What's on

That's the expression here for 'What's up' or 'What's going on'--and a lot's been happening here...
During our second failed attempt at a video chat with Lauryn, she asked, "So what did y'all do this weekend--go to another castle?" I wonder, are folks bored with our castle tales?

Yep, we went to another one! This time it was Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven, about an hour from us, on Sunday. The castle is mostly ruins, and it's more the dramatic view of the coast/castle that is the highlight (there are a few pics on the picasa link).

http://picasaweb.google.com/meredythhw/June182008?authkey=_vfqMmsqQiM

After, we hit the Aberdeen Highland Games. The biggest excitement was navigating Aberdeen traffic and finding our way there --we made the correct turn at every roundabout, which is no small feat! Once we got there, we found the games to be a little reserved. There were contests happening simultaneously--pipe bands, dance groups, tug of war (not kidding), and those weird throwing contests with big bulky men in t-shirts and kilts. We ate stovies, a common Scottish food that basically tasted like meat and potatoes and lard all mixed together. It warmed the tummy and actually was pretty good served with beets (beetroot here) and oatcakes (sort of cracker-like). We made a few laps around the festival and stopped at the bagpipe competition for a while. This seemed to be Kort's favorite. We finished our adventure with a waffle with whipped cream and strawberries and left after the first tug of war match (the team with the best of three matches wins the whole thing). These guys have very specific form for tug of war--they are basically lying down, and literally digging their heals in the ground. Pretty bizarre, but quite exciting.

On another note, there still aren't many things I miss from home--but cheap drycleaners is one of them! We picked up our cleaning on Saturday (there are only 2 dry cleaners in town) and it was $80 (40 pounds). That wouldn't be a big deal if you were having a lot of things clean--but this was for 6 or 7 items! More than 10 bucks per article of clothing. YIKES. So, we've decided to either a) wait and bring all of our cleaning to the US in August, or b) experiment with the cleaners at ASDA near Andy's office. ASDA is Wal-Mart's UK store. We don't love to frequent it, but...you gotta do what you gotta do.

Finally, today at our playgroup, I learned about a group of American women who meet every week here in town. I've given my phone number to a woman who will give it to her American neighbor. Originally I didn't think I'd be excited about meeting other Americans, but about now it's sounding pretty good. I'll be happy to give the group a try. Who knows, maybe one of them is heading to the States soon and I can give her our dry cleaning!