I am spending the summer in South Bend, Indiana because Katie is interning at the University of Notre Dame. It is kind of nice to have some independance and we go on weekend trips almost every week. We have been to Chicago twice, We have been to Michigan and found som really neat small towns to explore. We have been to some of the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan, my favorite of which is New Buffalo Beach which is where we watched fireworks on the 5th of Jul...

I have had the time of my life over the past week thanks in part to the greatest people in the world, who I've been lucky enough to share this experience with. Annie, Shirin, Kyle, Keke, Kristen, Rose, Meghan, Kelsey, Amy, Amanda, Jane and Clint Stayton, our leader Heather, and of course my fiance Katie. I feel like we've forged some lasting friendships and I hope that we can all keep in touch. We arrived in Ireland yesterday and went for a short tour of the c...

We finally got to go inside Edinburgh Castle today. It was really great. So much history took place in and around that castle, it really is incredible. I learned so much about Scotland through the castle. The oldest building is the chapel from the 1100's. At the entrance to the castle walls stands the statues of William Wallace 'Braveheart' and Robert the Bruce. These two figures are emensely important to the Scottish people. Though time spent in the castle was s...

Saturday we walked the Royal Mile and Prince's Sreet. Today was great! we went on a bus ride to the Scottish Highlands. We had an awesome tourguide named Will. He shared stories about the areas as we went through them and played music to go along with the ride. The highlands are incredibly beautiful and picturesque. We learned about the highland cattle, or arry coo's. We visited Glen Coe and went on a boat across loch ness where I learned that the Loch Nes...

Thank you to everyone who has written on my message board! I am still having a wonderful experience in Scotland. I am learning an incredible amount about their government, history, and culture. Friday we went to the haunted Mary Kings Close. It was great. I was hoping to see a ghost, but I was satisfied just hearing the stories other people have had. Closes are like alleyways between buildings. In the 1500's, the town of edinburgh was built on top of the streets...