Is Hot Chocolate Supposed to be Spicy?

So last night, or I guess this morning, I couldn't sleep, ugh hate when that happens. I looked at my watch and it said 3am. I figured I may as well do something useful so I got on my computer, but when I looked at the time on my computer it said 2am. For a little while I kept checking all of the times on my phone, computer, watch, and radio trying to figure out what went wrong. Then I thought oh maybe it's fall back? I googled it and it said fall back wasn't until November 7th, or at least for the US. Thinking that it could be different I looked up fall back for the UK and found that fall back was at 1am this morning! Phew..thought I was going crazy! But now for a week I am only four hours ahead of the US!
Now as for the title of my blog, I made hot chocolate this morning from the box I had bought. I decided to try Aztec Chili. I in no way like chili but I was curious how it would taste with chocolate. It was spicy! At first it fools you, tasting like regular hot chocolate with a hint of flavoring that you can't really put your finger on, and then after a few seconds there's a little tingling on your tongue and a little burn in your throat! So weird, but actually pretty good! Of course I am very sensitive to spicy foods, since I don't like it much, so I could be one of the few people who actually tastes the spice...

Why didn't anyone tell me Edinburgh is considered the Windy City???

Really though, I heard lots of people say that it rained all of the time and that there was wind but the past few days have been ridiculously windy! Course when I was complaining about the wind to my flatmate who is from England, she said Edinburgh was considered the windy city...awesome. Every night and morning it sounds like the whistling wind you hear in movies! I've never heard wind like this! One night I though it was actually thunder, I didn't know wind could even make that sound. So much for my hair looking nice everyday...
Today my flatmate and I went to the Elephant House http://www.elephanthouse.biz/! I have been dying to go there since I got here. Now for those of you that don't know why I would be dying to go to a place that sounds as if it's just got a lot of elephants, the Elephant House is actually the restaurant/cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote most of the Harry Potter books (yes, nerdy I know)!! It was actually really cool, there were tons of elephants statues and figurines around the whole place, even elephant chairs! And if you get a seat in the back you have a great view of the Edinburgh Castle. I can totally understand why a writer would be inspired in a place like this. I got blackcurrant tea and a cake(?) that had a layer of chocolate, carmel and a shortbread on the bottom, it was very good! My flatmate got a marshmallow delight, basically hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows and whip cream. I have a feeling I'll be going back there...maybe I'll be inspired to write my essays there.

mmmm marshmallow delight!

my cute teapot and strainer!

After the elephant house we went around the campus so that I could get some pictures of where my classes are, since I think they look like they are right out of harry potter!

Where my architecture class is

Teviot - The oldest Student Union building in the world!

McEwan Hall - I don't have any classes here I just pass it everyday and think it's beautiful!

Grassmarket

Today I took a long walk to the Grassmarket. I was looking for the Grassmarket Embroidery Shop. Yes I am a nerd and I love doing needlework. It's good because I can never watch tv and just watch tv, I've got to be doing something with my hands so needlework is perfect. I was successful in finding the place (amazingly) and I bought the cutest needlepoint kit. 

The Library

Today I went to one of the school libraries to check out some books so that I could write an essay. Of course it took me forever to find the books that I wanted, the library here is so much more confusing then the one back home. Then I had to figure out how to check out the books in this weird scanner thing. Finally when I got four of the books I wanted I went home and realized that three of the four books were in French. Awesome.

Mmmm Cake!

Yesterday I spent the day making a fondant birthday cake for one of my flatmates. She had been gone all weekend because she went home for her birthday so my other flatmate and I wanted to surprise her when she came back with a birthday cake!

I am of course very proud of the cake! My flatmate loved it. 

Riding Cloud 9...Yea literally

At about 2 o'clock this afternoon I found myself sitting in a tiny plane with three other people, a pilot and an instructor. Now this would sound normal except for the fact that a huge chunk of the plane was missing (the door) and I had a 15 kilo (about 30 pounds) backpack on my back.
I woke up this morning at 6, ready to jump out of a plane! I met my ride at about 7:45 a few blocks away from my flat. The drive took about an hour. When the four of us got to Strathallan we had to wait to get our refreshers course. Everyone has to have a refreshers course before they can jump that day, if they don't have their license. It was a very long awful morning of just sitting in anticipation. We had to wait for all of the tandem jumpers to jump first before we could jump. Our group of first jumpers from the week before had grown to now eight jumpers. All of us were very excited to jump! Before 2 our group was called. We all went down to get "kitted up" which means I needed a life preserver (in case we land in water), my bright orange and red jumpsuit (very attractive), my 15 kilo pack which contains the two parachutes, the device that reads our altitude, a helmet and a walkie-talkie that sits in a pocket next to my ear on my helmet. After we had all of the equipment on we had to decide as a group of four who was going to jump first. My group was three other guys and guess who had the guts to go first...yup that's right I did. Then we all had to practice jumping out of the plane that stays put in the hanger, which was just so that we could see how heavy the pack was when we jumped out of the plane.
Eventually we were ready to go. We all lined up and got into the plane, each sitting in our specific spots. I'm glad I went first because I got the best seat, I was looking right out of the open door and it was amazing! Imagine the take off of a regular plane except that you can feel the wind and you can see everything below you. It really was an amazing sight. The whole time the three guys were joking around with each other which was great because it made me a lot more relaxed. At 3500 feet and the right area the instructor told the pilot to cut the engine, told me to put my feet out of the plane and get in the jumping position and then to GO! Just like that! It happened so quickly, I totally forgot to count like I was supposed to but it was ok. The parachute opened perfectly without any twists or problems. I had at first forgotten all of the things I was supposed to check but I soon remembered what to do. Plus the walkie-talkie was for the instructors on the ground to remind me what to do.
Now it was time to enjoy the scenery. It was really beautiful, I could see all of the mountains and all of the snow in the mountains! I was surrounded by farmlands, and plenty of little white dots which turned out to be sheep. It was like nothing I've seen before. But soon I realized that I need to check what height I was at and where I was going to land. The instructor on the ground certainly helped me figure out what to do by talking to me through my walkie-talkie (course I couldn't respond) but I was glad I had it. Eventually I was all set up to land and I actually did I pretty good landing, it was much easier and smoother then I thought it would be. I wouldn't ever give up that experience for anything. I don't think I was scared at all, which probably isn't normal because most people don't voluntarily jump out of a plane, but I completely enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I am now hooked, I can not wait till I get to jump again and eventually get to pull my own parachute.

Yes the beautiful jump suit outfit, nice and puffy:)

My group on the plane minus the guy all the way on the left. 

Yea the guy in the middle with the scruffy red beard landed in a bush, I mean really landed in a bush, classy guy.

Get Ready!

Get Set!

Go!

Yea you can barely see me but the little spec in the bottom right corner would be me. 

Landing!!

Looking awfully proud of myself (I mean rightly so...)

Yup it's official! 

When we got down the instructor had to give us feedback on how we did. I got a thumbs up! Although she said I should keep my head up just a little more but overall very good! That made me happy. After being debriefed my group all went to the little cafe to have some cheesy chips (fries with melted cheese, whoever invented these is my favorite person). Then it was time to drive home, and of course then all the people in my car wanted a celebratory drink. We went to this really cool pub and I tried alcoholic ginger beer, which was really good. I ended up getting home around 8:30, what a long day. Totally worth it and now I'll be going back in about two weeks to jump again!

So what's next...bungee jumping?

Should I buy myself an early Christmas gift? Yes.

So today was a beautiful day, it was really nice and sunny. I was under the impression that because it was so sunny it wouldn't be as cold, or at least it wouldn't be as cold if I walked in the sun. Boy was I wrong...It was so freezing today! I think it was the coldest it has been yet, plus it was windy. Brr!
After my class I went shopping for Halloween costumes with two of my friends. We went into plenty of Halloween stores and as it turns out the only thing I bought was an early Christmas gift for myself.
There was a store called Whittard, http://www.whittard.co.uk/. They had the best tea, coffee and hot chocolate. There were samples of hot chocolate and tea and they were really good! So there was this big box of nine different kinds of hot chocolate for 20 pounds. There was a deal that you buy two and get one free, so of course since there was three of us we just had to each get one! I only had to pay 13 pounds for it, still an indulgence for hot chocolate but I'm calling it my early Christmas gift to myself:) Can't wait to try some!

Skydiving!

Saturday morning I woke up at 5 in the morning to shower and eat breakfast. I was supposed to meet the skydiving club at 7 in the morning to go to the jump base. I had signed up for a course to learn how to skydive and then actually sky dive on Sunday once I passed the course.
The course was much more then I had ever expected. There were about 24 kids, we were all split up into groups of 8 and given an instructor. We had to learn all about how the parachutes work, how to fly them, what to do if something went wrong and we had all of the practical learning. I can't count how many times I had to put on a bright orange and red jumpsuit and a harness and actually practice jumping out of a plane. They had an old plane that was raised up off the ground so we actually had to jump out and as soon as you jumped you had to arch your entire body (wasn't easy) and shout "archthousand, twothousand, threethousand, fourthousand, check canopy!" and I mean shout. We had to do this because the parachute would open about 4 seconds after we jumped out of the plane, so we had to stay in the arch position until the parachute was open so that it would open correctly. Then we had to check to make sure that the parachute was working, that there were no twists in the wire and that we could control the parachute. I had no idea how much stuff there was to think about when you skydive.
When learning what to do if our parachute was not working we were harnessed up in harnesses that hung down from the ceiling. If you parachute is "malfunctioning" you needed to cut it away and pull out the reserve parachute. Sitting in the harness we each had to practice "cutting away" the parachute because there would be a jolt when you did this, which sometimes threw people off. That was pretty cool, there really was a big jolt.
When we were finally done we got a certificate that was also a jump card, that signified that we could jump. We were in lessons from 9 in the morning until 7 at night! by the end of the night I was completely  exhausted, but of course the club had set up a bonfire and a BBQ so I hardly got any sleep.
I was told that the next morning I would be able to jump on my own, given that the weather was ok. Unfortunately, the weather today was awful for skydiving. It was way too windy and the clouds were too low. So I didn't get to jump, even after all that hard work. The good thing is that I can go back any weekend and do my first jump. So hopefully I'll get to do that soon.
The jump base that we were at was called Strathallan. The Scottish Skydiving Club, which has been around since 1960, uses this place as their jump site and they were the trained professionals teaching us how to jump. The jump base was basically this huge field and places where the planes were stored and a house where people could sleep and eat.
Even though I didn't get to jump today I still really enjoyed all of the training (even though it wore me out). I really look forward to the next time I get to jump!

Me and one of the girls from the course, standing in front of one of the planes we jump out of. 

The main building

The air field

Bernese Mountain Dogs

This morning i decided to make the long walk to the Real Foods store (the one that has organic foods, a lot like Whole Foods). I found some great frozen berries, there wasn't a price tag on them and it turns out they were really expensive...but I bought them anyway:) I figured I'll just have to use them sparingly.
On my way back from the store I saw the cutest little Bernese Mountain Dog puppy! I of course had to stop the woman walking him and ask to pet him (I think she was a little surprised). I think Bernese Mountain Dog puppies are the cutest puppies ever, they are like little black fluff balls, and their fur is so soft. I mean come on look at these puppies, are they not the cutest things you've ever seen?

Mmm Hamburgers

Today I made some real American hamburgers for my flatmates and a few other people. It was an interesting experience since I didn't have a grill, except for this toaster/grill that's a part of our oven. Amazingly they turned out really well, even though I was skeptical of the meat that I got from the butchers. I also got some spicy potato wedges, I didn't feel like making them from scratch so I just bought them frozen from the store. They were actually really good though.

Looks like a real American meal right? For desert my flatmate made rocky road, which was amazing. She just melted chocolate threw in some bits of shortbread and some marshmallows and put it in the refrigerator. So good.

Needless to say I'm stuffed...

I Need Marshmallows

At the end of the day it's nice to sit down and relax with a cup of tea or sometimes hot chocolate. Tonight was hot chocolate for me, so glad my mom sent me Swiss mix, all I need is to find some marshmallows.
Anyway, the past two days have unfortunately been a bit uneventful, same old classes everyday. Although today I did find an art store where I bought myself a new sketch pad, which was good.

My Shower Hates Me

Today I went shopping with two of my friends on Princes Street. Clothes here are so expensive compared to back home, I couldn't find anything that I could really justify spending my money on. I did find some cute little black everyday shoes that were only 8 pounds. And in urban outfitters there was this 6 pack of key covers so my friends and I split the cost and each got two. It was perfect because I could never tell which key would let me in the building and which one would let me into my room. They are the cutest little covers too...

Later after I played tennis I attempted to take a shower. The water just would not heat up! It did the same thing to me yesterday. I was getting so frustrated and in the end I had to take a freezing cold shower which sucked. Hopefully I'll have more luck tomorrow...

Fuzzy Tennis Courts?

Today was part of the tennis trials and I traveled to a indoor tennis court that was by the water. The weirdest thing was that the tennis courts were basically carpet...it was so different to play on. The whole time I was afraid I was going to slip on the carpet. Luckily I got through it though.

Holyrood Park

With the sun shinning this morning I woke up at about 9 am to walk up the "Radical Rock" at Holyrood Park. Radical Rock is right next to King Arthur's Seat, which actually used to be a volcano. I figured since it was such a nice day I should take advantage of the sun and get some pictures.

This is King Arthur's Seat, it's right next to Radical Rock.

This is Radical Rock, King Arthur's Seat is just to the right of it. I walked all the way to the top of this rock.

Just to give you an idea of how tall Radical Rock is.

There is a valley between Radical Rock and King Arthur's Seat and this is the view from the valley.

I love how you can see across the water.

I sat on the rock all the way to the left, I felt like I was up in the clouds.

Just to show you how high up I was.

This is King Arthur's Seat (or at least I think).

Can you see the little white picket fence? That is where the path up to King Arthur's Seat is, I thought the white picket fence looked so cute.

It was amazing being up at the top of the rock, I put on some music from The Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia soundtracks, I felt like I was on my own little journey. When I came back I told my flatmates how amazing it was, so we've decided to climb to the top of King Arthur's Seat tomorrow and have a picnic at the top.

Chinese Food Anyone?

Last night my Chinese flatmate and her Chinese friends made us all Chinese food. It was good but not at all what I was expecting. They made four different dishes. One was sausage and cauliflower, scrambled eggs and tomatoes, red peppers and potatoes and what they call fried chicken. Everything was cooked in some unknown sauce or sauces and served with rice. It was good, but I guess I was expecting something like fried rice and sweet and sour pork. Anyway I tried a bit of everything, here's what it looked like.

While we were all enjoying our meal we heard the chicken making lots of noise outside, I looked outside the window and there's the chicken in a tree that's level with our 2nd story window.

We all thought it was pretty funny.

Rain Rain Go Away

Of course it is raining again. Rain doesn't bother me much but I had a lot of plans for today and those plans required lots of walking. Since walking in the rain is not so fun I've gotten half of the things on my list done and spent the rest of the day curled up inside on my bed. I guess I haven't gotten used to the weather here yet. I'm used to sunny days and very little rain, and when it does rain in North Carolina I normally sit inside all day reading a book or watching a movie. I can't exactly do that here...unless I want to be inside everyday. Course yesterday it was beautiful, I really wanted to climb Arthur's Seat at Holyrood Park because the pictures from the top would have been amazing but I had three classes yesterday so there wasn't any time. I was hoping the sun would be out again today and I could climb Arthur's Seat, but no, more rain. The good thing about today was that I found a public library, I need to get a new book to read that has nothing to do with my school work. Now all I need to do is find a new good book to read. Any suggestions?