Confusing.

Our wake up calls came at 5:15 this morning. What a great way to start the day. We quickly traveled to the fairgrounds. After meeting at the Young Farmers pavilion, we were given our lab coats, stains and all, and got ready to start judging. As Derek mentioned yesterday, the contest was a bit different than we were used to. I would use the words "organized chaos" to describe it. The cows looked a lot like the ones we are used to, but judging was different. First of all, we stood in the middle of the ring to judge. This made some of us really dizzy and Hannah almost got run over by the cows. And then, of course, we only had five minutes. We surprised ourselves with the amount of notes we were able to take. Judging the four classes took about a half hour, but then the organized chaos really kicked in. We were told to walk to the other side of the fairgrounds to give reasons. We made our way there and waited with the other Americans for instructions. The Scots, however, were busy scribbling away on their notepads. Confused, Hannah started to ask all Scottish people what we were doing. We were told to "write them out as fast as you can" and to memorize both sets. They also said that we could use our notes to give reasons and not lose points. About two and a half hours later, we were finally done giving reasons and could go get lunch.

Everyone will happy to know that Hannah tried a new food at lunch today. When she brought her chicken curry to the table, we were all very surprised. Derek had a hot dog, which he waited in the queue (line) for twenty minutes. Sadly, he was disappointed with his "super-sized" choice. We had the afternoon to explore the fairgrounds. At first we watched the Parade of Champions. After watching what we thought was a lot of horses walk through the ring, the cattle began to circle. Once they were all in the ring, there were at least 200 dairy and beef cows. It was definitely a sight to see. We then began to walk around the shops and displays. Our favorite was the European Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development. There was a crazy man with glasses at this booth and he really liked Derek's tie. He called us out as Americans right away and then proceeded to quiz us on our knowledge of European geography. As a team, we did very well. As individuals, we did not. Derek had no idea where Portugal was, but the rest of us (and some of the Europeans) directed him on the map. Amy definitely knows her countries because she had to help us all out. Then the crazy man asked the other spectators if they had heard of Baltimore (they hadn't) and if they liked Americans (they didn't).

For dinner, we had a traditional Scottish meal at the fairgrounds with the awards ceremony. After tonight, we will not eat any more fish and chips. That is all they eat here. When they announced the winners, we were happy to find out that we hand swept the 4-H contest!! We then walked in the rain to the buses and came back to our hotel.

You will be happy to know that Derek has taken 7 pictures so far. But the rest of us have taken plenty for him. And we will send you a CD of the pictures when we get home. Logan, I hope this is enough detail for you.

LOVE,
Laurel and THE TEAM