This past Thursday evening I attended the premiere of the Africa in Motion Film Festival here in Edinburgh which is the largest African film festival in all of Europe. It was a much bigger deal than I anticipated with a red carpet, camera men and a packed theatre. We saw the movie Uhlanga (The Mark) by South African filmmaker Ndaba ka Ngwane. Afterwards we headed out to an upscale club where they had an African DJ, free South African wine and a fashion show. The film festival continues on through this upcoming Friday with daily film showings, seminars, workshops with the producers, etc. This is the kind of event that makes me so excited to be studying at the Centre of African Studies! Where else would I find something like it, let alone people that would want to attend with me?!
In other news, I have officially submitted my first papers for the year! I was relieved for about 5 minutes and then I started worrying about the essays due in December...
As a bit of a reward for getting my work done, I went on a little trip up north through the Scottish Highlands with the university's International Society this past weekend. We traveled by bus, stopping along the way to the city of Inverness and back. The first pit stop was the William Wallace Monument in Stirling (less that an hour north west of Edinburgh). The monument was built in the mid 1850s to honor the hero William Wallace who led the Scots to victory against the Brits and King Edward I at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.
As a bit of a reward for getting my work done, I went on a little trip up north through the Scottish Highlands with the university's International Society this past weekend. We traveled by bus, stopping along the way to the city of Inverness and back. The first pit stop was the William Wallace Monument in Stirling (less that an hour north west of Edinburgh). The monument was built in the mid 1850s to honor the hero William Wallace who led the Scots to victory against the Brits and King Edward I at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.
Next on the agenda was Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness! No sighting of Nessie the Loch Ness Monster but the castle ruins were pretty neat! It is thought that people lived at this spot up to 4,000 years ago but these actual ruins were not constructed until the late 1200s.
The last stop of the day was Inverness, the capital city of the Highlands. We spent the night here at a local youth hostel. It was a cute town but not nearly as great as Edinburgh!
Sunday morning we got up and made our way to Culloden Battleground just outside of Inverness. Over 2,000 Scots lost their lives here in 1746 in a battle against the British. All the men were buried in the field and you can find many large rocks that make the spot where whole clans are located.
Later in the afternoon we stopped at the Falls of Braan. Absolutely amazing! First of all, the forest smelled just like Christmas - like the 'Christmas Tree in a Can' stuff you spray in you have a fake tree but want people to think its real. Also, the sound and shear power of the water was incredible. These pictures really do not do it justice - I swear it looked a whole lot bigger and more impressive in person!
Final stop of the trip: the adorable little town of Dunkeld. Here I strolled around a beautiful cathedral and enjoyed window shopping along the (basically) only street in the town!
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