It's monday here and this is a pretty lengthy post.
Lately I've been on a pretty extended art/reflective music kick. I always find myself writing and thinking, but lately I've been listening to some serious Beatles, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. The Beatles influence now has me wanting to visit Liverpool.
Outside of the library on Sunday.
I love art. And design. The architecture here against the natural design. And I love words. Perhaps too much. The power of words. Some of the poetry in my American poetry class is so heavily graphic, violent and disgusting, yet it's fascinating to me how words - ink on paper - can provide such effects. The door of the room I share with Kerry is growing quite covered with postcards, a few reprints of paintings I love (pictured on greeting cards I brought from the US), a photo of rural New Hampshire I took last April that I love, and a birthday card I received when I turned twenty last summer of a group of pandas. It's all looking good.
Earlier today the Scottish cardinal, who is the longest-reigning and most powerful cardinal in the United Kingdom - and the archbishop of Edinburgh and St Andrews - resigned. It's quite the news here and sadly it appears to be due to allegations of abuse. The Pope reportedly accepted his resignation this morning.
On Satuday night, Katie and I hosted my friend Becky from my Tudors course for dinner. Becky is a fourth-year student from England's lake district and has been so helpful to me in the Tudors. We're in the same ALG (autonomous learning group) and she wrote her dissertation last semester on Lady Jane Grey. I borrowed it recently and it was beautifully written and quite fascinating. She had an extra ticket for the Voice Festival UK: St Andrews Regionals and I bought a third for Katie earlier in the week. Katie and I made a teriyaki salmon dish with vegetables and rice and Becky brought over some chocolate as a nice gift. Sadly, the chocolate was stolen from our kitchen later that night. The search for it continues!
When we arrived at the Voices Festival in Younger Hall (a music venue and the location for graduation in St Andrews...) we were met by possibly the longest line known to man. The three of us had tickets but assumed there was no way we would have a seat with what appeared to be ten thousand students in line in front of us. Thankfully, we easily found seats upon entry! The festival was an a capella competition of six University a capella groups. Four were St Andrews a capella groups with the remaining two from Aberdeen (a northeastern Scottish city) and Glasgow. All four acts were quite impressive. I especially liked two of the St Andrews a capella groups. Between the performances, the sketch comedy group of St Andrews performed which was quite entertaining. The winner, which was the group from Glasgow, will join the Exeter, Oxford, London and Birmingham regional winners and compete later in the spring in London.
The a capella group from Glasgow.
Younger Hall.
Several of the a capella groups in the balcony.
Later that evening, I found myself drinking whisky in the kitchen with my kitchenmate Joseph as Katie and Kerry had fallen asleep a bit earlier. In the recent weeks I've become so thankful for the residential situation I'm in. It's taken months to get to know those I share a kitchen with, and my relations with everyone are a bit different, some aren't as strong and never will be, but many of them have been so wonderfully supportive, friendly and generous. :)
Sunday morning Katie, Kerry and I attended the University service (a non-denominational Christian service in St. Salvator's chapel) and we happened to be attending the annual service of commemoration for founders and benefactors of the University. A wonderful sermon was spoken about the importance of giving....perhaps in the ways of fundraising...but still meaningful and tastefully done, as well as a request for prayer for a long list of individuals that isn't offered on a weekly basis. Among calls of prayer were for the souls of the earliest founders of St Andrews, 'the Queen and her most trusted advisors,' 'the High Parliament and the Scottish Parliament,' as well as 'all martyrs'.
Afterwards, the congregation of students, faculty and townspeople in attendance gathered around the 'PH' outside of the chapel marking the spot where Patrick Hamilton was burned at the stake in 1528 for bringing the teachings of Martin Luther to St Andrews, at the time a fervently Catholic community. A short biography was read on Hamilton, a wreath was laid, a minute's silence occurred, and then the bagpipes began.
Afterwards, Katie and I headed to the Whey Pat tavern to watch the Scotland vs. Ireland rugby match. Katie, being a rugby player, was pumped. I was a bit confused, but happily attended the beginning before running to the library to check out a few academic books for my upcoming essays before joining her again for the end of the match. We had passed the stadium the game was being played at in Edinburgh when we left the airport on Friday afternoon. It was exciting being around so many Scottish rugby fans, and quite exciting when Scotland won the match. Katie was a bit split on who to cheer for as she is proudly of Irish ancestry...but I was feeling pretty loyal to Scotland.
A bit of my reading for the Tudors course. Perhaps the most challenging academic reading I've ever done...
Year of publication: 1557.
After the rugby match, Katie and I headed to Catholic Mass where we met up with my friend Marc, who I first met as my academic Uncle in September 2012. Marc and I attend Mass together occasionally, and I was pleased he and Katie were able to meet. The Mass was quite peaceful and the singing was beautiful. Afterwards, I planned to do a bit of work in the library and Katie planned to use one of the computers. Marc suggested that we walk along the scores - the street that runs along the coast in St Andrews, and then we decided to walk a bit further to the pier. It had grown quite dark, but it was a beautiful walk and nice to show Katie the school of English and the school of Economics across the street where Marc has classes. We crossed the Cathedral ruins and the harbour and found ourselves on the pier. The tide was extremely low and the sky drifted into a navy with heavy white clouds still barely visible. The pier is a bit uneven in the stone we walked along, and once at the end, we found the tide was so far out that we could nearly see the bottom of the ocean all around us, as well as some pretty sizeable dark rocks with sea-moss between them below us. I imagined we might just turn and walk back along the wider part of the pier, but Marc suggested - to a bit of my and Katie's hesitation - that we climb the wrought iron ladder to the thin concrete-paved top of the pier to see the town better. And we did. It was gorgeous. There was a railing all around the end of the pier where we were standing, but I was a bit frozen out of fear and didn't move for awhile. I took a few photos though from up there as the town was lit up above us.
Marc also took a few of Katie and I with her flash camera:
The flash was a bit blinding and it had grown slightly windy.
Katie climbed back down the wrought iron ladder a few minutes later, and in a quick decision, I followed Marc along the high thin pier to return to St Andrews- the same high thin pier I chose not to walk along on that windy Sunday morning back in September - holding my breath in the darkness, I walked slowly, staring only at the two-foot-wide concrete below my green rubber wellies (rain boots), my laptop and books in my shoulder bag thrown behind my left shoulder, and my hood up as it had begun to lightly hail. I refused to think of any way I could fall, I knew if any sudden burst of wind came maybe I could just completely lay down...or should I jump to the concrete pier fifteen feet below on the left? I watched each step I took, slowly thinking only about my next step, not lifting my chin or taking my eyes off my feet. And then...likely only a minute after I had begun the slow walk, I reached the wide end of the pier. The hail increased and we walked the remainder of the pier towards St Andrews. We passed the cannons along the St Andrews coastline that remind me of something one would find on a historical tour of Boston, the Cathedral ruins, the stone wall, the School of English and Economics, the Museum of the University of St Andrews and found ourselves at the library. A bit wet...but (at least for me) very proud to have conquered the pier walk. :)
Later that evening, Kerry, Katie, Joseph and I watched a bit of Chariots of Fire (mainly for the St Andrews-filmed scenes...). Earlier today I met up with Katie after American poetry near the Cathedral ruins.
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