Thanksgiving in Edinburgh

Much to my dismay nobody over here knows the wonderfulness that is thanksgiving. I have tried to explain it and have told the pilgrim and indian story more times than I can count, but it is more about the traditions and the happy memories than anything else. I mean how do you describe the feelings of growing up looking forward to the turkey and dressing at the grandparent's house every year and being together with the family, watching the Macy's Parade and the football game... all of these things together that make thanksgiving my favorite holiday.

But, yes, it is a very American holiday, one that is not appreciated or celebrated by the rest of the world... So, to share this part of myself with my friends here, I decided to cook a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner.

This was a challenge for several reasons... For example, they just don't eat much turkey over here... I looked in several supermarkets, and turkey is just nowhere to be found. Also, I don't cook!!!! at all!!!! I mean, usually when I attemp to cook, something gets burned (the food on a good day, the kitchen on a not so good day). And I had no recipes... I just had some general ideas about my favorite dishes that I couldn't live without on thanksgiving... dressing (Mama, I hope you saved me some of yours :), green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, mashed potatoes, gravy, bread rolls...

I know what you are thinking right now... There is no way that she pulled it off... She burned herself, the kitchen, the food... I mean, this is Rachel in the kitchen we are talking about here... :)

But I am here to tell you that for that one day, I was a domestic goddess... It was so funny as all of my friends were sitting around the table watching me finish up... I definitely felt like the mom... I don't know how I got promoted so fast from my usual job of putting ice in the glasses!!! :)

And it actually turned out to be one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever... There was about 14 of us in all crammed around a table meant for 8, eating off of plastic mismatched hostel dishes instead of Granny's china... but I think we all felt like a family that night... all sitting around together... everybody laughing, talking, taking pictures... Because just like any family, it is a rare and special occassion when everybody is acually in one place at one time, just enjoying being together.

Home Sweet Home, well, in Edinburgh anyways...

I decided to do the night train back to Edinburgh... and got much more sleep than I did on the bus to London, thankfully :)

So, this morning, as I was sleepily walking with my backpack and wrinkled, travel weary body up the mound to my hostel, I was once again amazed at what a beautiful place Edinburgh is and how lucky I am to be living here. The Christmas festival is starting tomorrow, so all of the Christmas decorations are up... The German market has taken over one of the main walkways in the middle of town, a huge ferris wheel has gone up in the Princess Street Gardens (by far the most beautiful place in town), an outdoor ice rink will soon appear, everyone seems especially friendly.

To fully appreciate this time, I decided to walk through the park, the long way, winding up the Mound to get to my hostel... one of those things that every tourist does, but is usually taken for granted by the locals. About halfway up, I turned to see the hazy sunrise through the clouds... beautiful every morning, but especially memorable this day: coming home to Edinburgh, feeling warm inside my coat despite the icy wind around me, slowly pushing the sleep away from my body and waking up to this moment of peacefulness.

It was so wonderful to be back where everything is familiar and I know everybody... I told everybody about London and heard about what went on here over the weekend, moved back into my old bed in my old room, got a cup of coffee, and settled into my favorite couch by the fire for a nap, back into my old routine again.

Christmas time in London

I think I like London even more the second time around than I did the first. I don't know what happened to the typical "London weather," but it has been absolutely beautiful almost the whole time we have been here... I am not going to say it is warm here, but it is much much warmer than it is in Edinburgh... and the sun has been out every day at least at some point.

All the Christmas decorations are up, and it is just magical to walk down the sidewalks under all the lights and traffic and pedestrians bustling about... the energy here is just incredible.

Every day has been perfect. We have walked along the river path, with famous monuments in the background... Big Ben and the Parliament, over the London Bridge (a couple of times actually... you don't even want to know :), Westminster Abbey... we went to an organ recital there... I actually fell asleep because I was tired from all the walking, but I hear it was pretty amazing :)

We went to the Camden markets on Saturday morning... It was huge... much bigger than I expected... With tons of alternative EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine. I had a great time looking at all the stuff, and John patiently followed me around :) I just love the atmosphere at markets like that... people everywhere, booths crammed in wherever they will fit, selling creations that I could never have even imagined.... It was great!

We walked all through the parks, and I got to experience autumn for a couple of days (somehow I completely missed out on autumn this year... It just became winter when I got to Edinburgh :)... the leaves on the trees changing brilliantly, the sound of the fallen leaves crunching under our feet, the huge old trees lining the sidewalks creating a stately canopy of color for us to walk through.

We went to Speaker's Corner at Hyde Park where anybody who wants to just brings along a step stool, stands up a couple of feet higher than the crowd, and rants and raves about whatever they want, hoping to gather a crowd to listen to their hysterics. The whole area was crowded, so we just walked through catching snippets of what people were saying and stopping when it sounded interesting, trying to make sense of it all. I have to say, most of the people speaking here seemed to me to be complete lunatics, but it was really entertaining nonetheless :)

Our hostel was actually in Greenwich, just a short train ride from central London... So, of course, we had to go stand on the Prime Meridian... two hemispheres at once... took the obligatory picture... it was really cool though to be somewhere that I remember reading about in grade school.

And, the highlight of our time in London was last night.... We went to see "We Will Rock You." I had almost forgotten what a great band Queen is... The whole show there was just so much energy, audience participation, singing along... It was incredibly fun... I actually had so much energy after the show, I couldn't sleep for half the night!

So, tonight I am heading back to Edinburgh... I am strangely excited to get back "home," to see what is new with my friends there, to be in a place where everything is familiar, to enjoy my last few weeks before everything changes... :)

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be living in a hostel in Scotland, I would have just laughed...

But, a few days ago, I officially became a "long termer" here at the Castle Rock. I am not sure how a whole month has gone by since I first came here, but somehow it has. So, as I was ceremoniously signing my name in the Long Termer Book (where it will remain forever), I was hit hard by how fast time is passing here.

John is coming next week, and then I will only have two more weeks after that before my flight home... How crazy is that?

But I am enjoying my time here... my little group of hostel friends, the people I am meeting at work, sitting by the fire every night in the lounge drinking coffee and talking or watching South Park, going out on the weekends, going on long walks in this stunning city.

I am meeting John in London this weekend, and we are going to... well, really, we don't have any set plans yet, but I am sure whatever we do is going to be fabulous! :)

I am really excited to get to be traveling again... It's a great life! :)

You know how sometimes you meet someone and you just know right away that there is something special about them, something in their energy, in their presence, in the way that you relate to each other?

Helen was one of these people. She was easy to spot, being over sixty years old in a youth hostel, curly pink hair, usually at least one piece of pink clothing on, always with pink accessories, usually drinking chocolate milk. Even though she describes herself as the "crazy, old pink-haired lady," she still seems to have the innocence of a child who does not understand why everybody doesn't just accept each other for who they are.

Helen's world is one of fairy tales, mystery, fantasy, finding magic in every day, in every minute, believing that there is magic because believing makes it real. Her world is beautiful not because it is without pain or evil or tragedy, but because it is filled with faith in things that you cannot see, in a belief in something that cannot be realized except through a blind trust in your own intuition.

Helen really touched me and, I think, everybody in Room 44. There were so many nights that we would find ourselves sitting on the floor indian-style around her bed, completely captured by her stories as she told us about her life, her children, her dreams, her travels, her book. Her words were full of life and energy, her stories full of love and beauty. She became like a mother to us... we could talk to her about anything and she would offer words of comfort, chocolate milk, and a big hug every time.

She was part of a storytelling festival here in Edinburgh, so on the night she was to perform, we all went out to a pub to hear her. She was wrapped in a beautiful cloak that she had made by hand herself and carried with her all around the world for this occassion. The mound of ornately decorated fabric was draped around her giving the impression that she very well could be a fairy or a queen or a little girl playing dress-up. Her presence was stunning as she recited a passage from a book that she is writing about fairies abiding in the trees of the enchanted forrest... I could almost imagine that they were her best friends as she described the characters, each one of them fashioned after one of her seven children.

Helen stayed with us for almost a week before moving on, but she is one person that I will never forget. She left very early one morning, before anyone else was awake... but when we did wake up, every girl in our room found a little fairy ornament on our bedside, I think a reminder to have faith in things unseen.

Quotes from the posh lounge by the fire

Quote from Greg (from Melbourne) (Aka Mitch) ...clears throat... "Nothing beats my lambchops and garlic bread. I loves my lambchops."

"Time for Vegemite on toast."

Quote from Sara (from New Zealand)
"What are you doing for dinner?" to Mitch
"lambchops again?"
"Lets go to Tesco Metro"
"I'm cold, I reckon I am going to put on my jumper."

Quote from Rachel
"Y'all come back now, ya hear?"
"Yee haw!!!!" as she rides away on the bronco (for some reason, they think i am from Texas!!!)

Quote from Helen:
"He's a grumpy fairy."

My drama of the day:
So, we went to the supermarket, where there were two MANGY dogs (according to Greg)... I thought they were adorable... and very clean... So I gave them a pat and one of their ears dropped off. The dog was obviously suffering with Scottish plague and a mixture of diseases, but Greg's warning not to pet them was too late. I had already touched them. Out of my nervousness, I touched my hair straight away, thus transfering the MANGE to my own hair. Now nobody will go near me.
It's the MANGE!!!!

Quote from Jane:
"kneuo" I love the way she says no :)

This week I started my "real" job in a city council office here. I am the girl that gets to help people fill out forms for financial assistance if they come into the office because they can't figure it out on their own. I like it a lot so far, especially the people that I work with. There is this crazy old lady, my favorite person that I work with, who just randomly bursts out singing Disney songs at really inappropriate times in the office... she is just great :) She makes things interesting, and keeps us all entertained for sure.

I had a great halloween. We had a party here at the hostel, and I dressed up as a gypsy. I had just as much fun gettting dressed up with all the girls in my room as I did at the party I think. It is so fun to act like a kid again sometimes :)

The weather here is getting colder every day. Tonight at the hostel, we lit the fire in the fireplace for the first time. Someone asked me how long I have been here a few days ago, and I couldn't believe it when I realized I have been here for three weeks now. It really feels like home though. I have gotten to the point where I know most of the people here, and I have a group that I kind of meet up with every night... we all have our respective places on the sofas in the posh lounge where we sit and talk and laugh.

My sofa is calling... :)