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!