Todo la dia yo leo mis libros para mi clases. Mis ojos soy cansade. Mi estomago no feliz porque es enfermo. Mi estomago no le gustan la coche.
Yo siento todo la dia en la coche. Ahora yo moy cansada.
Well we found out yesterday that the wireless didn't like our computer, so we tried two other places that night and weren't successful. After checking for wireless we got hungry and decided we should eat at the Winking Owl, a really great place to eat. I loved the atmosphere and the food. Course, we were right next to the bar. According to Ahmee, I was smurking at the drunks! I don't think I was. I think I was smurking at Ahmee and Poppy's shaking heads.
The inn we stayed at had a fetish for piggies. We found out this morning that Peter, the innkeeper, used to run a pig farm. Apparently he really likes them because we found many different piggies around the b&b, but it wasn't too many.
After we checked out we went down to the local coffee shop and found a wireless internet connection. I found that my teachers had still not replied to me and got slightly worried. The only teacher I heard from was my Current Events teacher, Mr. Johnson, who gave me a significant amount to catch up on considering I haven't heard from him since I started this trip. After downloading the work I was going to need to do I checked on Iain and my friends.
After I got done writing that we had to head back to the car. On the way there I grabbed a newspaper to read and read that and a few other books I'd picked up along the way. I read: EDINBURGH CASTLE, and A WEE GUIDE TO SCOTTISH HISTORY. I have yet to read the little book I got on the Book of Kells and THE DUBLINERS by James Joyce. I'll probably read those tomorrow.
I also have been practicing my Spanish, in my head and in the book. I hope I'm not falling behind but I've got a bad feeling that I might be. I also have gone over a handful of French words. We'll be in France in a week, and I have to say that my French is downright dismal. If the people there don't know English then perhaps they speak Spanish? I definitely don't know enough French to achieve much.
After about an hour of driving we get off the main highway and begin searching for a particular battlefield. This was the battlefield at Culloden Moor. It was between the Jacobites, those who supported Scotland as a country independent from England with a Steward as the head-namely Prince Charles (The Young Pretender-or Bonnie Prince Charlie), and the Duke of Cumberland. The lead-up to this battle was when William of Orange and Mary took over the English throne, and pushed James 7th into exile. Prior to that the Scottish Royalty had gotten married to the British Royalty, and soon Scotland became a province of Great Britain instead of the independent nation it had once been. Many Scotsmen were fine with this because they prospered with the trade they got with the American colonies, but many also sided with the exiled King. James and his heirs tried several times to get the Scots to rise against the English, it was Prince Charles, however, that managed to assemble an army of Highlanders together. His army won every battle up until this one which decimated his army, and evaded capture from two armies. The night before the Jacobites fought against the Duke of Cumberland and his army the Highland Chiefs and Prince Charles decided to march the men through the night, after their men had not gotten food for two days. They wanted to take the Duke of Cumberland by surprise by attacking after the birthday celebrations (The Duke of Cumberland treated his men to extra food and drinks since it was his birthday). Prince Charles pushed these worn-out and hungry men into battle. Obviously, they were defeated. Their method of rushing in on their enemy and chopping through their defenses didn't work because the English were determined to use their artillery. In a matter of minutes hundreds of men fell. I believe the count was 700 in three minutes. The Jacobites were slaughtered. When we went out on to the field we saw the mass graves where the English dug huge pits and dumped the bodies in. To this day there are still swells in the earth, from the containment. After inspection, these mounds have been labeled as to which clans were buried where. Prince Charles escaped to France, as the rest of Scotland was left to the English who declared that Highland dress was illegal, and that no Scotsman could hold arms. Those Jacobites who were caught afterwards were killed, imprisoned, or shipped to the colonies. One of my ancestors was shipped his name was Cummins. Those who were higher ranked got the harsher punishment so Cummins must've been a foot-soldier.
After we left Culloden we kept heading north. Our objective was to make it to Loch Ness and then head as far south as we could. We only stopped for a moment to read a few signs about the Loch Ness and walk on the shore. The Loch is incredibly deep, the deepest in Scotland at over 200 meters. It's also known for it's monster and the war-plane that crashed in it during World War 2. We didn't see the monster, but we did get to see plenty of the sparkling water and the trees around the edge. As you go farther west you run into a larger city where you see "Nessy" decorated at gas stations and on posters, but as you go East you only see the sky, the clouds, the trees, and the water. Whenever we were walking along the shoreline we all smelled a funny odor. I think it might've been all the algae that was in between the rocks. Ahmee grabbed one of these rocks to take back home to her friends. She's told her friend Juana that she'd pick up a rock from every country. I hope she likes the rock we got her from Loch Ness. The nature next to Loch Ness was great, especially after sitting in a car for so long and reading. Only bad thing was one particular bee thought I was a flower and kept flying at me. On my way up the steps and slammed him down to the ground. I didn't hurt him, I just scared him. He didn't bother me after that.
The rest of the day we were heading back the way we came. When we discovered we were on the outskirts of Edinburgh Ahmee was amazed at how we had not needed to use the restroom. I agree, we have set a record today for the time we haven't spent running to the lady's room. What really amazed Ahmee and Poppy was the way they accidentally found the Premier Inn that we'd stayed at the last time we were in Edinburgh. Naturally, they checked to see if we could stay there again. They were filled up but they told us where we could find a Travel Lodge. Before we headed over to the Travel Lodge we ate at the Premier Inn's restaurant. Salmon! Hahahahaha! I love it!
Once at the Travel Lodge we dropped our things and hopped on the computer. I got anxious when I saw that my other teachers had still not replied to my emails. I also got very homesick whenever I didn't hear back from my mom, but did hear from Iain and how his classes were going. That night I took a shower and cried a bit, I was more than a little emotional. I missed people too much and I needed to get it out. The shower calmed me down enough to help me fall asleep. Even if that sleep wasn't very strong.
1 comment:
I'm proud of your work. Keep it going. I miss you as well!!!
LEARN TONS!
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