up late. But never mind that! We started the day with some painful sprints (suicides to those in the know). Being Superman/woman meant only bad things - basically we had to do double what everyone else did. Sprinting in the cold Scotland air for three minutes is not fun, let me tell you.

But it was soon over, and we moved on to other events, including: go cart racing, swimming, pushing a huge van, paintballing, press ups, sit ups, wacky blow up party things, and rock climbing. Yeah, it was just as random as it sounds. It was also a metric ton of fun. We all came home absolutely beat, and a few of the more dedicated members (myself included) went to the Union Bar afterwards for a few drinks and to see if we won. Somehow we got pushed just out of the top finishers (umm... I think we were somewhere in the 40s - out of 60 teams). Oh well. It was still an absolute blast.

The rest of that week I spent frantically writing a 2,000 word easy before I left on Thursday the 15th for DUBLIN! What better time to go to Ireland than St. Patrick's Day weekend, eh? Unfortunately the Bowdens could not accompany me for this massive adventure, but I had Amanda the brave Canuck coming along. We arrived on Thursday with no place to stay for the entire weekend, but luck was on our side and we found a hostel for the night. We roamed the city before going on a pub crawl that evening. This pub crawl included my first karaoke performance ever... and let me say, Amanda and I rocked "Living on a Prayer."

The next day was inexplicably random. We strolled through St. Stephen's Green (beautiful) before bumping into a film crew doing Canada AM (basically the Good Morning America of Canada). Amanda was pretty excited. After hanging around there for a bit we continued on to St. Patricks Cathedral to pay homage to the guy who inspired all this drinking. As we arrived I saw some guys getting off a bus wearing red and black shirts with cardinals on the front.... and in a bizarre turn of events I discovered that it was the TVCC Regiment Marching Band! I had no idea that these Athens folk would be in Dublin that weekend! It truly is a small world.

Well, I have the best travel luck ever, and meeting them meant we got into St. Patrick's for free. Then we tagged along with them to the Guinness Storehouse, where we also got in for free. Not only did we skip the massive line at the Storehouse, but we also got to go up to the VIP room and were treated to a free buffet lunch, including a free pint of the dark nectar! ON TOP OF THAT, they also gave us a free bag of soveigners. So basically, I am forever indebted to the TVCC Band, who also put on an excellent show at the Storehouse and made me proud.

After leaving the band behind Amanda and I walked the streets for a while more, before heading to the Stag's Head and a couple more pubs and clubs. We took it easy on ourselves because we knew that the next day was St. Patrick's. We stayed at the hostel again and slept in a bit. Then we headed to the parade route and got some decent seats (not as good as the sitting on the top of the phonebooths - I hate that cop). The parade was a lot of fun, the theme was legends so mostly that meant fantastic stuff that looked like it had been pulled from the Labyrinth. The TVCC Band marched by, playing "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and holding up pretty Texas signs. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little moist around the eyes.

After the parade we played in a fountain that someone had put detergent in before heading over to an Irish dance. We did some of our trademark spinning before working our way to a pub where the rugby match was on. We killed some time there before heading to a carnival close by and riding some of the rides. We ate some dinner before we were truly ready for the pub hopping of St. Patty's.

I'll leave most of that to your imaginations. Needless to say, it was a legendary night. I met some combat engineers from Texas. I had some tequila. Amanda and I did find somewhere to sleep, and I did wake up with a long, unexplainable cut on my face. I drank more Guinness in that weekend that I had before in my entire life. I fell desperately in love with Ireland.

The trip home was long and nauseating. We made it finally and I slept. I wrote another 2,000 word essay the following week and turned it in on Friday. I found out I made an 18 (out of 20) on my first exercise. That brings us almost up to speed. Friday was our last class day before Easter Break, which is our version of Spring Break except it is three times as long. Easter Break > Spring Break by about a million.

Almost everyone I know has gone home or traveling already, and I'm going hiking in the highlands for the next 11 days. So if you don't hear from me over the next week and a half, at least I have a good excuse. It's getting late now and I've got to get my beauty sleep if I want to be ready for a long day of travel tomorrow. Please excuse any typos and the lack of pictures. I leave at 6:30 and I haven't got the time. I'll fix it when I get back, promise.

All you Texans better be enjoying the beautiful spring weather for me. August can't get here soon enough. Love to everyone I love.

Cheers,
Jacob

Last Weekend and My 21st! (Now With Photos!)

Sorry about the lack of updates, folks. It's been a busy week-and-a-half for me, so here's the rundown...

I did go to the ceildlh on Wednesday. It was a good time, mainly because almost everyone I know was there: my Scottish flatmates, the Canadians, and my fellow Americans. My only complaint is that it ended too early - 10:00. I want a ceildlh that goes late into the night.

Last Thursday was uneventful, but on Friday I left Aberdeen on a long bus ride to Edinburgh. Kathy, Corey, and I got free tickets to the Scotland VS Italy Rugby match in Edinburgh and we decided to make a weekend of it. When we got to Edinburgh our Canadian friend Amanda met us at the station to complete our quartet.

We were lucky enough to stay with the twenty-something daughters of Corey's host family who live in Edinburgh. Their hospitality knew no bounds (read: they offered us lots of free food and booze). Friday night the four of us went on an exciting jaunt around Edinburgh.


On Saturday young Corey Chapman roused our sleepy heads and we went on a morning hike up Arthur's Seat, a massive ridge that dominates the Edinburgh skyline. It offered some great views of the city. After making our way down we went on a long but rewarding quest for cheap food that ended at a baguette place. It tasted way better than it had any right to.

After chowing down we met up with David, another American, and his family, and made the long walk to Murrayfield Stadium. The streets were flooded with Scots and Italians heading to the game. Walking to the stadium was quite the experience.

We found our seats at the game and enjoyed the piping band that played before kickoff. The game was absolutely horrific: the Italians scored three times in the first 6 minutes. This was especially disappointing considering that Italy is the laughing stock of six nations rugby. At half time some military folk skydived into the stadium and we got some delicious donuts, but it wasn't enough to raise our spirits when Scotland lost the match.

We made the long, quiet walk home, surrounded by saddened Scotland fans. The four of us were pretty beat, so we went straight back to the flat. We all chipped in and bought some things to make an excellent meal of chicken curry. It was one of the most satisfying meals I've had since I've been in Scotland, even more so because I was surrounded by good company.

After eating we watched a bootleg copy of The Departed, and it was just as good as everyone makes it out to be. We turned in early because we knew that Sunday would be jam-packed with adventure.

Sure enough, Sunday did not disappoint. We got up early and made our way to Waverly Train Station in the heart of Edinburgh. Today we were off to Stirling, a small city 45 minutes east of Edinburgh, home of the National William Wallace Monument. We ate some breakfast at the station (I had a delicious steak pastie) and then boarded our train.

The train ride passed quickly and we were soon in Stirling. We left the station and started making our way towards the monument, which lies a couple miles from the city center. After some iffy navigation by yours truly, which basically boiled down to "Lets just walk towards the monument," we ended up in a farmer's field completely surrounded by a river. After some helpful directions from the land owner we found our way to the main road and on to the monument.

Near the monument is a statue of Wallace that looks remarkably similar to Mel Gibson. The statue was erected after the movie. It's highly controversial because of the similarities to the Australian actor, so much so that many people have defaced it in outrage. The young guy working at the tourist shop had this to say, "I absolutely hate it. On my last day working here I'm going to take a chisel to it."

We walked to the base of the monument but opted not to go to the top because it had a hefty admission charge. We were entertained briefly by an actor who played the part of one of Wallace's soldiers. He gave a historical account of the Battle of Stirling, while also swinging his battle axe about. One of the highlights of the day.

We left the monument and made our way back to the city center, where we went on a rambling walk around Stirling. We went across Stirling bridge, up a couple random hills, and through a cemetery before finally arriving at Stirling castle. Along the way we spotted a couple of incredible rainbows as the sun peaked out of the gray clouds.

We walked back to the station and jumped on the 4:00 train to Edinburgh. We had a light dinner at a pub in the city. Then we stopped by a grocery store and picked up a few snacks for the three hour bus ride back to Aberdeen. I got some shortbread and went halfsies on a tub of 16 minimuffins with Amanda. Needless to say, the tub of minimuffins had been demolished by the time we made it back home.

The next couple of days were mostly uneventful. I turned in my first assignment on Tuesday, an 800 word essay. The next big development came on Wednesday. I had been promising my flatmates that I would shave off my beard sometime while I was in Scotland, and I decided that there was no better time than my birthday. So on the eve of my birth I had a bit of fun and shaved most of my beard off, keeping only some massive sideburns and a gloriously tacky trucker mustache. It was a big hit with the flatmates and various others I saw during the day. I shaved it off just before bedtime. It's the first time I've been clean shaven in nine months.

The next day I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing and I realized - WOOT! It's my birthday! I was tired after staying up late watching a movie with Amanda, so after asking Cakes to take a message I immediately called my mom back. During the course of the day I also received a call from my little sister Brittney. It was good to hear from them.

In the evening the incredibly thoughtful Canadians prepared me an amazing potluck supper. I was thoroughly spoiled by them. Bronwyn made some wonderful homemade mac and cheese, Denise contributed some very tasty salad, and Amanda, knowing me so well, made some simply amazing tacos. I contributed a little cornbred (thanks mom!). Not only that, but we also had chocolate cake and apple crumble for dessert, topped with the traditional birthday candles. I really couldn't have asked for a better birthday supper. And to spoil me even further, Hilary (who wasn't there unfortunately) game me a 4 pack of Tennents for my birthday, and Amanda made my night by giving my a Scotland scarf.

After dining with the Canadians, I ran back to my flat to begin the age old ceremony of drinking on the 21st birthday. I'll leave the details to your imagination. It was a wonderful night, with every friend I've made in Scotland crowded around a small table in our kitchen. It was one of the best birthdays in recent memory.

Thanks to everyone back in Texas who also made my birthday special. All the cards, facebook messages, and blog comments were not forgotten. I love you all, and I look forward to seeing you in August. Until next time.

Cheers,
Jacob