After experiencing an exhilarating and extended day of traveling and touring London, my group was finally set out to travel to Scotland. We originally planned to arrive at the train station early in the morning and be in Dumfries by the early afternoon. However, things did not go as planned because they never do. As we showed up to the station, looking like turtles with all our backpacks on, we discovered that no trains were operating. Something had happened with the lines and we had to wait for a few hours until things were fixed. It was okay though, we were an optimistic bunch and we rolled with the punches.

Thankfully we did get on a train that day and eventually made it to Dumfries. It was a small-town and very different from the ginormous city of London. When we arrived it was cold and windy but sunny, which was very lucky considering the usual weather of Scotland. That night we sat down for dinner with some University of Glasgow students. It was refreshing to talk with some residents of Dumfries. It helped me understand what the town was like and what the Scottish culture was.

The next day we had another curve ball thrown at us. Our original plans to visit the primary school that we would be teaching at were put on hold due to the Coronavirus. Nonetheless, Dr. Rubenstein and Dr. Peake handled it so well. Instead, we had the opportunity to visit a castle and an agricultural college. This was one of the most memorable moments for me on this trip. I ran around the castle like a child let out for recess. In the United States, we really don’t have anything that old. This castle had so much history in it, I was amazed. But what really made me happy, was seeing the college. They gave us a tour of their student-run dairy and I was overjoyed. As someone who works on a dairy farm and has a passion for dairy production, it was incredible seeing a farm overseas. I was able to compare and contrast how different and similar our farming practices are from theirs.

Agriculture seemed to be everywhere in Scotland. Everywhere we went you could see countless fields of cows, sheep, or crops. Even on the train ride to Dumfries, beautiful scenes of agriculture flashed by us. I will never forget these moments and how they inspired me.