La Cebolla Engorda La Poya

After I found the beach, I went exploring along it. There's a path that's not built along a levee precisely. It's more that there's beach and then cliffs. Luckily enough, I found a shop called The Wall that sells ice cream, sandwiches, even soup not two minutes from the gate to Albany Park. A very bored looking woman cooked me a BLT, which I briefly noted was kinda smaller than an American sandwich and looked like it had ham on it - my first encounter with the differences in food, British bacon being nothing at all like American - before I wolfed it down.

Walking along the path which was leading upward towards the ruin of the cathedral, I began to realize how much of a sea town St. Andrews is. I mean, not just because the sea is right there - it's funny that I've spent most of my life below sea level but I've never lived closer to water than I'm living now - but in it's construction. Lots of whitewashed buildings with colorful doors, gulls, and little fishing boats. Also? Houses here have names. It's kind of adorable. St. Andrews is also a very medieval town: three very narrow streets with what looked to be on first glance a wall and moat surrounding it. Still very jet-lagged, I don't think I was really processing much of it. I was just vaguely impressed and giddy at everything. Crossing a bridge over the tiny harbor, passing another Wall which looked closed, I started up the hill to the cathedral.

I sort of snuck in. There was a sign saying where the office was and various rates for students and adults and children and such. My lasting impression of it was being amazing at how wrinkled and weathered the stonework was, faded embellishments and crosses and arrow slits in the sides, and how tall it was. My only other impression was one of pleasure that the lamps in the area all looked Narnian. I made it through the cathedral and down North Street to a fading red telephone booth, walked into a Christian bookstore without realizing what it was, and then I turned back towards my room for a nap. Luckily, the UPS guy arrived before I dropped because I had to pay customs on my package. So by the time I had gotten everything unpacked and was ready to sleep, it was one.

I woke at eight to the sound of voices. One thing about Albany Park is that the walls are kinda thin. I can hear people downstairs. So I went down to meet my housemates, two of which were home. Mairi and Rebecca were their names, both first-years from Aberdeen and Glasgow respectively. Very quickly, it became apparent that I was in the right house. Mairi's a film studies/english gal, Rebecca's a medic but a fan of Simon Pegg. They're both dead devious pranksters, were planning a Lord of the Rings viewing marathon (that is the moment I decided I was sold), and used the word geekdom in conversation. I noticed a motivational picture of Van Helsing bashing Twilight on the fridge , and it was really kind of serendipitous: Van Helsing is one of my favorite bad monster movies that no one remembers. Rebecca's brother Ben was also there visiting, and their friend Stuart who is from the north of England and sounds kinda like a Beatle also came by, and somehow we all managed to stay up talking until three in the morning.

Much of the time they spent describing Alyssa, another member of the house who, among other things, cannot see the color yellow. This, as one might imagine, leads to all kinds of interesting inside jokes and pranks, which I had explained to me. They seemed largely impressed that I knew what Wales, Blackadder, and Gavin and Stacy were, and for my part I couldn't have been more pleased to have been placed with people who were so committed to practical jokes, and psyched themselves up before exams by listening to Aragorn's speech in front of the Black Gate and/or Shania Twain.