Random thoughts: universal health care and Irishmen

I have a post-Dublin thought that I completely forgot to share: Irish people are unbelievably friendly and proud of their culture. The taxi driver of the cab we took from the airport to Taylor's flat immediately struck up conversation with us. When I told him I was an English literature major, he told me that some of the best poets and writers are from Ireland, and promptly popped in a CD with someone reading Yeats poems. Quite impressive that he had Yeats on hand.

I've had many ailments this week and just want them fixed. My newest problem: I've been getting worse and worse allergic reactions to something. I get itchy, raised, red blotches on my body. Right now my  right wrist is swelling ahh!! Anyways, I went into the school's health center on Monday and finally saw a doctor yesterday, when nothing seemed to be the matter. So basically, the way universal healthcare works is you get really sick, you make an appointment and suffer for a few more days, and if you're still sick they'll try to treat you. Or just tell you to take ibuprofen and allergy medicine. Or if you're dying they'll save you. My views on national healthcare are quite mixed right now, as I am not getting help/treatment that I think I need, but it is good because anyone can get treatment. However, the doctors seem like much bigger idiots than they do in the states. 

This weekend I'm going up to the Highlands to Loch Tay with Arcadia (my program). There will be students from other Arcadia locations such as Glasgow and Stirling, so it'll be fun to meet some new people. It's a university owned facility so hopefully we'll meet some Edinburgh students too. It's supposed to be rainy and snowy for our hiking/kayaking/biking weekend. wooo. I am actually really excited though. 

This weekend marks the third weekend in a row I will be traveling away from Edinburgh, but I will be here the next two weekends after which I'm really excited about. I have a lot of essays to do in that time, but hopefully I'll be able to make time to do more exploring.

I was a bum this week and didn't take any pictures, but I promise you all some from this weekend! And I'm working on a slideshow of my trip so far.

Thank you everyone who has voted for me on the world traveler internship website! It means so much to me! If you haven't voted or if you're on a different computer, you can vote at : http://www.worldtravelerinternship.com/member/laura-bulkeley/