This weekend

Okay, I had an exciting day, finally! Highland Annual, basically, and also my couchsurfing friends.

First of all, Friday afternoon I hiked around Holyrood Park, to the summit of Arthur’s Seat, but also to St. Anthony’s Chapel (a nice little ruin-ed chapel) and the Radical Road, which goes around the base of Salisbury Crags, and which a Shooglenifty tune is named after. I took lots of pictures, which are all online, including one that’s really artsy and nice of the sunset and clouds over the Crags.

I finished and burned a copy of a mix that I made for a friend at Conn, but which I think I’m going to use as my standard “make me a mix/I’ll make you a mix” mix. It’s awesome. All A+ songs, arranged nicely, and tailored around the edges to make them flow nicely.

So, the Highland Annual. It’s a big annual ceilidh (=traditional dance party), which this year one of my FolkSoc friends did most of the planning for. It happened in the Teviot Student Union building, and there were several different locations with different things happening. There was a jam session in the Middle Bar, where I played with the FolkSoc crowd for a little while; good fun. Then in the Debating Hall upstairs, there was the ceilidh, where all the dancing was happening. Downstairs in another room was a concert area. So, basically, it was like a mini-NEFFA, except all Scottish. And with the usual amount of alcohol for any Scottish event. I didn’t like the dancing as much as contra, partly because I know contra, partly because one of the dances was excessively repetitive, and partly because the band was rather oom-pah (yes, that’s an adjective, and you know exactly what I mean). Aside from it not being contra, the dancing was fun. The most interesting thing about that part of the night, though, was a guy who was next to me in one of the dances. He was wearing a kilt (as I was, coincidentally) and a white laced shirt. He had long blond hair in a ponytail (“He looked like Fabio” -my friend Sarah), and apparently had killer, massive calves. To paraphrase Sarah, “He was a Man”. I think he may have been the most authentically Scottish person I’ve seen so far.

I unfortunately had to leave at 11, for I had to meet my couchsurfers at the Couchsurfing meet. Let me explain: it just so happens that the same night that I had these people staying with me, there was a gathering of Edinburgh people on the Couchsurfing network. So, we had arranged that I would meet them there at 11. I did. We went into the back room of this pub, where the event was. It was really crowded, and a live band was playing. It was pretty cool. I met the guy who had organized this meet, who also happens to be my “friend” on Last.FM, this social music website. That’s because he listens to the same kind of music that I do. Anyways, after a short while, Martin, Ugne, and I (they’re my couchsurfers) left.

Martin is 22, from Malaga in Spain, a computer guy, a juggler, tall, a smoker, wears Bono-esque glasses, and has long, slightly-dreaded dark hair. I’m not the best judge in the world, but I’d say he’s pretty darn attractive. I think the phrase “smoking hot” might apply, too. Ugne is 27, from Vilnus in Lithuania. She has a masters in marketing, and met Martin when she was traveling in Spain a few years ago. She’s rather gorgeous too, in a slightly Slavic way. They both love to travel, and each other. They’ve been living in Galway, Ireland, for a year, saving up for a long trip to South America. They’re moving to Malaga shortly to earn more money, because they’re both tired of the weather in Ireland. They’re both really nice, and both of them, while having noticeable accents, have decent English. Ugne’s is better, but not by that much. They’re staying until Tuesday evening, so I’d best like them. Tonight they’re coming to see The Queen with me, then tomorrow we’re climbing Arthur’s Seat. Ooh, actually, I’m sick, so I might not. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I passed up going out to the museum with them today, for that reason. I also didn’t sleep too well last night. It’s still uncomfortable having near-strangers sleeping in my room, even if they are nice. Oh well, all my most important valuables AKA my passport are secreted away safely.

Oh, so I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized there are only 3 weeks left of classes, until Spring Break. That’s scary. It also means that if I’m going to write one of these optional formative essays for my classes, I’d better get on it pretty soon. I also need to get on buying a Eurail pass NOW. Their website didn’t like my computer, or vice versa, so I’m going to try on the computer lab computers, but if that doesn’t work, I may have to ask my lovely parents to buy it, because I hear it might ship to the US before coming here anyway. The reason for that is the Eurail pass is just for non-EU citizens; there’s a different pass, the InterRail, for Europeans.

Okay, that’s it for now. Hope everyone’s doing peachily. I miss you all, and will hopefully see you again reasonably soon.
-Alex