The Scotland Chronicles: Part I

Monday, 5 September 2011 @ 9:20am (eight hours ahead of Los Angeles) – I’m at the Dublin International Airport awaiting possibly the smallest plane I’ll have ever been aboard (I’m counting the number of seats here per gate, and it looks like 15-18). I’m surprisingly more awake than I thought, and I’m guessing this is because 1. I’ve gotten enough practice sleeping on planes, and 2. My body is probably very used to jet lag now.

However, I was very close to snapping earlier. While at LAX, I was lying on the floor by the gate under a sign saying “Do Not Sit Here,” (that I didn’t discover until I got up to board the plane). A kid, maybe two or three years old, came up to me and started telling me a bunch of nonsense. All I could make out was something about killing a tiger in the jungle, and then he threw his stuffed dog (the tiger?) on top of my stuff next to me. I wasn’t sure how to respond to this (I’m not good with kids), but for Holly, animals > children. All I could think about was, “God, I wish I had a pit bull to scare off this kid so I don’t end up in a mental institution doing it myself.”

The first flight to Chicago wasn’t too amazing: at one point the plane fell many feet, a man cackled like a sick witch during the movie Something Borrowed (a box office failure?), and when we land--I liken it to dropping a brick on concrete--it hurt. One man commented after he got off the plane, “Worst. Flight. Ever.” Couldn’t have said it better.

The second flight to Dublin was better, but I sat next to an Irish man who kept making small talk (I’m loathe to having plane conversations with strangers unless you ask me, “What would you like to eat or drink?”), and founded the “Feed the Holly” cause because he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that I don’t eat normal human/American proportions. He kept giving up parts of his meals saying, “You’re not eating very much; are you on a diet?” I politely accepted his charitable gifts and didn’t eat them because, well, I couldn’t. Duh.

I will be boarding my final flight to Aberdeen, Scotland in about 25 minutes; after I land I will need to take a cab to a bus/train station and then a bus to Banff. From there, I will be picked up by a team from the Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit and taken to my FINAL final destination…which is somewhere in Gardenstown (near Banff).

Gardenstown, Scotland @ 9:30pm

Aberdeen

So, I’ve been awake for two days. Somehow I was able to stand a sickening, two-hour bus ride from Aberdeen to Banff. I was so close to yaking up my gut that I found a newspaper in the empty seat next to me and decided to use it in case of an emergency. But luckily I made it.

Four volunteers and I are staying in a little cottage town with a beautiful view of the North Sea. We got a tour of the house (I share a room with a chick from England and a guy with an Indian name from Denmark) and the surrounding neighborhood, which is quite tiny.  It’s a very relaxed atmosphere with well-educated people who have a passion for the well-being of the ocean.

Banff

There’s plenty more to talk about, but I’m super tired and just wanted to conclude that 1. it’s very green here, 2. the architecture is very gray (brick/stone), 3. the area is BEAUTIFUL, and 4. I think it’s safe to say that the people here really have your best interests at heart. A bunch of people, young and old, really went out of their way to make sure I made it safely to my destination in the cheapest way possible.

Tuesday, 6 September 2011 @ 9:52am - I slept 11 hours and couldn't figure out the shower this morning. I was told this is because of my jet lag (that I thought I was used to by now), because all I had to do was flip a switch to turn it on (it's an electric shower).

It's a beautiful morning, so we'll probably learn basic safety and recording (whale observation) procedures and be fitted into our dry suits. We have something going on in town on Friday and/or Saturday (some kind of exhibition?).

More to come later if I have time within the next couple of days. (This is after I figure out the shower.)

North Sea