Durham.

Today I did some quality adventuring in Durham, England. I got up early and took the two hour train ride south through Scotland and into snowy England. Edinburgh gets snow flurries every once in awhile that never really accumulate to much on the ground, but clearly England does snow differently. It was snowing so hard when I got into town that my first venture was to purchase an umbrella before I was completely soaked. I found one at what was supposed to be the Saturday Outdoor Market. The 'market' was almost non-existent probably because none of the vendors felt like competing with the weather. In addition to my umbrella saleswoman, there was a donut vendor from which I purchased seven tasty donuts all for one pound! That may have just been my best bargain purchase in the UK yet.

The main attraction in Durham is Durham Cathedral. It is a 1,000 years old and still standing for the most part as it was all that time ago. Saint Cuthbert of the 600s is buried here, along with King Oswald's head and the Venerable Bede, who was the first to write the history of what is now England. It made me wonder what U.S. attraction will still be standing in 1,000 years and drawing site seers from all over the world. Perhaps the Washington Monument? Statue of Liberty? I am usually a wanderer when it comes to site seeing and can't be bothered with tour guides but I was completely in awe of Durham Cathedral so I went on the informational tour. I had a little, elderly woman who was just fantastic. She talked about the Cathedral like she was personally present for each of its last 1,000 years and was merely rattling off her own history. It is a shame I could not take pictures inside the Cathedral to share. It was entirely impressive from the details in the sandstone to the hundreds of archways. Plus to be in something that old, thinking of all the real people that have stood there before, is a humbling experience. 

The Cathedral also has a courtyard which I was particularly keen to see as it was used in filming parts of the Harry Potter movies!

There is also a Durham Castle, however it is part of the local university so I was not able to go inside. I spent the remainder of my time wandering the stereotypically English streets!

North Berwick.

I went on a wee day trip today to the seaside town of North Berwick, just 25 miles east of Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth. There was not a whole lot happening there today but I did enjoy a quiet stroll along the beach and up along a pathway atop the cliffs. It was quite chilly and gray, even had a few snow flurries at times, but the weather really did seem fitting for North Berwick. In general, I guess this really is the way Scotland is supposed to be - bright green grass and dull gray skies!

From North Berwick I took a ten minute bus ride south to Tantallon Castle. This castle was built in the 1350s from red sandstone and was home to the Douglas family. Unlike most other castles, Tantallon only has one long wall (they call it 'the curtain') which runs the width of a narrow piece of land jutting out the the sea. The ends of the castle are built into the cliffs and the other side of the castle is left open to the sea. This seems ideal since then only one side is exposed to land invaders. Tantallon is one of the more impressive castles I have been to in Scotland yet due to its sheer size and height, as well as its position over looking the sea. From what is left of the ruins, it appears the castle had at least 5 or so floors which is quite impressive given that it was built almost 700 years ago! 

 

MALAWI. The warm heart of Africa.

Good news! I found out yesterday evening that I was successful in my application for a work-based placement in conjunction with my dissertation! I will be working with ASAP (A Self-Help Assistance Program) in southern Malawi evaluating the social impact of a recently completed village savings and loans scheme. And I even got a grant to cover my travel costs! A step in the right direction in terms of someday actually getting paid to work! The internship should run from mid-April until mid to late-June at which point I will return to Edinburgh to write my dissertation on the subject of the work I did.

Malawi is a small sliver of a country in south eastern Africa landlocked between Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. It is called 'the warm heart of Africa' because the people there are said to be the nicest on the continent. I have heard only good things about Malawi since I began the application process so I am pretty excited. And it will be WARM and SUNNY there! I think I am just as excited about summer weather as I am to actually be doing real work! I was really hoping that it would all work out for me to do this internship (so much so that I bought a Malawi travel guide in advance) so I am feeling super relieved and happy to finally know what my next few months will look like.

Sunshine in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh has been blessed almost a week now with days full of sunshine and warm(er) temperatures. It is only a teaser for spring though, as I cannot believe that we are done with winter quite yet! It is amazing how much the city comes alive with just a bit of sun though - windows open, people wearing shorts, picnics in the park, hikers on Arthur's Seat. I certainly have enjoyed it! It made for a pretty Valentine's Day last week. Someone had put up strung hearts all throughout The Meadows, which is a park I walk through on my way to classes. The hearts were along the fences, shrubs and around trees. A cute idea that I am sure brightened a lot of people's days! I also got a surprise package in the mail from my cousin Kaisla complete with Valentine's Day decorations so even my flat was decked out in hearts! Thanks Kaisla!

This week is what Edinburgh calls 'Innovative Leaning Week.' Instead of classes there are all sorts of seminars, workshops, films, etc. on a variety of interests. None of it is mandatory so I think, especially with this nice weather, a lot of students are using the week as a Spring Break of sorts. It is also a nice amount of time to get caught up on papers and work. I thought I would give myself a break this morning and so I got up and did an early morning hike up Arthur's Seat which looks out over the city of Edinburgh. It might have been the nicest day I have seen since I arrived here in September so I am glad I took advantage of the weather.

The beginning of the end.

My winter holiday in St. Louis flew by (too quickly as usual) and am back in Edinburgh, already in the thick of my second semester. I have ten weeks of classes this semester, three of which are already behind me, and then I will move on to the third and final component of my masters program, the dissertation. This part will last from mid-April until mid-August during which time I have the option of participating in an internship locally or abroad, or I can remain in Edinburgh and write a traditional, academic piece of work. The list of possible internships to which we can apply comes out this upcoming Monday and then from there it will be a few hectic weeks trying to decide whether I want to do an internship, possibly applying for one, and making all the arrangements to move to my internship location. Should I decide to stick with the academic dissertation I must have my proposal written up and turned in by the end of February. I just found out most of this information today so I am still a bit panicked! All the sudden, the timeline in which to accomplish all this seems very short!

Last weekend I went on a day trip adventure via train to Berkwick-Upon-Tweed, a little seaside town south of Edinburgh across the border into England. The town is surrounded by protective walls that you are now able to walk along top of for fantastic views of the sea and the town itself. The walls apparently date back to medieval times, however the currently standing walls were built in 1558 to keep the Scots out. Since it is a border town, it has been fought for by both England and Scotland many times in history. The town also boasts a picturesque North Sea coast line which I thoroughly enjoyed walking along. With the unnatural greenness and rocky cliffs, it was exactly how I pictured Scotland before coming here. 

This past week I also experienced by first Burns Night which is a holiday celebrating the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns. One of my classmates had my entire program over for traditional Scottish fare and a bit of poetry reading as is apparently typical on this holiday. I even tried Scotland's beloved haggis. I did not let myself look up exactly what haggis consists of until after that evening, but the internet tells me it is minced sheep liver, heart and lungs. I have to say it was not as bad as it sounds though I doubt I will be seeking it out in the grocery store anytime soon. For those of you in the States, sorry but you will have to visit me to try it. The FDA has apparently deemed it unfit for consumption and banned it from U.S. stores!