I can’t believe that I only have two months left in Europe. Being abroad still seems like a bit of a dream… one that I am very happy to wake up to every day. For the past week the weather has been absolutely gorgeous here— low seventies which is extremely rare for Edinburgh. I have been walking around with a huge smile on my face and have spent the past few afternoons lounging in an immense field of grass called the meadows. Students are everywhere… throwing frisbees, grilling, and soaking up the sun. Everyone is wearing shorts in an attempt to will the weather to continue. I don’t know if it will but it was fun while it lasted.
The past week has also been filled with campaigners for student elections. I always thought that student elections were crazy at GW… candidates waking up before dawn to poster the school, palm cards being given out outside of the student center and colorful posters everywhere. Student elections at GW are NOTHING compared to elections at Edinburgh. First of all, there are a lot more positions for people to run for and all of the candidates take their platforms extremely seriously. They do “accomodation runs” where they come knock on your door and give you a two minute speech about why they should be X position. They poster every single free space on campus. They all make speeches at the beginning of every single class and there are big signs everywhere that urge students to come out and vote. I have not absorbed one name of a candidate aside from Hazel Marzetti— and only because that name sounds cool. One guy took his speech in class to a whole new level and had jazz musicians playing in the background. Although I am not voting (can’t remember any of their platforms or names and the vote does not affect me) I am very impressed.
I have had an incredible past week. I went to go see The Hunger Games which I had been anticipating for weeks, I spent some time with my amazing uncle, Oded, who came from Israel to visit me, and I continued to plan my trips for the next two months. I am in my second to last week of classes which is absolutely mind blowing and the classes are definitely perking up my level of interest. Although I think that Scottish Identity has been talked about way too much in my Scottish Literature class, I keep thinking about what was said about Edinburgh and Glasgow by one of the lecturers. He said that these cities were disregarded because no one ever wrote about them. New York, Paris, London, Rome; these are the cities of literature and have inspired dreams of hope and love. Edinburgh and Glasgow are thought of as industrial workers who speak funny. As I’ve gotten to know more and more Scottish people I keep thinking about what a shame it is that Scotland doesn’t get more credit- I have been absolutely blown away by this country. And of course, I haven’t gotten tired of the men in kilts.