Hello everyone!!
As most of you know I have now been home safe and sound for a few days, and couldn't be happier. It is so great to be home with the people that I love and have missed so much, and to be within a phone call or a drive from all of you!! This semester was one that I will obviously never ever forget, and it changed my life in so many ways, but it also made me realize how much I take for granted when I am home.
My last two weeks were spent touring Italy. I will give you all the abridged version, because it is on you to call if you want to hear the whole story:) I went with my friends Alexa and Erin and we had an absolute blast. Our first night was quite the adventure, we ended up sleeping in the Bologna train station when we found out that there wasn't a train to Florence when we thought, but we finally made it to Florence and spent a great 4 days there. It was a beautiful city with gorgeous architecture and character. The Duomo in the middle of the city was beautiful, and all of the little piazza's where great. We had the opportunity to take a bike tour through Tuscany and tour a wine and oil factory. SO much fun, probably my favorite day of the whole trip. Our guides were great, and it was an amazing opportunity. After four days in Florence we went to the Amalfi Coast for the weekend. We got to see the Isle of Capri, Positano, Sorrento, and Pompei. I went into the Blue Grotto outside of Capri, and toured the ancient city in Pompei, and spent the rest of the weekend on the beach! It was very relaxing and some of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
My next few days were spent in Rome, walking around seeing as much as we could and people watching everywhere. The Trevi Fountain was stunning, and I obviously fell in love with the Vatican. It was a dream come true, and I felt so blessed the entire time I was there. Sadly the Pope was in Israel visiting Erin's people (she is Jewish haha) but it was still so unbelievable. After Rome we took a train to Venice for our last two days in Italy, and I fell in love right away. It is definitely the most magical, beautiful place I have ever visited and could get lost there for hours.
The trip was so prefect, it was a great way to end my 5 months and I couldn't have asked for anything better. I am so happy to be home, but I know I will be planning my next trip back once my bank statements show a few more then zeros, and I have had my fill of being spoiled by my parents. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers through all of this, and I can't wait to see you all!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Last week in Ireland
Hello!
I am sitting here in my almost packed room after a crazy week of good-byes and fun, but not going home for another two weeks. It is a very weird feeling that takes a toll on the emotions that is for sure. This week was my last week in Ireland! Tomorrow I leave for Italy at noon and come back for a day after my vacation, so have had to cram a lot of things into this week and tried to have finish up my experience the best that I can! I did have two final exams this week, which was kind of a bummer, but I finished them both and think I did ok on them! It feels great to be done with school, but it is also very weird because I now am going into my very last year of college, and now have to look forward to student teaching in 4 months! Just going from one major life experience to the next I guess.
This past week everything was emotional and a big deal because it was the "last time" we were doing everything. On Tuesday we went to Monroe's, the pub we have gone to every Tuesday for 18 weeks and either watched or sometimes even participated in Irish dancing. It was the last time, so almost every single one of us got up and danced with Mike, the little old man who teaches us how to dance. I had done it twice before, but I got all teary this time. It has become the most important thing to my week, and what I look forward to. The people there know us and recognize us, and we all even got to give the owner of the pub, Mr. Monroe, a hug before we left. He is kind of a sleaze ball and basically just an inappropriate old man, but we have come to embrace it haha. On Wednesday night all of my closest friends here got together and made dinner for the last time together because my friend Maggie had to get on the 3:30am bus to catch her plane home. We made up our own pub crawl to hit most of our favorite places, and celebrated our last night all together in style until she had to get on the bus. It was such an emotional experience, after being in very close quarters with the same people for four and a half months and getting to know everything about them saying good-bye is not a fun thing to do, especially not knowing when the next time you will see them again. We went to a few pubs, to a club, and then to Supermacs, the fast food restaurant that becomes totally PACKED at 2:30am after bar close with all of the intoxicated people who are hungry for greasy food. Then we sent Mags back to New Jersey!
On Thursday morning Erin and I woke up and grabbed a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher. The tour took us around the Burren, or the rocky hills of Ireland, and then to the Cliffs. We had the most PERFECT weather, no wind and warm temps, which made the day so mich more enjoyable. The cliffs were so amazing, something I had been looking forward to doing since I arrived here. My parents said it was one of there favorite parts of the country, and I can totally see why.
Since then it has been a lot of good-byes to a few of the Irish girls I have become close with, and doing all of our favorite things one more time. Today we went to the market and walked to the beach, trying to soak up every last minute we have here. I am so excited to go to Italy, but this has become my home as much as I complain about it and am excited to come home. It is going to be tough to leave, but I cannot wait to see my family and friends, and be back in the same time zones as everybody, and have a cell phone that I can make calls on for free! Skype is great, but I cannot wait to hear everyones voice clearly and not have to worry about it cutting out every four minutes, or have to wait up until midnight! There are so many things that I take for granted at home that I am so excited for, and I know these next two weeks are going to fly by. I come home May 17, and will send you all an update about Italy and being home once I get there! To give you an idea I will be in Florence from May 3-7, the Amalphi Coast from the 7-10, Rome from the 10-13 and then finish in Venice from the 13-15. It is going to be a packed 12 days of pasta, warmth, and churches and I am so excited!
Love from Ireland!
I am sitting here in my almost packed room after a crazy week of good-byes and fun, but not going home for another two weeks. It is a very weird feeling that takes a toll on the emotions that is for sure. This week was my last week in Ireland! Tomorrow I leave for Italy at noon and come back for a day after my vacation, so have had to cram a lot of things into this week and tried to have finish up my experience the best that I can! I did have two final exams this week, which was kind of a bummer, but I finished them both and think I did ok on them! It feels great to be done with school, but it is also very weird because I now am going into my very last year of college, and now have to look forward to student teaching in 4 months! Just going from one major life experience to the next I guess.
This past week everything was emotional and a big deal because it was the "last time" we were doing everything. On Tuesday we went to Monroe's, the pub we have gone to every Tuesday for 18 weeks and either watched or sometimes even participated in Irish dancing. It was the last time, so almost every single one of us got up and danced with Mike, the little old man who teaches us how to dance. I had done it twice before, but I got all teary this time. It has become the most important thing to my week, and what I look forward to. The people there know us and recognize us, and we all even got to give the owner of the pub, Mr. Monroe, a hug before we left. He is kind of a sleaze ball and basically just an inappropriate old man, but we have come to embrace it haha. On Wednesday night all of my closest friends here got together and made dinner for the last time together because my friend Maggie had to get on the 3:30am bus to catch her plane home. We made up our own pub crawl to hit most of our favorite places, and celebrated our last night all together in style until she had to get on the bus. It was such an emotional experience, after being in very close quarters with the same people for four and a half months and getting to know everything about them saying good-bye is not a fun thing to do, especially not knowing when the next time you will see them again. We went to a few pubs, to a club, and then to Supermacs, the fast food restaurant that becomes totally PACKED at 2:30am after bar close with all of the intoxicated people who are hungry for greasy food. Then we sent Mags back to New Jersey!
On Thursday morning Erin and I woke up and grabbed a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher. The tour took us around the Burren, or the rocky hills of Ireland, and then to the Cliffs. We had the most PERFECT weather, no wind and warm temps, which made the day so mich more enjoyable. The cliffs were so amazing, something I had been looking forward to doing since I arrived here. My parents said it was one of there favorite parts of the country, and I can totally see why.
Since then it has been a lot of good-byes to a few of the Irish girls I have become close with, and doing all of our favorite things one more time. Today we went to the market and walked to the beach, trying to soak up every last minute we have here. I am so excited to go to Italy, but this has become my home as much as I complain about it and am excited to come home. It is going to be tough to leave, but I cannot wait to see my family and friends, and be back in the same time zones as everybody, and have a cell phone that I can make calls on for free! Skype is great, but I cannot wait to hear everyones voice clearly and not have to worry about it cutting out every four minutes, or have to wait up until midnight! There are so many things that I take for granted at home that I am so excited for, and I know these next two weeks are going to fly by. I come home May 17, and will send you all an update about Italy and being home once I get there! To give you an idea I will be in Florence from May 3-7, the Amalphi Coast from the 7-10, Rome from the 10-13 and then finish in Venice from the 13-15. It is going to be a packed 12 days of pasta, warmth, and churches and I am so excited!
Love from Ireland!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Climbing Croagh Patrick!
Hi everybody!
I hope you are having a great week so far, I heard that MN was having a little bit of heat stroke for a while and I hope you all got to enjoy it! My last week has been pretty low key, but I thought I would shoot you an update anyway since I don't have very many weeks left! This past weekend I had two friends from St. Norbert who are studying in Spain wing through Ireland on there two week spring break travels, so they stayed with Alexa and I for Friday and Saturday! It is always great to see a familiar face and to get to show my home to someone. I wish I could share it with all of you! Kerrie and Katie came in Friday evening and we went out and did a little tour of the Galway pubs, then they left on Saturday to come back and we had a nice little night in on Saturday night. It was nice to catch up with them and get to hear all about there study abroad experiences. It is so cool how everyone I talk to is having such a different experience and to hear all about them. I had two final papers to do this past weekend and I finished those and handed them in on Monday! That means besides my final exams next week I am totally done with school work for Ireland, and had a very relaxing week this week knowing that those two papers were finished.
Yesterday my friend Maggie, Alexa and I decided we wanted to go on an adventure and climb Croagh Patrick, the mountain that St. Patrick fasted on for 40 days and banished the snakes out of Ireland from. We didn't really know what to expect, but we don't have very much time left here and are trying to experience as much as possible. We found a bus that would get us there leaving at 9am and transferring in a small town about two hours from here, then getting on another bus for an hour. When we left that morning it was cloudy and kind of drizzly, but the sun came out at a perfect time for us! When we finally arrived in Westport, the town the mountain is closest to, we found a bus to take us to the mountain and finally started to climb a little after 1. There were like 6 other people on the bus with us, all little old ladies, who got really excited for us when they found out we were going up the mountain and told us they would say a prayer for us. They were so cute! When we were on the bus we saw a really big mountain in the distance, and we all were like "how cool would it be if we got to climb that one!" But we really didn't think that was where we were going. When we started climbing we found out that the HUGE mountain was where we were headed! It was such an exhilarating feeling.
The way up was a really rocky path that felt like you were walking on those little rocks that surround houses for landscaping. It was kind of a faux path from people walking so often. Going up wasn't too bad at all until we got about an hour and 15 minutes into it, then we saw what we had to finish. The last stretch was at like a 70 degree angle straight up the mountain, still trying to maneuver on these very slippery little rocks. My lungs were yelling at me, and I realized how out of shape I was, but it was SO fun. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the view kept getting better and better. When we finally got to the top every pain and tough breath was totally worth it. It was the most amazing feeling, like standing on top of the world. There was a church at the top dedicated to St. Patrick, and the most amazing view. We didn't have a whole lot of time because we had to get back down to catch a bus back to Westport, but it was totally breath taking and the most fulfilling feeling to know that I made it up.
The way down was the same rocky path, only trying to walk down them was almost impossible! Maggie and I fell on our bums a few times, including one really graceful fall that left me with some pretty cool scratches on my arm haha. It was kind of like surfing down the side of the mountain, only instead of water below there were more pointy rocks. The way up was tough on the lungs, but this was tough on the knees and hips! We laughed the whole way down as we slid around and tried to keep our balance, and talked to every body we passed motivating them to keep going, it was totally worth it once you get to the top. We got down fairly quickly, about an hour compared to the two hours it took getting up, and ran to get the bus we thought was coming at 4:40, but then found out it wasn't coming until almost 5, oh well! We got back to Westport confident that there was a bus back to Galway, but it turns out the bus we thought we were going to catch only comes on Monday's and Thursday's, and there wasn't another bus until the next day! I went into minor panic mode, but we found a bus driver on one of the other buses and he told us that if we got to Castlebar, the next town over, there would be a bus to Galway in about an hour. We had to get a cab to Castlebar, which was frustrating because of how expensive they are, but we got on the bus and made it back in one piece! It is all part of the adventure I guess!
We went to Monroe's, our traditional Tuesday pub, for pizza and a little bit of Irish dancing but we were all exhausted and smelly and in sweats, so we didn't last as long as usual. It was one of my favorite days since I arrived here, top 5 for sure, and I am so happy we took the opportunity to do it. It was extra fun because it wasn't a tour or a planned thing, it was more spur of the moment and we had to figure it all out on our own. It was one of the first times here that I feel like I got to experience nature rather then just look at it, and I absolutely loved it.
This week I am going to the Cliffs of Moher on Friday, then celebrating my last weekend with all of my Ireland friends! We all start to go home starting next week, and I leave for Italy next Sunday! It is going to be so weird not seeing all of these wonderful people everyday, but it will be much easier to stay in contact when we are all back in the land of cell phones and cars! I am so so so excited to come home, I am missing everyone so much! I still have lots to do before I leave, so time is flying by! 25 more days!
I love you all so much, write when you get the chance!
I hope you are having a great week so far, I heard that MN was having a little bit of heat stroke for a while and I hope you all got to enjoy it! My last week has been pretty low key, but I thought I would shoot you an update anyway since I don't have very many weeks left! This past weekend I had two friends from St. Norbert who are studying in Spain wing through Ireland on there two week spring break travels, so they stayed with Alexa and I for Friday and Saturday! It is always great to see a familiar face and to get to show my home to someone. I wish I could share it with all of you! Kerrie and Katie came in Friday evening and we went out and did a little tour of the Galway pubs, then they left on Saturday to come back and we had a nice little night in on Saturday night. It was nice to catch up with them and get to hear all about there study abroad experiences. It is so cool how everyone I talk to is having such a different experience and to hear all about them. I had two final papers to do this past weekend and I finished those and handed them in on Monday! That means besides my final exams next week I am totally done with school work for Ireland, and had a very relaxing week this week knowing that those two papers were finished.
Yesterday my friend Maggie, Alexa and I decided we wanted to go on an adventure and climb Croagh Patrick, the mountain that St. Patrick fasted on for 40 days and banished the snakes out of Ireland from. We didn't really know what to expect, but we don't have very much time left here and are trying to experience as much as possible. We found a bus that would get us there leaving at 9am and transferring in a small town about two hours from here, then getting on another bus for an hour. When we left that morning it was cloudy and kind of drizzly, but the sun came out at a perfect time for us! When we finally arrived in Westport, the town the mountain is closest to, we found a bus to take us to the mountain and finally started to climb a little after 1. There were like 6 other people on the bus with us, all little old ladies, who got really excited for us when they found out we were going up the mountain and told us they would say a prayer for us. They were so cute! When we were on the bus we saw a really big mountain in the distance, and we all were like "how cool would it be if we got to climb that one!" But we really didn't think that was where we were going. When we started climbing we found out that the HUGE mountain was where we were headed! It was such an exhilarating feeling.
The way up was a really rocky path that felt like you were walking on those little rocks that surround houses for landscaping. It was kind of a faux path from people walking so often. Going up wasn't too bad at all until we got about an hour and 15 minutes into it, then we saw what we had to finish. The last stretch was at like a 70 degree angle straight up the mountain, still trying to maneuver on these very slippery little rocks. My lungs were yelling at me, and I realized how out of shape I was, but it was SO fun. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the view kept getting better and better. When we finally got to the top every pain and tough breath was totally worth it. It was the most amazing feeling, like standing on top of the world. There was a church at the top dedicated to St. Patrick, and the most amazing view. We didn't have a whole lot of time because we had to get back down to catch a bus back to Westport, but it was totally breath taking and the most fulfilling feeling to know that I made it up.
The way down was the same rocky path, only trying to walk down them was almost impossible! Maggie and I fell on our bums a few times, including one really graceful fall that left me with some pretty cool scratches on my arm haha. It was kind of like surfing down the side of the mountain, only instead of water below there were more pointy rocks. The way up was tough on the lungs, but this was tough on the knees and hips! We laughed the whole way down as we slid around and tried to keep our balance, and talked to every body we passed motivating them to keep going, it was totally worth it once you get to the top. We got down fairly quickly, about an hour compared to the two hours it took getting up, and ran to get the bus we thought was coming at 4:40, but then found out it wasn't coming until almost 5, oh well! We got back to Westport confident that there was a bus back to Galway, but it turns out the bus we thought we were going to catch only comes on Monday's and Thursday's, and there wasn't another bus until the next day! I went into minor panic mode, but we found a bus driver on one of the other buses and he told us that if we got to Castlebar, the next town over, there would be a bus to Galway in about an hour. We had to get a cab to Castlebar, which was frustrating because of how expensive they are, but we got on the bus and made it back in one piece! It is all part of the adventure I guess!
We went to Monroe's, our traditional Tuesday pub, for pizza and a little bit of Irish dancing but we were all exhausted and smelly and in sweats, so we didn't last as long as usual. It was one of my favorite days since I arrived here, top 5 for sure, and I am so happy we took the opportunity to do it. It was extra fun because it wasn't a tour or a planned thing, it was more spur of the moment and we had to figure it all out on our own. It was one of the first times here that I feel like I got to experience nature rather then just look at it, and I absolutely loved it.
This week I am going to the Cliffs of Moher on Friday, then celebrating my last weekend with all of my Ireland friends! We all start to go home starting next week, and I leave for Italy next Sunday! It is going to be so weird not seeing all of these wonderful people everyday, but it will be much easier to stay in contact when we are all back in the land of cell phones and cars! I am so so so excited to come home, I am missing everyone so much! I still have lots to do before I leave, so time is flying by! 25 more days!
I love you all so much, write when you get the chance!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Dublin x2!
Hi everybody, Happy Easter!!
I am counting down the days to when I come home, time is absolutely flying by and there is so much I am trying to fit in before I come home in one month from tomorrow! It is a very crazy feeling, and school work is getting in the way of finishing all of my plans haha. One thing that I hadn't done yet until very recently was go to Dublin, and since last week I have been there twice! It is definitely not one of my favorite cities, it is kind of dreary and boring, but it was great being there and experiencing the capital city of my country!
Last week Wednesday-Friday I was invited to go spend three days in Dublin with my friend Alexa's family who was visiting from home. Her parents, older sister, and aunt and uncle were all here for ten days and I spent the last three with them. On Wednesday we got up early and took a train to Dublin and got started right away by finding our hotel then headed to Trinity Collge. We saw the book of Kells and the AMAZING library. It was so beautiful, that is my dream one day to have enough books to need a ladder to get to them all, and this was definitely that big. Very Beauty and the Beast. It was a beautiful day and we had great weather, which was so great for them to be able to see more! After we walked around campus a little bit we walked around Dublin and saw Christ Church and Dublin castle from the outside, then found our way to Temple Bar area. We had a drink in Temple Bar, something everyone has to do if they come to Ireland. The atmosphere was great, and there was a musician playing traditional music which is always fun. After some relaxation time we had dinner then went on a Literary Pub Crawl! It was so cool, we traveled to four different pubs and around other parts of Dublin with our guide telling us stories about famous writers in Irish history then acting out a few of there pieces. Totally worth it, probably my favorite thing in Dublin. Our guide was hilarious and knew so much about literature and Irish history, very refreshing.
Thursday we woke up and made a bee line for the Guinness Factory. Alexa's dad brews his own beer so was VERY excited to go, and it was so much fun. The whole experience is very well laid out, and even though it is a self guided tour it is more like a museum and I learned so much. You get to taste a half pint at one of the stops, then learn the art form of pouring your own pint on another floor, which is pretty intense. Even though I am not the biggest Guinness fan it was somehow much easier to drink sitting in the factory surrounded by all of the history. The brewery was opened 250 years ago and has been super popular since, very cool. After the factory we went to Kilmainham Gaol, the prison where many of the supporters of the 1916 Uprising were held and killed. It was a very creepy place full of Irish history, but very interesting. After that we just had a low key night and went back to the hotel since it was the last night for them to be together. It was SO nice to stay in a hotel and be with a family, I think sometimes just seeing a new face is very very helpful.
This weekend I was having a tough time not being home for Holy Week, it is my favotire time of the whole year and I really did not like being away from St. Ambrose for all of the masses, but the Cathedral here did it really well and it was nice to celebrate it. My friends and I on Easter dyed eggs then played games outside because it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL out, then we had tacos for dinner haha. It was a nice low key day. The best part was my parents brought the computer to our family Easter and I got to talk to my grandma and all of my wonderful family. It really really brightened my whole week and I cannot wait until I get to see you all in person!
Yesterday my friends and I got up at 4am and took a very early bus to Dublin to do a bus tour of Wicklow National Park, called the Wild Wicklow Tour. It was a very very rainy day so we didn't get to see everything that we would have liked, but it was a very cool tour. It is a family run business and the tour guide was totally goofy and crazy. he cracked jokes about everything, but was also very knowledgeable about Dublin and its surrounding areas. We got to see where PS I Love You was filmed, where Braveheart was filmed, the Wicklow Mountains, Bono's house, and some other very cool things that I would have never seen if I hadn't taken the tour. It was a great day tour and gave us something to do while waiting for our exams to start!
I have one and a half papers and two exams left and I am totally done, which is so exciting. Next week will be pretty low key, but the week after I have two exams and it is my last week in Ireland! After that I have two weeks in Italy then I am home, which is totally surreal. I CANNOT wait to be home, but there is so much I want to do before I leave! I have made such great friends here, and leaving them is going to be so hard, but I am trying very hard to live life to the fullest these last 30 days! I love you all so much, update me on life and write me when you get the chance please!
All of my love and prayers coming your way
I am counting down the days to when I come home, time is absolutely flying by and there is so much I am trying to fit in before I come home in one month from tomorrow! It is a very crazy feeling, and school work is getting in the way of finishing all of my plans haha. One thing that I hadn't done yet until very recently was go to Dublin, and since last week I have been there twice! It is definitely not one of my favorite cities, it is kind of dreary and boring, but it was great being there and experiencing the capital city of my country!
Last week Wednesday-Friday I was invited to go spend three days in Dublin with my friend Alexa's family who was visiting from home. Her parents, older sister, and aunt and uncle were all here for ten days and I spent the last three with them. On Wednesday we got up early and took a train to Dublin and got started right away by finding our hotel then headed to Trinity Collge. We saw the book of Kells and the AMAZING library. It was so beautiful, that is my dream one day to have enough books to need a ladder to get to them all, and this was definitely that big. Very Beauty and the Beast. It was a beautiful day and we had great weather, which was so great for them to be able to see more! After we walked around campus a little bit we walked around Dublin and saw Christ Church and Dublin castle from the outside, then found our way to Temple Bar area. We had a drink in Temple Bar, something everyone has to do if they come to Ireland. The atmosphere was great, and there was a musician playing traditional music which is always fun. After some relaxation time we had dinner then went on a Literary Pub Crawl! It was so cool, we traveled to four different pubs and around other parts of Dublin with our guide telling us stories about famous writers in Irish history then acting out a few of there pieces. Totally worth it, probably my favorite thing in Dublin. Our guide was hilarious and knew so much about literature and Irish history, very refreshing.
Thursday we woke up and made a bee line for the Guinness Factory. Alexa's dad brews his own beer so was VERY excited to go, and it was so much fun. The whole experience is very well laid out, and even though it is a self guided tour it is more like a museum and I learned so much. You get to taste a half pint at one of the stops, then learn the art form of pouring your own pint on another floor, which is pretty intense. Even though I am not the biggest Guinness fan it was somehow much easier to drink sitting in the factory surrounded by all of the history. The brewery was opened 250 years ago and has been super popular since, very cool. After the factory we went to Kilmainham Gaol, the prison where many of the supporters of the 1916 Uprising were held and killed. It was a very creepy place full of Irish history, but very interesting. After that we just had a low key night and went back to the hotel since it was the last night for them to be together. It was SO nice to stay in a hotel and be with a family, I think sometimes just seeing a new face is very very helpful.
This weekend I was having a tough time not being home for Holy Week, it is my favotire time of the whole year and I really did not like being away from St. Ambrose for all of the masses, but the Cathedral here did it really well and it was nice to celebrate it. My friends and I on Easter dyed eggs then played games outside because it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL out, then we had tacos for dinner haha. It was a nice low key day. The best part was my parents brought the computer to our family Easter and I got to talk to my grandma and all of my wonderful family. It really really brightened my whole week and I cannot wait until I get to see you all in person!
Yesterday my friends and I got up at 4am and took a very early bus to Dublin to do a bus tour of Wicklow National Park, called the Wild Wicklow Tour. It was a very very rainy day so we didn't get to see everything that we would have liked, but it was a very cool tour. It is a family run business and the tour guide was totally goofy and crazy. he cracked jokes about everything, but was also very knowledgeable about Dublin and its surrounding areas. We got to see where PS I Love You was filmed, where Braveheart was filmed, the Wicklow Mountains, Bono's house, and some other very cool things that I would have never seen if I hadn't taken the tour. It was a great day tour and gave us something to do while waiting for our exams to start!
I have one and a half papers and two exams left and I am totally done, which is so exciting. Next week will be pretty low key, but the week after I have two exams and it is my last week in Ireland! After that I have two weeks in Italy then I am home, which is totally surreal. I CANNOT wait to be home, but there is so much I want to do before I leave! I have made such great friends here, and leaving them is going to be so hard, but I am trying very hard to live life to the fullest these last 30 days! I love you all so much, update me on life and write me when you get the chance please!
All of my love and prayers coming your way
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Adventures in the south of France
Hi everybody!
Holy cats I feel like it has been forever since I have updated you, but life has been pretty chill lately! This past weekend I went to Nice, France for the weekend and enjoyed a lot (a little too much) sun and relaxed for a few days. The weeks before that were pretty slow. Two weeks ago we were at Monroe's, our favorite pub in Galway, because they do Irish dancing on Tuesday nights and we usually go and watch. The atmosphere is so fun and the music is great. We were there early and had dinner, and the little old man who loves to teach American girls to dance came right to our table and told us to get up and dance. He taught us a few group dances before the Regulars came in, and then danced with each of us individually with the "prfessionals" haha, the real Irish people who come every week. It was so so much fun, his name is Michael and he is probably 75ish, and has more energy then anyone I know! It was my goal to dance with him at least once while I was here, and even though I obviously had absolutely no idea what I was doing he was a great teacher and didn't care. It made me remember why I picked Ireland!
Two weekends ago my friend Angie who is studying in London came to visit just for a quick two days. It was great to have a visitor, and even though we didn't do very much except stay around Galway it is always nice to see a friendly face!
Friday I left for Nice and was so excited to see the sun. We got to France about 5:45 and found our way to our hotel. We had found a super cheap hotel which was even cheaper then any of the hostels which was really great, it wasn't anything fancy but it was nice to have clean towels and someone make our beds even just for a few days! It is the little things in life that just make it better haha. After we found our hotel we made our way down to the water, which was about two blocks from our hotel, and walked along the water for a while until we found a restaurant that we liked, which was not difficult. It was a cute little open restaurant right on the water, and eating seafood, drinking wine, and looking out onto the ocean made the night SO perfect. We were exhausted from traveling and didn't really know much about the city yet so we made it an early night and headed back so we could get up early and enjoy the beach fully the next day!
Saturday we woke up and walked along the entire coast just checking things out and found that it was really really quiet. When we got back to our hotel it turns out we walked in the opposite direction of all of the actual city, but oh well it was so nice! We found a famous flower and food market down by the water and bought amazing picnic food, bread, cheese, olives, fruit, absolutely wonderful. We made our way down to the beach and sat and relaxed all afternoon. As much as I love Ireland I was definitely missing the sun, and it was so strong I think my body went into shock! It's like the first day of summer after a long MN winter. After we had our fill of sun for the day we wandered until we found a gelato stand and enjoyed yummy gelato while we walked the city a little bit. It is a super cute town filled with restaurants and shops. The crowd is a bit older then I expected, but it was so much fun. I went to Palm Sunday Mass in French, it is always an experience going to mass in another language but it is also one of my favorite things to do. I love how even though I don't understand all the words, it is such a universal thing that I can respond to in English without knowing any French. They had olive branches instead of palms, but were selling super intricately folded palms outside the church. Holy Week is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I am really going to miss being home for the Triduum and Easter, but I guess I can't complain! After we found a restaurant for dinner where I had FANTASTIC pizza and then we found a few bars and cafes where we sat outside and enjoyed the night life.
Sunday we walked the opposite way on the coast back to the big port where a cruise ship had just come in. There were little celebrations and tours for the cruise members, and we just took in all of the huge boats and beautiful chateaus. The water is so ridiculously blue and clear that I could have just sat and looked at it for hours, which lets face it I did. We made our way back to the market for picnic day two, and found that it had gotten cloudy since the morning. Me, being not so smart, decided that I didn't get that burned the day before so I didn't need to put sunscreen on because it was cloudy. ROOKIE mistake. I FRIED the tops of my feet, my chest, and my back, but oh well I guess I still haven't learned after 21 years of summer! That night we found a great little seafood restaurant and then went in search of some fun. My friend Erin had a heard of a place called Wayne's which was supposed to be super fun so we asked our hotel desk man to look it up. When we got there it was a total tourist bar, but one of the most fun places I have ever been. There were big long tables where everybody just sat intermixed and made friends with whoever was next to them, we had Austrians on one side and a few French boys on our other side. Our waiter was a very attractive Australian man who was totally crazy, and I think the guys next to us where pretty much the only French people in the whole place! It was totally crazy, and then a live band started playing. After a little bit everybody started getting up on the tables and dancing, apparently that is what Wayne's is famous for. Now I am so not a person who gets up on tables and dances, but the atmosphere of this place was so much fun and crazy I had to hop up there! What made it even better is I they served Amaretto sours, my FAVORITE drink which I cannot find in Ireland. I was one happy camper.
Monday we didn't have to leave until late, so we found our last bakery for breakfast then walked to a Russian inspired church a few blocks away from our hotel. It was really cool, it looked like a Russian palace with the striped spires and all. We headed to the beach for our last few hours there. We were all pretty sunburned so it was a short trip out there where we all stayed pretty covered up, unlike a few of the women who were definitely topless, oh the differences in cultures. We found our last gelato and headed to the airport to make our way back to Ireland where there is no sun. To prove this to us it was raining when we landed and all last night. Thanks for throwing that in my face mother nature haha.
This week I am going to Dublin with Alexa's family who is here visiting, it is crazy that I have been here for over 3 months now and haven't been to Dublin yet except the airport! I am very excited to spend time with her family and see the city. Classes ended last week so I now have two papers and two finals at the end of April and then I am done which is so crazy! Time is flying! I am almost ready to come home, but not ready to leave. Crazy mix of emotions!
I love you all so much, sorry this was such a long one! I cannot wait to hear from you, you are all in my thoughts and prayers. Happy Easter!
Holy cats I feel like it has been forever since I have updated you, but life has been pretty chill lately! This past weekend I went to Nice, France for the weekend and enjoyed a lot (a little too much) sun and relaxed for a few days. The weeks before that were pretty slow. Two weeks ago we were at Monroe's, our favorite pub in Galway, because they do Irish dancing on Tuesday nights and we usually go and watch. The atmosphere is so fun and the music is great. We were there early and had dinner, and the little old man who loves to teach American girls to dance came right to our table and told us to get up and dance. He taught us a few group dances before the Regulars came in, and then danced with each of us individually with the "prfessionals" haha, the real Irish people who come every week. It was so so much fun, his name is Michael and he is probably 75ish, and has more energy then anyone I know! It was my goal to dance with him at least once while I was here, and even though I obviously had absolutely no idea what I was doing he was a great teacher and didn't care. It made me remember why I picked Ireland!
Two weekends ago my friend Angie who is studying in London came to visit just for a quick two days. It was great to have a visitor, and even though we didn't do very much except stay around Galway it is always nice to see a friendly face!
Friday I left for Nice and was so excited to see the sun. We got to France about 5:45 and found our way to our hotel. We had found a super cheap hotel which was even cheaper then any of the hostels which was really great, it wasn't anything fancy but it was nice to have clean towels and someone make our beds even just for a few days! It is the little things in life that just make it better haha. After we found our hotel we made our way down to the water, which was about two blocks from our hotel, and walked along the water for a while until we found a restaurant that we liked, which was not difficult. It was a cute little open restaurant right on the water, and eating seafood, drinking wine, and looking out onto the ocean made the night SO perfect. We were exhausted from traveling and didn't really know much about the city yet so we made it an early night and headed back so we could get up early and enjoy the beach fully the next day!
Saturday we woke up and walked along the entire coast just checking things out and found that it was really really quiet. When we got back to our hotel it turns out we walked in the opposite direction of all of the actual city, but oh well it was so nice! We found a famous flower and food market down by the water and bought amazing picnic food, bread, cheese, olives, fruit, absolutely wonderful. We made our way down to the beach and sat and relaxed all afternoon. As much as I love Ireland I was definitely missing the sun, and it was so strong I think my body went into shock! It's like the first day of summer after a long MN winter. After we had our fill of sun for the day we wandered until we found a gelato stand and enjoyed yummy gelato while we walked the city a little bit. It is a super cute town filled with restaurants and shops. The crowd is a bit older then I expected, but it was so much fun. I went to Palm Sunday Mass in French, it is always an experience going to mass in another language but it is also one of my favorite things to do. I love how even though I don't understand all the words, it is such a universal thing that I can respond to in English without knowing any French. They had olive branches instead of palms, but were selling super intricately folded palms outside the church. Holy Week is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I am really going to miss being home for the Triduum and Easter, but I guess I can't complain! After we found a restaurant for dinner where I had FANTASTIC pizza and then we found a few bars and cafes where we sat outside and enjoyed the night life.
Sunday we walked the opposite way on the coast back to the big port where a cruise ship had just come in. There were little celebrations and tours for the cruise members, and we just took in all of the huge boats and beautiful chateaus. The water is so ridiculously blue and clear that I could have just sat and looked at it for hours, which lets face it I did. We made our way back to the market for picnic day two, and found that it had gotten cloudy since the morning. Me, being not so smart, decided that I didn't get that burned the day before so I didn't need to put sunscreen on because it was cloudy. ROOKIE mistake. I FRIED the tops of my feet, my chest, and my back, but oh well I guess I still haven't learned after 21 years of summer! That night we found a great little seafood restaurant and then went in search of some fun. My friend Erin had a heard of a place called Wayne's which was supposed to be super fun so we asked our hotel desk man to look it up. When we got there it was a total tourist bar, but one of the most fun places I have ever been. There were big long tables where everybody just sat intermixed and made friends with whoever was next to them, we had Austrians on one side and a few French boys on our other side. Our waiter was a very attractive Australian man who was totally crazy, and I think the guys next to us where pretty much the only French people in the whole place! It was totally crazy, and then a live band started playing. After a little bit everybody started getting up on the tables and dancing, apparently that is what Wayne's is famous for. Now I am so not a person who gets up on tables and dances, but the atmosphere of this place was so much fun and crazy I had to hop up there! What made it even better is I they served Amaretto sours, my FAVORITE drink which I cannot find in Ireland. I was one happy camper.
Monday we didn't have to leave until late, so we found our last bakery for breakfast then walked to a Russian inspired church a few blocks away from our hotel. It was really cool, it looked like a Russian palace with the striped spires and all. We headed to the beach for our last few hours there. We were all pretty sunburned so it was a short trip out there where we all stayed pretty covered up, unlike a few of the women who were definitely topless, oh the differences in cultures. We found our last gelato and headed to the airport to make our way back to Ireland where there is no sun. To prove this to us it was raining when we landed and all last night. Thanks for throwing that in my face mother nature haha.
This week I am going to Dublin with Alexa's family who is here visiting, it is crazy that I have been here for over 3 months now and haven't been to Dublin yet except the airport! I am very excited to spend time with her family and see the city. Classes ended last week so I now have two papers and two finals at the end of April and then I am done which is so crazy! Time is flying! I am almost ready to come home, but not ready to leave. Crazy mix of emotions!
I love you all so much, sorry this was such a long one! I cannot wait to hear from you, you are all in my thoughts and prayers. Happy Easter!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Barcelona!
Hello everybody Happy Spring!
This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go to Barcelona, Spain for 2 days and it was so beautiful! Spain is a country that I never actually thought I would ever make it to, and I am so happy I used my time in Europe to go there. I have a friend who is studying in Toledo, outside of Madrid, and she and a few friends came to Barcelona and we got to spend time with them which was SO nice. I always love seeing anyone from home, it is always so crazy to be able to say we were in Europe together!
Our flight left Friday morning at 6:45am out of the Shannon Airport which is an hour and a half from Galway, and we had to be there early for check in, so we took a short nap and got up and left the apartments at 2:45am to make it to the 3:30am bus. We thought we would have plenty of time because the bus station is about a half an hour walk, but it turns out there were a lot of travelers this weekend because we had to wait in a long line. I was so nervous we weren't going to get on the bus, and when we got to the front of the line he told us that we were the last people on the bus! We were so lucky, I have no idea what we would have done if they would have turned us away! When we finally got to the airport we took the two hour flight and got to Barcelona very easily, and after traveling for about 9 hours we finally got to our hostel and met up with Amy and her friends. We took off right away and walked the streets of Barcelona. D'Antonio Gaudi was a famous artist/architect in the early 1900's and he designed a lot of the buildings and famous sites in the city, so we got to see a few of his buildings on our way to his most famous one, the Cathedral Sagrada Familia! It is a huge Cathedral that Gaudi designed and started, but died in the middle of building it in the 1920's before it was finished. Since then it has been continued to be built, and when it was damaged during the Spanish Civil War restored. It is very, very intricate and crazy looking. The front of the building is centered around the crucifixion and the back is centered around the Nativity. Everywhere you look there is some new thing to see or interpret, I loved it! We decided once we got in that we wanted to pay the 2.50 Euro they were asking for to go up to the top, and it was totally worth it. The city looked so beautiful from the top of the church and it gave it such an older feel! Very Spanish looking from the top haha. After that we wnated to go find the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics, and we wandered around the city until we finally started seeing signs! It was a very beautiful part of town, they went all out for the Olympics and a lot of the fountains and other special monuments are there which were beautiful. We made our way to the "Dancing Waters" show outside of one of the Plaza's which was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the one at Epcot in Disney World. We thought it was going to be much warmer then it was the whole weekend so it got pretty chilly sitting by the fountain in the cold weather, but it was still definitely warmer then Ireland! After the show we were all hungry and we headed to a Spanish restaurant where those of us not studying in Spain could try Paella, Tapas and Sangria! SO Yummy! My love of food definitely includes Spanish food, I didn't have anything I didn't like! I fell in love with Sangria, totally wonderful, hopefully the girls studying there will figure out how to make it!
The next day we were in no real hurry to go anywhere or do anything specific, it was a really relaxing day. I feel like the past few times I have traveled I have been so stressed with seeing everything I want to see that I didn't take time to really enjoy it! We walked down the street our hostel was on, Las Ramblas one of the biggest streets in Barcelona, toward the amazing city market. It is an everyday market that was HUGE! I know I mention these in almost every city that I visit, but I love the idea of buying things so fresh and yummy everyday. Something I definitely wish I could do at home more often. After our fix of the market we walked across the city to one of Gaudi's most famous structures, Park Guell. It is a big park where a lot of the buildings look like gingerbread houses haha. The park was beautiful and the view was even more amazing. We found some steps and we decided to see where they led. After 325 stairs we were at the top of the park with an AMAZING view of the city all the way to the Mediterranean! It was totally worth the steps! The man who worked at our hostel told us there was another pretty park that we thought we might try and get to but we didn't know where we were going and the map was kind of confusing. A few of the girls went into the Pharmacy to ask for directions, and a little old Spanish lady told her that we couldn't get there by foot we had to take a bus, and she would show us (all in Spanish of course!) This woman was SO adorable, and one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. I had no idea what she was saying, but I still love her haha. She walked us through this neighborhood all the way to the correct bus station then got on the bus and told the conductor where we were headed and asked him to make sure we got off at the right stop. She offered us her bus pass, but already had one so we said we were fine. She was so genuinely nice and wanted us to have such a good time, it was so comforting! It also helped that all of the girls I was with spoke very good Spanish so I just got to follow haha. If it wasn't numbers or colors I was pretty much out of luck. Once we got off the bus we found a little supermarket and bought baguettes, cheese, meat, chips, and pop and walked to the park for a picnic. It was so beautiful and so relaxing just to sit and enjoy where we were. Probably one of my favorite moments of the weekend. We then decided we were ready for the beach!
It was only about 60 degrees tops, but we were bound and determined to sit on the beach, even if that meant sitting there in our long sleeves and jeans. It was SO beautiful sitting and watching the waves and the surfers and just taking it all in. We walked along the beach for a while and touched the water (BRR! It was like Lake Superior!) and then walked on the sidewalks along the ocean once it got a little too cold to be in the water. It was such a nice relaxing afternoon with no agenda and no time limit. We walked and found a Spanish band playing by the port and sat and watched them for a little while, then found dinner at a little Italian restaurant with more Sangria! It was a great weekend with great friends!
This weekend my friend Angie who I stayed with in London is coming to visit just for one night, but it is always nice to have visitors! I only have this week and next week left of classes, then a nice long break before my two finals! I will keep you updated when anything else exciting happens, next weekend I am going to Nice, France for another relaxing weekend so that should be great! I miss you all so much!! Write if you get the chance!!
This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go to Barcelona, Spain for 2 days and it was so beautiful! Spain is a country that I never actually thought I would ever make it to, and I am so happy I used my time in Europe to go there. I have a friend who is studying in Toledo, outside of Madrid, and she and a few friends came to Barcelona and we got to spend time with them which was SO nice. I always love seeing anyone from home, it is always so crazy to be able to say we were in Europe together!
Our flight left Friday morning at 6:45am out of the Shannon Airport which is an hour and a half from Galway, and we had to be there early for check in, so we took a short nap and got up and left the apartments at 2:45am to make it to the 3:30am bus. We thought we would have plenty of time because the bus station is about a half an hour walk, but it turns out there were a lot of travelers this weekend because we had to wait in a long line. I was so nervous we weren't going to get on the bus, and when we got to the front of the line he told us that we were the last people on the bus! We were so lucky, I have no idea what we would have done if they would have turned us away! When we finally got to the airport we took the two hour flight and got to Barcelona very easily, and after traveling for about 9 hours we finally got to our hostel and met up with Amy and her friends. We took off right away and walked the streets of Barcelona. D'Antonio Gaudi was a famous artist/architect in the early 1900's and he designed a lot of the buildings and famous sites in the city, so we got to see a few of his buildings on our way to his most famous one, the Cathedral Sagrada Familia! It is a huge Cathedral that Gaudi designed and started, but died in the middle of building it in the 1920's before it was finished. Since then it has been continued to be built, and when it was damaged during the Spanish Civil War restored. It is very, very intricate and crazy looking. The front of the building is centered around the crucifixion and the back is centered around the Nativity. Everywhere you look there is some new thing to see or interpret, I loved it! We decided once we got in that we wanted to pay the 2.50 Euro they were asking for to go up to the top, and it was totally worth it. The city looked so beautiful from the top of the church and it gave it such an older feel! Very Spanish looking from the top haha. After that we wnated to go find the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics, and we wandered around the city until we finally started seeing signs! It was a very beautiful part of town, they went all out for the Olympics and a lot of the fountains and other special monuments are there which were beautiful. We made our way to the "Dancing Waters" show outside of one of the Plaza's which was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the one at Epcot in Disney World. We thought it was going to be much warmer then it was the whole weekend so it got pretty chilly sitting by the fountain in the cold weather, but it was still definitely warmer then Ireland! After the show we were all hungry and we headed to a Spanish restaurant where those of us not studying in Spain could try Paella, Tapas and Sangria! SO Yummy! My love of food definitely includes Spanish food, I didn't have anything I didn't like! I fell in love with Sangria, totally wonderful, hopefully the girls studying there will figure out how to make it!
The next day we were in no real hurry to go anywhere or do anything specific, it was a really relaxing day. I feel like the past few times I have traveled I have been so stressed with seeing everything I want to see that I didn't take time to really enjoy it! We walked down the street our hostel was on, Las Ramblas one of the biggest streets in Barcelona, toward the amazing city market. It is an everyday market that was HUGE! I know I mention these in almost every city that I visit, but I love the idea of buying things so fresh and yummy everyday. Something I definitely wish I could do at home more often. After our fix of the market we walked across the city to one of Gaudi's most famous structures, Park Guell. It is a big park where a lot of the buildings look like gingerbread houses haha. The park was beautiful and the view was even more amazing. We found some steps and we decided to see where they led. After 325 stairs we were at the top of the park with an AMAZING view of the city all the way to the Mediterranean! It was totally worth the steps! The man who worked at our hostel told us there was another pretty park that we thought we might try and get to but we didn't know where we were going and the map was kind of confusing. A few of the girls went into the Pharmacy to ask for directions, and a little old Spanish lady told her that we couldn't get there by foot we had to take a bus, and she would show us (all in Spanish of course!) This woman was SO adorable, and one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. I had no idea what she was saying, but I still love her haha. She walked us through this neighborhood all the way to the correct bus station then got on the bus and told the conductor where we were headed and asked him to make sure we got off at the right stop. She offered us her bus pass, but already had one so we said we were fine. She was so genuinely nice and wanted us to have such a good time, it was so comforting! It also helped that all of the girls I was with spoke very good Spanish so I just got to follow haha. If it wasn't numbers or colors I was pretty much out of luck. Once we got off the bus we found a little supermarket and bought baguettes, cheese, meat, chips, and pop and walked to the park for a picnic. It was so beautiful and so relaxing just to sit and enjoy where we were. Probably one of my favorite moments of the weekend. We then decided we were ready for the beach!
It was only about 60 degrees tops, but we were bound and determined to sit on the beach, even if that meant sitting there in our long sleeves and jeans. It was SO beautiful sitting and watching the waves and the surfers and just taking it all in. We walked along the beach for a while and touched the water (BRR! It was like Lake Superior!) and then walked on the sidewalks along the ocean once it got a little too cold to be in the water. It was such a nice relaxing afternoon with no agenda and no time limit. We walked and found a Spanish band playing by the port and sat and watched them for a little while, then found dinner at a little Italian restaurant with more Sangria! It was a great weekend with great friends!
This weekend my friend Angie who I stayed with in London is coming to visit just for one night, but it is always nice to have visitors! I only have this week and next week left of classes, then a nice long break before my two finals! I will keep you updated when anything else exciting happens, next weekend I am going to Nice, France for another relaxing weekend so that should be great! I miss you all so much!! Write if you get the chance!!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Happy St. Patty's Day!!!
Hello!
It is March 18 which means I survived St. Patrick's Day in Ireland! It was so much fun and I wish you all could have been here to experience it! It was BY FAR the most beautiful day we have had since I arrived, not a cloud in the sky, sunny, and 60's! We were in t-shirts and totally comfortable which is unheard of for the past 2.5 months at least. My friends and I started out by making brunch at 10am which was a really great way to start a super fun day. The parade was at 12:30, and from what I have read and heard it is the biggest on in Ireland. There are like 50,000 spectators and the streets are not very big in the first place! It was weird, this weekend there were a lot of tourists downtown and I began to feel very territorial like it is actually my home which I think is good:) After the parade we stayed downtown and went to a few of our favorite pubs for the afternoon. They all had traditional music playing and the people were so much fun! We took a break for the evening and headed back into town at about 10pm for round 2, and the streets and pubs were still packed. Everyone was in such high spirits (I don't know if that was because of the weather or the alcohol, I think both helped :)) All of the green was crazy and fun. It honestly is more of an American holiday and it really isn't too much different here then any other day except it is a bank holiday so no classes and work for a lot of people. Of course as an American it felt totally different and was definitely a reason to celebrate! I promise, they all did there share of celebrating as well:)
Other then that the past week has been fairly uneventful. My semester is winding down quick, only 2 weeks of classes left, which means I am writing papers much more often then I would like to be. The weather today was another absolutely gorgeous day which makes homework even harder, but being happy so much easier! I got my final exam schedule last week and it was a little different then what I had planned. At first everyone told us that we had spring break from April 4-24, but it turns out that isn't the case! My friends and I had planned a trip to Italy at that time but lucky for us we didn't book anything just in case, so now we moved our trip to the first weeks in May. I am done with classes on April 2, then have a final April 17 and May 1 so April is going to be a long month! It will definitely be nice to get to go places around Ireland that I was worried I wasn't going to make it to, and to experience Galway to its absolute fullest. Since exams are different I moved my flight and am coming home a week early! May 17 at 8pm I will be back in MN exhausted and happy!
This weekend I am going to Barcelona for a short visit and am meeting up with one of my friends from St. Norbert who is studying in Spain so that will be so nice! It is supposed to be sunny and warm and relaxing! All of these opportunities are so amazing, I am so blessed that I get to do all of these things and experience all of these different cultures. It definitely makes me more gracious for what I have and take for granted every day. I am totally falling in love with it here, but there are things that are just better at home (like a clean bathroom/living space, blankets, and hugs!)or that they don't have here (i.e. corn chips and salsa, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and cheap ice cream haha) I have 8 weeks left which sometimes seems like an eternity and sometimes feels like it is flying by. Either way I am trying to live everyday as much as I can! I love you all so much, I hope spring is being nice to you! Write if you can!
It is March 18 which means I survived St. Patrick's Day in Ireland! It was so much fun and I wish you all could have been here to experience it! It was BY FAR the most beautiful day we have had since I arrived, not a cloud in the sky, sunny, and 60's! We were in t-shirts and totally comfortable which is unheard of for the past 2.5 months at least. My friends and I started out by making brunch at 10am which was a really great way to start a super fun day. The parade was at 12:30, and from what I have read and heard it is the biggest on in Ireland. There are like 50,000 spectators and the streets are not very big in the first place! It was weird, this weekend there were a lot of tourists downtown and I began to feel very territorial like it is actually my home which I think is good:) After the parade we stayed downtown and went to a few of our favorite pubs for the afternoon. They all had traditional music playing and the people were so much fun! We took a break for the evening and headed back into town at about 10pm for round 2, and the streets and pubs were still packed. Everyone was in such high spirits (I don't know if that was because of the weather or the alcohol, I think both helped :)) All of the green was crazy and fun. It honestly is more of an American holiday and it really isn't too much different here then any other day except it is a bank holiday so no classes and work for a lot of people. Of course as an American it felt totally different and was definitely a reason to celebrate! I promise, they all did there share of celebrating as well:)
Other then that the past week has been fairly uneventful. My semester is winding down quick, only 2 weeks of classes left, which means I am writing papers much more often then I would like to be. The weather today was another absolutely gorgeous day which makes homework even harder, but being happy so much easier! I got my final exam schedule last week and it was a little different then what I had planned. At first everyone told us that we had spring break from April 4-24, but it turns out that isn't the case! My friends and I had planned a trip to Italy at that time but lucky for us we didn't book anything just in case, so now we moved our trip to the first weeks in May. I am done with classes on April 2, then have a final April 17 and May 1 so April is going to be a long month! It will definitely be nice to get to go places around Ireland that I was worried I wasn't going to make it to, and to experience Galway to its absolute fullest. Since exams are different I moved my flight and am coming home a week early! May 17 at 8pm I will be back in MN exhausted and happy!
This weekend I am going to Barcelona for a short visit and am meeting up with one of my friends from St. Norbert who is studying in Spain so that will be so nice! It is supposed to be sunny and warm and relaxing! All of these opportunities are so amazing, I am so blessed that I get to do all of these things and experience all of these different cultures. It definitely makes me more gracious for what I have and take for granted every day. I am totally falling in love with it here, but there are things that are just better at home (like a clean bathroom/living space, blankets, and hugs!)or that they don't have here (i.e. corn chips and salsa, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and cheap ice cream haha) I have 8 weeks left which sometimes seems like an eternity and sometimes feels like it is flying by. Either way I am trying to live everyday as much as I can! I love you all so much, I hope spring is being nice to you! Write if you can!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Rach's visit and the Aran Islands
Hi Everybody!
This past week had flown by since I have returned from London. When I first got back I was feeling really sick so I finally went to go see the nurse on Wednesday who had me see the Doctor on Thursday who gave me medication for my sinus infection! I was very happy about it because I am now almost totally healthy after over two weeks of being sick. On Thursday night my friend Rachel, who was my freshmen and sophomore roommate at SNC, flew in from studying in Rome. She didn't get into Galway until 2:40am, but we got to spend the whole weekend together! It was so nice to have a visitor and see a new face.
On Friday morning we powered through on very little sleep and woke up to go see the Aran Islands. There are three islands off the western coast of Ireland right outside of Galway that are often considered to be the most beautiful part of Ireland, and also the most "Irish" part of the country. It is said that the more west you go the more traditionally Irish the people and land are, so where I am and the islands are more traditional then Dublin or places more in the East. The Islands are incredibly traditional, and have only had electricity for the past thirty years. There are only around 800 people living on the big island if Innis Moor where we visited, with three Catholic churches, three schools, and around twelve farms. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was so excited that I got to share that with Rach. I will attach the link to pictures in my email! When we woke up Friday morning it was raining in Galway which doesn't really make for the best tourist weather, but we decided to get on the bus anyway. We had to take a 45 minute bus ride then a 45 minute ferry ride out to the island, and by the time we got there the rain had stopped. We got off the ferry and saw van tours for 10 Euro, and decided because it was cold and we didn't really feel like walking or biking in the wind this looked like a good option. The guide took us all around the whole island and gave us the history and pointed out important things. he had grown up there and learned English as a second language after Irish, so he was a great resource. He gave us two hours at the highest point of the island where we had to climb up a large hill to the cliffs, and when we got there the sky was blue and the wind had died down. It was so beautiful looking out over the sea and the island! After we returned to the center after our tour we shopped a little bit and found Aran Island wool sweaters that we fell in love with. It was a great day!!
That evening we got back and met up with friends to have fish and chips at what we are told is the best fish and chips in all of Ireland! It is downtown Galway called McDonnugh's, and it was a really great meal. After we went out to a traditional pub so Rach could experience Galway and listened to some great music!
Saturday was very very rainy and windy so our plans to go to the market and the ocean were cut a little short. We tried for a little while but we were pretty wet! That night we went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" because Rach was craving an English movie after all of the Italian she hears all the time. It was a really nice relaxing day with some great friends. Rach left at 5:30am Sunday morning in a hail and windstorm, but overall the weekend was so much fun!!!
Yesterday I had to do some of my very first homework since I arrived here 2 months ago, sad I know. As much as I go to class here it is definitely easy to forget that I am a student sometimes. The work load is so much lighter and easier then at home, not that i am complaining about that at all ha. It is definitely going to be interesting going back to student teach in the fall and to have to remember how to work hard and get things done! My classes are actually coming to an end in a few weeks which is very crazy, I can't believe that I am halfway done with being here! In two weekends I am heading to Barcelona to meet up with a friend studying in Spain, and then I have a trip to Nice, France planned for a weekend after that then a 12 day trip in Italy! I am so blessed to have all of these opportunities, and realize how much I take for granted when I am at home. I miss you all so much! Have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you!
Love from Ireland!!
This past week had flown by since I have returned from London. When I first got back I was feeling really sick so I finally went to go see the nurse on Wednesday who had me see the Doctor on Thursday who gave me medication for my sinus infection! I was very happy about it because I am now almost totally healthy after over two weeks of being sick. On Thursday night my friend Rachel, who was my freshmen and sophomore roommate at SNC, flew in from studying in Rome. She didn't get into Galway until 2:40am, but we got to spend the whole weekend together! It was so nice to have a visitor and see a new face.
On Friday morning we powered through on very little sleep and woke up to go see the Aran Islands. There are three islands off the western coast of Ireland right outside of Galway that are often considered to be the most beautiful part of Ireland, and also the most "Irish" part of the country. It is said that the more west you go the more traditionally Irish the people and land are, so where I am and the islands are more traditional then Dublin or places more in the East. The Islands are incredibly traditional, and have only had electricity for the past thirty years. There are only around 800 people living on the big island if Innis Moor where we visited, with three Catholic churches, three schools, and around twelve farms. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was so excited that I got to share that with Rach. I will attach the link to pictures in my email! When we woke up Friday morning it was raining in Galway which doesn't really make for the best tourist weather, but we decided to get on the bus anyway. We had to take a 45 minute bus ride then a 45 minute ferry ride out to the island, and by the time we got there the rain had stopped. We got off the ferry and saw van tours for 10 Euro, and decided because it was cold and we didn't really feel like walking or biking in the wind this looked like a good option. The guide took us all around the whole island and gave us the history and pointed out important things. he had grown up there and learned English as a second language after Irish, so he was a great resource. He gave us two hours at the highest point of the island where we had to climb up a large hill to the cliffs, and when we got there the sky was blue and the wind had died down. It was so beautiful looking out over the sea and the island! After we returned to the center after our tour we shopped a little bit and found Aran Island wool sweaters that we fell in love with. It was a great day!!
That evening we got back and met up with friends to have fish and chips at what we are told is the best fish and chips in all of Ireland! It is downtown Galway called McDonnugh's, and it was a really great meal. After we went out to a traditional pub so Rach could experience Galway and listened to some great music!
Saturday was very very rainy and windy so our plans to go to the market and the ocean were cut a little short. We tried for a little while but we were pretty wet! That night we went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" because Rach was craving an English movie after all of the Italian she hears all the time. It was a really nice relaxing day with some great friends. Rach left at 5:30am Sunday morning in a hail and windstorm, but overall the weekend was so much fun!!!
Yesterday I had to do some of my very first homework since I arrived here 2 months ago, sad I know. As much as I go to class here it is definitely easy to forget that I am a student sometimes. The work load is so much lighter and easier then at home, not that i am complaining about that at all ha. It is definitely going to be interesting going back to student teach in the fall and to have to remember how to work hard and get things done! My classes are actually coming to an end in a few weeks which is very crazy, I can't believe that I am halfway done with being here! In two weekends I am heading to Barcelona to meet up with a friend studying in Spain, and then I have a trip to Nice, France planned for a weekend after that then a 12 day trip in Italy! I am so blessed to have all of these opportunities, and realize how much I take for granted when I am at home. I miss you all so much! Have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you!
Love from Ireland!!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
London!!!!!
This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to spend 4 days in London, and I completely fell in love. It is such a fun city with so much history and so much going on all the time. It was just Alexa and I who went, but we were able to stay with my friend Angie for the weekend. She was my best friend when I lived in Sartell and we haven't seen each other for a few years, but we reunited in Europe!! It was so nice to have someone who knew what was going on and could give us suggestions and help us get around a little easier. She met us at the underground station when we got in Thursday night and took us out to karaoke with her friends. It was so much fun! A great way to start a really good weekend.
Friday Alexa and I decided we should get our bearings and try to see as much as we could, so we bought a tour bus ticket and got 48 hours to ride on the topless red double decker buses. Boy did we use it! On Friday we saw Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and a lot of other little things that we wouldn't have picked out without the bus tour guides. While we were at the Tower of London we decided to get ice cream and walk by the Thames, and as we were walking a bird pooped in my hair. That was a fun little adventure:) By the time we had seen most of the sights it was time to go back and meet Ang to go get dinner and see our first show, Spring Awakening!!! If you have never heard of it, look it up and listen to the music. It was the 2007 Tony Award Show of the year, and it is absolutely amazing. It is the story of young teens in the nineteenth century finding all about sex and the parts of life that their parents are sheltering them from. It was sooooo much fun. We went and got fish and chips before hand, and it was the perfect British night:)
Saturday Lex and I woke up early and went to the center of where theater tickets are sold and tried to find cheap tickets for as many shows as we could. We ended up buying matinées tickets for Billy Elliot (so good, amazing dancing) and then tickets for Wicked that night! I saw it on Broadway my senior year of high school, but it was definitely worth seeing for a second time. I swear I am never happier then when I am in the theater. Before our shows started we got back on the bus and rode it to Harrod's and around a little bit more to hear more about the sights. After Billy Elliot we ate at this really cute Italian restaurant down by the theaters and ate yummy pizza and wine. 2 perfect nights in a row, I am so blessed I can't even put it into words.
Sunday we woke up to catch the free boat tour down the Thames that we got with our bus tickets and rode the boat to Greenwich. I decided that I want to move here when I get the chance, it is such a cute town with everything I need, including a HUGE daily market. We went up the hill to the Royal Observatory to straddle the Prime Meridian and walked around the city a little bit, then took the underground over to King's Cross to play Harry Potter and see Platform 9 and 3/4. It was a little disappointing, but totally worth it! Then we headed to the British Museum for a while, then made our way to Mass in a BEAUTIFUL Cathedral. It is called St. James Parish on George Street, and it was one of the most beautiful churches I have been in since I arrived and it was in the middle of the city. After mass we met up with Ang to get on the London Eye to see London at night! It was a completely different view, and totally breathtaking. It was so nice to spend time with Ang and do some of these amazing things with her. I also totally fell in love with the underground system, strange I know, but it was so efficient and reliable and took us EVERYWHERE. I have yet to live somewhere where public transportation is popular, maybe someday.
It was one of my favorite weekends since I arrived two months ago. I am still battling a sinus infection, but somehow that seems less important when in Europe. This weekend my freshman and sophomore roommate Rachel who is studying in Rome is coming to visit and I could not be more excited! It is going to be so wonderful to have someone from home here and get to show her all of what Galway has to offer. I think we may even try to sneak off to the Aran Islands for a day which would be fantastic.
I know spring breaks are starting, so have fun and be safe if and when it is yours! I love you all so much and cannot believe that I am not even halfway through. Sometimes that is really exciting and sometimes it is really exhausting, but I can't wait to hear from all of you! Love you!
Friday Alexa and I decided we should get our bearings and try to see as much as we could, so we bought a tour bus ticket and got 48 hours to ride on the topless red double decker buses. Boy did we use it! On Friday we saw Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and a lot of other little things that we wouldn't have picked out without the bus tour guides. While we were at the Tower of London we decided to get ice cream and walk by the Thames, and as we were walking a bird pooped in my hair. That was a fun little adventure:) By the time we had seen most of the sights it was time to go back and meet Ang to go get dinner and see our first show, Spring Awakening!!! If you have never heard of it, look it up and listen to the music. It was the 2007 Tony Award Show of the year, and it is absolutely amazing. It is the story of young teens in the nineteenth century finding all about sex and the parts of life that their parents are sheltering them from. It was sooooo much fun. We went and got fish and chips before hand, and it was the perfect British night:)
Saturday Lex and I woke up early and went to the center of where theater tickets are sold and tried to find cheap tickets for as many shows as we could. We ended up buying matinées tickets for Billy Elliot (so good, amazing dancing) and then tickets for Wicked that night! I saw it on Broadway my senior year of high school, but it was definitely worth seeing for a second time. I swear I am never happier then when I am in the theater. Before our shows started we got back on the bus and rode it to Harrod's and around a little bit more to hear more about the sights. After Billy Elliot we ate at this really cute Italian restaurant down by the theaters and ate yummy pizza and wine. 2 perfect nights in a row, I am so blessed I can't even put it into words.
Sunday we woke up to catch the free boat tour down the Thames that we got with our bus tickets and rode the boat to Greenwich. I decided that I want to move here when I get the chance, it is such a cute town with everything I need, including a HUGE daily market. We went up the hill to the Royal Observatory to straddle the Prime Meridian and walked around the city a little bit, then took the underground over to King's Cross to play Harry Potter and see Platform 9 and 3/4. It was a little disappointing, but totally worth it! Then we headed to the British Museum for a while, then made our way to Mass in a BEAUTIFUL Cathedral. It is called St. James Parish on George Street, and it was one of the most beautiful churches I have been in since I arrived and it was in the middle of the city. After mass we met up with Ang to get on the London Eye to see London at night! It was a completely different view, and totally breathtaking. It was so nice to spend time with Ang and do some of these amazing things with her. I also totally fell in love with the underground system, strange I know, but it was so efficient and reliable and took us EVERYWHERE. I have yet to live somewhere where public transportation is popular, maybe someday.
It was one of my favorite weekends since I arrived two months ago. I am still battling a sinus infection, but somehow that seems less important when in Europe. This weekend my freshman and sophomore roommate Rachel who is studying in Rome is coming to visit and I could not be more excited! It is going to be so wonderful to have someone from home here and get to show her all of what Galway has to offer. I think we may even try to sneak off to the Aran Islands for a day which would be fantastic.
I know spring breaks are starting, so have fun and be safe if and when it is yours! I love you all so much and cannot believe that I am not even halfway through. Sometimes that is really exciting and sometimes it is really exhausting, but I can't wait to hear from all of you! Love you!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Castles and a ball, I really am in Europe
Hi everyone!
This past week has been pretty eventful even though I have stayed in Ireland. Last Wednesday my friends and I got to go to a real ball! At my school it is broken up into broad departments, and each department has a ball for its students. We went to the biggest one for Arts students (English, Psych, etc.) and danced with 1200 people! It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and go to the pub before hand, then get to go and dance with all of the Irish students. They are crazy! Most of them go home after the ball at about 3:30 and take a quick nap then wake up early in the morning and to go the College Bar in their dresses and drink all day there as well. Needless to say I am not that strong haha so I did not partake in the second half.
This weekend I had a field trip with my Medieval Castle class around surrounding counties and got to see four castles that I would have never seen without this trip, and it was with my professor who is totally crazy but very knowledgeable. It was a lot of fun! I will attach the link to pictures in my email.
Sunday I woke up with a yucky cold that I am trying to fight off:( My friends and roommates have been good caretakers and I have been putting A LOT of Vitamin C in my body, but it was bound to happen sometime. This week at our school is RAG week which began as a week to raise money for charities. The school has different games and programs set up throughout the week to raise awareness and money which has really good intentions. Instead the Irish students have transformed it into a week of 24/7 drinking and more reasons not to go to class. So far there have been NO Irish students in any of my classes yet this week, it is not really my scene but it is pretty crazy to see!
On Thursday I am leaving for London for five days! I am SO excited, and bought my tickets to the musical Spring Awakening today which was the 2007 Tony Award Winner for best musical and would be really expensive to see at home, but I bought my ticket for 18 pounds! Alexa and I are staying with my friend Angie to save money and get a great tour guide! It is going to be a great weekend, expect all the news from it early next week.
I hope everything is absolutely wonderful at home and that everyone is healthy and well. I miss you all like crazy, and am really sad that I missed the Oscars with my husband hosting haha! It's the simple things in life:) I love you all, drop me a line soon!
This past week has been pretty eventful even though I have stayed in Ireland. Last Wednesday my friends and I got to go to a real ball! At my school it is broken up into broad departments, and each department has a ball for its students. We went to the biggest one for Arts students (English, Psych, etc.) and danced with 1200 people! It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and go to the pub before hand, then get to go and dance with all of the Irish students. They are crazy! Most of them go home after the ball at about 3:30 and take a quick nap then wake up early in the morning and to go the College Bar in their dresses and drink all day there as well. Needless to say I am not that strong haha so I did not partake in the second half.
This weekend I had a field trip with my Medieval Castle class around surrounding counties and got to see four castles that I would have never seen without this trip, and it was with my professor who is totally crazy but very knowledgeable. It was a lot of fun! I will attach the link to pictures in my email.
Sunday I woke up with a yucky cold that I am trying to fight off:( My friends and roommates have been good caretakers and I have been putting A LOT of Vitamin C in my body, but it was bound to happen sometime. This week at our school is RAG week which began as a week to raise money for charities. The school has different games and programs set up throughout the week to raise awareness and money which has really good intentions. Instead the Irish students have transformed it into a week of 24/7 drinking and more reasons not to go to class. So far there have been NO Irish students in any of my classes yet this week, it is not really my scene but it is pretty crazy to see!
On Thursday I am leaving for London for five days! I am SO excited, and bought my tickets to the musical Spring Awakening today which was the 2007 Tony Award Winner for best musical and would be really expensive to see at home, but I bought my ticket for 18 pounds! Alexa and I are staying with my friend Angie to save money and get a great tour guide! It is going to be a great weekend, expect all the news from it early next week.
I hope everything is absolutely wonderful at home and that everyone is healthy and well. I miss you all like crazy, and am really sad that I missed the Oscars with my husband hosting haha! It's the simple things in life:) I love you all, drop me a line soon!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Happy Valentines Day!
Hello everybody!
This week has been a nice needed break from traveling and being super busy both for me and for my bank account! My friends and I had a fairly relaxed week but still had a lot of fun! Last week I went to the NUI Galway musical, and was slightly unimpressed haha. It wasn't quite up to Woodbury High School or St. Norbert College standards, but it was a fun experience and a chance to hang out with Alexa's Irish roommates. We also celebrated my friend Sheila's 21st birthday last week with another big group dinner party where we made fajitas! It is so much fun to enjoy a homemade meal, and my friend Erin and I both love to cook so are in our glory!
This weekend we stayed in Galway, and had so much fun. On Saturday Alexa, Erin, and I woke up and went downtown to run some errands and then went to the farmers market which we had been missing because of all of our traveling. I was in HEAVEN. There were beautiful craft stands, some produce stands, bread stands, bagel stands, a crepe stand, a great sushi stand which Erin and I enjoyed thoroughly, and finally my favorite gourmet food stand. There were buckets and buckets of olives and hummus and peppers and sun dried tomatoes and cheese and so much more. Erin and I decided we should have a picnic for lunch so we bought bags of food and went and sat outside a restaurant to eat and it started to pour! At the time we were totally not fazed, the food was perfect, even eating it wet off of plastic bags getting glared at from the woman who worked inside the restaurant we were squatting outside of. It was so much fun, and I cannot wait until I get the chance to do it again. It is something that my family and I always do on our vacations, so I took my dads advice and 'did what dad would do" and bought all the yummy food, including some of the best fresh mozzarella I have ever had. YUM!
For Valentines day, since we are all either single or far away from valentines, my friends and I had a dessert potluck where we all brought a different dessert. It was really yummy and a lot of fun! I introduced my Irish roommates to puppy chow so I am now the favorite roommate.
This next weekend I get to go on a field trip for my castle class where we get to see four different types of castles in the area. I am really excited! This class actually ends Friday, which gives me a lot more free time because it meets four times a week. After this week I won't start until 4 on Mondays and have no class on Fridays which makes traveling for longer periods of time so much easier! Alexa and I have a trip booked for the following weekend to London from Thursday evening until Monday afternoon which I am really excited about. London has always been a place where I have dreamed of going, and we are planning to see at least one show while there, I cannot wait!
I know last week I said I was having a bad day, and all of your emails and letters helped SO much. Today is a good day, but I still appreciate the emails:) Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers, I promise they are being returned! I miss you all so much!
Love from Ireland,
Melissa
This week has been a nice needed break from traveling and being super busy both for me and for my bank account! My friends and I had a fairly relaxed week but still had a lot of fun! Last week I went to the NUI Galway musical, and was slightly unimpressed haha. It wasn't quite up to Woodbury High School or St. Norbert College standards, but it was a fun experience and a chance to hang out with Alexa's Irish roommates. We also celebrated my friend Sheila's 21st birthday last week with another big group dinner party where we made fajitas! It is so much fun to enjoy a homemade meal, and my friend Erin and I both love to cook so are in our glory!
This weekend we stayed in Galway, and had so much fun. On Saturday Alexa, Erin, and I woke up and went downtown to run some errands and then went to the farmers market which we had been missing because of all of our traveling. I was in HEAVEN. There were beautiful craft stands, some produce stands, bread stands, bagel stands, a crepe stand, a great sushi stand which Erin and I enjoyed thoroughly, and finally my favorite gourmet food stand. There were buckets and buckets of olives and hummus and peppers and sun dried tomatoes and cheese and so much more. Erin and I decided we should have a picnic for lunch so we bought bags of food and went and sat outside a restaurant to eat and it started to pour! At the time we were totally not fazed, the food was perfect, even eating it wet off of plastic bags getting glared at from the woman who worked inside the restaurant we were squatting outside of. It was so much fun, and I cannot wait until I get the chance to do it again. It is something that my family and I always do on our vacations, so I took my dads advice and 'did what dad would do" and bought all the yummy food, including some of the best fresh mozzarella I have ever had. YUM!
For Valentines day, since we are all either single or far away from valentines, my friends and I had a dessert potluck where we all brought a different dessert. It was really yummy and a lot of fun! I introduced my Irish roommates to puppy chow so I am now the favorite roommate.
This next weekend I get to go on a field trip for my castle class where we get to see four different types of castles in the area. I am really excited! This class actually ends Friday, which gives me a lot more free time because it meets four times a week. After this week I won't start until 4 on Mondays and have no class on Fridays which makes traveling for longer periods of time so much easier! Alexa and I have a trip booked for the following weekend to London from Thursday evening until Monday afternoon which I am really excited about. London has always been a place where I have dreamed of going, and we are planning to see at least one show while there, I cannot wait!
I know last week I said I was having a bad day, and all of your emails and letters helped SO much. Today is a good day, but I still appreciate the emails:) Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers, I promise they are being returned! I miss you all so much!
Love from Ireland,
Melissa
Monday, February 9, 2009
Crazy week of travels!
Hi everybody!
This past week has been packed with lots of things, thus the reason I haven't had a chance to update you on all of them. Last Friday I went with a school group to Connamara, the Western region of Ireland, and got to see Kylemore Abbey and other important sights. It was couldy and misting (of course) but was really beautiful! They also took us to a little town called Clifden, and a famous furniture college which used to be a reform school for boys. There is a graveyard and memorial behind the school because while this school was opened the boys were tortured and beaten so many of them died. It was eery and sad but very interesting at the same time.
Last weekend twelve of us girls took the bus to Cork on Saturday morning (4 hour bus ride!) and stayed there over night. We went to Blarney to visit the castle and kiss the stone which was really pretty and touristy and so much fun. I now have the gift of gab, which I probably didn't need more of! We got back to Cork in time for dinner and were going to go out that night, but as we were walking around we found that most of the pubs and bars were not letting us in, and they told us that they had a over 23 rule, which we found crazy! I never expected to be carded while in Europe where the drinking age is 18, and I think I have been ID'd more times here then I ever will at home! I survived my first hostile experience with little trouble, it was actually not bad at all. I think I will learn more about traveling simple every time I go. The next day we couldn't really find a lot more to do in Cork so we came back to Galway pretty early. It is always nice to get away, but more and more I am loving just staying in Galway.
On Wednesday of this week I went to Dublin with Alexa and her roommate for a protest against the Irish students having to pay tuition for higher education. Right now third level education is free but the Irish government is trying to implement fees. I honestly really do not have an opinion if they should be paying for school or not, but the trip was through school and it was 4 Euro for a trip to Dublin, two meals, and two t-shirts. I wanted to experience the atmosphere, but I realized I am a terrible protester. There were 25,000 students marching the streets of Dublin which was really cool to be a part of no matter what the cause!
That night was one of my friends 21st birthday, and we celebrated by making homemade pizzas and taking her out for the night. It was so much fun, and I am loving all of the friends that I am making here. We really have a great group of girls who work really well together. We have pretty much made it a weekly tradition to get together one night and make a big potluck type dinner, and spend the evening having fun. I am really starting to cherish those nights!
This past weekend I went to Scotland from Friday through Saturday. It was my first time out of Ireland since I got here, and my first Ryanair trip, and it was a wonderful weekend. We flew into Glasgow about 6:30 on Saturday night and had to take a train from the airport into the city. We found our hostile and were all starving so went out for dinner at a really fun sports bar type place. It was dark by the time we got there so we rally couldn't do a lot of sightseeing that night, but had fun experiencing a little bit of the night life.
The next day we got up a little bit early and took the hour bus ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Edinburgh was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It is definitely in my top five of favorite European cities that I have been to so far, and I had a really great day there. We were lucky because it was neither snowing or raining, and it was only a little kind of cold (at least I thought so, my West coast friends disagreed a little bit). We were able to go to the Edinburgh Palace which is really cool, and gives an unbelievable view of the city. We walked around and saw all of the old architecture and the city. There was a huge four week long rugby tournament going on beginning that day in Edinburgh so it was packed! We couldn't get into any pubs to eat or enjoy, so we went back to Glasgow earlier then planned. We had a great dinner at this fantastic Italian restaurant, and found out how nice Scottish people are. I though Irish people were nice, but they are nothing compared to the Scottish! Everyone we spoke to was so into helping us in any way they could, and joked around with us when we had questions.
Sunday we had some time to explore Glasgow and got to see a beautiful Cathedral and some of the other sights. Glasgow was more dirty and industrial, and we had a little bit more trouble finding something to do. We found the Peoples Palace next to the Winter Gardens. It looked like a children's museum and was set up that way, but the floor we were on was all about the historical influences of alcohol and why it is both good and bad. It was a cultural experience haha. Finally we got home safely after a train ride, a plane ride, and two bus rides.
I cannot believe I have officially been here over a month, some days it feels like it is going so fast and others I feel like I am never going to make it. Those are the days I eat a lot of chocolate:) I miss all of you more then you could imagine, honestly I would love to hear anything that is going on at home, an e-mail really really brightens my day. I love you all!
This past week has been packed with lots of things, thus the reason I haven't had a chance to update you on all of them. Last Friday I went with a school group to Connamara, the Western region of Ireland, and got to see Kylemore Abbey and other important sights. It was couldy and misting (of course) but was really beautiful! They also took us to a little town called Clifden, and a famous furniture college which used to be a reform school for boys. There is a graveyard and memorial behind the school because while this school was opened the boys were tortured and beaten so many of them died. It was eery and sad but very interesting at the same time.
Last weekend twelve of us girls took the bus to Cork on Saturday morning (4 hour bus ride!) and stayed there over night. We went to Blarney to visit the castle and kiss the stone which was really pretty and touristy and so much fun. I now have the gift of gab, which I probably didn't need more of! We got back to Cork in time for dinner and were going to go out that night, but as we were walking around we found that most of the pubs and bars were not letting us in, and they told us that they had a over 23 rule, which we found crazy! I never expected to be carded while in Europe where the drinking age is 18, and I think I have been ID'd more times here then I ever will at home! I survived my first hostile experience with little trouble, it was actually not bad at all. I think I will learn more about traveling simple every time I go. The next day we couldn't really find a lot more to do in Cork so we came back to Galway pretty early. It is always nice to get away, but more and more I am loving just staying in Galway.
On Wednesday of this week I went to Dublin with Alexa and her roommate for a protest against the Irish students having to pay tuition for higher education. Right now third level education is free but the Irish government is trying to implement fees. I honestly really do not have an opinion if they should be paying for school or not, but the trip was through school and it was 4 Euro for a trip to Dublin, two meals, and two t-shirts. I wanted to experience the atmosphere, but I realized I am a terrible protester. There were 25,000 students marching the streets of Dublin which was really cool to be a part of no matter what the cause!
That night was one of my friends 21st birthday, and we celebrated by making homemade pizzas and taking her out for the night. It was so much fun, and I am loving all of the friends that I am making here. We really have a great group of girls who work really well together. We have pretty much made it a weekly tradition to get together one night and make a big potluck type dinner, and spend the evening having fun. I am really starting to cherish those nights!
This past weekend I went to Scotland from Friday through Saturday. It was my first time out of Ireland since I got here, and my first Ryanair trip, and it was a wonderful weekend. We flew into Glasgow about 6:30 on Saturday night and had to take a train from the airport into the city. We found our hostile and were all starving so went out for dinner at a really fun sports bar type place. It was dark by the time we got there so we rally couldn't do a lot of sightseeing that night, but had fun experiencing a little bit of the night life.
The next day we got up a little bit early and took the hour bus ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Edinburgh was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It is definitely in my top five of favorite European cities that I have been to so far, and I had a really great day there. We were lucky because it was neither snowing or raining, and it was only a little kind of cold (at least I thought so, my West coast friends disagreed a little bit). We were able to go to the Edinburgh Palace which is really cool, and gives an unbelievable view of the city. We walked around and saw all of the old architecture and the city. There was a huge four week long rugby tournament going on beginning that day in Edinburgh so it was packed! We couldn't get into any pubs to eat or enjoy, so we went back to Glasgow earlier then planned. We had a great dinner at this fantastic Italian restaurant, and found out how nice Scottish people are. I though Irish people were nice, but they are nothing compared to the Scottish! Everyone we spoke to was so into helping us in any way they could, and joked around with us when we had questions.
Sunday we had some time to explore Glasgow and got to see a beautiful Cathedral and some of the other sights. Glasgow was more dirty and industrial, and we had a little bit more trouble finding something to do. We found the Peoples Palace next to the Winter Gardens. It looked like a children's museum and was set up that way, but the floor we were on was all about the historical influences of alcohol and why it is both good and bad. It was a cultural experience haha. Finally we got home safely after a train ride, a plane ride, and two bus rides.
I cannot believe I have officially been here over a month, some days it feels like it is going so fast and others I feel like I am never going to make it. Those are the days I eat a lot of chocolate:) I miss all of you more then you could imagine, honestly I would love to hear anything that is going on at home, an e-mail really really brightens my day. I love you all!
Friday, January 30, 2009
New adventures!
Hi everybody!
I know it has been a while since I updated you all, so this one could be kind of long! Last weekend a few friends and I went to Limerick, the third largest city in Ireland, just for the day on Saturday. It is a fun city, but I after going there I am very happy that I chose Galway over any other city that I have visited so far. Galway has such a great historical aspect to it, a great social scene, and the university is highly regarded as one of the best in the country. Limerick was kind of dirty and more industrial, and we had to SEARCH to find a pub! It was crazy haha in Galway you get tired of seeing them because they are everywhere! It was still a really fun place to visit, and we got to see the large St. Mary's Cathedral and King John's Castle. We also had our first "traditional" fish and chips at a super shady diner. It was basically grease fried in more grease, it was SO good! It was nice to get away from Galway for the day and see something new.
This week I FINALLY got to start all of my classes, and I registered with immigration, so I got to cross a lot of things off my stress list, even though the 150 Euro immigration fee did not help the stress haha. My classes are good, some definitely more interesting then others. Most of the Irish students rarely go to class, and I am beginning to see why. Most classes just have one essay at the end of the term as assessment, and it is usually a specific topic or book not really having to do with the whole content of the class. I am still being a good girl and going to most of my classes, but I definitely do not feel as guilty missing a class here to travel as I would if I was at home.
We have found a pub called Monroe's that has traditional Irish music and dancing on Tuesday nights, and has really great pizza! I think it is now going to be a weekly date, and I am definitely going to join in the dancing this next week! There is a cute little old man who teaches American girls how to dance, and you can see in his eyes how much he looks forward to finding a new partner each week. I am bound and determined to be that girl this week haha.
I have found a really great group of girls here, all from different parts of America, who I can share experiences with. They are usually who I travel with, and each week we have started to do a international dinner type potluck. We were all craving Mexican food this week so we made tacos, guacamole, beans and rice. It is really fun to get together and enjoy each others company!
Today I went to Conamara, an area west of Galway, that was absolutely beautiful. It was a day tour through our International Student Society so we got to stop at all of the important sights and photo opportunities. I went to Kylemore Abbey and a few other places around the area. Again it was nice to get away, especially with a group of 50 international students!
I think I am pretty much adjusted to life here, it is definitely easier then it was at the beginning, but there are still things that I have to get over. My apartment is kind of a disaster zone, two of my roommates smoke (uh oh for my allergies) and all of them are pretty dirty, but I know that it is a temporary living situation and I am so grateful for all of the other experiences I am presented with while I am here. I think what I miss most is hugs! Pretty soon I am going to have to start going up to random people and hugging them so I can get my fix for the week.
Tomorrow a group of us are going to Cork (the second biggest city in Ireland) for tomorrow and Sunday. I get to kiss the Blarney stone and be a cheesy tourist! I will update you all on that next week, and then next weekend I am going to Scotland for the weekend! I am so excited!
I am still loving all of the thoughts and prayers, and the notes and e-mails! You wouldn't believe how happy I get whenever I get an e-mail, it is kind of ridiculous. By the way, if any of you have skype my skype name is melissaschisler, look me up:) Oh and one more, if by chance (no pressure, I'm not expecting anything) but if anybody happens to send a package to me if you could let me know that would be great because they go to the front desk and they don't call us we have to go check for packages.
I love you all! I hope that your weeks were great and that your weekends will be relaxing. Miss you all!
I know it has been a while since I updated you all, so this one could be kind of long! Last weekend a few friends and I went to Limerick, the third largest city in Ireland, just for the day on Saturday. It is a fun city, but I after going there I am very happy that I chose Galway over any other city that I have visited so far. Galway has such a great historical aspect to it, a great social scene, and the university is highly regarded as one of the best in the country. Limerick was kind of dirty and more industrial, and we had to SEARCH to find a pub! It was crazy haha in Galway you get tired of seeing them because they are everywhere! It was still a really fun place to visit, and we got to see the large St. Mary's Cathedral and King John's Castle. We also had our first "traditional" fish and chips at a super shady diner. It was basically grease fried in more grease, it was SO good! It was nice to get away from Galway for the day and see something new.
This week I FINALLY got to start all of my classes, and I registered with immigration, so I got to cross a lot of things off my stress list, even though the 150 Euro immigration fee did not help the stress haha. My classes are good, some definitely more interesting then others. Most of the Irish students rarely go to class, and I am beginning to see why. Most classes just have one essay at the end of the term as assessment, and it is usually a specific topic or book not really having to do with the whole content of the class. I am still being a good girl and going to most of my classes, but I definitely do not feel as guilty missing a class here to travel as I would if I was at home.
We have found a pub called Monroe's that has traditional Irish music and dancing on Tuesday nights, and has really great pizza! I think it is now going to be a weekly date, and I am definitely going to join in the dancing this next week! There is a cute little old man who teaches American girls how to dance, and you can see in his eyes how much he looks forward to finding a new partner each week. I am bound and determined to be that girl this week haha.
I have found a really great group of girls here, all from different parts of America, who I can share experiences with. They are usually who I travel with, and each week we have started to do a international dinner type potluck. We were all craving Mexican food this week so we made tacos, guacamole, beans and rice. It is really fun to get together and enjoy each others company!
Today I went to Conamara, an area west of Galway, that was absolutely beautiful. It was a day tour through our International Student Society so we got to stop at all of the important sights and photo opportunities. I went to Kylemore Abbey and a few other places around the area. Again it was nice to get away, especially with a group of 50 international students!
I think I am pretty much adjusted to life here, it is definitely easier then it was at the beginning, but there are still things that I have to get over. My apartment is kind of a disaster zone, two of my roommates smoke (uh oh for my allergies) and all of them are pretty dirty, but I know that it is a temporary living situation and I am so grateful for all of the other experiences I am presented with while I am here. I think what I miss most is hugs! Pretty soon I am going to have to start going up to random people and hugging them so I can get my fix for the week.
Tomorrow a group of us are going to Cork (the second biggest city in Ireland) for tomorrow and Sunday. I get to kiss the Blarney stone and be a cheesy tourist! I will update you all on that next week, and then next weekend I am going to Scotland for the weekend! I am so excited!
I am still loving all of the thoughts and prayers, and the notes and e-mails! You wouldn't believe how happy I get whenever I get an e-mail, it is kind of ridiculous. By the way, if any of you have skype my skype name is melissaschisler, look me up:) Oh and one more, if by chance (no pressure, I'm not expecting anything) but if anybody happens to send a package to me if you could let me know that would be great because they go to the front desk and they don't call us we have to go check for packages.
I love you all! I hope that your weeks were great and that your weekends will be relaxing. Miss you all!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Update 3!
Hi everybody!
The past week has been pretty busy, but I haven't really done anything all that exciting. I have finally started all but one of my classes, and the routine has kicked in almost full gear. Did you know that I am actually expected to do homework while I am here? Haha somehow I will have to fit that in to my busy schedule. So far almost all of my classes have definite potential. One in particular that I am really excited about is called Imagining Modern Ireland and it is a class specifically for visiting students about the culture of Ireland. It focuses on Irish lit in the Irish language, Irish lit in the English language, Irish music and dance, and then how they are all connected and how they have shaped the country. I feel like I have already learned more in the two hours I have had that class then in any other class. I am also taking a class about the politics of Northern Ireland and the division between the two states. It is interesting that's for sure, but I am already feeling a little lost because I don't have the Irish history background that the Irish students obviously do. Looks like I will just have to do a little bit more work on my own!
I also started my Irish language course, which I am taking just for fun. It is a language unlike any other, and I am really excited to know even the basics. When else am I ever going to have an opportunity to learn it?
Yesterday I had to sign up for one of my smaller English classes, and I was very worried I was not going to get it. This is a class that I needed to get into, otherwise I wasn't going to be able to student teach in the fall so I was a little nervous! The system was pretty crazy, what we had to do was come to a building and get a number then come back and stand in line in order of our numbers to choose our class. The registration was supposed to start at 9am, so Alexa and I were there at 8 thinking it would be early enough. When we got there we were number 124! The number one person got there at 2 AM!!! It was incredibly unorganized, but I am so happy that I got into the class I wanted even though I wasn't crazy enough to get up that early.
The inauguration was a huge deal here, and it was very interesting to see it from a different countries perspective. Almost all of the pubs were showing it on big screens Tuesday evening, and had drink specials and things to celebrate. Now most of you know my political views, but it was still something to see history being made at home from a different country! Sadly I had class during the actual ceremony, but it was still a very interesting day.
Almost all Irish students go home on the weekends, like literally my complex clears out and all of the cars and most of the students are gone for 3 straight days. So far my Irish friends have told me that they go home on the weekends to work so they can afford to go out so much during the week. It seems so backwards to me haha but I guess I will get used to it! All of my roommates leave on the weekends, which is generally ok with me because then it is quiet and I can clean while they are gone. They are all really sweet girls, they just have different living styles then I do. Alexa's roommates are fantastic, so I am there often and have become good friends with them.
Actually, this weekend Alexa and I are going to her roommates home in Connemara (about an hour from here) and spending time walking around there. I am really excited to get away from here for the weekend, and do free laundry! Next weekend a group of my American friends and I are going to Cork for a night to kiss the Blarney Stone and do other touristy things, and finally the first weekend in February I am planning a trip to Scotland. There is a possibility my friend Rachel who is studying in Rome is coming to visit that weekend instead, but I will let you know which it turns out to be, both would be fantastic!
I can feel all of your thoughts and prayers, and know that I think of all of you everyday. My homesickness is getting less and less, but it definitely has not gone away completely. I told my parents the other day that I blame them for being such good parents for me to miss being home this much. The hardest part is not being able to share all of these wonderful experiences with all of you!
Have a great day, I love you all!
Love from Ireland!
The past week has been pretty busy, but I haven't really done anything all that exciting. I have finally started all but one of my classes, and the routine has kicked in almost full gear. Did you know that I am actually expected to do homework while I am here? Haha somehow I will have to fit that in to my busy schedule. So far almost all of my classes have definite potential. One in particular that I am really excited about is called Imagining Modern Ireland and it is a class specifically for visiting students about the culture of Ireland. It focuses on Irish lit in the Irish language, Irish lit in the English language, Irish music and dance, and then how they are all connected and how they have shaped the country. I feel like I have already learned more in the two hours I have had that class then in any other class. I am also taking a class about the politics of Northern Ireland and the division between the two states. It is interesting that's for sure, but I am already feeling a little lost because I don't have the Irish history background that the Irish students obviously do. Looks like I will just have to do a little bit more work on my own!
I also started my Irish language course, which I am taking just for fun. It is a language unlike any other, and I am really excited to know even the basics. When else am I ever going to have an opportunity to learn it?
Yesterday I had to sign up for one of my smaller English classes, and I was very worried I was not going to get it. This is a class that I needed to get into, otherwise I wasn't going to be able to student teach in the fall so I was a little nervous! The system was pretty crazy, what we had to do was come to a building and get a number then come back and stand in line in order of our numbers to choose our class. The registration was supposed to start at 9am, so Alexa and I were there at 8 thinking it would be early enough. When we got there we were number 124! The number one person got there at 2 AM!!! It was incredibly unorganized, but I am so happy that I got into the class I wanted even though I wasn't crazy enough to get up that early.
The inauguration was a huge deal here, and it was very interesting to see it from a different countries perspective. Almost all of the pubs were showing it on big screens Tuesday evening, and had drink specials and things to celebrate. Now most of you know my political views, but it was still something to see history being made at home from a different country! Sadly I had class during the actual ceremony, but it was still a very interesting day.
Almost all Irish students go home on the weekends, like literally my complex clears out and all of the cars and most of the students are gone for 3 straight days. So far my Irish friends have told me that they go home on the weekends to work so they can afford to go out so much during the week. It seems so backwards to me haha but I guess I will get used to it! All of my roommates leave on the weekends, which is generally ok with me because then it is quiet and I can clean while they are gone. They are all really sweet girls, they just have different living styles then I do. Alexa's roommates are fantastic, so I am there often and have become good friends with them.
Actually, this weekend Alexa and I are going to her roommates home in Connemara (about an hour from here) and spending time walking around there. I am really excited to get away from here for the weekend, and do free laundry! Next weekend a group of my American friends and I are going to Cork for a night to kiss the Blarney Stone and do other touristy things, and finally the first weekend in February I am planning a trip to Scotland. There is a possibility my friend Rachel who is studying in Rome is coming to visit that weekend instead, but I will let you know which it turns out to be, both would be fantastic!
I can feel all of your thoughts and prayers, and know that I think of all of you everyday. My homesickness is getting less and less, but it definitely has not gone away completely. I told my parents the other day that I blame them for being such good parents for me to miss being home this much. The hardest part is not being able to share all of these wonderful experiences with all of you!
Have a great day, I love you all!
Love from Ireland!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Address
Here is my address for anyone who loves me enough to send me mail:)
Melissa Schisler
454 Corrib Village
New Castle Road
Galway
County Galway, Ireland
Love from Ireland!
Melissa Schisler
454 Corrib Village
New Castle Road
Galway
County Galway, Ireland
Love from Ireland!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Week 2 is starting off so much better!
Hi everybody!
I have been here for almost exactly a week to the minute, and it has been quite a whirlwind of activities and emotions. I now finally have roommates, who are really great and fun, and I got to go to my first Irish class today! The system for signing up and finding classes is kind of messy compared to what I am used to, but I think I pretty much have it all figured out now. Each of the major departments has a registration day for classes where you go and fight a crowd to get into some of the smaller seminar classes, but then the big lectures don't have a capacity so you don't register for those until later when I register with the school. I just hope I do it all right so I can get all the classes I want and need! Some classes start this week, some next, and finally some the following. It is so much different for me because at home everything starts the same day and ends the same day, which is not at all how it works here. Lecturers have much more freedom. One of my classes began today but meets four times a week and is finished Feb 20, compared to the rest of them that only meet 2 times a week and are not done until the beginning of April.
Right now these are the classes I am hoping to take:
The History of the English Language
The Archeology of the Medieval Castle in Europe
Environments and Landforms
Imagining Modern Ireland
Twentieth Century Literature
Northern Ireland: The Politics of a Divided Society
I have only had the castle class so far, but that was really interesting and I think all the rest definitely have potential. I am also taking an extra class on speaking the Irish Language, which I am really pumped about. It isn't for credit and I have to pay for it, but I think that is so much a part of this culture, especially in the Western Ireland where I am staying where many people still speak the language. It is not a class about writing or grammar, but more about being able to communicate and put in effort to speak in the native language, which could not be more what I am looking for. It doesn't start until next week, but I will keep you posted!
This weekend was not all that eventful, but it was really fun. I had a few rough patches last week when I wasn't busy and would get sad or homesick, but the more people I meet and the more of a routine I find the better I am. I feel like I should be totally acclimated, but I have to keep telling myself I have only been here for a week! I explored a lot of the pubs this weekend, but many of them were pretty empty of only full of Americans because the Irish students hadn't moved back to school yet. It was fun to hang out with the American students I have met so far, but I am even more excited to start making friends with Irish students! Many of the pubs have live music a few nights a week, sometimes Irish and sometimes more modern cover bands, but so far all have been a lot of fun. On Thursday we went to one of the bigger pubs called the Kings Head, and they had a really fun cover band who played everything from AC/DC to Lionel Richie, and even a few Irish pub songs. Most of you know that I am not a huge partier or clubber, so I am really enjoying the more chill pubs with bands and conversation.
On Saturday we were supposed to have a walking tour of Galway, the city I am staying in, but it was very rainy (surprise surprise) and the tour guides didn't show up so it was canceled. I was really disappointed! But we did have a very cool historian come and talk about the history of Galway and point out some of the important features and stories through illustrations. It was very interesting, and I can't wait to learn more.
It is a lot like home here in some ways, but then out of nowhere things will be completely different. I am getting more and more used to everything, and the craziness that I was complaining about last week has been put more into perspective. My apartment really is not as bad as I was saying, and the walk into town is actually very refreshing. I am trying to take the words of everybody who has done this in the past that soon I won't ever want to leave, but it is still tough to believe that right now especially being away from all of you! I am so thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers, and know that I am thinking of you often! I love the comments and e-mails (hint hint) and would love to hear about life back home!
Love from Ireland!
I have been here for almost exactly a week to the minute, and it has been quite a whirlwind of activities and emotions. I now finally have roommates, who are really great and fun, and I got to go to my first Irish class today! The system for signing up and finding classes is kind of messy compared to what I am used to, but I think I pretty much have it all figured out now. Each of the major departments has a registration day for classes where you go and fight a crowd to get into some of the smaller seminar classes, but then the big lectures don't have a capacity so you don't register for those until later when I register with the school. I just hope I do it all right so I can get all the classes I want and need! Some classes start this week, some next, and finally some the following. It is so much different for me because at home everything starts the same day and ends the same day, which is not at all how it works here. Lecturers have much more freedom. One of my classes began today but meets four times a week and is finished Feb 20, compared to the rest of them that only meet 2 times a week and are not done until the beginning of April.
Right now these are the classes I am hoping to take:
The History of the English Language
The Archeology of the Medieval Castle in Europe
Environments and Landforms
Imagining Modern Ireland
Twentieth Century Literature
Northern Ireland: The Politics of a Divided Society
I have only had the castle class so far, but that was really interesting and I think all the rest definitely have potential. I am also taking an extra class on speaking the Irish Language, which I am really pumped about. It isn't for credit and I have to pay for it, but I think that is so much a part of this culture, especially in the Western Ireland where I am staying where many people still speak the language. It is not a class about writing or grammar, but more about being able to communicate and put in effort to speak in the native language, which could not be more what I am looking for. It doesn't start until next week, but I will keep you posted!
This weekend was not all that eventful, but it was really fun. I had a few rough patches last week when I wasn't busy and would get sad or homesick, but the more people I meet and the more of a routine I find the better I am. I feel like I should be totally acclimated, but I have to keep telling myself I have only been here for a week! I explored a lot of the pubs this weekend, but many of them were pretty empty of only full of Americans because the Irish students hadn't moved back to school yet. It was fun to hang out with the American students I have met so far, but I am even more excited to start making friends with Irish students! Many of the pubs have live music a few nights a week, sometimes Irish and sometimes more modern cover bands, but so far all have been a lot of fun. On Thursday we went to one of the bigger pubs called the Kings Head, and they had a really fun cover band who played everything from AC/DC to Lionel Richie, and even a few Irish pub songs. Most of you know that I am not a huge partier or clubber, so I am really enjoying the more chill pubs with bands and conversation.
On Saturday we were supposed to have a walking tour of Galway, the city I am staying in, but it was very rainy (surprise surprise) and the tour guides didn't show up so it was canceled. I was really disappointed! But we did have a very cool historian come and talk about the history of Galway and point out some of the important features and stories through illustrations. It was very interesting, and I can't wait to learn more.
It is a lot like home here in some ways, but then out of nowhere things will be completely different. I am getting more and more used to everything, and the craziness that I was complaining about last week has been put more into perspective. My apartment really is not as bad as I was saying, and the walk into town is actually very refreshing. I am trying to take the words of everybody who has done this in the past that soon I won't ever want to leave, but it is still tough to believe that right now especially being away from all of you! I am so thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers, and know that I am thinking of you often! I love the comments and e-mails (hint hint) and would love to hear about life back home!
Love from Ireland!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
I made it!
I made it to Galway after 2 LONG days of traveling, and it definitely took some adjusting, but after 5 days things have calmed down a little bit and I am thinking I might actually be able to live here for 5 months. Getting here was a pretty long process, with lots of planes, cars, buses, and finally a taxi. My first night was pretty rough, probably because I hadn't slept or eaten much of anything in 30+ hours and was trying to take everything in at once, but having Alexa traveling with me made it easier, and the beauty of Skype also gave me a chance to talk to my family and express all of my crazy emotions.
My apartment is not quite what I expected, and the first night that seemed like the end of the world, but now after realizing there are much more important things I am becoming comfortable in my cold little bedroom (I haven't quite figured out how to really use the heat). I have four other people living with me, but they have not moved in yet so I am assuming that they are all Irish not back from winter break yet. Stay tuned for information on them when I get to meet them! My kitchen (I am a Schisler, so that is of course the most important thing to focus on) is a lot smaller then I expected, and not quite as tidy as I am used to (I guess I have my mom to thank for ruining me forever haha) and there is just one small mini-fridge for five people, and I haven't quite figured out how that is going to work, but I am going with the flow.
Since being here Alexa and I have explored a lot and met quite a few other American students that will be studying here as well. On our first full day here we went into town to "Shop Street" (the big downtown area that is mostly just walking with TONS of restaurants, pubs, and shops) and wandered the city for quite a few hours. We saw the bay and a lot of the more urban areas, the city is VERY beautiful and I am excited to explore even more once I find out what I am actually seeing when I make friends with Irish people. We had lunch at a little pub and I had my first experience with brown bread (my dad's favorite). It is fantastic, pretty much a reason to come to Ireland in itself, except to visit me of course! We then came back to our apartment for a while then went back into town for dinner and my first pub experience. I love listening to the conversations and accents, but I think we were out a little too early for a lot of the fun happenings. Our apartment is about a half an hour walk from the downtown area so I kind of feel like I have to make a trip out of it every time I go down there.
The past few days orientation for school has started and I got to see the campus and start to understand how the next 5 months of classes are going to work, which puts me much more at ease. I think the student services and international offices are going to be really great resources and have definitely dealt with just about any problem that I can think of, so I feel much more comforted in that.
Alexa and I made our first homemade dinner last night, and finally after figuring out how to turn on the stove we made a pretty bland chicken and pasta, but hey it is only the first time after going actual grocery shopping I know my cooking genes will come out and I will be able to make something better. Tonight the international student group is putting on Karaoke in the COLLEGE BAR (I love Ireland), then we will probably hit up some of the pubs and be more social then we have felt the past few days. The adjustment period is kind of rough sometimes, but the ups and downs are what make it an adventure!
My apartment is not quite what I expected, and the first night that seemed like the end of the world, but now after realizing there are much more important things I am becoming comfortable in my cold little bedroom (I haven't quite figured out how to really use the heat). I have four other people living with me, but they have not moved in yet so I am assuming that they are all Irish not back from winter break yet. Stay tuned for information on them when I get to meet them! My kitchen (I am a Schisler, so that is of course the most important thing to focus on) is a lot smaller then I expected, and not quite as tidy as I am used to (I guess I have my mom to thank for ruining me forever haha) and there is just one small mini-fridge for five people, and I haven't quite figured out how that is going to work, but I am going with the flow.
Since being here Alexa and I have explored a lot and met quite a few other American students that will be studying here as well. On our first full day here we went into town to "Shop Street" (the big downtown area that is mostly just walking with TONS of restaurants, pubs, and shops) and wandered the city for quite a few hours. We saw the bay and a lot of the more urban areas, the city is VERY beautiful and I am excited to explore even more once I find out what I am actually seeing when I make friends with Irish people. We had lunch at a little pub and I had my first experience with brown bread (my dad's favorite). It is fantastic, pretty much a reason to come to Ireland in itself, except to visit me of course! We then came back to our apartment for a while then went back into town for dinner and my first pub experience. I love listening to the conversations and accents, but I think we were out a little too early for a lot of the fun happenings. Our apartment is about a half an hour walk from the downtown area so I kind of feel like I have to make a trip out of it every time I go down there.
The past few days orientation for school has started and I got to see the campus and start to understand how the next 5 months of classes are going to work, which puts me much more at ease. I think the student services and international offices are going to be really great resources and have definitely dealt with just about any problem that I can think of, so I feel much more comforted in that.
Alexa and I made our first homemade dinner last night, and finally after figuring out how to turn on the stove we made a pretty bland chicken and pasta, but hey it is only the first time after going actual grocery shopping I know my cooking genes will come out and I will be able to make something better. Tonight the international student group is putting on Karaoke in the COLLEGE BAR (I love Ireland), then we will probably hit up some of the pubs and be more social then we have felt the past few days. The adjustment period is kind of rough sometimes, but the ups and downs are what make it an adventure!
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