While St. Andrews is four times the size of St. Michael's, because the town is so small, students still continue to run into those they know often. I spotted my (academic) Dad in town at one point, and a few hours later, my Dad, uncle, brother Hugo, and cousin Hugo together. The academic family system continues to be wonderful. Upon my Uncle spotting me, he immediately introduced me to my cousin and brother, and the five of us were off on a tour of St. Andrews. Both my Dad and Uncle introduced us to new places, supplied us with a student card providing us with discounts, gave us information on the best restaurants and food choices, and brought us all to my Uncle's flat for more discussions and a homemade cake with jam. My Dad, Uncle, cousin, and brother are all English, and words such as "rubbish" were used so often. My mum (my Uncle's girlfriend - (ha ha ha I know it's confusing...))showed up later. It was great getting to know the Hugos today, who are both freshers.
This evening was exciting as I attended my first ceilidh (pronounced Cay-Lee)! It was amazing! I journeyed over to the very far part of town with my wonderful friend Zoe, who is quite the experienced ceilidh dancer. This particular ceilidh benefitted a village in Malawi. It cost three pounds to attend. I wore black leggings, thin, flat black shoes and a short, flowy burgundy dress. We arrived and I felt quite a bit like I was wearing a Petit Papillon costume from my ballet days, but rather, I was simply prepared for the ceilidh! Male students started arriving in kilts, and while many wore pants, just as many men wore kilts. Over 100 of us were in attendence, and the event began!
Quite a bit like Irish step or Scottish dancing, three musicians including an accordian player and two fiddle players played live music for us on stage and everything was so fast. I was asked to dance by a lovely Scottish student and together we were quickly twirling and waltzing. I stepped on a few people and nearly slipped a few times, but hung on to my partner Louis, and quickly was dancing away. The three-hour marathon ceilidh had just begun! My next partner, Chris, was much more strict in his ceilidh ways and with his ceilidh partners. He wore a taditional kilt, complete with hanging chains, a few belts, high socks dripping with ribbons, lace-up black leather shoes, and a long sleeve white shirt. He was quite skilled in our next dance which involved more waltzing and shoulder contact. After telling me the hall I live in was "the scum of St. Andrews," :( (by the way, not true! I live in one of the newest halls) he corrected a few too many partners around us, and it was time to find a new partner for the following dances. Together, we all participated in several group dances with elbow-swinging, more waltzing, twirling, flying skirts and kilts, and heavy shoes hitting the wooden floor boards. It became quite the exercise! The music was all lovely, and occasionally, one of the fiddle players, a very elderly Scottish gentleman would walk around the couples and reposition people or offer ceilidh advice.
In choosing a partner, often the kilted men knew quite a bit about ceilidhs, but a great many dancers were so dripping with sweat that it was important to choose a partner wisely. After four or five different kilted and non-kilted dance partners, I found my best partner yet, Connor! He had such an extremely heavy rural Scottish accent that I didn't understand half of what he said, but he was a wonderful dance partner! He wore a kilt and a lace-up long-sleeve white shirt which was laced with a leather string. I thought he looked quite Medieval/Norwegian/Vikingish. We participated in several group dances together involving clapping and dancing down long lines of people, continually swinging and waltzing with one another. After another hour, the ceilidh slowly came to an end. All 100+ of us sang Auld Lang Syne in 75 different keys, and then, the largest surprise of the evening occurred with the most vigourous and fast-paced dance yet. All couples waltzed extremely quickly and forcefully around the rectangular room in any direction they wished. It became a loud, hectic, fantastic rush of couples and legs turning in every way. Connor and I continually changed directions, and the short freestyle-like dance involved serious clinging to your partner for fear of flying away and being trampled. I found my feet were more off the ground then they were on the ground and every skirt/dress/kilt was incredibly high in the air! It was euphoric and amazing and so full of energy and life. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing just at how fun and traditionally Scottish it all was. My feet were sore, but it was so incredible and such a wonderful experience. Luckily for me, ceilidhs occur at least twice a week here!
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