Medieval Orgy

Last night was lots of fun. We went to the Ceilidh (pronounced cay-lee), a traditional Scottish dance, and then to the "Bop" which is essentially a traditional middle school dance, but without the awkwardness and teenage angst. At the Ceilidh we were served Scottish food - including Haggis - which I tried and I have to admit that it was good! It tasted like corned beef hash, except more ground up and with none of the great crispies that Laurel always creates by cooking it a little long. We also had some potatoes, squash, and some traditional dessert items. The dancing was fun, too. We made fools of ourselves and had a great time. After taking a short break, we were back at again when we hit up the Bop. Everyone gave up on trying to be good at dancing and just bobbled around making up ridiculous dance moves while listening to 90's pop music.

However, dancing my shoes to shreds last night did not prevent me from getting out today. I spent this morning down at the local farmers market. I wish I had gotten a picture of it - it was so cute. I had to ask about 5 people how to get there. Thats alright though, because I like being able to hear the accents. I also met a dog named tiny, who was literally the size of a large man. But hairier.

When I was there I got some amazing cheese with mustard seeds in it. The cheese vendor was actually pretty famous - apparently he sends cheese to Arnold Schwarzenegger (or as he referred to it, "the chap from Terminator"). Then I tried something called a "smokie" - it was an entire trout, cut down the middle, salted, and smoked. It comes in a little sheet of paper and you open it up and eat all the meat on the inside. It was delicious!! Also it was funny to see all the smoke in the misty Scottish morning - it made it nearly impossible to see anything. I must be low on iron, because after that I decided to get some buffalo burgers with venison and cranberries in them. I can't decide whether they sound incredible or awful - but I think they have the potential to be pretty dang good. What to put on them, though? I was thinking maybe spinach and blue cheese.

After going to the farmers market, Clara, Ana, Elizabeth and I decided to take a bus out to Dundee for some shopping. Dundee is a city about 10 miles away where most of the locals do their shopping, since St. Andrews is quite a small town. It was a little hectic trying to find the right bus, but we eventually figured it out and spent the whole afternoon there looking around. I got a jacket, some waterproof pants for hiking, and a couple pairs of tights. This is embarrassing, but I also have to admit that we ate lunch at KFC. Pathetic, I know. Here's a pic of Ana, Elizabeth, and Clara chowing down on some chicken sandwiches:

After getting back Sadhbh and I made some delicious stir fry for dinner, and now I think I am going to shower, read, and head to bed. Oh yeah, I think that I get to meet my roommate tonight, as well!!

I'll leave you with Eric's quote from last night. After one of the dances he comes stumbling off the floor, sweaty and exasperated, saying: "That was basically a medieval orgy!"

(This in reference to a dance at the ceilidh in which each person gets thrown back and forth between two groups, eventually swinging around with everyone there)