Life in Scotland 2019… the final entry!

I’m going to shove the last 3.5 weeks of my time in Scotland into this blog entry. Eek!

After my day trip to Glasgow, I went on a random, last minute jaunt to a little party in Grangemouth with 2 sisters from my congregation. We got to meet some new people and I was reunited with some friends from Pioneer School. Those new friends we made came doe Edinburgh to our Sunday meeting the next. All in all, a very interesting weekend.

The following weekend we had a longer road trip to Manchester, England for the Spanish Circuit Pioneer Session and Assembly (w/ branch rep). It was a fabulous weekend shared with friends with a feast of spiritual food. And a couple from our congregation (technically the Portuguese group) was baptized at the assembly! It was a joy to witness that event!

Manchester Assembly Weekend

The next weekend I taught a POUND fitness class for the ladies of the Edinburgh Spanish congregation. I hadn’t even practiced on my own since I left the states, much less taught a class. So I was a little worried. I practiced a few times before the class but it was still difficult. But it was a lot of fun too! Manuela was kind enough to be my photographer and she captured Noemi making the most HILARIOUS face while stretching. See the collage below.

And then I went out for drinks with friends from my congregation at “Panda and Sons”… a speakeasy-like bar. Good times! Good drinks!

At my 2nd-to-last Thursday night meeting with Edinburgh Spanish, we all got a personal copy of the updated Spanish New World Translation of the Bible! Yay!!! It was released at the international convention in Madrid in June 2019 but copies hadn’t made it to the congregations yet… until right before I left. It was the best parting gift!

Then on Saturday I crashed the English Circuit Assembly… but this time the assembly with the Circuit Overseer because my Ohio congregation was scheduled to have that same assembly the day after I land. There was NO WAY I was going to be coherent for that haha! Anyway, it was also a chance to say goodbye to people from the English congregation… some that I had been in Pioneer School.

Then I attended my last Sunday meeting with Edinburgh Spanish and then bunch of us went out to eat. A good time was had by all lol.

I had 1 final shift for the metropolitan public witnessing and then my last meeting. I legit cried a little that last Thursday in the Kingdom Hall bathroom. Obviously, I was sad to be leaving… but also I was tired and SO STRESSED out about getting all my stuff in my luggage. It fit… but it was totally overweight. Ugh! Also stressed about getting a seat on the flight… I was flying standby.

Oh and I thought my flight was at 11 am but apparently it was changed to 10 am. My google was keeping track of the flight number information but got some reason my calendar entry for the flight didn’t get updated. *sigh* It is a good thing I naturally wake up early anyway! Hilary and I rushed to the bus stop for for me to catch the airport bus. Below is the last picture I took in Edinburgh… from the back of the bus.

The trip home was stressful the whole way because at each flight I was waiting to see if I could get on the plane… and some of the flights were pretty full. I flew Edinburgh to New York to Atlanta to Dayton. I was awake for almost 24 hours by the time I got into my house. Why didn’t I sleep on the long flight to New York? Because I rushed so much to get to the airport that I barely ate. So I had to stay awake so I didn’t miss the food service haha. My layovers weren’t terribly long but once I got to Atlanta got me some Popeye’s Chicken!!!!!!!!!!! Didn’t know I missed it until I had it again haha. And having been traveling almost an entire day, let me tell you that I looked a HOT MESS when I got off the plane in Dayton. And you know how you always seem to run into people you know when you look a mess? Well when I walked off the plane at midnight, my friend Les was working that gate at the airport! Ugh! But on the plus side, he helped me with my bags. I got home at 1 AM. I was pretty much dead! But I had to get back on Ohio time so I was up by 7 am unpacking and getting my life together. Well, it’s 6 months later and I still don’t have my life together haha. Oh well, it’ll all be put together in the new system!

October 2019 – My last complete month in Scotland

This month was so full of activity that I will split it into 2 entries.

As previously mentioned, my friend Amanda arrived at the end of September. On October 2nd, we embarked on a short mid-week road trip towards the west coast of Scotland… to Oban. On the way there, we stop at Finnich Glen and hiked down to a ravine called Carnock Burn. We walked barefoot in freezing cold water to get to the rock in the center that is called The Devil’s Pulpit lol. Despite the terrible name, the entire area is BEAUTIFUL! But I suggest going in the summer so that the cold water feels refreshing. I just felt colder remembering my feet in that water. I think I just shivered.

Finnich Glen

Then we drove up the western side of Loch Lomond, stopping in the village of Luss to have FABULOUS soup for lunch at the Coach House Coffee Shop. I don’t like tomato soup but I had a taste of Amanda’s and it was SO GOOD!

Luss… on the shore of Loch Lomond

We continued on to Oban taking the longer route through Glen Coe because it is amazing and everyone needs to see it! Then we finally made it to Oban as it was getting dark and had a little dinner.

Glen Coe, Castle Stalker, Oban’s Kingdom Hall, Oban bay at night

The next morning we walked around the town a bit. We had breakfast at a local restaurant and then stopped at the distillery. I bought to bottles for my dad and brother. I got a small one for myself. I ALMOST bought of bottle of the “Old Teddy” but thought I should save my money to survive my last month here. They only made 4000 bottles and it was a special bottling to commemorate the 3 generations of the same family running the distillery. I was able to taste it and it was very good! After coming home, I thought about getting a friend to buy it for me. I would call to see how many bottles were left. I finally gave in when an Instagram post showed me that a friend of mine was spending the weekend in Oban. I called and paid over the phone and had my friend pick it up haha. Now I only have to get back to Scotland to pick it up. With the COVID-19 situation, who knows when that will happen! On the way back to Edinburgh, we took the route on the east side of Loch Lomond National Park and stopped at Doune Castle and Stirling Castle.

Oban, Doune Castle, Stirling Castle

The next day, Friday, my friend Priscille arrived from France. The 3 of us went out to eat and had a lovely conversation about travel with a sibling duo from Israel. The gentleman was VERY good looking (#swoon). Sadly, Amanda had to go home Saturday so it was just me and Priscille. After ministry in the AM, we spent a little time on The Royal Mile. There was some kind of march going on. I don’t remember what it was about but it was LOUD lol. Then later we joined my former landlords, Phil and Sharon, at a ceilidh in Kilmarnock. The dancing was so fun to watch and do. I watch more than participate because I was a little scared of some of it haha! Priscille’s last day was going with me to the meeting and then walking about town in Edinburgh.

Hangin’ out with Priscille

A few days after Priscille left, my next door neighbor from back home in Ohio, Chrishan, came to visit me for the day. She’d been traveling and was in London and decided to just pop up for the day and spend the night. We spent part of the day exploring the city. I had to work so she went off for the rest of the day with a friend of mine.

Edinburgh with Chrishan

The next day, my friend and former roommate, Lovina, did the same thing haha. I took Chrishan to the tram to go to the airport then went to meet Lovina at the bus station when she arrived from London. We went out on ministry all day. That requires a lot of walking through town so she got to see Edinburgh that way.

Edinburgh with Lovina

I think the most exciting part of the month was going to Glasgow on a ministry trip looking for Spanish speaking people. I wish I had gotten pictures of the group that met that day but it was neat to see the public witnessing cart in Gaelic. One of the sisters that lives in Glasgow is originally from Connecticut and used to be in a Spanish congregation. She married a Scottish brother and now she has a Spanish Bible student in Glasgow. And, small word, she knows people in my best friend’s congregation in Connecticut.

Glasgow

There is a lot more for October but I will save that for the next blog entry.

September 2019 – New flat… who dis?

LOL I crack myself up! Well, after Pioneer School, Brittany returned home to Ohio and I was all set to move in with my friend Hilary. But first, I spent a few days in an Airbnb smack in the center of town with some friends that were visiting from Ohio. It was lovely. I didn’t have to take a bus to my metro shift. It was just a few minutes walk. There as a some pics of the outing we had through town and into Dean Village. We met up with a sister from Australia. I had met her 2 days earlier while I was on a metro shift and she was just in town for a few days so I asked her to join us.

Edinburgh with my Columbus Crew haha

So moving into a flat on the top floor of a building is no fun! But I got the fabulous flatmates – Hilary and her cat Seamus – so it was worth it.

Seamus Khan

The next week, film crews & actors started coming in to film portions of the next film in the “Fast & Furious” franchise. I tried to track down Vin Disel for my cousin but I couldn’t. I did get a glimpse of Ludacris and Tyrese. I had fun with an American friend (who lives in Scotland so I’m low key jealous of her) trying to squeeze through the crowd and climb on things to see the filming. They set up RIGHT next to the public witnessing cart haha.

Ludacris filming scenes from “Fast & Furious 9” – I didn’t get any clear pics of Tyrese

I had yet another set a visitors from Ohio, from my congregation back home. They stopped by after leaving London and on their way to Dublin. While I still had to work I did have a day to spend with them seeing a bit of the city, visiting the castle, trying some Polish vodka that tastes like Skittles hehe.

Good times with my Ohio friends

At the end of September, my friend Amanda from Indiana arrived. She rented a car so she had a some time exploring on her own. But thanks to her having a car, I was able to go with her to sight see a little bit out of town and be back in time to start work at 2pm. One day, we went to Dunbar and visited John Muir’s house. As a child, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and I have been to Muir woods… but I didn’t know the Scottish connection. He moved to the United States and explored SO MUCH of it! John Muir’s love of nature turned him into basically the father of national parks in the United States. Dunbar is a beautiful place and I wish I had more than a day there. More adventures with Amanda to come in the next post.

Dunbar

North Berwick

July 2019 Part 2 – London & Edinburgh

As previously mentioned, we left Paris for London Tuesday morning instead of Monday night, as planned. Le sigh! We had a Bible tour of the British Museum scheduled for 10 am but our flight was now arriving a little past 7 am and we couldn’t take our luggage into the museum. We had to leave our stuff somewhere but didn’t really want to pay for storage at a tube station. Also, we were kinda gross so we needed to change our clothes. Travelling on public transportation with luggage in the summer is less than glamorous. We decided to still go from the airport (which is quite a bit south of the city) to the home of my friend who was putting us up on the north east side of London. We dropped off our stuff and cleaned up and changed our clothes. While traveling from the airport I was trying to get a hold of the tour guide, but I was using the number I had of the brother that did my last tour… today we had someone else assigned to us. Oy vey! Eventually I got a hold of the brother that organizes everything, and he agreed to do our tour at 11 am. We had the museum Bible tour combined with a city tour and it was great fun and very educational. We got to taste some crisps (potato chips for the American readers) that were roasted chicken flavored. Strange but I kinda liked it.

On Wednesday we slept in a little and then made our way to the British branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The new British branch was nearing completion so not a whole lot was happening at the existing location but the museum of the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the British Isles was great! And there is a mini museum of old Bibles, too. After that we went to Camden and we shopped! Kiersten and Anna got souvenirs and I got a dress for the convention. We met back up with my good friend Asie, with whom we were staying. We ate and drank on a fabulous rooftop terrace. Ah good times! Then we took an overnight Megabus to Edinburgh. Yes… I know… we’re insane but it’s because we’re cheap lol.

London

We got to Edinburgh at 7am on Thursday and I had to work all day. The girls did not sleep well on the bus and, let’s face it, they’ve been going nonstop for DAYS! They slept most of the day and then we went to the meeting. The poor girls don’t know a lick of Spanish but I dragged them to the meeting of the Edinburgh Spanish congregation. For most of the girls’ visit to Edinburgh, they just tagged along on my everyday life stuff. I was able to organize a little dance party using my friend Jim’s house… his floors are better for dancing. We spent a little time exploring the city and participating in the ministry in both Spanish and English congregations. I was nice enough to take the girls to an English meeting that 1^st Sunday they were in town. On their last full day with me, we took a train to Glasgow to attend the Regional Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is the only one that takes place in Scotland so every Jehovah’s Witness in Scotland attends. That’s kinda cool to me, IDK why. Anyway, I got to wear the dress that I bought in London to that Saturday session of the convention. Sadly, the next day, my youths had to leave me and go back to their home.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh… view from Arthur’s Seat

Glasgow

The last 2 weeks of July were mostly routine life with 1 exception… a few days with a visitor. Months before I left for Scotland, a fellow JW sister form Kentucky found my blog and contacted me for information about visiting Scotland. She’d always wanted to go and she was already on her way to Europe for the International Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Utrecht, The Netherlands so she figured “Hey why not go to Scotland, too.” Funny story… I was also selected as a delegate for that same International Convention and would be living in Scotland when she wanted to come visit. And to add to that, her last name was familiar. So I asked and she was the sister-in-law of someone I already know! Crazy! A few days before she was scheduled to arrive in The Netherlands, Alisha came to Edinburgh. I showed her around town and took her to an English meeting. Then we took a day trip… a tour that took us to Doune Castle, Inverary Castle and Loch Lomond National Park. That day was literally the hottest day in all of Europe in 2019. It was 104F/40C in Amsterdam… where Alisha and I were flying into the next week. We were REALLY hoping that it would cool down for the convention (I’ll let you know in a later entry). In Scotland that day is was 89F/32C. For those of you who do not know about the weather in Scotland, that is pretty unheard of! I was SO GLAD that I wore sandals that day. I would have DIED if I had worn my trainers. I regretted the undershirt. Too many layers. When we got to Loch Lomond I was so excited to get my feet in the cool water. Everyone and their grandmother was there at the lake. Everyone I know in Edinburgh was posting on Instagram that they were basically dying of heat stroke. *For those of you who know what John Mulaney’s voice sounds like, please read the next line as he would because it IS a direct quote* “No one could handle it!” Now, when people ask me about the weather in Scotland, I tell them all nostalgic-like “I remember the day summer came to Scotland… it was a Thursday…it was wild.” Also, while Alisha was in town, I organized another dance party. A good time was had by all!

Next stop… International Convention in Utrecht.

See you next post!