Snow, free tours and school, oh my!

We finally got some sticky snow, even though it was only a couple of centimeters. Here's the snow right outside my window...

And here's a wee bit of snow on Salisbury Crags, right by Dynamic Earth...

All of it was even lovelier in person! Also, with the (literally) freezing temperatures we're having, I've gotten to use my puffy brown, knee-length jacket with faux fur lined hood; I feel like I'm walking around still wrapped up in the duvet from my bed!

In just a few weeks' time I'll be heading out on a 3 day tour to the Isle of Skye in the northwest of Scotland! I had heard great things about Rabbie's Trail Burners, located on the Royal Mile, so I went to see them last Monday. Since I still had my ASVA pass from the trip to the zoo, I asked if they had a discount for ASVA, not really expecting much. The fella at the desk wasn't sure and asked someone else in the shop. She didn't know either and told him to call up someone to ask about it. So, he calls, and I'm waiting patiently, telling him my name and that I'm with Dynamic Earth, etc. He hangs up the phone and says, "Yes, you do get a discount... Free!" I couldn't believe it and blurted out, "Are you sure?" He booked me on a tour and told me to give a call back a week before to just confirm that the tour would be going on the date I wanted. (In the slower months, one has to have patience and understand that a tour bus cannot just go with one visitor aboard!) I will need to pay for my lodging in a hostel or B&B and food but that would have been extra anyway. This is saving me the 79 pounds (roughly $155) that I would have paid for the 3 day trip (click there to see the itinerary)!

For those of you keeping up on my academic life, I've decided to ditch the Anthroplogy minor idea. Why, you say? (Or perhaps you don't say and I'm just stuffing words into your mouth.) Well, I looked at what I would need to get my half finished minor in Community Development and it is decidedly less than I remembered. It would take less time, less money and less insanity to complete. Less is more, sometimes.

And with that, I shall end this post. Thanks for tuning in and, if you want me to know you've been reading, leave me a comment! =)

Has Another Week Passed Already?

Guess I'm not too good at updating this blog too much, eh? I really can't believe how the time flies here! Anyway, on to regular bloggable topics!

Let's see, what's happened in the last week? Well, my internship has been going really well so far, I think. I'm enjoying getting to know everyone and getting used to how everything is run around Dynamic Earth. I've gotten to sit in on some classroom sessions, which has been really interesting, to see how kids interact with teachers and with one another. Basically people watching which, as many of you may know, I could do for weeks on end! Getting to observe people, especially in an education setting, is fascinating to me for some reason. This week was spent mostly researching different observation, tracking and interviewing techniques as well as doing some preliminary observation in the galleries at Dynamic Earth. Next week, if all goes as planned, I'll finish putting together surveys and observation forms and begin actually using them to survey and observe/track visitors.

Some of you may have heard about windstorms and snow here. Well, we didn't really get much of it in Edinburgh. There were 30 mph winds for about three or so days and some snowfall that didn't stick. Apparently there were 100 mph winds over other parts of the UK but it didn't get us here! I do have a good story about the first snow... I was on a Ghosts and Ghouls tour with my flatmate and two of his friends on Tuesday night and, just as the guide was telling us about The Plague (known as The Pest in Scotland), it began to snow. We were all freezing already as it was 0 degrees (celsius of course) and now little flakes of ice were falling on us! Luckily we went down into the historic vaults shortly after that so we were a bit warmer. It snowed the rest of that night and through to the next morning but none of it stuck on the rainy streets of Edinburgh. Also, about the tour, it was great! I got in for a discounted price since my flatmate, who works for the tour company, had two free passes to split between three people (we each paid a third of one ticket). I'm glad I don't seem to annoy my flatmate too much. We get along really well and I can't imagine having found a better place to live in with a better person. This is really ideal!

Tomorrow I'll be meeting up with a coworker to see a Mexican store that also sells American food items such as Jiffy peanut butter and marshmallows. We're meeting at the cafe where JK Rowling wrote much of the first Harry Potter book called The Elephant House. It's located on George IV Bridge, near the public library and the National Museum of Scotland, just to give you some perspective. =)

Well, that's about it for now. Thanks to everyone who has commented and thanks for reading! Hope you have an absolutely wonderful weekend!