Let's start with Monday, what was essentially our farewell to Dundee. We started the day with Graeme discussing our time in Dundee and what's expected of us in our assessments -- that's right! We don't just galavant around Scotland without any word or grades! We actually have to complete journals, an essay and a presentation. So this really is summer school - although it sure doesn't feel like it.
After our debrief with Graeme, we headed over to an administration building to meet with the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Dundee, Sir Pete Downes (just knighted a few weeks ago!). Sir Downes told us all about the "transformation agenda" of Dundee and how far Dundee has come so far. Dundee is a hugely impressive university, and it's come a long way from its initial split in 1967 from being a part of St Andrews. For instance, Dundee is now #1 in the UK in research in life sciences, which was no surprise to us given our time learning about Thiel and advancements in forensic facial reconstruction. My favorite part of our talk with Sir Downes was when he described the model Dundee has adopted in order to become the best university in Scotland. He said their model was brought to the university by one particular head of a department in the sciences who insisted on appointing people who were better than those already in the department - including himself. Think about this! It would be so difficult to bring people into your work space who were more effective than you, therefore threatening you and your job! However, obviously, this is better for the company, business, school, whatever, itself. This was a model I immediately thought could never be followed in the States. We're too competitive in the work environment stateside, but in Dundee, this model has brought the university status and success. This is an idea that I hope not to forget in my own professional career, especially since Dundee has proved that it is successful in the realm of education.
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| Sir Pete Downes, President of Dundee University, outside the Life Sciences Building (image from http://www.thecourier.co.uk/) |
We also asked Sir Downes about Scottish Independence, and he brought up two very interesting points about the issue. Firstly, Sir Downes himself as an Englishman, would be made to be an ex-pat working abroad if Scotland were to be independent. Thus, he pointed out that there's an emotional element to Scottish independence that could be negative for ex-pats from England, Northern Ireland and Wales as well. The other fascinating point he brought up about independence was the irony that results from the SNP majority in Westminster right now. The SNP is obviously working to make life better in Scotland and represent Scotland as best as possible in England right now, however, if they're successful, the vote for independence will be vastly less likely. So the SNP is a bit stuck right now because if they do too much good for Scotland, people will be convinced that independence is unnecessary, but if they don't do their jobs effectively, they'll inevitably lose seats in the next election. There are so many levels and perspectives of Scottish Independence - it's so interesting to watch them unfold.
After our lovely day of lectures we went to the Apex Hotel on the waterfront of Dundee for our farewell dinner. There we ate an amazing meal with Graeme, Pat, Daria and Keegan. It was certainly a bittersweet, but highly enjoyable time as we prepared to leave Dundee to spend the next two weeks at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.
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| Matt, Nina, and Omar at our Dundee farewell dinner at the Apex Hotel |
The next day (Tuesday) we hopped on a bus with all our luggage and headed off to Edinburgh, our old friend. We had essentially the whole day to ourselves, which was most welcome since our first day in Edinburgh was jam-packed with (amazing) activities.
We started the day off with a walk to Edinburgh Castle, the castle that inspired none other than Hogwarts itself. So, we walked up the Royal Mile until we found the entrance to the castle, pictured below.
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| Edinburgh Castle from afar |
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| The entrance to Edinburgh Castle, flanked by William Wallace (left) and Robert the Bruce (right) |
The Royal Mile is arguably the most touristy part of Edinburgh. It stretches from Edinburgh Castle all the way to Holyrood Castle and the Scottish Parliament, and the street itself is lined with whiskey shops claiming to be the best whiskey in Scotland, the most touristy of tourist stores and plenty of pubs. Oh and don't forget about the advertisements for witchery tours. Lots of those too.
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| The Royal Mile - note the advertisement for "Witchery Tours" as promised |
We decided Edinburgh Castle was just too touristy for us to spend all the money and the time on the interior tour, so we walked around in the free part for a while and moved on. The next stop to be made was the ever-important Elephant House Cafe, the "birthplace" of Harry Potter, as it were. This cafe has a perfect view of Edinburgh Castle on its hill of rock and grass that served JK Rowling's imagination very fittingly to inspire Harry's story and the castle it takes place in. Here we stopped for quick coffee or shortbread cookie (in the shape of an elephant, I might add) and soaked in the warm atmosphere that Rowling herself loved so much.
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| All of us outside the Elephant House! |
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| Me, Patty and Tim hanging out in the Elephant House where JK Rowling once wrote! |
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| The Cafe has a drawer full of letters written to/about Harry Potter or JK Rowling -- this one's from France and has a drawing |
After our coffee, the group split up (cue dramatic music) to accomplish two different activities. One group decided to hike up a practically vertical mountain called Arthur's Seat, which is notorious for its amazing views, and the other decided to see the Botanical Gardens. I was in the latter group, my family and anyone whose ever hiked with me much before will not be surprised to know. So, while the larger group hiked Arthur's Seat, me, Nina, Patty, Jael and Matt got sidetracked on the Royal Mile shopping around, going on the Ferris Wheel, and then going on a freaking amazing tour of Mary King's Close.
Let me tell you about Mary King's Close. So, this was one of the things I really wanted to do while I was in Scotland, so I'm very pleased my friends agreed. This is one of the most haunted places in Europe, and if you went on this tour, you would not be surprised at this fact. So, firstly, what's a close? A close denotes a rather narrow street lined by up to 12 floors worth of tiny flats (more or less) or shops or whatever, usually providing a pathway away from the main street. Here's an example of what one might have looked like:
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| Patty walking up something that might be considered a close |
So, what's so special about Mary King's Close? A LOT OF THINGS.
1) This is a street named after a woman in the 17th century! Not even a particularly rich woman! She was the mother of 4 children who had been widowed, but closes were typically named after very prominent or important people who lived there, so she must have been a very successful and important woman indeed.
2) It dates from the 17th century and earlier!
3) There were plague victims there! (Wait, wait, wait, Lisa, I know my history and therefore, I know that the plague was in the 14th century!) Alright, so the main plague that we hear about in AP European History and World History definitely hit in the 14th century, however, plagues hit different places at different times all the time! One hit of the plague was particularly bad in Edinburgh in 1645 including Mary King's Close.
Now, there are a lot of stories of plague victims being walled up in the close and left to die, but those stories aren't entirely rooted in fact apparently (which, not going to lie, bummed me out a tad), but of course, the true stories were just as horrific. Lots and lots of people died during this hit of the plague throughout Mary King's Close. However, there was hope for those who had the bubonic plague (if you had the pneumonic plague, you were pretty much done for). There was a "doctor" of sorts who could help those with bubonic plague by cutting open the puss-filled sores, draining them, and singeing them back together with a hot iron, and thereby giving them a 50% chance of surviving. Great odds. Anyway, the only reason this dude survived was because he wore this totally crazy outfit which consisted of a body-length leather shawl (particularly impervious to little things like fleas which, I dunno, cause the plague) and a freaky mask with a raven beak. Here's Nina modeling the mask:
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| Nina and the plague mask |
The mask was filled with oils to ward off evil spirits and demons, but the oils actually may have helped ward off the plague itself. So, the plague doctor of Mary King's Close and plague doctors throughout Europe actually might have accomplished something by wearing this creepy outfit.
So. What's the most interesting thing about Mary King's Close?
It's underground.
It's just hanging out underneath Edinburgh right now. They built the Royal Exchange on top of it at some point and kicked all the residents out with a 40 pound stipend. Jackpot! 40 pounds to find a new home and livelihood, whoopee!
Well, almost all the residents got 40 pounds. One got 400 pounds. How, you may ask? By being difficult. Mr. Chesney really liked his house on the close and was not happy when asked to leave, but when he was offered 400 pounds (about 40,000 pounds, and way more US Dollars, by today's standards) he couldn't exactly refuse. So he left his little home and the toilet he was very proud of (titled "Thunder Box" - how appropriate) for better things.
Okay, last story about Mary King's Close. So, there's one room that's maybe legitimately haunted. Apparently a psychic from Japan came to the Close to see if there was any paranormal activity going on. She found nothing. Nothing! How could that be? So many people died from the plague among other horrific things! So she found nothing except for one thing in one tiny room. In this room she felt a presence, and when she tried to leave something grabbed her dress to pull her back. She turned around and saw a small child. The child called herself Annie and said she died of an illness and was abandoned by her parents. The Japanese psychic determined she was there because she wanted her stuffed toy, so the psychic went out to the Royal Mile and bought her a barbie after which Annie vanished. To this day there is a huge pile of stuffed animals and toys for girls left by those on the tour for Annie. It's kind of eerie actually. Not to mention the hugely noticeable drop in temperature in Annie's room. No joke. It's freaking cold in there.
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| Here's a picture of what the close looks like today with some artificial lighting (image from theguardian.com) |
There are more really interesting and frankly, haunting, stories about Mary King's Close, but you'll have to ask me more about them in person as I've already written too much about this one experience.
Alright, after the Close we met back up with the rest of our group at the hotel to change and go to the good old Scottish Parliament for a photography exhibition curated by the University of Dundee archives. The exhibition was called "Michael Peto Photographs: Politics In Focus," and it was really cool. We felt so fancy all dressed up in the Scottish Parliament analyzing black and white portraits of important political names and faces. Some interesting people featured in Peto's photographs included Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ian McKellen, and John Lennon. They were a truly stunning collection of portraits with fascinating stories behind each of them. I especially appreciated the prevalence of important women in Parliament in one portion of the exhibition.
There was another photo exhibition going on at the same time in another portion of the parliament called the World Press Photo Contest. Each member of our group was particularly struck by the group of first place photographs titled Family Love by Darcy Padilla. This was a striking series of photos about AIDS victims and how it affected their lives and the lives of their children. Each display was very touching, emotional and creative - some more political than others. I highly recommend you all checking out their website to see more about the exhibition and the stories it tells about our world at their website: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2015
We were all absolutely exhausted after the exhibition and our meal afterward that we all headed back to the hotel to crash.
The next morning (Wednesday) we hopped on a bus to arrive in Glasgow for the first time! We met up with our staff contacts, John and Neil, and were shown around the city for the first half of the day. Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland and many people consider it Scotland's New York City. We could all see why. There was a Forever 21 on your left and a Hard Rock Cafe on your right. The buildings were taller than we were used to in the rest of Scotland, especially Dundee, and there were way more people. Way more. After orienting us around the city and allowing us some time to get settled, we ended our first day in Glasgow at the Dakhin South Indian Restaurant where we got a taste of Scotland's Indian Cuisine, which was, might I add, quite delicious.
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| Daniel getting ready to eat a "dosa" at Dakhin on Wednesday night and I am laughing at the ridiculous largeness of it - but it was very tasty (photocredit to Patty Esch) |
We're all greatly looking forward to our time in Glasgow at the University of Strathclyde. Can't wait to tell you all all about it. Cheers till then!
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