After sweeping through my second week of studying abroad, I have to admit that every day here has been a day full of adventure! Time truly does fly by when you're having fun!
My time in Edinburgh this past week has been filled with many museum visits and guided tours. One of my favorite museums was the Scotland Museum of Modern Art, which had lots of unique land structures and beautiful green landscaping all around the museum building. The National Museum of Scotland, which was also a favorite, had an extensive number of artifacts and interactive pieces that are relevant to Scottish history.
Not only have I had the pleasure of exploring Scotland, but our class was given a free weekend where the students could go off on an excursion of our own. I took this as an opportunity to visit another location on my bucket list: London! Luckily it was only a 75-minute airplane ride away!
My father arranged to meet me in London so that we could share this experience together - which was great! We took a tour of Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, which both exceeded my expectations.
Westminster Abbey holds an incredible amount of beautifully detailed architecture that embellishes tombs and memorials of many English royals and leaders, as well as famous English poets and writers.
At the Tower of London, we saw the Crown Jewels and the marching of the English guardsmen known as "Beefeaters".
We also went to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, Camden Markets, London Bridge, and Harrods. We successfully crammed all the "must see" of London into two days. It was an awesome time and I was so glad I got to share it with my father.
Since my return back to Edinburgh after a late night flight back from London, I have continued my early morning classes and have continued my training with Spartans FC. I have had a total of three training sessions so far with the Spartans and with each session I have gotten to know the players better and better. My Scottish slang has gotten a lot better, and I am enjoying the many challenges I face, physically and mentally, while playing with the team. I am truly so lucky to be given this opportunity.
Today is January 16th, 2018, I am currently writing Blog #2 on a train back from Glasgow. Our Towson study abroad group took a day trip to Glasgow, another major city in Scotland, where we got the opportunity to listen to a guest speaker. She was a 17-year-old girl named Leah Higgins, who was responsible for organizing a women's march in Scotland in January 2017. She shared some of the experiences and challenges she faced in hosting the women's march, and emphasized how age was irrelevant to how much of a difference a person can make. Leah gathered over 3,000 people for the march after broadcasting it online. When it all came together, people from all over Scotland joined in Edinburgh for the march, and collectively spoke on women's rights and equality issues that society is facing today.
As a woman, and especially as a woman athlete, I found Leah to be extremely inspiring. She is a great example of a young adult taking initiative to speak out for what she believes in.
I have three days left in this city and, while I know this isn't the last time I plan to visit Edinburgh, I plan to make the most of the little time we have left here and cross a few more items off my bucket list.
Sophomore
Towson Women's Soccer
Comments