A Fresh Start

The lame parts of my weekend:
*being cranky
*fighting with Adam - we started to fight about an hour of the Bay Area. I got so mad at him that I did not speak to him for the rest of the trip to LA, or the next morning for the trip down to San Diego. Not the most mature I've ever been, but it was either not talk or yell.
*getting lost in LA traffic, while having to pee
*not getting to eat Mexican food in SD
*not spending nearly enough time with goddessofmercy and howilearned
*seeing myself mostly naked in a full length mirror for the first time in months = my youth is shot. Holy pregnancy backside, folks

The good parts of my weekend:
*seeing Goddessofmercy and Howilearned, eating some sushi (unagi, thus cooked), and laughing a lot
*being safe on the roads
*playing Mexican train dominoes with Adam's fam
*buying maternity jeans - so comfortable!
*making up with Adam, realizing that we can be spitting mad at each other and still civil and kind toward one another
*seeing SoCal during the rains - it's pretty and green there sometimes!

It's my last day in Scotland and I don't feel well. Tried to go for a hike this morning and got dizzy - literally couldn't walk straight. Not a good sign. I've spent the afternoon passed out on the couch in Emily's flat. Thankfully her flat mates are at work or at school. It is quiet and I am by myself. First time in days.

Went to Rosslyn Chapel yesterday. It, like all things architectural around here, was amazing. The funkiest church I've ever seen! Green men carved all over the place, elaborate floral and plant motifs on every surface. There were no overt marks indicating Masons, Knights Templar or or any other secret order, but I suppose you have to know what to look for. I do not. Personally, I would bet money that there is nothing secret buried there. I feel like secrets are either kept well and die out with the tight lipped (or kept well enough away from nosy scholars!) or are leaked over time, which is the most likely. I mean, how many people can keep a society altering secret for a life time?

In any case, it was a beautiful day and a great little side trip. I ate haggis for dinner - and liked it!

I will be sad to leave the UK. I am a huge fan. Not really looking forward to the train ride to London tonight or to all the commotion of getting myself to airport in the morning and hurrying up just so I can stand in lines and then sit for 10 hours. But soon I'll be back with Adam, and that I look forward to very much.

My last night in Wales was a good one. I had tasty Indian food, talked too much theology at the dinner table, and went to a pub in the neighboring village of Cwmann (coo-MAHN, to the best of my Welsh) where a bunch of people get to together to play folk music, like bodhran and fiddles and pipes and stuff. Twas great.

The hour and half bus ride from Lampeter to Aberystwyth (a-behr-ist-with) was lovely - winding over one lane roads, through villages, through forrest and into the city. Aberystwyth is lovely, high hills against the bay, brightly colored and bustling. The lady running the B&B I stayed in told me the place was dingy, but I don't know what she was talking about. Dingt easily described Swansea, but Aberystwyth. I will happily go back.

Then a very long train ride to Edinburgh. Most of the middle of England was not all that captivating, though I do love green. The lake district looks gorgeous, will have to go properly some time.

Arrived in Edinbrugh in the dark. Emily met me and we walked back to her flat, me with my mouth agape. Edinburgh is STUNNING. The architecture blows me away. Cobblestone streets, forboding stone buildings, blackened round the edges, spires, windy streets, great big parks.....

We went out for a drink after I dropped my stuff off, me and Emily and her flatmate. Most of the bars were packed - it's rugby world championships. We found one place and got ourselves a drink and two guys from Newcastle started to chat us up. Both were silly and drinking MGD. Ew. One of them, sporting a wedding ring, kept telling me I had a pretty smile and that I was very attractive and then asked the group who was going to have sex with who. I tapped his wedding ring and gave him a look. "It's a friendship ring!" Oh sure. I tapped mine and he said "You have a friendship ring too!" I shook my head and said, "No, it's the real thing." Then his friend leaned over to me and told me that I had spectacular breasts and they left.

Classy.

Today Em and I trooped all over. We signed up for an underground tour tomorrow. I went to a vintage children's bookstore and a place that sells loads of scotch, mainly from an independent bottler. We have two half bottles for drinking and comparison purposes tonight. We also went to the Scottish Parliament building which is very cool. We scoped out a lot of things to do. Whilst here I am going to go to a big cathedral and hear a choir sing, we are going to see the William Blake exhibit at the National Museum, we are going to eat a 50s British diner, and we are going to go a pub called Frankenstein's, which is in an old church. And I want to walk up to Arthur's Seat, a top this big treeless ridge in the middle of town. We will also scope out a day trip to do too.

So much! I am filled with glee.

Public library, 15 min. before closing for lunch. Must be quick. Stupidly had a cup of coffee for breakfast and am still WIRED. Can barely function. Bad me, bad.

Trip to Lampeter: longest journey EVER. Flight from SF to London, uneventful. Landing in London during sunrise was just beautiful, we circled the city and it was enchanting. So green for such a major city! Intruiged me!
Then train to Paddington station. Bought a warm beverage and couldn't for the life of me figure out where the trash cans were. Wandered around for a good 20 minutes looking for one until a kind information lady told me there weren't any due to security puposes. I seriously thought I was going crazy. Also, it costs 20p to use the toilet.

Then, 3.5 hour train ride to Swansea. England is beauutiful, Wales is green. I was happy. Spent an hour in Swansea, an hour I'll never get back. Hour train to Carmarthen. Waited 40 minutes for Sarah Boss (aadviser), then 45 car ride to Lampeter. I was a basket case. 2 hours sleep.

But Lampeter. I am thoroughly enchanted. IN LOVE. It's gorgeous. There are hills, bright green with sheep! Hanging baskets of bright flowers hanging from old stone buildings. It should be a tourist sight, but it's not a tourist town. Tiny and delightful. Everyone is lovely. People speak Welsh!! There are about 4000 people all together here. Alas, no sushi or Korean food..... or food finds of any kind.

Even better is the academic life. This is my dream dept. Sarah Boss is a kick, she keeps introducing me as a PhD student (ego says Yay!, rest of me says Uh-oh), and we had dinner with several of her colleagues last night. What a theology geeks heaven! They are congenial, obviously enjoy eachother, have a great sense of humor. And Sarah has a Mariologists library - open today for my perusal.

I am happy as a clam at high tide.

Sadly, two things I forgot to bring: my student union form and the digital camera.