Marisa's Journal Part II
"A Weekend in Scotland"
Copyright to me, you use it, you die. Have a nice day. ^_^
(note: the last names are omitted so I can preserve the privacy of my
friends)

Day 1 (getting to know you)



My Companions on this trip:

Sarah F. (Ontario, Canada)
Juan (Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.)
John (Moraga, California, U.S.A.)
Sara W. (Central Wales, U.K.)

	And so, at 4:47 pm (GMT) we left the York station for Scotland. As
we were taking a crowded commuter train, we were separated up despite the
fact that we had reservations. Fortunately, I have a window seat and I am
facing in the direction that the train is moving. I am currently looking
out at old brick and stone bulidings, picturesque in the traditional way,
sleeping on the soft rambling hills. Also dotting the landscape are
hundreds of powder-white sheep, the sort which (as far as I can tell),
cover every grassy space in the United Kingdom. The variety of lifestock
is one of the things that most amazes me about this country, as the type
of sheep and cows that you will see in Southern England are COMPLETELY
different than the animals you might come upon in the northern areas. In
the south there are mostly the traditional black and white cows, here in
York we have beige cows with longish curly fur, and in Scotland there are
the famous long-horned red cows with their long russet fur. There are
several types and sizes of sheep, mostly the basic white sort, though
there are the black-faced sheep in Scotland. I can see the beige ones
currently, but I suppose that will change once we cross the border.
	Occasionally the trees will obsure the landscape, but, every once
and a while, they will suddenly part to reveal a palatial manor house, or
a ruined castle, or a cathedral tower.  It astounds me that in such a
small country there can be so MANY of these wonderfully enormous aged
buildings. I look out at the York moors and dales and I can finally view
the landscape so faithfully painted by such authors as Charlotte Bronte in
"Jane Eyre" and Frances Hodgson Burnett in her "The Secret Garden."
	Night is swiftly falling as this train charges on at disturbing
speeds. It is difficult to stand and walk down the aisle, your legs give
out as if you were at sea, instead riding on the waves of the rails and
the air. I think for now I will take a nap and get back to writing this
journal later. There isn't much to see, except for a huge full yellow moon
being pulled slowly up by an invisible cord into the growing night sky.
	
	WOW!! I just woke up because John came over to see how I was
doing. I looked outside and there was not much more than darkness and a
HUGE silver moon, occasionally the slender shadows of trees would be
illuminated by its light, but not much more.
	THEN!
	Suddenly, the cliff fell, and I saw the ocean. It was so painfully
beautiful that I almost couldn't breathe. The silvery moonlight showed
every wave with clarity, and the distant foam was white on the grey beach.
There was a trail down the middle, leading out to the deeper waters, of
the moonglow.
	Nestled along the cove was what appeared to be some sort of a
fishing village, tiny houses clumped together, standing out because of
their yellow square lights. Then, as suddenly as we came to it, it passed,
the train raced onwards.

(this next part written before bed)

	We saw a bit of coastline every once and awhile after that, but
mostly it was just blackness outside the window. After awhile a fell back
asleep, and then we were suddenly in Edinburgh. We switched trains and
boarded one that was heading toward Stirling. That was a short trip, and
we arrived at Stirling around 8:30 pm (GMT.)
	The first thing we did in Stirling was walk to the hostel, and,
even though I was leading the way, we managed to find it quickly enough.
It is an amazing hostel, and although we had been assured by my Hostel
guide that it was going to be "The gem in the crown of Scottish Hostels",
we had been a bit skeptical. It surpassed our expectations by a lot. The
outside of the hostel was an old manor house, and the inside had been
completely (and recently) refurbished. The hostel stood right next to a
16th and 17th century jail (now a museum), a large church, and a huge
graveyard.
	We ended up just getting a room for 5, deciding that we were
mature enough to be able to endure a guy/girl sleeping arrangement. It
wasn't as if any of us had to sleep in the same beds ^_^. It ended up
being two bunks and a regular bed, and Joaquin and I slept on the bottom
bunks, John and Sarah F. on the top bunks, and Sarah W. on the single bed.
It was a fantastic room, and we had a view of the prison.
	We were all extremely hungry and went hunting for food. After
considering several options (McDonald's or Burger King--- not much is open
late in the U.K. ^_^) we finally settled on Burger King, and ate our
dinner. Finally we decided to go exploring the prison, church, and
graveyard near our house.
	The Prison was relatively interesting, and it was lit up with
giant lights, like the castle at Disneyland. After looking it over, we
moved on to the church, which was closed up and didn't look as if it had
been opened recently.
	It was a cold, windy, and occasionally rainy evening, but we
decided to explore the graveyard nonetheless. It was enormous, huge stone
angels staring down at the living walking among them. Together we were not
afraid, but it WAS Sarah F. and I leading the way, and if we ever got too
far ahead, the boys would come running up behind us. I guess guys aren't
always as brave as they are "supposed" to be ^_^.
	There was a small hill in the middle of the graveyard, and a path
led up to the top. Sarah F. and I immediately started climbing, despite
protests from John, Joaquin, and Sarah W., but we made it to the top (and
they followed) and it was definitely worth the view.
	We could see all the lights of Sterling: the castles, the church
spires, the houses, and the stars. Gloriously in the distance shone the
brightest light of all: Stirling castle. It sat proudly up on a hill, far
higher than us, and remided us that we should visit it before we left.
	Then it was time for bed, and we all tiredly crawled back to the
hostel and fell into bed. Now I am writing this in my journal, so that all
my thoughts don't get jumbled up with everything we are going to see
tomorrow.

-End of Day 1 story-

Here are some notes I have (written right now) about the trip.

	I didn't know the people I was going on the trip with very well
before we set out. We are all still getting into the program, and it is
difficult to get to know people personally. This trip was particularly
neat for all 5 of us because we finally DID get to know each other. Both
the first and the second night we stayed up late talking about ourselves,
our dreams, our loves, our futures, our pasts.
	Here is what I learned.
	Sarah F. is a really sweet girl, and sincerely believes in God.
She also likes to hike and to camp and 80s pop music. She is 24, and she
is soon-to-be-engaged (he has to get enough money for the ring) to her
boyfriend (I forgot his name :/) and he is the first person with whom she
has a serious relationship with. She is nice and sweet a funny, and
everyone likes her. She is Italian and North American Indian (Mohawk, and
two other northern Canadian tribes). Both her parents are married and live
in Ontario, and she has 3 siblings. She plans to get her M.A., move home
and marry, and become a librarian. Sarah is in the Early Medieval program.
	Sarah W. is more of an enigma. She isn't very personable, but I
gradually got to know her and like her over the weekend. She has black
hair and green eyes, and all the guys think that she is wonderful.  She
isn't very talkative, even to them, but she seems to draw them in droves
anyway. She speaks both Welsh and English, and can also speak fluent
French and German. She really likes someone in the program, but she
wouldn't tell us who, and neither Sarah F. or I think it is the guy that
we know has really fallen for her (detailed in the "Joaquin" description).
Her parents do not speak Welsh, and are actually Jewish, although the
family has lived in Wales for several generations. She told us she hasn't
had a boyfriend for awhile. She is an only child and both her parents are
married. Sarah W.'s original major was History, and she hopes to get her
D. Phil (PhD as they are known here) in Late Medieval studies.
	Juan is a really sweet guy. He is a bit sarcastic and pokes a lot
of fun at people, but he is the sort that always makes SURE that he isn't
hurting your feelings. I think part of this stems from his own
insecurities, as he is about 6 ft tall and only weighs about 125 lbs. He
is awfully thin, and doctors have told him that it was just his body type
and he would have to get used to it. His parents are divorced and have
always been divorced.	He is actually white, despite the Hispanic name,
and is just called that becuse his mother "liked Spanish names." We all
teased him because he said that he wanted to someday be "The Pope" and we
started calling him "San Juan" (Saint Juan). Every time anything happened
that could be construed as "miraculous" we attributed it to him (as the
Medievals would have.) Juan's dad is a famous screenplay writer, and has
written several REALLY famous movie scripts (which I would name, but that
would give away who he was and I want to keep this private). He has met a
lot of actors over the years, such as Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman, and
several others. He thinks all actors are "superficial" but he would like
to meet Harrison Ford, and he said Morgan Freeman was extremely
intelligent. Keanu Reeves is a stuck-up pig (what did you expect? ^_^) .
Juan has a job already lined up back in the States (he is from Santa
Monica) and he will be returning in June, before the rest of us finish our
M.A.'s. He is hoping to finish the thesis early (good luck) and get home.
He has only had one girlfriend, and we ALL think that he is totally head
over heels for Sarah W. Juan likes both anime and sci-fi, and also likes
to play D&D. His major was History in college at Pomona, and he is in the
Early Medieval program.
	John is Chinese, and very proud of his heritage. He speaks
Mandarin and can read Chinese. He is from Moraga, California, which is
very close (about 30 minutes) away from where I live. Just up the road
aways ^_^. He is very intelligent, and received his B.A. at (I think)
Berkeley. He basically likes to tease everyone, and loves to cook. He is
interested in Late Medieval studies, and especially in art history. John
has had girlfriends in the past, and said he would consider dating one
again, but currently he is engaged to a man. His boyfriend (Rob?) is
studying law at the moment, which John also hopes to do once he is done
with his M.A. He majored in Psycology and History for his B.A.

Day II coming soon!


Marisa Price
10/28/96