Museums and Coffee

Yesterday, I took another trip into Edinburgh. On one of the facebook groups I belong to through BUNAC, the internship abroad company, has a section for people in Edinburgh. So I met up with two other people my age who wanted to explore the city too. We went to the Portrait Gallery first, which was really lovely. I just wish I new more about all the Scottish politicians, because there were a lot of names I did not recognize.  The whole ceiling of the first room in the museum was covered in constellations. It was really pretty! However, a lot of the exhibits you could not take pictures in, so I don't have many!

I also found this gem:

 Another aspect of the museum I thought was interesting is that it is a very different color than many of the Edinburgh buildings. Most in Old Town are a lot lighter because they are made of sandstone. This is one of the New Town museums, and as you an see, it has a much redder tone to it. 

We had a fabulous lunch in the museum cafe - they always seem to be so good. Being vegetarian, I am usually always able to find something. I decided to try something different, and had a cream of fennel soup, a piece of freshly baked whole wheat bread, and of course, a coffee. 

From there, we then headed back to the Royal Mile to check out another free museum - the Museum of Childhood. It was an interesting little place. However, I was not a fan of the first exhibit, which was a room full of dolls. I found most of them quite creepy! I took pictures of these ones, but then I found out later on we weren't supposed to take pictures. But even though there were signs posted (although not clearly), many people were snapping photos.

 

 The rest of the museum was more interesting, they had every kind of toy you can think of dating back through the centuries. They also had an exhibit on the school uniforms for children through the years. That was interesting, seeing how the requirements have changed throughout time. 

After that, we headed back up to the National Museum of Scotland, as I was the only one who had been there before. I can't remember if I took a picture of these amazing little chess pieces before, but here they are again. They were probably brought over by the Vikings, as they were found in the northern part of the country, and are made of walrus ivory. It's incredible how well preserved they are!

What started out as a magnificant, warm, sunny day, eventually changed over to a cooler, misty one. This is what they call a "ha" or "harr"- a sea mist! 

At the end of the day, we stopped off in another coffee shop. We ended up just chatting for about 2 hours, until we had to leave because the shop was closing for the evening! I was the only American in our group, the other two being from Australia and Canada. It's really incredible what the world thinks about the States. I try to be as impartial as partial, but it's really amazing how it has become the focus of so many jokes. Most of the jokes are centered around the hypocrisy and general ignorance of American people. Everyone who I've talked to has cited America's resistance to changes that many other places in the world have already gone through, such as healthcare reform and gun control. And their views make sense, because you can see the changes working for them. Another issue that is always brought up is how they feel America claims to be a certain way, preaches its values and beliefs and all, but then in reality does something completely different. One example that is often brought up is claiming all people deserve the same rights, and contrasting it to in reality, how the nation's homosexual population is repressed, underrepresented, and definitely not afforded equal rights. Just an observation - I'm learning a lot about the world and how everyone else perceives America's place in it. 

Overall, I had a really great time on Saturday. Edinburgh is a place where it seems a lot of young independent travelers choose to go. I have found it's pretty easy to strike up a conversation with someone and then spent the rest of the day wandering around with! When I got back to the house, we ordered Indian food, had strawberries, raspberries and fresh cream for dessert, and spent the rest of the evening sipping tea and watching Pride and Prejudice. I was quite happy to have a slower morning though to reflect on the last few days!

Dunbar

On Friday, I went over to Dunbar with my supervisor to sit in on two therapy sessions with her. Unfortunately the first one canceled, but this meant that I had a little time to explore the town. Dunbar is even smaller than Haddington...the High Street took me only 5 minutes to walk to the end! It was a beautiful day, so stopped at a little coffee shop and decided to sit outside for a bit.

 I've been working on reading this book about positive thinking, but I have been having a particularly hard time than I thought getting through it. At least in the first 50 pages, it seems to be emphasizing more the power of prayer...so not really what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be about Positive Psychology, but from what I can tell so far it really bears no similarities. So I may just look for something else in the hospital library.

Once I was finished with my coffee, I decided to take a stroll down to the beach. I did not have enough time to go all the way on to the beach, but it was pretty enough standing at the edge and looking out over the water.

 That strip of red wall on the left of the picture below is actually all that remains of a castle. The rest has been reclaimed by the sea overtime. 

Like Haddington (and most small towns), the main church sits at one end of the High Street. 

 I was really thankful I am able to now sit in on appointments. I feel like I learn so much more when I have direct exposure and am able to be in the moment with the client, even if I am not involved in the process. It has helped me conceptualize the cases in my head and start making connections on my own. Then by discussing them afterwards with my supervisor, I have a better understanding of how and why she approaches things the way she does in the sessions. I am sitting into a few more appointments next week, so I am looking forward to that.

Looking at the calendar, I'm starting to get sad that my time here is more than halfway done. My supervisor has set aside time for the whole office on August 8th for a "going away" lunch for me, which is incredibly kind and thoughtful. Hints were also dropped this week of me trying to come back in subsequent summers. I have no idea how this would work without me actually getting paid somehow (and I know the NHS doesn't have that budget), but it would be amazing to. Once I have experience in one or more experiential placements at school, I would be able to come back to the NHS and do more direct clinical work that way. They accept Clinical Psychology trainees here but they only get placed in their final year of their program (their doctoral programs are 3 years). So I would need to have a little more experience before I take on a caseload here. We will see. If there is a next time, I think I'd like to live in centre city Edinburgh. But that's just dreaming, it's really expensive!

On another note, look how big the babies are getting! We went down to another pub in Haddington on Friday night to sit out and enjoy the weather. We saw these guys out wandering as well.

Seacliff Beach

We have talked about going to this beach for some time, but have been waiting for the perfect weather. This amazing beach in North Berwick is owned privately by a rather grumpy man, or so I am told.  It costs 2 quid to get onto the beach per vehicle, but I think it was worth it. It was almost 80 degrees today, the hottest day in Scotland for a long time. The fact that there are only about 3 airconditioners in the UK total (hyperbole alert) made it almost necessary to seek out somewhere cooler. I suppose I should be used to that sort of weather, but it really came out of nowhere. Being that I am in SCOTLAND, I did not bring many warm-weather clothes. I think I'll be asking my family to bring some over with me when I meet them in England in August! If they refuse, I guess there is my excuse to buy more dresses! 

The tide was out when we visited this evening. When the tide is in, almost all of the beach disappears. 

 You see that jagged section of the cliffs in the picture below? That's a castle. Due to the sun's position I couldn't get a clear picture of it with my phone from this angle, but there is another view of it later on in this post.

There are doggies EVERYWHERE in Scotland.

 Amazing volcanic rocks that provide a habitat for some interesting creatures while the tide is out

 This is the exit to the beach. Up the hill and in the forest lies the remains of an old estate that caught fire and burned down many years ago. You can't really see what is left of it during the summer, but it supposedly a very haunted location! This archway belongs to that structure.

 As you can see below, Berwick Rock (the bird sanctuary I have mentioned before) is on the left. This is the other view of Tantallon Castle - the one you can sort of see from the beach picture!

Today I went to Musselburgh, another town in East Lothian to visit a community mental health service agency. As I am quite tired now, I'll post about it tomorrow! 

On the bonnie, bonnie banks...

...O' Loch Lomond! 

Today, we drove up through Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, to have a meal on the water's edge. Loch Lomond is considered to mark the border between the lowlands and the highlands. You can see the start of the highland landscape in the distance. It was a nice preview for me, as I know in a little bit over a month I'll be crossing this "border" and travelling up into the northern part of the county. 

I haven't been into Glasgow yet, but my impressions driving through it were very different than the one I had initially driving through Edinburgh. While Edinburgh's historical buildings are made of a light sandstone, Glasgow's are much darker, and have a reddish tone to them. Another aspect of this city that struck me was the amount of high-rise apartment complexes. The color-block painting schemes of these buildings provided a stark contrast to the very obvious historical structures. Overall, Glasgow seems very much more industrial and much newer. Even the buildings in New Town Edinburgh have an older feel. I've been told this story a few times to compare the two cities: "If you hear a gunshot in Edinburgh, you know what time it is. If you hear a gun in Glasgow, you better run the other way." In Edinburgh everyday at 1pm (well actually 8 seconds to 1pm to allow the sound to reach the other side of the city by 1pm exactly), a gunshot is fired from the Castle ramparts. As mentioned previously, private gun ownership is very strict here, so any violence using these weapons is really rare. However, Glasgow apparently has a bit of a gang culture, and in recent years especially there have been incidences of gun violence. However, these numbers are minuscule compared to the States. In 2010, 150 people were killed as a result of a firearm injury in the WHOLE United Kingdom. This 0.25 deaths for every 100,000 people, compared to 5.1 deaths per 100,000 in the States. Interestingly enough, there was a horrendous shooting in a Scottish primary school in 1996, eerily similar to the Sandy Hook shooting. After this happened, these rigid firearms laws were put into place. Police do not even carry guns in Scotland. Just an interesting comparison...but enough about guns! You can check more figues out here if you are interested.

The place we went was called "Loch Lomond Shores," a shopping center set up on the banks. There was also a Sunday Market set up, with local vendors selling their fish, meat, eggs, baked goods, and beer. We had lunch at a restaurant called "The Kilted Skirlie." We sat upstairs on a terrace overlooking the water. It was about 70 degrees out today, and for once, I was actually warm! A little bit too warm, maybe. I have a headache now, the first one I have had since I got here. I've spent the better part of the last two days out in the sun, so I think I maybe worn out from that. I am trying to drink a lot of water now, to see if that will help. 

At the end of the day, we grabbed a coffee in one of the cafes. We watched Andy Murray, professional tennis player from Scotland, win Wimbledon...the first time in 77 years Britain has been able to claim this title! I thought that was pretty neat - a bit of history being made. Next big event is Kate Middleton's baby!

I also wanted to share this picture that I was able to snap last night of the sunset. I haven't altered the picture at all - this was really the color of the sky. It is a shame I could not have gotten a better picture without houses in the way, but it is pretty late when the sun sets here! 

I cannot believe tomorrow is Monday already. It's going to be a busy week!

A Sunny Day

There is a heat wave here in Scotland! Meaning it is 70 degrees. The house is stocked up with ice cream to get everyone through what is supposed to be a whole week of this temperature! Surprisingly, it did not rain ONCE today. Much to my dismay, I got sunburned. Again. Even after putting sunblock on before leaving! I guess that is my punishment for being spontaneous! I'll get to that in a bit.

I set off from Haddington this morning with the idea to do two museums: The Writer's Museum, and the Portrait Gallery up on Queen's Street. I did make it to the the Writer's Museum. It was an interesting, if not a very tiny place. The museum is located in Lady Stairs Close. Lady Stairs, a huge support of writers during her time, used to reside in the house that has now been converted into the museum. The floor tiles of the Close (the Scots believed 'enclosure' to be way too long) are engraved with quote from literary figures. I thought this one was particularly resonate for first-time-solo-travelers such as my self. It says "It's a grand thing to get leave to live."

The museum itself was interesting right away due to the architecture. Once you walk in the door, you are immediately faced with the option going either up or down a narrow winding staircase. Unfortunately, guests were not allowed to take pictures inside, but I think that the museum website may have some if you're interested. You can check out the link here. The museum features artifacts from three celebrated Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. I think the RLS exhibit was my favorite, because they played an audiotape of someone reading Treasure Island as you looked at pictures of all the inspirational places he visited. He travelled so much to gather stories up in his head, fragments of experiences that later he would incorporate into his books. 

 From there, I decided to stop in Saint Giles Cathedral (fun fact, not actually a cathedral because no bishop has sat there). It can also be known as the "High Kirk." It was incredible. Someone was giving a very monotone sermon, I think just to provide a backdrop for visitors to the site. On the bus on the way into the city, for some reason "Call Me Al" by Paul Simon popped into my head. The lines that go "he sees angels in the architecture/spinning in infinity/he says 'amen' and 'hallelujah'" particularly kept going through. So it was amazing to walk into this ancient stone structure and see the statue of the angel. Just one of those weird coincidences I think. 

I did not manage to get a picture of it because I did not want to disturb the people in the far left chapel of the church, but there were actually wooden carved angels playing bagpipes! It was so unusual! I have passed a restaurant on the Royal Mile before that is called "Angels With Bagpipes," so now that makes sense! 

Edinburgh was absolutely BUSTLING with people today, all out enjoying the weather. I think there is already a kickstart happening for the Festival shows. You want to see someone juggling some inflamed item, you got it. See amazing art made right before your eyes, sure. Panto? Of course. I even saw someone dressed as a ghost singing opera, and another as a gypsy spinning wool into yarn. But here is one unusual act I saw today, a guy balancing a ball on various body parts, to "Teardrop" by Massive Attack playing on a boombox. Anything goes I suppose!

I continued down the Royal Mile a bit, contemplating whether I should start making my way back towards New Town to find the Portrait Gallery. It was so nice out still in the morning hours, that part of me just wanted to grab a coffee and fall asleep in Prince's Street Gardens again. But then I saw a sign advertising a free 2.5hour walking tour of the city, and on a whim just decided to sign up and do it. I am really glad that I did! Our Australian tour guide took us to many places I had been before, but provided so much history about the city I probably would not have known otherwise. For example, on top of the market post in Parliament Square, there sits a unicorn. I already knew that the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn (how awesome, to have a mythical creature as your national animal), but what I did not know that symbolically, this wild and unruly animal is considered tamed when it is shown with a chain around it's neck. Very telling, when you think about Scottish history and the many years of violence in which they sought their freedom. This political battle is still going on. Next year a referendum will be taken to vote to see whether Scotland will become independent. Very interesting!

The Scots during the age of enlightenment also considered themselves the "Athens of the North," believing their country to be the next great power, like the Romans. Throughout the ancient architecture you can see many reminiscent elements of that idea, including sphinxes on top of buildings, famous leaders garbed in togas (no one actually ever wore a toga in Edinburgh) and even the start of a parthenon replica they hoped to build. However, they got about 8 pillers constructed out of the 60 needed, and then ran out of money. This was quite embarrassing for the city! But you can still climb up the hill and picnic by those pillers now, and be reminded how Edinburgh tried, but failed, to become the "Athens of the North."

 Some other highlights: The tombstone of Thomas Riddell (and his son!), the inspiration for the name for JK Rowling's famous villain in her Harry Potter books. It has a different spelling, but she does claim this is where she got the idea, while exploring graveyards for interesting character names! I mentioned before about the Elephant Cafe, where Rowling used to sit and write. This back of the cafe overlooks Greyfriars Kirk and Kirkyard. 

The beloved dog of a nightwatchman, a terrier named Bobby, was buried here. He is famous for guarding the gravestone of his owner for 14 years, and was utterly loved by the whole city. When he died, he was not allowed to be buried in Greyfriar's Kirkyard because they could not be sure he was a Christian...so that is that. As you can see people still leave him tokens of gratitude. SOme of the more unusual gifts we were told about included unused German train tickets, inviting the spirit of Bobby to join the gifter for Oktoberfest! 

 After the tour, one of the girls I met on the walk and I decided to grab something to eat somewhere. She's an American student as well who is doing an internship in Dublin this summer. I also met a girl from Monmouth County who was studying abroad in London and spending the weekend in Edinburgh. It really is a small world! Here is the view from a balcony restaurant in OldTown. We did not eat here, but the little cafe we did go to is the white building on the bottom right with the tables outside! I had been there before, but I was not too hungry so I grabbed a smoothy. She decided to use the rest of the day to go to the castle (she was flying back to Dublin in the morning), so I wandered a bit more through the town before heading back to Prince's Street. 

SO that is how I got off track and did something completely different than I expected to, and got very sunburned in the process. Tomorrow we are going to Loch Lomond Shores, a shopping center on the Bonnie Bonnie Banks!

Week 5

It has been a long time since I've posted, simply because I've been so busy. Things have really picked up at my internship, and I am doing quite a lot there. Next week I get to administer a

neuropsychological assessment called the WAIS on a practice subject, so I've been teaching myself how to do that. I have been attending peer supervision meetings, scoring batteries of inventories (including the CORE, DAS, DES and Risk Assessments among many others), continuing work on the dissociation project, and I have been scheduled to observe some upcoming therapy sessions. Next week I'll also be taking the bus to a community counseling center that is affiliated with the NHS a few towns over. It offers services to those with more "moderate" issues, compared to Psychological Therapies which is more intense. It will probably take me close to an hour by local bus, so I am hoping I'll be able to stay there for a while and learn about what they do!

What is also nice is that now there is a clinical psychology trainee in the office with me 4 days a week. She was away on holiday climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but is back now! She's from Ireland but has lived here now for a few years for University, so it's interesting to get her opinion on various aspects of the psychological field. We have had some really intellectually stimulation conversations. Although our opinions differ sometimes, it just provides me with another view. She also lived in Pennsylvania for 2 years, so she's been able to share her own reflections on our health care system. I really appreciate that. She has also been using some Irish slang and common phrases which has been fantastic. I may be able to tell a compliment from an insult by the time I go to Ireland!

I have also continued to attend the exercise group for some of the patients. Although the atmosphere is really informal and only focuses on exercise, it's a good experience just to have interaction with people in that setting. The class takes place on Wednesdays, so it's a nice mid-week break. Though come Thursday morning, I dread the 1.5 mile uphill-both-ways walk! 

Yesterday, which was Friday, I came home to find a package waiting for me from my friend Tucker! I opened it up to find a lovely letter and incredible cynotype of a killdeer on the beach back home. It is now displayed on the top shelf of my desk so I can see it all the time! The birds here are so different than the ones back home. There are seagulls everywhere, which I find strange...even in Old Town in Edinburgh! It seems so far from their natural place! One of my favorite birds to see here are the magpies. They are almost always on the lawn of the hospital. Anyway, I really love mail. I hope everyone I sent postcards to have received them by now! I wanted to write more this week, but I did not have much extra time!  

Since last night was Friday, we went to a pub that was located on the lawn outside of this castle. It was a really tiny place. Most of the pub seemed to be focused on the Wimbledon match on the one TV in the building. We sat outside in the beer garden, until the midges were too much and we retreated back inside. As I have mentioned before, I do not like beer, so instead I've made a point of sampling ciders from around Scotland. The one I picked was SO sweet it did not even taste like cider...more like a fizzy fruit juice. It was yummy though, which I'm glad, because I paid 3 quid for it!

Unfortunately the castle was closed due to the time we were there, so we just had a wander around the outside of the walls. The town of Dirlton, which took its name for the castle that resides there, is a sleepy little village. Aside from the people at the two restaurants and a few kids playing on a swingset, there really was not anyone in sight. 

We were also lucky to catch this amazing sunset. Since we were just going to the pub, I did not bring my real camera, but I am sorry because my iphone did not do the orange of the sun justice. We joked and said it is the color of Irn Bru, the famous Scottish soft drink! It's a citrus soda that is incredibly sweet, but it outsells both Coke and Pepsi here in Scotland. The only reason I have not tried it yet, is because I do not think I could drink a whole bottle alone.

 I'm going to post a separate entry of my day in Edinburgh!