Out of place, but Monday may ninth 2011

The first night in the hostel wasn't entirely bad. The beds are not super comfy and you can hear people snoring in the room next to you, but hey it's cheap I guess. We all got ready and got on a bus for Dunbeath which is two hours away from Inverness. Here we stopped at a statue representing then emigration of the highlanders. After that we went to the Dunbeath center and explored the museum of Neil M. Gunn. The center was his old school house mentioned in the book Highland River which is a Scottish novel about a boy and his journey in life facing choices, social/family pressures and world war one. The novel is cherished and studied in many countries and is very important to Scotland. After touring the school house, a woman named Ann introduced herself as a tour guide. Standing just above five feet, gray hair and a cane, Ann claimed she was seventy but could have passage for a lot younger. She told us that she lived near where Neil M Gunn lived and has spent a significant amount of time preserving the book and it's heritage along with her husband. We then went for a walk on a path near the river while she described to us certain parts of the book and relating them to her own experiences. The thing she said that resonated with me the most was the discussion on salmon. In the book, bringing a large salmon to the table for dinner was a sense of pride in feeding the family and helping provide. Ann said that even though it is illegal, pretty much everyone in the town has caught a salmon from the river with something other than a net. She said for the men, you are nobody until you catch a salmon. Ann has a lot if pride for Scotland and for the novel. After the tour we went bak to the hostel, had a discussion to wrap up the book then Tiana and I went back to Cinnamon for some Indian food. After that, we went to the bars because it was our last night in Inverness. We went to a pub that had a live band. It was beautiful. We all appreciated local Scottish music very much. After the pub we went to a bar that was actually an Irish pub. I had just gotten a couple of sips out of my drink when the fire alarm went off. We were all escorted outside then told we had to walk to a certain spot for the fire drill. The police took my drink because we had to leave the bar property. Even in a country that I'm of age to drink the cops took my drink! sad. I don't mind the trains much because the scenery is beautiful and I have an extremely wide variety of music thanks to Dad and Gunther's hockey music. I had recently found a new liking for sour cream and onion Pringles and digestives caramels cookie things. They are amazing. Right now I am on a train to Skye. I was ready to leave Inverness, we were there for four nights and I am ready to see what Skye has to offer.