The part of the semester where if I hadn't planned these outings ahead of time I would have just been a hermit in my room hissing about homework.
All week I did homework. Non-stop. I have two papers due on my Birthday and endless readings.
Ah, the life of a history major.
Since my family will be here tomorrow, I have been trying my damn best to get all these things done by today. I am achieving it, but to give you a sense of what "achieving it" looks like; I have been up until three in the morning every single night this week and awake by eight or nine the following mornings in order to complete it.
However, this post is not doing to be telling you about my papers or readings. This post is about the two non-homework things I did this week.
Excursion One: The one where I definitely didn't do homework
Purple rain is not a reference to the Prince song, it is a cocktail that comes in the obscene quantity of an entire pitcher. I am referencing my 21st birthday party with my friends here in Scotland and let me tell you, the purple rain is tasty. Various pubs, one of which we made friends with a very drunk Scottish woman, two clubs and a lot of alcohol later and the ceremony had been been completed.
Don't worry too much though. We ate three times in the of five hours we were out being hooligans and we had eaten before, plus we were drinking water. I did sleep until noon the next day though.
Excursion Two (and three): The only breaks I had between homework
Besides getting shitfaced, I also attended a documentary festival. These were some of the tickets I had purchased clear back in week two, one to an Ella Fitzgerald Documentary and band performance on Saturday, and one to an archival film footage collection showcasing women in the 20th century on Sunday.
Ella Fitzgerald has always been an immense inspiration for me, even more so recently with the addition of Jazz to my collection of skills in the last two years. The documentary was easy to watch and even I learned more about her despite my own researching. The band was delightful and despite having to rush home to work on homework, it was a lovely break.
Her Century is a program that just started it's tour throughout Scotland and is a collection of film footage grouped into three sections, but left with no narrative. It was amazing to see and hear the narratives within the films and see the women that were moving and shaking up the community in Scotland.
The link below will take you to the website explaining far more than I can, but I encourage you to look further into it.
It is a very well put together project and the people behind it are smart, funny and want to make a difference by getting this stuff out there. All good reasons to look into it. History major not required.
After that it was back to homework, but I am happy to announce that I have nearly completed it. Nearly.