Thinking Summery Thoughts

Well now, while it appears that summer is in full swing back in Oregon, the weather here in Scotland is still stuck somewhere in spring, or maybe winter. For now, we are trying our best to think summery thoughts without depressing ourselves too much, and keep up the hope that maybe, just maybe there will be some nice weather that will actually stick for at least a few weeks in the next three months.

The last few weeks have been fairly active. We had a nice, week-long visit from Mike Smith, who we hadn't seen since last year. Unfortunately, Ryan had to work much of the time he was here. Still we had time to take a nice bike ride along the Union Canal and see the sights a bit. Overall, it was a good week, and as always, nice to have a little bit of life back home come to visit us here in Edinburgh.

I have been working as much as I can on my dissertation. Unfortunately, this has not been much, since I am having a hard time structuring my time lately. Finally, I have come to the realisation that in order to be effective in getting work done, I need to have a certain amount of pressure on me. So, in order to fill out my schedule a bit and give myself some more structure, I have applied for a position working two days a week as a researcher for the Edinburgh branch of Amnesty International. Aside from working for a cause I care about, I believe this would be a great resume builder for me. I have an interview tomorrow, so wish me luck.

Other than that, Ryan and I have been focusing lately on cycling. We decided a few weeks ago that we would like to try and work toward riding a century (100 miles in one day) by the end of the summer, and so we are currently working on training for that. Also, we are hoping to do a fair bit of cycle touring around parts of Scotland this summer in the process. We recently upgraded to clipless pedals, as well as investing in better touring gear, from camping stuff to saddle bags. This past weekend was meant to be our 'test case' with a 60 mile group ride to St. Andrews for charity. We were planning on going, camping overnight and then riding back the next day. Unfortunately due to bad weather, misinformation, and a migraine headache on my part, we had to turn back about 1/3 the way there. As it turns out, the ride was far more challenging than we expected, being very hilly, and while we had been riding longer distances recently, we had not done enough hill training to be adequately prepared, especially carrying loads of camping gear!! That, combined with my not feeling well, and both of us getting soaked and chilled by strong winds and heavy rain, the whole thing was pretty much doomed. Though the situation could not be helped, we both were feeling pretty down about having to turn back.

So, we are going to make another attempt at a short tour this weekend starting down at the border with England in Berwick and riding north to Edinburgh. This ride, being one we planned ourselves, will be much more managable in both distances and elevation changes, and will cover about 100 miles over three days with some sightseeing along the way. We are hoping to borrow a small lightweight camera to bring with us so that we can post some pictures of the adventure.

Likewise, since some friends of ours are moving to St. Andrews next month, we are going to try and give that ride another chance in a few weeks, though probably by a different route, without the camping gear, and hopefully with better weather!

Well, then. That's all for now folks.
love,
Alletta

Some pictures from Glasgow

Here are a few photos from our day trip to Glasgow a week ago.

SUCCESS!!!!

Yesterday, starting at 9am in the morning I ran 26.2 miles in 5 hours 48 minutes (originally I thought it had been 5hr 55min, but after checking my official time in the race results it turns out I was almost ten minutes faster than I'd thought). Having been unwell much of the winter and spring, mild tendinitus in one knee and problems getting enough training hours in, I had been convinced that I would maybe not finish, or at least have to walk a considerable portion of the race. Instead, through careful pacing (slow and steady!!) and a lot of positive energy I managed to run the whole way. Before the race I had set four goals for myself: to have a good time, to run at least 18 miles, to finish, and if possible, to finish in under 6 hours. To my utter shock, I achieved all of them! Midway through the marathon I was really feeling tired in my legs and getting discouraged because I was running against a very strong headwind, and the weather was pretty bad, raining on me and everything. Each time I stopped to use the bathroom I had to wait in a long queue, losing 20 minutes all together and causing my legs to hurt (stopping altogether like that tends to give you cramps). But once I got to mile 18, started feeling really inspired, realising just how close I was to finishing. Soon the course turned around and I had the wind at my back. To keep the mood high I started singing along with my i-pod, loudly, and out-of-tune to the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and of course Queen. I made a point of forcing myself to smile at all the volunteers and race officials along the way and in general, to have a good time. Overall, it worked, and to my surprise I was able to speed up considerably the last few miles, passing many of the other runners and finishing off with a massive sprint across the finish. Hands down, one of the most exhilarating experiences of my entire life. Even now with sore legs and blistered feet, I can't help thinking already about next years training strategy and how for the London Marathon in '08 I am going to try and shave almost an hour off my time.
Thanks to everybody for all the encouragement! A year ago I would have never believed I had it in me.
love Alletta

Spring Updates

So... basically it has been AGES since either of us have made a blog post. For shame!!! All I can say is things have been pretty busy and since the weather has been so good I have been out and about doing things rather than huddled over the computer!! So, my apologies for the long delay. Spring is now in full bloom here in Scotland and so we have been taking advantage of it the best we can! Several weeks ago we went on a little trip to the beach to stay with our friends in Dunbar (which is on the eastern coast). For our first real cycling trip since we've been in Scotland it was a great sucess. We rode north to the coastal town of Musselburgh, followed the John Muir way along the coast highway, then cut south east through some lovely countryside. In total, we rode 38 miles going, and then taking a different route back, another 35 home. No flat tyres, or mechanical disasters. We made it safe and sound in pretty good time and got to see some fantastic sights along the way. We will definately be making additional trips in the future, both further south along the Scottish borders and also up north toward the highlands. Unfortunately it does not look like we will be able to do any trips longer than three days. Still, we will try to make the most of by taking the train home if necessary!

Another highlight of the last month was the Beltane Fire Festival, which was held on April 30th up on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. I was absolutely thrilled to see a pagan holiday get celebrated in such a massive fashion, with 25,000 people! In all, the festival was basicly a big dramatic production, with actors playing different roles in the battle between winter and spring. There was also a fair bit of fire dancing and other pyrotechnic thrills.

Over the weekend of May 7th, we headed off to Belfast, N. Ireland to run in a marathon relay team (Ryan went 9 miles and I went 7). Despite having to share our hostel with an incredibly rude and irritating youth rugby team which kept us up half the night we had a really great time. Both of our runs went very well and we left feeling very inspired, with me deciding to give it a go and try and run a full marathon this month (which will be next week), after all. Since then, Ryan has had to drop out of the running due to a knee injury, but I am still going for it, with three goals: to have a good time, to run 18 miles, and to finish, even if I have to walk the last 8!! Since I was unable to train as well as I really should have (due to being terribly ill for much of the winter and early spring) I am not going to break any records for sure. Still, I am going to give it my best shot and whatever I manage to do will be an achievement for sure. On Saturday I ran 15 miles, and not only survived but did it fairly well, so that was a real boost. Even if I don't finish this time around I see this year as a real achievement for me a physical terms and am determined to give it a go again next year, with the aim of finishing in under 5.5 hours. I feel incredibly inspired that I am able to do this at all, considering that I was never an athletic person as a kid and that until a year ago, didn't believe I was able to 'do' running at al! When I first started, I could barely run a mile. Let me tell you, if I can do this just about anybody can!!

In other news, I am plugging away on my dissertation, right on schedule. I have trimmed my subject down to analysing US foreign policy under the first bush administration (2001-04) with one case study (of Afghanistan). So far, so good. One chapter written, two more outlined and a whole slew of primary doc research completed. Will keep you all posted as progress is made, of course.

As of two weeks ago I finally got myself a job. I am now working part-time as a personal assistant. It is very easy work and allows me very flexible hours so even though I would like to work a bit more hours, I am pretty much happy with things. I might consider taking on a second job in August if I finish my dissertation early however.

I finally have begun recieving paperwork in the mail from LSE. I was given an unconditional placement offer a couple months ago, but just now I finally got everything all sorted and set up for sure. I will start classes on Oct 1, so we will be moving to London for sure sometime in the month of September. I am really excited about my studies next year. It will be an incredible opportunity to interact some some of the truly great experts in my field and I am certain, an enormously positive experience for my own professional development. Though we are both a little sad to leave Scotland, living in London will be a great experience for the both of us. Still, we are definately looking forward to our return to Oregon in 2008!!

This last weekend was Ryan's birthday (the big 23). We celebrated with a nice party at the flat with friends, and finished off the night with dancing at a nearby club. Yesterday, we went to Glasgow for a day trip, and had a thoroughly fun, laid back time strolling around the city taking in the sights. The weather was beautiful and Ryan was able to take some very nice pictures, which we will eventually get around to posting!!

Ok then, heres signing off for now. We love and miss you all much, and can't wait to see you folks who are coming to visit!
cheers,
Alletta

News and Updates

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty exciting, if not enjoyable. Our long-time friends Amy and Max came to pay us a visit at the end of their month-long whirlwind European tour. Since the weather has finally turned nice, we had a great time showing them around the city and in general just hanging out and relaxing. For my part, I was able to get my term papers done early so that I could take a little vacation while they were here, and likewise Ryan was able to get off work. It was a little strange at first to have our 'old' and 'new' lives colliding (old friends in a new place) but it was really a great time and a comforting bit of home so far away.

In other news, I have begun to work seriously on my dissertation, doing secondary research, scoping out primary source materials and starting to write up the first chapter. I just got a new copy of Office 2004, which will work with my citation management software. Hoping it will be more stable than the old copy of word 2000 I had which would randomly shut down and cause me to lose my work every hour or so. Unlike my last thesis, I am trying to get started this time around all organised and set up properly from the start so that I can hopefully be more efficient and avoid headaches. I will let you know how that goes!

Some sad news, Ryan's grandmother (Petrich) who has cancer has been doing very poorly. With the help of his parents he will be traveling back to the USA for the last week of May (5-24 to 6-4) to spend time with his family, especially Marcelle, while he has the chance. He hopes that he will also have time to catch up with friends too, so keep an ear out and your schedules open because you will likely hear from him.

This next weekend we are embarking on our first real bike tour of Scotland, exploring the East Lothian reigon on our way to visit Ms. Graisbery (still not sure if she changed her name and if so what it is) and her new husband in Dunbar, on the eastern coast (30 to 50 miles each way depending on route). We will be passing through a lot of fantastic scenic areas so lots of pictures are sure to follow. If this little trip goes well, will we definitely be doing more, perhaps along the Scottish coast from Berwick Upon Tweed back up to Edinburgh, and from Glasgow up to Inverness. We figure its best we get a real taste of Scotland while we can, and considering that we've hardly been out of Edinburgh so far, we can't wait.

Finally, for those of you who have any interest in our newfound athletic exploits--- although health problems have considerably stemmed our running ambitions for the season, we are still planning on running on a relay team at the Belfast Maraton (5 to 10 miles each), and then doing as much as we can at the Edinburgh marathon at the end of May, with a goal of 15 miles. For a first attempt, I think it has been a great experience and we are definately going to try again next year, maybe in the London Marathon. We will probably continue running a bit during the summer, but as soon as May is over we are planning to do more cycling instead. No matter what, we are certainly feeling more fit than ever and in a country where obesity and its related illnesses are just as rampant as in the USA, feeling pretty good about our lifespans.

Ok then, signing off for now. We love you all, and hopefully next week will have much more to share!
Alletta (and Ryan too)

My name is Ryan, and I am a bad Blogger.

Okay, so as many may know I do not post that frequently. So now I am going to give all of you a update on the goings on of Ryan.

Where to start. Well, I will spend a short time complaining about work. Why? Well its quite simple you see, work sucks. As of April 2nd night racing started in the UK and because of that Bookies are know open till 9:30 pm. This means that I have to work from 10:00 to 21:45, about 11 hours and 45 minutes. These are very long days, but our shop is very slow so they are not very busy days either. On the up side I get plenty of time to read now. Another problem is that working in gambling is beginning to wear on me. It's not exactly the best way for me to make the world a better place. In fact its quite clear to me that it does the exact opposite. I use to tell my self that the people that come in to my shop and gamble are doing it by there own choice. That they need to be responsible for themselves. For most of my customers that is true. However there are a few who don't fit into that argument. Some people are addicted to gambling just the same as someone is addicted to Booze or drugs. At the end of the day I may have given some people lots of money in winnings, but generally I've taken more from other people. In some cases one person will blow £600 or even £900 pounds in one day!! I don't care what kinda of position they are in financially, you just shouldn't gamble that much money.

Worse is when something goes wrong with a bet. Its taken late, or the price (i.e. the odds, 1/2, 5/1, 15/2 ect.) is wrong or late. Then when the customer comes back they are all upset with me for not giving them the amount of money they want. They are often not that polite and see me as the whipping post for their frustration. Arg! I know I can't do this much longer. Its time I found some other way to make a living. Okay enough of that.

On the 25th of March I took a much needed holiday. My friend Hamza and I went to Amsterdam. I spent four days wondering the streets of Amsterdam. It was Amazing! The firstly the weather was great. I had just spent all winter in Edinburgh and the sun was not a frequent visitor. Rain, wind, and grey clouds often overstayed their welcome. From the moment I landed in Amsterdam the weather was sunny and beautiful. It only got warmer every day until Thursday morning when Hamza and I just got breakfast and then went to the airport. It felt so nice to be outside and not have to wear a coat.

Hamza is the kind of guy that likes to plan out the activities of a holiday to great detail. I am more of a random encounter kind of person. So to resolve this ideological difference I just followed Hamza around, let him be my guide, and then we had a great holiday. We walked all over that city, miles and miles of streets passed by.



There were all kinds of people staying at our hostel. Austrians, French Canadians, Americans from S.Carolina, Italians, Spanish. This made the lobby of the hostel very active and dynamic place. Lots of fun for all.

Among the many places I saw in Amsterdam was the Heineken Experience. It was basically a over-extended commercial for the Heineken Corp. that I payed 10 euro to see. But in the other hand I did get three glasses of beer. (Other people in the tour gave me some their unwanted beer tokens) So all in all it was worth it, for the beer I mean.

Another noteworthy place I visited was the Ann Frank House. It was a bit of a let down. There was a distinct lack of artifacts and even furniture. Some rooms only had one thing to look at, a quote from someone painted on the wall. And often the quotes were not exactly that interesting or relevant. At one point a quote from Nelson Mandela is written on the wall, nice to here from a world leader like Mandela, but not exactly that enlightening of Ann's experience. At the end of the museum is a video presentation about tension between free and hate speech. That was interesting but the presentation was a bit childish. At the end of each segment, there were several different free speech segments, the audience was polled,then the results of the poll are shown and compared to the results of all visitors of the museum ever. I don't regret going to the museum but I would just warn future visitors not to expect too much.

Alletta and I had another exciting experience recently in April. Amy Sample and Max Ward, our good friends from High School, came to visit us at the end of their European holiday. I have been missing all of my friends back in Oregon, and those that have left Oregon as well, very much. So needless to say it was very nice to see someone from my home.

Another crazy experience just as Amy and Max arrived here in Edinburgh is a dinner that happened. Those that were at this strange dinner were Eden Graisbe(not sure if she changed her name, and if so what it is), Mike and Mary Fitzgibbons, Amy Sample, Max Ward, and Alletta and I. Wow! seeing them was a flash from the past. Craziness, Eden is living in Edinburgh, she has married a Scot and is now starting a family. Mike and Mary (even though they are still Mr. and Mrs. Fitz in my head) have family living in Germany and have been coming across the water several times. The dinner was good. Manly the company, the restaurant was too small for a party our size, and the food was nice but not everybody could really enjoy it. We did talk and swap stories about teachers and students. It was all very strange. None of us had changed that much, but we did get to see a side of each other that was very different. We were meeting as equals, not as teachers and students.

After that we had the pleasurable company of Amy and Max for another couple of days. Much fun was had by all.

Well thats me. Other than that not too much different. I am looking forward to summer and fairer weather. Further, I am excited about trips that are coming up. Alletta and I are planing to start traveling all over the UK via Train and Cycle. I also want to try and get out doors and do some rock climbing. Alletta and I are still working out and training for the marathons. Although I should note that we are only going to do half marathons and relays. I am not really that upset at the fact that we aren't gonna do a full one, that was kind of a scary idea that I had not really wrapped my head around. Ok, so I am gonna leave you at that. I hope that I can amend my bad posting ways and give a update sooner.

Take care all you.

Ryan

Happy BeLated Easter!

Hello my dears:

Though neither Ryan nor I celebrate easter we did recieve lots of nice easter greetings and certainly always appreciate a chance to say hello and wish our loved ones well! So, hope you all had a happy easter! On our side of the pond, the weather is finally giving indications of summer to come, with the occassional bright and sunny day and finally a bit of warmth! We are trying to take full advantage of this by getting outside as much as possible! Since I have been finally feeling better we have been running a lot, and on friday we went for a 18 mile bike ride out of the city. To our delight, we discovered that there is a really neat old canal just a few blocks from our place that flows through several aquaducts right out of town, along side it is lots of vegetation and yes, a fairly new bike path. Feeling inspired we are now discovering a number of hidden bike routes throughout the city and so hopefully we can start riding instead of taking the bus anymore.



Other than the outdoor adventures, the last few weeks have been somewhat eventful. Ryan went on holiday to Amsterdam (a posting with pictures is promised to follow), and I went to London to meet Queen Elizabeth II and some of her family (no, her grandsons were NOT there). On both counts, we had a very good time. For my part, the reception with the queen was extremely interesting (no I do not have pictures, cameras were not allowed so you will have to take my word for it). I have to say I felt pretty dang special passing through all the tourists mobbed at the palace gate to stroll right inside! The palace was very beautiful, with a whole lot of guilded mouldings and some very old furniture. There were about 400 Americans there, some a real variety of fields, some of whom were famous, though most of us just happened to be in the UK and somewhat well-connect ed to the right people (turns out one of the main guys in charge of the guest list was a formal Marshall Scholar!). A highlight for me was the photographer Annie Leibowitz. Apparently a few real famous people, like Gweneth Paltrow and Madonna were invited but they didn't show (I did see Paltrow's nametag on the table!). Anyway, I did get to spend lots of time chatting with some Fulbrights and members of the Oxford rowing team, as well as a few American-born footballers. I did meet the Queen and shook her hand (she wore a black glove). What I can say is that she is a very pleasant and interesting lady. She looked very nice in a yellow tweed suit, though I was surprised how short she is! I guess famous people really do seem larger than life to us.. Anyhow, she is a keen feminist in her own way and was very interested in us students. I think that if I would have had the chance, I could have really enjoyed a long chat with her. Unfortunately I just missed out on that because I had drifted away from my friends and just as I returned they told me the Queen had just been there for several minutes chatting! Oh well. I did get to have several prolonged chats with the Duke of Edinburgh (her husband), who I must say was a rather funny guy (and not in the ha, ha way). There were also lots of really old, rich royals, and all together (with exception to the queen) they struck me as pretty snooty blue-bloods. Incredibly old-fashioned and not very keen on anything too intellectual. One of the highlights, was talking with members of the royal houshold, most of whom were former military men, who had become the personal secretaries, etc of different royals. The queen had about six or seven staff, while other members of the houshold had a few each. It was really interesting to hear how carefully orchestrated everything was, especially with regard to the queen, as while the staff made it a point to blend in with all the guests, they at the same time were constantly watching her, and monitoring who got close to her and how many people were around her at a given time so that she didn't stay too long in one place but didn't get mobbed either. I especially enjoyed the waiters, who would silently use their giant silver trays to manage the crowd, and politely urge us from one room to the other! Overall, the whole thing was a lot of fun and makes a great story to tell!







I had cocktails in this room!!








Other than that, I have been plugging away at my schoolwork and looking forward to the visit of Amy and Max this next week! I am sure that by next monday I will have much more to tell you all.

Much love from Scotland
Alletta