Arran' 10

My group of friends and I decided to do something to mark the fact that we had finally finished school. Due to lack of funds and Christine owning a house in Arran, we decided to travel there to stay for a week. I was looking forward to spending time with my friends but i had doubts about Arran. I imagined it to be quite boring. We travelled by train, then a ferry to get to the small island. My first thoughts about the island, I found it dreary. Christine's cottage was about ten minutes bus journey from the centre of Arran. We arrived at a cute, traditional cottage about 15 metres from the beach. It was painted black and white, which blended in finely with its surroundings. Due to the bland village, I was surprised that Arran would produce such lovely houses. The cottage continued to surprise me, with its quirky features. A rickety old staircase, which would support only one of us, led up into big rooms invaded by the light and had a generous view of the beach. The cottage had no television but instead offered a cupboard full of boardgames. Heated only by a fire, the cottage often became cold, but a huge supply of rugs over the years kept us warm. The biggest surprise from the cottage came from its back garden. It had a waterfall.

An old wooden ledge allowed us to get right under the waterfall. It wasn't a very wet day when i took this photo, but when it rains very hard the waterfall runs for quite a while. It was very pretty and again, i was very taken aback. I did not expect to see a waterfall in Arran, especially in a back garden. I also soon discovered that the community is very close and they really heavily on each other, e.g 999 services don't come for half an hour so having a good neighbour is handy. Despite my initial feelings towards Arran, it grew on me and I was sad to leave it.

Reference

www.arranphotography.net

Georgia' 09

Late last year, I participated in an American Exchange. The American student stayed with me for two weeks during June' 09 and then I visited her in October' 09. This exchange programme is very popular within my school and is often hard to get a place. In total, there was 22 places. I was lucky enough to secure a place, after various interviews. My exchange partner was called Amelia Blair. Amelia was a typical deep- southern girl. She had the broad dialect and was often difficult to understand. It was different to the accents in other parts of American, such as New York. Despite the differences between us, we bonded very quickly and became close friends. So by the time i visited Georgia in October, we had quite a strong friendship. 

The plane lasted around 8 hours. We all had to wear blue tops to stand out from the crowds, which us feel like primary school kids. Once we arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, we travelled to Jefferson, Georgia in a yellow school bus. I found out later that the Americans called it the "Yellow Cheese Bus" for some reason.

Our itinerary was full and I hardly got the time to appreciate the southern hospitality. Day were full with visits the local tourist attractions. As coke was invented in Atlanta, we visited the "World of Coke". This was fantastic and the attraction included a taste of all the coke produces in the world. My favourite visit was the days we spent at the school. I had been to American before but hardly experienced American life. I felt like I was in a typical American movie. Small-town America is portrayed correctly in the movies. Classes were easy going with most of the attention directed at sports and extra-cirruclum activities. Due to this we spent a lot of time supporting the Jefferson Dragons (football team) at their local games. It was great atmosphere unlike the feeling of dislike at the football games in Scotland. We also visited Atlanta to see some baseball and experienced the same atmosphere. 

When our iterney was free, I was given typical southern food from Amelia's mum. Which i enjoyed but found some of their food strange. Different versions of our own food e.g, the scones in Georgia were savoury and taken with a meal which consisted mainly of gravy. 

I was lucky to participate in this exchange and made some great friends. Friends in which i still keep in contact with. In June of this year, I re-visited Amelia in Georgia and was treated with the same hospitality. Southern- Americans truly are as generous and welcoming as their portrayal in the movie, "Steel Magnolias".

Barca'10

My friend, Roisin, and I visited Barcelona this summer to experience there famous fiesta's. With its spectacular street decorations and innovative sculptures, we visited the fiesta close to Sagrada Familia. This was very handy as it was a short distance from where we stayed- at Roisin's aunty's. It was a small, traditional Spanish home above her fruit and veg shop. Streaming away from her flat, typical windy Spanish streets led to all sorts of things. Vintage and unusual shops, cafe's, parks. Generally the atmosphere felt relaxed. It was a huge contrast to the hustle and bustle of the Passeig de Gra'cia. I liked this new perspective to Barcelona. I think that this is why the Catalunya's decided to host a fiesta amongst these fine streets. This particular fiesta lasted around a week and included activities such as an outdoor cinema and traditional Spanish dancing. Each street was decorated depending on the chosen theme:

These themes included Cartoons, Moulin Rouge and make-believe characters. It was very creative and inspiring. Clearly a lot of effort was put into the decorations. The decorated streets ranged for almost a quarter of a mile in each direction. The designs were created by local youth organisations and primary schools. 

There was a clear distinction between the fiesta during the day and during the night. Suddenly the street were lit with hanging lanterns and each stage was used to its upmost capacity, showing off new bands continuously. It was also packed with people, making it difficult to move but allowed us to socialise with the local people. 

I feel that fiesta's are well known for the night life. But this particular fiesta included everyone. Beginning from the people who came up with the interesting themes and then, them who embellished the streets. Day-time activities included family events and loud night-time activities generally appealed to the hardcore.