Emotionally Drained and Physically Exhausted

This is my attempt to catch up so I can start recording my travels. (Oh yeah… I’m not in Edinburgh anymore.)

Let’s take a trip back in time to two weeks ago. My last day of work was Friday 27 February. Saying goodbye to Mary, Ronnie, Kathleen, Theresa, Ella, and all my other co-workers made me realize that my time in Edinburgh really was coming to an end. I was very excited to have two weeks in the city to do as I pleased, but the end of work meant the end of Edinburgh.

To celebrate our last days as UK tax payers and to end Scotland with a bang, Anna and I went to the most beautiful place on the face of the earth: ISLE OF SKYE!!!!! After our dear friend Erin’s recommendation, we went with the tour group MacBackpakers. If you should find yourself in Scotland (and you should make an effort), you will want to go to Skye. If you are under 30, you should go with MacBackpackers. We easily bonded with our travel buddies (the only Americans again!), and our tour guides could no have been any better. Words cannot describe nor can pictures capture how beautiful this island is. Nothing will do it justice. Here are the links to my picture albums from the trip: album 1, album 2, album 3. I put these up right after we came back, so there are little anecdotes in the captions.

The following Friday (6 March), I had a night on the town with my St. Raphael’s co-workers. Mary, Kathleen, and Theresa all live towards Glasgow and wanting to send me off in a big way and to celebrate their being reinstated in the jobs they never deserved to lose, the girls got a hotel room in Edinburgh. We started the night in Ronnie and Tony’s favorite bar, La Monde on George Street. After dinner, we made our way to Hawk and Hunter, a former townhouse turned private club turned upscale bar. My friends are grungy pub people, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. But it was fun to get gussied up and go to a classy joint. We met for breakfast Saturday morning before the ladies headed back home, giving me one last chance to tell them goodbye and farewell. These women are strong and determined; they fought for their jobs and for what was best for the residents. Although work at St. R’s was not always pleasant, these women (and Ronnie) made it worth while! I am so blessed to have been able to work with them for nearly 4 months!!!

The rest of the week was spent running errands, deciding what to (and not to) pack for my European excursion, and spending time with friends. I went to the Brass Monkey a couple of times. I met friends at the Mosque Kitchen twice. (Yes, the Mosque in Edinburgh serves food, and it is the best – and cheapest – curry available). I pretended like I was JK Rowling at the Elephant House Café. We said goodbye to the gorgeous Italian waiter at Ciao Roma. Finally, it was time to say goodbye. It was also time to do something with our excess luggage; FedEx picked up our bags to be delivered to the US, but the guy wasn’t too sure our forms would suffice with the US customs officers. Keep your fingers crossed for that one… Thursday 12 March was our last night in town. We met our friends at The Globe for the best Snake Bites in town. Everything was smooth sailing…until we had to say goodbye. With every hug, the lump in my throat grew bigger and bigger. With every hug, the haunting fact that I will (more than likely) never live in Edinburgh again grew more and more real. With every hug, the idea that I may never see these people again dangled in front of my face. With every hug, my one-way plane ticket out of Scotland crept closer and closer. Saying goodbye to my friends and to my Edinburgh was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. Why is it we always take something for granted until it is taken away from us?!?!?!?!

Anna and I woke up long before the sun so we could catch the 7am bus to the airport. At 6:30, our buzzer rang. My heart sank into my stomach. I just knew it was going to be the FedEx guy with our rejected suitcases. I opened the door… and it was Ross and Ron!!!! Ron couldn’t make it to The Globe the night before, so he came by to say farewell. Ross lived with us in our flat during Christmas, and he’s become like my little brother. I love this kid so much, I donated extra kids so I could take home the huge teddy bear he gave me for Christmas. Seeing him at my door immediately made me cry one of those cries where you can’t tell if you’re happy or sad. The guys chatted with us while we finished our packing, walked us to our bus stop, and saw us off.

So that’s the end. No more 26 Gardner’s Crescent, snake bites, Visas, Lothian buses, council tax, etc.

But it’s also the beginning of my 6-week trek across Europe!!! I’m in Spain now, but more to come on that later.

Hasta luego.