Across the Pond
I've been staring at a blank screen for maybe seven and a quarter minutes trying to come up with a creative intro, but none comes to mind as I'm too busy thinking of the castle I drove past earlier this afternoon.
Yeah, that's right--a CASTLE.
That, and my brain is still tripped out from lack of sleep.
Nevertheless, I have arrived in the UK, and the #CountdownToScotland is officially over! Shout out to Delta Airlines for the most comfortable flight I've ever been on--no lie, I thought I'd taken the wrong seat and had ended up in 1st class. Another shout out to Scottish customs, which took all of maybe six minutes to get through. There I was, standing with an over-stuffed backpack and a fat folder of paperwork I thought I'd need for my visa, and nearly none of it had been necessary. Last shout out to the University of Stirling for being absolutely gorgeous with comfortable flats and serving delicious breakfast pastries. It's been only a little over twenty-four hours, and I'm so sold on Stirling.
The views are incredible. I can walk five minutes from my flat and look at all of THIS:
No, those are not images from Google. This is the God's honest truth what the campus looks like. Not to mention about fifteen minutes from the campus is a huge castle and a gorgeous downtown, where we got to do a little bit of shopping earlier today. I have to say, it was pretty entertaining watching little kids turn around and stare because of our accents--we definitely do not sound Scottish. What was even more entertaining was finding some pretty interesting foods at Poundland (the equivalent to a Dollar Tree) and the grocery store--for instance, the only beans they sold were baked. Chips are called crisps since chips are fries, and lemonade is really Sprite (we've yet to figure out what drink is most like American lemonade), but the craziest food discovery of the day was...
That one did not make it into my cart.
The downsides to Scotland? Very few, really. Weather was not ideal when we first landed, as it was rainy and grey--so grey that we could hardly see out the window of the plane until just before it touched down. However, after going back to my room and unpacking, the sun came out, and it got to be about 70 degrees for the remainder of the day! Jet lag is kicking my behind. It's an entirely new phenomenon for me, and it kind of sucks. I didn't sleep so well on the plane, so all yesterday, I was running on maybe three hours of sleep. I made it into bed by 9:30, which would've been 3:30 in the afternoon at home, so I only slept for a few hours before I woke up around midnight--and then wasn't able to fall back asleep until somewhere between three or four in the morning! During the day, my energy levels have been somewhat lower than usual whereas at night, I'm wide awake because I wouldn't normally be asleep at that time were I at home. Hopefully this whole jet lag sensation is done by the end of the week so I can feel more up to exploring.
I also can't forget about getting accused of smoking in my flat at one in the AM. That was...bizarre. The Resident Assistant and a member of campus security came and said they thought they saw me smoking from the window. I wanted to sass them--does the headscarf on my hair and the heavenly scent of a non-smoker really lead you to believe that I was lighting up so late at night?--but I just offered to have them take a look around before they decided that it must've been the room above mine where they'd seen the culprit.
For those of you wondering, there are Black people in Scotland! I've already seen a number of melanin-dipped individuals walking around campus and in shops--plus I've even met the only other Black woman in the International Summer School Program. There's just something about seeing and being able to interact with someone who looks like you and shares some cultural norms and experiences with you, especially in an entirely new setting. It helps to not feel so alone in a world that is now even bigger than you'd known before. Everyone that I've met so far have been incredibly friendly with great taste in movies, many are taking one or more of the same classes as me, and some will even be around for the whole summer. Classes start tomorrow, and a few folks are feeling apprehensive about the differences in grading scales, but only time will tell!
And now, I must decide between taking a short nap, or taking a walk around the campus grounds. Maybe grab some pizza for dinner. Or all of the above...at least I still have plenty of daylight-hours to decide--the sun doesn't set here until after nine!
What were your first impressions of the last place you traveled or moved to? Let me know in the comments below and on Facebook!
All the best,
Reina M
