What better way to start the semester than with a party, or
to be more precise and more Scottish—a ceilidh? Classes started on Monday
morning, but Sunday night Dalkeith House hosted a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee).
The ceilidh reminds me of a square dance with an accordion. A lovely woman
named Annabelle was the caller, explaining and demonstrating the dance steps.
One interesting dance utilized groups of three instead of the more common
couple or group of four. Even though we did not do-si-do in any of the dances,
lots fun was had by sweaty students, faculty, staff, and family alike. Some
students enjoyed the ceilidh so much that they went to a local one a few days
later with the dance teacher.
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| Karla Zhe, the dance teacher, spinning with Dutch Shultz in the center |
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| Looking down the mountain |
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| Seryahna and Djanko waiting on the rocks |
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| The views |
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| Almost blown away on top of Arthur's Seat |
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| The kids helped me on a trial run of measuring the trees |
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| Old oaks that students will measure |
Okay, okay, okay…after all of these adventures, I was ready
to start classes. I even heard students say that they were ready to start
classes, too. I am teaching Introduction to Psychology, Developmental
Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence, and Behavioral Statistics. The students
in each of these classes seem motivated. I am excited about utilizing the rich
cultural and societal experiences to further learning. For example, I am working
on some field trips to Edinburgh College and to the National Museum, and statistics
students will gather their own data in the old oaks on the grounds.
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| Another beautiful old oak |
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| Students & my kids waiting for the bus |
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| Waiting for the bus with the castle in the background |
Almost the whole of the house took a field trip this past
Friday to Cramond Island, a sometimes island west of Edinburgh. Cramond Island
lies in the Firth of Forth (the narrow inlet of the North Sea where Edinburgh sits).
About 40 of us piled onto public buses and made our way to the village of
Cramond. From there, we walked across a bridge that was less than a mile long.
We had to go at low tide because the island is exactly that, an island, when
the tide is high. There are many stories of people getting stuck on the island
until the low tide or of trying to make it across the bridge as the tide rushes
in and requiring rescue services. There are old abandoned buildings, loads of
trails, an unbelievable amount of trash and broken glass, excellent beaches,
and reminders of ancestors from unfathomable times ago. Cramond Island boasts
some of the first evidence of humans in Scotland – hazelnut shells dating from 8500
years ago (“Cramond Island,” 2010-2014). More recent evidence of human use can
be found in the crumbling remains of a farmstead from the 1800s and military
buildings and structures used for defense during World Wars I and II. All of us
on the field trip enjoyed beautiful weather for trekking around the island. For
more on Cramond Island, see http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edinburgh/cramondisland/.
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| The walk out to Cramond Island |
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| Cramond Island |
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| Cramond Island |
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| View of Inchmickery Island |
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| The family on Cramond Island |
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| Djanko & Seryahna with friends Vince & Renae on the beach |
Some of you may have seen in the news that areas of Great
Britain have been flooding. So far, we have been lucky. Areas of southern
England have experienced massive flooding, but Scotland has had less rain than
average. Of course, it is hard for me to tell when we do have rain almost every
day. However, we may be in for a taste of the big rains when we head south to
London this weekend.
As we trekked down, we viewed the ruins of St. Anthony’s
Chapel, which dates back at least to the 15th century. Possibly more
spectacular to me, though, was St. Margaret’s Loch. The little pond itself was nothing
extraordinary, but the 50+ mute swans were quite incredible. I have not seen
that many swans in one place before, so I was amazed to see such a large game
of swans. Yes, game is one of the terms for a group of swans. Another term is
bevy. We also saw graylag geese and tufted ducks. The tufted ducks look like
they have little ponytails. 
