my summer with the Irish

Some pictures

2009-07-28T18:18:00.001-07:00

I figured i'd post some more pictures. Since i was unable to when in Ireland.

The Kings Head

Eyre Squre (Galway)
Eyre Square cont...

The beach we stopped at when leaving the cliffs (which you can sorta see in the back ground).

Cliffs of Mohr

Of course, we didnt obey this sign....we went beyong the point. :)

John and Michelle eating ice cream at the Cliff's

One of the few pictures i have from Dingle

A picture i took from my phone on NUI - Galway's campus

I saw baseball on TV!

2009-07-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

No, it wasnt Hurling or Football...it was baseball. :) And for once..i was excited to be home! I guess thats not true...the other day when Michelle and i were in Tipperary, i saw some American money on the nightstand of the house we were staying at and i freaked out. I've never been so excited to see a quarter in my life. I squeeled. It's the little things for me. :) You never realize how acclimated you are becoming to something until you see the "old" ways. It completely brought me back. It was very wierd.

So, im "home". Thank goodness for the Orlando airport for having free wifi. The internet at my apartment in Ireland was TERRIBLE the past couple days, so i coudnt even sign on to update my blog. But i thought it was very important to update on the last couple nights and give my final remarks.

I just have to say this at this time if i may: There are a ton of children of "asian" decent (my guess is chinese) all wearing face masks. Like they are going to catch the swine flu. Where is Martha when i need her.....

So! Tuesday: I had my last classes and took our final exams.....cake. I aced them of course :) It was hilarious how many people were freaking out about these tests and papers and such and i really just didnt stress about them to much. At one point in time i felt a pang of guilt for being a bad student because i wasnt studying as hard as everyone else, but then i realized that i was in Ireland and the tests/papers were easy, so i went downtown and had fun! Crazy people who stress over little things (<------totally me).

After the exams, everyone gathered outside of the testing room and looked at each other and said almost simultaniously... "Time to go drink!"....i know, i sound like an alcoholic. I'm NOT! But its Ireland, and thats what you do to celebrate anything and everything. Not to mention it was our last night. And it was a good one at that. We went everywhere and saw everyone. Since the arts festival is going on right now, there is live music everywhere. So we saw a bit of that in a little "exclusive" club called the Cellar. But we also got a taste for the wild and crazy dancing side of Ireland at this other club. :( Talking about all this is making me sad...

SO that was Tuesday. Wednesday, Michelle and i went out and tried to get what gifts we could with what little money we both had. That is one thing i am not going to miss. It is unbelieveably expensive there. A double cheeseburger from McDonalds is 2 euro! ($3.00!) For a double cheeseburger! Ya know...the cheapest, nastiest food you can find in america. Crazy. After that, we packed up our stuff and headed out to the Kings Head (our favorite pub) to see our band (the one with the cute banjo player). It was a blast, even when we werent drinking. We had to catch the bus to dublin at 5am. It wasnt fun. But we stayed out with the band until about 3. Hahaha! No, i havent slept in over 24 hours. And i was just on an airplane for 9.5 hours.

I'm not really sure how to sum up the last month. As cliche as this is all going to sound, it was a life changing experience. I was expecting something totally different when i left, and i couldnt be happier about the time that i had. Michelle and i were talking, and there isnt one thing that could have happend to made the trip better. We firmly believe we had the best experience we could have had and made the most of every moment. Having Michelle there definately made the trip amazing. It would have been so different without her, and im so grateful for her company. Its so strange how one person can completely change the course of your life (or a month of it at least). I'm so happy we got along so well. Go us :)

Ireland is simply amazing. I had more than one irish person say to me "Ireland would be the greatest country on the earth if only it would stop raining once in a while". Which is absolutely true. Everything about that country is genuine. The people, the music, the culture, the spirit, the nationalisim, the landscape. All the other countries i've visited (allbeit only Canada...but what i've heard from people who have been to other, less developed countries) it seems like they are trying to modernize and become like America. And Ireland is so different from that. They arent trying to be like the US at all. Even though they love us :) I cant tell you how many times people would hear Michelle and i talking and just but in our conversation with "Americans! Ladies...Where are you from! Why are you here?!" Its adorable. Anyway, words cant really describe the place because it simply can not be put into words. You'll just have to go visit yourselves.

I need to thank my parents. Without them (this sounds like an academy award speech) i would not have been able to come. Well i would have, but i'd have a ton of creditors coming after me and i'd be an emaciated wreck. Thank you mom and dad....i promise...i WILL buy you a vinyard one day to make up for this. You have offically done your part in assisting with my education. I love you <...........this.........> much more for all your help. Any ideas on how to come up with $150,000.00 for law school?

So....now for ideas on how to adjust back to American culture. First off, noone is allowed to laugh at me if i say wierd words or phrases. And if i burst out into spontanious tears, its only because i left my heart in Ireland :) Hahahah...kidding. Actually...no im not. I did leave part of it there, and i'm GOING to go back and get it again one day. I have to. The thought of never seeing ireland again is heartwrenching.

Okay, i have to go board my next plane. Thank you for reading (if anyone even did). Sorry i didnt post more pictures. I'll try and keep putting them up or post the link to a diffferent website so you can view them.

Slan agus bennacht! (farwell and blessings)

Weekend in Tipperary

2009-07-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Weekend update:

We drove down to Tipperary via two very nice gentlemen we've become friends with who live down there. Co. Tipperary is in South-Central Ireland. We took a ton of back roads and drove through Limerick and other popular cities. It was nice to see Ireland in something other than a bus. We got to Cashel (the main city) and got our stuff settled in the house we were staying at. We went and had dinner at some resturant and then they boys drove us to the pitch for the Hurling match. They didnt come with us because they had their own hurling game, so it was just us two American girls!

The game was awesome. I'm definatly going to follow this sport when i get home. Its so easy to get into and the crowd was crazy! It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it was pissing rain the whole time (pissing rain=irish phrase....come to think of it...a TON of Irish phrases use the word piss. I.e...."he's just taking a piss" = "he is just joking with you"....crazy irish people)

After the match the boys came back and picked us up and we went out to some pubs in Cashel. The next morning Johnny drove us to the Cliffs of Mohr and we hung out there for a while. The cliffs were stunning, but not as exciting as i thought. Maybe because we had been to Dun Aunghasa on the Aran Islands already. At least there, the edges were a sharp, 90 degree angle...where as the Cliffs of Mohr rounded off and were covered in grass. Which i suppose is more dangerous. Anyway, we had Icecream (of course....Michelle and i are addicted to it). Then we stopped at the beach and headed back to Ennis (Co. Clare) to catch the bus home.

When we got home, we got ready for the parade in Galway. Right now the biggest arts festival in Ireland is going on right in Galway City. Its awesome! So they had the parade and "fireworks" last night. It was a very short parade (any parade is after sitting through the apple blossom parade though) and it was very..."artsy". No floats or anything. Instead they had wierd art pieces made out of iron bars and tissue paper and wierd people dressed up in crazy costumes. Exctiting, nonetheless. After that, Michelle and i headed home. We were exhausted. And it turnes out the "fireworks" were really just giant sparklers. :)

Today Suibhne took us to the kicking wall in Salthill (city next to the beach). It was about an hour walk but right along the ocean. It reminded me of Ocean City Maryland. The "kicking wall" is supposedly some wall you walk up and kick and it prolongs your life. It was dissapointing. Very strange and not at all what we were expecting. We kicked it anyway and rode the rollarcoaster on the way back. :) I'll post pictures as soon as i load them on my computer. I'm supposed to be studying for the exams we have tomorrow, so im trying to make this short and sweet. :)

Thats it! I'm making a list of all the irish phrases we've learned and un-intentionally started using. You know when you make a new friend you hang out with a lot, and you start to pick up their mannerisims? Thats happened to us, and its funny as all get out.

Two days left.. :(

I dont want to leave......really. I'll probably cry.

I'm trying to load pictures but they are taking forever to upload, so you have to do without them for now!

Galway v. Cork

2009-07-18T02:59:00.001-07:00

I'm off to my first Hurling match today down in Co. Tipperary. It is going to be intense. Everyone here told us that it was one thing we definitely needed to do while here. Hurling to the Irish is like american football is to the US (or baseball if your cool like me). So Michelle and I decided to drive a few hours away to root on our hometown!

I turned in my papers, finally. They were a nightmare. But in my defense...the prompts we were given were complete BS and it was impossible to construct an argument from them. But i did, and im sure ill get in A anyway...thats how easy the grading is in this program. :) Speaking of A's...we got our grades back from the assesments we took last week. It was one of those situations where we all had to line up and the prof. would tell us our grade. When i get up to him and tell him my last name he goes "Sherman! Like that Tank!....Excellent paper, 2nd highest in the class"

:)

I rock. There are over 50 people in this class. And i have absolutely no idea what i even wrote and what the topic was. Makes me feel good about myself. Especially after i tore up the LSAT...in a bad way. Dont ask.

Okay, where did i leave off... Michelle's 21st birthday:

It was a blast. We dressed up (the boys did too!)

Michelle doesnt remember any of it, which is how it is supposed to be i suppose! AJ (the dark haired boy in the photo above) brought his camera...and at one point i told him he wasnt taking enough pictures. So he gave me his camera and i had it the rest of the night. That explains the photos below of me and Michelle. Well that...and the large amount of alcohol we didnt pay for.

Histerical.

Its our last weekend here. I'm very very sad about it. Last night we went out with a guy michelle met when we first got here (John). He lives in Tipperary and is actually driving us down there for the game today, anyway. We walk in and all of John's friends go "Its Virginias!". Drunk, irish men are the funnest people in the world. But the entire night consisted of everyone outside on the deck of this bar (about 30 people) drinking and singing along to this guy playing a guitar and a girl with a drum. We dont do that in America! I want irish drinking songs. :( Thats what they do. If i have learned anything about Irish people (i suppose boys...i havent meet alot of irish women....they arent as friendly) its that they LOVE to sing. Its so stereotypical but true. If any alcohol is involved, which is almost always the case, then singing is sure to follow. I love it. I will miss that part of the culture most....the importance of music. This older guy that was there last night, maybe 67?...he kept coming up to me and michelle and singing John Denver's Country roads song. We explained to this entire crowd of people over and over (with hand diagrams) the difference between West Virginia and Virginia. At one point that old guy came up to us again and said..."So where is east virginia". Hilarious.

GOSH! i'm going to miss this place so much! I cant talk about it...its making me sad.

Our plan for the weekend is as follows: Drive down for the hurling match (seriously...youtube hurling...its intense...Its like hockey only better and on a pitch instead of ice), stay the night in tipperary. Drive to the Cliff's of Mohr the next day and get a bus back to galway!

I suppose thats all for now. I'm sick :( And talking about my love for Ireland is only making me sad and causing my nose to run even more.

I <3 it here :(

I need a paper writing robot!

2009-07-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

That would be savage (irish word for awesome)! Then i wouldnt feel so bad about how im supposed to be using this time to write my papers, but i've spent the past hour and half on facebook and blogging...i'm terrible. :) The following are some pictures i promised from our Dingle trip. On the way down there, we stopped at the Batty Castle in Co. Limerick i believe? We got to go inside and everything. It was pretty neat...but deadly. I have no idea how men in armor were able to navigate up and down those spiral staircases. Only one person can fit on the stairs at a time...and they are treturous (sp?).

One of the cottages they have on the castle grounds.

This is Ellyn trying to navigate the stairwells.

View of County Limerick from the roof

On the roof of the Castle.

After we left the castle was when we drove the rest of the way in the pouring rain to Dingle. Here are some pictures of the beach i was telling you about. These pictures do NOT do it justice (although im sure my dad can photoshop some of them so that they do...right dad?)

Sheep on the cliff side....they are EVERYwhere. I'm surprised they can navigate some of the terrain.
Here it is.....in the pouring rain. I'm telling you...it was breathtaking. Of the to left just of shore is one of the Blasket Islands...its huge.

I didnt take many pictures of Dingle because it was raining so bad and i didnt want to take my camera out in it. So that is all you get so far!

Now im going to just put up some fun pictures from the past couple weeks. These ones below are when we hung out with the band. They are the. funniest. guys. i've. ever. met (like the emphasis?). Yes....Banjo player is wearing a cookie monster shirt...Its cute :)
Michelle and i with David (banjo player from Hot Chicken Reels) and his friend Marcus....I have no idea what im doing/looking at.
Me and Michelle
This is Chris on July 4th, dressed up as an "american". Apparently we wear Nasa jumpsuits or something. Pilot maybe?

So last week Michelle's friend from home, Jess, came to visit us for a while. On her last night here we went out (of course....its what you do in Ireland)....and ya....here are some pictures.

No judgments...

I have no idea....i'm eating a lemon after my Tequila shot....the eyes...well thats...um.....supposed to not happen. I wore a patch for crying out loud! (jk...its intentional im sure)
Michelle, Jess (Michelle's friend who came to visit us) and I...flashing the peace signs. We are hippies

The group at the Quays.
Hanging out at the Spanish Arch.
Sunset on the Arch.

Anyway! So update from the last couple days. I've gotten nowhere on my papers. They are only three pages, so im really not stressing about them. But I probably should have started them a while ago, just for my sanity. But i havent, and we are going out tonight for Michelle's 21st birthday celebration...so tomorrow is going to be a wasted day. Hahaha :)

Pub Crawl with Ken (irish teacher) on Monday was fun. We went to some really local pubs and had a blast. I practiced my irish when ordering drinks, etc. (more like butchered the language). Ken brought some of his friends along with him and one in particular...Diver?....and i didnt get along so well. He called me Manchester (English soccer team....they are the bandwagon team that everyone likes...kinda like the yankees?...well one of their rival teams is Chelsea FC....so i get a LOT of crap from irish people because of my name. Some of the Irish arent to fond of the British....google Northern Ireland)

Anyway! He took a liking to me right away. And by liking...he figured out really quick that i'm.....opinionated? And someone...politics was mentioned. I had my first political discussion with a group of Irish men, as well as some republican american girls in our group (gross!... :). It was...intense. Once again...i was the odd man out and surrounded by a bunch of republicans talking about Obama and the U.S. I held my own, but tended to keep my mouth shut as much as possible. If ive learned anything here so far, its to NOT discuss religion or politics. Especially if you have opposing opinions. But it was a witty exhange and all in good fun. When the night was over and we had our 3am ice cream on the walk home, i was nowhere closer to speaking irish than i was the day before. Oh well!

Last night the NUI-Galway program people coerced (not really) us into see this play called Palace of the End. It was....inappropriate. The Galway Arts Festival is coming up, so they are showing a lot of plays and art exhibits, etc. Its going to be exciting. However, this play (google it) was very controversial. It featured three main monologues; each by a different character. The first one was a depiction of the girl from WV that was involved in the Abu Gahrib controversy about torturing and humiliating Iraqi POW's. It was from her point of view. It was terrible. I almost walked out, and one guy in the program who is in the military did. I couldnt believe it. She gave details and urg.....that play was a complete waste of my life. It pretty much made Americans look like in-sensitive, terrorizing, assholes. Why the school made us watch this play was beyond me. I asked David (program assistant) why after, and he said it was only because this was the only play the were able to get 160 tickets to. No wonder.....it was monsterous.

We had a seminar yesterday about Irish Sports and Nationalisim and i was so intersted in it, i decided to write one of my essays on it. :) Maybe ill post some of it when im done on the blog. Most likely not....though. I'm to self conscience to have other people read my essays. Only my dad :) He can edit a paper like a beast!

What else:.........i love it here and i never want to leave? I feel like i say that so often, but its true. This experience has completely changed me (cliche..i know). But it has. I am really dreading the idea that i have to go back to my regular life with my busy schedule and insufficient amount of breathing time. I'm going to miss it all. One of my main goals in life is to, in some way, change a part of the world. I know everyone says that. But i really do want to make a difference somehow, and i have deep desire to do that here in Ireland. I feel like i could make a difference here in some way. Oh well....we will see where life takes me.

P.S....i encourage everyone to watch the movie "The Wind that Shakes the Barley". It is a historical fiction movie about the struggle/fight/war in Ireland between the British and how Ireland was divided into the Republic (southern 26 counties) and Northern Ireland (northern 6 counties). It is really sad, but so good. Watch that movie and then tell me you dont want to move here and try to make a difference!

Okay....i suppose thats all for now. (now that its noon and i havent started my paper and i was supposed to have one of them done by now!).

<3

10 Days left

2009-07-13T03:23:00.001-07:00

I hate that i have to say goodbye to Ireland. I know it sounds crazy but it's starting to feel like home here. You know the cliche saying "home is where the heart is", well...ive lived several places, so my heart is easily adapted. And it seems to have built a very strong rapport with this country.

This past weekend, we stayed on a little penninsula south of Galway called Dingle. It is located in County Kerry. We left friday morning and returned Sunday afternoon. And despite the downpour of rain that inhibited our visits to archaelogical sites from the medieval period, it was still fun. I heard several times before we left that Dingle is one of the most traditional Irish locations as far as old culture and language goes. Not to mention, the landscape was stunning; especially in the rain. Its amazing how something can be so green that not even dense fog cover can rid it of its color. I was a little upset that we werent able to stop more often to take pictures because of the weather, but i managed to get some good ones from the bus window. I'll post them as soon as i can (im on campus right now and dont have access to my pictures). So driving there in the thunderstorm was intersting and a little intense at times. Imagine being on a huge tour bus, navigating its way through one-lane, irish roadways that are right along giant cliffs. Literally. At a few moments, there was a steep drop on our left-hand side straight into the ocean with only a rock fence outlining the side of the road. And on our other side was rocky walls that nearly scraped the bus. I have bruises on my legs from where i was digging my nails into them. But our bus driver was awesome and never let us down :) (speaking of which... Michelle and i ended up drinking with him and the program assistant, David, at one of the bars in dingle. Hilarious guy).

So on our way there, we stopped at some medieval, beehive house structures as well as the most beautiful beach/cliff/hilly scene ive ever seen. Seriously...it is byfar the most beautiful place ive ever been. It took my breath away. Ill post the really crappy pictures i have, i promise. We got to Dingle around 6pm and finally got situated into our "hostel". Michelle and i got lucky, however, and got to stay in the "hotel" part...which means we actually were provided towels to shower with and a door that locks. :) It pays off being David's "two favorite girls". Thats right...i've got skills.

That night we went out to dinner and spent way to much money and a small meal (very common here....annoying); went out to a pub with the group and ended up leaving early to get ice cream and go to sleep early. We were tired and cranky...and we really missed Galway. It was sad....and hard to explain how much we wanted to go back home. NO were not ungreatful...its just...different! We LOVE it here! We woke up the next day, had breakfast and got back on the bus in the pouring rain to visit a Museum about the Blasket Islands. (wiki them.....stunning..). We got back to town that afternoon and went out downtown to partake in the authentic Irish experience. Dingle was great fun, although not the same, and not nearly as populated. But Michelle and I had drinks with David and the bus driver which resulted in great fun :o). Not to mention, they had a jukebox with a TON of Beatles music on it....so we spent a lot of money to dance.

OH! i got the cutest, most flattering compliment ever this weekend! Michelle and i were walking to the "toilet" as they call it here, and i was a few feet behind her. These two guys close to my age are walking towards us and the first one stops in a very abrupt manner and says "oh my heavens! You are stunning! What a georgous face!" And i blushed a raspberry red and stumbled "thank you!" out. It was so genuine. It made me smile...even if i disagree. :)

The next day we woke up and left and got home...(yes.."home") at like 4 to a beautiful sunny day. We got off the bus on campus so we could walk home and take pictures of NUI-Galway (the school were studying at). And that about sums up the trip to Dingle! Lots of rain.

We have papers due on Friday and a lot of stuff going on this week, so i'm going to be so busy...which means time is going to go by fast. I hate that thought. Today a group of us is going out with our Gaelic (irish) language instructor, Ken, who is probably 25 years old and funny as can be. He is leading us on our first "pub crawl" to all of his recommended locations. He gives us crap everyday for going to the wrong places. He seems to be the type to prefer "old man" pubs where you meet old irish men that tell funny stories. Which i enjoy as well, but i have become quite partial to traditional irish music which is played at a lot of the bigger, more "american" bars. So this ought to be interesting!

Tuesday is dedicated to writing my papers so that we can go see Harry potter at the Midnight showing (YAYAYAYAY!) and then Wednesday we are celebrating Michelles 21st birthday, including seeing the band Hot Chicken Reels at the Kings head. THAT is going to be an interesting night. Thursday is Michelle's actual birthday and hopefully a day to recover and finish some more work. This weekend was going to be London, but i think thats cancelled (which were kind of excited about). It will be my last weekend here, so i hope to make the most of it.

I have met some of the most genuine, sincere people here that i'm really sad to have to say goodbye to. I have to admit...on the bus ride home from Dingle...i was coming up with everyway possible in which i could move here. If only the un-employment rate wasnt so bad here. I would move here in a heartbeat if i could find a job. (my dad too....because my family would have to come with me). I considered taking a year off after i graduate to come work here....but since it woudl be to hard to find a job, i thought about coming here for my Master's degree then going to lawschool after that. But....that is a LOT of school i cant pay for. So i'm not sure what to do. If only i could hit the lottery.

Its going to be a hard transition back to America. I am very nervous to drive. I'm so used to the left hand side thing now...that it feels natural.

So...with only 10 days left...here are my lists:

Top 10 things ill miss:
1. The people (in general)
2. The lively irish culture
3. Not working (i have offically not worked for the longest period of time, ever, since the DAY i turned 16, including when i went away to school. 20 days!)
4. Being away from everything i wanted to get away from in America. (i'm not ready to come back....)
5. Potatoes...(they are simply amazing here...i cant explain it)
6. Suibhne (and his friend Patrick)....amazing people.
7. Being made fun of for being english..(My name is Chelsea Sherman...do you GET anymore English (as in England) than that?) Not to mention...there are some hard core anti Chelsea FC football fans. Hahaha. My name always starts converstations!
8. Seeing live music every night.
9. Michelle :(
10. All the stray puppies that roam the streets. They are adorable..and everywhere!

Top 10 things i miss about America:
1. the sun
2. $1.00 cheeseburgers at McDonalds (rather than the 2 euro cheesburgers here)
3. My guitar
4. all of my clothes! I'm so tired of wearing the same clothes over and over
5. Daily Grind coffee
6. Earning money rather than just spending it
7. Socks
8. Having a working cell phone
9. the food
10. Cheap prices for everything!

Well i suppose that will be it for now. I'm going to *try* and write everyday for the last 10 days im here, but we'll see how that goes. If you have any questions or want to yell at me for my bad spelling, email me! I miss having people talk to me that love me :) (ChelseaMSherm@gmail.com). And i suppose if you have any requests for stuff you want me to bring back for you, feel free to ask!

P.S. I recommend everyone visit Ireland if possible. But it has to be a situation were you become a part of the culture for a period of time (a week isnt enough). This place is amazingly simple and unique.

Totally my style.

Only two weeks left!

2009-07-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

It makes me want to cry! I love it here. :)

So last night Michelle and I, and her friend Jess from school that is visiting for the week, went to the Kings Head to see the traditional Irish band "Hot Chicken Reels" again. The band where we ended up meeting the banjo/accordian player down at the arch. Well we went and saw them again and hung out with them all night last night! I didnt get home until 3:30am. We were dancing at this hippie club to the beatles all night. It was so much fun.

I have a fieldtrip today to Corcomore & Cahercammaun to see more Irish tombs from the neolitic era. I'm excited about it, but im sick and my nose is running a marathon, so i dont feel to up for hiking again. Other than that, things have been good. Sorry, i dont post often, i feel like i'm running out of stuff to say! Do you really want to hear what it is i do everyday? I feel like that would get boring.

But the night before last, we hung out with Suibhne and his friends again. (see picture below) We had a blast as always.

In my irish language class, our teacher's name is Ken, and he is my age. Absolutely hilarious guy who isnt afraid to act his age :) He is doesnt think that weve been going to the right places in town, so he is going to take us out to a "pub crawl" on Monday (man i sound like an alcoholic which SOO isnt the case). So that should be interesting.

Tomorrow our group leaves for Dingle; a peninsula on the southwest side of Ireland. I'm not sure what were doing there, but the school is putting us up in a Hostel for the weekend and i think we are going to visit some castles. So that should be fun! I'm not sure what to expect. OH! Funny story though: one of the instructors/student helpers here named David thinks Michelle and I are his favorite students (out of 180....he told us so:) and he was supposed to meet us at the Kings Head on July 4th to celebrate with us, but he never showed up. And apparently today he found Michelle and gave her a bunch of crap for standing us up (which isnt true...he never showed up or we never saw him....probably the former). So now he is coming to Dingle this weekend and he promised to take us out for drinks.

Solomon: He looks just like you, or reminds me of you SO much. :) It makes me miss you!

Okay, have to get ready to go shopping!

Top 5 things i miss today:

1. Hot showers any time of the day
2. not having to pay 12 euro to do a load of laundry
3. having a room bigger than 10x10 square feet!
4. Water that doesnt taste like it came out of a aligator swamp
5. My motorcycle (i dont know why i miss this so much....probalby because EVERYONE here has one)

Top 5 things i LOVE:

1. Dancing to the Beatles all night until 3 in the morning :)
2. Always having something to do!
3. getting to wear my super cute rain coat all the time
4. being in a culture that is so centered around Music
5. Learning about Ireland!

I'll try and post tonight about my field trip and put up some pictures, but no promises. The internet here is really terrible and rarely (if ever) works. So i have a hard time uploading pictures and even being able to get on the internet.

Me and Michelle throwing coins off of the cliffs at Dun Aonghesa (sp?). We made wishes and threw them over our heads backwards. Probably not the smartest idea!

Me and Suibhne at the Kings head!

Until Later!

July 4th in Ireland

2009-07-06T02:40:00.000-07:00

I think the Irish like to celebrate America's independence day just as much as we do! The school threw a July 4th party for us (actually held on the 2nd) at the College Bar on campus. They gave us free "bbq", which was really sasuage, burgers and grilled chicken with the strangest Irish "potato salads" ive ever seen. It was very nice of them to make us Americans feel at home :) (plus they gave us two free drinks!)

On July 4th itself, there were people dressed up all over downtown, and in every pub we went to, all the Irish bartenders and everyone else that realized we were American would say "Happy July 4th" and cheers to us right away. It was cute. We even got one guy yelling out of his car to wish us happy greetings to the day (apparently they can tell we are American from a distance?). So, the Irish love us :) And they think we all dress up in NASA uniforms and cheerleading outfits with cowboy hats. Aside from no fireworks and watermelon, the night was just the same as it would have been in America; maybe even a little better.

I have my first exams tomorrow, and I havent had much time to study (no...not because i go out every night, mom, cause i dont!). We have had a ton of fieldtrips and seminars, etc. Yesterday we went to the Aran Islands right of the coast of Galway. They are three islands that are believed to have the quintessential irish lifestyle preserved, including the use of Gaelic in everyday life. We only visited the biggest Island, Inis Mor, that has about 800 residents. We drove an hour from Galway City by bus, got on a ferry for 20 minutes, then all 60 of us in the group got bicycles and starting peddling up hill. It was an intense workout, but the Island was beautiful.

We had perfect weather, which only one slight drissle of rain. My face even got sunburned. If you think about Ireland and what it probably looks like, you're thinking of Inis Mor exactly. Small little road lined with rock walls and little pastures with sheep and cows (and even billy goats and donkeys).
At one point we passed a beach and took our shoes off to splash around. Michelle and i took some pictures and walked barefoot (yes i know...bad idea...just wait) along the road to this graveyard just up the hill.

We were taking pictures in the graveyard and i stepped in what I *think* was stinging nettle. It hurt...BAD! And i had some sort of reaction and my foot swelled up like id been attacked by bees. And it felt like that too. So i ran back down the gravel road and into the ocean to try and make it stop hurting. It didnt...and it still hurts today, only a little less painful. You know how when your foot falls asleep and it tingles as it is starting to wake up? Yeah....thats exactly what it feels like...only constant. Not fun.
"i'm never leaving..."

We got back on our bicycles and biked for another few miles until we came to the resturant and end of the Island. We had a cute little lunch and then had to hike uphill for about a mile to the top of this place called Dun Aonghasa; a celtic, semi circular stone fort built by Celtic Tribesman around 2000bc. This rock fort is built right along the cliffs of the island, and they let us walk right up to the edge. So of course, i did. And i got some great pictures (and yelled at by everyone because they thought i was going to go over the edge....chickens :). But i'm alive...and the picuters are pretty...so oh well. Here are a few

We hiked back down the hill and peddled all the way back to catch the ferry by 4:30. Apparently, the Aran Islands is most know for their wool knitting and there are certain stitches that mean certain things to them (the irish are all about myths, blessings, and superstitions...its adorable). I almost bought one of them, but they were about 100 euro. So i bought a wool scarf instead......i'm so money conscence :)

When we got home, it was pouring and my legs were killing me (as well as my scabied-foot), so i went to bed at like 8:30...when the sun was about 4 hours away from setting. Nope, i didnt even study! So that was my amazing trip to the Aran Islands. I recommend everyone to go there if you go to Ireland. It's so beautiful you can even assign words to it. I hope my pictures will suffice.

So thats what has happend recently. Other than that, its been a whole lot of going to school and going downtown to hangout with our friends here. We learned all about Northern Ireland and the violence and issues they have had up there from a guy that grew up and went to school in Belfast. It sounds just like what happened in Berlin, Germany (sorta). The city is divided between protestants and catholics and each neighborhood is separated by giant stone walls. Unlike Berlin though, those walls are still up today despite that violence has slowed down. It's stuff like this that makes me hate religion (although a lot of Northern Ireland's issues have to do with Britian's control). I always thought religion was supposed to be about peace and loving as Jesus would have, except it always seems as though violence and death surround it. Maybe its because humans are too curropt and selfish at heart and without religion, things would be even worse. Noone will ever know i suppose. :(

Speaking of religion, i went to my first catholic mass on Saturday at the giant cathedral in Galway (pronounced Ka-tee-dral) to the Irish....haha. It was VERY different from what i was used to. A lot of reciting memorized prayers and sitting and standing, then kneeling then standing again. Then a mad rush to the front to take communion. Definitely way different than the Mormon church. But it was interesting and beautiful, nonetheless. Although im not a religious person by any means, it made me want to go to a bunch of different churches when i get back home; see what all the fuss is about I suppose. It was very intriguing.

That same day, they were having a "market" in the streets of Galway with a ton of little stands full of jewelry and woodwork made by hippies. Some of it was very cute, but over-priced. I'll have to buy a braclet or something next time though. Not this week, but the next week is the Galway Arts festival....apparently its a huge deal here. All the pubs have live music and there are a ton of plays going. It should be a lot of fun. Michelle and i already have plans to see this band again that we saw last week (and coincedentially met one of the guys last week at the Spanish Arch and ended up hanging out with him all night...adorable...and VERY good at the banjo...you-tube him http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5mdebqkbio) Yes...i met him...and we're seeing him (and the rest of the band members that we met) on Wednesday at our "local" (Kings head) with his friend Marcus. Should be a blast, and a nice celebration from finishing our exams.

Anyway, it's raining today and i'm freezing. I've been here two weeks now, and i have a little over two weeks left. Its very difficult to think about leaving and the thought that i'll never come back. I dont know how people ever migrated away from Ireland. Yes, it is a young country and has a lot of growing up to do, but it has so much good :(. I dont want to leave. I do miss America though....and the list is growing. Here is my top 10 for today:

1. Dr. Pepper
2. My puppies & family
3. My guitar
4. My motorcycle
5. cheap prices on food
6. the "padestrians have the right of way" attitude which is NON existant in Ireland. Its terrible
7. my bed
8. orville redinbackers movie theatre popcorn....or any brand of food that i recognize for that matter. Their food is so different here.
9. Warm water AFTER 4pm, and a single focet that lets you get "warm" water to wash your hands and face
10. not having to pay 6 euros to wash my laundry.

Well i suppose since in did top ten things i miss, i should do top ten things i love:

1. The irish accent
2. the music
3. the People (the irish people i've met specifically)
4. the city itself (Galway is amazing)
5. Hanging out at the spanish arch
6. The landscape
7. The pubs (for their food)
8. Supermac's icecream at 3am
9. the irish language
10. Downtown during the day with the music and magicians (and people selling jewelry)

Well i tried to post more pictures...but it wasnt working and i have to go to class now. So i'll put more up later :)

I'm going to save Ireland!

2009-07-02T03:44:00.000-07:00

No, I am never coming home. Mom: Give my stuff to Kayleigh and Amanda (except my blanket.....ship that to me please). Amanda: Tell work im never coming back, because i LOVE it here! The music, the atmosphere, the weather (sometimes) the scenery, the people, the city, everything. It's so simple here but there is a hidden charm.

Yesterday in my Irish Society class, we learned about the roles of women in Ireland over the past 200 years. And let.me.tell.you..... the feminist in me was screaming to be unleashed! I cant believe it! The subserviant, and patriarcally dominated position of women is astonishing. But i suppose it was to be expected from a prodominatly Catholic society. The church has a huge role in the society here. Even the Irish language is full of references to God and other religious connotations. ("Dia duit" is what they say for "hello" and it literally means "god be with you"). Its crazy. But things are better now, and women are around the same position of the women in America now (not like that is acceptable). We have a long way to go! (Girl power!)

It's so strange being here. America is so....modernized and advanced socially compared to Ireland, yet both countries are struggling economically. If feels like Ireland is a step behind America though. We are both in an economic decline (as is the entire world practically) but i feel like Ireland is where we were during the last economic/huge unemployment decline. Just walking around the city all day, there are so many social programs they need to implament that we already have. For example: garbage clean up! They have no institution established to clean up the trash on the side of the roads, etc. I cant tell you how many times a day I'll be driving on the highway in Virginia and there are men cleaning up the side of the road. If they simply put out more trash cans things would be tons better! I just have all of these ideas in my head on how Ireland can improve as a country and create jobs, etc. so everyone doesnt emmagrate again like they have been doing the past .....250 years. This country has so much potential, it just needs the right people to begin the social revolution or unrest is innevitable. And i cant help but have a burning desire to be a part of that.

Over half of the people my age in Ireland are unemployed. Thats terrible! And there isnt a strong emphasis on education here. Well there is, but there arent a lot of colleges available and i can argue that the level of education isnt as advanced as it is in America...but the potential is there! And dont even get me started on the lack of women in politics in Ireland. We are so severely under-represented in the Republic of Ireland's politics, its sad. Yes, the president of the State is a female, but she has absolutely NO power, what-so-ever. She can't even give a speech without permission from the government. And the sad thing is, the women in ireland (when polled) said they are more likely to vote for a male politician that a woman. MEN were statistically shown to vote for females more. Grr.....

Anyway....enough ranting. Moral of the story is this: I want to live here. I feel so much love for this country already, and like i could make a difference/do something good here! Whereas in America, people are so self absorbed and reliant on others to fix things. Although you never see as many Irish flags in Ireland as you do American flags in the US, the people here have a genuine love and pride for their country. And you can feel it from every one you talk to. Americans (myself included) love America because they dont know any different; the Irish genuinely love thier country for what it is. :(

SO! On a less political/ranting note, i saw some megalitic (large stone) tombs from the Neolithic time period in Ireland. I took some pictures (below). The tombs were very......um...uneventful?....but still cool to see. However, the two hour ride on the bus to go see them was anything but. This country is stunning. So i've included some pictures (taken from the bus) as well. And maybe some of you can see why im never leaving :) I dont even mind the rain!

A "Court Tomb". That is my teacher inside demonstrating where all the bones and remains were found. His name is Carleton Jones, he is an Archaeologist and a very informative teacher. He helped excavate all of these tombs. Pretty cool.
This is a "Wedge Tomb" located in County Clare, Ireland (same as the one above).

This is a "Portal Tomb". Kinda cool to think about how many people it took to lift that gigantic piece of limestone up on those rocks. And make it stable enough to survive for so long.

This is a picture of a cute cow along the road. They are everywhere! And its just like the movies where they are standing in the middle of the road, and you have to wait for them to cross before you can go on.
Some picture taken in Co. Claire (south of Galway). Those stone walls are EVERYWHERE in ireland. Its amazing. They dont have wooden fences (probalby because the wood would root with all the rain). Prior to ariving to where we were supposed to go, i started to wonder where all the rocks came from to allow for all these fences, until we arrive and i saw the intense amount of limestone that existst in southern Ireland. And someone told me the reason that the entire land of Ireland is fenced off is because when the British came in to take control (prior to the split of N. Ireland and the Republic) everyone was told to section of their land so they could keep claim over what was there. So these fences are pretty old, and incredibly well built to still be standing.
Taken from the buss window. This is the "mountain". All that white stuff is the limestone.

Taken from the top of the mountain. More limestone (see! its taking over!)

This is just a picture of me and Michelle at the top of W.B. Yeats house (Thoor Ballylee (sp?)).

Michelle and i decided we were going to go in search of this so called "kicking wall" that is supposed to prolong your life. Well, you're supposed to just walk along the beach for about ten minutes and you'll run into it. Well we never ran into anything, so we just kicked some random bolder, hoping it was it. BUT!...on the way there, the tike was really really really low, so we walked really far out. And being that i'm a hippie, i drew a peace sign in the sand so when the tide came back up, the fish would have something pretty to gaze at :) OH! Funny story! There is this guy Adam that does promoting for some club here. We run into him every night, and the first night we met him, he told us that he had been to San Diego one time to go to Sea World. Here are his exact words (ish): "What! You're from America? You have Killer Whales there! Here, if we see a dolphin in the ocean we throw a party for a week, but ye have Killer WHALES!". Ahh....america. We have orcas :) Go us.

This is a picture of the "Quadrangle" on campus. Its the prettiest building on campus. Its pretty cool. Its huge...and ivy grows all along it.

Okay, what else do i have to say....hmmmm. Why is it that all day i'm thinking about stuff i should write in my blog, but when i actually have the chance to sit down and write, i forget it all?
This Saturday, Michelle and i are going to take a tour to the Cliffs of Mohr (seriously...google it....stunning). Sunday, we have a trip to the Aran Islands, which are located right of the coast of Galway. They are giving us bicycles. :) All 80 something of us. And we are biking all across the three islands. Its going to be fun.

Then the NEXT weekend we are staying down on the Dingle Penninsula for the whole weekend. Which should be fun. Its nice to be able to see places outside of County Galway. Although....if i were to live here, it would be Galway. :) (despite the fact that it smells like sewer all the time.....see.....idea for job creation....clean the place up! It smells!). And then the last weekend, i think i'm going to join Michelle on a weekend trip to London where she is meeting her mom. She asked me to tag along because her dad didnt want her travelling alone. (oh yeah Mom & Dad, i might be going to London...ooops....i forgot to tell you...;) So that will be fun!

I suppose this will be all for now! Today is the Irish Independance day. So the school (National University of Ireland at Galway NUIG) is throwing a little barbeque. And then in two days....its USA's independance day. Kinda wierd....i'll actually really appreciate this independance day and a whole new sense of the word. I love America, i really do. But i'm starting to have a soft spot for Ireland in my heart as well.

Slainte!

Dia Duit!

2009-07-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Slainte!

Sorry i have not posted in a while, ive had the busiest past couple days with classes (and a fieldtrip last night!) But my dad just told me that lots of the family is reading this and ye're (irish phrase) getting antsy! So sit tight! Im late for my class, but i thought i'd say,

I LOVE YOU FAMILY!

Slan agus beannacht!

(p.s...i have pictures coming later ;)

Frustraiting things about Ireland so far.

2009-06-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

This isn't going to be negative by anymeans; however, after being in ireland for one week now, there are a few things that i'm finding very hard to adjust to. For example:

1. Coins. The Euro and 2 Euro's are coins...so im constantly having heaving, clinky coins in my pocket and its weighing down my jeans. And, seeing as how i have to walk a LOT, i'm getting frustraited from having to pull up my pants all the time.

2. The sinks here in all bathrooms have to separate spigots; one for the hot water and one for the cold water. So, you have to either burn your hands when you wash them, or suffer with freezing water and no loss of bacteria. I'm becoming fairly good at turning the two on and maneuvering luke warm water, but i usually just end up with one burning hand and one freezing one. Grrrrr...

3. The coffee here, just is not as good. However, im adjusting as the baristas are usually really friendly, cute irish men. :)

4. I thought the weather in Virginia was difficult but im finding Ireland to be much worse. When i leave my apartment, the weather is completely different two hours later. And since i live twenty minutes away from everything else, i end up carrying my rain-coat (very CUTE raincoat i might add) or freezing cold.

5. Everything is so expensive here. :( Even the "euro" menu at McDonalds isnt really the dollar menu. A double cheesburger is 2 euros or $3.00. Crazy!

6. They only heat their water between the hours of 8ish am till 4ish pm. So...forget the idea of taking a shower before bed. Annndd...you have to pull a string for hot water which makes a really loud noise.

7. It doesnt get dark until 10:00pm. Did i say this already...i feel like im probalby repeating myself a lot. But its very strange, and hard to fall asleep at night because its too bright outside.

8. Allergies = crazy sinus headaches and dizzyness all day.

Thats all i can think of for right now. But i do love it here, despite all the difficulties adjusting. I'm about ready to walk down to the ocean and "kick" the wall that is believed to prolong your life, which will hopefully mean ill get into law school one day. Especially since im going to kick it twice so i live forever!

Its clearly June...and NOT july.

2009-06-29T02:30:00.001-07:00

Why has nobody told me that my dates are WAY wrong? I've even been writing in my Journal using July. Apparently i lost my commonsense on the flight here.

Does this blog have spell check?

2009-06-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

If so, i can't find it. So, Mom, deal with my bad spelling. I have to time to post, but i dont have the time to go back and re-read everything i've written. That, and i really just dont care.

So...my first week here is over. It's sad, but not really because i've done SO much and had such a good time that it feels accomplishing. Firstly, I made a friend, Michelle. :) We are spending the majority of the time together but we're with the rest of the group sometimes too. I suppose the easiest way to do this, is tell you what happened each day. So here goes...
Tuesday, July 23, 2009: We arrived (did i already talk about this?). Had dinner at some place that i dont remember what the name was. It was nice, but an exhausting day because we had to hike our luggage around the entire city of Galway, literally miles. It wasnt fun.
Wednesday, July 24, 2009: Classes started and we had a "reception" for all the people here on the summer Irish Studies program. So the group and I hung out there for a little bit until we decided to head downtown to Shop Street. It was maybe 5 or 6 of us. The first pub we went to, i think was called the craine?, and it was like 5 old guys in thier 70's. In walk a bunch of American college kids and they just went crazy about trying to tell us stories and talk to us about Ireland, etc. They would overhear what we were talking about and just come in and tell us how it "really was".

There was this one guy at the bar who told me a joke. He said (in his drunkin irish accent that was very hard to understand) "Are you good with numbers, ya?" (the irish say "ya" after every sentence...its adorable) "im so-so, why"-me. "if you take two away from three how many do you have?" "one"-me. He looked perplexed, then grabs three guiness coasters off the bar and holds them out to me and repeats his question and tells me to take two away from three. "How many do you have?", as I'm standing there with two guiness coasters. Finally i get his joke and he just erupts with laughter at how he had fooled me. It was adorable. Then he looked at us four ladies standing at the bar trying to order drinks and says "not a single one of ya is prettier than the other". This is what the Irish people are like. It makes me smile :)

Long story short, we ended up going to several Pubs, and for some reason...I have absolutely no introversion to my personality here, whatsoever. Me and Michelle are meeting so many people because i just kept walking up to people and saying hi or talking to them. It's awesome! So that is how we met Suibhne (pronounced Sev-na...and i have NO idea how they pronounce that from the spelling...strange) who is Irish, and Stig who is from Denmark. I just walked up to this group of boys and asked them where we should go and they said they were heading to this club. And off to the club we went! We exchanged names so we could be friends on facebook, and the next thing ya know....

Thursday, July 25, 2009: We meet the boys with our group at what they call "The Spanish Arch". Here is a picture:

Its exactly what it looks like. A bunch of people sitting on this little grassy spot right next to the bay. Its what they do in Galway when the weather is nice. Its fun. Below is the group:
So we met these boys and ended up hanging out with them the whole night (just me and michelle, the rest of the group went elsewhere). We hung out on the grass for a long time and then went to a pub called Kings Head. Here is a picture from there!

So...yeah, thats how that night went! Oh! Isnt this the day Michael Jackson dies? If so....Suibhne was making jokes about MJ the whole time. It was hilarious! Oh x2! The "sweater" Sev is wearing isnt a sweater...its called a "jumper". He was making fun of us for that too. :)

Friday, July 26, 2009: More school....more walking, etc. Michelle and I went shopping, which is an experience in and of itself here. Thier style is so different/strange! I cant even explain it. Their shoes are hooker shoes, and the girls dress like prostitutes to go out clubbing. Its crazy. So i didnt get anything cute yet. :( Except a jacket for 10euro that is WAY cute. :) Later we met up with the boys again and hung out by the arch for a while. We bought 10eruo bottle of cheap pinot and drank it by the bay. It was super classy. We even kept the paper bag on just to make it that much more adorable. After hanging out there, we went to this place for drinks called The Front Door. Michelle and I had dinner their earlier that day and had the BEST Turkey, mashed potates, stuffing and gravy ive ever had (sorry mom). And the bartender was very pleasent to look at. So we went back there for a while. And then funny story, when it was time to leave, I somehow got separated from the group (aka abandonded lol). I was wating for Suibhne to get out of the bathroom...except he never came out! And i ended up talking to this girl Mary (irish) and her two guy friends and she insisted i share a cab home with them to my apartment. She refused to let me look around for Michelle, etc. It was funny. So i ended up back at my apartment at 2am, got my phone and call Sev and walked the 25 minutes back home to try and find them. (Mom...dont freak out. You have NO idea how safe/not bad it is here). Long story short...i found them. :) Note to self: Dont leave michelle...ever! And try not to get sucked into the irish's extreme friendliness!

.

Okay...i'm super tired of bloggin.....and this is long enough! So i'll have to give you saturdays update later.

Galway Pictures

2009-06-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

This is a horrible picture of downtown Galway.
A Hostel downtown :)

This is some....ruin or something that i walk by everyday to get to school. It's right off the side of the road. They dont have a sign near it or anything. Its sitting right next to a river.

Right after this sign is the path into the bushes. The apartments i live in a right on the other side of the trees.
This is the entrance to my apartment complex. Its Gort na coribie (pronounced gort-na care-a-bee)

This is my apartment! Its the second door from the right, and the window right above the white part is my room. Its nice... :)

I'll take more and better ones soon. I'm taking my camera out tonight so i can get some good pictures of downtown.

Grocery shopping in Ireland is my LEAST favorite thing

2009-06-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

It was a miserable experience. First of all, in Ireland, their grocery store is called "Dunnes", which is kind of like a Super Walmart with clothes and stuff. Its intense though. So not only do they hardly have ANY american brands (it took me forever to find Oreos), but even the stuff they do have comes in wierd packaging with different labels. Apparently they dont have an FDA-type organization because their nutritional facts are ....non exisitent. It just says "<2>8 grams protien" and other completely usless and ambiguous information.

When i mentioned this store is like Walmart, i really ment it. It was chaotic and people were everywhere and they had maybe 3 cashiers. And it seems like whenever an American uses a card, they have to verify your signature with another ID and then go get it signed by some "head" person. It takes forever and the people behind got really mad.

One thing that sucks (but is a cool idea actually) is you have to pay for plastic bags, everywhere. Ya know...the cheap little foodlion grocery bags that Americans collect? Yes...you have to pay to get one. I havent noticed the price but i think its like 10cents ($.17ish?) for one. So everyone buys and uses those cloth bags they started selling in America. Its a cool idea but i doubt it would ever work in the states. ANNND they charge you to use a grocery cart. Which is just ludicrous. So...moral of the story is....im not going grocery shopping again....it was awful. (except they sell half loaves of bread....which were adorable)

Other than that, i have been doing good. Adjusting to the culture, etc. has been a little difficult. It is a lot more diffent here than i thought it would be. Things are just strange. And its definately an underdeveloped country; like the example with not having an FDA. Here is a list of some really strange things:

1. the trash cans are all the type with the thing you step on that opens the lid. I mean..ALL of the trash cans are like that.

2. The "strip malls" here are what every single shopping center is like, except its like a regular mall would be in the states. You walk in the front doors and have to pass several jewelery and clothing stores just to get to the grocery store. Its intersting.

3. You have to pull a string to get hot water for a shower.

4. I dont think they have any sort of "adopt-a-highway" program, because there is litter all over on the side of the roads. It's sad.

5. The exit signs dont say "exit". Its a green sign with an arrow and a stick figure of a guy running. Its not at all what you think an exit sign should be.

Thats all the weird things i can think of for right now. I'm super tired :( But i'll put some pictures up really quick!

This is the famous Guiness factory.

The front door to the guiness factory. It reminded me of Willy Wonka. They had this huge gate surrounding the whole place but you could kind of see the factory inside. This was in Dublin, right by the train station we were waiting at.
This is Dublin as seen from the double decker bus i was on. There is a river that runs through the main part and they have cute little bridges that go across ever 50 yards. You can kind of see the river on the bottom right and the bridge going across. All of the buildings in the cities of Ireland are laid out like this.
Getting on the bus from the airport in Dublin to the train station. These are some of the people in my group.

Dublin airport.

I paid 30cents to pee

2009-06-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yes. I never thought I would ever pay to have to enter a restroom, but i paid 30 cents (about 50 american cents) to pee at the train station in Dublin! In a country whose wealth is determined by the amount of Guiness they export, the total number of sheep and cattle grazing their endless amounts of land, and whose only means of drying clothing is to hang it outside (most often in the rain), I paid to pee. It was crazy!

I will have pictures up as soon as i get internet in my room where my cable is, but for now ill just explain a little bit about my experiences so far. I'm staying in an apartment which is pretty cool, except i have yet to mean my 5 other roomates. Except for one who i breifly saw this morning when i was walking out the door. She was at the table eating her cereal, so i stopped to say hi. She looked at me like she had a knife behind her back and was trying to determine which room number was mine. When she hadnt responded to my hello after 5 seconds, i turned around a left. Not a good sign. :( Maybe she doesnt speak english? Eitherway...i hope she doesnt figure out when room im in.

The drivers here are crazy, and they all drive compact cars. I have yet to see a 250 or even a SUV. They drive on the wrong side of the road and the lines painted on the road are all white, so i have a hard time crossing the road because i cant figure out which way to look. And they speed and honk incesently. Its a little overwhelming and definately isnt helping my anxiety.

Overall, it looks just like Virginia (as far as landscape wise) when you are in the city. Other than the arcitecture of the buildings. There are trees everywhere and the weather has been very similar to that of winchester; but its apparently been the best summer they have had in years. So im waiting for it to return to the "real" Irish weather because i packed a lOT of jeans and my rain coat is VERY cute :)

The Irish are very funny. The way the public (like the bus driver and waiters) interact with other people is hilarious. Sarcasim and teasing are very common and even seen as "friendly". As soon as i can figure out what they are saying, ill fit right in!

The classes im taking are Arcaeology and Irish Society. I get to go on tons of fieldtrips and stuff, so im excited. No, i haven't meet my new boyfriend yet, but i havent been out to a pub yet. That is on tonights agenda!

Well, i suppose that is all for now. My battery is dying....and i really want to go get some nasty irish coffee. Its like...flavored water....not even coffee-flavored water. Its crazy.

I could really go for some daily grind right now!

<3

I'm here!

2009-06-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

And im going to be late for class, so i will post after class gets out. But i'm finally here and im totally overwhelmed!

P.S....the irish accent is unbelievably sexy :)

Pre Departure Pictures

2009-06-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

No...i didnt take these. But here is just a few pictures of my new home :)

This is a picture of Kilmore Abbey (i think?) that is right in County Galway (where i'll be living).

This is the city of Galway. I think you can see the University i'll be studying at!

And here is Ireland! I'll be on the west coast the majority of the time, but i think we'll be taking several trips to other counties. (especially Dublin!)

50 Cents a Text message!

2009-06-20T09:04:00.001-07:00

It's very sad when you're so poor that 50cents seems expensive, but that is what it is going to cost me everytime someone sends me a text message :( So before you text...just think about how many pints of Guiness you're keeping me from purchasing! Kidding....i wont be drinking guinesss......do they have good wine in Ireland? :) I guess ill find out!

So i leave on Monday....and im nowhere close to being done packing. Rather...i havent even started. And i have Ms. Soon-to-be-Tresidder's wedding tomorrow in Maryland...so i cant pack tomorrow! Ahhh! im such a procrastinator. Oh well....the Irish are free-spirited aren't they? So ill fit right in.

It really hasn't quite hit me yet, that for the next 5 weeks....ill be in Ireland. Ya know? THE Ireland. The country where the hot boys in "Boondock Saints" came from. I've never been out of the country (Canada and Mexico dont count...they are wannabes). I hope i dont get culture shock...but in a way i do. I want it to be completely different from America to the point where i have to adjust to it. It seems like i'll have a better experience if i do. Or at least a more...drastic one. But then again...they still speak English. Its not like i'm going to Japan. So....Moral of this lame story is........ No texting me....and....email me your address if you want a postcard! (or a pint of authentic irish whiskey :) chelseasherm@aol.com

Update!

2009-05-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

Okay....here goes
1. Got $1000.00 scholarship to pay back what my parents loaned me. I won the scholarship because of an essay about my mom's meatloaf...lame

2. I leave in a little over a month....no...im not counting the days, but i feel like i should figure it out now.

3. Went to the orientation meeting for the trip and learned a lot of cool things. We are staying in student apartments right in downtown Galway.

4. Note to self- never ask for a "ride" from anyone in Ireland...apparently it means "i want to get in your pants". Annnnd....dont bring an umbrella. I'll look like a tourist.

5. Apparently the Irish say "fook" between every word....ill leave it to you to figure out what it is they are saying :)

6. I have NO idea how to pack for a month....suggestions are greatly appreciated!

7. We have a TON of freedom while we are there. Maybe i'll take a road trip to Dublin for a weekend and do something exciting there.

Thats all i can think of!

All paid and ready to go!

2009-04-28T07:58:00.001-07:00

So i've offically bought my tickets and paid for my trip. Aaaand..... i got a scholarship to help pay for some of it. The official meeting where i meet the advisors and everyone coming along is this friday. Ahhh :) I'm going to ireland!

Two months away

2009-04-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

I officially leave in two months and two days for Ireland. I couldn't possibly be more excited. However, my final payment (about $4,500) is due this friday, and i still have no clue how I'm going to pay for it. But i suppose ill just do what i can and hope for the best. (probably not the best philosophy in this situation)

I have my first meeting with the rest of the group and advisors going on the trip as well in a week and a half ish. Hopefully we will find out more about what we are going to be doing and were were staying and such. I cant decide if i would perfer to stay in a dorm or with a family. And this point, im thinking dorm, only because i would feel really awful disturbing a family all the time. Plus, if i stay in the dorm, i might meet some other hot, irish boys my age who will sing me irish jigs at night. :) I think that is what im most excited for!

My camera (Nikon D40) that i bought of ebay is officially in the United States now. It was coming from canada, and i ordered it a week ago. It needs to hurry up and get here already! I need a substantial amount of time to perfect my photography skills before i leave!

Well i suppose that is all for my first post. These next few weeks (9) are most likely going to go by super fast. I have finals due starting next week and the LSAT (law school entrance test) in 7 weeks. Neither of which do i have the desired amount of time to study for, because i have to work and make a living somehow!
~cms