Castles, islands and football, oh my!

I know that many of you are waiting on pictures from my trip and believe me, I desperately want to show you! But it seems that no matter how hard I try, fate does not want me to share pictures that I've taken. I've ordered a camera cable and USB adapter, but both of them were the wrong products. I've emailed the companies and I'm waiting on hearing back from them. So in the meantime, I'll just keep stealing pictures off of my friend's Facebook. This is a picture of Nikki and I sitting in the player's chairs at the Celtic football stadium. Keep in mind that football here is soccer! :)

We've learned quite a bit about Scotland and the culture here so far! On Monday we start our third module, which is learning more history and society of Scotland. We have an interesting class schedule, which means that most days this week I only have 2 hours of class per day. This module we also have 3 different professors. They want us to learn about Scotland from the eyes of as many different people as possible, so it will be interesting to hear what they each have to say! I have to say, class here is much easier than at home! I could definitely get used to doing 4 one-page papers in two weeks for 3 credits!
On Saturday we went to Crammond Island. There was a mile-long walkway to get onto the island (yes I walked the whole thing-there AND back might I add!). There were tall concrete pillars next to it that were used to prevent boats from getting onto the island during World War II. The island itself was absolutely gorgeous. We were lucky enough to go on a day when it didn't rain; the sun even came out for a few minutes! From the island you could see the Firth or Forth and Edinburgh. Located on the island was a building that had a "Dangerous Building" sign on it, so naturally I had to go exploring! (It never said don't go in it because you'll fall to your death, so I figured I was fine.) I found out later that it was an old bunker. There were lots of little nooks and crannies with tiny windows, fun to explore!
Today our host moms (Patty and Natalie-Patty is the director of the program and Natalie is her wife) took us out to a car boot sale and breakfast. The car boot was essentially a giant garage sale in the bottom of a parking garage. Everyone had all their things out on tables or display racks. There were a few interesting things there, but since it was basically a garage sale, most of it was just other people's random things. After the car boot we went to Wetherspoons for breakfast, or brekkie. I ordered the vegetarian breakfast and MAN! There was so much food! 3 hashbrowns, 2 pieces of toast, 2 eggs, 1 veggie sausage, 1 portabella mushroom, baked beans, and a half of a tomato. Like a good American, I ate it all! All of that for only £3!! One of the things I have noticed is that unless you're at a very posh restaurant, the prices are much cheaper here for food. After all this, it was time for a tour of the Edinburgh castle. It's less of one building and more of a royal neighborhood. There were tons of different buildings, including a prison! It was a very creepy feeling to walk around where other people had lived, and some probably died. On the bright side, I did get to see the crown jewels! I'm still trying to figure out if they were real or imitation. Probably a very realistic replica.
The weather here has been extremely mild the past few days! We've had lots of sun (by Scotland standards) and mid 60s. We had a bit of a thunderstorm a few days ago, which flooded a few places, but thankfully the palace escaped unharmed. I'm looking forward to a great week full of interesting Scotland information! Until then... :)