Jet lagged, but here!

So I got here on September 8, which, for the record, is 8/9/10 here, NOT 9/8/10. They're very particular about the day being in front, which actually makes a lot more sense if you stop and think about it.

The past few days have been orientation. It's all been kind of a blur, I can honestly say I barely remember anything about the first day after being up for more hours than I could calculate due to intricacies in time zones and unexpected layovers.

I love airports for lots of reasons, interesting people going interesting places, random samplings of food and merchandise, lots of crazy emotions, but I really get a kick out of airport bathrooms! There's just something about all the technology that's been developed so that you don't have to touch ANYTHING that really cracks me up. From automatically rotating seat covers, to automatic faucets and soap dispensers, to hand driers that strip the water off almost as well as a paper towel. And I have to put it out there, NWA may not have the biggest or fanciest airport, but the restrooms are kind of sweet!

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Okay, so enough about the loos and on to Scotland. It's really really beautiful here. I haven't had too much time to explore yet, at least more that the cheap cell phone stores and "PoundSaver" which is the equivalent of DollarTree. I walked the Royal Mile a few times, from castle to castle, and to the base of Arthur's Seat, which I intend to climb in the next few days. It's so cool to have this huge natural feature in the middle of the city. 

I moved into my flat yesterday. I haven't had a lot of time to unpack or decorate yet, so that may be how I spend the afternoon. It's... different from what I'm used to, but really very nice. I'll post pictures as soon as I take them. I was the first of my roommates to move in, so I had it all to myself last night. I think more people are moving in today. They don't even give us names here, so I have no idea who to expect! A girl in my program lives right down stairs, we actually ended up on the same flight from Paris to Edinburgh, and sitting next to each other on the plane, so we split a cab. She seems really sweet and we're actually about to go shopping for necessaries.  Posting a pic of Arthur's Seat below, picture this right in the middle of a city!

"In America they think 100 years is a long time, and in Scotland they think 100 miles is a long way."