I have definitely learned to lower my expectations of places before I embark on the rest of my journeys in Europe. With no expectations comes no disappointments, and although I have definitely had the time of my life over here, there have definitely been some unforeseen disappointments that I wish could have been avoided. It’s funny how living with someone, or even visiting them for a weekend, changes your entire perspective on who you thought that person was. That is what happened this weekend with a friend that I have known since I was 4 years old.
My friend, lets call her Stacey, and I used to be attached at the hip when we were kids. Running around at school together, playing Mary-Kate and Ashley inspired games (the two Olsen twins that we were obsessed with because they were around our age and famous), and crying whenever our parents would say no to having two sleepovers in a row. She surprised me for my 9th birthday, and again at my high school graduation party. I was sure that we were going to be best friends forever. Unfortunately, like I said earlier, having expectations leads to disappointments.
Stacey has been going to school in Edinburg for the past 2 and a half years. She has made many new friends, had a college experience to already brag about, started smoking cigarettes, and has come a long way as far as her confidence goes. While preparing to go to Scotland, Stacey seemed a bit weary about my friend coming with me to stay with her. I had asked her numerous times if it was okay that we stayed there and she always said it was fine, but with a certain attitude as if she felt obligated to say yes. We took a 9 hour long bus ride to get to Edinburg from Oxford, and we were ready to crash for a few hours before we started exploring. Walking up the stairs to Stacey’s apartment, I started to get so excited that I was going to see one of my long lost friends. I ran to her and gave her a big hug, and already I could feel the awkwardness between us.
Throughout our entire time there, I felt as if her friends were more excited that we were there than she was. Stacey did not come anywhere with us, show us around, cook us dinner, or even have dinner with us... It was so different than what I had expected and I saw that my long-lost best friend was actually still lost somewhere, and what had taken her place was a new woman. A woman that I didn’t even recognize. Surprisingly, Stacey invited my friend and I to come celebrate her 21st birthday with her and all of her friends. Of course, the entire time I was talking with her friends and the only words I got out of Stacey were, “yeah I know, I look a lot better than last time you saw me...” after I had complimented her on how great she looked. It made me sad, but I was not about to let this bump we were having in our relationship ruin my one and only time in Scotland.
My friend and I decided to go off and do our own thing at one point in the night, when Stacey was already too preoccupied with her Scotland friends to even notice that her American one was missing. Regardless, my friend and I still had a great night all around. We met some random people at this beer-like tent that reminded us at Oktoberfest and ended up getting lost with them all night. We sang scottish songs, learned that the Scots really do live up to their reputation of being able to drink...a lot. It was a great night, almost as great as the night before.
After taking a nap when we first arrived at Stacey’s flat, my friend and I decided to go exploring Scotland. We found this adorable little pub to go to called Ryan’s that was decorated with christmas lights from head to toe, and it was packed for being only 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The food was actually delicious as well, which was a big surprise because back in England, almost everything we tried had no taste and had the same texture as rubber. When we were finished our meal we decided to go exploring on Prince Street which has tons of shops up and down the road, which we tried very desperately to avoid buying anything seeing as our budgets were already running very low. That night, Stacey did not want to go out with us because she was too exhausted, but she recommended a few places we should try out and how to get there.
We started out at The Brass Monkey, which was a complete fail because we were the youngest people there by 10 or 20 years.... Next we tried the Grass Market which had a bunch of pubs all in one giant circle. We ended up meeting a group of people that were playing “Pub Golf” for one of their friends birthdays. This is a game where you dress up like traditional golfers and go from pub to pub trying out different drinks and recruiting more people to join in the fun. We ended up having the most random night and getting lost all around Edinburg, but thank goodness we had enough money for a cab because we would’ve been wandering the streets for hours!
The next morning was just as much of an adventure as the last. It was Stacey’s birthday and, once again, she did not want to come accompany us around the city of Edinburg. Regardless, we found our way up to The Royal Mile where we got to see street performers on every corner, very similar to Oxford except instead of playing music or singing, people would be dressed up in costumes acting out the old Scotland, there was one guy that somehow magically floating in the air and dressed up like Yoda. People were so desperate for money on these streets that one woman had probably around 50-80 piercings just on her face and neck that she was showing off! That absolutely repulsed me, but hey I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do...
Edinburg Castle was at the top of the Royal Mile, and that was an absolute beautiful sight. You could see all over Edinburg and there was a woman in there that was selling family crests and you could learn about where your last name came from. They didn’t have my full last name because it has been changed quite a few times over generations, but my friend learned that her last name, Morse, is very Keltic. I love learning history like that about personal things, it’s funny to think that I have relatives that lived during the time that this castle was actually occupied. The Whiskey tour that we ended our day with was so interesting. I have never been in something like that before where it was almost completely all interactive. We learned about how long it takes for the whiskey to be made, and how many are sold in just a single second! There was even a bottle of whiskey that was bought for $1,000 which absolutely blows my mind because I personally do not think alcohol is worth that much money... At the end of the tour, we even had a chance to taste the whiskey, which I was not a huge fan of but hey when in Scotland right?
I’m proud to say that I have experienced yet another country on my study abroad experience, and although it turned up differently than I expected, I cannot say that I am completely disappointed with the trip all together. This trip has definitely taught me that life is full of surprises, and even you may have a set, laid out plan for what you want to do, or how things are going to end up, nothing ever turns out how you expect it to.
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