ITC in Scotland - By the Numbers

Rather than take dramatic lengths to discuss the time in Edinburgh I thought it might be more digestible to do it by the numbers.

• 25 Students, 1 Group Leader, and a later introduction by one of the two short-term faculty.

• 15 full days in Edinburgh, staying at Dalkeith House, home of the Wisconsin in Scotland program since 1986. The spring 2014 WIS group was in the house, many having arrived about the same time that we did. I have never seen the house so full, and it sure did make finding a bit of privacy difficult to do. 

• Over 40 hours of classes taught, including 30+ hours of sociology and international studies classes and 12+ hours of humanities. This was actually classroom time, not the affiliated events in and around the area.

• 12 tours and events, not including the 3-day highland tour. Among the sites visited: Scottish National Gallery, Scottish Galleries of Modern Art, Writers' Museum, Greyfriar's Cemetery, National Library, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh Castle, and a match at Hibernian Football Club.

• 50+ hour tour of the Scottish Highlands though MacBackpackers, with a fantastic guide/driver named Neil. He took us to places like Dunkeld, Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, Loch Ness, Dunvagan Broch, Faerie Glen, Eileen Donan Castle, Glencoe, and Doune Castle. A few others were sprinkled in, but that is some of the bigger stuff.

• 10 or more Chinese takeaway bags used for meals due to our days out of the house and Henry's hectic schedule at the house dealing with our 25 students, the WIS program's 43, and the faculty and families of the programs. Always good recycling for later use.

• 3 versions of the calendar due to changes in events and availabilities. Being in one place so long meant that it was necessary to alter the schedule much more than I anticipated or wanted to do.

• 3, as in celsius. This was most commonly what temperature I was being told it would be in Edinburgh on that day. There were a few nights when it was clear and the wind picked up that I thought that was also the temperature reading in my bedroom. I didn't take to wearing a wooly hat in the house, but it wasn't unusual to see students wandering around with blankets around them.

• 2 days on which it was blowing a houlie (or blowing goats). It happened first when we were at Edinburgh Castle and it was clear why there were times that they would close the castle due to the high winds. Even though it isn't too high in the grand scheme of things, it was sufficiently exposed to blow you all over the place when it was really blowing. The second memorable one was an overnight where the windows rattled throughout the night and kept the house feeling terribly cold.

• 0 days of being able to wear sunglasses all day. There were hints of sun now and again, but all told we even had rain when we had sun. It isn't that this is unexpected, rather it is just the reality of a wet winter over here.

• 2 lovely days with our friends in the Scottish Borders. Chris and Donja are always so welcoming and are such fun to be around. They got me to the Preston Reed concert on Saturday night, which was absolutely fantastic in this little spot in Selkirk. On Sunday we had a long leisurely walk along the River Tweed, with one of the better William Wallace statutes looming above us, tea/coffee at Scott's Abbotsford home, dinner at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and a final stop by St. Andrew's Square and the temporary art/light exhibit. The time spent with them flew by way too quickly as always.