Two Deep Red Roses

Life. A crazy, funny thing. This week positively flew by, which does not bode well for the remaining four weeks.

On Friday night, Kim came over for dinner. Allison made some delicious apple pancakes and bacon, and it totally hit the spot. After, we watched The King's Speech, an excellent choice. Saturday consisted of waking up and going to the Hamilton West train station where we met up with Mr. H. He took us into Partick for a football game of the Hamilton Accies (Academics) vs. the Partick Thistles. First, we walked to a little avenue with some antique stores and shopped around a bit. After our shopping was finished, we ate at a little cafe and then continued shopping. I found a little craft shop and may have indulged in some yarn that will be appearing in a MotherDaughter Creations hat. :)

Kim met up with us for the rest of the day, and we stopped in at a bar called Oran Mor. Where is it? Inside of an old church. I was torn between feelings of awe at the age and beauty of the building and the feeling of utter blasphemy. (The awe won out in the end. :) ) Then we went to the game, and may I just say, sports here are WAY different from sports at home. For one, the five of us girls increased the female population by about 1000%. That's one thousand. Not one hundred. Yeah. Also, the fans are far more... liberal, shall we say, with their words. I cannot repeat most of them, but rest assured, we laughed a lot at them. Our team, the Accies, lost 0 - 2. Quite embarrassing. But still, a fun day out. We met with a friend of Mr. H at a different pub, where I think we were the only women there who weren't bar-tending or clearing tables. At home that night, we just relaxed, watched a movie and went to bed.

I knew Sunday was going to be a glorious day when I woke up to sunlight streaming in the room, the sound of birds singing outside my window. Lindsay, a maths teacher, was kind enough to pick us up and take us to church. After, we took the twisting and turning back roads up to Loch Lomond. This place ranks by far in the Top 3 most beautiful places I have ever seen. Lindsay treated us to lunch at the Kilted Skirlie. I indulged in some decadent lasagne, and I never ever need to eat again! I also experienced the single most decadent strawberry dessert I have ever laid taste buds upon. Kelly and I parted ways with Lindsay and enjoyed a stroll through the nearby park, complete with castle ruins. There were so many beautiful aspects to the walk, but my favorite was the row of six benches in the sunlight. I wish my camera hadn't died at this point, because it was quite beautiful. Each bench had a plaque with an engraving of to whom it was dedicated. One bench had single deep red roses just laying on the bench, and for some reason, the beauty just struck me. Life is simple, yet complicated; gruesome, yet beautiful; and all anyone wants is to make a difference and be remembered. I would be content with a bench in the sun-covered hills of Scotland, but for now, I will strive daily to make a difference in my students' lives.

I am sitting on the couch with the girls watching the movie, "Life in a Day," a movie with film from all over the world filmed on the same day, July 24, 2010. It is so fascinating to see the beauty, pain, honesty, comedy, and diversity in the world. It's a wonderful documentary that I think aligns with many of my experiences here.

I have seen the beauty in a peaceful loch bordered by mountains. I have seen the pain of a student who lacks self-confidence and turns to cutting herself to cope. I have seen the honesty in a student's eyes as he says, "No miss. I don't really get it." I have seen the comedy in my class realizing that I don't know what the phrase sack it or the word grassbag mean. And I have seen diversity every single day here, not in the color of a person's skin, but in their thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.

Life. A beautiful, wonderful, spectacular mess.