Well, a lot has certainly happened in the last few days since I wrote!
First, we have been doing a lot of walking. We’ve visited the Royal Mile, skirted the edge of New Town, gone south to Summerhall, the University of Edinburgh building where I’ll have most of my classes this year, stopped by the UoE accommodations office to ask some questions, stuck our feet in the pond near the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and more.
On Saturday, however, we walked to Holyrood Park. After stopping into Plaisir du Chocolat for a delicious hot chocolate (73% cocoa), we made the hike up to St. Anthony’s Chapel. Though only ruins remain, it was once a small chapel closely tied to St. Margaret’s Loch. People with skin diseases would travel here to be healed. The hike up to the ruins was short but steep, and the unexpected rain made the stones and paths quite slick. It was beautiful, though, and the Loch is now a sanctuary for migrating birds, so we saw loads of swans who were not at all afraid of us!
Saturday night, we met up with Keith Beebe, a Whitworth professor. We connected with him since he was in Edinburgh doing some research for a fascinating book he’s writing about the Scottish Great Awakening. He treated us to some hot drinks (mmm, tea... I think I’ll make myself a cuppa right now) and we would up chatting with him while walking first to our flat, then his. All in all, we spent almost 4 hours hanging out. It really lifted both Matt and my spirits to see someone who knew our names and faces and didn’t think we were tourists. It has been fun exploring this beautiful and interesting city, but it does throw into sharp relief how far away we are from those we know and love.
Sunday, we lay around bemoaning our sore and tired bodies until about noon, when we visited the Museum of Scotland. I love museums, which amuses Matt greatly. He loves them too, of course, but it made him laugh when I said things like, “I am so hungry. And tired. And sore...” but when he asked if I wanted to get lunch or sit down, I would say, “Yes, but let’s just look here and there and here first.” I admit it, I am a nerd. Anyway, we then went to a sweet sandwich shop for lunch, then hung out at the flat until about 6:30, when we went to church.
The church we went to is called St. Paul’s and St. George’ Episcopal Church, though most people just call it “P’s and G’s”. It is a Scottish Episcopal church, though not many would have thought so by looking in. It was very contemporary, with a modern worship band and a young preacher wearing a shirt and slacks instead of a robe. I liked the service, though the sermon was a bit fluffy at points. (Aside: the Scottish call fluff or kitsch “tat”, as in “Oh, that shop just sells tourist tat.”) We filled out an enquiry form about small groups there, since that is what we’re mainly looking for.
Today, we just hung out around the flat for most of the day. All the walking, combined with the fact that our mattress takes “firm” to a whole new place, has made both Matt and I very, very sore. His back, my hips and left knee, sheesh. We’re like a couple of old fogeys.
I ordered our internet, but it won’t be activated for 2 more weeks. So for now, I am just writing these posts at home and posting them when I can. Sorry about that. We have a phone however, so if you have a phone card you should email me to set up a time when you can call, and we’ll wait by the phone like eager teenagers! We’d call you, but we can’t find any calling cards.
Also sorry for this novella. If you made it this far, you get a gold star. Go on, stick it to your shirt then. There, now you look like proper girls and boys.
I miss you guys like the crops miss the rain!

Well, I would really love to call all y'all, but I don't have a phone. And I can't sign up for skype, because we don't have the internet. We can''t get the internet without a phone number, and we can't get a phone number until we have a bank account. We can't get a bank account for 4-6 weeks.

Yippee!

Anyway, I am still feeling pretty sick, though last nght I felt okay for a full 5 hours. I spent that time walking around and drinking half a pint of MacEwans Ale. Mmm.

One of the reasons I feel so sick is that there are so many smells in this city! First, the cigarettes. EVERYONE smokes here. It's gross. Second, the rubbish is piled on the streets during pickup days, which adds an unpleasant dimension. Add those to the smells of a hundred pubs, countless restaurants, and the odor of a city unused to this hot sunny weather, and it is a little overwhelming. I wish I could just stand in a field in the middle of nowhere for awhile.

I miss you guys like crazy. If you come to visit, you might have to sleep on the kitchen counter, however, since that is the only space in our flat.

We made it to Scotland! All of our luggage arrived with us. An employee at the Dick Vet met us at the airport, so we didn't have to get a taxi. Our flat is tiny and adorable and very cool. Pray for me as I am feeling really nauseous. I miss everyone!

In less than 36 hours, we will be in Edinburgh!

A few days ago, I received a packet containing my joining instructions for the University. It contained a whole host of valuable information, from how to matriculate to orientation week activities. It also contained this little snippet of info:

"We recommend that students from the USA avoid taking the Dublin route."

Incidentally, when we bought our plane tickets two months ago, we had not yet received this information and thus took the cheapest route, which was Dublin.

Apparently, the Irish Republic has a "Common Travel Agreement" with the UK. This means that even though Ireland is not part of the UK, the Edinburgh Immigration people will not check passports of those who arrive from Ireland. This means that our visas will not be activated, possible messing things up when we try to travel out of the UK for one purpose or another.

Concerned, I emailed the University to find out what to do now that we were flying the Dread Air of Dublin. This was part of my email:

"My husband and I bought our plane tickets two months
ago, before this information was available to us, and took a route that
connects through Dublin before flying to Edinburgh. When I emailed
[University employee], she said this was a problem because Ireland is not part
of the UK and thus one cannot get the correct stamps for immigration. My
husband and I went to the British Consulate a few weeks ago and each
received visas that are good through 30 October 2010. What else do we
need in order to not get deported?"

Apparently, she took the humor in my last sentence as panic, and sent me the following:

"When you are next traveling out of the UK you will be able to show
[your boarding passes and tickets from your US to Dublin trip] to the officer and he can stamp your passport or make a note of these details. It's just not ideal to travel through this route but you will certainly not be deported."

So we should be okay, it will just be less convenient. It's nice to know the goodly folk at the University actually read these emails!

So far, we have (in order of receipt):
-Passports
-Plane Tickets (one-way!)
-Passports
-A student email account
-Housing (!!! 1/2 mile from the castle, the palace, and the university!!!)
-Visas that allow us to come and go in the UK until October 2006

We are READY!!!

In the meantime, we are still whiling away our time in L.A., where it averages 100 degrees or more in the daytime. Oh, cool Scotland, how I long for thee...