Times Flies, Scottish Style

Two weeks ago it was spring break for schools in Romania.  I took the opportunity to visit my dear friends Sarah, Dan, and their daughter Hazel in Glasgow. It was an amazing and refreshing trip!  The weather was beautiful and for the first time this year it felt like spring.  All week long local kept telling me that all the sunshine they were having was highly unusual.  Only when on the day I leaving did it turn to more typical Scottish spring weather and rain.

I feel like I packed so much into the trip that it would take ages to talk about all of it, but I thought I would share some photos and highlights.  Sarah also did a great job of documenting my visit on her blog.

Sarah is a wonderful hostess and before I even arrived asked me what food I was missing so that she could make some of my favorites.  I was totally pampered all week long!  Sarah whipped up Mexican food, Thai curry, and beef stroganoff. We also went out for fish and chips, tapas, and Indian! 

The first day, which I sadly don't have pictures of Sarah and I had a day out in Edinburgh.  We took the train from Glasgow in the morning.  I had been to Edinburgh before so we just looked at the castle from afar and skipped the tour, instead we hit the shops, dined in a pub, walked through the parks, poked around back alleys and had an amazing sunset dinner and wine.

Sunday the weather was still gorgeous so we went to a park at Loch Lomond.  The park has what I would call a mini castle, but is just referred to as a manor.  Hazel explored the playground and I soaked up the sunshine. 

Dan with the giant rhododendrons at Loch Lomond

mini castle

entrance to the loch

After the park we got some fish and chips for lunch before taking the train back to Sarah and Dan's flat so that Hazel could have her afternoon nap before the evening church service.

A park near Sarah and Dan's flat full of gorgeous cherry blossoms.

Dan stayed home while Hazel took her nap so that Sarah could show me a little of their neighborhood.  We met up again with Dan and Hazel at church. Sarah's brother is the pastor of Re: Hope and it was great to see him preach.  The service was very moving and the music was great.  Dan then went out with a few friends from church and Sarah and I walked home with Hazel.  After Hazel went to bed Sarah produced and amazing platter of local cheeses and crackers for me to try.  It was heavenly!  I am still dreaming of the wensleydale with cranberries. Another perfect end to the day.

The next day Dan had to work so Sarah, Hazel and I walked to the Kelvingrove Art Galley and Museum.  On the walk we passed Glasgow University.

 

Uni

Museum

The museum is free and fantastic for both children and adults. Hazel did great playing with all the interactive features while Sarah and I got to enjoy looking at Scottish history, nature and design, plus art from around the world.

the museum organ

museum interior

Sarah and Hazel soaking up sunshine on the walk home

The next day we went downtown so I could do more shopping for things that are hard to find in Romania.  Then Sarah and Hazel headed home for nap time and I stayed downtown to get my haircut.  It was my first haircut in a year except my own occasional hacking at my bangs.  Sarah had made an appointment for me with her awesome hairdresser, Mark, which was lovely!

Wednesday, I headed back to Edinburgh to meet up with my friend Emily.  Emily went to grad school in Edinburgh and graduated last year and has stayed on to work in her field.  Emily gave me a great insiders tour of the city.

apartments which combine old and new architecture

cherry blossoms in the Meadows

Nelson's monument and the observatory on Calton Hill

Castle!

Emily and I in Princes Street Gardens

banana phone

After wandering all over town, Emily and I had drinks at the Last Drop in the Grassmarket.

 

We then met up with a couple of Emily's friends and had a chance to catch the sun set over the links public golf course at the end of The Meadows.

Thursday was an amazing day.  The whole family surprised me for an early birthday celebration.  I work up to find the lounge filled with balloons, bunting and a very excited Hazel who had learned to wish me (and everyone) a happy birthday.

Hazel Mae

"happy birthday!"

We went downtown for a little more shopping and I loaded up on my favorite shampoos and other goodies to bring back with me.  It seemed like even the weather was cooperating on my birthday celebration day.  Even the cherry tree outside my window was in bloom.

The view from the guest bedroom.

After Hazel's nap we headed out to go to the shop across the street so I could get some postcard stamps and to go to the neighborhood butcher.  
 

Hazel helping me mail postcards

two stylish ladies!

With our newly purchased meat, Sarah made a gorgeous and delicious Mexican feast.  Complete with party plates and napkins with my favorite, polka dots!  I also was even more surprised with presents!  Sarah and Dan knew the key to my heart with a giant bottle of Tabasco sauce and packets of couscous to take back to Romania.

the view from the dining room table

Hazel getting a little after dinner exercise

After Hazel went to bed, Sarah had one more topper for an already perfect day, we headed out for cake.  The evening was gorgeous so we meandered through the neighborhood and then the University of Glasgow before heading to Kember and Jones for cake.

forget-me-not and daffodils

caution?

Uni

a view of Kelvingrove Museum

FRIENDS!

windy!

A sweet old professor took our picture at the oldest part of the uni

dessert at Kember and Jones

The next couple days flew by, but I was able to get one complete picture our group right before I left.  It was a lovely vacation.

Sarah, Dan, and Hazel, I can't thank you enough!  Love you guys!  Marta

p.s. I can't wait for our next reunion

flying back to Romania - sigh!

Do you hear that?

Being in Peace Corps means becoming accustomed to new and different things.  However, being placed in a good sized town in Romania means my adjustments haven't been like those one typically thinks of when one thinks Peace Corps.  I am not living in a hut in Africa or a remote mountainous village in South America. I don't have to walk miles to the closest store, I have a real toilet and I have electricity and running water the majority of the time.

When I first got to my site last August I had the typical adjustments that I have had in previous moves in the States; finding the local post office and grocery store, exploring new streets and getting used to new noises.  However, the noises here are different than those at home.  The windows of my apartment overlook the parking lot at the back of my building and it took a while for me to get used to the backing up beeping that most cars have here.   I also had to get used to the noise of the trash chute.  One of my windows is next to the trash chute which is basically a giant pipe that runs through a common balcony that exists on every floor of my building (we have 9).  When I first moved in, I was totally puzzled by the noise, but now I rarely hear it unless someone is throwing out glass (we don't have recycling). 

However, what has taken more adjustment is the absence of constant white noise that I was used to in the U.S.  There are no planes flying overhead and very few sirens. Now I feel like I hear more, thus when I hear something different I feel I must investigate.  This summer it was the sound of horses. A neighbor was having some work done on their apartment and the workmen came to and from the apartment with a căruţă, a traditional wagon.  I have come to discover this is a pretty common sound on the weekends.

This week I heard a new noise when I got home from school, I looked out my window to find something new.  Normally a garbage truck pick up the trash, but yesterday a tractor was clearing out the space below the chute.  It was a little noisier than the garbage truck, but I am secretly hoping this is the new trash collection method because it's awesome.

Surpriză

A couple weeks ago I went to go visit my old host family. It was the first time I had been able to visit them since training. My host mom's granddaughters asked me about how I was liking teaching. It was a surprising and refreshing question as most people at site assume that I come from a teaching background. My host family saw me work through the challenges of my first time teaching during practicum in pre-service training and knew the excitement and trepidation I felt about teaching.

The granddaughters: Teo, Bianca, and Ada

 

The girls' question caught me off guard for a moment because I hadn't really thought about this before. I told them about how I am lucky to like my students, but that it can be difficult. The next part I found myself saying, surprised me because it's a challenge that I have been facing, but never really consciously realized.  One of the main challenges I face teaching is feeling alone. 

I don't think I fully really realized how fortunate I was to be part of such a strong team at my previous job. (shout out to Aimee and Lindsay, I miss you both so much!)  While a lot of my work was independent we had weekly meeting to support each other and work through challenges.  I don't think I fully understood how helpful those meetings were until I faced this situation where I have no team to meet with.

I am trying to think positive thoughts for the future and ways to feel more comfortable in the classroom, but in this first year of teaching, I miss being part of a team and working with peers.