Why Hello Everyone who is either actually interested in the events of my Study Abroad trip (!) or those that stumbled on this through a stray google search.

I think this is going to double as my journal, so I apologize if any of this is too detailed for your attention span, simply scroll down & catch the quick view, if needbe.

The occurrences of Scotland: Day one.

Word of the day:

Wayward: given to willful, perverse deviation from the expected norm; tending to stray; obstinate, contrary and unpredictable.

Scotland is wayward.

Just saying.

Since arriving I have found very little that is within my "expected norm". The streets DEFINITELY stray, & I find that the cars are nothing but obstinate & unpredictable. After nearly getting hit by a car driving on the illogical side of the road nearly 5x already, basically I have strategized that if I cannot get to my destination by merely avoiding crossing any form of street or trail, I must wait until the road seems completely empty & then sprint for my life. Sadly, I’m not kidding. Although this seems just as irrational as the side of the road these cars favor, I believe it is the safest strategy to staying alive.

Ok, Catchup!:

For those few of you that are interested, the flight went really well. After having much difficulty trying to stretch (& resisting the need to stand on one of the seats) to put my 20lb carryon in the overhead compartment, things went relatively smoothly. No one was really on this 8hr flight, so we were able to stretch across the seats & attempt (but fail) to sleep. The flight from Amsterdam to Edinburgh was a little bit more interesting, well at least the requirement to walk on the airstrip to climb into our plain was a tad unprecedented. The ride itself was cramped, short & uneventful.

Not intentionally to disappoint my mother, I’m sorry to say that my first words to a Scottish-man upon my arrival to Edinburgh was yelling loudly (& un-thinking), “SHIT!”. Yep, not my proudest moment, but after telling the driver the name of my dorm & him saying “I’ve never heard of that”, at the time I felt it was the appropriate response.

Fife (the city St. Andrews is located in) is about 45min out from Edinburgh. The drive was GORGEOUS! It is so green here; basically (for perspective) it feels like a Michigan spring. It’s got that muddy/new grass smell & if it is not raining or overcast, it gets pretty sunny! For those history buffs who find themselves reading my little Scottish blog; the driver pointed out not only the part of the city that the true historical events of the well-known Mel Gibson movie “Braveheart” actually took place, but he also pointed out the little island that inspired the concept of San Francisco’s Alcatraz(!). He also showed us the town that the true marooned sailor inspiring the book “Robinson Crusoe” was from. So there is your history of the day (:

If I must be honest, the first day here was a hard one. I never really expected to be homesick, at least not this soon. But as soon as I entered the city & the driver dropped me off at my (finally discovered) dorm, while leaving Erin & the her luggage in the car to be dropped off at another, distant location: I nearly pleaded with the driver to take me back to the airport & to the familiar. The beginning therefore started on a rough leg & only got worse. For you padre (who will probably follow this blog avidly) our plan to rely solely on facebook & our itouches for communication was an ill-planned one. After realizing too late that this city was European & therefore confusing to navigate, I spent over an hour in the cold hoping that I’d run into Erin on the street. Not realizing earlier that I have become SO dependent on a phone & its provided communicational convenience, it became MORE than clear while waiting in the wind & rain for a little twin that I was positive would never find me. Yet, the little clever twin of mine made a wrong turn on a street & ended up running into me! I’ve NEVER been more relieved or happy to see her. I’d like to lie & say that I felt positive & looking forward to what was to come(!) but that fiasco left me feeling lost, alone & terrified in such a new & seemingly confusing place. So for the rest of the day, I must admit that Erin & I were feeling pretty negative about this potentially life changing & ridiculously expensive, worldy decision.

To quicken this up a bit, basically after meeting my very nice roommate from Colorodo (: Erin & I ended up passing out for nearly 6hours (I’m sorry Stacey, my body couldn’t help it). We woke up feeling a little bit more positive. Spent the rest of the night walking around with my roommate Hannah & our friend from home, Michael, slowly coming to the realization that the entire city shuts down after like 9pm. So while it was impossible to find any food, it did become a great way to finally get a concept of the city & the streets.

The quick assessment of the city of fife, by Veronica Cavanagh:

As explained by everyone, the tiny town of Fife is basically composed of 3 main streets & a coastline. There are multiple little (& very sketchy looking) alleys that connect these streets, but with Scottishman’s reliance on only one little ancient lamp-post per block, I pretty much avoided these at night. Coming from a city near Detroit, my first response was to avoid these dimly lit, skinny cobblestone paths of potential danger. But in the daylight, they are actually quite charming! Very…European. Just imagine diagon alley from Harry Potter & you’ve got the basic idea.

Sidenote!: My mother sent St. Andrews security skewering the city for Erin & I. Yes, my mother called St. Andrews to have security to come find us & tell us to call our mother. I appreciate the love & concern mother(!) but once I found my way back to dorm, I was terrified when security knocked on my door & asked me “Are you Veronica Cavanagh?”. This was TOO soon for security to know me by name! (I’m just kidding dad, keep breathing..). Erin had broken the faucet earlier in the day & I was afraid they were trying to bust me for that. Needless to say, calling the “emergency number” to inform her that “My faucet won’t turn off”, was kind of embarrassing. The guy coming up to fix it, didn’t find it as entertaining either.

On a more optimistic note! We woke up today feeling SOO positive! Ready to become acclimated to this new city & start this life changing experience! We spent all day doing logistical things such as: buy a cheap (only 5pounds dad! So BREATH!) phone, getting tuition paid (dad, exhale), & buying things we forgot to pack (or mother took out of our bag at the last minute). Buying things here is an experience in & of itself. To any target management that stumbled upon this, it would be a VERY profitable idea to discover Fife, Scotland & move your gorgeous & highly convenient establishment. To simply buy towels here we had to go to this “Store”, look in a catalog, write down a number & hand it to the individual at the counter (who, to make it a more interesting experience, lacks any form of annunciation).

When you are here, you realize what necessities in life that have become imperative to you without you realizing. Number one: a full length mirror. I’m sorry St. Andrews, but a tiny face mirror in the bathroom (of which nearly 10ppl share) just won’t cut it. St. Andrews also found it funny to put ALL of the electrical outlets in ONE small patch in the corner of the room. I want to know what was going through the designer’s heads when that executive decision was made…

Number two: water pressure. When the water pressure in the shower is SO weak that washing the shampoo out of your hair seems like a fairytale task, then you know you have a problem. Also, mom: hopping out of the shower without the towel you unpacked at the last minute was definitely a problem-solving task I would not like to repeat. Lol.

Food: I will simply say that Scottishman need to rediscover the amazingness that is salt & pepper. Dad, to make you proud, for my first dinner here in the dining hall, I chose FISH instead of the sketchy looking pasta! I find it impossible, with the amount of walking I will inevitably be doing & the unflavored meals available here, to not come home nearly 10lbs lighter. Jenny Craig should simply follow Target & come to Europe!

I am sure most of you (even probably the light headed dad after all his instructed breathing) are pretty bored at this point. So, I will simply end with: things are looking great (: I am more positive than I have been since leaving my parents at the security gate & I am slowly feeling SO confident in this trip! I mean, within 24hrs I have switched from dreading the next independent 4 months, to becoming hopeful & up for the challenge! Just imagine where 4 months will take me! This isn’t going to be easy, but I am no longer dreading the process of making it everything everyone has told me it would be.

I love you all. & It goes without saying, that I miss you all terribly. If you guys can, send me some pictures! I am sure the only people reading this are those closest to me & a little photo of home to hang up in my dorm will absolutely make this easier! I will be posting my own pictures & my address soon.

Stay classy America! I love you guys!