The Scamp Abroad

A Scamp Says “See You Later”

Posted on May 17, 2013 by erranteditor

I’m going back back to Cali Cali.

The time has come. My bags are packed.

I’m not ready to go. In fact, I don’t want to go. If it wasn’t for my family and a few of my favorite people, then I would not go back to California. If I had known how much I would love it here, I would have applied to do my PhD. here and stayed for another three years. If I had known how things would turn out with the liar and cheater, I would not have wasted my time here thinking about when I get back to him. This is my home. Scotland has my heart.

My last day here was one of the rare sunny days. The weather was nice, and I was able to take a walk and see a few of my favorite places one last time. I had a horrible meal in the dinning hall, but I got to share it with the people I enjoy, so it wasn’t so bad. I’ve had people wander my direction all night to say goodbye and wish me well. I feel loved, I feel sad, and I feel hopeful for the lasting friendships I have made here. This will be more than the high school adage of “keep in touch” when we knew we never would. I’m already planning to save to visit all of the places my friends will now inhabit.

These 8 months have changed me for the better. I started my journey running away from my problems at home and with the idea of a future and how the next 70 years of my life were going to be, and I am going back ready to face anything and everything that comes my way. My future changed; my plans changed; I changed. I learned how to stand on my own, how to find value in myself, and how to really use my skills to help others. I’m going home a lot smarter than I was before, both academically and emotionally. I learned how to survive in a new culture, how to make lasting friendships and connections, and how to change my whole mode of thinking. While the snark and sarcasm is still there, a lot of the negativity is not. Instead of going home depressed, I am going home ready to tackle the PhD, ready to find a job, and ready to write one hell of a dissertation on the importance of critical literary analysis of children’s books. I feel different. I feel smarter, more mature, calmer. The adjustment period will be a bit rough, and I know that I will have to get used to my new surroundings, but I know that it will be good for me to be back among my family while I complete the last leg of my educational journey.

The thing is though, I hate goodbyes. Hate them. I have been dreading this day for weeks. Part of it is because I am not ready to say goodbye to my home and my friends here, and part of it is that goodbye feels so final. I know this is not the end of my love affair with Scotland.

So instead of saying goodbye, for now I will just say, “see you later”.

A Scamp and the Blind Poet

Posted on May 17, 2013 by erranteditor

Seems legit

My favorite pub in San Diego is called Blind Lady, so it makes perfect sense to me that my favorite pub in Scotland would be called the Blind Poet. The pub is near main campus, and besides being a literary themed pub, it has one of the best Thursday night karaoke madness in the city. We have gotten in the habit the last few weeks of meeting there on Thursday nights to hang out, have a few drinks and enjoy the regulars who grace the stage and sing everything from Evanescence to heavy metal. Some of the people are really good, some are really bad, and some are just really entertaining. I spent my birthday there, met the lads there for drinks after David turned out to be a liar, and both the Texan and I thought it would be a fitting place for a sendoff. I have to say it was one of my favorite traditions in Scotland. I loved any time I got to spend with my friends, but making fun of singers, singing along with the songs we knew, and just being able to hang out in one place all together was a lot of fun. Thursday nights will never be the same.

Here are a few of the photos from my sendoff:

They sang “I Wish They All Could Be California Girls” just for me

A Scamp Meets the Family

Posted on May 14, 2013 by erranteditor

La Habra, California has been described as a place with a liquor store on every corner and more pitbulls than people. That is very different than the picture of La Habra I have, and the way I feel about it when I bring people home to visit. If that is the way I feel about the city I grew up in, I would say that is an accurate view of how my BFF feels about his home, Dundee, Scotland. Dundee would never be called a thriving metropolis, and is known for being a low socio-economic threshold, but it lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea. The bus ride into Dundee is quite beautiful, and the bus ride out as the sun was getting ready to set makes the place look peaceful and calm. Even without all of that, I knew that I would enjoy Dundee for the simple fact that it is the birthplace of my BFF and he invited me home to meet his family.

With the exception of David’s family, families love me, and more often than not, I love them. I am also really competitive, so the fact that I am the first (and so far, only) person that has been invited meant that the day promised to be a good one. I was not disappointed. The only downside to the trip was that the day seemed to progress at warped speed and was over before I could properly blink. The trip started off with a quick bus ride. The BFF and I are never short on good banter, so the trip passed quickly. We then met a good friend of his for lunch in a fun little pub. We swapped stories, had some good grub, and then they treated me to a quick tour of the university where they did their undergrad. We followed lunch with a trip to Gran’s house. A good cup of tea and nice conversation followed. I also got to meet the aunt and uncle and very excited boxer. Listening to them all interact and chat with each other was fun. The BFF was very much relaxed, and very happy to be in his gran’s kitchen. From there we moved on to his mother’s house to meet the rest of the family. His mother was very nice and very welcoming. She tried to feed us, and then did the best thing ever and brought me a some great baby pictures. I even got to see him with a tan!!!! This is a big thing for those who don’t know my BFF. He is a proper Scottish boy, pasty skin and all. He hates the sun, and his idea of perfect weather is a cold light rain and possibly some wind. His mom sent us off with a backpack full of food, reminding me a lot of my mom whenever I would visit for the weekend when I was living in California.

The best part of the day was the fact that I had a few hours with the BFF that were just the two of us. We had some serious bonding in the backseat of the car in Belfast, but since then, we haven’t really had a lot of BFF bonding time. He didn’t really know the specifics about heartstompapoolza, but he made sure to show up when I needed a night out and offer me chats and his hatred for David. He is generally antisocial, but he always makes time for me, and checks in with a funny thought or insightful comment. He is one of the things that will most about Scotland.

I got to end the night with some of the other reasons that I will miss Scotland. I got a home cooked Chinese meal and some much needed junk food. I love hanging out with the girls from my program because they understand the need to be random and ridiculous, and they are also quick to remind me that I am not a spinster in the making. They listen to my moans and complaints and fears about going home, and are quick to remind me all of the good that is coming from it.

Even though I am stretched way too thin this week, I am glad that they are willing to carve out time to spend with me before I return to the land of sunshine and movie stars.

A Scamp in the Chapel

Posted on May 13, 2013 by erranteditor

I know, I know, the thought of me in a chapel is a funny site to see. Trust me, I would have felt out of place if the chapel wasn’t such a tourist attraction. Rosslyn Chapel is by no means a large place, but thanks to Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code the chapel is now a hot spot for conspiracy theorists, religious scholars, and loves of popular culture. According to my favorite site Wikipedia, Rosslyn Chapel is described as:

Rosslyn Chapel, properly named the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a Catholic collegiate church (with between four and six ordained canons and two boy choristers) in the mid-15th century. Rosslyn Chapel and the nearby Roslin Castle are located at the village of Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland.

The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness (also spelled “Sainteclaire/Saintclair/Sinclair/St. Clair”) of the Sinclair family, a noble family descended in part fromNorman knights from the commune of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in northern France, using the standard designs the medieval architects made available to him. Rosslyn Chapel is the third Sinclair place of worship at Roslin, the first being in Roslin Castle and the second (whose crumbling buttresses can still be seen today) in what is now Roslin Cemetery.^[1]

The purpose of the college was to celebrate the Divine Office throughout the day and night and also to celebrate Holy Mass for all the faithful departed, including the deceased members of the Sinclair family. During this period the rich heritage of plainsong (a single melodic line) or polyphony (vocal harmony) would be used to enrich the singing of the liturgy. An endowment was made that would pay for the upkeep of the priests and choristers in perpetuity and they also had parochial responsibilities.

After the Scottish Reformation (1560) Roman Catholic worship in the chapel was brought to an end, although the Sinclair family continued to be Roman Catholics until the early 18th century. From that time the chapel was closed to public worship until 1861 when it was opened again as a place of worship according to the rites of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

In later years the chapel has featured in speculative theories regarding Freemasonry and the Knights Templar.

The tour guide of sorts at the chapel told us some funny stories about what people think is buried in the vaults under the chapel. People think Mary Magdalene is buried there, the embalmed head of John the Baptist, of Jesus, and one woman from Tennessee thinks that the body of Elvis is there. It has been said that there is a space ship and a hundred little green men there, untold riches, and quite possibly, the Holy Grail. While I don’t believe any of that, it was fun to hear the tour guide share the crazy ideas tourists bring on their visit. There is no photography allowed in the chapel, but I was able to take some really good pictures of the day. The chapel, castle ruins, and small glen in the area provided some much needed fresh air and a great day with my friends. It was a nice way to spend my last weekend in Scotland…even with the little bit of rain.

Rosslyn Chapel

My own hidey hole in the castle ruins

Crossing the bridge into the glen

Tomorrow my journey through the best of Scotland will continue. The BFF is taking me home to the lovely metropolis known as Dundee to meet his mama. We have a whole day to ourselves for bonding and good banter. I’m looking forward to meeting his friends (they are excited to meet a “real” American), see where he grew up, and meet his grandma. I’m hear she makes a mean cup of tea…..

A Scamp and the Breakfast club

Posted on May 11, 2013 by erranteditor

Today I got to introduce one of my favorite people here to the movie The Breakfast Club. She had never seen it, and the movie was referenced in another movie that we watched not too long ago, so I felt that it was my duty to introduce her the magic that is a Brat Pack film. She of course loved the movie, and we laughed at how American it is in terms of representations of high school students. One of the reasons that I love this movie is the famous dance scene. That scene has been recreated many times, including a fan challenge for a band I really enjoy. Here are two of my favorite versions:

and

I always have the urge to make my own version…at least until I remember that I suffer from Jewish White Girl Rhythm and no one wants to see me dance.

The movie made me think of my breakfast club. Last semester my breakfast club was me and Adam Carolla. That was on days that I managed to wake up on time for breakfast. I’d eat alone most times because my friends here ate early so they could get to class and to keep the strict study/research schedule. This semester it started out the same way, but once classes were over and people no longer had classes to get to, they started eating breakfast later. I have not eaten breakfast alone in weeks, and as much as I love Adam Carolla, it is a lot nicer to wake up and get going in the morning with my little breakfast club. We couldn’t be more different, no two of us are from the same country, and as of right now, I am the only person whose native language is English. I enjoy it. I get to tease one about his love/addiction to coffee, the amount of sugar that one consumes in the course of a breakfast (6 packets of sugar in his milk every morning, 3 in his coffee, and sometimes 3 with his butter and toast…you know who you are….try eating some fruit once in awhile instead of all of that sugar), and one about trying to eat healthy even though the only option is tasteless oatmeal.

There is a scene in the movie when one of the characters asks what will happen when they go back to school on Monday. He wants to know if they will continue to be friends outside of the library. I sometimes wonder that about my little breakfast club. Will we still be friends when we all split up? I know that I will still talk and be friends with my favorite French girl, but we have been friends since the first day we moved into Lee House, but we didn’t really start hanging out with the rest of the 4th floor until a few weeks ago. Sometimes we would hang out with them after dinner and watch them play ping pong, but now we all have breakfast and dinner together and hang out and play ping pong (okay, I just sit and trash talk, but I watch everyone else play). I like it. The conversations are never dull, and hanging out with them is way better than sitting in my room watching bad talk shows (someone put every episode of Dr. Phil on Youtube….). I hope that once I return home I will still be able to keep in contact with them, and maybe even see them again at some point in time. I wouldn’t mind visiting Mexico, or Canada, France or India.

Luckily in the age of Facebook and Skype keeping in contact will be easy, but I also know it will take a little bit of work on my part. Good thing I am an excellent pen pal.

The Scamp Needs a Title

Posted on May 10, 2013 by erranteditor

Yesterday I was finally able to meet with my supervisor (which reminds me that I now need to email her again to set up another meeting for next week), and although she claims she didn’t get any of the 6 emails I sent her, she does have a really good plan of attack for me and is okay with me going home to finish my work (I’m going to rot in the in-between for lying about the seriousness of my mom’s brain tumor, but I have decided that I am okay with that). Her strategy for getting everything written and turned in on time is to give the students she is supervising homework for each week. I’m all for this as it keeps me on schedule and keeps me accountable for the work that needs to get done.

Among the first bits of homework is coming up with three possible titles for our dissertation. This one has me stumped. I know why I am choosing to undertake the research, and I am well underway with my theory and literature, but I can’t think of a title to save my life. I figure since I can’t think of anything, maybe one of my 7 readers can. I need a title that gives a good vision of the paper that I am writing. Something catchy, but informative…something that will allow the readers to know what they are getting into so they can skip to the next paper.

Here are the details of my research:

I’m going to be using critical literacy and the concept of the language of power to examine two books, Chato’s Kitchen by Gary Soto and Skippyjon Jones in the Doghouse by Judy Schachner. I will be examining both the text and the pictures of both of these stories and discuss how the choices made in terms of language used, structure of the story and the choice of illustrations affects the way in which children view the Mexican culture. Part of the disucssion will focus on the importance of teachers critically analysing the books that they are presenting to their students, and how the right choices will help their students become strong intercultural citizens.

This was the title I used on the proposal I had to turn in, but it is crap:

Skippyjon Jones in Chato’s Kitchen: A Theoretical Study on the Importance of Portrayal of Mexican Culture in Children’s Literature

The problem with this title is that the project this title suggests is one that I would not be able to complete in a matter of months. It also lacks the info that the research is aimed at how critical literacy will help teachers when deciding what books they will teach in their classroom.

So I need to come up with some new possibilities to take to my meeting on Wednesday. I am prepared to bribe my readers into helping me, so the person who comes up with the best title will get an awesome Scottish present…..and by awesome I mean haggis flavored chips.

A Scamp and the Perfect Wednesday Night

Posted on May 8, 2013 by erranteditor

The recipe for success?

The Princess Bride

Junk Food

Some of my favorite people

Perfect Wednesday night.

I am now going to swallow a whole bunch of Tums to help settle my stomach after ingesting so much popcorn, Skittles, Oreos, chips and chocolate. My inner fat kid loved all of the junk food (although my digestive system might not love it in a few days). The rest of me loved a relaxing evening watching a movie I love with people I love.

I finally met with the director of my program and got the paperwork in, and tomorrow I have the first meeting with my supervisor. I no longer feel stressed about the meeting. The director was super nice to me. He let me invade his office for a chat, talked to me about my project, and gave me some good suggestions on research to do. He also assured me that he would always be available and I could email him with questions, concerns, and any updates on life. I’m sure the meeting tomorrow promises to be interesting, but I at least feel a lot better about the fact that my first meeting is only 9 days before I leave.

The Scamp Doesn’t Wanna

Posted on May 7, 2013 by erranteditor

Today the sun came out. Not only did the sun come out, but it was 63 degrees! My legs saw the sun today. I wore my toms instead of boots and tights. I walked around without a jacket. I felt great.

Until I didn’t.

I only have ten days left of my adventure here and I have come to the realization that I do not want to go home. I like the safety of my Scotland bubble. There are no painful memories here, no worries about a social circle and friends, and in my little fantasy land, there is no worries about bills, my lack of job and paying for school next semester. I ran out of time to travel, and was unable to see some of the other parts of the UK that I thought I would get to. The end has snuck up on me. I’m not ready. I still have yet to hear from my supervisor about a meeting and have to wait until tomorrow to get the paperwork signed for my leave of absence. I know that I pushed a lot of this to the last minute, but I am a little disheartened at the lack of support from the professors. I hope this isn’t a pattern that will be repeated for the next four months. It will be harder for me to get things done when I am more than 5,000 miles away.

Today I was up at half 6. I read 3/4 of a Stephanie Plum novel before I finally got up and decided to start the day. I’mm not sure what has been disrupting my sleep pattern, but it is on the fritz lately. I have been having nightmares about David which leave me feeling sad and empty, and I am worried about my dissertation and the research that I am doing. I know that these two things are just a product of stress, but I am worried that they will take over and I will go back to being dark and twisty. I don’t want to be dark and twisty.

Last night I packed up parts of my room to ship home. That made the end of the journey seem more real. Today I took the first box to the post office to send on home. While that doesn’t seem like a hard task, I had to carry the box and walk the 10 minutes to the office. The box didn’t seem heavy, but by the time I reached my destination, my arms wanted to fall off. I still have two more boxes that have to be walked and shipped. I’m thinking I am going to wait until Thursday to do the second box and I will take care of the third one on Monday. In the meantime, I am going to do some pushups and work out my little chicken arms.

I need a pint….or maybe three.

A Scamp and the Library

Posted on May 6, 2013 by erranteditor

I love libraries. I always have. The only job I have ever had has involved working in a library. In the last 12 years I have worked in 3 different libraries and become very familiar with the ins and outs of them. I’ve been in good libraries, bad libraries, public libraries and university libraries, but none of those libraries compare to the ones at the University of Edinburgh. The library here makes me feel like an idiot. Books show up in the catalog that are not actually part of the collection, or books appear on the shelves that do not appear in the catalog. Today’s hunt had me on three separate floors after two trips to a computer to verify the call number in the catalog. Ever since the great library firing of 2005 when the branch manager told me she thought I needed classes because I couldn’t see the numbers, I double, and sometimes triple check what I write down, and today was no different. After checking to make sure that I was right, I went back to the shelves and looked for the elusive critical literacy book. No luck. I went downstairs to ask one of the librarians for help, and after a 20 minute search, it was concluded that the book was either at a desk or study cube with someone, or had been improperly shelved. Either way, I was out of luck, and I was free to come back and check to see if it had been returned.

I’m going to take this to mean the universe is telling me to take a break today and read one of the crime novels I checked out from the public library. Critical democratic power sharing pedagogy can wait until tomorrow.

A Scamp and Her Supervisor

Posted on May 3, 2013 by erranteditor

Sometimes I wrestle with my demons and sometimes we just cuddle.

Today I just wanted to cuddle with them. There was just enough rain to keep me from really wanting to go out and about for a walk, and I woke up with just enough of a headache to make any serious work on my dissertation impossible. I am going on a month of no response from my supervisor, and I am starting to get worried about how not worried I am about it. I have paperwork that needs to be signed, a plan that needs to be made, and books that need to be read.

I finally got an email from my supervisor….well, the email wasn’t to me per say, but at least I know she isn’t dead or ignoring me. Her email was addressed to all of the students she is supervising, and suggested that she wants to schedule a meeting with another group of students and their supervisor so we can have a repeat of the general info meetings that we have been having with the director of the program for the last month. I’m starting to worry that it is going to be a lot harder now to write my dissertation from home, and I’ve already bought the plane ticket and have started packing. I’m worried that I will not have access to materials, books, and help from my supervisor once I get home. I’m worried that this will be a trend for the next few months while I am trying to work on my paper.

Instead of driving myself crazy with worry over these things, I called my best friend in New York and caught up with her. We laughed, joked and distracted each other from the worries of that each of us has. I’m looking forward to being reunited and for some of the ridiculousness that will ensue when we are together.

Now I am going to hang out with the Pollock Halls cat, read an article on critical democratic power sharing in the classroom, and make a plan for what needs to get done for the weekend. Monday I will try to hunt down someone to sign my paperwork, and try again to get a concrete date set-up for a meeting with my elusive supervisor. I kind of feel like I am playing my own version of Where in the World is Carmen San Diego.

This round goes to Carmen, next round goes to me.