Rwanda or Internet?

Researching the Rwandan Genocide...or facebook? The answer should be easy. How cool is it that I get to do an essay on that, out of all topics? But instead, I have been wasting the afternoon. I have a word document open, my book sitting open in front of me, and still I reach over the pages to click on that ever-so-tempting compass icon that brings me once more onto the internet. In my defence though, I have had quite a productive day internet-wise. I set up lunch with a friend for tomorrow, planned a movie (5oo days of summer finally!) for tonight, made plans to visit Edinburgh on Saturday, wrote on two facebook walls, and am even writing a blog. Impressive, right? And that only took about 2 hours of my precious study time. But every time I "x" out of the page and see my empty note page with only the question "Why was there a genocide in Rwanda in 1914?" written over a white page, I just can't bring myself to start typing. Starting is always the worse part. Yuck.

Friends

I'm making friends. Thank you thank you thank you God! 

scottish differences

Some days, I feel like I need an interpreter on hand. I had no idea how hard it would be to understand some people. To be fair, the majority of the time I can understand everyone when they are talking to me. But if they start talking to another Scottish (or Northern Irish...there are a ton of them here) person, it all goes downhill. To add on to that, they have a number of different words as well. They always sneak up on you when you least expect it. I thought I would share a few of their words with you.

dear= expensive. for a second, I thought the guy I was talking to had a close relationship with the nearest grocery store. 

kip= sleep. such as "have a nice kip." 

crackin'= happening. kind of like up in "what's up?"

ta= thank you

tea=dinner. while staying in glasgow, that was always a confusing one. 

wee= little. you probably already know that one, but they actually say it...all the time!!!

oh, and other differences. these are to do with food, specifically ketchup. one, they have these things called bacon rolls (basically a roll with bacon and butter in it) and they put ketchup on it. to sound totally uncultured, ew. secondly, they put ketchup on french toast. NEVER syrup. funny!

Faithful

Tonight at the Christian Union, the speaker shared a great quote from St. Augustine. "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee." Tonight was a great reminder that I have to center myself around God, and when I do, He is faithful. 

Colds and Ceilidhs

Colds: not so good. Ceilidhs: totally make up for them. I am spending today recovering from the choice to go to my second ceilidh last night. I just couldn't resist. For those who don't know, ceilidhs (cay-lees) are scottish dances, and SO MUCH FUN. I don't even like to dance. Steph, you would love it. They are kind of like the very energetic, easy version of those dances you see in Pride and Prejudice. Or...scottish square dancing. Somewhere between the two. The best part has to be when you hold hands with your partner and they spin you around as fast as they can. Plus, there are an enormous amount of Northern Irish students at Stirling, so I definitely wasn't the only one having to learn the dances. All in all, it had to be one of the best nights so far. 

I posted a picture of my first ceilidh I went to, set up by the church in Glasgow. It was just as great, PLUS it had a live fiddler and all the guys were in kilts. How great is that?

New and Old Friends

Tonight I went to a bible study through Stirling's Christian Union, which is kind of like their version of Campus Crusade. I loved the group and everyone was super welcoming. We just played games, and they didn't even make fun of me for not being able to wink in the game murder. Nice, right? On one side, I am kind of bummed I am just staying a semester.  There are so many great people to meet, and I know that a semester won't be enough when it comes to those friendships. 

On the other side though, I have never appreciated my friends from back home as much as I do now. I love them SO MUCH and it kills me to see them going on with life without me, whether that means dying hair black (love you Steph) or playing dye wars on retreats. 

With all of this going on in my head though, I am becoming more and more grateful for God's faithfulness. In the end, it will be him who is always with me, not my friends, family, or even twin sister. 

A Swiss Sister

One of the best parts of the trip was getting to reconnect. That and playing with her camera.

Names

Caitlin Caitlin Caitlin. Without Bailey for people to confuse me with, everyone says my name. I love it.

First Week in Stirling

Today marks my first week in Stirling. I have been dreading writing this post, because I don't know how to sum it up. I should have been writing more often, but I had quite a lot on my plate already. So, how to describe the week? Overwhelming, surprisingly hard, different...but also good. Here are some highlights that describe the week:

1. Running to my plane only to find I had 8 minutes to spare.

2. Meeting my 5 roommates. 2 Americans, 1 Maltan, 1 German, and 1 Mexican.

3. Breaking down in the computer lab on campus as I facebook chatted with Bailey on Monday.

4. Having a bonding moment with my roommates one morning as we sat around in the hall in pjs. 

5. Planting chrysanthemums in mugs and watching them bloom.

6. Watching Stirling's rugby team and trying to decipher what they were doing. Intense game! And SHORT shorts. 

7. Making toasties with the Christian Union for people coming out of the pub, bar, and club on campus (only in Scotland, right?) Toasties are the most delicious things ever. They are grilled cheese, but made in sandwich presses, and you can put whatever you want in them. The winner so far: cheese and tomato. Nutella, marshmallow and banana is also delicious.

Anyway, that kind of sums of the week. If you want details on anything though (ie toasties), I love emails :)

Finished!

I feel that it is appropriate that I finished my "Scotland: The Story of a Nation" book the day before I leave for Stirling. Perfect timing, right? For those of you who don't know, this dense, 692 page book has been my constant companion for the last few months. Okay...well, not constant. The closer I got to the end of summer though, the more constant it became. I was determined to finish it before I began my semester abroad. Although I started it pretty hesitantly (not even a history major can find Pictish kings THAT interesting), the further I read, the more I found myself enjoying the content. I fell head over heals in love with Mary, Queen of Scots (cliche, I know). I got goose bumps while reading about the Covenanters (look them up). And (confession time) I got a little teary when I read about the last Parliament in 1707.

I thought I would share a funny quote with you. Charles II had numerous mistresses, one of them being Nell Gwyn, a Protestant. At the time, there was quite a lot of hostility towards Catholics. One day she was in her carriage and was stoned by people who thought she was one of the Catholic mistresses. She lowered her window and said: "Pray, good people, be civil. I am the Protestant whore!" 

Misadventures

I have had a busy last few days. Jess took me to meet her host family from when she studied in the french-speaking part of Switzerland. We even took a ferry to France for an hour! Of course, I over packed, stuffing everything in a huge red backpack with the Swiss flag on it. Hm...could I be a tourist? Besides having to lug around the beast of a backpack, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and loved meeting the family of nine. Seven kids. Seven! They lived in this great, rambling farmhouse in a tiny village. The next day Jessica, her host brother Arnaoud (a name I could not pronounce- to the amusement of others), and I visited another town, Bielle. It was quite a day of bad luck, and I think we missed almost every train/bus/boat we planned on taking. In Bielle, Arnaoud took us to the restaurant where he worked as a chef and treated us to an appetizer. Who knew that roast beef could be that delicious? I am posting some pictures of the trip as well.

Tomorrow is my last day before heading to Scotland. Exciting!!

Walking

This afternoon I went on a "walk" with Jessica's mom, Judith. When she asked if I wanted to go on a walk by the river, I was imagining a leisurely stroll, stopping to put our feet in, etc. My first doubts started when she came out carrying walking poles. Suddenly I wasn't nearly as keen on going. And she walked FAST. At least in the beginning. And anyone who knows me knows how slow of a walker I am. Thank goodness for the rocky ground that slowed her down. The scenery was definitely worth the speed though. Switzerland is gorgeous!!

Chocolate!

Yesterday I went to a chocolate factory. Amazing!! They have free, unlimited samples. Jessica and I brought water bottles to make sure we could eat as much chocolate as possible, but we were still disappointed in ourselves. We thought we could do much better. 

Today, Jessica had a wedding to go to so I went with her mom to see a nearby castle. Soo pretty. Honestly, I might have I liked it more than Edinburgh Castle. That is a heavy "might" though. Edinburgh was great as well. My favorite room that I saw today had to be the parlor, which was decorated as it was in the 18th century. It seriously looked like it came right out of a Jane Austen novel, and even had an old piano (or the forerunner to the piano) in the corner. Perfect!

Even though I love my days in Switzerland, I am getting antsy to get to Scotland. I have been researching some of the churches in the area, and found one that looks pretty great. Some people in Glasgow even recommended it. It looks like they have a solid student group, and even have an outreach that is similar to what I was doing in the UK.  Exciting!!

Glory

I thought I would share a verse that I read this morning. Sometimes, reading the bible, I just skim through the words and don't really take them in. But when you really pay attention, what it says is pretty amazing. "To this (being saved) he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 2: 14) By submitting to Him and relying on Him as the ruler of our lives, we will share in God's glory. It's insane.

Switzerland

I'm in Switzerland! As I write this, I can actually here their bell tower chiming the hour. How great is that? The last few days have been good- but hard. It is strange not to have Bailey here with me, and I have to make sure I stay busy as not to dwell on it. Which is something Jessica has done a great job with. Today we went to visit a reconstructed village in the southern part of the country, giving me the chance to see the GORGEOUS countryside. I just couldn't get over it. Yesterday was just as fun, the highlight being a going away party that we went to for Jess' godmother's son. He is about our age, so most of the guests were also college-aged. I was pretty apprehensive, as I don't speak any Swiss German, but I had a great time. There were a number of people that took pity on me and talked with me in English. At one point everyone was singing Happy Birthday to one of the guests in English, which was funny. Instead of "birthday," the whole group sang "birfsday." It was like my own, private joke. Not that I should be speaking at all. I have felt pretty slow the last few days, not knowing a word of Swiss German, High German, or French. I am painfully American.

As much as I am loving Switzerland, I can't wait to get back to Scotland. When I was there I just fell in love with it. Everyone was so friendly, even when I couldn't understand a word they said. (Side note: who knew the Scottish accent could be so hard to understand??)

To end this, I would just like to apologize for any weird phrasing that I might have used. After three days talking with only Swiss people, I have started to think like they talk in English...if that makes sense.