Journey so far...

Hello all! Sorry it's been so long since I have written, free wireless internet isn't very common in hostels and airports I have been in lately. So what's new you ask?
   The U.S.A.  IFYE Orientation concluded this past Monday after 3 days in Wichita. There were 32 delegates from a dozen countries. We all had a great time meeting each other and touring Wichita, KS together. Among some of the sites we saw were Cow Town, the Native American Museum, the Wing Nuts baseball stadium, and the botanic gardens. Throughout the weekend we participated in various group building activities and listened to advice from past IFYEs. It was an eventful weekend, and we were all sad to leave each other on Monday. However, we were all quite ready to get to our host countries and start our own adventures.

Cow  Town, Wichita, KS

  My flight was set to leave at 5:05pm Monday afternoon, but winds in Chicago delayed it until 7pm. I was hustling to get to my flight from Chicago to London due to the delay, but it turns out I didn't need to rush. My second flight got delayed 4 hours too. So by 2am Tuesday morning I was sitting on a giant plane, trying to catch some shut eye, and headed to the biggest airport I've ever seen. Navigating London's Heathrow airport was an excursion for sure, but I made it. I was finally able to catch a different flight to Edinburgh that would allow me to get there only about 9 hours late. When I arrived in Edinburgh, I soon found that my checked luggage had not. After some careful packing prior to departure, I was thankful that I had all I really needed in my carry-on bag. So, I survived my first several days in Scotland with only half of my belongings, and thankfully my other bag showed up Thursday evening.

Scotland-aerial view

  Since I arrived to the country late, I missed spending some time in Lanarkshire, as was previously planned, and instead spent an extra couple of days in Edinburgh. It is a beautiful city with lots of historic buildings and sites. I took buses and taxis to the Royal Highland Show from Edinburgh daily, as the show grounds were the main hub for the Young Farmers Club (our 4-H equivalent). 

Outside of the Young Farmers Center on the grounds of the Royal Highland Show.
 I am  the cow in white, promoting the YFC. 

 I met up with the other 13 exchangees to Scotland at the show. Together we toured the Royal Highland Show (which is very similar to the Kansas State Fair), and we viewed the livestock competitions, tug-of-war, horse shoe making, sheep shearing, milk chugging, and cooking competitions. Another exchangee and I took part in a spur of the moment cook-off, where we had 20-minutes to prepare a meal using select ingredients. Although we lost, we came away with a fun memory, a consolation wooden spoon, and an apron!

Cattle competition

  There were also many shops and fast food vendors around, selling Scotland's most famous items. It was a wee bit rainy throughout much of the show, therefore wellies (a.k.a. mud-boots) were worn on 95% of the crowd. Among the eatery I fell in love with are "toasties", or pressed, toasted sandwiches; and crepes. I had tasted crepes before, but the marshmallow & chocolate combination is amazing! I also sampled haggis and black pudding at the show, neither of which were as terrifying as I first expected.

Black pudding, made with pigs blood among other ingredients. 

 As Young Farmer exchangees, we were also allowed to partake in the Young Farmers dance on the last Saturday of the show. It was a big event with a huge turnout. Several double-decker buses were filled with members ages 18-30 to take us to the club where the event was held. One of the more popular dance song I have heard thus far would have to be John Denver's "Country Roads", although it is a European re-mix.

 The Royal Highland Show ended on Sunday, and of course it was raining. The rain didn't seem to hurt the turnout for the event.... I think the Scottish have become used to it. At about 2pm, the exchangees set off to their next set of host families, some in pairs (like myself), and others by themselves. Anneliese from Austria and I are now staying with the Templeton family in the small village of Kirkcowan in SW Scotland. Hugh Templeton and his daughter Libby raise cattle and sheep, primarily for their meat. I will post more about my time with the Templeton's later on. Until then, cheers!!

one of my favorite views so far

 Some fun vocabulary I have learned thus far:
 crisps= potato chips
 chips= thick cut french fries
 queue= line of people
 lush= awesome, wonderful
 steak roll= hamburger

 posh= hip, fashionable, cool