Debating the World: Divide and Conquer

Friday morning was grey but luckily not very chilly. The group split in two today; a few took a bus out to St. Andrew's University and got a tour of the school and its beautiful buildings. Although the day was short, the area made a strong impression on the group.

The students that stayed in Edinburgh chose to attend The Dungeons, a historical horror experience that told the stories of different events of Edinburgh. They then had lunch at a sushi restaurant with dishes on conveyer belts.

Inside the sushi restaurant

After some time to prepare, the group finally arrived at the main event: Model UN at George Watson's College, which is a misnomer for us Americans. It's actually a school for grades K-12, around 2,000 students total. Since there are only 11 students in our group, George Watson's elected one of their own to represent Greece with us. Charlie is 14 and plays rugby. He is a proper young Scottish gentleman and we are lucky to have him on our team.

View from the bus stop near George Watson's

The front of George Watson's College

Husky delegates with Charlie before the opening ceremonies

After an hour of committee meetings in which students read proposition papers and created allies, we learned that we are the only school from the states, and one of the furthest schools to attend the conference alongside a school from Iran. The debates start tomorrow and continue throughout the day.

We got a bonus view of Edinburgh when the group accidentally took six extra bus stops (we were too interested in continuing conversations from the sessions this evening). A late dinner at Proper Hamburgers and off to do some last-minute research before bed.