By the time my plane touched down on Thursday, it had been 634 days since I was last in Edinburgh. If my math is correct (which it only is about 50% of the time), then that's 1 year, 8 months, and 26 days. As you can imagine, a few things have changed in that time. Here's a little speed-run update on what's new:
I moved to a little mountain town in North Carolina called Black Mountain.
I added "Resident Director at Montreat College" to my resumé.
I no longer have tonsils.
I spent a few months working in an independent bookstore called Sassafras - first as a sales associate, then as a barista.*
I moved off of Montreat's campus and in with a friend from church, just 10 minutes down the road.
*I think of this time fondly as my Hallmark Era. Living in a little mountain town, working in an indie bookstore, rooming with a baker (hi Joy!) - I was sure that at any moment, a businessman from the big city would arrive on the scene. We would hate each other at first, but he would get stuck in Black Mountain and, over time, we'd grow to enjoy each other's company. I'd teach his young son the meaning of Christmas, we'd fall in love, the credits would roll. Tell me you wouldn't watch that movie!
Truly, there are plenty of other things that could have made that list: family gatherings & time with my three lovely nieces, making new friends & celebrating old ones, sunrises & sunsets, sorrow & laughter. Adventure. Rest. Renewal.
If you were hoping to see "I finished writing my novel!" on that list, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a bit longer. When I first returned to the States, I was able to make some good progress on it; however, I did hit a point where writing had to take a back seat to other things going on in my life. The disadvantage of setting aside my manuscript for so long is obvious: I didn't write it, and so it didn't get written. But the advantage is that when I was finally able to pick it up again, I got to read it with fresh eyes. Over the past few months I have laid the groundwork for some significant changes to the story, and I am very excited to dive back in and keep writing.
But getting back into my novel is only one of my goals for my time in Edinburgh. The others are the most important: spending time in my favorite city, and spending time with my dear friends.
In a strange way, it feels like we never left. It's been almost two years since we were all in Scotland together - but in every way, we all just pick up right where we left off. I find that I don't need a map to navigate the streets, that all my favorite cafés are right where I left them, that our conversations and adventures come just as easily as they always have.
It's felt a bit like coming home.
Unfortunately, the places I called home when I lived here are no longer available to me, so I am staying in a hostel called CoDE at the CoURT. It's directly behind St. Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile, at the very heart of the city. I share a room on the third floor with nine other people; we each have our own sleeping pod and our own locker. The pods are great because they afford us each a little privacy, and they're pretty roomy - the width and length of a twin mattress, and I can sit up in mine without hitting my head.
And while I'm getting more and more comfortable doing my everyday living there (making soup in the communal kitchen, having tea in the lobby, taking mid-afternoon naps in my pod), it's definitely not the same as a hotel or an Air BnB. I do wish I had my own space, but not having my own space has forced me out into the city. I've spent more time just walking around than I probably would have if I were staying in an Air BnB or long-term rental.
And walking is most of what I've been doing so far. I'm retracing my old footsteps, exploring new sections of the city, filling in the gaps in my mental map. I haven't completed the Nostalgia Tour yet - I still need to hit Slateford and Stockbridge and my alma mater. And of course I'll need to hike up Arthur's Seat!
I'm less than a week into this month-long trip, and the past few days have already been packed with wonderful moments. As soon as I got off the bus from the airport and put my bags in the hostel, Sienna took me straight to my favorite burger place, Byron. I was so disoriented and sleep-deprived that she walked all over the city with me just to keep me awake so I could adjust to the time zone. The next day we met up at a cute little café called Lovecrumbs and spent a few hours at their piano table - with both of us on our laptops, typing away and enjoying our tea, it felt like we were back in grad school again.
I've also met up with a handful of other friends from our grad program. We've gone to get sushi together, explored night markets, and just sat around drinking wine and catching up. It's been marvelous to hear about what they've been up to the past two years, and I'm so excited to spend more time with them!
Before I left, a few people asked if I have an itinerary for my trip. I'm not necessarily an itinerary kind of person - I always have a handful of things I want to do, but I'm more than happy to go with the flow. Even just today, I only had vague plans to walk around a little and write in a coffee shop for a bit. But Kat had the day off, and asked if I wanted to sit in a café with her so we could both get some work done. On the way there, we passed the National Museum of Scotland and decided to wander in. It was a fun way to spend the morning, and we wound up spending the rest of the day together - walking up and down the Royal Mile, stopping for a treat at Mimi's Bakehouse, buying a few trinkets here and there.
If you'd told me this morning that I'd end the day sitting in Kat's flat, typing this blog post while she knits a scarf, singing hymns to each other, I may not have believed it. But that's where the adventure has taken us today - I'll let you know where we go next!
Book recommendation: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. Warning: the prince is actually quite cruel - more so than I expected. But it's a fascinating story about a mortal girl trying to find her place in the faerie world where she grew up. Enemies-to-lovers, plot twists, murder & intrigue - a true YA classic.