They Always Did Say

… that the grass was much greener on the other side. Well, if “they” are from America, and were talking about “the other side of the pond” then they were definitely right. “They” always seem to be right, whoever “they” are.

I digress. We took a trip to Cashel this weekend, and my pictures will once again prove “them” right. I’ve never seen grass so green! Cashel is a quaint little town that is home to one of Ireland’s most historical landmarks: the Rock of Cashel. It’s this giant fortress-turned-cathedral that sits on top of a huge hill. It’s absolutely gargantuan and completely breathtaking.

I went on this trip with a few fellow friars and we found, to our immense pleasure, that Cashel happens to be THE Friartown. Apparently the Friars were a huge part of this town’s history. We stumbled across the original friary of the man himself, St. Dominic. There were also street names, buildings, and statues all having something to do with friars. So cool.

Enjoy the pictures of Cashel here!

This upcoming weekend we’re taking a trip to see what Cork has to offer us. Whatever it is, I bet it’s green and involves Guinness.

Next stop, the Blarney Stone!

Side note: Coldplay happens to be incredible traveling music. If you’re ever zipping through the country side, city side, left side, right side … try plugging in to some Coldplay. They’ve been the background music to all of my Irish adventures so far, and have definitely added to the experience. I’m convinced that they’re actually musical gods of some sort.

LESSONS LEARNED Part 1: Hey, Freshman.

This is the first in a series of posts that I’m going to entitle: Lessons Learned. It’s going to be about the knowledge I’m gaining here in Ireland not just academically, but socially, monetarily, and maybe even spiritually. Some of these lessons, unfortunately have been learned the hard way, but those are the ones that leave the strongest impression, right? So here we go:

Lesson 1: Don’t trust two-in-one washer/dryer combos. Yes, you read that correctly. Our clothing sanitation device is actually a washer AND dryer in one very petite machine. Unfortunately, the dryer half isn’t exactly holding up his end of the bargain. Luckily, my roommate’s mother coerced her into bringing a clothesline (which she brought begrudgingly) under the assumption that it would be the “most useful think she brings to Ireland”. Lesson 1-2: Always listen to Mom. Our clothes are strung up all over the apartment, but on the bright side, it always smells like laundry!

Lesson 2: Don’t order water in a restaurant. That’s right, make the frugal choice and stick with some free tap water, right? Nope. Order water in a restaurant and it comes to you in a fancy glass bottle for 3.25 euro. That’s about $4.20 for water. I know. I’d rather take my chances and go take a swig out of the River Liffey than pay that again.

Lesson 3: Bring your own bag to the grocery store. And be prepared. Bags here cost and extra 10 cents if you want to use them, and the cashiers do NOT do the bagging for you like the nice people at your local Stop & Shop. My roommates and I have been caught struggling at the end of the conveyor belt shoving pasta, milk, and eggs into our backpacks and coat pockets then struggling through the 15 minute wobble back to our apartment. On the other hand, it’s a great way to get people using reusable bags. We sure do, now!

Lesson 4: Patience. Looks like you were right all along, Dad: Patience is a virtue. When I spend a half hour trying to connect to the internet: patience. When I’m only registered for half my classes and still don’t have a set schedule: patience. When I’m jumping into classes half way through the year and don’t understand anything: patience. Even though I’ve had moments here where I feel like I’m just kind of floating around without any real ground under my feet, I know that in a very short time I’ll have caught my flow and will fall into a groove. It’s a bit annoying to feel like a freshman all over again, but I guess life is just a series of being a freshman, working your way up, and then becoming a freshman again. But being a lowly, ignorant, freshman is when you have the most to learn, right? If we feel like we know everything, we won’t learn anything new. So here I am, with my pen and pencil (or rather, my keyboard) ready to learn and ready face new challenges!

Bring it, Ireland!

Update!

I haven’t blogged in a few days so I just wanted to give a quick recap of some of the things I’ve done, and update you about what’s going on!

To recap: 

•  Last weekend we took a bus to Glendalough which is a beautiful mountainous area just south of Dublin. It has two gorgeous lakes in the mountain valley and some really interesting ruins from an old monetary that was built there hundreds of years ago. There are also some cool hiking trails that led us by waterfalls and gave us incredible viewpoints of the whole site. I’ve got pictures posted on my Flickr for your viewing pleasure! (For those of you that missed that, the word ‘Flickr’ in the previous sentence is a link to my page where you can look at my photos.)

• Last weekend we also ventured over to Temple Bar in Dublin which is this really cool area with lots of fun pubs. It’s notoriously tourist-ridden, but we still had a lot of fun (probably because we’re still tourists. Womp.) We ended up at a pub called Fitzsimmons (pronounced fitzsEYEmonds, as we’ve been corrected) where there was live music, lots of dancing, lots of people from all over Europe, and LOTS of beer. We made friends with some guys from London who had just “popped over for the weekend”. You can do that in Europe!

That’s about all I have by way of recap. I’m currently in the midst of “class shopping” (and when I say in the midst, I’m actually in the library between classes as I type this). Trinity has this funky registration program where the first week of classes students go around to classes they might be interested in and audit them to see if they want to continue taking them for the rest of the semester. It’s very different and VERY useful considering I sat in on a senior level sociology class that was a bit over my head. By a bit, I mean I decided in the first five minutes I wouldn’t be going back. It seems like I’ll be taking five sophomore/junior level sociology classes and one art class. The average Trinity student takes about six classes, so it should be interesting to see how that pans out for me. In other words, how I manage to fit in six classes worth of work between drinking and traveling . (Don’t worry Mom and Dad, it’s under control!)

This upcoming weekend we’re planning a trip to the Rock of Cashel or to Galway, yet undecided. The weekend after that, we’re going to Cork where I’ll finally kiss the Blarney stone! I know what you’re thinking. I’ve heard it a million times: “I heard the locals pee on it at night!” Well I’ve got some travel sized mouthwash I’ll bring with me then, okay?!

Many more pictures of Ireland to come, so stay tuned!

My Apartment!

Here are some pictures of my flat!

The enterance

The Foyer

The living room

The Kitchen

 Mine and Lindsay's Bedroom

Old and homey!! We've got plenty of space for all out visitors who want to come!

Guinness is next to Godliness

Since arriving to Ireland I've finally got some time to sit down and do justice to my first REAL Ireland post. Aside from being deaf in one ear for about 7 hours after landing (the descent was rough on my ears and I didn't have any gum), my entire traveling experience was completely smooth. Hallelujah! Since being here we've toured a bit, done some shopping on Grafton Street (this really cool pedestrianized shopping area), been to some cool pubs (they don't call them bars here, and pronounce them poobs, ha!), and have done a lot of exploring. Dublin is so vibrant and colorful and full of life! I'm absolutely in love already.

Our apartment is about a 10-15 minute walk from just about everything in Dublin. We live on Earlsfort Terrace in an old flat with high ceilings and huge windows. I'll be taking and posting pictures soon so you can see what it looks like! It's a little chilly, but very homey! I live with four other girls, all from different places in the US and all very cool and really easy to get along with.

Dad, this ones for you - our first night making dinner on our own we teamed up with the boys who live next door to us and made parmesan chicken, pasta, and steamed vegetables. Yum! We don't have meal plans so we're roughing it on our own! Grr! But having to buy groceries and supplies has been a great opportunity to learn more about the city and to make us feel more settled.

So here's some things I've learned about the Irish since I've been here:
1) NOBODY is tan. I mean nobody. I've never felt so accepted!
2) EVERYBODY is quick and witty. It seems like I'll be jabbed with a joke then given a sly wink before I even realize I've been tricked or insulted. But, biting humor is just the Irish way of letting someone know you like them. I seriously hope it rubs off on me.
3) Guinness is the god of all beers. The Irish love their Guinness. And it is SO much better over here! We went to The Guinness Storehouse which is the old Guinness factory turned into a really cool museum. We got to learn all about how its made, its history, and I learned how to pour my own Guinness! They even gave me a certificate! That will be stapled to all of my resumes, of course.
4) TJ Maxx is called TK Maxx over here and it is NOT the bargain lovers paradise that it is in the states. I know. How disappointing.
5) Peanut butter, my most favorite friend in the world, is hard to come by over here. And when you do find it, the jars are tiny (I could probably eat one on my own in one sitting) and they all say "The American Way!" Funny, right?

I feel like I've learned so much already and I'm excited for all the countless things still left for me to learn! I've got my first day of Trinity orientation tomorrow and it'll be the first time I'm really seeing the Trinity campus which is beautiful. I can't wait!

Until next time, Cheers!

Greeting From Ireland!

Hello!

I am very much looking forward to posting about my successful and safe travels, and the very fun times I've had here in Ireland so far. But what I'm looking forward to so much more right now ...  is sleep. I've been awake for nearing 35 hours I believe and I'm ready for some shut eye. HOWEVER as soon as I have my wits about me again I'll be posting about all the cool things I've done in my short time here.


I do have to share though, I had my first Guinness in Ireland's smallest pub, Dawson Lounge. It holds about 25 people and they say it's a great place to get drunk because you can't fall down!

It's 9:00 and I feel like a grandma but the jet lag is getting the best of me. Goodnight Ireland!

"When God made time, he made plenty of it"

[I wrote this while traveling yesterday, but have only had the chance to post it now]

Hurry up and wait: the old adage that holds true every single time. Today is my big travel day and with that I’ve been afforded the precious gift of time. Two hours on a train, four hours in an airport, and seven hours on a plane. In other words, I’m looking for some stuff to do so I don’t start shaking and mumbling to myself in anticipation of what lies ahead of me (even though that might help secure a seat to myself on the train). I figured I should use this time to do one last stateside post before I hop across the pond.

As I type this I’m zipping through the northeast on Amtrak, sitting next to my inordinately heavy piece of luggage. I was so proud of myself when I managed to fit everything I needed and then some into my suitcase, only to find out that it was 15 lbs over the weight limit. Ensue crisis. “What am I going to DO? I can’t afford to leave behind 15 lbs of my stuff!!” Dad chimed in with the ever so helpful “If this was your brother, he’d be 15lbs UNDER the limit!” Thanks for that one, Dad. But luckily with some rearranging and some sad goodbyes to a few choice pieces of clothing, I’m 3 lbs under the limit and on my way! Since I know you’re wondering, the cowboy boots and the sperries didn’t make the cut. Neither did what was at the time a completely necessary 6 bottles of nail polish, 2 pairs of jeans and a hoodie. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

FUN FACT: On my birthday a few friends and I went to get our cards read by a psychic in Southbury, CT. She was eerily accurate about A LOT of things. If you’ve got a spiritual side, and you ever get the chance to go, do it! It’s pretty cool. ANYWAY, she told me that in Ireland I’ll find someone 4-8 years my senior who I will become very close with and who will have a lot of things to teach me. She said the relationship will be intense, but that when I leave Ireland it will be goodbye forever. Needless to say, I’m going to hunt this person down. Just kidding. But it will be interesting to see if she was right, which is why I’m sharing this with you on my blog!

That’s all for now! I’ve got a lot of sitting and waiting ahead of me today but I’m so excited to be embarking on this journey. I’m sure I’ll look back to this day and this post and think: man, that girl had NOOOO idea what was in store for her. I hope I do.

Next stop, Ireland!

Pre-Departure Pre-Dilemmas

Top o' the morning to ya! (Or afternoon .. or evening)

Welcome to my blog! I'll be using this a means of keeping in touch with friends and family from home who want to stay updated about my semester abroad in Ireland. DISCLAIMER: Prepare for corniness. I can't seem to keep corny humor out of my daily life, so you'll just have to suffer through it with me.

I figured a good way to start out my blog would be from right here in the good old US of A as I puzzle over how the &*!#@ I'm going to fit all my stuff into one suitcase and one carry on. Every time I glance at my shoe rack my heart breaks a little bit at the thought of having to choose which ones are most important: Do I leave my black heeled boots? My cowboy boots? Converse or Sperrys? We're talking a serious dilemma here.

A few slightly (but only slightly) more serious dilemmas: 1) I'm not registered for any courses at all. 2) I have absolutely no idea what my living situation is. See, only slightly, right? I've been told that the Irish are a very r e l a x e d group of people. They're kind of an "Ahh just figure it out where you get here!" bunch. I'll register for courses during my week of orientation, and hopefully will be able to get all of them PC approved by the time classes start. And I did sign up for housing, but have yet to hear anything definitive about where I'm living. SO ... I'll figure it out where I get there! Adaptation is key! Right, Darwin? Let's hope so.

I am INCREDIBLY excited to be going to Ireland!It's always been first on my list of places to travel. I keep hearing about how friendly the people are, and I can't wait to immerse myself in the Irish culture. I'm anticipating lots of adventures both inside and outside of Ireland, and I hope you enjoy hearing about them! For those of you who want to keep in touch more personally, I've downloaded an app on my iPod that lets me text for free internationally! Feel free to message me for that number!

That's all for now! I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on the shoe dilemma .... and the other less important ones as well, I guess.

As they say in Ireland (I think), cheers!