Best. Internship. Ever.

Ok, I love the Scottish Parliament. Seriously, this internship is awesome. My MSP gives me so much to do, I am so busy - she has me working on a few long term projects related to health, but every other minute she's like, "oh can you write this question for me?" or asks me to find information for a speech...it's great. She's definitely one of the more busy/kind of a big deal MSPs, so that worked out really well for me. This internship is definitely one of the most fulfilling I've had, mainly because I get to do so much (think about how many internships there are where you're photocopy or filing or doing tedious work and only get to do interesting things like half of the time).

I'm in the Parliament from Tuesday-Thursday, but on Mondays and some Fridays I go to the constituency office in Southeast Glasgow. The constituency is interesting - in the northern part, it's really impoverished and there's a lot of gang violence and drugs, and then as you move down south (towards the city center - see picture) the area becomes more well off. My MSP is definitely more concerned with the impoverished area (she's focused on regeneration issues in the city).

On another note, the Parliament Cafeteria is amazing. The food is subsidized, so you can get a huge meal for like 3 pounds, it's great. Also, I took my last final today - thank god that's over with. I'm off to St. Andrew's tomorrow, so I'll write soon and tell you all about it.
xoxo Pam

First Week in Parliament

Hello all. I just finished my first week of work, and so far so good. My MSP is the shadow Health Secretary for the Labour Party (i.e. she keeps tabs on the Cabinet Secretary for Health), so most of the stuff I'm working on is health related. She's only in the Edinburgh office Tuesday - Thursday, so I'm going to her constituency office in Glasgow on Monday. It should be pretty cool.

Edinburgh is still fantastic, even though the rain has returned after many days of sun. I'm staying here this weekend, but I think I might go to St. Andrews next week. I also have exams to take (p.s. the exams are the most pointless things in the world...they have nothing whatsoever to do with the internship), so I should probably be studying for them. It's also good to be starting a new routine - I had so much time on my hands when I was taking classes, which was great because I could spend a lot of time exploring the city, but now that I've gotten used to living here it's nice to have a 9-5 job to fill the days.

I put up a picture of a fantastic sunset view from the Edinburgh Castle. I love sunset in this city - when it's clear, it's glorious. Anyway, keep me posted on everything going on in the States. Miss you!
Pam

Ireland = Awesome.

Well, I had a great weekend in Ireland.

I went to Dublin with Cait, Jon and Tom (all people on my program) this weekend. Honestly, we were not that impressed with Dublin - we had a great time, but the city is not nearly as beautiful as Edinburgh. Even on days when it is really cloudy and rainy in Edinburgh, the city is still absolutely gorgeous, and that's not the case in Dublin. Anyway, we did have a really fun time. On Thursday (we got into the city at like 10am) we walked around the Temple Bar area, O'Connell Street, the Liffey and then hit up Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Dublin Castle. (see pictures). Thursday night we went out to a fun pub in Temple Bar, and there was a folk band there that played "What Should We Do With The Drunken Sailor?" (a song I had to sing in Brearley Middle School music class...no joke).

Friday we had a delicious full Irish Breakfast (Bridget used to get Irish Breakfasts for me at this diner on 2nd Avenue...even though it was much better in Ireland, it made me nostalgic). Then we walked around Trinity College, went to the Jameson Distillery and the Guinness Factory (both were really cool) and then walked around St. Stephen's Green. On Friday night we went on a wild goose chase looking for some pub Tom wanted to go to, and I was starving and grumpy, and we ended up at some random pub on Grafton Street (which lucky is not as expensive as Temple Bar).




Saturday was one of the best days I've ever had. We took a train up to Belfast and then went on a coach tour of the Northeast Coast of Northern Ireland. We drove up the Antrim Coast, and the view consisted of the water on one side and the Glens of Antrim (these massive mountains) on the other side. We stopped in Whitepark Bay and a few sea towns, all of which were beautiful. But the really amazing part of the trip was when we got to Giant's Causeway. It was absolutely stunning - we were in the middle of a mountain range but on the coast at the same time. It was great, I can't recommend it enough...just look at the photos (there are more on my Webshots account: http://community.webshots.com/user/pamelalachman).

We drove around Belfast at the end of the day, and while I didn't really think it was that great, it is definitely up and coming and is doing really well for a city that was being consistently bombed by its own residents just a few years ago.

Seriously, I can't recommend this tour enough. It was really expensive, but totally worth it. If you are ever in Ireland, or even in the UK, do it.
Lots of love.
Pam

Portobello, Leith and The L Word

So I had a really fun weekend here in Edinburgh (it's the first weekend I'd been here in over 3 weeks). Most of the people from my program were traveling, so the few of us that were still here decided to go around and explore new parts of the city.

On Thursday we observed our first debate in the Parliament. And I will just say...my MSP is BALLER. She went after the Health Minister so hard (over an issue involving survivors of sexual abuse), and it was awesome. It was a good day to be in Parliament since the budget had just passed the night before, and the Scottish National Party was all excited and Labour was really pissed. Oh, politics. On Thursday night I went to this house party hosted by a friend of a friend. It was fun, but the most memorable part was the cab ride back - I had my first experience with a Edinburgh taxi driver, and people are so right when they say you cannot understand a word the drivers are saying. Seriously, it was the thickest accent...he might as well have been speaking Czech.

On Friday night I had my first "George Street Experience." George Street is where all the snazzy clubs are, and because I am morally opposed to cover charges and don't like to wait on line, I resorted to mooching off my friend's friend's friend (no exaggeration). It was a good time.


Saturday I hiked up to Arthur's Seat the hardcore way, but I got tired in the middle and just kind of walked around the hills (see picture). Then on Sunday we went to Portobello (the little sea town in Edinburgh where the beach is...see picture), and to Leith. Leith is...gross. It's depressing, there's all these Dominos Pizza places and while we were waiting for the bus, this woman was rushing to get her kid's stroller folded up in time to catch the bus, and she asked me to PICK UP HER CHILD AND PUT HER ON THE BUS (well, really she asked Justine but Justine froze and I had to step in). Ok, not that I'm unsympathetic to a mother in distress, but that is WAY too trusting. I could have totally stolen her child! Anyway, the fish and chips was good in the Ocean Terminal in Leith, but it started to get really foggy (thank god, I was worried it was going to say sunny!) so I couldn't really take pictures.

But clearly, the most important event of this weekend was...SUNDAY NIGHT: THE EPISODE OF THE L WORD. HOLY CRAP. Bette and Tina. I have no words. Actually, I have plenty of words, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, so call me and we'll talk about it.
xoxo Pam

It's Been Sunny for 3 Days!

This is practically unheard of in Scotland - it has been sunny for 3 days now, and they're saying it's going to stay that way for the next couple of days. What is going on here?!?!

Because it's been so sunny, I've been walking around quite a bit, especially in the evenings (Edinburgh is really beautiful on a clear evening - see picture). I've decided that the Sir Walter Scott monument is my favorite monument in Edinburgh (see picture). Also, I got the best latte I've had since I got here (actually, the best latte I've had in a long time) today at Bean Scene, a cute little coffee shop just a few blocks from my flat.

So this picture below is a photo of the Scottish Parliament - I don't know if you all know the story behind the building, but it is super controversial. As you can see, the architectural design doesn't really fit in with the rest of Edinburgh's architecture. Also, the original estimate for the cost of the building was 40 million pounds...and it cost 400 million pounds. The taxpayers were not too happy about that. Either way, that's where I'll be working for the next 10 weeks.

I decided to stay in Edinburgh this weekend, since I've been traveling for the last 3 weekends. Also, I booked 2 more trips - I'm going to Dublin next weekend with a few people from my program...SO EXCITING! And I'm going to Stockholm in mid-March. There are also 2 trips my program has organized (aka they are included in my program fees...which means I'm going) - one going to Loch Lamond (this area of Scotland that kind of borders the Highland line and is supposed to be really beautiful) and one going to the Isle of Skye (that's the one I am really psyched for). On the Skye trip I think we'll get to see a lot of the Highlands, like Glen Coe and Loch Ness.

It's really nice when there's nice weather here, but I've kind of gotten used to it being cloudy...I like it. It's only annoying when it rains hard - otherwise, the clouds are actually really nice, and it's usually warmer on those days (except today it was 50 degrees, so I really shouldn't complain).

Alright, that's it for now. Lots of love.
Pam

MSP Assignment

Exciting news - I got my Member of Scottish Parliament assignment! I'm going to be working with Margaret Curran from the Labour Party. She's a constituency MSP from Glasgow, and she seems to be involved in a lot of the urban issues I'm interested in, so that's good. And I met her today, she seems really nice.

It has been intense for me to be away from the States this week - first the Giants win the Super Bowl, and then today is Super Tuesday. Holy crap! (p.s. can I just say that I feel so bad for those guys who wrote the book "19-0" that documents the Patriots "perfect" season...yeah good luck getting that published). Seriously, I have been frantically checking The New York Times every hour, even though I know no information about the primaries is going to come in until like 6am.

Also, Paul Rusesabagina is speaking at Hopkins tonight for the Foreign Affairs Symposium!!! I'm so freaking excited, I'm going to be texting Katie, Anne and Liz at 4am asking them how it went.

Even as I'm missing the States today, I'm really starting to feel at home in Edinburgh. When I was in Paris, I actually missed it a lot - the city has a certain quality that makes it really easy to love. Also, I've gotten to know a few places pretty well (pubs, grocery stores, etc.) and last night I went to a movie (No Country For Old Men...it was overrated), so I'm doing things that are less "Oh my god I'm in a foreign country" and more like I'm settling in. But funny story - when we were in the movie theater, before the previews started we saw literally 5 commercials protesting the legality of "snares" (those things that catch beavers and other animals), it was so weird.

Anyway, I put the rest of my pictures from Paris up on Webshots (http://community.webshots.com/user/pamelalachman) so you all can look at them...they really came out amazing.

Also, I have a new story up on Scoop08, check it out: www.scoop08.com (if it's not on the front page, click the "Issues" button).

Miss you all so much.
Pam

J'aime Paris

Ok, get ready, this post is going to be a long one.

I just spent the weekend in Paris - it was AMAZING. I stayed with Anne in her room in the Cite Universitaire (in the 14th arrondisement) and we did so many things...I think the best thing to do is break it down day by day:

Thursday: I got to Paris on Thursday afternoon. Anne had a conversation session to go to (it's part of her program), so I walked around Porte d'Orleans for a few hours. I stopped in a cafe and took in the sights and felt very Parisian. Then Anne and I went to dinner at a Brasserie in the same area. It was a typical French dinner - I had duck (awesome) and we ate from around 9pm to midnight. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to go along with the evening.

Friday: It was raining in the morning, but we were brave and walked around Le Marais. It's a very fun/funky/gay area, so they have lots of cute cafes and a ton of stores selling fitted mens shirts (see picture of the cafe). Then it stopped raining (yay!) and we went to the 1st arrondisement to have noodles at a Japanese restaurant, which really hit the spot. After that, Anne took me to this lecture her professor was hosting...I'll just say this: it was really fun for everyone who had an in depth understanding of Czech literature. Friday night we went to La Fleche d'Or, which is a super hipster French club and we saw this Brooklyn band Levy (they played music kind of like Broken Social Scene on 3 cans of Red Bull...see picture).

After that, we met my friend Tiago (who lives in Paris) for a drink in Odeon (the nightlife area right in the center of Paris).





Saturday: Saturday was an absolutely glorious day. We walked around Saint Michel, the Seine, Notre Dame Cathedral and Saint Germain des Pres (where we went into Les Deux Magots cafe where Hemingway and Fitzgerald used to hang out). Then Anne went to do work and I went to do super touristy things, like the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomph and the Louvre (see pictures). Then on Saturday night we went to Bar a Soupes (a really good soup restaurant) and Le Motel, another hipster club that Anne frequents (is anybody else sensing a pattern?)

Sunday: We went back to Saint Michel, had brunch (consisting of eggs and crepes), and then walked around the park near Anne's apartment. Then I got on the train to go to Charles de Gaulle airport, and took in the sights of all of the Banlieues (the suburbs of Paris where all of the poor immigrants live...see picture).

That's when the trip went downhill...so I got to the airport, waited on the super long line to get my boarding pass, and then went to the line for security. At the security checkpoint, there was this woman sitting down fighting with the security agent. She was saying something like "I want to wait for the wheelchair..." and then I realized she had multiple sclerosis and had completely lost the use of her legs (keep in mind this woman could not have been older than 40). So everyone in line waits and watches as the security agents force this woman to stand up, then hold her up while other agents take off her legs braces to make sure that they were plastic (even though she told them they were plastic) and then give her the "scan and pat down" as a replacement for going through the metal detector. The woman is sobbing the entire time, obviously totally degraded and embarrassed, and I have to tell you, I have never been that uncomfortable and angry and not spoken up. I was really mad at myself, but I guess the fear of being branded a terrorist in a country where I barely speak the language took over. Then I went through security, went to the gate, and boarded the plane. I was listening to my iPod when I realized that we were running about 30 minutes late, and soon enough I saw an airport guard wheel the same woman onto the plane (so it must have taken them about 1 1/2 hours to get the damn wheelchair). I was mad, and the easyJet flight attendants were mad, and everyone on the plane was mad...so the moral of the story is NEVER fly through Charles de Gualle airport.

So, to recap: I ate amazing food, saw the most beautiful sights, went to hipster French clubs, and hate airports.
Miss you all.
xoxo Pam

Still Alive...

I know it's been more than a few days since my last post, and I wanted to tell you all that I'm still alive, so fret not.

Everything has been going really well, except this week was the first week I had to do actual work :( I had two papers due, and then another one to do next week, so that kind of sucks. I should find out which MSP I'm going to be placed with soon. I requested someone from an urban area (i.e. Glasgow or Edinburgh) who is interested in various urban policy issues, like education and the criminal justice system (p.s. cops don't carry guns in Scotland, unless they are in tactical response units - how different is that from the US!). Obviously, urban policy issues are the issues I care more about than say, transportation, so it would be a good way to compare the Scotland situation to the US.

Sorry this post had to be short, but I'm in Paris for the weeekend! I'll tell you all how it is.
xoxo Pam