Just Some Thoughts (another sick day...)

So, I'm sick again (grumble grumble).  I'm pretty sure I've managed to catch every nasty cold most British kids get the whole time they're in primary school.  Eventually my immune system has to catch up...sigh.  But in the meantime, I've actually been really productive in getting homework done, and after a week I am finally feeling a lot better.
Last night I went to my friend's 21st birthday party, which was Sex and the City themed and a lot of fun.  Here we are with her big balloons:

The thing that makes her party blog-worthy (aside from how great it was), though, is the fact that just for her birthday, just because she wanted to, she had a ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance).  Since so many of her friends are part of New Scotland and/or Scottish, we were able to just go for it.  A few of the dances were taught, but for the most part such a large percentage of the group knew the steps that they were able to just drag the few people who didn't through them.  It was pretty awesome, and something I wish I could do at home.  Unfortunately, I haven't quite trained my friends that well...yet.

Other than that, there isn't much to report.  Lots of homework (only 4 weeks left of semester 2 classes! aahh!) and getting over the plague...again.  I made chicken soup from scratch today, almost the way my mom makes it-I can't get the stuff to make matzo balls here.  It did get me thinking about how magical chicken soup is, though, which reminded me of a great book I read as a kid: Stone Soup.
It's an old folk tale, and there are lots of versions of it, but the basic story is that there is a village somewhere that is having a famine.  People have food in their homes, but no one really has enough to eat.  Then a man comes to town with a cast iron pot, and offers to make stone soup to share with the village.  He fills the pot with water and drops in a plain old stone.  As it boils he says "you know what would make this soup even better? cabbage! oh, well..." and lo and behold, one of the villagers offers a cabbage they were hiding under the bed.  This continues until all of the village families have offered something, and together everyone's meager offerings have created a wonderful, delicious soup!

Maybe my first graders can try reading it.  Soup is great stuff, and teamwork is even better.  My flatmate and I have been studying hard all week, and we're sharing my soup for dinner tonight :)

First Grade Friends 5

Hello Bailey First Graders!

I hear you have been having a lot of snow days!  The weather in Edinburgh is nice and warm (in the 40s) but a bit rainy sometimes.  A couple of weeks ago my friends and I celebrated the Scottish holiday called "Burns Night," which is a day celebrating Robert Burns.

Robert Burns was a poet born on January 25, 1759 in Scotland.  He is called Scotland's National Poet, which is why we celebrate his birthday.  Burns wrote many poems about Scotland, and he wrote in English and Scots, which is a Scottish language (another is Gaelic).  For Burns Night, we had a "Burns Supper," which is a party where everyone eats traditional Scottish food: haggis, neeps, and tatties.  Neeps and tatties are Swede and Potatoes, and haggis is meat with seasonings and oats.  It's really yummy!

At the start of the dinner, a poem is read called Address to the Haggis, which was written by Burns.  It's all about the delicious food we are about to eat!  It is written in Scots, but you can also get an English translation.  Here is the last bit of the poem (called a stanza):

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a haggis!


and in English:


You powers who make mankind your care
And dish them out their meals
Old Scotland wants no watery food
That splashes in dishes
But if you wish her grateful prayer
Give her a haggis! 


Do you have any poems that your family likes to read?  What about special dinners you celebrate?  (What about Thanksgiving?)  


Burns wrote many poems and songs during his life.  Have you ever written a poem?  Give it a try!


America celebrates poetry too.  April is National Poetry Month.  If you were planning a poetry party, what would you eat?  What would you do at the party?  Maybe you could try writing a poem to read out loud for your guests.

City Literature

I just finished re-reading Pride and Prejudice, and am moving on the Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin.  Rankin's series about an Edinburgh detective are good little pulp mysteries, but are especially interesting because many of the scenes take place in areas I frequent.  The one I just finished, The Falls, took place almost completely in my neighborhood.
I've already talked about Elephant House in an earlier post, which is the cafe J.K. Rowling says she started writing Harry Potter in (and along with several other cafes nearby, was where she wrote the first book).  In honor of the inspiration Edinburgh had for the series, Rowling also finished it here, booking a suit at the Balmoral Hotel to complete the seventh book.  According to interviews, so wrote a message in an alcove in the room and signed it the night she finished the series.  If you ever book a suit at the Balmoral, don't forget to look!

I wanted to take a minute and plug the Inspector Rebus series as another great Edinburgh connection to modern fiction.  There's even an iPhone app that provides a Rebus-themed walking tour of the city!  I've already read Strip Jack and The Falls, and am starting Fleshmarket Close today.  If you're interested, read along with me!