Poetry, Palace, and Protest - Oh My!

Week two was my 'training wheels' week. My parents were off galavanting through Scotland while I attended my first classes alone; I got to try doing things independently, but my parents were still in the country incase I needed backup.

Garden below street level

I went to my first Zumba class on Monday night in the church next to my flat. I love Zumba - not because I'm good at dancing (I'm not), but because it's such a fun way to exercise. A few of the girls in my cohort agreed to come with me this week - turns out it doesn't matter if you're bad at dancing as long as all your friends are, too!

My first official classes happened this week, so we've finally moved from preparatory work to real homework. We only have the one class on Thursday, and then a group of us spent two hours in a small café agonizing over our favorite Doctor Who episodes (nerd alert). Friday wasn't quite as nice, only because we have six hours of class. The first three hours were broken up nicely by an assignment that sent us walking around campus, then a quick lunch in the cafeteria (with a warning to stay away from the fish), and then three hours of writing theory.

St. Paul's and St. George's Church (Ps & Gs)

I have only the most cliché of complaints: the room was too warm, my stomach was full, and theory is objectively dull. I understood exactly two things in that class (as a writer, you can't say anything new, but you can say old things in new ways; it's important to find the balance between spoon-feeding your point to the reader and explaining just enough so they can fill in the gaps for themselves). Everything else I'm a bit fuzzy on, but I'm sure it'll become clearer as we go.

Friday night, I met up with a few girls in my cohort for dinner and a poetry slam. There's a storytelling center on the Royal Mile which hosts a whole array of fun events, and that night the event was a poetry slam competition. In the first round, twelve poets performed an original poem; in the second round, only six of them got to perform again. Then the final three, and the winner gets to go again. It was brilliant - my favorites were about a love affair with Redbull, comparing stargazing with crossword puzzles, and watching an episode of Brooklyn 99. When I was in college, my mom told me I should get out and live a little, so I joined poetry club. I'd forgotten how much I loved it. We'll definitely be going back!

Someone handed me an EU flag

Saturday was the last day my parents were in the country. We stopped by one of my favorite brunch places, PieceBox, and walked up to the Royal Mile, where Brexit protests were in full swing. The streets were packed with people waving EU flags, holding homemade signs, and marching along to drum beats and bagpipes. It's a big issue right now, as you can imagine - two of my friends from England were actually interviewed about their views on Brexit today.

While the masses made their mass exodus down the Royal Mile, we did some shopping and meandered down to the Palace. After purchasing our tickets (one senior discount, one student discount, one just-plain-expensive adult), we walked through old, creaky rooms full of portraits and tapestries, fancy table-settings and four-poster beds. My personal favorite was the royal wedding exhibit - Harry and Meghan's wedding clothes are on display, along with pictures from their wedding day. I know there must be a lot of perks to marrying a prince, but I didn't know you get a whole palace exhibit dedicated to your wedding. Anyone know a Scottish prince?

The gardens were what we went for, and they were worth it. The weather in Scotland is ideal for growing plants, so everything is richly green and flourishing. If you've got a few quid on hand and you're interested in royal history, I would recommend visiting the Palace. The attached cafe was nice, too - a little busy, as it's where a fair amount of Brexit protestors descended once the speeches were over, but overall it was a beautiful day to sit outside sipping tea.

Because it was so beautiful out, we spent some time wandering past Arthur's Seat (conquered), around a little lake, and through a nearby field. We passed picnics, barbeques, games of football, and a couple playing catch with an empty wine bottle.

Saturday siestas in the garden

Dinner was at a place called Montpeliers not far from Merchiston campus. The food itself is good enough, but they have the best chocolate cake I've ever had. It's flourless, and so thick and rich it's like eating fudge. I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in the area.

Today is my first day of proper Scottish rain - the weather has been suspiciously nice since I arrived, so I knew it was coming. I met up with some friends to walk to campus and they immediately made fun of my 'wellies' (rainboots) because it wasn't really raining, only spitting. In defense of my rainboots, which are cute and were bought specially for Scottish weather, when it rains in Pittsburgh, it downpours. I guess the rain in Scotland may be more frequent, but it isn't nearly as torrential.

Now that they're no longer making fun of my fashion choices, we've taken up residence in the Writer's Room. This room at Uni is available only to students in our cohort, and is ideal for writing. The three lecturers emptied out their collective bookshelves to stock the room with Marvel comic books, an emotion thesaurus, several popular series, and even some books they've written themselves. There are also DVDs we can check out, including all three Lord of the Rings extended editions and the 2005 Pride & Prejudice, both of which I will be checking out frequently.

One assignment submitted (a 500-word story focused on the main character's register) and several to go (including a 5,000-word piece of work due Monday), and instead I've typed up this blog post. I think I've got the hang of this grad school thing.

Book recommendation: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. By far my favorite John Green book - he does a great job of narrating from the point of view of a girl struggling with severe mental illness while trying to do all the things typical teenagers do. It also involves a missing billionaire and young love, as the greatest mysteries do.