From near & far

Thanks to all who voted in the exciting "Where Should Lindsey spend her Spring Vacation" poll. There was a tie between Paris, France & coastal Mediterranean, but in the end, my Spring break has become something else all together: a fun month of visitors from home!

First, my "scholar sister" from Los Angeles, Cynthia, came up to Edinburgh from London. I hadn't seen Cynthia since our Rotary Scholar orientation in Leicester. It was great to host her and show off Edinburgh. We had a mellow day of catching up, strolling around, drinking coffee at the cafe where Harry Potter was written, shopping (I bought new wellies, and Cynth got a furry green Loch Ness monster hat) gossiping, and reminiscing, mostly about the Mexican food in LA. We ended the day cooking dinner at my flat with three other Rotary scholars. We carried on to a local pub and sampled a few whiskies, Cynth couldn't believe how strong the taste was! I guess I'm used to it by now. Cynthia aims to be in Geneve this summer, so perhaps I'll add Switzerland to my ever-growing list of places to visit in continental Europe.

A few days later, my best friend from 6th grade arrived from New York City. It's been such an awesome week. To keep things fresh and "stay-cation" like for me, I made an effort to find some things for us to do in Edinburgh that I hadn't done before. On Nell's first full day, which happened to be Easter Sunday, we went to Crammond Island.

Now, what makes Crammond so unique is the actual journey to get there. Crammond is connected to the mainland village by a narrow cement thoroughfare stacked with triangulated pillars. The causeway appears and disappears in accordance with the low and high tides- so there are only 2 points in the day when it is safe to cross and spend a few hours. If you happen to lose track of time, you're stuck on the island until the next low tide! Quite the flirtation with danger! I love it!

Crammond was once a vacationing island where well-to-do tourists could rent a small house. Then, it became a military defense base during WWI and WWII. Now it is simply a small, lovely island with beautiful views back to Edinburgh, peaceful trails, rocky beaches and the odd abandoned ruin to explore.

Lots of snails, but no sign of any Easter eggs : (

We circumnavigated the island, appreciating the views and open space, and crossed the causeway back to Crammond's tiny harbor. We stayed long enough for a glass of wine at the legendary Crammond Inn before catching the #15 bus back to Edinburgh City Centre. It was an easy little excursion. If you live in Edinburgh, spend your next free, sunny day exploring Crammond Island; it won't disappoint.

Back in Edinburgh, we took it easy the rest of the evening, mostly gearing up for an even bigger adventure the next morning, to the Isle of Skye! I'll sign off for now, but promise to write about that epic journey in the next post.

Ranting & raining

Is it possible that rain falls horizontally, vertically, and from the ground up, all at the same time? That's what it felt like today in Edinburgh. Add in wind blowing from the east, the west, from ahead and from behind, and you've got yourself a truly miserable day.

All the same, what kind of 400+ year old university library closes 4 hours early on account of bad weather? Hasn't this institution been around long enough to know that the rain will come and then will go, and students will just keep on doing their work? The University of Edinburgh librarian told me that the sudden closure was on account of "Health and Safety Concerns."

I've noticed that British society takes "Health and Safety Concerns" to a level that I've never known in the United States. I'm trying to think of some other examples.

Let's see, for one, there are doors everywhere! Walk into our flat and there are 6 doors coming off of the small hallway - one for each room or closet. Theoretically, this set-up is more effective in stopping a fire from spreading - but all these doors kind of get in the way. I'm used to the more "open floor plan" of a typical American home.

Another curious thing about the flat is that it came with instruction manuals for EVERYTHING. The refrigerator. The toaster. The tea kettle. I can only imagine that landlords are required to leave them on premises because of Health & Safety requirements.

The other day hiking around the Crags of Arthur's Seat, I noticed a small sign. It said that the proprietors of the area required that permission must be granted to climb around on the rocks due to Health & Safety risks. Who, exactly, are we supposed to get permission from?

I think British people are just better at following the rules. Pubs that close at 1am close at 1am. Glasses of wine in bars are measured out by the mL - you can order a small or a large. Food and drink is not allowed in many public places. I'm always sneaking a hot drink on to the bus or into the library knowing that it is strictly forbidden. I can't help it that things are just so much more pleasant with a cup of coffee.

Menu

I'm often hungry, probably from all the walking around Edinburgh. I love cooking and baking and often find myself thinking about what to eat and how to go about making it. On Friday I cooked a nice sit-down meal for 8 friends. There's nothing I like more than sharing good food with good company. Even better when your company is from a collective 6 different countries! (US, Scotland, India, Mexico, France and the Czech Republic.)

I'm not sure what to write about today, so I'll share Friday's menu just for fun -and to prove to my parents that my childhood subscription to Martha Stewart Living has actually paid off.

Starter

Butternut squash slices roasted in balsamic vinegar & honey

Garlic bread and cheese plate

Main

Roasted Free Range Chicken in a Riesling, lemon, thyme & sage reduction sauce, cooked with locally grown shallots, carrots and baby button mushrooms, topped with coriander

Garlic and butter mashed potatoes

String beans sauteed with garlic & lemon zest

Salad of mixed greens, spinach, dill, basil, beets, apples, tomatoes, cucumbers, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, and sunflower seeds

Paired with a crisp Riesling wine

Dessert

Homemade banana bread a la mode, drizzled with chocolate and paired with frozen chocolate coated bananas

Don't you wish you were there??? That's all for now, folks. Now, on to my dinner, for which I'm having breakfast, in honor of the hour that disappeared from my morning today because of daylight savings.

Spring plans

The scholar team in Edinburgh is hard at work planning fundraising events for Maggie's Edinburgh, a Cancer Caring Centre for patients and their friends/families. We're teaming up to put on an International wine-tasting in May and a large-scale International Dinner Dance in June. Every penny will go directly to Maggie's Edinburgh, with the help of a matching grant through the Rotary Foundation. Here's the preliminary flyer - more info to come!

Not a local

When I travelled to Buenos Aires for vacation a few years ago, I was mistaken for a local within 3 days by someone who was asking directions. In Edinburgh, it's taken 8 months to get there. Funny considering I look much more Scottish than Argentinian. As mentioned before, no one thinks I'm American, but no one ever thinks I'm Scottish either. It's the accent, of course.

The story goes that a guy approached me at a pub, asked if I was a local, and I nodded yes to see where he was going with it. He said "It's rare to meet other locals, isn't it? This city is so overrun with international students." Before his foot went in his mouth any further, I let him in on the truth.

Can't stop listening to ...

Has everyone seen "Crazy Heart"? Hope so. The music alone holds it together (tried to put up a track, but it isn't working). Add some Oscar-winning acting, a genuine love story, and footage of the gorgeous American West, and you've got yourself a great flick. Everyone in my extended family is a fan of country and folk music so it was no surprise that my parents and sister saw it in the theater the same weekend that I did, thousands of miles apart.

A week of Rotary visits!

Last week was full of fun Rotary excursions. I presented at three different clubs: Rotary Club of Leith, Rotary Club of Dunbar (my own host club) and the Rotary Club of North Berwick. I really enjoyed each of the presentations and the goodwill shown by all the club members. Rotarians really know how to make a guest feel special. At each meeting, I was wined, dined, and given 100% attention during my speeches.

Mostly, I talk about my life, my accomplishments, how I got to where I am now, and how art has led my path in community service. I talk a good deal about my experience teaching art in inner-city Los Angeles with AmeriCorps, and the trials and tribulations that went with that experience. It's amazing, I still find myself choking up when I talk about certain families that I worked with and the impact that they had on my life.

Americorps (and other short-term voluntary service) is funny like that. You sign up for a program thinking that you'll be making a great difference in people's lives, but at the end of the day, what you can possibly contribute in a year feels far less than the personal triumphs and gains that you take away from it. But, I guess you have to start somewhere.

In terms of feedback, most of the questions I get relate to Scotland - "do you like the food?" "What are you disappointed with?" "What is the biggest difference between here and home?" Some of the questions relate to my artwork - "How are you going to get those giant paintings home?" (that's a really good question. I usually mention that they are indeed for sale!)

Since Dunbar and North Berwick are just next door to each other, I spent Tuesday with past District Governor Iain Marshall, a longtime member of the N Berwick club. He gave me a lovely tour of the coastal area, and we had a great lunch at a place that I forget the name of, but it is right by this church named Dirleton:

North Berwick is really lovely and sweeping and peaceful. It's considered one of the most desireable places to live in Scotland and I can understand why. Iain took me on a walk to the beach, which spreads out for miles. He is particularly fond of the ocean views as he is an avid sailor. Before Iain's wife Grace passed away, this was her favorite afternoon walk. I felt pretty honored that Iain shared the special place with me.