July 14th - First Day Back, The Royal Mile and Haggis

I woke up at 4:22 this morning thinking I had overslept because it was so light outside. I hadn't. I still had to check all available clocks to make sure. Of course, then I was kind of up. I slept for a little bit longer. Kasia got up to go for her run and turned on the main lights on accident. When she left I was able to sleep for an extra 30 minutes before getting ready.

Breakfast was in the hotel and wasn't bad. They have the option of vegetarian sausage, but I didn't ask for it. I went with two pieces of toast, a croissant, a Scottish pancake, and a chocolate croissant with some orange juice. Not the best food or selection, but it did its job. After breakfast, we made our way up to the Hilton hotel for our first day of classes. Surprisingly, everything is rather close together. It wasn't a far walk especially when you're in the company of friends and excited for the day's activities. We walked past the Balmoral hotel where J.K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter. Then we went across the bridge that had great views of the city.

The Hilton, is a much nicer hotel than the one we are sleeping in. It is more of the standard we had in Rome. It was a nice change in scenery. Our welcome back lecture was good as well as the faculty readings. I'm still a bit jet lagged so I really had to work at not falling asleep a couple of times and not because things were boring.

For lunch, Mary, Alisha, and I set out for the Royal Mile. We ate at a nice place across from St. Giles Cathedral. I had a potato-leek-blue cheese soup and pasta. A nice meal while watching the grim reaper survey the tourists walking by and listening to the street musician. Service really is not the highlight here. And of course I got a bit of a sunburn from the sun which shouldn't be out in Scotland but is. Grrr!

Alisha went back to the hotel for her orientation and Mary and I checked out some tourist shops with the extra hour we had as well as more street performers. It was nice relaxing hour before workshop which I was kind of nervous about.

For all my worry, workshop was amazing. We spent the first bit just getting to know each other. It was really nice to have that time available to us and to be with just a ya group compared to last year's mixed bunch. When we came back after break, Leslea put us through some writing exercises. At first I was a bit hesitant because they had to do with remembering plus the pressure to perform on command. It ended up being really great, especially because I was writing again. It was actually a really good starter and I might just steal it for my students. :)
After class, I set up a time to conference with Leslea (Sunday) about the upcoming independent study. I'll be nervous about that as well, but it'll be nice to actually have met my mentor in person this time around. I had signed up for a group dinner and we met at 6:45. We ate at the Rosehip behind our hotel and down the street. It was a cute little restaurant. I felt adventurous and ordered the veggie haggis. I know it's not the same as traditional haggis, but it is the closet I can get. It wasn't bad. A bit spicy. Then all I had was a walk home in the blessed rain drizzle.