I spent a significant portion of my last post talking about the weather, but Im not quite done with my insights about the Scottish climate. First of all, it turns out that palm trees are actually not that unusual in Scotland, especially on the coast, because of the wet atmosphere and warm water. I spotted one trying to hide behind a hedge on the south side of the city, but it couldn’t escape:

Also, one of the most striking things about the northerliness of Edinburgh is the fact that the sun stays quite noticeably low in the horizon – the light at noon looks like the night at 9AM in New York. I keep thinking its early in the day when its not, or late in the day when it isn’t – the sun just keeps hanging out at about 30 degrees above the horizon. Craziness. Enjoy the following picture of a typical Edinburgh type scene I took on a long walk around my neighborhood. During this walk, I discovered that the UK love affair with mayonnaise is something you really have to watch out for – I ordered a chicken salad sandwich at a pleasant little place on the south side of the city only to receive a roll filled with chicken chunks swimming in mayo. Mmm.

This is my flat! The orange building on the left:

Speaking of food, I have been on this pretty big Indian food kick here in Scotland. The Indian here is better, cheaper and more plentiful than it is back home, I’ll take curried veggies over chicken and mayonnaise any day. My Indian habit has been further justified by the fact that I am convinced that Indian food is the most tasty vegetarian food, and I have been trying to eat more healthily here than I do at Columbia. Throw in a little inspiration from “Interpreter of Maladies” and the fact that lentils and vegetables are quite cheap (maybe even more than spaghetti!), and you can see how this all began. I invested in a bunch of spices and this awesome cookbook:



And I am hoping to become a pretty good cook (especially Indian, but otherwise as well) by the end of the semester.
Hmm oh yeah – I had a really great time the other night after Chamber Choir rehearsal at a club called the “Liquid Rooms.” Fairly cheap drinks and lots of good dancing music (if my pop music knowledge was in good working order Id say what it was) – really enjoyed it. Im not sure how clubs are in New York, but this place was pretty snazzy – mostly college aged people, and everyone dancing like crazy while green lights flashed around and a dry ice machine pumped fog into the room. Good times – I hope I’ll have more to report after this weekend, which I plan to divide between reading about Wagner, orchestrating for Bach Society, and maybe doing something in the city during the day.