Number 99: Just As I Am

"I don't know about you but I never get tired of it
Number 99: Just As I Am

I'm a mountain that has been movedI'm a river that is all dried upI'm an ocean nothing floats onI'm a sky that nothing wants to fly in
I'm a sun that doesn't burn hotI'm a moon that never shows its faceI'm a mouth that doesn't smileI'm a word that no one ever wants to say
I'm a mountain that has been movedI'm a fugitive that has no legs to runI'm a preacher with no pulpitSpewing a sermon that goes on and on
Well, if we take all these things and we bury them fastAnd we pray that they turn into seeds, to roots and then grassIt'd be all right, it's all right, it'd be easier that way
Or if the sky opened up and started pouring rainLike it knew it was time to start things over againIt'd be alright, it's alright, it'd be easier that way
Well, if we take all these things and we bury them fastAnd we pray that they turn into seeds, to roots and then grassIt'd be all right, it's all right, it'd be easier that way
Or if the sky opened up and started pouring rainLike it knew it was time to start things over againIt'd be alright, it's alright, it'd be easier that way"
-Daisy, Brand New(post #99)

Glasgow grand finale

Well, I’m down to my final days in Scotland. Janelle left early Wednesday morning and I’m officially on my own in my homeland! It’s a strange feeling being alone this far from home, but it’s so awesome (sorry mom). There’s just something freeing about not knowing a single person currently in the same country as me. Well technically Brian Archambault is somewhere on the east coast or highlands by now and Matt Bennett is on a train up here, but you get the point. I’ve been on my own before, but this is a completely new level. Unfortunately I don’t have a ton of ‘free’ time being free. I stupidly put off most of my pre euro semester work until the now, the week before. I spent basically all day today inside writing. Luckily I relocated after Janelle left to a quieter hostel really far outside Glasgow, much less distracting than city center. And it’s been raining relentlessly the past two days, limiting most outside activities or adventures anyway. 

Honestly, it really sucks that I only have two more full days here (wow, I’m just realizing that while writing this). That’s depressing, I don’t wanna think about that. I get back to London on Sunday, and on Monday I get to hang out with two of the coolest girls I know! Sara Reinis and Whitney Pierson are spending the night in London on their way home from Wales. AKA, we’re gonna rage. After that, Erica gets there on Wednesday (IF she doesn’t get lost in the airport, and that’s a huge if) and we meet up with our team on Friday afternoon. 

Let’s see, what else is new… 

I haven’t shaved in 30 days, that’s old news actually. I can’t shave until Erica gets here, her orders. It’s getting bad, but I love it. A picture of Benjamin Bisson surfing just rotated onto my desktop background. I miss that kid, and the ocean. I haven’t seen it for over a week now. For someone like me that has basically always lived with an ocean view from every house and every school, that’s a long time! My road trip was the longest I’ve been away from the ocean (a grand total of 15 days). The almost two month stretch between France to Italy is going to break that record. If you haven’t noticed, this last paragraph is basically whatever thought jumps into my brain. Carrie Underwood just came up on my ipod, nice! 

Ok ok, back to Scotland. It was a real adventure getting to this hostel yesterday. I decided to pretend I was a local and only use public transportation to get to somewhere I had absolutely no clue was located. I ended up getting half way here on the Glasgow underground, then jumped on the wrong bus that took me right back to city center. Then got on a wrong bus again that put me in east end instead of west end. Normally I’m actually quite good at navigation, but I was just all turned around yesterday. It probably was due to the fact that it was pouring rain so I just jumped on the first buses that showed up. And because I always use the ocean as my point of reference, West, and there’s obviously no ocean in Glasgow, just a dirty river. I finally just gave up and took a taxi (like I probably should have from the start, seeing as I didn’t even know what side of the city I was trying to get to). I arrived to my hostel soaked from head to toe, and the guy that answered the door just laughed at me… jerk.

Well that’s about it. I’m trying to decide if I should stay up to watch the GOP presidential debate online, I probably wont. Mainly because Rick Perry isn’t participating. I just read that he’s officially going to announce he’s going to run on Saturday, so stoked. Mark my words, Rick Perry will be elected President of the great United States of America in 2012. I miss the idea of being in America more that physically being in Los Angeles or Santa Barbara I think. I miss being in one nation under God. I miss the land of the free, and the home of the brave. Anyway, patriotism aside, I love being abroad. While my pre-Europe adventure is drawing to a close, my actual Europe adventure is about to begin. The only thing that stands in my way is finishing a few essays and a WWII timeline. Well, back to work on that. This post has been basically one big distraction from my sociology essay, classic. 

Dry family legacy in Glasgow

Apparently I've got a very famous family (not just in this town, but all over the UK), at least within the world of the Salvation Army.

Arthur Dry was my great grandfather's older brother, and was a very influential and loved bandmaster for the Govan Citadel Band. His picture (the one above) still hangs in the band room at the Salvation Army in Govan, Glasgow. My great grandfather, George Dry, was also in the band and is still remembered by many older church members.

This morning Janelle and I attended the Sunday service at the Salvation Army in an attempt to learn as much history about our family as we could, and also find out if we had any relatives still living in Glasgow. EVERYBODY in the church knew our "famous" last name and wanted to talk to us. One of the majors (this is an 'army' after all) announced us as relatives of Arthur Dry at the beginning of the service, and there was a crowd surrounding us the moment the service ended. Most people wanted to say hello and give us a very warm welcome, but there were some that had information about my family. A woman approached us and said that her mother, who was downstairs, was a cousin of Arthur - therefore a relative of ours somehow! We immediately went down to meet her and she was the funniest old woman I have ever met.

Her name is Lily and she is the oldest member of the church at 97 years old. Her mother and Arthur and George's father (my great great grandfather) were brother and sister. She remembers my family very well and she told us stories and jokes about our shared relatives. She was with her daughter, her granddaughter, and baby great granddaughter (Four generations of women living, just like in my moms family!). We met all of them and shared our life stories. 

After talking to Lily, we were introduced to the second oldest member of the church. Her name was Betsy (I think) and she also clearly remembered my family. She said her oldest memory of my family was when she was a child. She knew George and Arthur well, and she knew their mother and even remembers their grandmother! Meaning: she remembers my great great great grandmother (I think). Betty remembers asking her mother why Granny Dry was always kneeling at the mercy seat in church, and her mother responded, "because she's showing everybody what to do." I'm so fascinated by all of this, I can't get over it! One of the best moments of the day was when Betty said that it made her very happy that their were still Drys left in the world, apparently my family had a big impact on her life. 

We asked everybody if they knew if any of our family was still living in Glasgow, but unfortunately no one had any information. Arthur's son used to live in town, but everybody seemed fairly sure he either moved or was dead because he "hasn't been around for a long long while now". I'm still so glad we got to meet the people that we did, it was by far the best day of the trip! 

Throughout the afternoon, members of the band, both young and old, came up to us and told us how influential Arthur and my family were to the Salvation Army and the band. I don't think anyone in my family has attended that church for decades, but they still have a lasting legacy. They told us he was buried at the Glasgow Cathedral Necropolis, and we went there later this afternoon. Apparently the Necropolis is one of the largest of its kind in Europe, with thousands of Glaswegians buried there. Even though I spent two hours searching for Arthur, I couldn't find him anywhere. I want to go back later in the week when the information center is open and maybe they can help us. Here are a few more pictures of our afternoon at the Salvation Army, Govan. 

Arthur's picture hanging on the wall in the band room

 They let me hold it

The inside of the church. 

Isle of Mull (for Sarah Mull)

After braving the rain on the ferry, we finally made it to the Isle of Mull! The rain cleared for a little, but eventually returned harder than ever. We took a bus to the main town on the island, Tobermory. It was yet another beautiful fishing town (Scotland is just full of them!). We had a fun few hours on the isle just walking around an admiring it. Rain is finally back in Scotland, and is forecasted to stay for a while, and I'm so excited!

a wet trip to the Isle of Mull

During the 45 minute ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull it was pouring for almost the entire time! I wanted to stay outside on the top to take pictures, but my camera was getting way too wet. Janelle braved the storm, but regretted it later after she was completely soaked from head to foot. Here are a few pictures I managed to take during the first part of the ferry while we were outside.

Oban at sunrise

We visited the really awesome port town of Oban for just two nights. On the morning of our only full day there, I woke up at 5am to take some pictures at sunrise (the best time to take pictures of anything, especially the coast, even if it's a west facing beach). After only about ten minutes, it started to absolutely pour! Having literally rolled out of bed, I didn't think to grab a umbrella or even a rain coat. I quickly covered my cameras with my thin jacket I was wearing and ran back to the hostel. Overall, not the most successful morning, but I managed to get a few good shots.

inside Auchendennan House

Annalise asked for some pictures of the inside of the Castle/Manor House turned hostel that I'm staying in, and here they are! Most of these are of the 2 1/2 story ballroom with a glass raised ceiling.

Clan MacFarlane

We found a cemetery in Arrochar that was like none I have ever seen. On one side were extremely old graves dating back hundreds of years. On the other side there were graves as recent as May, 2011. This cemetery has been in constant use for a few hundred years, and there was still room for more! Back in the extremely old side, I found a cluster of members from the Clan MacFarlane. I was probably viewing the graves of my very very ancient ancestors.

clouds and rain

Today was perfect Scottish weather! We walked to Arrochar from Tarbet in the rain and it was awesome! These lands are the old Clan MacFarlane lands, of which I am a part of. It was really meaningful walking through the lands of my ancestors. Every time it started raining too hard, we'd go find a pub and have a pint and wait out the storm. After about 15 minutes the rain would usually lesson and we could walk around in the mist. We found some history of the clan there, but there wasn't much. I'll post about the cemetery we found later. Here are a bunch of pictures of clouds around Loch Lomond and Loch Long. Today was probably the most beautiful day we've had this entire trip! 

coolest hostel ever

Janelle and I are staying three nights in the coolest hostel I have ever seen! It's an old manor house slash castle! It's called Auchendennan House and has a crazy history. The grounds were used by Robert the Bruce, this house was build by crazy rich nobles, and it was used by the US military in WWII, and now it's a hostel!

Stirling

We only had a very short time in Stirling. We got there at night, and had one crazy crazy night with new friends. The next day was our only full day before our early morning train the following day. We did everything there is to do in Stirling in the full day though!

Stirling Castle. It reminded me of Edinburgh Castle a lot, but they've redone the inside to make some of the old rooms like a renaissance fair with people dressed up in the rooms. I wasn't a big fan of that. And the way they redid the rooms was really cheap.

Statue of King Robert the Bruce outside Stirling Castle

Old Stirling Bridge

Inside Holyrood Cathedral where James VI was crowned    

Wallace National Monument!

The view from Wallace Monument of Stirling

Side view from Wallace Monument

Wallace Monument from the ground