Hello my lovely readers, I know you're all anxious for more. Well, let me fill you in on the last couple of days here at Durham. I am officially stationed in the Pit of Despair for the long haul, and I'm pretty excited about that. What I'm not excited about is the way that the sun beats down upon the workers of the pit. It truly is something to despair over.
Journal Excerpt: "On my second day in the pit, I looked super cute, but my adorable style turned on me when the sun came shining through the clouds and down upon my thighs. It ended badly for me, as I recieved a burn on my legs which subsequently turned into a really awkward tan line. Needless to say, I have procured sunscreen to last me the duration of the trip."
So...that was pretty awesome. After that lovely experience, Nicole and I hit the old book store that we discovered in Durham. Life made. I got a 1902 copy of a book of Tennyson poems and a 1926 copy of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. The collection grows!!! We were accompanied by Little Chris, the other Chris working the dig. My pit partner's name is also Chris...keep this in mind, as it will become important in the near future. By near future, I mean now. Little Chris has offered his aid to me in my quest to dispatch Chris (my pit partner) as my next victim in my series of murders. The name thing is confusing, yes? So sorry. Anyway, here's what I had to say about this offer of assistance.
Journal Excerpt: "I'm a little leery about taking on an accomplice because that could get messy later, but I think I might appreciate the help and Nicole is already a witness, so what's one more body?"
I know, I'm charming. I make friends everywhere I go, and then instantly threaten to kill them.
Now, for the really fun story: EDINBURGH!!!!
On Saturday, I journeyed to Edinburgh with Kaitlin, Sara, and Nicole, who are quickly becoming my best friends on this trip, and two of the Fulbright guys, Matt and Robby. It was the best day of the trip. Edinburgh is so filled with history and interesting, fun things to do that the day seemed to fly by and we were grasping for extra time to just be there. We went to Edinburgh Castle, where I, of course, got a miniature. The collection grows!!! (wow, twice in one post I'm talking about my collections...go me.) Kaitlin and I decided to perfect our British accents at this point, which was brilliant seeing as were were in Scotland...don't think about it too much, just go with it. For lunch, we went to the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote some of the Harry Potter books (Natalie would be so jealous) and it was so cool. After luch, we walked down to Holyrood House, the Queen's palace in Scotland, but it was closed for a royal visit. Turns out that the Queen had just left the day before. We then ventured on to Mary King's Close to take a tour of the city undergroud. It was a really fascinating tour, barring the few disturbances that we encountered along the way. During the ghost story portion of the tour, our guide dropped her stick in order to scare all of us. She was successful. Nicole and I jumped out of our skin. This was minor, however...
Journal Excerpt: "This incident was less disruptive, however, than the incessantly irritating small child that I wanted to bludgeon to death with that stick. He was literally the least well-behaved child I have ever encountered in my life. If it wasn't frowned upon, (and morally repugnant, apparently) I would have kicked him in the face."
It was a magnificent day, and it got even better on the train ride back. The four girls got a table together on the train and had the best time talking and laughing about the experiences of the day. We were in first class, so we got tea and cookies which made everything that much better. I literally think we laughed the entire ride home. We were so energized when we got back that we even took a walk down to the city center in Durham and then down to the lake. I'll let the journal field this story for me...
Journal Excerpt: "A scary, potentially drunk man who was completely unintelligible came up to us and said and/or asked something...we did not understand...the world may never know...We also decided to take a stroll down to the river where we found a sketchy little bench hiding in the woods...I claimed it as my own."
Well, guys, that's about all I have time for tonight. Big day digging in the pit tomorrow, but I know I'm still behind on keeping you up to date on my trip. On Sunday, we went to Hadrian's Wall. Tune in tomorrow for my post about that adventure!
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