travel confusions

I am having a hard time trying to figure out travelling and I have this odd feeling that, because it is so expensive and I don't know what to do, I will be in St Andrews a lot... I hope that is not the case. My family wants to go to Ireland when the come visit and I want to go too, we just have to figure out the most cost-efficeient way of getting there. It is hard because for us non-Europeans, the strength of the pound sterling and euro makes it very expensive. So that's only when my family comes...I don't know what I'm going to do when my spring break comes and I have two weeks off. I have a bunch of places I'd like to go, first and foremost being around the country I came here to visit in the first place, Scotland. In Scotland, I want to go to Stirling (which I will do in about a week and a half with Justine), and just more generally, I want to go explore the highlands. My program has a trip planned for two weekends from now to Loch Lomond that I am skipping so Justine and I can go somewhere and they have a trip to the Isle of Skye which I am excited for. Besides Scotland, I want to visit: Dublin, Paris (Molly), London, Rome (the Vatican), Norway (Oslo), and Germany (my roommate!). I don't know if all of these things are within reach with the restraints in place, but I am going to try...

Anyway, I'll let you in on what's been going on around House 32, Albany Park. Thursday, I had classes at the usual time of 2-5 pm, meaning I didn't do a whole lot during the day. After class, I went home and ate some more of that soup I made. I have found this is a fantastic way of saving money! I used maybe half a head of broccoli, some potatoes, and some chicken stock which did not cost me a lot and I ate for almost 4+ meals! My friends and I went to a comedy night which was good, except for the first act. He was horrible! He wasn't funny at all, but I felt bad because nobody laughed at any of his jokes...it was rough. The other acts were good though! After that, we were going to go to a jazz show but we got to the Byre Theatre and there wasn't any jazz going on, and it looked like if there was going to be any, it was going to be solo piano. We opted out of that and decided to go play cards at New Hall. We stopped at Tesco on the way there and I decided that since I am in Scotland and I like scotch whisky, I am going to get some. I bought a 15 yr old Highland Park single malt scotch. It is good...and I will share with you if you come visit! :D I probably shouldn't have because it is more expensive here in Scotland than anywhere else...but it was one thing I was going to do while in Scotland. It was my first time actually purchasing alcohol from a store! I didn't even get carded! :D After cards, I went back to AP and went to bed. A weird thing happened while I was sleeping...I was asleep and must have curled up against the wall and in my dreams, I decided to curl up against the wall (hmm...I was already there...) and ended up smacking my head on the wall. It was odd...

So Friday...I woke up around 8:30 and got ready for class at 9. I didn't have breakfast which was a poor decision because I was very hungry! After my tutorial, I came back to AP and finished off the rest of that soup I made! I then took a 2.5 hr. nap until I woke up and had class at 4. After class, I exchanged the rest of the USD I brought and was sadly disappointed (for the third time) by how my money was more than cut in half...80 dollars and 38 pounds. It is quite sad. Later that night, I met up with my friends and went to David Russell Apartments (the polar opposite of town) and played some more cards. It was fun, but not really as much fun as the night before. After playing cards, we walked back to town, essentally good for me because it's like walking home where we split up and I went with my pals Pat and Katie to the Union bar. We hung out there for a while and just talked and had a pint of Guinness. They drink much faster than me, which is great because I can enjoy mine longer. After that pint, we left and went to the Kinness Fry Bar which is open late. I got some chicken nuggets (which was ok because it wasn't Friday anymore and I could eat meat! FYI...Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent.) After that, Pat came with Katie and me back to AP and parted ways with them and went to bed.

Today is a cloudy day and I'm out of my soup I made...I am thinking another low cost meal to make is spaghetti...I might try that tonight. The sauce won't be nearly as good as homemade, but it will make due. I gotta find some good things to make for when Justine comes! Only 6 more days!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!!