Fond Farewell, Bittersweet Birthday

Here we are ladies and gents. As I type it is 7:20am in the Dublin airport (free wifi ftw) As several of you know, today is my birthday (hooray!) and it is the most bittersweet of them all- it means leaving the beautiful country of Ireland.


I cannot believe how quickly the semester flew by. I can honestly say I am pretty sure I was able to do everything that I planned on doing in Ireland, except for maybe the Guinness factory tour, that was never to be. I still have not won the battle with Google, so this post will not have any photos either, Im sorry to say. I got some great ones this week too. Went out twice, and what splendid nights they were :) Had the proper craic!

This week has been consumed with finals stress hitting full force. I did some final Christmas shopping in town and frequented the Christmas market quite a few times, and hit every coffee shop I could one last time. Side note, they finally released the Christmas single! Wee! Here's the link for anyone who feels charitable and wants to listen to my beautiful jingle belling and background harmonizing any time you'd like :) *cough hint cough*

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/nuigalwaywitless

Tuesday we had a mini ISA going away party at The Hole in the Wall, a pub scene downtown. We all said some goodbyes just in case, but we were really hoping that wasn't the end. Afterwards I went out with my roommates for a real nightclub experience. Even without any drink in me, I ended up going home that night dizzy and with the world spinning. This is why ms goodie too-shoes (aka ME) doesn't go out- something bad normally happens. This time around it wasn't necessarily bad, but not enjoyable. We were all having a grand time and dancing, and some lad accidentally elbowed me directly in the throat. I began choking and coughing and with my terrible crud that I was still getting over, lets say my lungs did not respond so well. But hey, it makes for an entertaining story! Basically, this is the universe's way of telling me I should not have gone out partying when I had a huge psychology exam on Thursday. *Shame shame*


So as you can imagine, Wednesday I stayed in my room all day and studied my patootie off. Thank goodness they put their old exams up on the library's website. I was able (for once) to properly predict what I thought would come up on the exam! I would have been in trouble if the 2 out of the 6 possible topics hadn't shown up on that thing, because they were the only things I really studied hard so I could write killer essays about them- and I did! Also, thank you to Roisin and Mary for teaching me the Prayer of St. Joseph (ofsomethingthatIcantremember). It's a prayer you say before your exam to basically pray that the things you studied will show up on them. It was a beautiful moment when I opened that exam and realized I would pass after all! Huge relief after the morning that I had trying to get to my exam. Expectation: wake up at 7:15, do a bit of extra studying, eat/shower, walk in to college to catch the bus out to our exam sight (a 45 min walk away from the dorms). Reality: wake up at 8:43, instantly go into panic mode, frantically call the taxi company while trying to dress myself, and pay 13.50 to get out to my exam at 9:30. But the important thing is that I made it and I beasted it! (even if I don't have an A, no matter what I definitely passed, so pat on the back to me!)

Afterwards Sam and I had a coffee date at one of our favorite cafes and were joined by Rachel and Chris. We roamed the Christmas market, I went to a secondhand shop and sold my novels back, and then went home to do laundry and begin packing. All I have to say is thank goodness Morgan wasn't there when I was packing, cause I imploded on our little room. I mean, I had crud EVERYWHERE. It was ridiculous. I had also told everyone that I wanted to celebrate both the end of my exams and my birthday that night, plus Paul wanted to have the real last last ISA gathering. We all met and Paul bought us lots of appetizers at Bar 8 and then we went to a pub called Roisin Dubb. Afterwards, we went to one more club and just danced the night away. Many a tears were shed in saying goodbye to Paul. It's hard to imagine life without good old Uncle Paul giving us the true Irish experiences. We could not have been luckier in our tour leader. I also made a collage DVD of all the things we did in Ireland this semester- here's the video if anyone feels like watching it. I gave one to most of the group and I'll mail more to other people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wyQ8phOCPQ&feature=share&list=UU-Jy1P1NbrP50DHAD3efnBA


I shed some tears over this as well.


Yesterday (Friday?) IDK, I haven't slept yet. Anyways, Friday I finished my packing and planned on going ice skating. Sadly that never happened, but I did get to spend some good time with my roomies for our last day as housemates. They even surprised me with a birthday cake and an apron that says "Galway Girl" on it. I absolutely love it. Then they all went home for the weekend and I was alone to gather things together and throw things out. I am just really hoping I have everything. Also, I have become that girl that gets sad about parting with shoes. My boots that I have loved since 11th grade are now in a dumpster in Gort. It was hard, man. I then went and chatted with Sam, Chris, Jessie, Rachel, and Chelsea until it was time for my taxi to my bus to the airport.

It is now Saturday morning at 8am and I am checked in and waiting to go through customs. I will do a bit of last minute souvenir shopping to keep myself awake while I wait on Jessie and Rachel's arrival (we're all on the same flight- cool :D ) Jessie and I are even in the same row!!


I will be glad to be home to familiar things, but I have never cried from leaving a place before. One great birthday gift came yesterday though. I received my flight voucher from the bank, and it has to be used next year. Ireland, I will see you again sooner than you expect. Until then, beidh me ag chaillean tu.