February 7th, 2024 - A Day in My Life

Happy Wednesday everyone! For today's post, I'm going to provide some insight into what an average day looks like for me here in St. Andrews. *Warning: this is an example of a productive day, and therefore not an accurate reflection of every day* *...You should see me on Saturday*

Wednesday:

8:00/9:00 a.m. - Wake up and smell the roses, AKA find the nearest cappuccino and pain au chocolat. What is a morning in Europe without a cappuccino? Just saying. Before class, I love to stop at one of three spots in town to get my morning caffeine fix: Taste, Gorgeous, or Zest. I have tried almost every coffee shop in St. Andrews, and these are definitely my top three in terms of serving the drinks at the perfect temperature, offering various roasts/blends, and overall vibeyness ;) I know, I know, I'm such a gen Z. Anyways, moving on. Gorgeous, Fisher & Donaldson, and North Point have the best pastries, so I will usually grab some sort of scone, croissant, or other form of bread that I can coat in clotted cream. After I'm filled with lots of caffeine and glucose, I continue on my merry way.

10:00 -12:00 p.m. - Time for my favorite part of the week: Old English class. Those who know me know that I am super interested in languages, so it should be no surprise that this course has been one of the highlights of my semester. Whether it be translating passages of Genesis to declining strong/weak verbs in Boethius's de consolatione Philosophiae, we are constantly exposed to a variety of texts in Old English and working on improving our understanding of the somewhat archaic grammar rules. Here is an example of a folio from the Junius manuscript we were looking at last week (Bodleian Library MS. Junius 11). It's fascinating to be able to work with manuscripts such as these because the marginalia/depictions can add a whole new layer of meaning to the story and reveal what the scribes might have been thinking while creating these books.

12:00 -1:30 p.m. - After two hours of translation, discussion, and absorbing information, we crave some brain food. So, the girls and I migrate to our favorite lunch spot: Jahangir. We are regulars at this point, and we go every other Wednesday after class. The Wednesdays in between are reserved for trying out new lunch spots in town (we are still trying to check off every lunch location before we graduate). Jahangir has solid Indian food for a killer deal of £10.95 for three courses, so naturally this has been our go-to over the past seven months. Plus, they treat us like queens in there and they always have serene spa music playing, so it's an experience to say the least. I should also mention that I am fortunate in that my English cohort is just five people, all girls, and we get along wonderfully. This has been amazing and makes class all the more fun when you are debating and learning with your friends.

1:30 - 3:00 p.m.- To the library I go! I usually want to walk after the gigantor lunch I just consumed, so I meander on over the library to get some work done, return books, etc. My time at the library normally goes one of two ways. A) I turn off my phone, reluctantly enter grind mode, and get all my work done, or B) hit the library cafe for more coffee, get distracted by Love Island UK, or chat with pals. I'll let you guess which path I usually veer towards. Ironically, a trip to the biblioteca is always entertaining and I either leave with my homework done or a whole new arsenal of British slang. Below is a pic of Martyrs Kirk, the library that only us postgraduates can use. I know - I'm lucky!

3:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Siesta o'clock. Maybe it's my love for Spanish culture that made me adopt this little habit or perhaps I am just a nap enthusiast, but this time is generally reserved for me to kick back and relax. The sun sets around this time and usually everyone from the states is starting to wake up, so it's nice to head back to my dorm, lay down for a bit, and facetime friends/answer texts. I will never get sick of walking past the sun setting behind the castle on the way back to my dorm.

5:00 - 7:00 pm.- Because the sun sets so early here, I normally have dinner quite early. For the sake of this post, I am going to assume I'm going out for dinner, because you probably don't want to see the microwave meals that I live off of (and love, for that matter). Thus, I would usually head into town to Tanon Thai or Dr. Noodles for an easy dinner that hits the spot on a chilly winter evening. St. Andrews is not necessarily known for its food, but it has some great spots if you know where to look.

7:00 - 9:00 p.m. - Ice cream and pub time! Does a sentence get any better? We are blessed with having one of the best gelato spots on planet earth: Jannettas. If you ever find yourself in St. Andrews, you must try the pistachio and cheesecake gelato. Life changing. Because this is Scotland, we literally have a pub on every corner. My favorites are the Criterion, Aikman's, and Central, so if it is later in the week and I have my work done, I will pop on down to one of these for a pint with pals. Depending on where the night takes us, we could end up at one of the two main "clubs", The Vic or The Rule, for dancing and various forms of tomfoolery.

And that concludes what a day in my life typically looks like! Every day I am reminded of how grateful I am to be living here and I am so thankful for the opportunity to do what I love in such a special place. Ciao for now!