Hello Readers!

This week was my official last week of my Semester Abroad. I want to start by saying that the experiences I had throughout this trip were life changing. Through all the good times and the bad times I would not change anything that happened. This program was absolutely amazing and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to study abroad.

To start the week off I spent a lot of time cleaning our room, packing, and putting the final touches on my DURSCA.

The next day I had lunch duty and then everyone presented their DURSCA projects.

• Our DURSCA projects were used to reflect on our time in Scotland and to represent what we have learned and how we have grown through our semester abroad.
  • For my project I chose to present my blog, my photography website and a short video I created.

After presenting I had a wee bit of time to run into town before the very last dinner duty.

• Throughout the semester we had to help our chef by working in the kitcken doing whatever he told us to. While some people were not particularily fond of having to work, I really loved it. Some days were hard to motivate myself to go, but as soon as I go there I loved it. I love working in a kitchen and our chef, Henry, is great to work with.

Once I was cleaned up from dinner a group of people went outside to relax, play Frisbee and enjoy the gorgeous day.

Wednesday morning I didn’t have my first class which was nice so I could do laundry and continue packing until I had my last class, International Communications.

Once I was done with class I headed into town with Sarah Kaye and Amanda to do some last minute souvenir shopping and to set up my phone. We stayed together for a while and then split up to get out last few items before all meeting back at the house.

Later in the night Amanda and I went to The Buccleuch for a drink. While we were there we met an alumni from the second year of the program, who was staying in the house. We talked to him for a while about how the program has changed, how it used to be and what he liked to do when he was in Scotland the first time. It was really fun to hear from someone who went through the program when it was just beginning.

At about 10:30 The Buccleuch closed so we all went to Mayson’s and met up with Sarah Kaye, Derek, Rebekah and Lauryn. While there we chatted for a bit and then played darts in the back room which was so much fun!  I am definitely not the best at darts but it was still fun to play some before heading home and calling it a night.

The next day was our last full day in the palace with everyone and it was spent cleaning and day away. In the morning we all met in the dining hall chose our job and got assigned another and went to work.

• I ended up cleaning/organizing the student freezer, dry storage, cleaning supplies closet, and disposable closet with Katelyn, Molly S, and Erika which really wasn’t that hard of a job luckily.
  • In the beginning of the semester when we were exploring around I found the disposable closet and it was a disaster. All I wanted to do was organize it, so come the end of the semester when I had the opportunity to organize it I was ecstatic!
• After we were done organizing I headed to the library to clean that with Abby F and Sarah Kaye.

Once we were done cleaning we had free time until 5 so I grabbed my lunch and headed outside with Sarah Kaye and Katelyn to enjoy the day. For the rest of the break I packed, cleaned and watched people play ultimate Frisbee.

At 5pm we had our ghost and house tour!

• We got to see the attic and subbasement along with hear some more history of the house and heard some ghost stories.

When our tour was over I hung out with Amanda for a bit and ended up playing cards with Tim, Katelyn, Rebecca, Sara, and Amanda for a while before heading out to a bon fire in the back yard.

• The fire was great. It was a nice way to gather almost everyone before saying our goodbyes since most everyone was leaving the next day.

Friday was a very sad but happy day.

I ended up getting up at 4am to watch the sunrise with Katie and Nikki. Even though it wasn’t the prettiest sunrise I have seen it was still nice to get up early and watch Scotland wake up one more time from the place I have called home for the last 4 months.

The rest of the morning I helped people move out and then headed to the airport with Sarah Kaye and Isabelle.

Isabelle and I dropped Sarah off a security and then went to meet my parents!

After we picked up my parents we headed into the city to our BnB.

• Since the flat wasn’t in an area I was familiar with we took a few wrong turns, but finally made it!

When we got settled a bit we headed to Dalkeith for breakfast at the Continental Café, a tour of the house and then a walk in the estate.

• While I was giving the tour of the house I also gave them the ghost tour and history tour I went on which was fun to relive that.

Once we spend some time in and around the house we headed back to Edinburgh. By the time we found the flat again my parents were pretty tired from traveling so Isabelle and I went to Nando’s to pick up some food and Sainsbury for some snacks and called it a night.

The next day Isabelle and I got up early and went to the airport so she could catch her flight. After we said our goodbyes I headed back to the flat.

Upon arriving back at the flat I walk going to do some writing in my journal, but ended up falling asleep until about 11! But, it was worth the sleep especially since both my parents were still asleep too.

When we all got up we headed to Fountain Café for some coffee (I had tea) and then went to Boozy Cow for some food.

Once our bellies were full we headed down Prince’s Street to Calton Hill where we spent some time admiring the view.

Before we were blow off the hill we headed down and went towards the Royal Mile and up to Edinburgh Castle for some more views of the city. Along the way we stopped at The Filling Station for some food and went to some shops along the way.

After the castle we went to Grassmarket and Cowgate for a bit to see some pubs and then headed back to the flat. When we were rested up a bit we went to Haymarket Pub for a drink and called it a night.

Sunday we managed to get up at a decent time. To start our day my parents got coffee at The Fountain Café again and then went to the car boot sale, so my parents could experience it.

When we were done there we walked to The Refinery for some breakfast before going to the Royal Mile again to explore the other side towards Holyrood Palace and the Parliament building.

We didn’t go into either of the building, so we decided to admire from a far before climbing Arthur’s seat.

• When we were about half way up I learned that my mother is deathly afraid of heights! After 19 years I can honestly say I did not know this was a fear of hers. After a bit more climbing we found her a nice place to sit and my dad and I hiked the rest of the way to the top.
  • Once we got to the top we learned that the other side was easier to get down so my mom ended up climbing to the top too so we could go down the other side.
    • I am so proud that she made it to the top!

After a while of hiking we made our way down and back up The Royal Mile to a pub called No1 High Street for some food.

• While we were there we met some gentlemen from Ireland and talked to them for a while about what to do there which was nice to get some pointers on what to see and do.

When we were done there we headed back up the Royal Mile and walked some more around the University of Edinburgh before heading back to the flat.

For the rest of the night I relaxed, wrote and dealt with a weird allergy attack while my parents went out and found a cute pub before calling it a night.

Talk to you soon & thank you for reading