In the Heart of Scotland

I'm on a roll posting two days in a row! How exciting...really it's just because I finally have a lot to talk about.

But anyway. The post is titled In the Heart of Scotland, because Stirling is considered to be the heart of Scotland. By that, they mean it rests roughly in the middle. When I say roughly, I mean pretty roughly. Mainly it's because it rests right between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which are the two biggest, most populated cities in Scotland. So Stirling rests between that. Fun fact: Stirling used to be known as Starling, but that was changed many, many years ago. I'm not exactly sure why, but Starling was a pretty cool name.

So I'm studying at the University of Stirling, which is actually about 20 minutes outside of the city of Stirling. Today, as part of our lovely orientation day, I got to actually go see the city of Stirling. I also finally was able to exchange some of my currency, which was nice. Now I sort of kinda feel like I'm in a foreign country. We didn't stay in Stirling long, but I will have plenty of opportunities to explore it. Part of our trip included going to the Stirling Castle, but we didn't stay there long either. Which is unfortunate, because it was super awesome. At least the little I got to see without having a ticket. So I'm definitely going back there. It's considered to be the most important castle in Scotland, both architecturally and historically. I would tell you about why that is, but I have no idea. So maybe another time.

After the brief pit stop in Stirling, we were able to venture to the local supermarket to get some groceries. That was an adventure. Mostly because I had no idea what to get or how much to budget or anything. But I think I got enough food to last me a while, which is all that I really care about/need. Luckily there's a lot of similar stuff in the US, except in smaller portions and different brands. But I'll figure it out. As long as I have some sort of food to eat, I'm good.

There was not much else to do tonight, so a few of us ventured to a pub in a local town called Allanwater, which is a super cute town, to watch the final match of the World Cup. I didn't pay attention to it really, so I can't say who won or even if the game is over at this current moment in time (people nearby were getting excited about Germany, so I'm guessing something good happened) but it was fun to just hang out with the people in the program.

And that was my second day. It's been pretty awesome so far. Very relaxed really, which is a good way to start. I'm excited to actually get into the area a bit more and go exploring though. That should be awesome. But for now, it's bedtime! Until next time...