Scotland Week 7

Research Reflection: 

Regarding the project, I mostly continued writing up the manuscript of my project. I also ran logistic regressions and further analysis of my dataset, as well as drafted the discussion section. More interestingly, I had the incredible opportunity to tour HMP Stirling, a women’s prison just an hour outside of Edinburgh. This is a fairly new and smaller facility, recently reopened in 2023. I received a tour from a prison psychologist and a warden, and I learned how their specific estate was structured and run. I was taken aback by how clean and (seemingly) organized everything was. While I’m sure it is different working there than the short tour I received, there were education and vocational training opportunities for the inmates. For example, some wards had a 24/7 gym and an on-site hair salon. This estate had a rehabilitative and therapeutic approach to healing; for example, the facility was integrated with green spaces/gardens, the inmates had their own private rooms, and inmates can earn money by ‘working’ (tending the gardens, cooking, etc.). Even throughout the conferences I attended, I learned that current research focuses on community-based approaches. While the population of Scotland is a lot smaller than the US (and each country faces its own unique challenges regarding incarceration), there is a call and a need for increased rehabilitative techniques and research in the American carceral space. 

Somewhere on the Way to Glen Coe

Royal Military Tattoo Show

!!

First Fringe Show

HMP Stirling

Another Highland Baddie

Stirling Castle

Loch Ness

Song of the Week: Graceland by Paul Simon

And I see losing love is like a window in your heart

Cultural Reflection:

This week was all about fostering my friends and, surprisingly, making more while saying goodbye to others. I knew I was leaving in two weeks, but didn’t want to deny myself of these new connections, no matter how short. Other than exploring Edinburgh, I toured around Stirling. I saw Stirling Castle and the nearby town. Hidden gems (not Stirling since it’s a pretty big city) exist everywhere in Scotland, and I loved getting to see as many as I could fit. At the end of this week, my friend Carly came back to Edinburgh, and we went on a tour of Loch Ness and around the Highlands/Glen Coe. In true Scottish fashion, Storm Floris, a violent storm, hit us during our trip to the Highlands. I was truly gone with the wind…winds were over 80mph. #floridagirlllll

This week was also the start of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It needed its own separate paragraph, but the Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. There are over 3,000 shows ranging from theatre, comedy, variety acts, burlesque, etc. It really is a theatre kid’s dream, which is the reason I chose Edinburgh in the first place. The city doubles in size, and the buses are virtually impossible to get on, but the energy of the entire city is so contagious. The city awakens, and there is a new show on every corner. Stumbling on a Bluegrass band on the street. Receiving at least 100 flyers for free shows (knowing you might maybe go to one of them because 50% of them are trying to be Fleabag). Being in a space like the Fringe reignites my love for community-based art and theatre. It truly was an experience like no other, and every show I saw was so different but all of them shared the same love and appreciation for performance and craftsmanship. Favorite shows and performances I saw this week: a Fleetwood Mac cover band and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (an international performance of British military music/bagpipes at Edinburgh Castle).