Friday..

On Friday I was in the nursery with the children. It was crazy hectic! We didnt really do anything because it was a half day and so they just had playtime. After that, the bus was 20 minutes late and i sat on it for over an hour by myself..it was horrible! So i took a nap when i got back. Then most of us went to the Pub Crawl in Edinburgh..we each got a sheet and had to go to each pub and get some sort of beverage and they'd stamp it. We walked for miles on end..i thought i would be back by 10 since we left at 5 and i chose to only go to 8 pubs to get the tshirt (the only reason i went in general) but i didnt get back til 130 or so. it was horrible. Lets just say it wasnt as enjoyable as i had thought it'd be..and lucky josh gets my tshirt..all that walking and time and they dont even have my size!! Today we have a free day so we got to sleep in and now i am doing my laundry and relaxing and packing for paris tomorrow morning as i am realllly looking forward to that. I am ready to move on from Scotland..so Paris should be great! I will not have my computer with me there though so you will have to wait til Wednesday to get the next post! BYEEEE!

Day 3 at school

Today I worked with the P2's..so like 6 ane 7 year olds. I had to work with this one boy almost the entire day to help him with learning numbers and reading and things like that cause he does not get any special attention so the teacher has to work with him as well as the other students and so she doesnt get anything done..it was entertaining..i read them a book..helped them with reading..and helped them with math, too. We also went out to their garden on their playground and ate some fresh lettuce that they picked out..they forgot to take out a weed and i ate it..go figure..dont try it, its disgusting! Tomorrow we only have a half day at school..they have that every friday, how lucky for them! So we get out really early and have the rest of the day to do whatever. We had our meeting tonight about Paris..which we leave for on sunday. I am excited to go somewhere new because staying here in scotland is getting to be long and im a little homesick..but it is fun! The weather is not good though..ive probably already said this but it rains all the time randomly and is really cold..like 30 degrees...and is so windy and in scotland on monday they recorded the wind to be 114 mph..no joke..it is crazy..good thing Paris is 70-80 degrees!

Day 2 in schools

Today i was with the P5/6/7..so ages about 9-12 in one classroom..I liked it more than i thought i would and the teacher was really nice. I pretty much just sat by the computers with the kids all day helping them with their research projects on endangered animals and rainforests..and then i had to help this kid independently afterward cause he didn't have a computer at home to work on his project and he was typing so slow that i asked him if he just wanted me to do it cause it was taking hours!! Also, when two of the kids were with me on the computers they asked me if i was famous..then i proceeded to show them a picture of josh on google and they asked if he was in the professional league and then i must be a cheerleader..haha good joke! but it was really funny..and they said they like my accent. I also had to give them hints about where i lived so they could look it up in their atlas..then i had to sit in front of the class while they asked me questions..like what is it like there? What do you eat? Do you have a national flower? Whats the weather like...etc..it was fun! Anyways..i found that they teach a lot about the environment and learn a lot about what is going on in the world rather  than anything else. They also focus most of their lessons on morals and being respectful. They do not have core subjects everyday..in fact, it is pretty unorganized and just goes with the flow most of the time..

First day in the schools..

Today we all went to our schools..I am at Rosewell Primary school and was paired with the Primary 1's..aka 5 year olds. It is much different than the schools in the US...for instance, the teacher lost one of the girls..they are not very responsible here i feel like..they let the kids go to the bathrooms alone... one of the teachers in the lounge asked me if i wanted dick but it just means cake, and i knew that, it was just kind of funny..and the kids kept asking me for rubbers (erasers)..it is funny with their accents and the way they talk..2 girls pooped their pants in the classroom...the teacher has a really advanced vocab in front of the kids..like uses words like 'deliberately' to 5 year olds..and when they talk to me they are really polite and say 'pardon' or this one girl said 'i have a lovely bow in my hair today' and they say 'wee' as in this is a wee bit hard..as in a little hard. haha or he is just a wee one. its funny..but tomorow i am in a different room i guess..so i dont get to be in that room..new room everyday, kind of sucks..tomorow i am with the 8-12 year olds..we will see how that goes, i dont really like that!

Wind, wind, and more wind...

Today it was really windy and trees and all sorts of things were falling over..including little kids! We had to go find our schools and they just gave us our "First" bus pass (the company) and of course, the First bus pass doesnt go to my school..so i had to pay to use another bus service that actually went there..just my luck!  Tomorrow morning we start in the schools so i will find out what grade i get! After that, a few of us met up to go to Edinburg and just walk around..and it poured and was really windy still..so we left. But we saw the St. Giles Cathedral which was really neat. Then we went to the grocery store and bought stuff to make spaghetti.. No pictures for today, sorry!

A day of adventures...

This morning we went to Rosslyn Chapel. It is the church of Scotland and it's where one of the last scenes of the DaVinci Code took place. It was really pretty..the pillars and artwork inside was very detailed and well i dont really know what else to say about it and we were not allowed to take any pictures inside so that is that..they are in the process of restoring it now. Then..i went to this place called Greggs for lunch which has really good pastries and i ate two with sausage in the middle..better believe it... since i am such a picky meat eater...but the second i looked at the inside of it, i threw the second half of it away! Josh would've loved to  finish that for me, i know! So then we got back and changed into more comfy clothes and Ashley and I went with 4 other girls to explore the 300 acres of land that are owned by the Dalkeith "House" we are in and there was all sorts of trails..and we got lost, go figure! And guess where we ended up..inside of a fenced area of bulls..that was scary! And hit a dead end that said STOP: do not enter..so we had to back track all the way back til we found the river again and hop a few fences..we made it back safely though. It was an adventure! Tomorrow we start in the schools and we get our school/classroom assignments tonight!

here is the outside of the church where the DaVinci Code was filmed..since they wouldn't let us take any pictures of the inside!

A picture from our nature walk

the sign that we were not lost anymore and were back on a trail after walking around forever

here is a classroom that is in the building where we are living for the week...and this is where the ghosts live i guess...or one of them..i can't believe i even took a picture of this. The girl that was standing next to me when i took it said she wants to sit in there and talk to them..i dont know what is wrong with her!

Edinburgh

Today we went to Edinburgh, a city in Scotland. We got to see a castle, King Arthur's Peak, the place where JK Rowling wrote the last Harry Potter book, and the building that is believed to inspire Hogwarts.  We took a bus to Edinburg and there is two levels so we sat on top and its kind of scary and its weird since they drive on the opposite side of the road. We also took a tour bus through all of Edinburgh and saw all of these great things, except I don't remember most of what they are! Also- we learned Scottish dances tonight and boy was it a work out! Here are some pictures...

King Arthur's Seat

First Stop: Dalkeith Palace

Well..my first plane left Milwaukee at 1:52 pm yesterday and we got to Edinbourgh at 10:50 this morning, AKA 4:50 our time..and I havent slept yet and it is 7 pm here right now. We are staying in this palace for the majority of the time and it is scary...really creepy..and they said there is ghosts here..who knows if I will be able to sleep since i am scared to even go to the bathroom I am freaked out..this building is 350 years old! We ate at a pizza shop tonight and just get to do whatever we want now..we have to be ready by 10 tomorrow morning to go into the town of Edinborough for tours..sorry this post is a little boring! I did not really take any pictures today, but here they are...



This is where we are staying....the haunted palace




backyard of the palace..over 300 acres