Lauren's Lone Adventures

It's been a long time coming.

The day when I would...

actually have to go do something by myself in Edinburgh (gasp!).



Usually, this entices me to be doing something incredible all by myself. Totally fulfilling, right? Managing a city the likes of Edinburgh by yourself. During the day of course, but still...totally why I came here.

However, I've gotten in the habit of going everywhere with friends. The ONLY time I've gone anywhere alone is when I was meeting friends somewhere else. So today, I put on my big girl underwear and decided I need to find Carnival Chaos before my interview on Friday so I'm not running around, panic-stricken and probably bawling, 45 minutes late to an interview. Not cute. I found the right bus stop and proceeded to miss the bus by 1 minute. So I waited for another 15 minutes until the next bus came. In the meantime, I was totally targeted as a "tourist" for having my Leith and bus maps out because a lost soul came up and asked me for a shave, or at least money for one. "Sorry" was all I could manage.

I'm already having a panic attack finding my way around a city I still don't know that well, clutching my purse like a total American, and this gentleman totally reads it! GAH!!!! After apologizing (for something that is no fault of my own) five times and avoiding all eye contact and polite human behavior, my bus arrives. I hop on and once again, break out my maps having not a CLUE where I'm headed.

Minor detail:

Princes Street, the main shopping and tourist street beside the Royal Mile, is going through MAJOR construction due to a new tram system being put in throughout Edinburgh. This means that at every single hour of the day, Princes Street is like Chicago rush hour. Absolutely no lie.

Hence why AN HOUR LATER, I arrived in Leith - only about 4 miles away from my flat. I could have (maybe) walked faster. But now I know. Allow myself a SERIOUS chunk of time on Friday to get to and from my interview.

Leith scares the crap out of me. First of all, it's unfamiliar to me; like anything new, I have this weird sense of fear I experience before getting acquainted with everything. Secondly, I think I saw 9,385 old men smoking outside of shops. Butcher shops, bars, book stores, thrift stores, pubs - it's like 2 p.m. is "Smoke Time" for all the old farts of Leith. Third, Edinburgh as a whole is a very dull city. Everything that could be painted, is. But all the surroundings like buildings and roads blend in with the gray skies, people's dark black and gray coats, and the smokers' grey complexions. It's enough to make me want a Prozac. And lastly, after getting off the bus on the right stop (I patted myself on the back for that little victory, thank you!), I walked down this narrow little street to find Carnival Chaos.

I felt like I was going to get mugged. At 2 p.m. I'm sure it's totally fine, but I couldn't find the freaking door for Carnival Chaos because in Europe, you usually enter a little "vestibule" area, if you will, then buzz the appropriate flat/shop/office once you're in the right vestibule. And instead of being stared at and totally corner by two (you guessed it) cigarette-dragging locals, I decided that Friday I will arrive super early, find myself a cup of coffee nearby, relax, and arrive to my interview 10 minutes early with their phone number so I can call to say, "Hi! I'm Lauren, the American student who is really excited to be interviewing here! However, I cannot find the entrance. Could you please tell me how the hell to get inside?!"

Lesson of the day:

Use the buddy system.