In response to all the people hassling me about posting...

Wow. I haven’t updated in a long time. Sigh. This is going to be long. I'm going to break it down into readable chunks.

Day 31, 25/9/09
Trip to Insch! Well, first I had Dynamic Cell (boring) and Immunology with lab (pointless – the literally had us looking through a microscope at blood and lymph node tissue. I mean seriously, are we in 5th grade?). I was going to have an issue in that my lab was supposed to go till 5, and my train for Insch left at 5:20… essentially, I wasn’t going to be able to do both, and since my homestay was a mandatory part of my study abroad experience, I had to change my lab. Luckily, I was able to switch to an earlier lab group and make it to the train on time. The train was way smoother than I was expecting. It didn’t even jolt around when we were stopping. I talked with Becka on the way there, which was nice. She has some crazy (literally, mentally unstable) roommates. It was a 4 hour train ride to Aberdeen, then we were supposed to take a pre-hired coach (= bus) to Insch. We were instructed to “Look around for Whyte’s Coach”. We didn’t see anything when we got off the train, so the group of us (there were 10 of us total) went to the exit/parking lot. Problem was, the parking lot was undergoing construction, so we had no idea where we should wait. We stood outside where a few other people seemed to be getting picked up for 10-15 minutes, tried to contact the Coach service, and were on the verge of sending people back into the station when this guy showed up, saying he was our driver. Apparently, someone inside told him there was a group of confused Americans outside, and he figured it was us. So, he takes us back into the station and we eagerly watch to see where we were supposed to have gone. It seems that “look around” translates to “go up the stairs, cross the sky bridge, walk through a parking structure, go onto the street behind said parking structure, and walk down the street until you see your coach.” Yeah. Anyway, we drove to the head-lady’s house (we were staying in 4 different houses in Insch and there was one family that was coordinating it all) where most of the families were there to greet us. The family that I was staying with, along with Meg and Christina, were not there yet as Greg (the husband) and Maureen (the wife) were at a Rotary Club event that was essentially honoring Greg (the chapter President), so they were a little late. We got homemade pizza and cucumbers from their garden for dinner, so it was all good. Maureen finally pulled herself away and she took us back to her farm/house. First thing I saw when we arrived: CAT. Orange, cuddly, fluffy, male (he can be forgiven) kitty cat! His name is Chutney and he used to belong to Gary and Maureen’s son, but came to live with them when he moved. I ended up sharing a room with Christina, who it turns out has a cat that looks very similar to Chutney, so we kidnapped him for the night. He slept on Christina’s bed, which made me sad, but let me cuddle him in the morning.

Day 32, 26/9/09
So, I managed to not talk about the other ferocious beasts at the house. There’s Skipper the parrot, which I pretty much ignored the entire time. The other two girls are apparently terrified of birds, which was amusing, especially as you had to walk by Skipper’s cage to get into/out of the house. They have a huge Scottish deerhound named Harris, after a Scottish Island, who is as tall as my waist and likes to grab hold of your wrist and drag you to the front door (we had words), a Collie/something else mix named Gaia, who was SO sweet and very old (she reminded me of Roxy), and a little Cairn terrier named Morris (my dad’s name) who was a little grumpy but sweetened up with time. They also had a Shetland horse named Caswick (I think, I’m not sure, it sounded like “cass-ick” but they mainly called her Cass) who was 29 years old.
So, on the first day I woke up with a sore throat. NOT HAPPY. Meg got me sick. But since we were both suffering from a cough we stopped by a Walmart-like store and got Strepcils. Strepcils are like cough drops, but they taste nasty (like black licorice). We then went to the Glenfiddich distillery, where they make whisky. It was in Dufftown, which has 7 distilleries all together (‘Duff’town with lots of alcohol? I thought I was in a Scottish version of the Simpsons). It had a really bizarre pool/reservoir in front of it with multicolored noses floating on top. It was… interesting. The distillery was kind of nice because the yeast smell reminded me of home/Scripps, but the whisky smell was a little overwhelming. At the end of the tour, we got to try some whisky. I… am not a fan. I don’t like the “burn your throat out” feeling. Alas, I must not be Scottish (though, fun fact, the Scots were big fans of French wine until it became too expensive, and that’s when they started making their own alcohol, which led to the popularity of whisky). After that we found out that Dufftown was having a whisky festival with a pipe band event, so we headed towards the sound of bagpipes. There were over 200 people playing bagpipes and drums, all lined up like a marching band. They sounded so beautiful, way different from the tinny music coming out of the shops on the Royal Mile. We hung around there for a while before heading off to Huntly Castle. It was nice, and they had some amazingly well preserved fireplaces, but… I’ve just seen so many castles here, it’s getting a little overwhelming. After that, Maureen invited all of us back to the house for tea. She had fresh made scones and brownies with cream cheese baked in, as well as some type of cranberry bread. It was lots of fun and very yummy. Maureen then took us on a little trail through the woods across from their house… woods, it turns out, that they own. She literally said, “Any land that has trees on it, belongs to us.” Yeah. Maureen also baked us a cottage pie for dinner and then we watched the UK version of “Dancing with the Stars” (it’s terrible here, as well) and a bit of Merlin (ugh. As someone who is somewhat familiar with the legend, it made me want to cry). We then headed over to the main lady’s house for a bit of a get together. Essentially, the grownups tried to get some of the boys (who had started drinking of their own volition) totally wasted. I just enjoyed the free chocolate and tea. We played that game, it’s like Taboo, but you only have to avoid using the word your team is supposed to guess, not a bunch of other ones too, and it got… heated. It was frankly ridiculous. Also, no one on my team could guess “ham sandwich” (seriously? I was all “meat from pigs, you put it between bread and cheese”). We got home pretty late and so decided to sleep in the next day.

Day 33, 27/9/09
The other people decided to wake up early and head to the coast, but we wanted to chill, and so did a couple of local things. First we went to see the Maiden Stone, which I had already seen, but it was interesting to find out that I had been so close to them without knowing it. We then went to the Bennachie (the local mountain range, pronounced “ben-a-HEE”) information center. It was cute, but clearly meant for kids. It turns out that the center used to have a totem pole in front… confused, I asked if the original settlers of the area had also carved totem poles like the Native Americans… awkward silence. I have seen so many incidences of American culture being transplanted over here, in ways that really don’t make sense. Most actually have to do with the Native American cultures. It’s really weird. Anywho, we then went to the Loanhead of Daviot Stone Circle. It was made between 4000 and 5000 years ago, probably as a place for observing the moon or to guard the entrances to tombs. There was also a cremation cemetery next to it that was probably set up around 3500 years ago. The cremated remains of 32 people were found there. It was rather peaceful. Maureen was talking about how many found it spiritual, which I didn’t quite tap into, but it did hold a sort of ancient calmness, and I had great respect for the farmers who managed to drag these massive stones to the top of the hill. Meg and Christina… did not feel this way, apparently. They were climbing all over the place and making fun of the cultural significance of the site. It was, at least in my eyes, disrespectful. Meg also was asking if this place was used for religious purposes “or, you know, by witches and stuff”. Upon informing her that Wicca was, in fact, a religion, she responded, “uh, I guess you could see it that way.” Mentally, I thought, “hmm, a group of people coming together to celebrate a higher power, something they pray to for guidance and aid? You’re right, not a religion at all.” I restrained myself. After that, we went back to Maureen’s for a quick lunch before heading back to the train station. I had a hard time saying goodbye to Chutney.

Day 34, 28/9/09
Monday sucked. I had Structures and Functions of Proteins (SFP) lecture and tutorial. The lecture was fine, though the current lecturer is so completely disorganized. The tutorial… ugh. It was all on amino acids, which I did not have any time this weekend to study. It was painful, and I didn’t say anything, so next tutorial I have to be ready. Growls.