So, it's been a while...

Hello,

Somehow the summer is getting away from me and it's been two months since I updated any news!  It's been really busy here and so much fun!  I went to a crazy hippy music festival in the middle of nowhere in June.  We camped next to a field of highland cows.  I've been to Falkland Palace in Fife.  And I went to Glasgow to go museum-ing and strolling around the city.

Mom, Dad and Jeff came to visit in June.  We had SUCH a good time.  They flew into Edinburgh and rented a car and came back to St Andrews with me.  We spent a day strolling around town, seeing the cathedral and the beaches and watching the Princess Bride.  Then we drove up to Inverness through Speyside, and stopped at Glenfiddich and a really amazing castle on the coast south of Aberdeen.  Then we drove up to the tippy top of Scotland and got a ferry to Orkney.  It was incredible up there - old standing stones and prehistoric villages and lovely little fishing villages.  After Orkney, we drove down the west coast and stopped in Mallaig, which was absolutely gorgeous.  It's the area where they filmed Harry Potter, very dramatic and stunning.  Also the B and B there had Bernese mountain dogs, which was a big plus.  We ended up in Edinburgh and I was so sad that they had to go back home!

There they are (teeny tiny) outside of Doune Castle - where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed.

Two weeks ago, my friend Erica came to visit.  We took the train and ferry over to the Isle of Arran on the west coast.  It was so beautiful.  The island was bigger than we expected with lots of mountains and walks.  We went hiking and ate smoked fish and slept 10 hours a night in our cozy B and B.  We even saw seals.  It was the perfect dissertation escape.  Then we went to Edinburgh and stayed with a friend from school and had such a good time exploring the city.

So, when not out exploring Scotland, I've been writing my dissertation.  It's on street art and its move into galleries and museums.  It's actually a lot of fun to write.  I've been interviewing curators and even a graffiti artist from Brooklyn.  I have started getting the urge to spray paint stuff, which I am trying to control.  I've got nearly half a draft at this point and it's due at the end of August, so I am on schedule.

I am also still going to Dundee for work, although I'm about to go on strike if  they don't start paying me as promised.  I also am going to Belfast next week for two nights.  I've never been to Ireland and it's just so close that I can't pass it up.

The end of my masters course is approaching so quickly now.  I'm writing as many job applications as I can  to museums and galleries anywhere and everywhere (except parts of middle America).  But if nothing comes through in the next couple weeks (even an interview), I'm planning to spend the majority of September traveling.  I'm thinking of Portugal right now, after a year in Scotland, sun and warmth sound blissful.  Then somehow I'll collect my belongings and get myself to Erie, PA, or at least a nearby airport!

Whew, that is an epic post!  So much to report, though.  I'd love to hear from you, too.  I miss everyone at home!!!  Take care. xo.