Hey, things are still going really good here, let me know how it is back in Texas. School is going, classes really haven't been all that tough so long as I stay on top of the reading and the schedule is awesome. Last weekend, 6 of us went to Stirling, which is a small town right on the edge of the highlands. It was a gorgeous day, its worth staying here through all the nasty weather to catch those incredible days when the weather is perfect and the sun is shining. We went first to Stirling castle, which was pretty impressive and a lot more like what I expected than Edinburgh Castle. It was on top of a hill with incredible views (some are in the pictures). I toured the castle, walked around the great hall, the chapel and the palace. The great hall and chapel were very impressive. The palace was in the middle of a lot of archaelogical work and was stripped down, so although we could walk through it and learn a lot, it was little more than an immense (and impressive) stone building with no furnishings. After the castle, we went to Bannockburn Battleground (remember Braveheart). This is where Robert the Bruce soundly defeated the English. Today, there is little to see, except for a couple of monuments, although it would be easy to imagine (and an incredible image) thousands of Scots up against the English running across what is today open fields. I found a fly-shop in Stirling! Picked up a bunch of flyers and Dr. Beaty and I are tentatively scheduling a trip to the loch this friday, where I hope to catch a bunch of trout. Ha, we also ate at Pancho Villas, a Mexican restaurant that really was pretty reasonable. I miss Mexican food! Finally, we went to the William Wallace memorial, which is a very impressive tower built on a hilltop that provides amazing views of the surrounding mountains. Catching a glimpse of the highlands makes me very excited to get up there, I believe I'll go the next weekend with suitable weather. Next saturday we are still planning on going to the Ireland/Scotland rugby game, weather permitting, although we are counting on buying tickets from scalpers (people swear they are easy and cheaper at the stadium...we'll see). Well, thats about it, I'll let you know how things are going.

Pictures

yeah, the picture link on the right should work now.

First week of Classes, Edinburgh

So it seems that the lousy weather of the past couple of days has finally gotten to me, I think that I have contracted a cold or something. But I don't really have anything to do today (Sunday) so I can afford to rest up and not go out. If I still feel bad in a couple of days I'll go to the doctor but right now I'm just taking some cold medication and getting plenty of rest.

The rest of the week went very well, I finished up my first week of classes without a hitch and am ready for the next. I have dropped Arabic, deciding that it is too much daily work than I want to deal with while I am here, I would rather spend my time out in Scotland than stuck in the library. To replace Arabic, I have enrolled in a class called Aesthetics, which not only promises to be easy but one that I get substantial credit for back in the States. So far I have managed not to have classes on Fridays and I plan to keep it that way, barring me getting assigned to a Friday tutorial (each class requires a certain number of meetings called tutorials). My philosophy course have so far been awesome, from the classroom I can look out the window onto the North Sea. I saw my first wild seal the other day, there is a large number of them in an estuary just North of town.

Saturday a large group of us went to Edinburgh, which was a lot of fun except for the nasty weather. The whole day the temperature hovered right at freezing and there was consistent sleet. Despite the weather, we toured Edinburgh castle. This is the first castle I have seen that is not in ruins and it was very impressive. I was surprised at the thickness and heighth of the walls. The castle is perched on an extinct volcano and gives incredible 360 degree views of the medieval city of Edinburgh. We saw the crown jewels of Scotland, as well as many other of its national treasures on display. After the castle (we got run off of it quickly thanks to the freezing mountaintop winds) we walked to St. Gyle's Cathedral. The cathedral is immense although not quite as awe-inspiring as Notre Dame. After the cathedral, we went to a restaurarant where we watched the rugby game against Wales (scotland won) which we were planning on attending but the weather discouraged it. I still may go to the game two weekends from now against the Irish. A short train-ride and taxi later, we made it back to St Andrews.

I'll get some pictures posted soon, I got a different battery for my digital camera and it is working much better. Hope everything is going well in the States!

Sunday and Start of Class

Well, I am still here in St. Andrews and loving it. Class has started and things are starting to get busy but I am very much enjoying my professors and the format of classes here in the UK. I guess I'll begin on Sunday since my last post was Sat., but I think from here on out I will just let ya'll know major stuff that happens rather than go day by day, that'll get old for you and for me. Sunday morning happened as I imagine church would have gone in the time of lords, knights and serfs, but with a contemporary sermon. I went with about 3 others and Dr. Beaty to St. Salvatore's cathedral, a gorgeous cathedral built around 1450. The Cathedral is run by the School of Divinity so it is largely non-denominational, though considerably different than any church we have back at home. Service opened at 11 am with some familiar hymns and scripture readings, which would have been rather typical, were it not for the setting. Most of the students in attendance wore Scarlet Robes, signifying their attendance at St. Andrews University. Two sides of the Cathedral were covered by immense and intricate stained glass windows, each depicting a different Biblical story. The other sides of the Cathedral are covered in carvings and typical medieval architecture. There is an aisle that runs through the center of the cathedral, splitting the pews which sit, not facing forward, but rather facing each other. There is a sort of large balcony toward the back of the cathedral, where the choir sits (although one can barely see them except from the very front of the cathedral. The choir is that of St. Andrews University and was absolutely incredible. During the anthem and closing hymns, the choir sang classical songs in Latin and I cannot give credit to the experience in words. The music echoed through the cathedral and angelic is the best descriptor I can give it, as the Sun shone through the stained glass, filling the cathedral with all colors of the rainbow. The sermon was good but not especially notable, calling all Christians to step out into the "deep water" and attempting to address some contemporary problems that the church faces, such as declining youth attendance (especially in Europe). The University brings in different Speakers each week, this year the Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley gave the sermon. Notably, after the service, the Bishop asked all in attendance to go and have a drink with him in a nearby room; I found this an interesting contrast from First Baptist of Amarillo. I think that I will be attending church quite often here at St. Andrews, it was a very enjoyable and memorable experience.

We were able to watch most of the Super Bowl on Sunday, kick-off was around 11:25 pm here in the UK, and the commentators have no idea what they are talking about. Watching the game with the commentary on was worse than watching it with it off, it is very basic considering few here in the UK know the rules. I watched the game at a pub called the Dunvegan, owned interestingly enough by an Aggie born in Austin. It was full of mostly Americans; about half of the pub sang the National anthem, partly out of pride and partly out of defiance to some in the pub that had been claiming the superiority of European 'football.' The pub closed at one, because of licensing, so I returned to my dorm, expecting to be able to finish the game there, sadly, however, the common room with the TV was closed so I had to follow along online.

I think that I am going to like my classes. Arabic is going to be incredibly difficult, only 1 semester left! The Arabic here is quite different than back home, besides the Scottish accent. The course I am taking here is designed to teach 'fous-ha' Arabic, the literate and more traditional version than the colloquial I have taken at Baylor. I dropped the Social Contract class and decided to take instead an interdisciplinary course called Science and Ethics, which promises to be very interesting. The other courses have gone well so far, although I have had considerable difficulty finding my classes, as they are integrated into the town and most of the university buildings are rather indistinct from the rest of the buildings.

This is Crail, the fishing Village we hiked to on Saturday.

The Isle of May in the background, on our hike. (barely visible, there is a lighthouse on the horizon) Dr. Beaty in the foreground, trying to explain rugby.

The tall building is part of the ruined St. Andrews Cathedral, taken from the old graveyard.

Rule's Tower, near the Cathedral

The Philosophy School, where some of my classes are located. (Directly behind it is a cliff, then the North Sea)

The ruins of St. Andrews Castle.

St. Salvatore's Cathedral, where I attended Church

Saturday and some Pics

Today was long but it is one I will likely never forget. 9 of us, including Dr. Beaty, left St. Andrews at 11 and caught a bus to Anstruthers (pronounced Insters), about a 25 minute ride. Anstruthers is a small fishing village nestled on the SE coast of the kingdom of Fife (similar to a state in the USA?). We arrived there in time for lunch, where we ate at a small fish and chips place. The UK is known for its good fish and chips (and little other foods) and this place was, according to the signs, voted #1 the last two years running. The food was certainly good, although I was expecting something a little more incredible for its popularity and for 7 pounds ($14), a little more than Long John Silvers. Food here and all over the European Union is incredibly expensive! After a good meal, we walked along the coast 4 and 3/4 miles toward the NE to another fishing village, Crail. There is a walking path, the Fife Coastal Path, that runs the majority of the Fife coast, and we walked a portion of this. The walk was beautiful, the sea was rough and breaking against the shore although the weather was clear. There were a couple of fishing boats just outside of the breakers that I am certainly glad I was not on, as my stomach couldn't have handled these seas. The rocks along the coast were massive and eroded by both wind and rain, so they had a number of caves and crevasses to explore. The hills to our left were either grazed by sheep or covered in heather, and I did notice some deer sign, although did not see any. We arrived in Crail, and then, after a short break, 5 of us decided to attempt to continue along the path towards Kingsbarns, the next coastal village with a bus stop. About 1 and 1/2 miles into it, however, we realized that we would soon run out of daylight so turned back to Crail. There, we watched Scotland lost to England in Rugby sitting at a pub surrounded by locals, it was quite an experience. The group of us are considering going to Edinburgh next weekend to watch Scotland play Wales. Finally, we caught a bus back to St. Andrews and I am here in the hall, exhausted and finishing this post. Hope you all are enjoying it. My digital camera has broken, everytime I try and zoom in it freezes, so I am a little low on pictures. Also, it is somewhat difficult to post pictures on this blog so I am going to try and get something linked up or figure something out, until then, here are a couple of pictures.


Here is my room, looking in from the doorway. Just to the left out of sight is a closet and sink.

This is the Sporting complex, where the sports are played (and a small disc golf course) and the building in the background is part of the complex.

The harbor at Anstruthers, just across the street from the fish and chips place.

Somewhere between Anstruthers and Crail

Some of our hiking group at Anstruthers

Well, I am here and finally adjusting to the time. I cannot believe that I will be living here for a semester, it seems so surreal. There are 11 of us students and the professor travelling with us, Dr. Beaty. Before the trip I barely knew any other students but hours of traveling forces friendships and I now know all of them relatively well. The flight left on the 30th and we arrived into Glasgow early morning here (about midnight in Texas). There was allocated about 45 minutes to clear customs and make our connecting flight to Edinburgh, which everyone in the group made but just barely. We then had a short flight to Edinburgh, where we collected our luggage, met two representatives from St. Andrews University, and got on a bus.

The arrival into Scotland was incredible, I have never seen the color green as it is here. The bus ride, about an hour, was gorgeous. We crossed a long suspension bridge over the River Tay shortly into the trip which gave me my first shoreside view of the grey and forbidding North Sea. The drive was through populated low hills with alternating fields of grass and hay, forests, and glens. About 20 KM outside of St. Andrews, we drove past the Scottish Deer Centre which afforded me my first view of the Scottish Red Deer. Supposedly, there are wild herds in some forests just North of St. Andrews. Shortly before you reach town, you cross the river Eden which is gorgeous (it looks cold!) and supposedly has a reasonable salmon run which I hope to encounter. The golf courses are on your left as you enter town, and they are incredible, I hope to play this sunday (supposedly we can get a student pass where I can play as much as I want over the course of the semester).We arrived on the 31st, about noon and had to stay awake that whole day so as to allow our bodies to adjust, which was difficult. We spent that day and evening unpacking, moving into our halls, and then ate out as a group at an Italian place named Zizzies. I then returned to my room and crashed, only to wake up at 4 am unable to get back to sleep.

Andrew Melville Hall is an ugly building but it more than makes up for it in location; it was constructed to resemble a ship so many of the windows are round and it has a very distinct architecture. The view from my room is incredible, Looking NE, on my left there is forest and straight ahead I can see the North Sea. Just beyond the trees is the Old Course (not 3 minutes walk away). However, It is a 15 to 20 minute walk to the building where my classes will be held.

I spent my thursday at different orientation meetings and shopping for soap and all that kind of stuff I forgot back at the states. Last night three of us Baylor students and some guys I met in my hall went to a couple different pubs which was a lot of fun. We met a really really drunk old scottish man who wouldn't stop challenging me to a game of darts (there weren't any darts) and kept calling me Bob Dylan, no idea why. We also met an Englishman who overheard our accents and came over to tell us how much he loved America, saying we take our V-8s, guns, and girls for granted. The one thing he really didn't like about America was that everyone was seemed so religious (there are many beautiful churches here but they are often empty). That was an interesting conversation because I was with two American Divinity students. I have met a lot of students here, though am having a difficult time keeping their names straight. Also, most of the ones here so far are American or international, the scottish students are still on break and won't arrive till tomorrow or Sunday.

Today we registered for classes and filled out some forms at the medical center which was a pain. I am taking some awesome classes but it is a really full load: intermediate arabic, contemporary moral theory, the social contract, and the problem(s) of divine goodness. This afternoon I walked down to the beach (crossing the old course) where four of us from the hall played frisbee in full view of the 18th green of the old course on the same beach where the famous running scene in Chariots of Fire was filmed. The weather has been absolutely incredible, right at 50 degrees F. and very little wind. However, this is not expected to last but I plan to make the most of it as long as it does.