03/06/08

Hey Everyone, I'm sorry there was no blog last night I couldn't get internet anywhere. Even the internet cafe was having problems, so that may happen from time to time, but I wrote yesterday's blog down so here it is.

The internet cafe where I write from here in Glasgow is called "Beanscene". It's about a 5 minute walk down the hilltop from where my Youth Hostel is (about ten minutes coming back up), but it's a cozy little place, reminiscent of some of the hip little cafes I've walked into in New York City or Santa Anna back home. You order a drink and you get an hour of internet access. The fact that it's a timed ordeal is still frustrating to me. No matter how much time I have I'm always rushing through trying to make sure I get everything done on time. It's like have having a big timed exam every night. The other thing is that it doesn't have anywhere to plug in my laptop, so I've learned that my battery really only lasts about that long anyway. So it becomes a race of which of the two will be up first, and will I finish in time. Although, the hot chocolate there is amazing, so I don't at all mind spending a couple pounds for my internet access where as in Belfast It was painful to watch my money tick away with every stroke of the clock.

Walking home from the cafe is always interesting. It's pretty much all up hill except for the very top where it evens out, and the wind is incredible. Down in the city there's barely any wind at all, and then as soon as you hit a certain point coming up the hill you'd think you were in an F5 tornado. I consider myself about an averaged sized guy, and this wind can literally lift me off my feet. I've found that there are little lulls between gusts and so what you do is wait for those lulls and run as fast as you can until the next gust of wind and then you just hold on for dear life or I'm sure before you know it you'll find yourself in munchkin land wondering where the hell Scotland went.

The weather's pleasingly warmer than Belfast, so I don't have to dress like I'm climbing Everest and let my face freeze off. Apart from that demon wind at the top of the hill, it's usually a lot less windy too. The people were a little more friendly in Ireland though, I think. Not to say that the Scots aren't friendly, because they are, but people is Ireland just seemed consistently happy. I'm sure there's a direct correlation between the alcohol consumption, but whatever the reason, the vibe in Ireland is welcoming. Even in Northern Ireland which I was a little surprised to find because I had heard differently from the Southern Irish. I can tell you this now because I'm out of Ireland but Tim's words to me on the plane when I told him that I was traveling to Belfast were, "Get yourself a bulletproof vest!" But I never saw anything over in Belfast that made me fear for my life. The country itself is not a big supporter of George Bush, there are murals all over the city reminding them of that, but it's not so much Americans they don't like, just George Bush.

My roommates here in Glasgow are pretty nice people. There are two guys here from Japan (Massa, and I can't remember the other one's name, it's very Japanese), one guy (Scott) who was born and grew up in Scotland, but has lived all over the world including Canada and South Africa. During the 1970's he was living in South Africa and became a prisoner of the South African government for 2 years just because he lived on the wrong side of the country (the side that was predominantly black); and then Michael who's from London and possibly one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. Last night we talked about the politics and social histories of all the nations of the world and he knew everything about everywhere and ultimately lead the discussion. He seems to be the very reason I'll never date a good-looking British woman, because of British men like him who vastly surpass men of any other race. He's a perfect gentleman, intelligent and he looks like some one you'd go on a hunting expedition with. He's got that ruggedly handsome look, and he doesn't even have to try for it. I want to be him when I grow up.

This morning I got up, got breakfast and a big ol' 2 liter bottle of water and caught a bus into the city. I walked down to the bus terminal and found that I can catch a bus to Edinburgh tomorrow for 1 pound, and the bus ride only takes about an hour. Afterwards I made my way over to Glasgow Cathedral and the old cemetery that's supposed to be like one of the most haunted in Scotland. The Cathedral was built in the 13th Century, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I took a lot of pictures of the inside of it which I don't normally do because I think it's a little disrespectful, but the place has now been turned into really more of a museum and everyone seemed fine with it. I walked down into the lower part of the Cathedral and saw the tombs of the martyrs who stood up for the church during the big presbyterian overthrow in the early late 1800's, as well as the tomb of St. Mungo who is the patron saint of Glasgow. I've spent quite a bit of time in Cathedrals during this trip so far. I love the whole atmosphere of it. The architecture is astounding, and there's always just a feeling of utter reverence. It's liberating to sit and pray in a place knowing that back hundreds of years someone was sitting and praying in that exact place. They were probably praying for similar things, peace, protection, wisdom, and for friends and family back home wherever they came from. I always feel small but strangely safe when I'm in a big Cathedral. After that, I walked around the cemetery for a bit. It's not really in my nature to want to go walking around a cemetery by myself especially one that expected to be very much haunted, but I wanted to see some really old graves of people from way back when. I was fine walking around the graveyard until I reached the top of the hill and realized I was completely out of sight of people, and the only things all around me had been dead for hundreds of years. So I headed back, walking substantially more briskly that when I had come, until I reached a place where people were living again.

On my way back I stopped into the Religious Art and Life Museum which was really quite cool. I learned a lot about a bunch of different religions, what they believe and how they worship, and also how others perceive my own religion. It was all pretty fascinating, and free which was great! I walked around Glasgow square and took a bunch of pictures, and also walked through the big shopping area and eventually found my way back to the hostel regrouped myself, practiced my fiddle a little bit (I try to practice like an hour a day, and I do it when I'm the only one in the room). at around 8pm I went down to a comedy club about a 10 minute walk from my hostel. That was a lot of fun, and so far I've been to comedy clubs in both Ireland and Scotland. Maybe I should make that a regular part of my trip. Scottish people (when you can tell what they're saying) are hilarious, and during the intervals I emailed some people to let them know where I was. In all it's been a pretty good day.