Becoming a St. Andrean

For the past two weeks I have been settling into the comings and goings, ups and downs, and heres and theres of being a student at St. Andrews. I successfully moved into my dorm room in St. Regulus hall and have met all sorts of wonderful people that live here in this cosy community. It's a smaller hall (just about 175 people live here) and we take meals together in the dining hall everyday, so it is a very friendly and welcoming environment. People are often sitting together in the common room or library, or congregating in larger rooms like mine, and piano music is frequently heard through the thin walls and floors. Luckily enough, there are some great musicians living here! In sum, I love living in "Regs" and already feel quite at home here.

St. Regulus Hall

One thing I absolutely love about traveling is the process of getting to a new place, and my favorite way of doing so is by turning my almost-daily runs into explorations. Sure, this means I get lost sometimes, but in general I become acquainted with the streets and scenery much faster than I would otherwise. Besides, getting lost is merely another learning experience, and aren't I here to learn? My favorite places to run here are along this footpath called Lade Braes, on the West Sands (cue Chariots of Fire music), and along the Fife Coastal Path when it's not too muddy. I am constantly running by people walking their very well-behaved dogs - not one has so much as barked at me, and they're mostly leash-free. Go Scotland dog-owners!! Speaking of dogs, my sweet "puppy" Blitz died this last weekend. It hurt to not be home to say a final goodbye, but I shall never forget him. He was a wonderful dog who loved as best as a dog can from what I can tell. I will honor his precious memory by saying hello to every golden retriever I can while I'm here.

A run on the sands

On the coastal path

Besides trekking around on foot, I have been able to get cranking on my mountain bike I brought over here! Scottish mountain biking is mostly either flat or downhill from what I can tell thus far, but biking is biking and I am so very happy on wheels. Meredith and I joined the St. Andrews Cycling Club Wednesday ride last week, which was an interesting venture. We two Texan girls showed up with our streamlined tires and my weak front shock system, deserving skeptical looks from the guys riding very heavy duty downhill style monster bikes. They remained relatively skeptical until we left, even though we kept up just fine, but we'll be back next week to prove our passion! We did our own ride to Tentsmuir Forest yesterday, but we didn't actually make it there even though we rode at least an hour out from town! There was a beautiful path along the coast, though, and there's only more for us to explore for next time. I can't help but remain positive surrounded by beauty on my bike.

Wednesday ride

Meredith!

Sunday ride

I'll leave you with one last adventure account. The group from Baylor hiked, or "walked" as they say, to from Crail to Anstruther in order to eat a delicious batch of the best fish 'n chips in the UK. I have held out for these fish 'n chips this entire trip, and it was worth it indeed. The walk along the coastal path was glorious, and the sun even came out to grace our chilled faces. Our group will be taking more walks throughout the semester, and this was a great one to start off with.

Can you tell I enjoyed it?