Hi, I'm Becca. This blog will chronicle my adventures as I spend a semester studying abroad at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It's quite a distance from my beloved Christopher Newport University, but there are adventures to be had, sights to see, and places to get lost in. My suitemate of two years, Sarah, is joining me on this crazy adventure, so you should also check out Sarah's blog and her vlog. I might also start a vlog. I haven't decided. I'll keep you updated, of course :)
The journey began with me leaving my family in El Paso, Texas at five a.m. December 31st. It was a rough departure, but not necessarily unusual, because I have to fly to CNU every semester. So, as much as I hated leaving them, I was still within things I was sort of familiar with. My first stop after leaving El Paso was Houston. Funnily enough, while I was on layover in Houston, my dearest Sarah found me at the terminal (no that wasn't planned, of course not...) and then after a two hour delay aboard the plane (AC malfunction... not pleased. But, I spent the time watching Katy Perry: Part of Me, so time well spent!), we were off to Newark, NJ and then our overnight flight to Glasgow! We crossed like five time zones during this flight, and our flight attendants were all super excited about it. They passed out little 'Happy New Years!' crowns and noise makers; it was fantastic.
Once we arrived in Glasgow at 7ish in the morning, things went pretty smoothly. We were excited and tired and a little chilly, but all in all, not too bad. We giggled like idiots every time someone spoke with their fantastic accents, and then made our way out of the airport to take our first steps outside in Glasgow. There was a taxi service right outside the airport, so we waited for a cab and then (after a little accent-/we-don't-know-where-we're-going -caused) confusion, we were off! We got our keys from the Main Gatehouse, and then headed up the street to our flats.
Yes. Up the street. More accurately, up the hill. Dragging almost 50-pound suitcases, carry-ons, and our backpacks in the dark, cold, drizzling Scottish morning. It really wasn't that bad, it just made us very aware of how good of shape we will likely be in by the time we leave. Sarah and I live a couple flats away from each other, so we parted to lug our suitcases to our rooms. I lugged that suitcase up five flights of stairs. Who needs elevators? Not our flats, apparently. My roommate was asleep in our room, but was really sweet about it and just fell back asleep. She woke up a little later and we chatted. She's also study abroad, from Berry University. Super nice, and talking to her made me feel a little better since I was on the brink of a fun anxiety episode. So, after a minor (erm, maybe not so minor) breakdown and freakout involving lack of cell phones and internet difficulties, Sarah and I managed to find each other again and head out for a little exploring. We were both super hot after lugging our stuff upstairs, so we both underestimated the weather... We were a tad chilly, but it was worth it. We saw some of the campus, and oh my goodness it is gorgeous. We were excited to see more, but first, a quick trip to a convenience store we found. We have to feed ourselves entirely while here at Glasgow, so we wanted to look into some options. We didn't actually buy much to help with that, but we got some water and cereal to start out with. Since it was New Years Day, pretty much everything but this convenience store was closed. That only added to our stress (All we wanted was food and towels, but nooooooo), so we decided it was naptime.
We parted again (with promises to keep Facebook chat open) and I took a two hour nap that turned into a four hour nap... not even sorry. My roommate was out with other friends from her University, so I when I woke up, I decided to unpack. I was feeling really anxious and homesick, so organizing my stuff sounded like a good distraction. Then, Sarah came over and we watched an episode of Doctor Who (which was fantastic and sassy and oh I love Ten), and then did extensive googling to began planning for the next day. We figured having something to do would help us with our homesickness.
After Sarah left at around 8:30, I skyped with mi familia for almost two hours. I got a little teary, but it was really good to talk to them. Then, I showered, and passed out until the next morning at 9, with plans for brunch with Sarah, my roommate, and my roomie's friends and then an adventure to buy towels and other essentials!
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