For ever and for ever when I move

As a bit of a literature nerd, I was delighted to discover that Edinburgh has a vibrant, exciting literary community. Within minutes of doing some google-researching, I was able to formulate a list of events for every single day that week. Every day! There were different events, poetry events, every day of the week! Most of the events were free, some varying from 2-5 pounds, and all were open to anyone interested, either to participate or to watch: poetry readings, open mic nights, writing workshops, art exhibitions combined with literary performances… the list goes on.

I was able to make time for two separate poetry events, both of which I would highly recommend to any passing literary enthusiast looking for some cultural, artistic, local community events. The first was on a Monday evening, the event called ‘The Blind Poetics’, situated in a cozy little pub by the name of The Blind Poet. People sat on couches around the pub, situated around small tables, tucked into little nooks and crannies, all facing the small stage at the back of the pub. Due to the unexpected onslaught of snow earlier that day, the original performer was unable to come, and the event was opened up as an open mic night.

Open Mic Night @ The Blind Poet

These were like any of the poetry slam events I loved to go see in Madison, WI, when I was in University: people reading their poetry, encouraging others to do the same, some experienced readers, some doing it for the fun of it, others reading some truly incredible stuff. As a tourist, it is enormously refreshing to get off the street and into a cozy pub where people are participating in an excited, artistic atmosphere. Not staged, just real.

The second event I found solely based on my attending the first event: the poets encouraged everyone to come on Thursday night to Soap Box at the Cabaret Bar, a weekly open mic performance with varying themes. Soap Box is directly connected with the University, but open to the public. Did I mention it was free? Totally free, except for the beers, which are reasonably priced at 2.80 pounds per pint.

In the excitement of yet another evening of poetry, this one with the theme of “Rhythm,” I prepared a few poems of my own and tucked my notebook in my backpack to carry with me. Encouraged by the comfortable atmosphere, the genuine excitement of the participants and the incredibly welcoming attitude of Freddie, one of the organizers of the event, I signed up and performed. Having never performed my poetry in public, I took the assuaging encouragement of a pint, relaxed while listening to others’ performances, and then stood on stage to deliver one rap and three poems. After the event we hung around with several of the poets, chatted about travel, poetry and other such interesting topics before taking leave and sprinting off to catch the last train back.

Rachel Rankin performing @ the Cabaret
Photo Cred: Soap Box

Yours Truly, performing @ the Cabaret
Photo Cred: Soap Box

Guest Rapper @ Soap Box
Photo Cred: Soap Box

More information on weekly literary events in and around Edinburgh can be found at the Scottish Poetry Library. Otherwise: Soap Box can be found on facebook or on twitter @SoapBoxin. The Blind Poetics on fb or on twitter @BlindPoetics.

I met Hannah Sutton at a hostel on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, in early March. I was charmed by her sweet personality and her depth of traveling experiences, and managed to snag her for a quick interview the morning before she flew out of London. At twenty-one, this Australian chica has been on the road since October, 2011, starting in Indonesia, and has no prospects of stopping anytime soon: read on to hear her perspectives on hitchhiking, solo travel, and general travel anecdotes.

A: “Where have you been so far on your travels?”

H: “The rough path is this: Indonesia- India- Nepal- Thailand- Cambodia- Thailand- Myanmar- Malaysia- Japan- South Korea-Hong Kong- China- Mongolia- China- Krygyzstan- Kazakhstan- Russia- Georgia- Turkey- Bulgaria- Serbia- Hungary- Austria- Czech Republic-Germany- Netherlands- Germany- England- Wales- France- Switzerland- Italy- Austria- Czech Republic- Poland- Germany- Netherlands- England- Scotland- England- South Africa. After Hong Kong and before South Africa, everything was traveling overland.”

A: “That’s quite a list! Tell me a little about Myanmar/Burma.”

H: “It was my first taste in solo travel; I met so many people. It was a difficult country to travel at times, but really rewarding. The people are the best part. They’re so genuine and nice. I left my wallet on the table on day–the thing about Myanmar is that they don’t have any ATMS, so all the money you want you have to carry it all with you. The currency exchange rate is just insane and inflation is huge–so I had a huge stack of money in my wallet, probably enough to feed a family for a few good months. I left it on the table in the cafe and I walked out and the man ran after me and gave it back to me with all the money still in it. It was so gorgeous. The people there are so nice.

Another time I was just walking around a lake and this lady, she stopped me and was like, oh, I invite you to dinner at my place. And I was traveling with these three other travelers at the time and the next day we went over to her place and she cooked this huge feast for us and we sat down and started eating it, it was enough food to feed a family for a week.

So they’re very humble and very well educated as well. They have a very good understanding of English, as they used to be a colony, and they’re just really really wonderful people.

But, on my first day in Burma, I was riding the local train around Yangon, which is the main city, and the train suddenly stopped. I walked out to see what had happened, and a guy had jumped in front of the train and committed suicide. It was three days into me traveling solo and I was like WHAT. It was so scary. All the kids were going up and poking the body, and after awhile they just rolled the body off the tracks and kept the train going. It was really amazing to see how they see death all the time, and so it’s not a big thing for them, whereas we’re sort of sheltered from it. It’s a good way to see the difference between our cultures.”

A: “Definitely. In Korea, they have a lot of similarities in that way. The way they talk about death is… commonplace. A lot of my students would say, well, I chose not to commit suicide. There were two paths, one is to commit suicide and one is to not. Whereas in the states, you don’t say anything about it.”

H: “And even if someone has committed suicide, you don’t say that, as well. You try to cover it up as something else. It was the same in India as well, very out there, seeing dead bodies, like the burning ghats in Varanasi.”

A: “And it’s normal, a natural part of life. So, from Burma, where did you go?”

H: “Well, I was talking to my family more, and I hadn’t seen them in a few months time. My parents happened to be in Japan, and I had nothing to do and I had a lot of money saved up so they told me to come over and visit them. So I crashed their romantic get-away, and was third-wheeling and getting free accommodation and free food and stuff, which is really nice. So that was really cool to see them. After everything I’d done, going through India and Nepal and the breakup with my boyfriend, it was really nice to have family around.” Continue reading