Final Post

So I'm sitting here among my half packed/cleaned room on the very last night of my stay in Ireland. I just had my last "Plassey Dinner". Today I had my last lunch at Delish, my last trip into the city, my last busride on BusEireann, and potentially my last Irish rain (that's debatable...it will most likely rain tomorrow morning as I wait for the bus, because thats what happens in Ireland)....It was a day full of lasts. My last goodbyes happened early early early in the morning...Those were the worst and I'm out of tears now.

I'm pretty sad and maybe even a little depressed to be leaving. For the past week, with all the goodbyes and such, I've had moments of happiness to moments of just sitting in my room crying my eyes out. Its been a bipolar time in my life. But, at the same time I find it hard to be sad. I've had such an amazing 5 months here, I've done so many things I didn't know I would be able to do, and met so many new people as well as several seemingly life long friends. Saying goodbye to these people was one of more difficult things I've had to do, especially saying goodbye to the Canadians since they live on the other side of the continent. Even saying goodbye to the girls who live on the east coast (which is just about everyone else) was hard. Now I won't be able to walk across the village to hang out with MK or open my door and yell to Sarah or give a call and make a Stables date with someone. But the way I've tried to make myself see it is if you're truly good friends, you will see each other. And I believe we will.

I've been able to travel more in the last 5 months of my life than ever before. I had a chance to revisit places I've seen before as well as explore new and exciting places. My favorite for the trip would have to be Denmark. I can't wait to get back there and see what else that country has to offer. That country just felt like home. I felt very welcome and a strong sense of belonging there. It was very strange, but in a good way. I've also had the opportunity to see Norway (beautiful) and Scotland, which is another place I've always wanted to visit. I also got back to London which was lovely.

IRELAND: probably one of the greatest countries on this planet. You couldn't ask for nicer people or a more beautiful and diverse place. When I first flew over Ireland back in January, the sights were completely unbelievable. That sense of amazement still hasn't worn off even after all of these months. I go to a new place and my jaw still drops at how gorgeous it is. The people are some of the friendliest and happiest of people (although I think the Danes may have them beat on that...). Everywhere I went, if I had a question, they were always willing to help. This country is full of wonderful people. It is also a very laid back country. This was difficult to get used to at first coming from the "GO GO GO" "Everything right here, right now" sense of mind of America. But having gotten used to it, I think it will be very strange to go back to the rushed way of life. Why do we always rush anyway? I think the Irish have it right...slow down, lay back, and have a Guinness, things will work out. Overall, I could definitely see myself living in this country at some point in my life. In fact, I would love to live in this country for a long time.

This whole experience has been the best thing to happen in my life thus far and it is by far the absolute BEST decision I have EVER made. I'm incredibly happy that I did not go to Dublin and got accepted to Limerick instead. Limerick is a lovely little city and I'm sure I've enjoyed myself more here than I would have in Dublin. Funny how things work out, eh? I'm just incredibly fortunate to have been able to experience this and live here. I think I've changed a little bit, but in a good way. I have a greater appreciation for where I'm from and how lucky I truly am. You don't realize the little things you take from granted everyday (i.e. walking to the post I wondered why they didn't just have drop boxes like we have (that is very minute but you get the point)). Being thrown into this type of situation forces you to adapt and change, but it is definitely in a good way. It helps you to grow, which I think I have. If anyone reading this is thinking about studying abroad or doing an exchange or anything, DO IT!!! I cannot even begin to tell you how much these 5 months have impacted my life. It is the MOST fun I have had in my life. If you don't do it, in the future you might regret it. This is an opportunity you do not want to miss out on. Who knows when/if you'll be able to live in another country in your life?

On that note, I will end my blog. I have once again been bitten by the "travel bug" and plan to do a lot more traveling in the near future. I have so many more places I need to see. The world is a big place, and I need to explore it...Not just want to, NEED to. Ireland, you will be greatly missed. Before coming here, I just had a strange obsession with this country. Now I have a deep love for it.

Also, thanks Mom and Dad for letting me come and helping to finance it!!! Glad you saw this as an adventure too! I'm really glad you guys and Elissa got to come visit!!! Can't wait to see you (and EVERYONEEEEE else) when I get home..

Slan Eire! (There were accents over some letters...but the computer wouldn't let me do that...)

Rapid Update

This is for you Mom, because you've been telling me I have to update since I haven't recently. The overviews will be breif otherwise this would be ridiculously long...

I don't really know where I left off, but I'm pretty sure I haven't mentioned Scotland yet. So we'll start there. Scotland is beautiful. I stayed in Glasgow but visited Edinborough and the Midlands. Edinborough is a wonderful and beautiful old city. We did a 3 hour walking tour (FREE!!!) that explained the history and everything of many of the places. It was fantastic. I highly recommend it if you ever visit the city. The highlands were gorgeous. We saw several lochs and giant mountains. We found Nessy in Loch Ness and tried to bring her back to live in the Shannon River but Ryan Air has pretty strict carry on weights and Nessy was a bit too large. And I saw Scottish Highland Cattle so my trip was complete.

Spring break took me to Norway and Denmark. Norway was lovely. Oslo was really expensive...FYI, never eat a the hardrock cafe in Oslo. 1. it was the cheapest place we could find to eat and 2. we spent 90 euro on chicken fajitas, a soda, and nachos. so that puts it into perspective for you. We saw a ballet at the new opera house. Front and center and it was amazing.

Denmark is my new love. I loved everything about that country: the people, the places, the history. Everything was fantastic. I visited the Copenhagen zoo, so maybe in the future I'll have a place of employment there :). That would be ideal (that is if I can't find work in Ireland). Denmark is now one of my top 1-3 favorite countries.

I did a horse riding trek throught the mountains of Dingle. It was gorgeous. The way to see Ireland is on horseback, I'm convinced. You get some amazing views and you're right smack in the middle of some amazing nature.

Recently (as in yesterday) visited Derry in Northern Ireland. What a strange place that is. Its very different from the rest of Ireland. So divided...so strange. Anyway, Giant's Causeway was stunning...the structure and geology was really cool. Derry was a neat town, I would have liked to explore it a little more, but I guess I'll just have to return to do it.

My family visited and I'm so glad they did. I think everyone had a great time and I loved travelling with them. I'm glad my sister and Dad got to Europe for the first time and I think Ireland was a great place to start. It was wonderful travelling with my mom again in Europe...Brings back memories hahaha.

So that's all I can write right now since I have to get going and finish planning my finals horahs around Ireland...heading back to Galway to explore that more (since St. Patty's day got in the way of exploration last time) and then heading back to Kilarney National Park to do another horse trek through there.

Only 6 more days in Ireland... and thats all I'll say on that because I'm not ready to accept it yet...

Galway- Conemara, Aran Islands, and beyond

This update is specifically for you, Mom and Dad...just so you stop bugging me about it :)

So last weekend I ventured up to Galway (mostly due to that's where we went to celebrate St. Patrick's Day...more on that later).

The first day we arrived we did a bus tour of the Conemara. We literally got off our bus from Limerick onto the bus for the tour. However, there were only about 20 of us on this particular bus and it wasn't filling up any more. SOOO then we were switched to a bus of old people. They were there for a bridge tournament...and no, I'm not joking when I say that. The tour was neat. The Conemara is much like the Burren...very much covered in rock, in this case granite. But it still was beautiful, I'd like to go back in the Spring when all the flowers are in bloom. We stopped at a Kylemore Abbey I believe it was called and that was absolutly stunning. Set right in the mountains on a little lake. This place cost a million pounds to build over a hundred years ago, so you can imagine how elaborate and elegant this place is. Gorgeous inside, some of the rooms were recreated, but you could only see so much because it is (or at least was at one point) a school. Still the place was gorgeous. The downer: my friend did almost die. She decided to take a jump onto a ledge to get a picture....well that decision almost cost her a 30 ft drop through trees onto the ground. LUCKILY she caught herself just shy of falling...Kaelyn and I were a bit stunned to help during the ordeal...It happened so fast we couldn't even move. Enough of that, the trip was wonderful.

The next day topped it in my book. We took a boat out to Inis Mor, one of the Aran Islands. Firstly, I will say that the waters were a little rough that day. Now, going up to the top of the boat to get some pictures we hear this strange noise... A Irish coast guard helicopter is hovering over us...Not only hovering, but hovering close enough were if I had a rock I could have thrown it at the helicopter and hit it. We didn't really know why it was there, we assumed for the rough waters just as a precaution. Who really knows. When we got to the island we rented bikes. This was our mode of transportation for the day. People failed to mention that this island was completely uphill....So we rode uphill all day on bikes. Totally worth it though. The island was beautiful. When you get to a certain point, you stop and walk up more hills to get to the cliff where there is this really cool old stone fort and over the edge is a shear drop down into waves crashing into the side. It was an amazing site. The view, completley breathtaking. I could have spent all day there happy as can be just watching and looking. Unfortunately we had lots of biking to do before the day was over. So back onto our bikes we went. The other main attraction for me was the colony of seals that hangs out on the island. Yes I saw some seals in Ireland. I was pretty excited about it. They were cool. Overall the island was beautiful.

And this brings us to Tuesday...Yes St. Patricks Day in Ireland. We woke up pretty early in the morning to explore the city a bit. We didn't think that one through too well considering it was a bank holiday and all, but we still walked around anyway. Come 10-1030 the streets were pretty fileld with tourists and their green festive outfits (Oh yeah, I was one of them). We watched the parade that happened and it was really cool. I have to point out that the guests of honor this year were Jersey City Police...again, I'm not kidding when I say this. I wanted to talk to them, but I just never got around to it. Neato for them. I think there was a nautical theme to the parade too because there were a lot of fish costumes...That was strange. Then we headed back to the hostel and got ready for the day. We went back outside and walked down to the river. IT was so cool. Everybody was just hanging out (drinking too). Huge masses of people on both sides of the river. there were some hippies playing music. It was really a cool site. So we hung out there for a bit. And then we had dinner and went out again. The streets were so packed you could barely move. Paddy's Day in Ireland is nuts...what a good time.

The weekend was fantastic. We met some really great Canadian girls, we had loads of craic, and saw some amazing places. I would have pictures to show, but my camera was the casualtly of this trip. At least its lost in one of the most beautiful cities in Ireland, right??

Next stop Scotland...and a day after my return from that Norway/Denmark!!!!!

Adventures in Cashel and Cahir

Yesterday was a lovely (but wet and windy) day trip to Cashel and Cahir. After much confusion on where to visit this weekend, we settled on these places.

First off, let me say how difficult it can be to get bus schedules...They hide them so you spend hours looking for them. Bus Eireann can be a real pain sometimes...more on that later in the saga that was Saturday.

So Cashel. A LOVELY little town in County Tipperary. A quaint little area set in a beautiful part of Ireland. Green and hills everywhere, and sheep (exceptionally loud sheep) out the whazoo, a setting that one thinks about when they think of Ireland. We walked around and followed signs to the Rock of Cashel, A monestary/castle. The architecture of the building was really awesome. The precisness of all the masonry and artwork on the walls and tombs was amazing. It was set high up on a hill which gave some amazing views below. We went on a cloudy and rainy day, but it really set the mood of the castle. I don't think it would have had the same ambiance if it were sunny. This is the place where St. Patrick was said to have come and was said to be the most religious stronghold in all of Ireland. So that was pretty cool too.

We then walked down a path to another old stone building in the middle of a feild (not an unusal site in Ireland) and poked around there for a few minutes as well. It was an old monestary (the name of which slips my mind at the moment). Afterwards we headed back up to town. While Cashel is a lovely town, it can be done within 3 hours...There's not much to do after that. We headed to a little coffee shop and had a cup of coffee and a pastery then waited for the bus.

Now, back to Bus Eireann. Typically you only put the schedules of the busses that actually RUN to that particular stop. Well no, not you bus eireann, you like to trick the American's (as well as the Finnish since they made the same mistake) and put fake busses on your signs. So we see a bus come that says Corcaigh (Cork) on it. Oh no guys, thats not our bus, we want the one going to Athrone (which stops in Cahir). 25 minutes later, the bus still hasn't come. So we call the company who says we needed to get on the Cork bus. Then WHY the HELL did you have a bus to Cahir LISTED on you sign if we just needed to get on the Cork bus? Then we had an hour an a half to kill. Lucky for us, there was a pub right across from the bus stop. The hour an a half consisted of pints, trip planning, childhood games like MASH and hangman, as well as wondering why we suck at reading bus schedules. Finally, we get on the bus and get to Cahir, where we had ANOTHER hour and 15 minutes to wait for our connection back to Limerick....Back to the pub we went. This time specifically to stay warm and out of the rain, because our luck had completely run out by this point and the weather that held out all day finally opened up and a monsoon touched down in Ireland. We didn't get to see the really awesome Norse castle in Cahir like we planned because of Bus Eireann.

We did make the last bus back to Limerick and we made it home several hours after the original plan. We made it back just in time to get the doors just about blown off our taxi and get swept away by the wind. However, it was a fun day and we had a lovely time in Cashel and that's all that matters....Right?

Lahinch

What a cute little town in County Clare.

The morning started out with about 8 plates of scones and 3 cups of coffee- a wonderful 2nd breakfast after a bus ride. The guy kept bringing us plates of scones...who can resist them!

After that, it was time for some set dancing. Those who know me well know that dancing in general...not so much my forte. But there was a lovely lady showing us all the moves in the dance. We learned 5 different kinds of dances..Oddly enough I was pretty good at the hardest one. Most of you probably won't believe me when I say that though. So I got my Irish dancing lessons out of the way.

We then had some free time in Lahinch. It is a beach town. Lucky for us there was a surf competition going on (Elissa, you would have loved it). Surfers everywhere, kite surfers too. First thing we did when we got off the bus was take the shoes and socks off, roll up the pant legs, and run to the water. IT was FREEZINGGGGGGGGGGGGG. But totally worth it! It was so nice to see the coast of Ireland! After my feet almost froze off and I got the sand out from between my toes, we walked around the town for a bit then headed back for lunch.

After lunch we headed to the Burren. Such a cool area of Ireland. First we headed to Ailewee Caves, which was really cool and we had a tour there. But my favorite part of the day (after the beach) was driving through the Burren. The ground is almost completely limestone and what little grass there is is so rich for cattle and livestock. Farmers are considered lucky if their livestock is grazed on the Burren. What was really cool was seeing the changes in the landscape from green grass, to brown hazel tree plant things, to complete stone. The animals just kind of raomed between feilds and limestone barriers. The waves crashed up to the stone barriers. It was quite the site. I'd like to head back there in the Spring when it supposed to be beautiful with flowers from around the world growing. But even without the flowers, it was beautiful (I thought).

County Clare was quite a lovely area. I'd like to see more of it. All the towns were so little and quaint. It was overall just a wonderful and relaxing day. It was kind of nice not having to plan anything and having everything set up for us. It was a packed day, but tons of fun. Can't wait to get back to the beach either!!!

I Must Share This With the World...

because this couldn't have been the worst, or most entertaining day ever...

So it all starts out this morning when I get to the barn. I get on a horse named Tristan, a supposed sweet hart who is an easy ride. Clearly he's never met me... All was going well, he was listening to all commands and such, and we were getting along just fine. Class. So now its time to get on with the jumping. First person goes no problem, second person goes, grand. My turn. Me and good old Tristan head off in a bit of a quick trot barely after the second person is over the jump.. Then all of a sudden he just gallops across the ring and stops at the other side behind the horses....Ok that was strange I didn't tell him to move....Let's go again. Get Tristan up to a nice trot BAM!!!! Off he goes again to the horses...Third times the charm right? FALSE! This time Tristan takes off and flies around the ring doesn't stop at the other horses (mostly because I was pulling on the reins to get him to turn around) and then he just stops....I do not...I go ass over teacup over the horse's head and land right on my ass. Looking up at the horse, I'm just like, well how did this happen? We are 3 for 3 for people falling off...one person per week for the past three weeks.... it was my turn. At least I got falling off out of my system. It was a wonderful...yet very embarrassing first fall...At least the others girls were doing it jumping. I just flipped off the horse. Cool.... Needless to say that was an omen of how bad the lesson was....Worse. I changed horses, but still couldn't control her, so it was just bad...I jumped succesfully, but it wasn't pretty.

SOOOOO On the way home Billy our bus driver is driving down the road... BAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM!!! what the hell did we just hit?? The tire completely blew out...Wonderful, this is a perfect end to the day. So we're sitting here while the bus driver is on the phone to get people out to fix the tire, and who walks up to the car? Our Riding instructor! How fortunate! So five girls pile into his car (which only fits 3 comfortably) and head home. A nice gesture and much appreciated. So we finally got home after a bit of confusion about where to be dropped off, but now we're home and get to do it all again next week...

Had to share it because I went from complete frustration riding horses to complete astonishment that unfortunate events continued to unfold throughout the day with the horses sucking and me sucking even worse than the horses and then the bus tire blowing out completly..



Good times...

London Town!

Ready for a novel? This will be a long post.

So this weekend I spent in London! Probably one of my favorite cities. I beautiful one with lots of wonderful architecture and history, and the people are great too. We stayed with some friends of Sarah's in a flat in Kensington, which seemed to be this lovely "up and coming" ritzy area of town. I was wonderful, and close to the tube station which was also a plus.

So after we got lost, wandered around the area for an hour or so looking for our place (after a night with MAYBE 3 hours of sleep before our 630 AM flight) we found the place, set our stuff down, and headed off into the city. It was a lovely day. We saw Big Ben and the London Eye. Then we walked ALLLLLLL the way from Big Ben to Tower Bridge. This was a three hour or so trek, but we saw lots of the city. We found a nice little place for free wine tasting so that was a nice little relaxation between legs of our trek. We learned all about tasting wines and what makes a good rose`. The man doing this tasting was incredbly nice and gave us discounts off the wine we bought for gifts for the ladies letting us stay with them. We then continued across the Milenium bridge towards London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Having seen these, it was time for dinner at a lovely little pub back towards the house. Clearly fish and chips was the only this I wanted, and it was delicious!!!

The next day we started out early and made our way to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. WE waited around for about 3 hours, but got a prime location right in the front at the gates. I don't remember this being such a big show last time, but there was a full on parade. Music and horses and lots of different guards. It was a lot of fun. They played the Ciricle of Life, which was completely unexpected to me sicne I thought they would play more traditional music. It was cool though. They had the most beautiful horses going to the palace and some lovely ones doing crowd control as well. We met a lovely older man who was so full of history of London, we talked to him while we waited and then he took us around a little bit for our own private little tour. He took us to places we probably would have passed by, like the Prince of Wales' house, what used to be the house of the queen's mother, and a pub called the Red Lion, which is the oldest pub in London (400 years old, perhaps more) where all the guards used to go after they were done with their shifts. It was really cool so we decided we had to have a pint in there. We continued walking and ran into Picadilly Arcade and another arcade and we window shopped at all the jewelry and fancy stores that we clearly couldn't afford. It was really nice.

We continued to the British Museum after that. This is probably one of my favorite museums. You could spend days in there easily. There is so much so see and do! The first time I went, I didn't spend nearly as much time there as I would've liked. This time, I spent more time there, but still didn't see all of it! After a few hours of museum time (and finding MK time hahaha) we headed back to Kensington for a lovely homey Italian dinner.

Then we headed back home to get ready to go out (it was at this point about 103o pm) because Christine wanted to see a friend that was in London. So we got ready and headed back into the city (got there at 1215 ish) and found her friend. We decided that we'd just get a taxi back home since the tube stopped running at 1. Bad decision number one. So we go to this little dance club and have a good time for a few hours and then decide its time we head back so we can at least get a few hours of sleep. We leave and start heading towards a tube station hoping to grab at taxi. First off, I've never seen so many drunk stumbling people on the streets in my life. Second, getting a taxi in London at night is incredibly difficult. None of the "stick your hand out to hail a taxi" stuff. We tried that and got yelled at. SO we put our names in at a taxi service finally, after they sent us around the block about three times. As we're about to get into the taxi and getting yelled at by a crazy man running the taxi service we learn instead of the 15 pound rate we were told by a driver it would be 20 pounds...this wouldn't have bothered me much, but my friends said no, so out we go. We waited around a little longer and realized that we weren't going to get a taxi for less than 20 pounds. We wandered off to try to find another place. This was getting us no where and everyone was frustrated, tired, and cold (never a good combination at now 230-3 am). We walked and walked and walked and walked asking along the way taxi services how much it would cost to take us home...the further we walked the more expensive it got....FINALLLYYYYYYYY after about an hour of wandering the streets of London we found a bus station. Now, during the previous two days, we hadn't been able to ride one of the double decker buses becuase we took the tube everywhere. But now we did, so that was about the only good thing to come from walking. We walked one hell of a way though... From Leicester Square to Picadilly Circus...That's quite far. FINALLY we returned home, and felt horrible that we got in a such an absurd hour, at 330 am. Our taxi was coming to pick us up at 415. This was just the right amount of time to pack our stuff, write a letter of thank you and apology to the girls, and sit for about five minutes.

Then it was off the the bus station, and the airport, and then home. We didn't get much sleep in the past 24-48 hours, but it was completely worth it. Lots of adventures, lots of fun, lots of cool pictures. All together, a highly successful and WONDERFUL trip to London.

One day I'll live there. I'm not much of a city person, but for London I could make an exception!

I Left a Peice of My Heart in Cork

This past weekend: Cork.

We left really early Friday morning and arrived in Cork via bus. We checked into our hostel, Sheila's, and threw our bags into the luggage closet since we couldn't get into our room yet. Then we went to explore the city.

Cork is a beautiful city. There's tons of shopping and things to do. The English Market is amazing. It's huge and has so many different things: Cheese, fish, chicken, beef, pasteries, chocolates, clothing, jewelry, jams, sauces....and its all really cheap. And everything looks amazing. I, of course, bought some chocolate. Amazing by the way. We headed to a pretty church and walked in and a mass was going on, so I didn't take any pictures, but it was gorgeous inside. After some more exploration, we had to get dinner for the night...that was a quest in itself because we went into the one Dunne's store in Ireland that doesn't have a market inside...Eventually we got frozen pizzas and salad to make at the hostel. Later in the night we walked into the city again and walked around to find a relaxed pub to sit in for a while. Two incredibly nice and cute old ladies gave us directions to the perfect place. It was lovely.

The hostel itself was incredibly nice. It was pretty clean, we had a shower and toilet and sinks all in our room so we didn't have to use the communal one downstairs. It had a kitchen to cook in, however, the oven was apparently the first one ever made, so it took us about 2 hours to cook 6 frozen pizzas. They were soggy to say the least.

The enxt day we set out to the Blarney Castle. It was gorgeous grounds. So green and pretty. WE were lucky to get such a beautiful sunny day to see it. We went to the castle...Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I'm terrified of heights and that climbing up to high places is not my favorite past time. This being said, guess what I had to do to get the the Blarney stone? Climb lots of tiny little stone stairs to the very tippy top of Blarney castle. Apparently the Irish were very tiny back in the day, leprachauns if you will... The story just gets better from here. The Irish clearly couldn't have made this for anyone to kiss the stone. No, you have to lay down, hang over the side of the castle upside down and backwards, and kiss the stone. Again, not one of my favorite things to do. BUTTTT after much deliberation (and peer pressure since EVERYBODY was doing it), I gave in and did it. I definatley would've regretted not doing it. Now I can check off my list "kissed the blarney stone". The rest of the grounds are beautiful. There's some little cave type things to crawl around in, although if you're claustrophobic I wouldn't suggest it since they were making even me a little nervous. Theres so much to see there. If anybody goes, take the time to look around. Some of the signs say 1- 1/2 walk, but it doesn't really take too long. Its completely worth it. Also, don't wear nice shoes or pants, because if you do go crawling around, you will get very muddy. My jeans and sneakers will never be the same...

After almost missing the bus back to Cork, we went to dinner. I had salmon, fresh from the English Market, and it was amazing. One of the best meals I've had here (because I didn't have to cook it). Later we went out at night. Cork is very different at night. Weird people are out at night and they aren't nice. They wear really strange outfits too...and by outfits I mean peices of cloth that don't cover ANYTHING....However, it was still a fun night. I meant a few nice guys from New Zealand and from Cork, and we had a friend that we met in Limerick who showed us around.

Cork was fantastic. I'm actually sad I didn't go to University College Cork for school because the area was just so nice. But I can't wait to go back when my family gets here because there's still a lot I want to see: the campus of UCC, there's a historical prison, back to Blarney to see some of the grounds I didn't get to see, and the cathedral. I really just want an excuse to go back there.

Superbowl Weekend

SO this weekend...

WE decided to take a day trip to Adare, a little suburb of Limerick. We hop a bus into the city to the train/ bus station and hop another bus to Adare. A round trip ticket is fairly cheap we found so maybe bus travel will be our mode of transportation. Anyway, we headed to Adare. It is a really cute town. Its a kind of town that one thinks of when they think of Ireland. Cute, country side little town. There were some buildings with thatched roofs and cute little stores. A little ritzy maybe, but still quaint. We walked up and down the streets and made our first stop into a Friary. Very pretty stone church with a beautiful alter and stained glass windows. We took some pictures here and headed off to the golf course. We walked around there into places we probably shouldn't have since we were neither members nor golfers, but that's beside the point. We stumbled upon a few things like a stone building that we have no idea what it really was. There was a mansion where i guess was reception/hotel/private residence of the owners was and it was gorgeous!!! There was a bridge right in the middle of the golf course that allowed for good shots of the mansion and an old castle that was off in the distance. We wanted to get to the castle, but there was a gate in the way...it didn't stop some of us from going past the gate, but since we would have had to walk across the green, we decided not too. That was probably the prettiest golf course I've ever seen...though I haven't seen very many to compare it too... The we went to another church/school thing. Really cute, not much to see, but a couple cute pictures were taken. Then we headed back into the town and went to get some "traditional irish" at a little resturant. Food was good though alittle pricey.

We headed home and went to Dolan's, a pub, for dinner. There was live traditional Irish music playing. I actually really like Dolans. The atmosphere is really neat and its not too packed and its more of a family place than a bar/pub place. The food was good too. I had the best mussels I think I've had in a long time.

On Sunday we didn't do much but wander in the city and get some errands done. That night though we went to a pub called Flannery's to watch the superbowl. That was loads of fun. We met lots of awesome people. The Irish were really into the game. We got invited to get kabobs after the game with the American football team afterwards, but it was about 330 am and we were really tired (the game didn't start her until 1130). I rooted for the Cardinals (someone had to right?) but Steelers won (obviously). There were some upset Irish, but I think they got over it. There was also finger food: little sausages, little spring rolls, and something called Black pudding...I tried it becuase its an Irish thing...but I'm not sure I'll be having that again. I'm not even going to say what its made of. The only downside to watching the Superbowl in Ireland was we didn't get to see the awesome superbowl commercials, which is always the best part of the superbowl. Oh well, I guess there's always youtube.

All together, it was a great weekend. Next weekend: Cork! I can't wait! We made friends at a bar on Thursday night who are from Cork and they said they'd show us around, so it should be a great time!

Thats all for now!

Classes and such

Well I have a few minutes so I though I'd share whats new in Ireland.

Classes have started. I got into a horse riding class...awesome especially since I have none of my stuff here with me. Hopefully it will get here by next Tuesday...fingers crossed! But thats a fun class, the lecturer is really cool and really nice and incredibly helpful. The facility is really nice! It's huge!!!!!! The horses are amazing too! The down side is that I have to take a "science" horse class too, so the only one that fits into my schedule and doesn't meet on Fridays is a reproduction and mare and stallion management class. I suppose it isn't horrible because I have to take a class like that back in the states, but I really wanted to take an Irish folklore class... bummer. I'm also taking a marketing class which shouldn't be too bad. A class about Irish travellers, which I thought would be like Lois and Clark travellers, but its actually about how some of the Irish used to be more or less nomadic and travelled in caravan type things. Regardless, it sounds like a pretty interesting class, and the teacher is known for "not being a difficult marker" as he said, so if for nothing else, I'll take the class because of that. The final class I'm taking is an Irish language class that I'm totally excited for. I've always wanted to learn the language and now I can!!! So i have that tomorrow.

Mom and dad, I'd just like to let you know how proud you will be at my shopping and budgeting. I bought 1-2 weeks (maybe even 3 weeks for some stuff) worth of groceries for 26 euros! I was excited about it! Food in the stores can be really cheap if you know where to go. We took a walk to Lidl today which took about 20 minutes. That walk is REALLLLYY long on the way back with bags of groceries. But completely worth it since that is the cheapest place we've found so far for food. Can't wait for saturday in city centre and tuesdays on campus when they have a farmers market with lots of fresh produce and baked goods. I'll have to get some stuff since I missed it this week!

I think that's all for now. Tonight we're headed to the Stables for some kareoke and fun times.

Irish School Systems are Funny...

So I'm not sure if I hit this in a previous post, but I just wanted to say how crazy the class selection and registration is here. First, they don't have a list of courses they have to take throughout their four years in college. When the students come in, they choose a major (or a course as they call it here) and their schedules are pretty much set for the four years. Since we're studying abroad, we can choose any classes within the university to take, which is kind of nice. However, none of the classes you really want to take fit together since they wouldn't be in the same "course". For example, my equine classes I want to take clash with the marketing and music classes I want to take. It makes choosing classes very difficult. Also, the registration for classes technically doesn't happen until the 6th of February or something like that. We were told to just pick 6 or 7 classes to go to and see if we liked them and then by the 6th, pick 4-5 that you want to stick with and then the modules will be scheduled. I suppose that is kind of nice as well, but it is very nerve-wracking trying to put together as schedule here, whereas at home all I'd have to do is go online and click the class and it puts it in a schedule for me. I guess it's all part of the experience.

Today was my first day of classes. I went to an marketing and accounting class. I'll probably stick with the marketing and drop the accounting....I don't really like numbers anyway so that works out well. I have a meeting to go to for the equine classes to see which I can actually take and then to try to fit those into a schedule. It is quite a beautiful day out so walking to class was very enjoyable.

Last night was also a good time. We went to a bar/dance club called the Lounge in the next town over. Everybody was saying it was "the place to be" since all the Irish students were finally back and it was the last night before classes began. It was also "Ladies Night" so we got in for free which was cool. So we hung out there and danced and drank and had a merry time.

Well I think that is it for now...I'm going to fiddle with my schedule to see what I can fit in and what has to go.

The first few days in a nutshell

So you may be asking yourself what I've done the past couple days. Or you may not be. Regardless, I will tell you.

Orientation in any country suck. Don't tell me how to write and essay or study or whatever...I got it. I've been in school for quite some time now and I think I've got that kind of stuff under my belt. However, I did meet some pretty awesome people. So yay for that. Classes are weird here because instead of registering for classes before school starts, you just pick 6 or 7 and go to them to see if you like them. after about 2 weeks you pick 4 or 5 and then write it on a peice of paper and hand it to registration. It's a little nerveracking for us Americans, but the Irish are crazy laid back (which is awesome) so it cool. After spending like 9 hours in orientation, we spent 4 hours at the Stables (the on campus bar (perhaps America should introduce this idea)). It was great craic (aka fun). Drinks are expensive. There was lots of dancing and socializing and meeting more awesome people.

Day two of orientation was much the same...more meeting people, more bars, more food. We went shopping in town and the city. There are child gangs here that are quite scary and young girls in long skirts that heckle Americans....weird. Riding the bus can be difficult because you can't see out the windows on some, so you totally look like a American, but most Irish are willing to help and don't mind it. They're also very sarcastic, so i like that. Finding a person who has a car has been exceptionally helpful and much appreciated. We piled into a very tiny car and had lots of groceries. Also weird things: packaged pancakes and having to bring your own shopping bags, otherwise you have to pay for them.

Today was our first day to really explore some of Limerick. A few of us went and saw St. John's Castle which was really awesome. Great view of the city and some great history. We also saw the Limerick museum (not too exciting) and St. Mary's cathedral, which we couldn't figure out how to get into but then someone told us how when we got back to campus, so we have to go back there. We then somehow wondered into city centre and did some much needed shopping for hair dryers and more food.

We had a pretty awesome wine and cheese party tonight. 7 people to 6 bottles of wine....note to self 4 euro wine= nasty shit. But it was fun. More girls came over and again, met new people. It's a pretty motivated group of people so we'll be doing lots of traveling together.

I'm totally joining the outdoors pursuits club because you get to go caving and rockclimbing and hill walking (hiking) all throughout Ireland. i sounds pretty sweet.


More stuff I've learned:
1. when guys ask to go have a cup of tea, they don't want tea apparently.
2. when asking for a ride to the store, don't ask f3or a ride ask for a lift, because you're not asking for a ride.
3. lots of people ask you if you want to have some crack. They're actually asking you to have some craic, which means fun.
4. Putting travel hair dryers into a power converter/adapter will indeed make the electrical sockets explode.
5. Fuck can clearly be used in every context
6. the weather here is really crazy....rain, sunny, rain/sunny, coldest in the afternoons and warmest in the morning and night.....its hard to handle...

well my computer is going to die because of that whole explosion thing...so there will be another update real soon because there is soo much more to talk about. This is the abridged version. Hope you enjoyed and check out pictures on facebook (when I put them up of course).

The "Do"s and "Don't"s of packing...

So here is my first blog from University of Limerick. I have learned that I truly suck at packing....of course it would've been nice to know that I could check two suitcases (the airline led me to believe I would have to pay for the second). I have also learned some "do"s and "don't"s for future traveling purposes.

DON'T pack an 80 lb suitcase.

In the event that you do pack an 80 lb suitcase, DO immediately make friends with the people checking your baggage and giving boarding passes. With any luck they are alum from your school, as was the case with me. They will help you take 20 lbs out of your 80 lb suitcase and separate it into another bag so you don't have to pay $100 for overweight luggage. They will also help you smuggle liquids onto the plane (which for your reference will promptly get confiscated at the layover customs and baggage check, but it worked for a while).

DON'T let you parents talk you into taking your silver pumps home. Those shoes ARE completely necessary to have in a foreign country. You never know when you'll need silver pumps.

DO go into gift shops and look for large bags. This will be useful for when you have too many carry on bags packed in an effort to take weight out of the checked overweight luggage.

DO pack a raincoat in your carry-on. It rains a lot in Ireland...and wearing two sweatshirts is not only uncomfortable, but also looks yucky.

At any rate, the flight was an adventure in and of itself, but I got here safely...no bird incidences. The country is just as pretty as I hoped it would be and I can't wait to explore it more. But I'm completely exhausted in every way so this is where I leave you until my next thrilling post!

Pre- departure

Well, I just set this thing up... Thought this might be a way for any one who is interested in what I'm doing to see how my study abroad adventures are going thus far.

I haven't even left yet and its already been an adventure. My adviser forgot to send us our acceptance letters and pre-departure info, but luckily it has been sent and everything is good to go. I'm trying to get things together now to go and pack...I keep writing lists and the lists keep multiplying and getting longer. I don't know quite how everything is going to fit into my suitcase. I have 10 days until I leave and I haven't bought everything I need let alone even packing.

Well, that's all I've got for now. So far this blog has been terribly exciting I know. Check for the next fun filled blog, probably from Limerick, Ireland.