Glasgow…
***Updated
- My airbnb host, and now a good friend… makes chocolate. Some of the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted. See here: www.sugarwings.com. She makes them in her apartment where I stayed, so that was pretty incredible. I ate a lot of chocolate and fudge- (some of the best fudge I’ve ever had. I don’t even like fudge generally- but Stacy’s sea salt/peppermint/vanilla fudge is stupid good- especially with a peaty single malt.) I stayed with her on three different occasions… she’s one of the best people I’ve met all year. She’s lived a courageous and beautiful life in a lot of ways- I really feel like a better person for having met her. That and we did a lot of fun cool shit. Some highlights include an aerial acrobatics class, helping her sell chocolates at a Scottish beer and food festival, multiple trips to the local brewery, and frequenting the local Chinese takeout place that was surprisingly good. The lady working at the takeout place said I was a handsome boy… some affirmation with my spicy bbq pork ramen is pretty awesome.
- The main reason I went to Glasgow was to visit some non-traditional communities of faith that have cropped up in Europe. Western Europe is post-religious… however there’s some interesting and beautiful stuff happening in that vacuum, and that can only happen in that kind of historical and social context. One of them is a community of Iranian asylum seekers in Glasgow. These are folks that have fled Iran because they’re at risk for being prosecuted (and potentially executed) for blasphemy- either because they’ve disavowed Islam, or converted to something else. Hanging out with them was a big deal for me. Their kindness and hospitality towards me was pretty overwhelming, considering that many of these folks have almost nothing. They get a stipend of like 50 Euro a week while their asylum applications are being processed. And they’re not allowed to work. They’re living lives of that have a kind of glory and beauty that are only available to those who have suffered and overcome some struggles that I cannot fathom…
- Scotch eggs with black pudding are delicious. Even better with beer.
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