So here we are- over a month in Ireland. It has seriously flown by. My roommate Roisin pointed out that we only have 12 weeks till Christmas, which means about 9 weeks left in the semester... I then proceeded to tear up. My fear is that I will run out of time here before I get to do everything I want to do here. I have no idea when I'll be able to travel like this again. There is so much to explore here. It's worse than trying to see everything in New York in a day- and then take a flight and cram in Los Angeles on the same day. Things I will be happy about when I get back in the states:
Friends and family (obviously) and my puppy
My Pampered Chef baking equipmentapplesauce
peanut butter
pumpkin- all things delicious about fall and pumpkin (seriously, if anyone wants to send me some pumpkin puree I would be eternally grateful)
A room to myself again
Pandora radio
My Zumba classes
Once Upon A Time
Sophie, my darling Santa Fe
legit Pizza and Mexican food.
Other than that, I am perfectly content here. I have said that several times in this blog, but I am repeating it anyways. Here I am close enough to other countries to just go. In the states, you can't get ANYWHERE for under about $1,000 bucks. Haley wasn't kidding when she said it's insanely tempting to just go for it. I actually had dinner Friday night at a wonderful restaurant and pub called McSwiggans (Just cause I don't actually have pics of the place: http://www.mcswiggans.com ) with some extended family members who had just gotten back from Germany. That's the way it is in Europe and the UK. It's a hard life, you know? Maybe that's why they are generally happier- travel doesn't feel like an impossibility like it does in the states. I don't feel trapped or stuck here. Who knows- maybe I'd feel different if I had grown up here, but this is my American perspective. All in all, I look at the calendar and see how much I have coming up, and am instantly filled with excitement and sadness. One day, I will come back. I have no idea when, but hopefully sooner than later.
So about the past week- no excursions, just mountains and mountains of homework, so not many pictures to share with you all. I will, however, mention the highlights of the week.
Last Sunday afternoon was the Gaelic Football Final. I felt like the child caught in the middle of a divorce between Matthew, cheering for Mayo, and Roisin, cheering for Donegal. Despite threats of loss of life and limb on both sides, I rooted for Donegal. Thank goodness they won- otherwise it would have been a long week. Just like Hurling, Gaelic Football is insanely intense and very confusing, but completely enthralling. And yes, I have a flag draped around me like a cape. Roisin wanted me properly decorated.
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| Donegal for Sam! |
I also created a gif of myself at the entrance to Blarney Castle. It's been really exciting here.
http://makeagif.com/i/crsOji
Monday night I played ultimate for the first time since arriving. No cleats+rain+cold+mud= bad lungs and a thrown-out back for Beth. I really hate my body sometimes. They're a pretty good group of athletes, so I don't think I'll continue playing haha. I'm much more of a pickup game level player than a club player. I enjoyed playing though, until the excruciating pain incurred the next day. Needless to say, I miss Dr. Brock. Very much so.
Tuesday night was our choir night out. We went to college bar and watched night 1 of 4 the Battle of the Bands. Great craic :) I made a few new friends that evening, which is always a plus. Met a few more Irish friends, and a few German ones as well. Everyone here is really open and easy to talk to, which is splendid. I'll need to talk to them about trying to go to a Christmas Market near the end of the semester in Germany. Just google them- they are amazing.
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| Battle Royallll |
Wednesday afternoon I went to archery for the first time. Not gonna lie, I was totally having a few fantasy moments about Lord of the Rings and the Hunger Games. Hit the marks pretty well, and then learned to shoot left-handed. Interesting phenomenon. Much like walking to school and seeing this guy just chillin in the river. NBD
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| #IrishLifeProblems |
Thursday night was an Irish National Holiday... Okay, not really. BUT it was Arthur's Day! (or as some misheard it, Arse Thursday- there's a toast for you) This day is to celebrate the day that Arthur Guinness created the first pint of the national drink of Ireland- Guinness. Personally I don't like Guinness that much (a sin in Ireland) but I had to have one for the toast at 5:59- the time that the first pint was created. I had a little half pint just to toast Guinness properly. I actually ended up getting Guinness with some blackcurrant in it- I now love Guinness, as long as it has blackcurrant in it. We toasted at The Quays, my favorite pub in Galway. There's always great live music. Mark, I even heard Irish Rover. I hope you get to watch this. (technical difficulties- I'm going to try to upload videos again later)
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| TO ARTHUR!! |
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| Love them so much! |
Friday was an easy laid-back night. As I said earlier, I had dinner with some extended family members. See if you can follow this- my Aunt's husband's brother and his wife. What would their relation be to me? No idea- but they're great people. I hope to see more of them in the future :) I then came home and YouTubed it up with Roisin, and after a few hours of crying over adorable puppies and sweet soldier homecomings, I made the mistake of introducing her to the Afro Circus 10 minute challenge. I wish I had set up a camera for her reaction- she thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen her life.
Saturday morning I woke up and went to the Farmer's Market downtown and got almost all of my grocery shopping done for the week. Asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, hummus, avocados, butternut squash, bananas, fish, shrimp, and amazing cheeses and granola. If I could have carried more, I would have. Galway shopping problems. Afterwards, we went to yet ANOTHER coffee shop (seriously, Ireland is not helping my caffeine addiction) and in to the famous bookshop- Charlie Byrne. It is a second-hand book store that buys and sells both new and used books. It is my haven. For a while, I have been having doubts about my love of books, mainly because the Kindle is KILLING MY PASSION SLOWLY AND MERCILESSLY. It's great in theory of having lots of books at the touch of a button, but it takes me forever to read on, and I sort of hate it. Mom, if you're reading this- the Kindle is ALL YOURS when I get home. Walking in to Charlie Byrne, however, relit my fire. I picked up a book and felt like it was a friend. I even got butterflies in my stomach from the excitement about the literature surrounding me. It was a beautiful moment. I am that much of a nerd. Judge me.
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| So beautiful!! |
Also, when heading in to town, we ended up right smack dab in the middle of a parade. It was really great- a bit of a reminder of home. The Oyster festival was this weekend, but sadly it's sort of a well-to-do event that required expensive tickets. That's alright- I don't particularly love oysters. Hopefully the blogger will begin to cooperate and let me upload the videos of the parade soon >.<
Today was a day to catch up on homework. Which means I've napped and cooked and cleaned and typed this blog. Also I watched the hurling final rematch. Galway lost- it was tragic. I've gotten some homework done, but I'm really behind. I have to get a presentation done for Wednesday that I'm stressing about, so it's getting time to crack down on my studies. Library here I come! Thank goodness Mondays and Tuesdays have huge gaps that I can use to actually study.
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