I'm so far behind, where do I begin?

Hello, Hello! I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since my last post! Sorry about that! I have had SO much going on in my little Edinburgh world that the time has just flown by. I had 2 great friends visit for 10 days and it was a whirlwind adventure with no sleep! After that I took some classes through Edinburgh University and also helped out my local church with some Fringe events that they were hosting. Maybe I'll start with some current events and then back track to my friends visits and our adventures down in London. Sound good? Good.

August in Edinburgh is an insane time! There are so many festivals and events that are going on its crazy. The population swells to immense proportions and you can't even walk down the Royal Mile with out wanting to kill people because you just can get through all the swarms of tourists! The 2 biggest events are the Military Tattoo and the Fringe. The Tattoo is put on nightly within the castle walls and it's a mix of talent from different country's military groups and also local pipe and drum bands. Here is the web-site that can do a much better job at explaining what the tattoo is all about. http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/tattoo-experience/castle.html. Check it out, there are some great pictures that look a lot better than mine!

The fringe is a HUGE festival that encompasses everything from comedy shows, plays, music, exhibits, dance, opera and children's shows. The fringe book, which lists all the shows and when they are happening, is over 200 pages long! My church sponsors Christian plays and music that people can attend during the festival. They have had a great turn out and I've gotten to see some great shows after helping out before the shows begin. This is the last week and I'm helping steward (usher) for 2 nights this week. We saw an expert of the play during church on Sunday night and it was hilarious. It should be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it

The past 2 weeks I took 2 classes, The History of Scottish Clans, and the History of Edinburgh Castle, through Edinburgh University. I got to go to the castle everyday and have my classes there. It was SO neat! The teacher was a local writer, I think he has penned over 10 books on Scottish history and stories. He was a bit scattered in his teaching, but was interesting non-the-less. He could rant and rave for an hour about how all history is biased and how we shouldn't believe anything that we read, quite ironic since he is a writer of history :-). He is hugely patriotic to Scotland and was a lot of fun to listen to. My favorite part of class, and this is going to sound funny, was leaving the castle. I would come down the Argyle Steps, from the top of the castle rock, and the view was simply amazing. I could see all of Edinburgh, over the Forth and into Fife. It just takes your breathe away.

I also had my first golfing experience this past weekend! The weather was perfect, albeit a bit windy, so take advantage of the good weather while you can and play golf! My favorite part was the initial teeing off. I love hitting that little golf ball and seeing how far I could get it to fly off into the distance. (more often than not, I missed the ball on the first swing and then after contact it would usually veer off to the right side of the course) All in all though, I think I had a decent showing and I managed to get under par on a few holes on the course. I would definitely play again if given the opportunity.

Well, I'm going to sign off but I am planning on blogging again this week since I have 3 weeks of adventures to catch up on. I'll tease you with a bit of what is to come: following the castle trail in the northeast corner of Scotland, sleeping in a castle, getting hit by a truck (I'm OK, don't worry, no injuries, promise! It's just more of a funny story than anything :-), the misadventures of trying to see the fireworks in Edinburgh, and the ceiling crashing down in the kitchen of my flat. Intrigued? Good, see you later!