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The Great European Adventure Book Vol 2 Ch 1
Dear family, friends, associates, and wrong addressees;
Greetings from St Andrews! It appears as if it is that time of year again- Spring! When the birds return from the south as the sun breaks through the blanket of clouds and flowers burst with colourful radiance as children across America remain glued to their television sets. Now that you are humming "Dawn" from "Peer Gynt," sit back, relax and let me amaze you with tales of spring break, Italy, Greece, Scotland, and that silly-looking place just to the south of here. What was it called again? Oh yes- England! Sorry, it is just of such minor importance compared to Scotland.
First off, let me begin by saying that everything is going well here at St Andrews. Classes, although totaling a mere four sporadic hours a week, are fine and I am infinitely happier in my new room. (For those of you in Rio Linda, my new address is at the bottom of this letter.) I love St. Andrews so much that even in the first week I knew this is where I am meant to be and will be returning here next year if all goes as planned. But more importantly, I do remember to wash behind my ears. Aren't you proud? No really, what is new with me? I believe the last mass email I sent was…oh my. October 6th. Rest assured that the amount of letters I send is inversely proportional to the amount of fun I am having.
First semester was fantastic! I cooked two turkeys with Tim for a Thanksgiving dinner of around 50 people. Man will I appreciate all the work that goes into meals for big family gatherings from now on! I also went to an Adventsfeier and caroled around St Andrews three times. Can you believe that? When was the last time you saw people caroling in California? I can't help but think this is what life is really all about. So after classes ended I left for Ireland, but became ill and homesick so I flew home. I was back in Ireland for New Years, then came back here to see Stirling and Glasgow before exams began. Once finished, I was left with a week in which I headed north with Tim, Brad and Jonathon to see Inverness, Loch Ness, Aberdeen and Castle Dunnottar. Dunnottar is this fantastic castle on the east coast. Although not much more than a gatehouse and a wee curtain wall, Dunnottar's position on a rocky mound just offshore make it a nearly impregnable fortress and thus it has bared no children in 600 years. After that, my sis Delana grabbed me and we headed off for the Holy Island, Lindesfarne, Alnick, and Hadrian's Wall. The site we visited is called Housesteads, an old Roman fort. Although most of what remains is the 2000-year-old outline of the walls, the latrine was very impressive and beats the living 'kamookies' out of most everything I saw in Greece three weeks ago.
Second semester has also gone well. A new group of Americans is here, and Andrew Melville Hall now consists of in the words of my academic brother "Americans and non-Americans." Perhaps my more liberal colleagues will suggest an affirmative action initiative to allow more than the one or two token Brits to enroll at the university. We had a hall ball a few weeks ago, which was a blast. I wore my kilt (a$ for tho$e who don't know what to purcha$e for May 15th, a$$i$tance with the kilt i$ much appreciated) along with some of the other blokes. Great fun! Watch those updrafts. True Scotsman? Not gonna do it; wouldn't be prudent. Us good; Communists bad. Like Springfielders and Shelbyvillers. Janet Reno- doesn't understand. Anyhow, there are two big Ceilidhs coming up at Easter and then again at the end of the month in the castle! Combining two of my favorite things about Scotland into one night. How ingenious! Speaking of castles, last Friday I had a field trip to castles Crichton, Tantallon and Dirleton. Why do I want to stay? I can't imagine.
On to spring break. I flew into Athens on the 17th of March. The Acropolis is truly amazing, and would be even more so had a munitions store not exploded there within the last few centuries. It is, like any sight of such major historical importance and fame, overtouristed but at least you will know how the besiegers felt as you push and shove your way through thousands of Japanese, Americans, French, Germans, and Spanish school groups. The school groups are always the worst because they sit in rows across every staircase, making passage impossible. Don't dem teachur's go'n lern dem nuttin'? After Athens I went to Olympia, which is quite a bit more peaceful but every bit as ruined. My impression of Greece was that it is a dump - although tempted to use stronger vocabulary, the suits are forcing me to maintain a "G" rating - and that any modern nation would be foolish to link their currency and thus economy and politics to such a backwards place. (cough, cough, Germany…) No really! The Greek workday begins at approximately 9:00 or 10:00, goes until 1:00 or 2:00 when they go home for lunch because of the blazing summer heat. After a meal with the family, some decide to go back to work. Others, well… Greece, which is still above the median as far as countries go, taught me two things. First, America is an extremely rich and affluent country, ripe with opportunity. Second, we've earned every bit of it. I never appreciated what the United States is until this year and I can now state without hesitation that I come from the greatest country on earth. Back, however, to Greece. It is a land of paradoxes. Athens was once the very center of civilization, its monuments dedicated to the harmony of the universe; today it is chaos. Drivers make right-hand turns with no concern whatsoever of who may rightfully be in the crosswalk. Criminals are not sent to prison but instead to drive taxis, where they rig the meters to astronomical prices and stop for "one pack cigarettes." "No, I don't mind if you smoke, Mr. Scheisskopf." Price tags in stores mean nothing. Offer them 20 percent and they'll say 50, in the end settling around 40. Not to say, however, that everything about Greece is bad. It was wonderful to see palm trees once again, and the food was fantastic, although I must admit I shied away from anything with 8 tentacles and suction cups. My opinion of Greeks was rescued by the man at Taverna Nikolaras in Patras whose homemade meatballs were delicious with friendly service as good as any. I would have liked to have seen Thessalonika and Istanbul (was Constantinople now it's Istanbul not Constantinople. Why did Constantinople get the works? That's no body's business but the Turks.)
It seems that's too much for one email, so I'll send another one on Italy in a few days. I wish you all a very happy Easter and shall see many of you in less than six weeks!
your humble servant,
Ryan