A fat rose outside my window

My First Week Back in Edinburgh

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman on holiday in Scotland must be in want of a cold.  That’s right, I managed to get a cold and have been suffering with it for over a week. So I don’t have an amazing portfolio of pictures to show you, the way I normally do when I go to Edinburgh to teach.  Of course that will change because I have to get better soon (please God, I must get better), and I will make some trips and take lots of photos, so don’t worry.

My class, while small, seems good.  There are twelve women and two men, and they seem nice.  I’m looking forward to talking with them more about the readings, and hopefully we can have robust discussions.  They were a little shy this week, but it seemed like they did the reading and are engaged with the class, and that is all I could ask for.

Look at this crown molding in my apartment!

Tuesday, I found out that the GT professor teaching after me is teaching a class on mindfulness, so I asked him if it would be ok if I sat in on the class, and he welcomed me in.  Mindfulness is something that has been—well—on my mind since I started taking the Happiness Studies class I’m in.  I’ve been meditating and trying to regulate my breathing and just being really present with what’s going on in my life. (Granted, lately I’ve just been “present” with my cold, but you know what I mean.)

A building near the Uni of Edinburgh’s Pollack Hall dorms

Yesterday in Dr. Verhaeghen’s class, we did a mindful eating exercise, and he gave us each a piece of chocolate from the Edinburgh Chocolatarium (which I’m going to tour on Sunday) and asked us to really look at it, notice its textures and appearance and color, then we were to smell it and notice any particular scents beside chocolate, and only then could we taste it.  But we couldn’t chew it.  We had to let it melt on our tongue first, and only at the very, very end could we swallow it.  It was a sensuous experience, and delightful.  The candy I had was a toffee with caramel (my favorite), and I had the most remarkable realization:  that after eating the candy, I didn’t want to eat any more.  It was as if the experience of noticing the chocolate with all the senses had given me a satiety—as if another piece would have just been too much.  So that was novel.  Now, when I go to the Chocolatarium, I’m sure I’ll be eating more than one piece.  (I am ok with this.)

Free Palestine! A Palestinian flag in a window across from mine

Since I haven’t really gone anywhere since I’ve been here, I’ve spent a lot of time quietly observing out my window, watching the birds.  I’ve seen a number of seagulls, and a ridiculous crow determined to eat something he found in the road, only to have to fly off when the buses roll by.  There was a myna at my window ledge, but I couldn’t get my camera out in time.  But he seemed quite interested in looking in at me while I looked at him.  I’ve seen yellow finches, and sparrows and fat Scottish wood pigeons.  The other morning, the tree directly outside was full of mourning doves cooing. I’m no birder, like Kathleen Jamie in Findings is, but I enjoy birds in nature. There are a surprising variety of birds in Edinburgh—you wouldn’t think so, since it’s a city, but there really are. It’s one of the things I like about being here.

I know this wasn’t a particularly thrilling post, but it’s the best I can do being sick.  I will have more soon.