I did not get very good sleep that night. I was too excited that I was going to see Iain. I really was just like a kid on Christmas Eve. Then as the night went on I kept having terrible dreams that we'd get kidnapped and sold as slaves, or mugged, or separated, or we were late to meet Iain. All of these things kept waking me up. Finally at about 4 in the morning I gave up and just sat in bed staring at the ceiling waiting for the sun to rise and waiting for Ahmee and Poppy to wake up.
As usual we got ready and ate breakfast, but of course I took a bit more care than usual in getting ready. However I refrained from wearing any makeup to see Iain. I wanted to see what his reaction would be, besides he's never seen me in makeup.
After breakfast we got in the car. Originally I had thought that we'd be driving down to the station, but since Poppy was having a few issues with the stick shift being on the left hand side (and they didn't want to have to deal with finding a parking spot-even thought there were some at the station) we went to the local train stop. As Poppy was getting the tickets Ahmee informed us that we'd be an hour late getting to Iain. This made me slightly grumpy. Ahmee had told me to tell Iain to meet us at 9:30 at the taxi pickup spot. Something else that bothered me was that I knew that Iain had probably gotten up early to get on the proper trains, and that he'd already looked at the schedules and when they were leaving. I called him up on Ahmee and Poppy's cell phone and told him that we'd be an hour late. He said, "Ok, I'll just find something to do for an hour." That's when I knew I had been right, he was already at the station, and he had been waiting a bit.
After 10 minutes a man came by who looked at the schedule and then walked off telling his questioning child that the train wasn't coming for another two hours. This made me jump and I immediately suggested that we get a taxi and go down. Even though we all knew that he might've been talking about a different train, we all agreed that we'd use our round-trip tickets for the train-ride back and that we'd head back to the hotel and get a taxi.
We surprised Iain. At Waverly Station I gave him another call and told him we were there. He said he was in Burger King. It took me a bit to find him because his back was turned to me, but when I did I jumped and practically ran and gave him a hug. He threw away his burger and we headed out of the station.
This is so difficult to write about now, because it's almost impossible for me to write all of the moments that happened in this day.
To give you a brief history of Iain and I: Iain and I have been talking for over a year now. We met on the internet through Godrics Hollow, well actually, through my mom’s instant messenger. After a couple of weeks, or maybe just a week, he gave me a phone call (yes from Scotland). So yes when I said we've been talking for over a year now, I meant talking literally. After he started calling me it was uncommon for us to not talk on the phone for more than 3 days. Some days he would call a couple times a day. For my birthday (it was an early birthday present) he sent us money for a webcam. After we got that set up we were able to see each other every day. He knows me very well, and I know him better than I know most people, I know for a fact that I care more for him than I've ever cared for anyone so far.
It was wonderful being there with him. After we met in Burger King the only time I came out from under his shoulder was when we sat down and when one of us needed to go to the bathroom. I think that Ahmee and Poppy were more than a little bewildered.
I'll get around to that later though.
He and I laughed and joked and talked tons. Ever since I've started on this trip I've only been able to talk to him once on the phone (when we were in Dublin) but we've been emailing each other loads. Lots of what happened between us will be left out of this blog.
I did help with directions twice with Iain and I thoroughly enjoyed saying, "Ha ha! I told ya so!" to him. I must say though that with him around I had far too much of a good time talking to him and spending time with him. Our first stop of the day was at Edinburgh Castle, and as we walked around Iain pointed out different weapons and what they were used for, and he pointed out the flags and what they were known for. We missed Mary Queen of Scots bedchambers, which I'm sad we missed because I really like Mary Queen of Scots. We did however go up to the highest and oldest part of the castle, the chapel. It was in this chapel that I got my first kiss.
After we got done at the Edinburgh Castle we walked down to the park where an orchestra was practicing. Iain's feet started really hurting him on the way down the hill. He walks differently from most people because his hamstrings are tight: basically he goes toe-heel instead of heel-toe. Hills tend to be really painful for him, and noticed as the day went by that he tended to lean a bit more on me, which is fine by me because I can hold up a lot more than what most people think.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't notice the orchestra playing until Iain pointed it out saying, "Now you can write on your blog about how I arranged for a romantic walk through the park where a wonderful orchestra played for us!" Of course he was joking. He'd never set foot in Edinburgh before, and the orchestra was practicing for the fireworks later on that night.
Apparently we had made it to Edinburgh at the end of the the festival called the Tattoo (not sure it's spelled like that but that's how it sounds). The fireworks were scheduled to go off at 9 o clock and all four of us planned on going to see them. After we walked around the park Ahmee stated that she and Poppy wanted to head to Saint Jives Cathedral.
Iain’s feet killed him as he walked up that hill. His eyebrow was furrowed as he went up. I was worried, but he's told me before to not point out the pain-it makes it much more difficult to ignore it. So instead of continuously asking him if he was alright and if he needed anything, I talked to him. I think it helped a bit, but I'm not sure. What I know helped was him being able to sit in Saint Jives Cathedral. I read the sign that was showing at the front entrance and then I went and sat down next to Iain in one of the green aisles.
He leaned on me as I talked about how Saint Jives Cathedral had been like Saint Patrick's Cathedral in that sections of it had been blocked off and had at one point been schools, courts, and in the Saint Jives Cathedral they even housed the guillotine (lovely huh?). I also told Iain about how in St. Patrick’s, behind the alter there was another chapel called The Lady's Chapel and that this chapel was made in honor of the Mrs. Guinness, the daughter of the founder for Guinness beer. He thought it was amusing that St. Patrick’s had a stained glass window in it that was dedicated to the young, humanitarian Mrs. Guinness and that that stained glass window showed her tipping a drink into young children’s open mouths (family reputation ruins that stained glass windows "purity"). We snuggled and kissed in this cathedral. Poppy came up behind us as Iain was leaning his head on my shoulder and said, "What's going on here? Come on let's go."
As we walked down the street away from the cathedral I laughed and said to Iain, "You know.... I think that my being baptized three times might've been a good precaution." Yes, I've been baptized three times, once in my dad’s church, once in my mom’s church, and then when we wanted to join the tiny church down in North Carolina I had to be baptized again. My parents fought all the time about religion, including which church I should be baptized in. To make them both happy, just not with each other, they baptized me in both.
As we were looking for a museum that Ahmee wanted to go to I saw a sign that made me even more excited. The Elephant Cafe, the starting place of Harry Potter, was just across the road. I asked Ahmee if we could go and she looked at Iain and I and said that they (Ahmee and Poppy) would be there in one hour. I adored having tea in there and I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with Iain where we were alone. Obviously, I wasn't kidnapped, no I wasn't raped, and yes we enjoyed each other’s company. There, the main questions were answered.
After the Cafe Ahmee and Poppy came back and we all decided we needed to find a place to eat. Since the cafe was packed we headed out again. Ahmee and Poppy went into several shops and while they were in the shops Iain and I made out to put it down fast. We got caught of course and later I got pulled over by Poppy for a little talk. He told me that he felt that I should distance myself from Iain, that he disapproved of us making out (Poppy feels kissing is a pda and = making out) in public and that he felt my Mom would feel the same way, and that I needed to use better sense since this is the first time I've met him.
I told Iain about all of this of course. The age gap was very limiting for us because while Ahmee and Poppy gave us our space, they felt that we didn't know each other well enough to be doing these things. Later, Iain gave the perfect example of what we're going through. We've been looking at each other through a glass and we've been talking to each other through that glass and we both care immensely for each other. We've been stuck behind this glass, unable to touch or hang out or do anything like we'd like to. Now we're together, we know each other very very very well, and the glass is lifted. At least, that's what we would've liked.
My grandparents have the notion that we don't know each other very well and that we haven't spent much time together at all stuck in their heads and thus they feel we shouldn't touch until we *do* have a good idea of what the other person is like until we *have* spent more time together, the glass was not lifted. It was a real pain at dinner to sit and eat while Poppy was tense. Iain, Ahmee, and I had a good time talking, but Poppy didn't have a very good time.
Later I talked to Ahmee about it and she told me that Poppy didn't find it appropriate for Iain to be rubbing on my side (my arm and my rib), and making out in public. Yes, I did make out (kissed)in public. Wouldn't think that of me huh? The little "goodie-goodie" in show choir words did make out (kissed) in public, I'm just leaving out details.
Anyway after dinner we went to the fireworks where the crowd was huge. Iain and I told Ahmee and Poppy that we'd meet them after the show at the statue. We went and sat next to the railing and watched and then later after I had to run to the bathroom we watched from the pub. Another romantic section: had fireworks literally go off when we kissed this time (all other times along with this time the fireworks were figurative).
Iain and I didn't want to separate when we all went down to the trains, but we told each other that we'd email what time we'd meet the next day and where. I fell asleep on the train ride back to the hotel. As I curled up in bed I made sure to thank Ahmee for the time she let Iain and I have. Poppy smiled at me as I stumbled around the room, so I think he felt a little bit better that night.
Something I want to mention is that every night so far on this trip I've talked in my sleep. I never knew I talked so much in my sleep but apparently I make a lot of sense when I do it, it's just that Ahmee and Poppy are half asleep when they hear me so they can't tell me what I've said.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment