Twenty Five Days

If memory serves me correctly, the middle of March is when things get serious at Gustavus. (also February, and April, and May, and early March, and...okay, it's always seriously busy there.) Midterms happen sometime this month at Gustavus, and then it's one crazy ride through April and May to finals.

Knowing this makes it all the more difficult to comprehend that I have only five weeks of actual classes left here in Edinburgh. Twenty-five days of class. The last day is Friday April 5th, and it's followed by a two-week spring break, a one-week "reading week" (whereas Gustavus gives us a day!), and then about a month long exam period. This is crazy, because I only have three exams. I'm used to Gustavus' system, where it's not uncommon to have a large test on material the week before a big final exam! With this setup, I could be done with my semester as early as May 3rd, or as late as May 25th, depending on when the tests are scheduled. No one knows when tests will be until they feed all the data into a computer which then spits out a university-wide schedule, in late March.

Innovative Baking Week was a mild success (the week of February 18-22, when I didn't have class). I did a lot of "touristy" things, such as visit the National Museum of Scotland, the Writer's Museum, Arthur's Seat (kind of), and the Edinburgh Zoo!

Edinburgh from above: the view from Holyrood Park/near Arthur's seat

I was there. Posing awkwardly. At least it isn't a selfie, right?

The Zoo is the only place in the UK where you can see pandas, so you have to book tickets in advance JUST for the pandas, separate from normal Zoo admission. We lucked out — one of the pandas was actually moving around when we visited, opposed to their normal state of sleep.

they do look cute when they sleep though.

We also saw plenty of my favorite animals — the monkeys! They were simply adorable, as monkeys are. Except for when you keep them as pets and they attack your face. That is not advised.

little monkey says hello

I'll stop boring you with monkey pictures. but I have many more...

Sorry, but one more monkey related thing: I saw the cutest baby monkey you will ever see (maybe):

One interesting animal we saw was the Amur Leopard, of which there are only 35 left. The leopard below it is called the Clouded Leopard, so named for its dark spots (which aren't really visible in that picture, but they exist!) Overall the zoo was quite interesting and fun, even though we went on probably the coldest day possible.

being a leopard is a tiring life

clouded leopard says hello

As for the baking part of Innovative Baking Week, only cinnamon rolls were made, but their deliciousness made up for the lack of other baking. The recipe is called Milwaukee Butter Horns. My grandparents on my mom's side are from Milwaukee, and I *think* the recipe is my grandmas (maybe? let me know, grandma.) I've just made brownies today too— my mom's tried and tested recipe. Making those feels like I'm home!

they were gone in three days. 

Yesterday I went to the pub quiz with Yvonne, Brooke, and two of her friends. Normally we pull a decent last place, or second-to-last if we're lucky enough to have a Scottish local with us. As it happens,  the quizmaster announced that there would be a prize for second-to-last that night: a white chocolate easter egg! (Huge easter eggs are a big deal here.) This became our new goal. I'm pretty sure they included it just for us, since we have been faithfully attending — and faithfully losing — for weeks. Thankfully, the quizmaster was on our side. The quiz is typically 5-6 rounds, and you bring up your little answer sheet after each round to have it graded. Yvonne and I brought them up each time, usually asking for help (i.e. answers) before turning them in. When we brought our last sheet up, the quizmaster reassured us that he wouldn't even grade it — he would just give us whatever score we needed to win the chocolate egg. And win we did.

The quizmaster said he doesn't like to smile. But he's a secret softy on the inside.