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| Edinburgh as seen from the inside of the castle |
I've been in Scotland for just over 3 weeks now, which is a pretty crazy thought, because it honestly feels like I've been here for a few months. I'm not quite sure it feels real yet, though - May seems like a very long ways away, and the fact that I'll be staying here until then is really daunting, so I try not to think about it.
I spent a long time thinking about what I wanted to write in my very first post from Scotland, and how I wanted to say it. This trip honestly didn't start out the way I had hoped it would - namely, it started with a whole lot of tears and wondering what I had gotten myself into. I have since settled down a bit, though I want to record everything as honestly as possible.
I think the value in recording how I'm experiencing Edinburgh honestly is twofold. One: it will help me to remember it correctly in the future, which is important, and Two: if someone else who I know is not loving or, in the future does not love, their study abroad experience, I hope that knowing that someone they know struggled as well will be helpful! There's a lot of pressure, I think, to love every single second of studying abroad. Everyone tells you that it's going to be the best time of your life, that you're going to miss it more than anything when you come home. I guess I think it's really important to acknowledge that not every second abroad is going to be absolutely incredible, and that sometimes it takes a while for you to feel okay in a new place. That being said, what follows is a mostly honest account of my first few weeks of being in Edinburgh + a bunch of really cool photos I took! If you don't feel like reading everything, I still encourage skimming through the photos! This is a really beautiful place (especially when the sun is out).