Scotland! (I Can Say This With A Really Great Accent Now)

Sound: "Faithfully" by Journey (this is Mia's fault)

After four days in Edinburgh, I am left with many questions. Which way do I look when crossing? Why did Sean Connery not come to sweep me off my feet? Don't Scotsmen get cold in kilts? Do Scottish people get scurvy due to the apparent lack of fruits and vegetables?

However, the question that stands above all these burning queries is this: Why do the drunk people always talk to me? They must instinctively know that I have been guilted by my parents for years to be polite, and therefore feel compelled to respond to their questions and tell them all about America (or Scotland, in the case of the Italians who obviously can't differentiate accents).

Although I have left Scotland with more questions than when I entered, I really enjoyed my time there. I saw a grand total of 9 shows, some good, some bad, and some ridiculous...

Whores Aboard: This is a perfect example of why you should not choose to see a show solely because of the title. Or see the show and laugh at the terrible acting, writing, and design. Also, the show was about pirates, so I'm happy with my choice.
Caucasian Chalk Circle: This is arguably Bertolt Brecht's most famous play. It was my first exposure to Brecht, outside of History of the Theatre lectures (and I'm going to be honest, I was probably coloring in my Ancient Egypt coloring book during those lectures). The production was mind-blowing. The company was a group of college students from Birmingham, and they just had a fantastic grasp of the text. Brecht's plays can be very difficult to do, because of the V-effekt (an action/production concept in which the actors are supposed to simultaneously portray their characters while stepping outside of the world of the play and commenting on both the play and its relation to our world). They were awesome. And I made friends with one of them and got his number. Score.
...Speed Mating...: A German biologist and an Irish comedian lecturing on how we can use animal mating techniques to be more successful in our love lives. Very fun, very funny, not really "theater."
Comedy Show: I ran into the German biologist and Irish comedian from ...Speed Mating... on the street and they invited me to see a comedy show with them. There were four comedians total; I really liked the first two. I made friends with one of the comedians because I got all his "Star Trek" jokes (thanks, Dad).
Guest Who?: An musical-improv group. The songs were good, but they didn't seem to have a good grasp of the basic rules of improv (i.e. "always say yes"), so the scenes were lacking.
Caledonia: This was with the International Festival (the official, open-only-to-professional companies one). It was about Scotland's one and only attempt to colonize the New World. It was fantastic. The playwright did a great job connecting the events of then to the events of now, and it was very entertaining.
Gospel and Colonus: Also with the International Festival. I feel a little guilty for not liking this play. Basically, it's a re-telling of Oedipus at Colonus (the second play in Sophocles' Theban trilogy) using an African American church as a setting and gospel music. The music was easily the best part; the integration between the story and the setting was awkward and contrived.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Romantic Comedy: An American show that "...traces the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a one-night stand at the Geneva Convention, after which Israel doesn't call." Sounded way more promising than it was. It had a few good moments, though.
Vieux Carre: The last show I saw, and also with the International Festival. It's one of Tennessee Williams' final plays, and was produced by an avant-garde theatre company. It took me a while to like this, but I ultimately did. The production concept was very unsettling, but really well done and interesting. Part of the set involved on-stage television screens, and actors were filmed while facing upstage, so you could see what they were doing no matter what. It was weird. I loved it.

In addition to seeing all these plays, I also ate Scottish food... aka haggis. Haggis is really, really good and I think everyone should try it before they talk badly about it. There are even vegetarian options. So, next time you're in the UK, do yourself a favor: be adventurous. Eat some haggis.

Today I started (and ended) the Great Flat Hunt. I am living in Notting Hill in a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment. I have 5 other flatmates, one of whom, Mia, I'm sharing a room with. We move in tomorrow, although I might sleep at the hotel for a while because Carnival is happening this weekend, and it takes place very near Notting Hill.

Life is good. Peace out, cubscouts.