Haverin'

The on-site interview at Lonza is official! They are booking it for me. I woke up to this news because their nice recruiter sends her emails late in the day. In Scotland, that translates to sometime around 1 am. Details, photos, and journal entries to come! They are moving fast, so I truly hope that Merck gets in touch soon so that if I am going to have a choice, I find out in time.

The jet lag hit me full force this morning, right in the middle of Jim's first lecture. It was all I could do to keep myself awake today, but I made it, dragged myself back to my room, and allowed myself to nap for 45 minutes. I could have slept through the night, but I pried myself awake at 6 pm and headed out on foot to the Glasgow Necropolis. 

I thought the old cemeteries in Massachusetts were cool, but they have been completely blown away by the decaying splendor of this one. It's crumbling and decrepit, and the danger just adds to the magic. The obelisks, Celtic crosses, and monuments are enormous and pictures don't do them justice. Here they are, anyway.

I had to identify these birds. They are magpies! Pepper and Pip would be terrified, I think.

To give you a sense of scale, this monument is about 3 times my height.

These are enormous.

Foxglove

Unripe blackberries

There was a big fence around the Monteath monument with a "Danger/Keep Out" sign. Again, nature is taking it all back.

The most indescribable part was how wonderful it smelled. Several kinds of trees were blooming, but I couldn't figure out which one was giving off the floral scent. It was everywhere. 

Glasgow is also dotted with murals. 

Kilt sighting!