Shieldaig

Sheep graze in fields outside of Strathcarron.

This past weekend I went to visit a family through the HOST program who live in Shieldaig, Scotland. I had booked a flight from the Gatwick airport to Inverness through EasyJet, and although I arrived an hour before departure time, they said the check-in desk was closed and that I couldn't board. Meaning I just wasted £80. This doesn't make any sense, as when we left for France last weekend, we bought our tickets, checked in and boarded the plane just 10 minutes before departure time. This was through RyanAir though, which may have been the key difference. In any case, this was rather infuriating and I'm going to try to have them refund my money soon.

This was on Friday, so I looked for other flights heading out of Gatwick to Inverness, and there was this other small airline which would have charged £214, so I didn't do that either. I was frustrated and my only choice was to book a sleeper train from London Euston to Inverness that night. For £117. Luckily SUL will reimburse me to a degree for these costs as I had to do this program because of SUL. Anyway it was pretty miserable, as was the sleeper train because apparently you have to pay much more to get a bed or even a reclining chair, which I did not do. I didn't sleep at all, and arrived at Inverness at about 8:30 a.m., then took a train from Inverness to Strathcarron. The picture above is from the train ride.

The HOST family picked me up at the Strathcarron train station and drove me to their house in Shieldaig. It was a very beautiful area.

My hosts live in that white house off to the left.

I climbed some mountains and walked around. I accidentally dropped my phone off into a ravine. So I had to buy a new one. And then I accidentally lost a blank CF memory card off a cliff.

The weekend was very expensive.

My hosts run a bed and breakfast year-round and are actively involved in restoring the forests in their approximate 1,500 acre estate, which like most of the Highlands in the region, are bare (the picture below is an example of this). The region was once the ancient Caledonian Forest of the Highlands, but now the native forest is nearly gone and its regeneration is especially difficult because of local farmers' sheep overgrazing the area, as well as red deer. It's a very relevant is topical issue up there because the Scottish government pays locals yearly for keeping sheep - this is done as an incentive for people to make a living up in an area with an otherwise low population. Every sheep that a farmer buys and keeps, the government pays a bit more. These farmers own vast estates in the Highlands and overgrazing is rampant.

My hosts own no sheep, and have fenced there area to prevent neighbors' sheep from entering, as well as red deer, so that their reforestation work can be fruitful.

Me by the mountains in Kinlochewe, the Scotland Highlands.

Food Diary: Day 13

Monday 10/13/08

Tea with milk and sugar, toast, butter, crunchy peanut butter, porridge and orange juice started off my day. The meals I’ve been having these past few days are absolutely wonderful and I feel great having such variety. I think I am just too lazy to set aside the time at home to actually prepare all these things, and I think I also lack the knowledge to a degree to make some of these meals possible (not necessarily this mornings, but other meals I’ve been having such as last night’s curry and all its side dishes).

In the afternoon I had two tuna fish sandwiches (with mayo and bread) and tea. At this point in the day, I must have had tea at least four times already. It certainly is a drink used I believe for social purposes more than anything else (it isn’t that delicious, but it is good, and it gives you something to hold on to during a conversation which can lessen any awkwardness that may ensue).

That evening I left and was going to take a sleeper train back to London. I bought two energy drinks (called IRN-BRU, I guess? The labeling was unclear) and M&Ms. I would’ve bought more of a meal, but at this point in the day (about 8pm) restaurants were closed at the train station and only a convenient store where I bought both the energy drinks and M&Ms was open. I needed the energy drinks for some homework I needed to get done for classes on the next couple of days, and I wasn’t likely to get much sleep on the train anyway.

My eating experiences with this family made me do some thinking. I really enjoyed almost all the food I ate while here, so why don’t I eat more like this back at home or in the flat? Similarly, if I was with my family, I’d certainly be having quite a variety like I did with this family in Shieldaig. I need to start expanding my diet which probably isn’t too healthy. On the other hand, it’s sometimes difficult to do that when constantly working or doing homework. If meals were prepared for me (like they sometimes are back at home in the U.S., or like they were during my stay in Scotland), then I have no problem with – and in fact enjoy – eating healthier. I need more incentive I suppose, as I really have had virtually no negative side effects of my eating habits ever. At least, none that are apparent to me.

Food Diary: Day 12

Sunday 10/12/08

I was made scrambled eggs, bacon (from a local butcher and it was very good), and was given orange juice, tea (with milk and sugar), toast, butter, and I tried a bit of Marmite (puh!) on my toast.

In the afternoon I had a different type of vegetable soup and several servings of tea throughout the day. Later in the evening I tried some Sherry liquor, red wine, and my HOST family had made chicken curry which I enjoyed with rice, nuts and banana slices. I had water as well. The meal was quite thought-out, and several toppings (such as the nuts and banana slices) were prepared, in addition to several others, to put on the curry. Clearly curry is a meal that even holds some value cultural attachment as far north as Shieldaig. This was followed by locally-produced vanilla ice cream and a hot chocolate sauce made by the family.

Food Diary: Day 11

Saturday 10/11/08

I arrived in Inverness and then to Shieldaig, my ultimate destination in Scotland for my HOST family visit, in the late morning. I was made tea (Unsure what exactly), and then later lunch, which was a vegetable soup (which I’m not too fond of, but the vegetables are quite soft and easy to consume when in soup form), toast and butter.

Later that evening I was taken to a bar/restaurant nearby in Applecross and enjoyed a Guinness and Scottish Chicken (grilled chicken, salad, chips). I also had a local and traditional Scottish dessert called Cranachan, which was absolutely delicious. I wasn’t exactly sure what was in it, but according to Wikipedia, “a mixture of whipped cream, whisky, honey, and fresh raspberries topped with toasted oatmeal.” It was quite good.

Gone for yet another weekend

Around Inverness, Scotland until Monday.