This is going to be a long one so settle in.

In the whole history of the Raino-Ogdens, I believe I am the first one to be packed and ready an hour before we were set to leave. I could say that being ready early made me less anxious, but I would be lying. In fact it made me more anxious because I had all that extra time to think about what I am leaping into (albeit I'm leaping with open arms and a weird face on (kind of like a mix between terrified and ecstatic (my family saw it shortly before I headed through security so they should get it))).

Mom made me promise to write about the plane food for Liza so I got the cheese tortellini with a salad and roll and a mini little bottle of white wine. YEAH FOR BEING LEGAL! Unfortunately, the wine did not help me sleep and my neck was in so much pain I thought I was going to die. Fortunately, the movie selection was choice. To name a few: What Maisie Knew, All is Lost, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Behind the Candelabra, Blue Jasmine, Captain Philips, Despicable Me 2, Gravity, Kickass 2, Thor 2, Pacific Rim, Prisoners, Star Trek, The Bulter and The Counselor. Twas a hard decision to make but Chris Hemsworths body is something I can not pass up. Also Alexander Skarsgaard.
While reading all the letters from my family I awkwardly cried next to a FULL grown man who thought my leg area was also HIS leg area.

Heathrow airport was terrible. Guess what Mom? They DID need to know when I was leaving the country at the end of both my programs. The ordeal with the customs woman was spent sweating and shaking and holding back tears. A tired stressed out Mira is not a happy thing. She finally let me through and I had to book it to my next flight. Like I was actually running. As I am sprinting across Heathrow, all I'm thinking about is the poor person who has to sit next to me in all my sweaty, 6-hour plane ride glory. There were maybe 15 people on the flight. rows upon rows of empty seats and there was no time for a nap. The minute we were up in the air, we were getting ready to land.
But even before we touched down, I was in love. Out the window of the plane, on some beautiful hillside, there was a huge herd of sheep. Wonderfully fluffy sheep. And the Scots are so chill all the time. Everyone was happy and helpful. I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and driving through Edinburgh is like being between two worlds. One one side you have these amazing old buildings with turrets and tall windows and castles and then on the other side you have buildings made out of glass and H&M and TOPSHOP and GAP. I was the first to arrive at the airport and luckily my room was ready! I showered and claimed the double bed for my own. I was done by 11:30. So much of the day was left! I went for a walk and bought some necessities from Boots and took way to many pictures.
The girls in my program are great (there is only one boy). After orientation and dinner, a few of us went out to find drinks and snacks of the dessert variety. We did not find snacks, but we did find The Royal Mile pub. The bartender was a dear and gave us samples of some Scottish beer, but I stuck with cider. We drank with the hope that it would send us of to a nice sleep, but that did not happen. So I am running on about 4 hours of sleep in the past three days. But I'm going to suck it up. I am a grown (kinda), mature (not really) woman who has the world at her feet. And I intend to take those feet to as many places and on as many adventures as I possibly can in the next 7 months. Good thing I have my new bean boots!