One Month

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We walked off the plane and straight to the bank. Not quite, but almost. When we arrived, we had a list of things we needed to get done and we figured we'd get them done right away. One month and four attempts later and finally have a bank account. Now to get funds transferred to it....

Things that we thought would take a morning have taken days and things we thought would take days have taken weeks. I'm not exactly "chill" under these circumstances. It has given me a new perspective on how hard it is for anyone, here or in the states of wherever, who doesn't have an ID or a utility bill or a bank account due to any number of circumstances, because you basically can't get any of these things until you have these things.

We love it here, but as we get settled and kind of before we get started, I keep feeling like we aredoing a lot but not accomplishing anything. So for my own morale and record, here are some things we have done in our first month in Edinburgh:
  • Opened a bank account 
  • Registered with a GP
  • Jill started a job! and attended a conference
  • Craig preached at St. Giles (and led noon prayers) 
  • Craig met with his professor and survived Welcome Week 
  • Jill walked Queensferry Crossing on opening week 
  • Made friends (we hope)
  • Craig played golf (once)
  • Had dinner in someone's home 
  • Met up with friends in town (including learning skittles -- Scottish bowling, kind of)
  • Showed up to community events 
  • Bought groceries and found "our" stores
  • Thrifted lots of jars (and got some new) for grocery items purchased without packaging
  • Visited Iona & Oban 
  • Walked around Holyrood Park more times than I can count (probably 30 times)
  • Ventured out to IKEA and Scottish Walmart
  • Applied for a National Insurance Number 
  • Formed an evening routine 
  • Got library cards! and checked out books (both for public libraries and Craig for the university)
  • Jill finished reading three books 
  • Jill got a bus pass (and a bonus pass for Craig)
  • Got Craig some vestments
  • Worshipped at so many services
  • Ate about 1000 scones 


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