Life on the Isle of Lewis

If I ask my granny a question in English, she’ll pretend she doesn't hear me until I ask it in Gaelic. My granny’s trying to preserve the language because it’s kind of dying in Scotland. 

Do you have pets?:

I have a cat and a dog. My cat is called Gibs, like the character from Pirates and the Caribbean. My dog is called Rosie, and she is a Lhasa Apso. My cat is seven years old, and my dog is four. They don’t get along well together, and they’ll have wee fights, so I keep my cat in my room. My cat’s my baby, basically.

Have you traveled? Where have you traveled to?:

I’ve been to Italy three times and visited Pompei, Rome and Naples. I’ve also been to London to see my brother. I’ve been all over Scotland, and Edinburgh’s my favorite city. It’s just so pretty!

What do you do for work?:

In high school, I worked at Stag Bakery, which is quite a famous Scottish bakery. In the future, I want to be a solicitor, which is a type of lawyer that works with documents, like wills or contracts, to help their clients. I’m studying law right now in Edinburgh, and it’s quite a lot of work! I do enjoy it, though. 

Is there anything else you would like to say to students in the United States?:

Be aware of languages! Gaelic is dying, and one day, no one is going to know it existed. I’m going to try to pass Gaelic down to my kids. It’s more old-fashioned and rural where I live, so more people speak Gaelic, but we have to keep passing it down to new generations for it to survive. 

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