Fáilte: the welcoming spirit of Scotland

Fáilte. The Gaelic word for welcome. I titled my review this for two reasons: the Gaelic language is beautiful and Scotland is welcoming. The first day I arrived in Scotland, I noticed how welcoming everyone was. My taxi driver from the airport to the hotel I would be staying at for IFSA orientation was a wonderful historian who introduced me to Scotland by telling me historical information about the places that we passed. We had a good laugh and I thought for the next four months I am going to love this place. When I arrived to the IFSA orientation, I was surprised that the staff knew my name. They introduced themselves and we had a bit of conversation. Again, I felt welcomed. I know this concept of feeling welcome is supposed to be the norm, however, it was my first time outside of the United States as a black woman. I was nervous about the experience and told IFSA-Butler. They assured me that I would be alright and that Scotland was a great choice and that they would help me to feel as welcome as possible. As I opened up and felt welcome by the Edinburgh community I had lots of fun.