Alexio’s Update from Edinburgh

Hey Everyone,

Just to begin, Scotland is amazing! It has been such an incredible trip so far. Class-wise I’m finally getting used to the UK academic system. It took a little while, but it feels good to get a grip on it. I thought I felt independent by being at college for two years at Albright, but here this is almost real independence. Energy conservation is a big thing here, while in America we kind of just use it haha. But here, you have to pay attention to the lights you leave on, how much power your drawing from the outlets to your laptop, and others. You always have to pay attention to your refrigerator. You have to check what’s getting low, what’s going bad, what necessities do you need to stock up on, and if you have all the ingredients for your meals. Oh and how can I forget money, wow it can go quick if you don’t keep your eye on it. Between paying for food, souvenirs, gifts, school books, transportation, trips, dates (if possible lol), experiences with friends, oh and especially drinks. Because you are able to drink here at the age of 18 and because it is just common culture to go out to a bar with friends and have a pint, money on drinks can make you pretty broke. And its not in order to get drunk and crazy, its really just a social thing… to sit at a nice pub, watch the football game on the telly, and drink a nice pint of beer.

If I was to name the top 5 places in Edinburgh, Scotland that are my favorite places, they would be: 1) Teviot – the student communal center that is really big, has a nice vintage/collegiate look to it. 2)The Meadows – the large park in the middle of the city where me and my friends play football every weekend. 3) The National Museum – the biggest museum in the city that shows artifacts from around the world from all different periods and cultures, a natural history section, a new age science section, and my favorite the Scotland through the ages section. 4) The Royal Mile/ Edinburgh Castle – yes it is the tourist street and attraction but hell I am a tourist and I just love the look of it and the old world feeling of the whole street, and especially the shops. 5) Finally Edinburgh’s Underground – This is where the old city really is. It was buried long ago to stop the spread of the plague, now you can go to the ancient part of the city and venture around the ruins.

Bellow (Oscar and I chillin next to Dolly the first cloned animal ever!)

Along the lines of traveling, I haven’t been able to do too much recently. In my scholarship program its not exactly a study abroad type of program, it is more like I am directly enrolling in a University over seas for one year. So the work load is the same just as anyone else’s. So its up to me and my friends to free up our schedules and finish all the work before hand in order to get some free time to travel. Some trips I have planned are: 1) to do a World Wars battlefield tours, where it will pretty much be me and my buddy traveling to Northern France and Belgium to visit the battle sights of both of the world wars. 2) A UK trip, to visit a few key cities in the UK 3) To get to Ireland to visit my cousins and two of my friends who came to study abroad at Albright College for one year 4) My friend from Spain wants to host me at his house anytime before I get back to the states. 5) Lastly is my Eastern Europe trip, where my friends and I are hitting up Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Kharkow in Poland, and ending off in Ukraine. So there are many trip to be planned and many experiences to be had!

Cheers, Alexio

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