Sammy the Unprepared yet Lucky

    This morning started with my stewardess tossing a breakfast jumble on my lap an hour before I was going to land in Amsterdam. My body and I had come to an agreement that we were both going to ignore the lack of sleep and go on with things as if I had a solid twelve hours under by belt. However, it took a good deal of caffeinated coaxing. The closeness of Scotland was surmounted by the tedious nature of transferring flights and when I finally arrived at gate D56, I immediately gave up any hope of being social and pulled out a leafed-through novel. However, I happened to eavesdrop on some girls near by who were discussing one of the recent emails from the Edinburgh visiting student office. A second wind overtook my grumpy nature and I joined the conversation, eventually finding myself as excited as when I first left Brunswick. Shortly after, more sleep-depraved students stepped forward and joined our travel clan, all heaped on the floor with our bags sprawled around us. Time began to pass much quicker and soon my ears were popping as we took off to Edinburgh. I could barely make a dent in my novel before the familiar "bing" of the seat belt landing sign sounded.
    At this point, I was now cocky. Here is Sammy, conqueror of transferring flights and overcoming fatigue! There's no voyage on earth that could dampen the gust in her sails. Yet, this attitude was quickly curbed when a newly-made friend pulled out her acceptance letter from the University of Edinburgh. Ah, yes... that's how I was supposed to validate my visa exemption. Right, the way I am allowed into the country... You see, without this letter and without a visa, my case for entering Scotland soon became milk toast. At this moment I began racking my brain thinking over ways to seem confident enough that Scottish customs would declare, "No matter! She obviously belongs here. Can't you see the pure Scot in her eyes?" Unfortunately, I must have lacked some roar in my voice because as soon as I admitted my folly to the women checking my passport, she gravely looked up at me, promising no easy passage. I decided that if Highlander confidence wouldn't sway her, then there was only one more choice, groveling. And grovel I did, spinning stories about how it was tragically left at a point of no return when in reality I had blatantly forgotten that I would ever need it. Yet, she seemed satisfied at this neurotic show of desperateness and after a good scolding, let me pass. Today I send my kind regards to serendipity and deem myself Sammy the Unprepared yet Lucky.
     Although I lost some dignity to accomplish it, I finally stepped foot on Edinburgh's turf and eventually landed in front of my room, a very pleasant single with a charming look over Scottish marshlands. My body and I again began the tussle over sleep deprivation but a quickly gulped coffee helped me greatly. I left my still-packed bags in my room and began to walk over the nearer areas of the city, enjoying how every little thing seemed different from its twin in the states. I walked past a jack russell terrier, a dog I normally dislike, and found its Scottish version charming as the chap stubbornly refused to drop a coveted stick while crossing a bustling city street. I had the fortune to meet up with some other American students and soon found myself in enjoyable company through dinner time. We even got to see the University's men's rugby team stroll into the college's pub, sending the table of jet-lagged American women into a giggling frenzy. However, after dinner, no amount of folklore tunes, snakebites (a fantastic drink consisting of ale and currant syrup) or swarthy ruggers could keep the thought of a good night's sleep out of my head. So, a couple of my friends, under the same sleep spell, joined me and we made our way back to the dorms to rest up for tomorrow.