Sweet!

So I got a package from Lauren on Monday! She is so sweet to have sent me Halloween candy and CHEETOS! haha.

Life is crazy and I'm pretty cranky right now. Everything is just driving me crazy, but I know it is due to this paper being my only grade. After Friday, I should be back to normal...at least I hope so!

Well I can't write too much today as I am trying to finish getting this paper cranked out, but I may post later on tonight!

Tuesday!

Ok, so sorry for the lack of posts. My one and only grade for Health Policy Analysis is due this Friday, so I have been locked up in various locations reading, reading, and reading. I have an intense outline (pretty much an essay), but for some reason have writer's block and can't just write the essay. Oh well!

Yesterday I got a Reader's Ticket to the National Library which is really exciting! They don't just let anybody get one, so I feel really privileged and special. :) I had to "order" the books I want to look at last night, and I am going now to read them. You can't take them home as the library is just a reference library. So I will have to take tons of notes or apply to have some stuff photocopied. YES, apply for them to photocopy it. Everything is really strict and regulated.

After applying and getting my ticket, Megan and I went back to the postgrad room to work. Being a single girl who doesn't consider herself a freak is sometimes hard. Megan began to play the 'what-if' game about her ex. So I immediately cranked up the iTunes on my computer for a spontaneous dance party. Megan was laughing so hard cause I was doing my stupid silly dances that most of you have seen before and that I utilize with my nieces. Our friend Rob was there too and was reluctant to dance with us at first, but he gave in after some peer pressure (and some forced dancing situations when we danced on him). So at 10:00 PM yesterday three 20-somethings were having a dance party in a study room!!! hahahha. I wish I had a video of it cause it was hilarious and my story is not doing it justice. We were there until almost 2!!!! At the end I took a power nap thinking that would get me going, but it just made me sleepier. So we all walked home. Mom, don't freak Rob walked me all the way to my door for safety and then the poor guy walked 40 minutes home. Nice boy!

Ibuprofen Gel

Dearest Jackie,

Yes ibuprofen gel is a topical pain killer. It works very well for an hour or so! Unfortunately I do not think you can walk into the nearest Walgreens and purchase this miracle ointment.

Love Ibuprofen Addict #1

In other news, today was an interesting day. After lunch Megan, John, and I got onto the elevator to come to our study room. As the door was closing 2 bigger girls decided to get on. As soon as they were both on an alarm started going off. It was the OVERWEIGHT alarm. hahahahaha. The weight limit is 750 kg which is ALOT, so either they weighed a ton or something was wrong. Our friend John got his hair cut today. He has blonde curly hair, but because this is Europe his stylist straightened for him. Because he said no one at home would believe it, he had us take pictures of it.

I am working on getting my costume ready for tomorrow night! I'm going as the Wicked Witch of the West Side, so I am dressing ghetto. It should be really funny, so I'll take alot of pictures. Other than that I have a full weekend of reading, writing, reading, writing, and eating. Lots of eating.

Midsummer Night's Dream

I just got home from an AMAZING showing of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream." The performers were a troupe from South India. They used ropes and fabric to do a Cirque de Soleil-esque show! It was soooo cool, and the costumes were beautiful - BRIGHT COLORS!

Running is so amazing right now. We have been running beneath Arthur's Seat on the Innocent Railway. The path is absolutely gorgeous and so natural. Megan and I ate fresh blackberries right off the path yesterday! haha. Just being in nature makes me feel so healthy!

BUT my foot is just aching and aching. I am now pretty much glued to my ibuprofen gel and my bottle of pills. The tendinitis is way worse, so running is completely out of the question for now. Trainers are now part of my attire which completely pisses me off. Skinny jeans, cute tops, and scarves DO NOT look good with huge trainers. I am so upset about not running because I have been getting runner's high and so happy after running. Just pray that my foot heals VERY soon.

I got a package from my mom which was wonderful. It contained Puffy Cheetos and a rain jacket. I have eaten all the Puffy Cheetos and worn the jacket.

That is all for now folks! It is 11 PM and I have school tomorrow.
:(

Block One - CHECK!

So Block One is pretty much complete! Yay - that is one of four down. Feeling pretty good about it. I am currently working on a pretty intense essay for one of the two classes that ended last week. The other class has an exam in December which means I have 5 weeks to forget the information. AWESOME.

The weekend was crazy. Friday night we went bowling again. Here is a picture of my form.

It was the usual group - Megan, Moritz, John, Rob, Fiona, Fiona's man, and ME! Bowling is so fun that I want to go everyday, but clearly that's not an option. After bowling we went to Henry's cellar which was a hole in the wall cellar bar. They were playing indie freak music, but I loved the place. We clearly stuck out in our jeans, cute tops, etc. They were all dreads, thrift store clothes, etc. Have no fear, they played Kelly Clarkson!!! Rock on! ha. People like that are my favs though...they had chocolate covered marshmallows and jelly worms that they passed out to everyone. I was waiting for the weed tray to be passed around, but it never happened. haha.

Saturday was more low key. We watched the Rugby World Cup final - England vs. South Africa. South Africa won which was good since we live in Scotland, and the Scottish didn't really want the English to win. It was 3 girls and 1 boy watching. We drank white wine and ate profiteroles (pastry filled with creme that you dip in chocolate sauce). haha. Poor John...he was subjected to discussions of boobs, boys, drama, etc. He's a good sport.

A girl on our program had a wine and cheese party that night too. We got there about an hour before it was supposed to end. Oh well! The girl had passed out before we got there - LAME! Because we were the party, we left for Dropkick Murphy's. After doing the eye-flirt game with a guy and deciding he was lame, we left.

Our new thing is to exchange lame pick up lines, so if you have Facebook and notice alot on my wall now you know.

I bought some more slim jeans! I love them...I also got a gray pair. Yes, colored denim is cool here and I'm down with it!

I am also running again which is so awesome. I had a long run today and feel amazing (why I'm still up). BUT my left foot had tendinitis and is in serious pain. Ibuprofen rub and pills are getting me through. There is no way for me to "stay off it" cause I walk EVERYWHERE! I guess I could stop running, but the emotional and physical high is addictive. So Mom, don't freak when you read this! :)

That's pretty much it for now!

Thursday!

The weekend is almost here, and I can barely stand it. Just 2 more classes standing in the way! Yay. So the past few days have been great. It is getting cold here, but I keep forgetting to dress warmly. Oh well! It starts off decent in the mornings, but I always stay at school or with friends until after dark. My walk home is usually quite cold, but I kind of like it. :)

Yesterday at 4 PM I saw a severely drunk guy walking down my sidewalk. He was soooo drunk that he kept falling of the curb, running into walls, almost hitting people, etc. Unfortunately he had also peed down his pant leg. Sick! So I kept a VERY comfortable distance behind him. After he passed my door, I ran inside very quickly. haha.

Really that is all my exciting news for today. Sorry it is lame, but I know Katie, Jena, Jackie, and Allison like to read this. So ladies here it is! ha. I have my first assignment due in 2 Fridays. Each class only has one graded assessment and this one is a paper. Quite nervous, but I hope Rhodes taught me well!

I should have something more interesting after the weekend! We are already working out the plans and it is looking promising!

Quick Update

This weekend was good. Got alot of work done.

Friday went to a place called Dropkick Murphy's to just hang out with some friends. Ended up staying out until 3 AM. haha. I got 6 grown males to dance around the table in our booth to songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Mustang Sally". haha....soooo proud of myself!

Saturday was relaxed. Just read and watched rugby. England and France played each other in the semi-finals of the World Cup. England won, so there was mixed emotion at the pub where Tracey and I watched the match. Some people were happy, but the die hard Scotland fans were angry. hehe. Tracey and I then ate alot of Chocolate Oatmeal Candy and pizza. Yummy!

Sunday was very relaxed. And today I spent 8 hours in the post grad rooms reading. For most of the day it was just my friend Rob and I reading and chatting. He is a really cool guy with tons of crazy life stories. He lived in Uganda for a year working with a water sanitation NGO. VERY VERY COOL! He is also a rugby fanatic, so rugby always works its way into the conversation. I was in that room so long that I ended up using my scarf and sweater as a pillow to take a nap. haha, but coming home would have meant going to bed.

I didn't leave until 6, and wouldn't have come home if this creeper in our class hadn't showed up. He is in his 40s and hasn't cut his hair in 3 years. I know cause he told me. He used to be a truck driver, but got injured so went back to school. He ended up on our program because he mistakenly got an email from our department. So here he is!

Megan told me the freak completely looked me up and down during my presentation (SICK). Anywho, he got to the post grad room around 6 pm. Rob, Tracey, and I were all chatting and didn't notice his arrival. Tracey left, so Rob and I went back to our stuff only to find him sitting there. I quickly began to pack up as Rob gave me the "let's get the hell out of here" look. After an awkward 5 minutes of the creeper's random chatter, we escaped. haha. I then went to my favorite coffee shop to read.

While at Beanscene I had the pleasure of being on a date. No, it wasn't actually me on the date, but I could CLEARLY hear the entire conversation of 2 people on a date. They had never met as this was one of those Internet hook up things. She was from Bulgaria and he was from Scotland. He thinks she is more attractive in person than in her picture. They discussed how they both read palms and tarot cards. He used to meditate, but is now using an alternative method of relaxation as it takes him "to a much deeper dimension of personal experience." OH OK! haha. The guy used to play the guitar, but after an injury to the hand can only play the sax. In case you were wondering, no he cannot just freestyle. 3 years of playing isn't quite enough time for that according to him! I swear that is the only date I've been on in over a month. Oh Freaking well!

Megan came to read also, so I was saved from the torture that was the internet date occurring next to me!

Sorry for the delay in a post

Happy 50th Mom!!!

Today Teresa is 50!!!!!! Yay. And now that I have told the world my mom is going to kill me. :) I felt kind of sad all day about missing this huge day for my mom, but luckily her boyfriend is taking her out. At least she had that.

I made my first batch of Chocolate Oatmeal Candy (ever and in Scotland). If you are in my Dad's family, you know how AMAZING this is. If you are everyone else, you should learn. I will send you the recipe. It was somewhat hard to gauge if they taste right or not. It was also hard to make it as things such as a stick of butter don't exist here. Luckily Google can tell you that 1 stick of butter is 113 g, and 1/4 of the block of butter I got equaled 50 grams. So I guess that is about right.

People on my program have started gathering on Thursday afternoons at a pub across from school. There was a pretty big group, but only 1 boy. Pretty typical as there are just a handful on our program. The group was lucky enough to be the recipients of my Chocolate Oatmeal Candy. haha.

Fun Night out for Tracey's Birthday. Forgive the awkward way I am standing. No, I am not suddenly super flexible in the hip/waist region.

My presentation in Policy Analysis went ok. Just glad to have it over and done. Speaking in public is not my forte. Yes, I can chat with anyone (even walls), but speaking about significant material in front of a large group creates a mental block. My heart begins to race. The cheeks feel as if they are on fire. Giggling becomes the way I feel empty time, although I did not do this yesterday!!! HUGE. To celebrate 3 members of the group went bowling last night. I bowled a 102, and that is my personal best for sure. I am pretty sure an 83 was previous best.

I also don't have to go to that gala with Callum which is making my life a lot less stressful. Now I can read and just hang out here this weekend!

Oh, and Casey will be so proud of me! I just saw a drug deal go down. 3 nasty looking girls were shadily standing at the entryway to a laundry facility. As I walked up they all started shuffling around and passing something to each other. Then 2 went inside still shuffling between each other whatever it was they bought. The hooker who sold the shit pranced off in her "classy" black leather boots. These disgusting shoes were clearly pleather (plastic leather) with silver chains and a silver heel. I am going to the high street tomorrow to get a pair. So I now feel cultured and worthy of Casey's awe.

Case of the Mondays

First of all I am seriously going through a state of confusion. My life was smooth sailing, but now I am starting to contemplate the future. If I want to do a PhD, some applications are due in December. I also need to decide if that is an option as funding and scholarship deadlines are shortly there after. So my life is getting busy, hectic, and slightly stressful. I am still so happy to be here and enjoying every minute of it.

I have my first presentation on Wednesday in my seminar for Health Policy Analysis (don't be jealous), and I am not stressed. Amazingly! But I do feel some pressure for the content to be well placed and relevant to the discussion. I also want what I have to say to be provocative and cause conversation amongst the group. My course director (not a professor...only chairs of departments are professors. Everyone else is "only" a doctor) is a leading researcher for tobacco companies and their influence on policy, so he knows everything. haha.

My part of the presentation (it is a group project) is covering the pharmaceutical industry's regulatory capture of various agencies. In layman's terms, I am discussing the ability of Big Pharma to boss the US government around. Then through the USA's corrupt trade agreements with various countries and its ability to have formed the World Trade Organization, Big Pharma can charge astronomical prices everywhere! How considerate...assholes. So that is my rant for the day. You are welcome for that bit of education. hehe

Katie and Jackie will be visiting soon, and that really excites me. They have no knowledge of this trip, but I know it is going to happen. And if it doesn't I will crawl up in a ball and cry until they get here (guilt trip ladies).

I have a ton of work to get done through the week and this weekend. Callum wants me to attend a gala in Glasgow for Scottish pro and amateur golfers. Main problems are the amount of work I have to do this weekend, lack of a fancy dress, must take a train and taxi there by myself (he will already be there), and won't even be at same table as him. So not sure what will happen with that. Will sort that out tomorrow.

Must go to sleep! Too many late nights of reading and typing.

Oh Bugger

So yesterday (it is 2:15 AM) was a beautiful day as I already mentioned. I ended up sleeping away the afternoon. The plan was to have a night in by myself. I do need some quality "me" time. I love hanging out with everyone, but you know how it is. Being independent and doing things alone has always been what I enjoyed. So after the nice long nap, I ate 4 snack packs of Pringles. Gross I know, but I need some serious junk food mailed here ASAP. Please mail me puffy cheetos!!!!!!! I will pay you if you do.

Megan and I went to a ghost tour, but it was sold out. Supposedly it is a 5 star attraction. haha. Our friend Moritz already had a ticket, so he and his group went ahead. He later informed us it was good and we should all go. So when you get here (hint) we can all go to Mary King's Close for the ghost tour. Closes by the way are just tiny alleys. The old town buildings are built on top of each other. So some streets are called bridges cause they actually go over other roads...even when it doesn't look like there is anything below them. Old town is literally buildings stacked onto other buildings. So there are lots of stairs, hills, and CLOSES. ha

Went to Oddfellows AGAIN. Kind of becoming our meeting place. I took a picture of a lamp they have there. It is literally a life-sized horse with a lamp shade on its head. haha.

We went to Revolution after leaving Oddfellows because we had some "Debbie downers" in our group who "just aren't club people". So after wasting 30 minutes there we went to Lulu again, but we got there a little before 1. Must get there earlier as everyone else wants to go there too. There was a massive queue (line). We waited 20 minutes and then punked out and went home. Luckily our friend Rob was there and gave us a ride home. AWESOME! Saved my cover charge and the 1 pound fee for the bus home. Overall still a good night.

Miss and Love you all!

Working for the Weekend

So this week was wonderful! School is soooooo much easier here. Like 1/2 the reading at Rhodes. No assessments or essays until the end of the semester. So I just spend my days reading for class, thinking about health inequalities, contemplating what my future holds, meditating (which is absolutely amazing if you haven't tried it), walking, observing, and over all just loving my life right now. I have never been so relaxed or able to just let things roll off my back. I won't say that things are just slipping off my back, but perhaps they are going over with a little less resistance. I'm still stubborn, still desire to always be right, and still love being the center of attention. ha

Last night a group went to Oddfellows again. It was so fun because we got a ton of new people to come with us. I just asked in class if anyone wanted to go bowling and started getting phone numbers! My job at UTCI planning meetings and parties is paying off!! haha. We decided to go bowling on Wednesday instead cause it's 1/2 price and you have to reserve a lane. Oh well. Still very fun. I had a girl from Ireland trying to imitate my Southern accent. Might be the funniest thing I've seen/heard in a while.

Picture of me in my "skinny jeans". They aren't as "skinny" as some available here. Alot of girls wear them so tight they look like leggings because they are tight all the way to the ankle. Sorry it is crooked. For some reason my roommate didn't quite understand my "take the picture vertically" command. OH well. You get the point.

We all wanted to go dancing. Some girls went to change and took a little longer than normal, but that was OK. What wasn't OK is that we just sat there and waited on them when we should have worked on figuring out a place to go. The person supposedly figuring out which club would be most fun kept going back and forth on where to go. I'm not patient enough for that. When I want to dance I just want to dance. ha. I started to get super bitchy cause no one could decide what to do, and we were just sitting there. Then a girl on a program decided she would flirt with a guy by throwing paper at him. So fifth grade if you ask me! Completely got on my nerves. By the time the girls got back to us from changing, I was just a bitter, pouty bitch. So unfortunately I was cranky and just went home. But I hope that Megan and the rest had a nice time!

I got up this morning to run with Tracey. We went to the Meadows and it is an absolutely beautiful day. Full sun. I even wore a t-shirt and shorts. Kind of cool in the shade, but extremely comfortable in the sun. We ended up taking about 2 hours to run and walk around the park. Oops! That did include about a 20 minute bathroom break when we had to hike to the student union to find one. There were families, people with dogs, rugby teams, soccer teams, a 5k run, and other things happening in this park today. The amazing thing about the weather being crummy here a good bit of the time is that when it is sunny EVERYBODY goes to the parks. It is so fun to just people watch.

Ok, well I must shower now and go read. Miss and love you all!

First one to book their flight gets a special Scottish prize. So get booking slow pokes.

Update for Last Post

Ok, so although in my last post I said I was losing weight I am not doing it on purpose. I eat like a PIG over here, but walking at least 4 miles a day makes it hard to gain weight. In America I wore a 6-8 and ate fast food everyday....without exercising. So right now my body is just finding its natural weight. I am really eating a lot of vegetables, fruit, falafel, cheese, meats, etc etc. I was being really healthy until last week when I had a week of fried food. This week I am back to eating healthy. But I still have the occasional Coke cause they make me feel good...even though they taste nothing like Sonic's.

I sleep well here and wake up not feeling tired at all. I have never ever experienced that! So this post may be boring, but I didn't want anyone to think I'm like going anorexic or anything. Just living a much healthier lifestyle than people in America do (in general). Also my program has enlightened me to the ways people suffer from food-related illness. In poor countries they suffer from malnutrition. In rich countries people are obese - they call this an illness of affluence. So if ever you thought about losing weight or eating healthier, now is the time. When you sit down to eat a whole tub of ice cream just think how lucky you are! And then put the damn thing back in the freezer.

So I will post a picture of me in my skinny jeans soon. I have asked around if any of my friends have one, but no one has one. Somehow we all take a picture or two each time we go out, but because we took a few on each camera it always feels like a ton were taken. Then we end up with like 5. Weird.

Just Keep Running

I bought some new trainers (running shoes) yesterday. I am really excited about them cause I got them properly fitted at a running store. My goal while living here is to start running again. I am eating healthier and losing weight naturally. Running would just be another way to get myself super healthy. Jackie, I wish I had you here to run with me...and then we could use your little counter for doing laps.

That is really the only update I have so far. Classes are still going well. Just had to do a serious bandage job on my heels...had some super crazy blisters that started bleeding while walking to class. GROSS!!! Luckily some girls in my class were nice enough to give me a band-aid and some disinfectant.

Will post soon! Pictures too.

I Miss Home!

I am missing home and everyone there. Just talked to my mom on Skype which always makes me a little sad. I miss our kind of Mexican food with free chips and salsa. I miss Chinese take out from Wang's in Memphis with Casey. I miss my little baby Annabelle. Miss my sisters and nieces. I miss eating Chik-fil-a with my mom and then walking around Target "for exercise". I miss seeing Kristin, Kori and Colton on a regular basis. I even miss Uncle Jim haha.


My mama is gonna kill me for this picture. But I miss her. :)

My little babies when we went to the circus. Such cuties!


Katie and Jackie I think about you so often it hurts. I wish you were both here to share this experience with me. But I know that no matter how much I miss each one of you, I am making new lifelong friendships and memories.

And I am getting the chance of a lifetime. So I feel completely blessed to be here following what I truly believe is God's plan for me. My classes and readings are opening my eyes to just why it is I landed on this program. Applying for programs was liking walking blind, but I had faith that I would end up where I should be. I am here as a testament to the idea that what will happen will happen no matter what adversity you must overcome.

There are so many inequalities in this world and most relate to health care. I won't blab on about all this, but just believe me when I say I leave the library pretty mad some days. Some days I have to go get a Coke just to chill out about the tragic stuff I'm reading. Clearly Coke is my drug of choice. I lasted about a week before the harsh readings began and ultimately the coke obsession renewed. I honestly wasn't sure how strong of a person I was until I came here. My ideas and thought processes are challenged everyday, and although this makes me uncomfortable I am loving this experience. There are so many cultural differences I am having to wade through in order to properly communicate with classmates, everyday people on the street, professors, and my roommates.

Alot of people on my program are from Africa, Canada, and America. America is honestly a breeding ground for self-centered people. It is amazing how big business can manipulate our government in the chase for the almighty dollar. Many days I sit in a great amount of discomfort during discussions of the US and its role in international health care. My old job is interesting when I consider it compared to what I'm learning. I was obviously doing alot of illegal things and didn't know it. Using drug companies to promote my boss's agenda did not improve health care. It actually was a waste of money. So I will stop my rant there. I have been in the library and a coffee shop for the entire day reading. Coke and hot chocolate were needed during this reading session. :)

So do know I think of you often. I can't wait for Christmas to see everybody. I want you all to come here so bad I can taste it. Please check your schedules. I know cheap things to do, good restaurants, fun bars and clubs, and most importantly how to get around the city! So if it seems like I am begging, that is because I am.