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scottish sombreros and jam, thank you


Happy Thursday! The weekend is nearly in sight! How has this week been for you? Hopefully you’re doing ok and doing the best you can, which is all you can ask of yourself! If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s post - “gwyneth paltrow’s (improv) sliding doors” - you can catch up by clicking here now! And if you need to catch up on anything else, there's a cheat sheet at the bottom of this post! Otherwise, let’s strap in and get ready for another Edinburgh post!

After the workshop with Chad Carter that made the world even smaller than it already felt at the Edinburgh International Improv Festival, I ended up walking back towards the Scottish Storytelling Centre and wandering into a cute little Mexican restaurant for dinner on my own. Since it was on the earlier side for dinner, Pancho Villas Mexican Restaurant was not too crowded. I was seated at a table near the corner, not too far away from a young-looking (I assumed) couple. They ended up striking a conversation with me and invited me to join them for dinner, but as it looked like their meal was winding down, I settled for a round of drinks with them instead. We ordered a round of fruity, frozen margaritas and traded travel stories. They were not yet a couple, but they were on their second date, and both were students at University of Edinburgh.

The guy was a bit more outgoing than the girl, since he was wearing an oversized, brightly-colored sombrero, but she loosened up as we sipped our margaritas and chatted about life (and also when the waitress brought me an obnoxiously large, bright sombrero that I then donned with pride). As we finished our round of margaritas, the waitress let me know my dinner was ready, so I made my way back to my table as they paid their bill. Before they left the restaurant, they invited me to go out for drinks with them later that night since the guy said he had a friend he knew would love me. It was a nice offer since the three of us had such a fun time together at dinner, but I told them I couldn’t because I was in town for a festival and had shows to see, and they headed on their way. Yes, I understand this could have been my real life Outlander moment, and no, I do not regret my decision. I do, however, hope those two are doing well - they were a lot of fun! Also, I should let you know that I fairly recently found out that Pancho Villas was sold and permanently closed. A sad occasion in my heart, I assure you.

After dinner and before seeing some shows, I headed back to the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s café and sat down for tea with Emily and Liam from my team and my friend Neil who I’d met at Tightrope Comedy in Dublin. We chatted about life for a bit and then made our way to see some shows. After the series of shows, many of us headed to the basement of the Canon’s Gait Pub (where my team had its practice) and participated in one of the most fun improv jams I’ve ever seen or performed in. A couple of my teammates ended up on the same team as me, and with the other amazing people we were now getting the chance to play with, we did a montage of fantasy, magic, and murder. I still crack up to this day thinking about how much fun we had and how silly, yet impressive the scene work was that we created. I ended up leaving the jam a bit early with Emily and hung out with her at her AirBnB for a bit, drinking tea and talking about the trials and tribulations of postgraduate education, as well as life. It was a really wonderful way to end a Saturday night in Edinburgh as she and Liam were set to leave right after our show the following night. After we enjoyed tea and good company, I ordered a taxi back to my AirBnB, which was almost stolen from me by two drunk Scottish women before the taxi driver kicked them out so I could get my lift home. That taxi driver and I then proceeded to talk about comedy the entire way back to my AirBnB, comparing Scottish humor and Irish humor to American humor. It was also a really great conversation with so many awesome recommendations of Irish and UK standup comics I should check out online. None of it ended up applying to my dissertation, but it did provide a lot of comedic relief during the dissertation-writing process.

Have you ever noticed how friendly taxi drivers can be? Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like I’ve gotten so much great advice and had so many great conversations with the people who’ve been hired to drive me around. Also, over tea. Conversations over tea seem to solve any problems I've ever had. Have you had any memorable conversations with a driver or over tea? Let me know! Subscribe in the e-mail submission box below and reach out, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so happy you're here and that I’ve been getting a lot of really great, fun-to-read stories, questions, and feedback from a community all over the globe from all different chapters of my life (and from people I don’t know *yet*)! The other stories of people’s travels that I’ve gotten to read recently bring me such smiles, and I am so grateful for all of it! I hope I get to hear all about the crazy hobbies or philosophical theories or great conversations you’ve been thinking about as we’ve been on this virtual journey! Especially during this time of uncertainty and pandemic, it's important to surround yourself with things and people (via video chats) that bring you joy; we're all in this together. I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.

Sincerely,

Johny

P.S. - If you want to catch up from the beginning on this series of adventures, here's a cheat sheet to the posts (in order in which they were published):

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