I'm finally done with essays and exams until January! Although I SHOULD be studying for those January exams... but for now, I'm on Christmas holiday!
Last weekend we didn't end up going to Galway; we'd decided that we had too much to do. But on Saturday, Colin, Katie, Elizabeth and I took a little day trip to a seaside town on the Irish sea called "Howth." (That rhymes with "both.") It was soooo cold that we didn't even go on the cliff walk that we'd gone there to see, but we still had fun walking around the town and taking pictures of the boats and lighthouse and sea. We even saw a few seals that came up to the edge of the pier to smile for the camera! We had fish and chips and icecream, coffee and dessert in two little shops in the main street, and I bought a few books for myself (for Christmas presents) at a little book sale we ran into. All in all, it was a fun day. Cold, but fun. We were beat when we got back, so we all relaxed together and watched a movie in my room.
Last week, since I didn't have any more essays, I just spent lots of time with my friends that were only here for the first semester-- especially Colin. We went to Dublin a few times, and Saturday Katie and I had brunch with Elizabeth's family! It was so cool to meet them since we've heard so much about them! And on Tuesday I was fortunate enough to be able to experience the NUIM Carol Service. The director of the play I was in got me a ticket! You usually have to reserve a ticket like six months in advance because it's so popular. The service was in the college chapel, and it was absolutely beautiful.
Elizabeth, Jackie and I booked our tickets for Italy this week too! Elizabeth and I are leaving for Turin January 26! We are staying with my friend Caitlin from leadership camp (she's in Asti staying with a family there until February). Then we meet Jackie in Venice on the 30th and spend a few days there until we return to Maynooth February 3rd for lectures to start on the 4th. It will definitely be a whirlwind, and I'm SOOO excited! Venice is the one city that I HAVE to see before I leave this continent. And I'm also really excited to see Caitlin and stay with a family again (like we did in Germany).
I got a haircut yesterday, which I love. My favorite part, I think, was the 15 minute long hair wash. They have separate people at the salons here that just wash hair, and there is a massage chair for you to relax in while you're getting your hair washed. Then, when you sit down, they offer you tea or coffee. (I didn't have any because I don't like tea or coffee, but it sure was fancy!) Then last night Colin took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Maynooth. We had a lovely evening before I had to say goodbye to him... (we also watched Slapshot in which Paul Newman was lookin' dreamy!!!)
It was so sad to say goodbye to everyone this weekend, and now I'm in my apartment, alone on Christmas. It's pretty sad, but pretty soon I'm going to call home where my whole family is, warm by the fire. I can't wait for them to get here. It just doesn't feel like Christmas without family...
Howth pictures:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2125772&l=d4ca9&id=5619987
Haircut, and the last week with everyone here:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2125802&l=65842&id=5619987
Monday, December 24, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Castles, Whiskey, Waves, and Sleepovers
Last weekend almost everyone left the country except me, Elizabeth, Jackie, Missy, Tom and Collin. Lots of the girls went to Scotland, and Katie went to France to visit her family there. We were going to go to Rome to visit my friend Lisa, but I had dress rehearsals for the play over the weekend.
After rehearsal on Friday night I had everyone that was left here over for pizza and chocolate cake at my place. Elizabeth and I ran into our German friend Andi on the way to the store, and we invited him to come too! It was fun just chilling and eating pizza. Then Andi dragged us along to a party at his friend's flat with a bunch of international kids. We went for a bit and chatted with some French and German kids before coming back to my place to watch Love Actually (which my sister sent to me for my birthday-- thanks, Katie!) Saturday I had rehearsal again for my play (to which my two castmates arrived about a half an hour late), and after rehearsal I went to Brady's with my director, Will, and my castmates, Richard and Thomas. The boys had coffee, and I had a water, and we sat around and chatted for while. Thomas left after a little bit, and then it was late enough for the boys to start drinking, so they started in on the pints. After they had a pint in them, they started telling me old Irish man stories. I can't even describe how they told these stories, but it was hilarious! Also, they made me try whiskey. It sure does warm you up!
On Sunday we had rehearsal again, and at this point the boys still didn't have their lines memorized. Needless to say, I was worried and stressed out. But it all came together in the end. The show on Monday was okay... I was just glad to have one show out of the way and just one more to go. There weren't many people there to watch us, but the whole front row was filled with my friends, which made me happy :) And after the show we went to Supermacs for some burgers and fries-- not quite the same as Denny's, but it worked...
Tuesday we went to see Katie and Jackie in their plays (which were fabulous!) Then Supermacs again for some junk food (can't have a performance without some food after, right?)
The show on Wednesday went SO MUCH better than on Monday! We still missed a few lines here and there, but Thomas and Richard did so much better! I was so relieved to have it over. Will, Richard, Thomas, and some of the people from the other plays had a cast party at Caulfield's, but I went with a few of my SMC chicks to Brady's for Missy's last night in Ireland. (She left Thursday to go home early). Lots of our Irish friends came (and our German friend Andi), so we had lots of fun! I even got two dates out of the evening... but that's another whole story in itself...
We carried Missy back to my apartment, and then decided we were all craving french toast. So, I taught Andi how to make french toast, and he helped me make it for everyone. It was so cute: me teaching our German friend how to make french toast. I don't know if he liked it that much, but it definitely hit the spot for the rest of us!
That night we had to say goodbye to Missy! It was so sad to see her go, but at the same time, it was so hard to wrap our minds around the fact that she was actually going home, that it made it a lot easier to say goodbye.
On Thursday, Elizabeth, Katie and I went into town to have lunch at the Confectionary. It was delightful, and such a charming little cafe. Thursday night Elizabeth and I sneaked into Katie and Jackie's show and then went out with the cast after to Caulfield's for the cast party. I got to talk to a few of the other Drama Society kids that I hadn't talked to before, so that was fun. But we left a little early, went to Dunnes, got some Doritos, and came back to watch a movie.
Friday morning we had our last history lecture before the exam and paper is due. Then Friday night after we ordered pizza I stayed in to pack and clean and start my history paper (although that history paper thing didn't really happen).
Saturday morning we all arose early to leave for Northern Ireland at 7.00! After about a 4 hour drive, we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast (I hadn't had McDonald's in a LONG time), and then back on the bus to head to Dunluce Castle. Dunluce Castle is one of the most extensive ruins of a medieval castle in Northern Ireland. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland. It is first documented in the hands of the McQuillan family in 1513. The castle is dramatically surrounded by terrifyingly steep drops either side, which would have been a very important factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an early Irish fort once stood. It was really cold and windy out that day, but exploring the castle ruins was really cool. And the castle was on the ocean, which made it extra beautiful.
After freezing our bones at the castle, we headed to Bushmills Distillery to warm up. Bushmills is produced, matured, and bottled on site at the Bushmills Distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Old Bushmills Distillery is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. As well as producing the world famous Bushmills whiskey, the distillery is a popular tourist attraction, and has around 110,000 visitors per year. After touring the factory and learning how they ferment, distill, store, and bottle whiskey, we ended the tour at the bar where we all received our free whiskey. I got a hot toddy. Hot toddy is a name given to a mixed drink that is served hot. It's made with whiskey and spices, and it wasn't all that bad. It tasted very Christmas-y, and it definitely warmed me up!
We stayed in a hostel in Bushmills that night. The hostel was really nice, and we all had a big lasagna dinner together. After dinner, we all helped do the dishes and then played card games with our bus driver, Eugene. We danced in the Kitchen, and Rosie and Autumn even tried to teach me some Irish dance. It was so much fun, and the atmosphere just really made me feel like it was Christmas.
Jackie, Elizabeth, Katie and I had our own room at the hostel, and after singing country songs in the dark for a few hours, I said "Bloody Mary," and Jackie freaked out, so we put all our mattresses on the floor and had a sleepover! We stayed up later than we should have, but it was a blast!
The next day, we woke up, had some breakfast in the hostel kitchen, and set out for Giant's Causeway. The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. During the Paleogene period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled rapidly, contraction occurred. While contraction in the vertical direction reduced the flow thickness (without fracturing), horizontal contraction could only be accommodated by cracking throughout the flow. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today.
Legend has it that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over Fionn and pretended he was actually Fionn's baby son. When Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.
It was cold and windy, but we escaped the rain for the most part, and the rocks and the ocean were a beautiful sight to behold. Oh, and I even found 5 Alive in the tearoom at Giant's Causeway! I was SO excited! It tasted like home!
On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's, and we all got Happy Meals! I hadn't had a Happy Meal in FOREVER! It brought us all back to our childhoods...
This week I'll be busy writing my history paper that I haven't started and studying for my exam on Friday. It's going to be another busy week, but as soon as I hit Friday, I'm home free. This weekend we're planning on going to Galway to stay with some cousins of mine that live there, and next week will be fun and relaxing. And after next week, it will be Christmas, and then my family will be here! Yay! Can't wait!
Pictures:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124350&l=a5ee3&id=5619987
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124796&l=be3d0&id=5619987
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124801&l=cf5fe&id=5619987
After rehearsal on Friday night I had everyone that was left here over for pizza and chocolate cake at my place. Elizabeth and I ran into our German friend Andi on the way to the store, and we invited him to come too! It was fun just chilling and eating pizza. Then Andi dragged us along to a party at his friend's flat with a bunch of international kids. We went for a bit and chatted with some French and German kids before coming back to my place to watch Love Actually (which my sister sent to me for my birthday-- thanks, Katie!) Saturday I had rehearsal again for my play (to which my two castmates arrived about a half an hour late), and after rehearsal I went to Brady's with my director, Will, and my castmates, Richard and Thomas. The boys had coffee, and I had a water, and we sat around and chatted for while. Thomas left after a little bit, and then it was late enough for the boys to start drinking, so they started in on the pints. After they had a pint in them, they started telling me old Irish man stories. I can't even describe how they told these stories, but it was hilarious! Also, they made me try whiskey. It sure does warm you up!
On Sunday we had rehearsal again, and at this point the boys still didn't have their lines memorized. Needless to say, I was worried and stressed out. But it all came together in the end. The show on Monday was okay... I was just glad to have one show out of the way and just one more to go. There weren't many people there to watch us, but the whole front row was filled with my friends, which made me happy :) And after the show we went to Supermacs for some burgers and fries-- not quite the same as Denny's, but it worked...
Tuesday we went to see Katie and Jackie in their plays (which were fabulous!) Then Supermacs again for some junk food (can't have a performance without some food after, right?)
The show on Wednesday went SO MUCH better than on Monday! We still missed a few lines here and there, but Thomas and Richard did so much better! I was so relieved to have it over. Will, Richard, Thomas, and some of the people from the other plays had a cast party at Caulfield's, but I went with a few of my SMC chicks to Brady's for Missy's last night in Ireland. (She left Thursday to go home early). Lots of our Irish friends came (and our German friend Andi), so we had lots of fun! I even got two dates out of the evening... but that's another whole story in itself...
We carried Missy back to my apartment, and then decided we were all craving french toast. So, I taught Andi how to make french toast, and he helped me make it for everyone. It was so cute: me teaching our German friend how to make french toast. I don't know if he liked it that much, but it definitely hit the spot for the rest of us!
That night we had to say goodbye to Missy! It was so sad to see her go, but at the same time, it was so hard to wrap our minds around the fact that she was actually going home, that it made it a lot easier to say goodbye.
On Thursday, Elizabeth, Katie and I went into town to have lunch at the Confectionary. It was delightful, and such a charming little cafe. Thursday night Elizabeth and I sneaked into Katie and Jackie's show and then went out with the cast after to Caulfield's for the cast party. I got to talk to a few of the other Drama Society kids that I hadn't talked to before, so that was fun. But we left a little early, went to Dunnes, got some Doritos, and came back to watch a movie.
Friday morning we had our last history lecture before the exam and paper is due. Then Friday night after we ordered pizza I stayed in to pack and clean and start my history paper (although that history paper thing didn't really happen).
Saturday morning we all arose early to leave for Northern Ireland at 7.00! After about a 4 hour drive, we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast (I hadn't had McDonald's in a LONG time), and then back on the bus to head to Dunluce Castle. Dunluce Castle is one of the most extensive ruins of a medieval castle in Northern Ireland. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland. It is first documented in the hands of the McQuillan family in 1513. The castle is dramatically surrounded by terrifyingly steep drops either side, which would have been a very important factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an early Irish fort once stood. It was really cold and windy out that day, but exploring the castle ruins was really cool. And the castle was on the ocean, which made it extra beautiful.
After freezing our bones at the castle, we headed to Bushmills Distillery to warm up. Bushmills is produced, matured, and bottled on site at the Bushmills Distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Old Bushmills Distillery is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. As well as producing the world famous Bushmills whiskey, the distillery is a popular tourist attraction, and has around 110,000 visitors per year. After touring the factory and learning how they ferment, distill, store, and bottle whiskey, we ended the tour at the bar where we all received our free whiskey. I got a hot toddy. Hot toddy is a name given to a mixed drink that is served hot. It's made with whiskey and spices, and it wasn't all that bad. It tasted very Christmas-y, and it definitely warmed me up!
We stayed in a hostel in Bushmills that night. The hostel was really nice, and we all had a big lasagna dinner together. After dinner, we all helped do the dishes and then played card games with our bus driver, Eugene. We danced in the Kitchen, and Rosie and Autumn even tried to teach me some Irish dance. It was so much fun, and the atmosphere just really made me feel like it was Christmas.
Jackie, Elizabeth, Katie and I had our own room at the hostel, and after singing country songs in the dark for a few hours, I said "Bloody Mary," and Jackie freaked out, so we put all our mattresses on the floor and had a sleepover! We stayed up later than we should have, but it was a blast!
The next day, we woke up, had some breakfast in the hostel kitchen, and set out for Giant's Causeway. The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. During the Paleogene period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled rapidly, contraction occurred. While contraction in the vertical direction reduced the flow thickness (without fracturing), horizontal contraction could only be accommodated by cracking throughout the flow. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today.
Legend has it that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over Fionn and pretended he was actually Fionn's baby son. When Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.
It was cold and windy, but we escaped the rain for the most part, and the rocks and the ocean were a beautiful sight to behold. Oh, and I even found 5 Alive in the tearoom at Giant's Causeway! I was SO excited! It tasted like home!
On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's, and we all got Happy Meals! I hadn't had a Happy Meal in FOREVER! It brought us all back to our childhoods...
This week I'll be busy writing my history paper that I haven't started and studying for my exam on Friday. It's going to be another busy week, but as soon as I hit Friday, I'm home free. This weekend we're planning on going to Galway to stay with some cousins of mine that live there, and next week will be fun and relaxing. And after next week, it will be Christmas, and then my family will be here! Yay! Can't wait!
Pictures:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124350&l=a5ee3&id=5619987
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124796&l=be3d0&id=5619987
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124801&l=cf5fe&id=5619987
Monday, November 26, 2007
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Happy Thanksgiving week!
My friends made Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night, but I couldn't make it because I had play rehearsal. However, they saved me some food, and I warmed it up when I got back-- you can never have too much turkey!
Thursday I took the day off from classes and work for Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving mass on south campus that Katie helped plan. Somehow I ended up bringing up the gifts-- me, right? I'm not even Catholic! I can't even take communion, and I brought it up! It was kind of weird, but I guess I've having all sorts of new experiences here in Ireland! After mass, the Chaplains treated us all to lunch! It was pretty delicious-- especially the banana and caramel dessert! When we were finished with lunch, Katie and I went out to explore south campus. We took a walk around the footpath that circles campus and took loads of pictures of whatever we could find! We even wandered into the church which was SOOO beautiful! We ran into a tour group that we followed for awhile, and we found out they were from Clongowes Wood College (where we toured last week)! It was a windy day, but a beautiful day. We hurried back after our photo shoot to tidy up for our departure for Castletown. Castletown House was built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. The house was inherited by Tom Conolly in 1758 and the interior decoration was finished by his wife Lady Louisa (great-grand-daughter of Charles II of England and his mistress Louise de Keroualle) during the 1760s and 1770s. The house was bought in 1967 by Desmond Guinness (an heir to the brewery throne) to save it from vandalism, became the flagship of the Irish Georgian Society, owned by the Castletown Foundation, and was later still transferred to the Office of Public Works. It was too dark outside to get great pictures of the house, but it was grand! It reminded me of the White House. It was cool to see the house, as most of it had been preserved and restored. After the tour, we had dinner in the restaurant in the bottom of the house. The Thanksgiving dinner was a delicious meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. It was a very good attempt by the Irish to produce a traditional American meal, and it was delicious, but there wasn't quite enough food to fill us until we thought we would burst (like there SHOULD be on Thanksgiving).
On Friday I went to meet Lydia Manteufel at the train station. Lydia and I were in "The Wiz" together in middle school, and then in Creative Connections (a show choir in Wausau) together for a year or two after that. I hadn't seen her in years, but when I found out she would be in London for the year, I emailed her, and she decided to come visit for the weekend! I love how being across the world brings old friends together!
So, I picked Lydia up at the train station, we came back to my flat, got her settled, and caught up until my friends joined us for dinner. We all cooked a nice meal of delicious chicken stir-fry, and then we had Katie's boy story for dessert :)
We all bundled up and went to The Roost so I could show Lydia what an Irish pub was like. We chatted at the Roost for awhile and then stopped at Dunne's on the way home for some dessert. We decided on chocolate cake, apple crumble, and caramel icecream-- needless to say, it was delicious. After a lovely dessert (probably too much dessert), we snuggled up to watch Grey's Anatomy before bed.
On Saturday, we all got up early to go to Dublin. Our first stop was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Trinity College was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university"; Trinity and the University of Dublin form Ireland's oldest university. The Book of Kells is an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by Celtic monks around AD 800. It contains the four gospels of the Bible in Latin, along with prefatory and explanatory matter decorated with numerous colourful illustrations and illuminations. The script and illustrations were really beautiful! After admiring a few pages of the Book, we went up to the Long Room, with books from floor to ceiling. The main chamber of the Old Library, the Long Room, is over 212 feet in length, and houses around 200,000 of the Library's oldest books. Marble busts are placed down either side of the room representing famous authors and philosophers. One of the dozen or so remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic is on display. This signalled the start of the Easter Rising when it was read aloud by Patrick Pearse outside the General Post Office on 24 April 1916. Changing exhibits of printed books and manuscripts from the Library's collections are mounted in the Long Room.
While Erin and I were admiring the library, with its spiral staircases and 10 foot ladders, Erin noticed a man wearing a Notre Dame windbreaker. I approached him and asked him if he was a Notre Dame fan. It turned out he was the head track coach at Notre Dame! We told him we were from Saint Mary's and chatted with him for awhile-- what a small world!
After taking some pictures of the beautiful Trinity College campus, we moved on to visit the Molly Malone statue. "Molly Malone" is a popular song which has acquired the status of an Irish anthem. It has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin City in Ireland and tells the tale of a beautiful fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but died young, of a fever. The statue of Molly was designed by Jeanne Rynhart and was erected at the bottom of Grafton Street to celebrate the city's first millennium in 1987.
After visiting the statue and meeting a cute Irish man that took our picture, we stopped for a quick lunch at Delish pie cafe and juice bar. I had a lovely steak and cheese pie with mashed potatoes-- it was, in fact, delish!
Next we went to visit Dublin Castle. Dublin Castle is a major Irish governmental complex, formerly the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. Originally built as a defensive fortification for the Norman city of Dublin, it later evolved into a royal residence. Largely complete by 1230, the castle was of typical Norman courtyard design, with a central square devoid of a keep, bounded on all sides by tall defensive walls and protected at each corner by a circular tower. The castle was beautiful inside and out, and we were really excited that we knew a lot of the history that the tour guide talked about because of our Irish history class! We also ran into the ND track coach inside again, and he asked us if we knew where the Notre Dame building was in Dublin. We were so excited that we were able to tell him!
Next, we rushed across town to get to the Guinness Brewery before it closed. I wasn't sure if I would like this, since I don't like beer, but the factory itself was actually really cool, and the tour was pretty interesting. At the end of the tour we walked up to the top of the building, and Katie and Lydia enjoyed their free Guinness pints while the rest of us sipped nasty diet cokes. But the view was beautiful; we could see all of Dublin lit up!
When we left the brewery, we walked back towards Grafton Street, and we got to see all the streets lit up with Christmas lights! It was so beautiful! There were chandeliers across the roads, and people scurrying from shop to shop; all they needed was some snow to make it most beautiful!
We stopped at Carrol's to do some intense souvenir shopping and then at Supermac's for some garlic cheese chips (Lydia had to have them before she left Ireland!)
Upon returning to Maynooth on the train that evening, we made a fabulous pancake dinner (Lydia had been craving pancakes for weeks with no way to make them, so we thought we'd satisfy her craving) and watched Peter Pan (again, because Lydia really wanted to see it). All in all, a fantastic day!
The next morning, a few of the girls needed their "beauty sleep," so it was just Lyds, Katie and I who set out for Kilmainham Gaol the next morning. Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison, located in Inchicore in Dublin, which is now a museum. Kilmainham Gaol has played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and some executed in the jail. Most famously, the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were held and executed in the jail, and Eamon de Valera was the last prisoner in Kilmainham. Kilmainham Gaol was abandoned as a jail in 1924, by the government of the new Irish Free State. The jail has also been used as a set for several films including The Italian Job and Boondock Saints.
It was really weird standing in the yard where the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed. The Easter Rising was a rebellion by Irish republicans to win independence from Britain during Easter week of 1916. The rising was not very popular among the Irish until the leaders of the rising were executed in Kilmainham Gaol. Those executions changed the public's opinion and caused a huge surge of support for Irish rebels and Sinn Fein, a political party believed to have links to the rising. The executions seemed to be a catalyst in the nationwide push for Irish independence, and standing in the yard where those executions took place was a very intense experience.
The tour took a little longer than we expected, and when we finally got over to St. Patrick's Cathedral, we had already missed the service, and it was closed. But we walked around it and took some pictures. St. Patrick's Cathedral was founded in 1191 and is the larger of Dublin's two Church of Ireland cathedrals, and the largest church in Ireland. There was some restoration taking place on the outside, of course, but the garden behind the Cathedral was really beautiful (plus it had a playground, so we obviously hit that up). The green was the site of the well where St. Patrick baptised many of the local inhabitants in the 5th century A.D.
After visiting St. Patrick's, we had to get Lydia to the bus station so she could catch a bus to the airport for her return to London. It was sad to see her go; we had such a great weekend! I love how being so far from home brings old friends together...
After we got back, I had to snap myself back into reality and make myself work this week. I had a paper due this week that I hadn't even started so I finished that on Monday night so I could spend all day Tuesday memorizing lines for the play I'm in. Play rehearsals this week have been very frustrating. It was totally unreasonable and unfair for the drama society to expect us to memorize so many lines in such little time. Plus, we've only had a few rehearsals. I am NOT used to this Irish way of unorganization. My cast members would come late to rehearsals or not come at all. We've barely rehearsed at all! The third member of the cast dropped out last week, so we had to find someone new, and who knows if he'll be able to memorize his lines. Our director has a very different idea of the play and of our characters than we do, so that's been frustrating. Plus he stops us like every 5 seconds, so it's hard to stay in character and memorize lines and blocking with so many interruptions. AND I have to kiss the leading man in my play. Now, I'm an actress, and the reason I wanted to take the kiss out of the play was not because I'm not attracted to this guy (which I am not: he has long hair and a long pinky finger nail and he smells), but he is the most awkward boy ever! He's never even been on stage before, so he's uncomfortable acting in the first place, and he's obviously not very comfortable around me either. I just didn't want that to project itself onto the audience and make them feel uncomfortable too, as I feel I would if I were in the audience. Well, I voiced this to my director, and I thought I made a pretty good argument for myself. But, like I said, he had a very different idea of how the play should be, so he is basically making us do it. I'm an actress, but still... it's awkward. I can't wait for this show to be over. And besides all this, I definitely do NOT have all my lines memorized, and my cast members definitely do not either, and I am SO bad at improvisation. When things go wrong on stage, I just fall out of character. This is going to be one interesting experience...
Jackie, one of my friends from Saint Mary's, is directing a play next semester. She wants me to be her stage manager, which I am DEFINITELY going to do now. We are going to show these Irish how to be organized and punctual and professional. We are going to be in charge, and our show is going to be polished and structured! I can't wait!
History paper and exam in two weeks, plus I still have to memorize all these lines and be prepared for the play. Stress, stress, stress. How many days until Christmas?
Pictures:
Thanksgiving and Exploring
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123102&l=3935e&id=5619987
Thanksgiving and Lydia
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123104&l=58a98&id=5619987
The Yellow Brick Road in Dublin
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123106&l=2d4ff&id=5619987
Peter Pancakes
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123107&l=fd7bb&id=5619987
My friends made Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night, but I couldn't make it because I had play rehearsal. However, they saved me some food, and I warmed it up when I got back-- you can never have too much turkey!
Thursday I took the day off from classes and work for Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving mass on south campus that Katie helped plan. Somehow I ended up bringing up the gifts-- me, right? I'm not even Catholic! I can't even take communion, and I brought it up! It was kind of weird, but I guess I've having all sorts of new experiences here in Ireland! After mass, the Chaplains treated us all to lunch! It was pretty delicious-- especially the banana and caramel dessert! When we were finished with lunch, Katie and I went out to explore south campus. We took a walk around the footpath that circles campus and took loads of pictures of whatever we could find! We even wandered into the church which was SOOO beautiful! We ran into a tour group that we followed for awhile, and we found out they were from Clongowes Wood College (where we toured last week)! It was a windy day, but a beautiful day. We hurried back after our photo shoot to tidy up for our departure for Castletown. Castletown House was built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. The house was inherited by Tom Conolly in 1758 and the interior decoration was finished by his wife Lady Louisa (great-grand-daughter of Charles II of England and his mistress Louise de Keroualle) during the 1760s and 1770s. The house was bought in 1967 by Desmond Guinness (an heir to the brewery throne) to save it from vandalism, became the flagship of the Irish Georgian Society, owned by the Castletown Foundation, and was later still transferred to the Office of Public Works. It was too dark outside to get great pictures of the house, but it was grand! It reminded me of the White House. It was cool to see the house, as most of it had been preserved and restored. After the tour, we had dinner in the restaurant in the bottom of the house. The Thanksgiving dinner was a delicious meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. It was a very good attempt by the Irish to produce a traditional American meal, and it was delicious, but there wasn't quite enough food to fill us until we thought we would burst (like there SHOULD be on Thanksgiving).
On Friday I went to meet Lydia Manteufel at the train station. Lydia and I were in "The Wiz" together in middle school, and then in Creative Connections (a show choir in Wausau) together for a year or two after that. I hadn't seen her in years, but when I found out she would be in London for the year, I emailed her, and she decided to come visit for the weekend! I love how being across the world brings old friends together!
So, I picked Lydia up at the train station, we came back to my flat, got her settled, and caught up until my friends joined us for dinner. We all cooked a nice meal of delicious chicken stir-fry, and then we had Katie's boy story for dessert :)
We all bundled up and went to The Roost so I could show Lydia what an Irish pub was like. We chatted at the Roost for awhile and then stopped at Dunne's on the way home for some dessert. We decided on chocolate cake, apple crumble, and caramel icecream-- needless to say, it was delicious. After a lovely dessert (probably too much dessert), we snuggled up to watch Grey's Anatomy before bed.
On Saturday, we all got up early to go to Dublin. Our first stop was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Trinity College was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university"; Trinity and the University of Dublin form Ireland's oldest university. The Book of Kells is an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by Celtic monks around AD 800. It contains the four gospels of the Bible in Latin, along with prefatory and explanatory matter decorated with numerous colourful illustrations and illuminations. The script and illustrations were really beautiful! After admiring a few pages of the Book, we went up to the Long Room, with books from floor to ceiling. The main chamber of the Old Library, the Long Room, is over 212 feet in length, and houses around 200,000 of the Library's oldest books. Marble busts are placed down either side of the room representing famous authors and philosophers. One of the dozen or so remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic is on display. This signalled the start of the Easter Rising when it was read aloud by Patrick Pearse outside the General Post Office on 24 April 1916. Changing exhibits of printed books and manuscripts from the Library's collections are mounted in the Long Room.
While Erin and I were admiring the library, with its spiral staircases and 10 foot ladders, Erin noticed a man wearing a Notre Dame windbreaker. I approached him and asked him if he was a Notre Dame fan. It turned out he was the head track coach at Notre Dame! We told him we were from Saint Mary's and chatted with him for awhile-- what a small world!
After taking some pictures of the beautiful Trinity College campus, we moved on to visit the Molly Malone statue. "Molly Malone" is a popular song which has acquired the status of an Irish anthem. It has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin City in Ireland and tells the tale of a beautiful fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but died young, of a fever. The statue of Molly was designed by Jeanne Rynhart and was erected at the bottom of Grafton Street to celebrate the city's first millennium in 1987.
After visiting the statue and meeting a cute Irish man that took our picture, we stopped for a quick lunch at Delish pie cafe and juice bar. I had a lovely steak and cheese pie with mashed potatoes-- it was, in fact, delish!
Next we went to visit Dublin Castle. Dublin Castle is a major Irish governmental complex, formerly the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. Originally built as a defensive fortification for the Norman city of Dublin, it later evolved into a royal residence. Largely complete by 1230, the castle was of typical Norman courtyard design, with a central square devoid of a keep, bounded on all sides by tall defensive walls and protected at each corner by a circular tower. The castle was beautiful inside and out, and we were really excited that we knew a lot of the history that the tour guide talked about because of our Irish history class! We also ran into the ND track coach inside again, and he asked us if we knew where the Notre Dame building was in Dublin. We were so excited that we were able to tell him!
Next, we rushed across town to get to the Guinness Brewery before it closed. I wasn't sure if I would like this, since I don't like beer, but the factory itself was actually really cool, and the tour was pretty interesting. At the end of the tour we walked up to the top of the building, and Katie and Lydia enjoyed their free Guinness pints while the rest of us sipped nasty diet cokes. But the view was beautiful; we could see all of Dublin lit up!
When we left the brewery, we walked back towards Grafton Street, and we got to see all the streets lit up with Christmas lights! It was so beautiful! There were chandeliers across the roads, and people scurrying from shop to shop; all they needed was some snow to make it most beautiful!
We stopped at Carrol's to do some intense souvenir shopping and then at Supermac's for some garlic cheese chips (Lydia had to have them before she left Ireland!)
Upon returning to Maynooth on the train that evening, we made a fabulous pancake dinner (Lydia had been craving pancakes for weeks with no way to make them, so we thought we'd satisfy her craving) and watched Peter Pan (again, because Lydia really wanted to see it). All in all, a fantastic day!
The next morning, a few of the girls needed their "beauty sleep," so it was just Lyds, Katie and I who set out for Kilmainham Gaol the next morning. Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison, located in Inchicore in Dublin, which is now a museum. Kilmainham Gaol has played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and some executed in the jail. Most famously, the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were held and executed in the jail, and Eamon de Valera was the last prisoner in Kilmainham. Kilmainham Gaol was abandoned as a jail in 1924, by the government of the new Irish Free State. The jail has also been used as a set for several films including The Italian Job and Boondock Saints.
It was really weird standing in the yard where the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed. The Easter Rising was a rebellion by Irish republicans to win independence from Britain during Easter week of 1916. The rising was not very popular among the Irish until the leaders of the rising were executed in Kilmainham Gaol. Those executions changed the public's opinion and caused a huge surge of support for Irish rebels and Sinn Fein, a political party believed to have links to the rising. The executions seemed to be a catalyst in the nationwide push for Irish independence, and standing in the yard where those executions took place was a very intense experience.
The tour took a little longer than we expected, and when we finally got over to St. Patrick's Cathedral, we had already missed the service, and it was closed. But we walked around it and took some pictures. St. Patrick's Cathedral was founded in 1191 and is the larger of Dublin's two Church of Ireland cathedrals, and the largest church in Ireland. There was some restoration taking place on the outside, of course, but the garden behind the Cathedral was really beautiful (plus it had a playground, so we obviously hit that up). The green was the site of the well where St. Patrick baptised many of the local inhabitants in the 5th century A.D.
After visiting St. Patrick's, we had to get Lydia to the bus station so she could catch a bus to the airport for her return to London. It was sad to see her go; we had such a great weekend! I love how being so far from home brings old friends together...
After we got back, I had to snap myself back into reality and make myself work this week. I had a paper due this week that I hadn't even started so I finished that on Monday night so I could spend all day Tuesday memorizing lines for the play I'm in. Play rehearsals this week have been very frustrating. It was totally unreasonable and unfair for the drama society to expect us to memorize so many lines in such little time. Plus, we've only had a few rehearsals. I am NOT used to this Irish way of unorganization. My cast members would come late to rehearsals or not come at all. We've barely rehearsed at all! The third member of the cast dropped out last week, so we had to find someone new, and who knows if he'll be able to memorize his lines. Our director has a very different idea of the play and of our characters than we do, so that's been frustrating. Plus he stops us like every 5 seconds, so it's hard to stay in character and memorize lines and blocking with so many interruptions. AND I have to kiss the leading man in my play. Now, I'm an actress, and the reason I wanted to take the kiss out of the play was not because I'm not attracted to this guy (which I am not: he has long hair and a long pinky finger nail and he smells), but he is the most awkward boy ever! He's never even been on stage before, so he's uncomfortable acting in the first place, and he's obviously not very comfortable around me either. I just didn't want that to project itself onto the audience and make them feel uncomfortable too, as I feel I would if I were in the audience. Well, I voiced this to my director, and I thought I made a pretty good argument for myself. But, like I said, he had a very different idea of how the play should be, so he is basically making us do it. I'm an actress, but still... it's awkward. I can't wait for this show to be over. And besides all this, I definitely do NOT have all my lines memorized, and my cast members definitely do not either, and I am SO bad at improvisation. When things go wrong on stage, I just fall out of character. This is going to be one interesting experience...
It's been a stressful week, but I got two packages yesterday: thanks Katie and Rae! They made my week!
Jackie, one of my friends from Saint Mary's, is directing a play next semester. She wants me to be her stage manager, which I am DEFINITELY going to do now. We are going to show these Irish how to be organized and punctual and professional. We are going to be in charge, and our show is going to be polished and structured! I can't wait!
History paper and exam in two weeks, plus I still have to memorize all these lines and be prepared for the play. Stress, stress, stress. How many days until Christmas?
Pictures:
Thanksgiving and Exploring
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123102&l=3935e&id=5619987
Thanksgiving and Lydia
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123104&l=58a98&id=5619987
The Yellow Brick Road in Dublin
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123106&l=2d4ff&id=5619987
Peter Pancakes
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123107&l=fd7bb&id=5619987
Monday, November 19, 2007
Happy Birthday To Me!
Big English paper due last week, so that consumed most of my evenings. But now that I'm done with my anthropology class, I have a lot more time on my hands. I spent most of the week working on that paper (or thinking about working on it), and trying to avoid thinking about the fact that I was going to be turning twenty on Sunday.
Saturday we went on a little trip with our good friend Seamus. (He's about 65 years old and LOVES history. He comes to our Saint Mary's meetings to tell us about the history of places we visit). So Saturday afternoon we went to see Clongowes Wood. It used to be a castle and is now a boys' secondary school (or a "boys' college" as they are called here). James Joyce attended Clongowes Wood College from 1888 to 1891. He wrote about the school and many of his teachers and classmates in the first 120 pages of "Portrait of the Artist." The castle was built in 1450, rebuilt by Stephen Fitzwilliam Browne in 1718, extended to the back in 1788 by Thomas Wogan Browne, and bought by the Jesuits and turned into a school in 1840. Father Kenney, the founder of Clongowes Wood College, was buds with Daniel O'Connell (a famous political leader in Irish history), who sent 4 of his sons to the school. Also, Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, wrote about dining in the dining room at Clongowes Wood. The house was really cool... especially the old library with the hidden doorway! I want a mystery house when I grow up! With secret doors...
Sunday morning, my birthday, I got up and scrubbed my floors and cleaned my apartment in preparation for my party! Then I got all gussied up, lit some candles, and welcomed all my guests. We had fun chatting and making Bacardi Breezer floats (mmmm! delicious) and then went out to dinner at Donatello's Italian Restaurant in Maynooth. It was delicious! I had to get lasagna because my dad always makes me lasagna for my birthday! It actually tasted a lot like my dad's lasagna, which made me very happy. After I was done with my lasagna, the waiter brought me out some chocolate cake with a candle and everyone sang me "Happy Birthday." It was a fabulous night! Thanks to all my friends that made it class, sassy, and fabulous!
After we got back, I pried of my false eyelashes (which i accidentally glued to my eyelashes on one eye instead of my eyelid and had to pry off with a tweezers... painful)! Then a few of us watched Peter Pan (the one that came out in 2003), which was amazing! Katie and I stayed up till 4am watching the movie and facebooking and such, so she just slept over. Fun times!
Today I went to class and then got my PACKAGE from my mom with all sorts of wonderful birthday items in it including silver stilettos and a Wisconsin badgers hoodie! I was REAL excited! Katie got the Josh Groban Christmas CD in the mail (which I didn't even know existed and which was basically also a gift to me since she let me put it on my computer right away). We had delicious chili for dinner (made by Beth), and then I spent the rest of the evening helping our friend Missy move into a new apartment and sending thank yous to all the people who sent me happy birthdays on facebook. It's so nice to feel so loved, even when I'm so far from the people I love the most!
Miss everyone!!! And Happy Thanksgiving!
Pictures from my birthday:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121457&l=7fac8&id=5619987
Clongowes Wood and Miscellaneous Ireland pictures:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121433&l=ea92c&id=5619987
Saturday we went on a little trip with our good friend Seamus. (He's about 65 years old and LOVES history. He comes to our Saint Mary's meetings to tell us about the history of places we visit). So Saturday afternoon we went to see Clongowes Wood. It used to be a castle and is now a boys' secondary school (or a "boys' college" as they are called here). James Joyce attended Clongowes Wood College from 1888 to 1891. He wrote about the school and many of his teachers and classmates in the first 120 pages of "Portrait of the Artist." The castle was built in 1450, rebuilt by Stephen Fitzwilliam Browne in 1718, extended to the back in 1788 by Thomas Wogan Browne, and bought by the Jesuits and turned into a school in 1840. Father Kenney, the founder of Clongowes Wood College, was buds with Daniel O'Connell (a famous political leader in Irish history), who sent 4 of his sons to the school. Also, Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, wrote about dining in the dining room at Clongowes Wood. The house was really cool... especially the old library with the hidden doorway! I want a mystery house when I grow up! With secret doors...
Sunday morning, my birthday, I got up and scrubbed my floors and cleaned my apartment in preparation for my party! Then I got all gussied up, lit some candles, and welcomed all my guests. We had fun chatting and making Bacardi Breezer floats (mmmm! delicious) and then went out to dinner at Donatello's Italian Restaurant in Maynooth. It was delicious! I had to get lasagna because my dad always makes me lasagna for my birthday! It actually tasted a lot like my dad's lasagna, which made me very happy. After I was done with my lasagna, the waiter brought me out some chocolate cake with a candle and everyone sang me "Happy Birthday." It was a fabulous night! Thanks to all my friends that made it class, sassy, and fabulous!
After we got back, I pried of my false eyelashes (which i accidentally glued to my eyelashes on one eye instead of my eyelid and had to pry off with a tweezers... painful)! Then a few of us watched Peter Pan (the one that came out in 2003), which was amazing! Katie and I stayed up till 4am watching the movie and facebooking and such, so she just slept over. Fun times!
Today I went to class and then got my PACKAGE from my mom with all sorts of wonderful birthday items in it including silver stilettos and a Wisconsin badgers hoodie! I was REAL excited! Katie got the Josh Groban Christmas CD in the mail (which I didn't even know existed and which was basically also a gift to me since she let me put it on my computer right away). We had delicious chili for dinner (made by Beth), and then I spent the rest of the evening helping our friend Missy move into a new apartment and sending thank yous to all the people who sent me happy birthdays on facebook. It's so nice to feel so loved, even when I'm so far from the people I love the most!
Miss everyone!!! And Happy Thanksgiving!
Pictures from my birthday:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121457&l=7fac8&id=5619987
Clongowes Wood and Miscellaneous Ireland pictures:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2121433&l=ea92c&id=5619987
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Secret Garden, N Sync, and Prom Updos
Friday has sort of become our weekly pizza night, and this last weekend was no exception. We had a pizza party in my room and I did Deborah's hair and make up for the ball she went to. She looked sooooo adorable! I also went to pick up my script on Friday afternoon. The play I'm in is called "The Bear" by Anton Chekhov. It's really funny, and I'm pretty excited about it. The play consists of me and two other boys. To read a synopsis, go to: http://www.shvoong.com/books/play/1593547-bear/
The play hits the stage on December 4, though, and i have a LOT of lines to memorize by then! Yikes! Wish me luck!
Saturday we had a Saint Mary's trip to Dublin. We went to the National Botanic Gardens-- I know, it sounds dumb; that's what I thought, initially. But it actually turned out to be really cool. Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants primarily categorized and documented for scientific purposes. We saw lots of cool trees and flowers, and it was nice to see trees that had changing colors and to walk through the crunchy leaves. We also went to Casino at Marino (which is NOT actually a casino). The Casino at Marino, located in Marino, Dublin, Ireland was designed by Scottish architect Sir William Chambers for James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont, starting in the late 1750s and finishing around 1775. Widely regarded as the most important Neo-Classical building in Ireland, the Casino is actually quite small, measuring only fifty feet square to the outer columns. The name 'Casino Marino' is derived from Italian which literally translates to 'The small house by the small sea'. Seen from the outside, the building has the appearance of a single roomed structure, with a large panelled door on the north elevation and a single large window on each of the other elevations. This is all illusion, however, as it actually contains 16 rooms on three floors. It was pretty cool. Roberta, our coordinator, brought her two daughters, Autumn and Rosie (9 and 12 years old). They are adorable redheads with lots of spunk! I love them to death. I was in love with Rosie's hair, and I was braiding it and playing with it all day. It's the most beautiful red color i've ever seen. she said she hates it because kids at school make fun of her and call her carrot head. SO SAD, right?
Anyway, we had Eugene, the bus driver, drop a few of us off in Dublin so we could go shopping. I had to find a party dress for my birthday! I found a PERFECT dress that was exactly what i was looking for! and it was cheap-- we all know i love a deal! now i'm a little bit excited for my birthday. my friends and i are all getting dressed up and going out to dinner at a piano bar, so it should be fun and classy, and all "grown up," i guess.
We sang show tunes on the train on the way home, and when people started staring, we kept singing! (Elizabeth fell asleep-- she doesn't sing). Then when we got back, we came to my place and watched Secret Garden and The Little Princess as I did prom updos for everyone (which all turned out really beautiful, if I do say so myself).
Last night we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride in Elizabeth's room. The Nightmare Before Christmas was good, but The Corpse Bride was SOOOO good! It's definitely one of my new favorite movies! You should all see it!
And tonight we had pasta night in my room and then we all sang 'N Sync songs and had a dance party for about an hour. It was a blast!
I still can't shake this cough I've got. It's not too bad except when I get into coughing fits at night and can't stop and can't sleep. or when i get into coughing fits in class and have to leave so as not to disturb those around me. i think i've really got to go to the health center tomorrow... :(
I've got a paper due on thursday that i haven't even started. uh oh. these Irish are making me lazy! but i'm done with my anthropology class now, so i'll have 4 free hours every week open. i definitely have plenty of time to get it done.
elizabeth and i miss germany so much! everything we see or hear makes us think of germany and we look at eachother and just about start crying. we HAVE to go back! if anyone is coming to europe and doesn't know where to go: go to GERMANY!
pictures from this weekend:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2120244&l=e6ead&id=5619987
The play hits the stage on December 4, though, and i have a LOT of lines to memorize by then! Yikes! Wish me luck!
Saturday we had a Saint Mary's trip to Dublin. We went to the National Botanic Gardens-- I know, it sounds dumb; that's what I thought, initially. But it actually turned out to be really cool. Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants primarily categorized and documented for scientific purposes. We saw lots of cool trees and flowers, and it was nice to see trees that had changing colors and to walk through the crunchy leaves. We also went to Casino at Marino (which is NOT actually a casino). The Casino at Marino, located in Marino, Dublin, Ireland was designed by Scottish architect Sir William Chambers for James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont, starting in the late 1750s and finishing around 1775. Widely regarded as the most important Neo-Classical building in Ireland, the Casino is actually quite small, measuring only fifty feet square to the outer columns. The name 'Casino Marino' is derived from Italian which literally translates to 'The small house by the small sea'. Seen from the outside, the building has the appearance of a single roomed structure, with a large panelled door on the north elevation and a single large window on each of the other elevations. This is all illusion, however, as it actually contains 16 rooms on three floors. It was pretty cool. Roberta, our coordinator, brought her two daughters, Autumn and Rosie (9 and 12 years old). They are adorable redheads with lots of spunk! I love them to death. I was in love with Rosie's hair, and I was braiding it and playing with it all day. It's the most beautiful red color i've ever seen. she said she hates it because kids at school make fun of her and call her carrot head. SO SAD, right?
Anyway, we had Eugene, the bus driver, drop a few of us off in Dublin so we could go shopping. I had to find a party dress for my birthday! I found a PERFECT dress that was exactly what i was looking for! and it was cheap-- we all know i love a deal! now i'm a little bit excited for my birthday. my friends and i are all getting dressed up and going out to dinner at a piano bar, so it should be fun and classy, and all "grown up," i guess.
We sang show tunes on the train on the way home, and when people started staring, we kept singing! (Elizabeth fell asleep-- she doesn't sing). Then when we got back, we came to my place and watched Secret Garden and The Little Princess as I did prom updos for everyone (which all turned out really beautiful, if I do say so myself).
Last night we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride in Elizabeth's room. The Nightmare Before Christmas was good, but The Corpse Bride was SOOOO good! It's definitely one of my new favorite movies! You should all see it!
And tonight we had pasta night in my room and then we all sang 'N Sync songs and had a dance party for about an hour. It was a blast!
I still can't shake this cough I've got. It's not too bad except when I get into coughing fits at night and can't stop and can't sleep. or when i get into coughing fits in class and have to leave so as not to disturb those around me. i think i've really got to go to the health center tomorrow... :(
I've got a paper due on thursday that i haven't even started. uh oh. these Irish are making me lazy! but i'm done with my anthropology class now, so i'll have 4 free hours every week open. i definitely have plenty of time to get it done.
elizabeth and i miss germany so much! everything we see or hear makes us think of germany and we look at eachother and just about start crying. we HAVE to go back! if anyone is coming to europe and doesn't know where to go: go to GERMANY!
pictures from this weekend:
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2120244&l=e6ead&id=5619987
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Sunday and Monday in Germany... and the aftermath
After breakfast at Suzanne's, we took a few trains to Frankfurt, snacked in cherry icecream and milch shakes at the airport while we waited for our bust to Frankfurt-Hahn, and checked into a Hotel across the street. As there is not much to do around the Frankfurt-Hahn airport, we went to the airport to people watch, shop, and grab some food. We chatted for awhile while Tom had a beer and then went back to the hotel to journal and watch Ice Age in German. The hotel was again really really nice. We couldn't believe how we had lucked out on accomodation the whole week. We never had to stay in a hostel, we always had our own room and our own bathroom, and we always always felt safe. We calculated how much money we spent (way too much) and then calculated how much money we had saved by staying at Johannes's house to make us feel better. After Tom and I had a little fight about be being too sassy to him, we drifted off to sleep.
Monday morning we woke up, packed up, and went to the airport to fly back to Ireland.
I can't believe how fast that last week went in Germany. It was seriously one of the best weeks of our lives, and we know we will never forget it. We miss Germany and our new German friends so much! We are definitely going back! Johannes said we should meet him in Berlin sometime, and he might even come and visit us here in Ireland next semester! It's been tough re-adjusting to life at Maynooth again. We can no longer avoid the papers and studying we should have been doing all semester. I had an anthropology test today (which went okay, I think), I have an English paper due next week that I haven't even thought about, and I have a sociology paper due the following week. But it doesn't make sense to stress about it. I am pretty sure that Saint Mary's prepared us well for the writing we will have to do here-- it doesn't seem like these Irish students even know the first thing about writing an essay-- so I think I will be fine.
Also, I got a part in one of the one-acts for the Drama Society's "First Timers Festival." I'm really excited! Hopefully I'll be able to meet some new people and get myself busy with something fun! Can't wait to get started!
Less than 10 days until my birthday, and I am dreading it. I don't want to turn 20! 20 is too old! I'll never be a teenager again! I don't want to grow up! I do, however, want to buy a party dress...
Monday morning we woke up, packed up, and went to the airport to fly back to Ireland.
I can't believe how fast that last week went in Germany. It was seriously one of the best weeks of our lives, and we know we will never forget it. We miss Germany and our new German friends so much! We are definitely going back! Johannes said we should meet him in Berlin sometime, and he might even come and visit us here in Ireland next semester! It's been tough re-adjusting to life at Maynooth again. We can no longer avoid the papers and studying we should have been doing all semester. I had an anthropology test today (which went okay, I think), I have an English paper due next week that I haven't even thought about, and I have a sociology paper due the following week. But it doesn't make sense to stress about it. I am pretty sure that Saint Mary's prepared us well for the writing we will have to do here-- it doesn't seem like these Irish students even know the first thing about writing an essay-- so I think I will be fine.
Also, I got a part in one of the one-acts for the Drama Society's "First Timers Festival." I'm really excited! Hopefully I'll be able to meet some new people and get myself busy with something fun! Can't wait to get started!
Less than 10 days until my birthday, and I am dreading it. I don't want to turn 20! 20 is too old! I'll never be a teenager again! I don't want to grow up! I do, however, want to buy a party dress...
Saturday in Germany
After an early breakfast with people from all over the world, we took a bus to Neuschwanstein (just a 5 minute ride up the mountain). We shopped a little bit and walked up to the castle for a tour (we could have taken one of the many horse-drawn carriages, but decided we needed some exercise... plus it was another BEAUTIFUL day). Neuschwanstein is a 19th Century Bavarian palace. The castle was built by Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, as a retreat and as an homage to composer Richard Wagner, the King's inspiring muse. Although photography of the interior is not permitted, it is the most photographed building in Germany and is one of Germany's most popular tourist destinations. The castle was the inspiration for Disney's Cinderella's Castle. Both the inside and the outside were amazingly beautiful! We decided that one castle tour was enough (the other castle in Neuschwanstein is Hohenschwangau Castle, King Ludwig's childhood home... it kind of looked like Johannes's house on the outside). After having a brat, sauerkraut, pretzles, and some kind of delicious fried dough creation, we took a bus back down to Füssen. Tom went to get another Döner and brought us a pizza back while Elizabeth and I chillaxed and journaled...
Friday in Germany
Instead of going to Munich on Friday, we decided to take the train down to Füssen in Bavaria (a southern state in Germany, bordering Austria). When we arrived in Füssen, it was the most beautiful day of our trip! We had the address of a hostel, but on the way to it, we spotted a Bed and Breakfast with an American flag waving in front of it. We assumed that meant that the owner spoke English, so we went inside. Suzanne did, in fact, speak perfect English, as well as German, Italian and French. She had a family room left for the next two nights, and since we hadn't spent any money thus far on accomodation, we decided to splurge and stay in her beautiful B&B. We had four beds, a beautiful, clean bathroom with a hairdryer, and a beautiful room altogether. We had a porch with flower boxes, and the view outside our balcony was a perfect picture of the Alps! It was surreal. We dropped off our things, and Suzanne immediately gave us a map and told us where to go and what to do. We took a lift up the mountain to Tegelberg where we took pictures, watched parachuters jump off the side of the mountain, and enjoyed the beautiful day. We returned to the B&B later that evening and took a little nap (I know, it seems like we napped our whole trip away, but really, we hadn't gotten any sleep at NIGHT the whole week). Then we pulled ourselves out of bed to walk into town to find food. We settled on Döners once again (when will we ever eat them again, right? plus, they're cheap). We bought them from a friendly Tony Bennett look-alike and brought them back to the kitchen in the B&B to eat. The rest of the evening was spent journaling-- we had to remember everything that happened in our days in Osterode am Harz. We missed it already!
Although Füssen was beautiful, it was very surely filled with tourists. Everywhere you turned you heard a different language being spoken and cameras snapping shots of the mountains. It was nice to be around tourists, but nothing could compare to spending 4 days hanging out with real Germans in their small German town. Lots of people can say they've been to the Alps, to Füssen, to Munich, or to Berlin, but who else can say they rode horses in the Harz mountains and got to experience living in a German house with a German family and having German friends? We loved Füssen, and we were glad to be there, but nothing could compare to the Grammel family farm...
Although Füssen was beautiful, it was very surely filled with tourists. Everywhere you turned you heard a different language being spoken and cameras snapping shots of the mountains. It was nice to be around tourists, but nothing could compare to spending 4 days hanging out with real Germans in their small German town. Lots of people can say they've been to the Alps, to Füssen, to Munich, or to Berlin, but who else can say they rode horses in the Harz mountains and got to experience living in a German house with a German family and having German friends? We loved Füssen, and we were glad to be there, but nothing could compare to the Grammel family farm...
Thursday in Germany
After waking up, showering, and having a delicious breakfast of toast and Nutella (a european wonder-- basically chocolate in a peanut butter form) with Zita and her mom, we borrowed some jeans, boots, and coats from Monika (good thing we were all exactly the same size).
Then-- get ready for this-- we went horseback riding! I had never been on a horse before, and it was a goal of mine to go horseback riding before I left his beautiful continent. So Johannes's sister went out into the field to get her horses, and we helped her brush and clean them before she gave us a riding lesson! I almost fell off the black horse when we took it up to a trot, but we were in the pen the whole time, so it was all good. Elizabeth and I could hardly believe that we were so lucky-- riding horses on a beautiful German farm with a Harz Mountain backdrop-- it was beautiful!
Until... what we called the "Great Glass Fiasco of 2007." While we were tying the horses back up, Johannes and his mom were coming back in the John Deere tractor from feeding the cows. Apparently it was hot and smelly in the tractor, so Johannes opened the windows. And apparently Johannes forgot that when the front window is open, you can't use the tractor lift. So, when he tried, the windshield shattered in his mother's face. She jumped out of the tractor, and Zita ran to help. We didn't know what was going on at the time, so we put our helmets away, went to our room to change, and attempted the castle puzzle in our room. It was clearly an intense situation, and we didn't want to be in the way. As we were working on our puzzle, Monika came in to assure us that she was okay, that she was going to visit her eye doctor to make sure the glass was all out of her eyes, and that we'd be eating lunch a little bit later. (She is an amazing lady!) We ate a lunch of fresh beef from the farm, gravy, dumplings, cabbage, spaghetti, and fresh milk from a neighboring farm. Then, after we were all packed up and ready to leave, we were looking for train tickets and hostels on Johannes's computer. But due to the Great Glass Fiasco, we lost a little time. We didn't want to end up in Munich-- a strange and foreign city-- in the dark looking for a hostel, so we decided to stay for another night (plus we really didn't want to leave the comforts of staying in what felt like our new home).
We told Johannes that we didn't want him to plan anything for us-- that we just wanted to lay around and relax and go to bed early so we could get up early the next day to leave. But he continued trying to plan something... first it was ice skating, then it was the waterpark, then a movie... finally we decided on fishing in the Harz Mountains. We bundled up in Johannes's best Mosinee sweatshirts, and Johannes took us to Timo's house, where we met up with Timo and Eike. From there we went to Timo's dad's fish hatchery. It was getting dark, but Timo was prepared with his head light and fishing vest; he caught a big walley while the rest of us admired the sheep grazing around the pond and listened to Eike sing along with the "Gummy Bears" ring tone on his phone (in German-- hilarious!)
When we got home we took a nice long nap in Johannes's bed again-- one last time-- and had a delicious dinner of cheese fondue, bread, fruit, and Johannes's homemade cake. His mom helped us make some sandwiches to pack for the train ride the next day, and Johannes left for a party while we chillaxed at his house (we weren't up for a party, but we didn't want to hold him back). Although we stayed back to rest and sleep before our early departure, we ended up staying up way too late talking and crying together... I am not the kind of person who cries a lot, but the Grammel family was so incredibly kind to us, we were overcome with happiness at the few days we'd had and saddness at leaving them behind.
We took about a 3 hour nap, woke up at 4, and rode to the train station in Monika's Volvo. As the train pulled away, Johannes waved goodbye, and Elizabeth and I cried again... :(
Then-- get ready for this-- we went horseback riding! I had never been on a horse before, and it was a goal of mine to go horseback riding before I left his beautiful continent. So Johannes's sister went out into the field to get her horses, and we helped her brush and clean them before she gave us a riding lesson! I almost fell off the black horse when we took it up to a trot, but we were in the pen the whole time, so it was all good. Elizabeth and I could hardly believe that we were so lucky-- riding horses on a beautiful German farm with a Harz Mountain backdrop-- it was beautiful!
Until... what we called the "Great Glass Fiasco of 2007." While we were tying the horses back up, Johannes and his mom were coming back in the John Deere tractor from feeding the cows. Apparently it was hot and smelly in the tractor, so Johannes opened the windows. And apparently Johannes forgot that when the front window is open, you can't use the tractor lift. So, when he tried, the windshield shattered in his mother's face. She jumped out of the tractor, and Zita ran to help. We didn't know what was going on at the time, so we put our helmets away, went to our room to change, and attempted the castle puzzle in our room. It was clearly an intense situation, and we didn't want to be in the way. As we were working on our puzzle, Monika came in to assure us that she was okay, that she was going to visit her eye doctor to make sure the glass was all out of her eyes, and that we'd be eating lunch a little bit later. (She is an amazing lady!) We ate a lunch of fresh beef from the farm, gravy, dumplings, cabbage, spaghetti, and fresh milk from a neighboring farm. Then, after we were all packed up and ready to leave, we were looking for train tickets and hostels on Johannes's computer. But due to the Great Glass Fiasco, we lost a little time. We didn't want to end up in Munich-- a strange and foreign city-- in the dark looking for a hostel, so we decided to stay for another night (plus we really didn't want to leave the comforts of staying in what felt like our new home).
We told Johannes that we didn't want him to plan anything for us-- that we just wanted to lay around and relax and go to bed early so we could get up early the next day to leave. But he continued trying to plan something... first it was ice skating, then it was the waterpark, then a movie... finally we decided on fishing in the Harz Mountains. We bundled up in Johannes's best Mosinee sweatshirts, and Johannes took us to Timo's house, where we met up with Timo and Eike. From there we went to Timo's dad's fish hatchery. It was getting dark, but Timo was prepared with his head light and fishing vest; he caught a big walley while the rest of us admired the sheep grazing around the pond and listened to Eike sing along with the "Gummy Bears" ring tone on his phone (in German-- hilarious!)
When we got home we took a nice long nap in Johannes's bed again-- one last time-- and had a delicious dinner of cheese fondue, bread, fruit, and Johannes's homemade cake. His mom helped us make some sandwiches to pack for the train ride the next day, and Johannes left for a party while we chillaxed at his house (we weren't up for a party, but we didn't want to hold him back). Although we stayed back to rest and sleep before our early departure, we ended up staying up way too late talking and crying together... I am not the kind of person who cries a lot, but the Grammel family was so incredibly kind to us, we were overcome with happiness at the few days we'd had and saddness at leaving them behind.
We took about a 3 hour nap, woke up at 4, and rode to the train station in Monika's Volvo. As the train pulled away, Johannes waved goodbye, and Elizabeth and I cried again... :(
Germany, Day 3
On Wednesday, Johannes took us to "Museum im Ritterhaus," the museum in his town. They did not give regular tours in English, but a woman there fought her way through the entire exhibit in English for us! She said she hadn't spoken English with native speakers in 30 years, and she was AMAZING! I hope she realized how much we appreciated it! Her adorable dog came on the tour too! Johannes also took us to a beautiful Protestant church in Osterode for us to look around in. Then we stopped at Oma's house (oma=grandma in German), but she wasn't home. So we moved on to Johannes's father's veterinary clinic and the party house that they own. We returned "home" for lunch-- the boys made us spaghetti while we enjoyed the great lighting and the great view from the kitchen window.
Later we took a beautiful car ride once again, but this time to a near-by town called Goslar. Johannes took us to Kaiserpfalz, a beautiful palace. Kaiserpfalz was built in the 11th century and became a summer residence for the emperors, especially Henry III of Germany who visited his favourite palace about twenty times. Henry's heart was buried in the chapel because, no matter where he traveled, his heart was always at Kaiserpfalz. The great hall of the palace was filled with elaborate paintings depicting the history of the empire and even a few fairy tales. The murals were incredible-- they must have been 20 feet tall! Our tour guide spoke only in German, but we had a booklet written in English with information about the palace. Johannes later found out that the tour guide's last name was Reinert! The same as Elizabeth's! Crazy!
We left the palace and walked around Goslar, admiring the beautiful streets, shops, buildings, churches and marketplace. The impressive Rathaus was built in 1450. The portico, with Gothic cross-vaulting, opening on to the Marktplatz, was used by merchants for centuries. Above this is the citizens' meeting hall and the councilmen's meeting chamber, lavishly decorated in the early 1300s. Marktplatz, in front of the Rathaus, was for a long time the town's hub of activity. In the center of the large square is a 13th-century fountain with two bronze basins and the German imperial eagle at the top. Many visitors think seeing the Glockenspiel perform is the highlight of their visit. Every day at noon, 3, and 6pm (there's a smaller version of the spectacle at 9am), a procession of mechanized miners, representing the silver trade of long ago, traipses out of the innards of the clock tower. Sadly, we didn't get to see the Glockenspiel... we had just missed it! There were children trick-or-treating in which hats, and everything was lit up. It was so quaint and beautiful, and Elizabeth and I decided we are going to live there.
We ate at a restaurant called Die Worthmühle. We had schnitzle, dumplings, and some kind of chicken wonderful that I don't remember the name of, and Tom had some local beer (his favorite German beer of the trip, apparently). Elizabeth and I tried it just to say we tried German beer. But, if you look at my pictures, you can see just what we thought of that-- sorry, Germany! We love you, but we just don't like beer!
When we returned to Johannes's house, Elizabeth and I took another power nap in Johannes's bed and attempted to make another puzzle-- this time of Neuschwanstein castle. Johannes told us to "get a life." Later we took the dogs for a walk down the road in front of Johannes's house. It was so dark we could hardly see in front of us. I don't know where the moon was, but I could see more stars than I've ever seen before. It was beautiful.
That night Johannes's parents, Monika and Thomas, and his 11-year-old sister Zita came home from EuroDisney (they took Zita there for her birthday). They were so nice and friendly and welcoming, especially considering we were strangers that had invaded their house for the past few days. We sat with them as they ate dinner and chatted. Mr. Grammel spoke perfect English, and his mother spoke it very well too. Zita was a little shy, but so nice! She was so cute too!
Later that night we went to Hemingway's again to meet Johannes's friends for a bit, and then we all piled into Big Red and went to Leoni's house to watch a movie. They put in "Along Came Polly" and watched it in English for us! Gotta love the Germans!
Later we took a beautiful car ride once again, but this time to a near-by town called Goslar. Johannes took us to Kaiserpfalz, a beautiful palace. Kaiserpfalz was built in the 11th century and became a summer residence for the emperors, especially Henry III of Germany who visited his favourite palace about twenty times. Henry's heart was buried in the chapel because, no matter where he traveled, his heart was always at Kaiserpfalz. The great hall of the palace was filled with elaborate paintings depicting the history of the empire and even a few fairy tales. The murals were incredible-- they must have been 20 feet tall! Our tour guide spoke only in German, but we had a booklet written in English with information about the palace. Johannes later found out that the tour guide's last name was Reinert! The same as Elizabeth's! Crazy!
We left the palace and walked around Goslar, admiring the beautiful streets, shops, buildings, churches and marketplace. The impressive Rathaus was built in 1450. The portico, with Gothic cross-vaulting, opening on to the Marktplatz, was used by merchants for centuries. Above this is the citizens' meeting hall and the councilmen's meeting chamber, lavishly decorated in the early 1300s. Marktplatz, in front of the Rathaus, was for a long time the town's hub of activity. In the center of the large square is a 13th-century fountain with two bronze basins and the German imperial eagle at the top. Many visitors think seeing the Glockenspiel perform is the highlight of their visit. Every day at noon, 3, and 6pm (there's a smaller version of the spectacle at 9am), a procession of mechanized miners, representing the silver trade of long ago, traipses out of the innards of the clock tower. Sadly, we didn't get to see the Glockenspiel... we had just missed it! There were children trick-or-treating in which hats, and everything was lit up. It was so quaint and beautiful, and Elizabeth and I decided we are going to live there.
We ate at a restaurant called Die Worthmühle. We had schnitzle, dumplings, and some kind of chicken wonderful that I don't remember the name of, and Tom had some local beer (his favorite German beer of the trip, apparently). Elizabeth and I tried it just to say we tried German beer. But, if you look at my pictures, you can see just what we thought of that-- sorry, Germany! We love you, but we just don't like beer!
When we returned to Johannes's house, Elizabeth and I took another power nap in Johannes's bed and attempted to make another puzzle-- this time of Neuschwanstein castle. Johannes told us to "get a life." Later we took the dogs for a walk down the road in front of Johannes's house. It was so dark we could hardly see in front of us. I don't know where the moon was, but I could see more stars than I've ever seen before. It was beautiful.
That night Johannes's parents, Monika and Thomas, and his 11-year-old sister Zita came home from EuroDisney (they took Zita there for her birthday). They were so nice and friendly and welcoming, especially considering we were strangers that had invaded their house for the past few days. We sat with them as they ate dinner and chatted. Mr. Grammel spoke perfect English, and his mother spoke it very well too. Zita was a little shy, but so nice! She was so cute too!
Later that night we went to Hemingway's again to meet Johannes's friends for a bit, and then we all piled into Big Red and went to Leoni's house to watch a movie. They put in "Along Came Polly" and watched it in English for us! Gotta love the Germans!
Germany, Day 2
Tuesday morning we got a late start after catching up on the sleep we'd lost on Monday. We got showered and had some bread and pizza for breakfast. Then Johannes took us out in his VW van ("Big Red," as we called it) to the marketplace in his town. His friend Morris drove, as Johannes's ankle was still healing and none of us could drive the stick-shift van). Eike came too, and after looking around at the quaint shops, restaurants, and other various buildings, we stopped at an Italian gelateria for some green apple icecream-- DELICIOUS! After a little driving tour of Osterode, we stopped back at Johannes's house to get directions for our next destination. Then we picked up Andi and headed up to the mine. The drive was beautiful, as were most of the drives that week, through the Harz Mountains, and we were so happy that Johannes's friends wanted to hang out with us! Once at the mine, Johannes bought us tickets, and we walked around and looked at the exhibits for a bit. Johannes translated some of the captions on the exhibits and gave us some background on the mine itself. then we went down into a part of the mine where there was a little bar and a water canal. We waited for the party before us to return, put on our hard hats, and hopped into the wooden boat. we made it to the end of the long, dark, wet stream by pulling on the rope that was secured above our heads. Once we reached the end, we all turned around and fought our way back out of the tunnel. It was so much fun! It reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disney World! Then we got out, and the boys had a beer/smoke break at the bar (all the kids in Germany smoke. don't worry, we yelled at them a LOT).
Later we had a tour of another part of the mine. We rode down with several German tourists (two families with cute kids) in a green train that reminded Elizabeth and me of Circle M Corral in Minocqua (where we both happened to vacation as children). We had on our hard hats once again, and the German boys sang loud German tunes as the rusty train carried us deep into the mine. We got out, and our adorable German tour guide showed us around the different parts of the mine. Eike and the kids in our tour group even got to do a little picking and drilling! Johannes tried his best to do some quick translating on the tour, and we got a good general idea of what the guide was saying, I think. About 100 wet and slippery steps later (poor Johannes-- still on his crutches), we got back on the train and emerged from the mine with growling stomachs. the boys decided to introduce us to a German delight for dinner (although it is really Turkish in origin): the Döner. we grabed our glorious pitas filled with meat and salad and God knows what else and devoured them in the van to escape the chilly evening air.
When we returned to the Grammel family mansion, we chillaxed in Johannes's room (and taught Johannes the meaning of "chillax"). Elizabeth and I took a quick power nap in Johannes's crazy-comfortable bed. Then we got up, freshened up, watched a little soccer, and went to Hemingway's (the bar in town) with Lucas and one of Johannes's girl friends (I don't know her name). The drinks in Germany are so cheap! Only €2 per drink (unlike in Maynooth where they are €5 per drink!) Our German friends opened our eyes to a mixed drink called a "keba"-- cherry juice, banana juice and vodka... I know that doesn't sound good, but it is very delicious. We listened to some techno music in the smoking room which made Elizabeth want to do a kick line, and Elizabeth said something profound:
"I never knew how much I liked bananas. I guess when you leave home, you learn about yourself; you find out what you love, and you find out who you are."
Aww, Elizabeth...
Later we had a tour of another part of the mine. We rode down with several German tourists (two families with cute kids) in a green train that reminded Elizabeth and me of Circle M Corral in Minocqua (where we both happened to vacation as children). We had on our hard hats once again, and the German boys sang loud German tunes as the rusty train carried us deep into the mine. We got out, and our adorable German tour guide showed us around the different parts of the mine. Eike and the kids in our tour group even got to do a little picking and drilling! Johannes tried his best to do some quick translating on the tour, and we got a good general idea of what the guide was saying, I think. About 100 wet and slippery steps later (poor Johannes-- still on his crutches), we got back on the train and emerged from the mine with growling stomachs. the boys decided to introduce us to a German delight for dinner (although it is really Turkish in origin): the Döner. we grabed our glorious pitas filled with meat and salad and God knows what else and devoured them in the van to escape the chilly evening air.
When we returned to the Grammel family mansion, we chillaxed in Johannes's room (and taught Johannes the meaning of "chillax"). Elizabeth and I took a quick power nap in Johannes's crazy-comfortable bed. Then we got up, freshened up, watched a little soccer, and went to Hemingway's (the bar in town) with Lucas and one of Johannes's girl friends (I don't know her name). The drinks in Germany are so cheap! Only €2 per drink (unlike in Maynooth where they are €5 per drink!) Our German friends opened our eyes to a mixed drink called a "keba"-- cherry juice, banana juice and vodka... I know that doesn't sound good, but it is very delicious. We listened to some techno music in the smoking room which made Elizabeth want to do a kick line, and Elizabeth said something profound:
"I never knew how much I liked bananas. I guess when you leave home, you learn about yourself; you find out what you love, and you find out who you are."
Aww, Elizabeth...
Our first day in Germany!
1 Nov 2007
Two years ago, a boy whistled at me when I walked into the band room to deliver some papers to the teacher. Today i am half-way around the world breathing in the fresh air of the Harz Mountains in his backyard. I didn't know Johannes very well in the year he spent at my hometown high school, but he was always very friendly (except when he gave me a hard time for scoring higher than him on a biology test). And one day in class, I mentioned to him that I wanted to study in Ireland in college. And he told me that if I was ever in Europe, I should come visit him and stay at his house in Germany... and I didn't forget that invitation. As soon as I knew I was going to be spending a year in Ireland, I sent him an email asked him if his offer was still good. He said "of course," that they have a guest room, that I could bring a friend, and that his parents were great hosts.
And so, for our first vacation from school in Ireland, my new friends, Elizabeth and Tom, and I traveled to Germany-- a totally foreign world-- all by ourselves. none of us know a word of German (except now the swear words that our new German friends taught us), and it's a wonder we made it here at all.
Monday morning we awoke at 3am to meet our cab at 4. We rode to the Dublin airport where we promptly got on the WRONG plane and almost ended up somewhere in Spain. The steward caught it just before the plane took off and just after we had gotten settled into our seats. Three different people had checked our tickets, and none of them noticed that we were in the wrong place. We felt like stupid Americans... but we were just glad that someone finally noticed and got us off that airplane.
Upon returning to the airport terminal, we ran into our German friend Gesa from Maynooth. it turned out we were taking the same plane to Frankfurt-Hahn! So we all waited for the RIGHT plane and boarded together. I slept soundly for the hour and a half flight, and as soon as we got off the plane, our luggage was there for us. We walked through passport control and customs and straight to the bus ticket booth. Gesa helped us get tickets to the Frankfurt airport and train station (even though the woman spoke English, I think). We said goodbye to Gesa, and I slept again for the two hours it took for us to get to Frankfurt on the bus. When we got to Frankfurt, Tom was freaking out about the train situation, but I told him just to trust me. We followed the signs to the train travel center and got tickets (EXPENSIVE TICKETS) to Osterode am Harz. With our extra time, we purchased and consumed some frankfurters in Frankfurt-- delicious! We boarded our first German train and chose some seats in a quiet compartment. The German trains are SO nice-- with automatic glass doors separating the many compartments. When the train man came to check our tickets, he told us we were in first class. So, once again we were uprooted. We made our way back to second class and eventually found three seats together behind an adorable little boy telling loud stories in German and giggling. I didn't understand the stories, but I understood the laughter.
A few train changes (and a missed train and a stop at Burger King) later, we found ourselves in Osterode about an hour early. As non of our cell phones worked internationally, we found an information office and asked if they had a phone. The woman directed us to a payphone outside. We tried to call Johannes, but each time we punched in the numbers, a German voice cut in and the phone went dead. So, we tried texting him from the payphone, and that worked! We sat on a bench at the train stop and waited for him.
About a half hour later, Johannes climbed out of his friend Eike's Volkswagon on his crutches and greeted us. (He had had surgery on his leg the week before). We exchanged a somewhat awkward hug and got our luggage and ourselves into the VW. When we pulled up to his house, I knew the week would be just as I'd imagined-- AMAZING! Even though it was dark out, we could see the grandeur of the place. Johannes gave us a tour of the house and the farm and took us up to the loft bedroom on the third floor that would be ours for the next few days. we had meat, cheese and bread (that Johannes cut for us with the fold-out bread cutter in a drawer in the kitchen), and fresh beef from his farm (which was AMAZING). We even met Oma (Grandma) and Johannes's aunt (who told us that when she was in South Africa, the first week she understood no English, the second week she understood a little, and by the third week she was dreaming in English!) Then we ran to the supermarket to get some drinks and snacks for the evening. When we returned, we made ourselves some kiddie cocktails and occupied ourselves with a puzzle until his friends got there. I also taught Elizabeth how to shoot a pool cue...
Johannes's friends trickled in, Eike taught us how to open a bottle of beer with a lighter, and we sat around until 3:30 in the morning talking with all of their friends. We met Christoph, vanessa, Leoni, Melani, Janine, Marcus, Andi, and Timo. There were lots of other kids there too, but man of them must have been shy about practicing their English with us. My new friend Christoph struggled through an hour of talking about Bambi and Japan. At 3:30, after being away for 24 hours straight, we finally retired to our lovely little loft in the attic...
Two years ago, a boy whistled at me when I walked into the band room to deliver some papers to the teacher. Today i am half-way around the world breathing in the fresh air of the Harz Mountains in his backyard. I didn't know Johannes very well in the year he spent at my hometown high school, but he was always very friendly (except when he gave me a hard time for scoring higher than him on a biology test). And one day in class, I mentioned to him that I wanted to study in Ireland in college. And he told me that if I was ever in Europe, I should come visit him and stay at his house in Germany... and I didn't forget that invitation. As soon as I knew I was going to be spending a year in Ireland, I sent him an email asked him if his offer was still good. He said "of course," that they have a guest room, that I could bring a friend, and that his parents were great hosts.
And so, for our first vacation from school in Ireland, my new friends, Elizabeth and Tom, and I traveled to Germany-- a totally foreign world-- all by ourselves. none of us know a word of German (except now the swear words that our new German friends taught us), and it's a wonder we made it here at all.
Monday morning we awoke at 3am to meet our cab at 4. We rode to the Dublin airport where we promptly got on the WRONG plane and almost ended up somewhere in Spain. The steward caught it just before the plane took off and just after we had gotten settled into our seats. Three different people had checked our tickets, and none of them noticed that we were in the wrong place. We felt like stupid Americans... but we were just glad that someone finally noticed and got us off that airplane.
Upon returning to the airport terminal, we ran into our German friend Gesa from Maynooth. it turned out we were taking the same plane to Frankfurt-Hahn! So we all waited for the RIGHT plane and boarded together. I slept soundly for the hour and a half flight, and as soon as we got off the plane, our luggage was there for us. We walked through passport control and customs and straight to the bus ticket booth. Gesa helped us get tickets to the Frankfurt airport and train station (even though the woman spoke English, I think). We said goodbye to Gesa, and I slept again for the two hours it took for us to get to Frankfurt on the bus. When we got to Frankfurt, Tom was freaking out about the train situation, but I told him just to trust me. We followed the signs to the train travel center and got tickets (EXPENSIVE TICKETS) to Osterode am Harz. With our extra time, we purchased and consumed some frankfurters in Frankfurt-- delicious! We boarded our first German train and chose some seats in a quiet compartment. The German trains are SO nice-- with automatic glass doors separating the many compartments. When the train man came to check our tickets, he told us we were in first class. So, once again we were uprooted. We made our way back to second class and eventually found three seats together behind an adorable little boy telling loud stories in German and giggling. I didn't understand the stories, but I understood the laughter.
A few train changes (and a missed train and a stop at Burger King) later, we found ourselves in Osterode about an hour early. As non of our cell phones worked internationally, we found an information office and asked if they had a phone. The woman directed us to a payphone outside. We tried to call Johannes, but each time we punched in the numbers, a German voice cut in and the phone went dead. So, we tried texting him from the payphone, and that worked! We sat on a bench at the train stop and waited for him.
About a half hour later, Johannes climbed out of his friend Eike's Volkswagon on his crutches and greeted us. (He had had surgery on his leg the week before). We exchanged a somewhat awkward hug and got our luggage and ourselves into the VW. When we pulled up to his house, I knew the week would be just as I'd imagined-- AMAZING! Even though it was dark out, we could see the grandeur of the place. Johannes gave us a tour of the house and the farm and took us up to the loft bedroom on the third floor that would be ours for the next few days. we had meat, cheese and bread (that Johannes cut for us with the fold-out bread cutter in a drawer in the kitchen), and fresh beef from his farm (which was AMAZING). We even met Oma (Grandma) and Johannes's aunt (who told us that when she was in South Africa, the first week she understood no English, the second week she understood a little, and by the third week she was dreaming in English!) Then we ran to the supermarket to get some drinks and snacks for the evening. When we returned, we made ourselves some kiddie cocktails and occupied ourselves with a puzzle until his friends got there. I also taught Elizabeth how to shoot a pool cue...
Johannes's friends trickled in, Eike taught us how to open a bottle of beer with a lighter, and we sat around until 3:30 in the morning talking with all of their friends. We met Christoph, vanessa, Leoni, Melani, Janine, Marcus, Andi, and Timo. There were lots of other kids there too, but man of them must have been shy about practicing their English with us. My new friend Christoph struggled through an hour of talking about Bambi and Japan. At 3:30, after being away for 24 hours straight, we finally retired to our lovely little loft in the attic...
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Germany!
I will blog later... no time now, but feel free to peruse my pictures!
"We're in Germany!"
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119463&l=bfe5f&id=5619987
"I never realized how much i love bananas"
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119469&l=967e0&id=5619987
We're Living Here...
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119494&l=35b3b&id=5619987
Grammel Mafia
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119496&l=95cf5&id=5619987
Ellis the Horse
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119498&l=f25df&id=5619987
Son of a Bee Sting
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119504&l=c8529&id=5619987
Auf Wiedersehen, Germany!
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119500&l=6da21&id=5619987
In short, it was one of the most amazing weeks of our lives! And we want to go back!
"We're in Germany!"
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119463&l=bfe5f&id=5619987
"I never realized how much i love bananas"
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119469&l=967e0&id=5619987
We're Living Here...
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119494&l=35b3b&id=5619987
Grammel Mafia
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119496&l=95cf5&id=5619987
Ellis the Horse
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119498&l=f25df&id=5619987
Son of a Bee Sting
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119504&l=c8529&id=5619987
Auf Wiedersehen, Germany!
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119500&l=6da21&id=5619987
In short, it was one of the most amazing weeks of our lives! And we want to go back!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Pictures
Updated Pics: (they go from oldest to newest, but I did add some new pics to some of the old albums...)
Ireland, Take 1
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110657&l=3cd41&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 2
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110662&l=7d1bc&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 3
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110903&l=a9e44&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 4
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112288&l=7f4fe&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 5
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112294&l=19688&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 6
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2114363&l=69f4d&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 7
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2116597&l=bf76e&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 8
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115679&l=de844&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 9
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2116618&l=a699b&id=561998
I'm leaving for Germany tomorrow morning at 4am. We will be taking a cab to the airport in Dublin, then flying to the Frankfurt-Hahn airport (which is NOT actually in Frankfurt... do not be fooled). Then we're taking a bus to Frankfurt, a train to Osterode Am Harz, and my friend Johannes is picking us up there! Woo hoo! I'm really excited, but getting pretty nervous considering we have really nothing planned except our plane ticket and Johannes picking us up. I'm pretty sure it's pretty easy to get a bus and train ticket, so I'm not too worried about that, I guess. But we have no idea what other cities we are going to be visiting when we're there. We have a few in mind that we'd like to see, but Johannes told us just to wait until we get there to decide because he has friends in lots of cities. But I know I really want to go to Fussen to see the castle that inspired Cinderella's castle in Disney World. So, we'll see... the next time I'm on here to blog I'm sure I'll have LOTS to talk about!
Yay!
Ireland, Take 1
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110657&l=3cd41&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 2
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110662&l=7d1bc&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 3
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110903&l=a9e44&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 4
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112288&l=7f4fe&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 5
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112294&l=19688&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 6
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2114363&l=69f4d&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 7
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2116597&l=bf76e&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 8
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115679&l=de844&id=5619987
Ireland, Take 9
http://nd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2116618&l=a699b&id=561998
I'm leaving for Germany tomorrow morning at 4am. We will be taking a cab to the airport in Dublin, then flying to the Frankfurt-Hahn airport (which is NOT actually in Frankfurt... do not be fooled). Then we're taking a bus to Frankfurt, a train to Osterode Am Harz, and my friend Johannes is picking us up there! Woo hoo! I'm really excited, but getting pretty nervous considering we have really nothing planned except our plane ticket and Johannes picking us up. I'm pretty sure it's pretty easy to get a bus and train ticket, so I'm not too worried about that, I guess. But we have no idea what other cities we are going to be visiting when we're there. We have a few in mind that we'd like to see, but Johannes told us just to wait until we get there to decide because he has friends in lots of cities. But I know I really want to go to Fussen to see the castle that inspired Cinderella's castle in Disney World. So, we'll see... the next time I'm on here to blog I'm sure I'll have LOTS to talk about!
Yay!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Germany, here we come!
So, last weekend we went on another SMC daytrip. Our first stop was Loughcrew (which we were expecting to be a lake, but wasn't. There probably was a lake there somewhere, but we didn't see one). We had to climb up a mountain (well, it was really a hill, but it seemed like a little mountain to us). When we got to the top, we could see lots of Irish countryside and lots of sheep. It was really beautiful (the countryside, not necessarily the sheep). At the top of the hill was a giant megalithic tomb that we got to climb on and even go inside! There were ancient carvings on the rock inside, and we did some Crayola rubbings. They're pretty cool.
After Loughcrew we had a delightful soup and sandwich lunch at the little cabin at the foot of the hill. Then we were off to Trim Castle. Trim Castle was by far my favorite castle so far. There's still a lot of it left, so it's easier to get a good idea of what it was actually like in its prime. (Parts of the movie Braveheart was filmed in/outside the castle... which really means nothing to me because I've never seen that movie, but it might appeal to some of you). When we went inside the castle, there was a choir singing; they were having a concert or something, and we just caught the end of it. There was enough of the castle left for us to climb up the levels to the very top and look out over the land. The whole experience was really cool.
That night we went into Dublin to watch the Notre Dame game with the Notre Dame kids that go to Trinity and UCD in Dublin. Before the game, we went to a cute little coffee shop that Kelli had read about in her travel book. Kelli and I went upstairs and sat down and had a smoothie and a tea. We sat right by an open window, and we could look out and hear the harpist and flute player right below us and see all the people walking by. It was pretty cool! And on the way to the ND building, we saw this hilarious man playing accordian. He was just dancing around the street and having the time of his life. It was inspiring...
The ND building in Dublin is really cool-- it used to belong to Daniel O'Connell (who we've been hearing a lot about in history class... he was a famous Irish nationalist). ND bought it several years ago and refurbished it. Now the Notre Dame kids have classes in there, and the Notre Dame professors and program coordinators have offices in the building. Seeing the buliding, however, was probably the best part of that night. We walked in and this nice guy said hi to us, but everyone else COMPLETELY ignored us. I mean, I guess we're used to a little discrimination, being from Saint Mary's, but seriously? We're in a foreign country! We're all Fighting Irish fans, and we should all be united. For real.
We later found out that the nice guy that said hi to us was the program coordinator or something like that. Yeah, figures.
But we left at halftime and went to the train station and sang show tunes and ate candy from the vending machines. We had forgotten how socially awkward lots of Notre Dame kids can be, and we are now appreciating the Irish here a little more...
Sunday we had dinner with Karen Chambers, our coordinator from Saint Mary's. She was in town for the week to visit us. I had the most AMAZING steak at a restaurant in Maynooth-- seriously MADE my weekend. And she brought us chocolate chips and American candy! Yay!
The rest of the week was mostly filled with boy troubles, which I'm sure none of you want to know about in detail. In summation, I was very very close to being Niall's girlfriend until he realized that I'd be leaving in 8 months, and he just decided he didn't want to get close to me. It was all much more drawn out and romantic than that, but now that's all over, and I'm actually very okay with it. I'll always have memories of my little Irish romance. And today I bought a really cute hat and it cheered me up an awful lot. It's now known as my therapy hat.
Plus there's way too many things to be happy about in my life right now for me to be sad about Niall. I'm pretty sure Morgan and Jim (two of my best friends from high school, for those of you who may not know them) are almost definitely coming to visit me in the spring which I'm STOKED about. My family's coming for Christmas, my boss at the YMCA resigned (a good thing), AND we are now allowed to take backpacks and purses into the Noble Family Dining Hall (the dining hall at Saint Mary's... so now I have something to look forward to upon returning). AND today Elizabeth and I talked to Johannes on Skype and made some plans for our Germany trip next week! We leave on Monday, and we're going to visit him for a few days before going down to Bavaria to visit Fussen (which has a castle that was the inspiration for Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World), Munich, and Nuremberg. We're getting really excited now, even though we don't have a lot of plans made. But we know we're staying with Johannes the first few nights, and he said we should just wait until we get there to plan out the rest of the trip. We're scared beyond belief, but SOOOO excited! Our friend Tom might come with us now, so that would make traveling a little less scary, I think. But either way, it will be quite an adventure!
Overall, it's been quite the week. I'm definitely looking forward to a break from classes and from going out here in Maynooth... but I'm going to miss everyone here too! And I still miss everyone at home! So much missing going on, and so much excitement, I don't even know what to think about next. I think I'll just lay down, put on some Josh Groban, splurge a little bit and turn on my heater, and sleep until noon (well, not noon, because I have class at noon... plus they don't say "noon" here... so I'll sleep till "half eleven," as the Irish would say).
Germany, here we come!
After Loughcrew we had a delightful soup and sandwich lunch at the little cabin at the foot of the hill. Then we were off to Trim Castle. Trim Castle was by far my favorite castle so far. There's still a lot of it left, so it's easier to get a good idea of what it was actually like in its prime. (Parts of the movie Braveheart was filmed in/outside the castle... which really means nothing to me because I've never seen that movie, but it might appeal to some of you). When we went inside the castle, there was a choir singing; they were having a concert or something, and we just caught the end of it. There was enough of the castle left for us to climb up the levels to the very top and look out over the land. The whole experience was really cool.
That night we went into Dublin to watch the Notre Dame game with the Notre Dame kids that go to Trinity and UCD in Dublin. Before the game, we went to a cute little coffee shop that Kelli had read about in her travel book. Kelli and I went upstairs and sat down and had a smoothie and a tea. We sat right by an open window, and we could look out and hear the harpist and flute player right below us and see all the people walking by. It was pretty cool! And on the way to the ND building, we saw this hilarious man playing accordian. He was just dancing around the street and having the time of his life. It was inspiring...
The ND building in Dublin is really cool-- it used to belong to Daniel O'Connell (who we've been hearing a lot about in history class... he was a famous Irish nationalist). ND bought it several years ago and refurbished it. Now the Notre Dame kids have classes in there, and the Notre Dame professors and program coordinators have offices in the building. Seeing the buliding, however, was probably the best part of that night. We walked in and this nice guy said hi to us, but everyone else COMPLETELY ignored us. I mean, I guess we're used to a little discrimination, being from Saint Mary's, but seriously? We're in a foreign country! We're all Fighting Irish fans, and we should all be united. For real.
We later found out that the nice guy that said hi to us was the program coordinator or something like that. Yeah, figures.
But we left at halftime and went to the train station and sang show tunes and ate candy from the vending machines. We had forgotten how socially awkward lots of Notre Dame kids can be, and we are now appreciating the Irish here a little more...
Sunday we had dinner with Karen Chambers, our coordinator from Saint Mary's. She was in town for the week to visit us. I had the most AMAZING steak at a restaurant in Maynooth-- seriously MADE my weekend. And she brought us chocolate chips and American candy! Yay!
The rest of the week was mostly filled with boy troubles, which I'm sure none of you want to know about in detail. In summation, I was very very close to being Niall's girlfriend until he realized that I'd be leaving in 8 months, and he just decided he didn't want to get close to me. It was all much more drawn out and romantic than that, but now that's all over, and I'm actually very okay with it. I'll always have memories of my little Irish romance. And today I bought a really cute hat and it cheered me up an awful lot. It's now known as my therapy hat.
Plus there's way too many things to be happy about in my life right now for me to be sad about Niall. I'm pretty sure Morgan and Jim (two of my best friends from high school, for those of you who may not know them) are almost definitely coming to visit me in the spring which I'm STOKED about. My family's coming for Christmas, my boss at the YMCA resigned (a good thing), AND we are now allowed to take backpacks and purses into the Noble Family Dining Hall (the dining hall at Saint Mary's... so now I have something to look forward to upon returning). AND today Elizabeth and I talked to Johannes on Skype and made some plans for our Germany trip next week! We leave on Monday, and we're going to visit him for a few days before going down to Bavaria to visit Fussen (which has a castle that was the inspiration for Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World), Munich, and Nuremberg. We're getting really excited now, even though we don't have a lot of plans made. But we know we're staying with Johannes the first few nights, and he said we should just wait until we get there to plan out the rest of the trip. We're scared beyond belief, but SOOOO excited! Our friend Tom might come with us now, so that would make traveling a little less scary, I think. But either way, it will be quite an adventure!
Overall, it's been quite the week. I'm definitely looking forward to a break from classes and from going out here in Maynooth... but I'm going to miss everyone here too! And I still miss everyone at home! So much missing going on, and so much excitement, I don't even know what to think about next. I think I'll just lay down, put on some Josh Groban, splurge a little bit and turn on my heater, and sleep until noon (well, not noon, because I have class at noon... plus they don't say "noon" here... so I'll sleep till "half eleven," as the Irish would say).
Germany, here we come!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Grey's Glitch
So, big news: went on a date (to the cinema) with this boy named Niall. (He was one of the boys that we played football with last week). They don't really "date" here, so the fact that he took me on an American-style date is pretty dang adorable. It was so much fun! He's really cute and really nice. We'll see what happens with that...
Nothing else too exciting happened this week... we had a pasta night, and a chicken and mashed potatoes night, and then one night Katie made us scrambled eggs (yeah, I pretty much never have to cook for myself). Oh, Wednesday night, though, I went to gospel choir. It's really informal, and they don't even read music. The director girl just plays a part and has us sing it back. It was so much fun! Although I found it a bit funny that there were about 60 Irish kids singing gospel music and not a single black person in the bunch. But seriously, LOTS of fun!
Also on Wednesday night we had an anniversary party with all the Saint Mary's girls-- I can't believe we've already been here for a whole month! It sure has flown by!
Today we ordered (what's becoming) our weekly pizza and watched this hilarious movie called "Waiting." Then we tried to watch Grey's Anatomy, but we couldn't get it to upload anywhere. We were REAL mad.
Kind of stressing about the Germany trip in a week because we still haven't gotten our stamps from the Garda (Irish police). But Roberta told us we'd be able to figure something out, so hopefully that works out for us. A friend of Elizabeth's dad emailed her and told her where we should go, so at least we kind of have a plan now. It should be lots of fun! Can't wait!
Tomorrow we're going to Trim Castle and Loughcrew (for now and for future reference, "lough" means "lake" in Irish/Gaelic). It should be a nice day trip. But we have to get up early, so I'm off to bed!
Nothing else too exciting happened this week... we had a pasta night, and a chicken and mashed potatoes night, and then one night Katie made us scrambled eggs (yeah, I pretty much never have to cook for myself). Oh, Wednesday night, though, I went to gospel choir. It's really informal, and they don't even read music. The director girl just plays a part and has us sing it back. It was so much fun! Although I found it a bit funny that there were about 60 Irish kids singing gospel music and not a single black person in the bunch. But seriously, LOTS of fun!
Also on Wednesday night we had an anniversary party with all the Saint Mary's girls-- I can't believe we've already been here for a whole month! It sure has flown by!
Today we ordered (what's becoming) our weekly pizza and watched this hilarious movie called "Waiting." Then we tried to watch Grey's Anatomy, but we couldn't get it to upload anywhere. We were REAL mad.
Kind of stressing about the Germany trip in a week because we still haven't gotten our stamps from the Garda (Irish police). But Roberta told us we'd be able to figure something out, so hopefully that works out for us. A friend of Elizabeth's dad emailed her and told her where we should go, so at least we kind of have a plan now. It should be lots of fun! Can't wait!
Tomorrow we're going to Trim Castle and Loughcrew (for now and for future reference, "lough" means "lake" in Irish/Gaelic). It should be a nice day trip. But we have to get up early, so I'm off to bed!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
A Cloudy Sunrise
I cannot believe how fast this week went by! I have a feeling this is how the next nine months are going to be.
Monday was pasta night again. Delicious as always.
Tuesday I was really stressed out because I missed one of my tutorials and I was just really overwhelmed by all the reading I have to do. I went to a tutorial on Wednesday instead, and the tutor said he would just switch me into his tutorial. The girl I sat next to was really nice, and my tutor said he's been to Wausau! Small world, right? I also had my tutorial for anthropology; we got split into groups, and the people in my group are really nice. I'm really excited about my tutorials because I miss being in small classes and getting to know your classmates. Plus there's not Saint Mary's girls in my tutorials, so I'll have a better chance to get to know some people. Wednesday night we took a nice walk down Carton Ave. (this really beautiful footpath in town), and then we had taco night at Beth's flat. While we were eating our tacos, we happened to notice this boy outside in the courtyard throwing around what looked like an American football. Since we are all basically going through American football withdrawl, we all got really excited. Leslie and I stuck our heads out the window and asked him if we could play. He told us he'd meet us all outside a half hour later with his friends. So, we changed into our trainers (tennis shoes) and met these 5 boys outside behind the apartments to play football. At first we were trying to play boys versus girls (I was quarter back, which shows how good our team was), but then the guys were complaining that American football moves too slow. So we tried to play rugby, but we had no idea how to play. They tried to explain it to us, but it didn't work out too well. So, we split up into mixed teams and tried football again. It was really fun, and Beth caught the winning touchdown pass for our team. We chatted with the guys after, trying to explain to them the concept of boys asking girls on dates (because they don't really do that here). After that Leslie and I noticed John Flynn (a boy she knows from tennis) up in his room, so we threw rocks at his window until he opened it and invited us up. So, Leslie, Elizabeth and I went up and chatted with him and his roommates David Riley and Brenden (I don't remember Brenden's last name). Then we met up with Missy because she had to go meet Dave (a boy that she met at the Roost the first week and has a major crush on). While we were walking him back to watch a movie at Missy's, Leslie waved at some boys looking out their window in the River Apartments. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into their apartment building. We sat around and chatted with our new-found friends: Tiernan, Peter Ryder, Brian, and Porick (I don't think I'm spelling that right... it's the Irish version of Patrick). When we came back, Beth, Erin and I got dressed up and went to Brady's. We saw Marky and Jimmy (some guys that we had met at the Roost... Marky is the most hilarious dancer and sooo nice). They waved us over and we chatted with them for a bit, met their friend Martin, and then we made our way to the crazy crowded dance floor. We danced with Marky and his friends, and with the football boys that came later. I danced with the boy that was the quarterback on our team when we played football. His name is Niall. He's pretty cute. It was lots of fun, except when this boy triend to kiss Beth and she freaked out. That's the way the Irishmen do it at the clubs, I guess. So, we immediately left. I consoled Beth on the walk home, and we met up with Leslie in John Flynn's room again and chatted before bed. Besides Beth's bad time, it was a really great day... so much happened!
Thursday after classes we went out to the Roost. We met up with Peter Ryder and Tiernan and danced the night away. I tried a vodka and lime and it tasted like key lime pie-- real yummy! Friday I vacuumed my room (that's a big deal because I feel so much better about being in my room now). My SMC girlies came over to order pizza... Tiernan and Peter Ryder came up and chatted with us for awhile too. Peter had to leave to take the bus home, and the rest of us watched Boondock Saints in my room. (FABulous movie! But now we realize that that their Irish accents in the movie are pretty bad). Tiernan's friend Martin came up, and after the film, we chatted for awhile. Tiernan and some of the girls left until it was just me, katie, leslie, tom, and martin. I got Skype going, and we talked to my mom and my sister katie. Then, we were just chatting until we realized that it was 3 in the morning and we weren't even tired. Martin had to catch a bus at like 8am, so we decided just to stay up all night. I finally went to bed after sunrise (which was cloudy and uneventful) and slept until 2:30pm. The rest of the day was spent trying to make myself do some reading until I came to katie's to cook some pasta for dinner, eat some digestive biscuits, and now we're going to dunne's to get chocolate before we watch grey's anatomy.
Monday was pasta night again. Delicious as always.
Tuesday I was really stressed out because I missed one of my tutorials and I was just really overwhelmed by all the reading I have to do. I went to a tutorial on Wednesday instead, and the tutor said he would just switch me into his tutorial. The girl I sat next to was really nice, and my tutor said he's been to Wausau! Small world, right? I also had my tutorial for anthropology; we got split into groups, and the people in my group are really nice. I'm really excited about my tutorials because I miss being in small classes and getting to know your classmates. Plus there's not Saint Mary's girls in my tutorials, so I'll have a better chance to get to know some people. Wednesday night we took a nice walk down Carton Ave. (this really beautiful footpath in town), and then we had taco night at Beth's flat. While we were eating our tacos, we happened to notice this boy outside in the courtyard throwing around what looked like an American football. Since we are all basically going through American football withdrawl, we all got really excited. Leslie and I stuck our heads out the window and asked him if we could play. He told us he'd meet us all outside a half hour later with his friends. So, we changed into our trainers (tennis shoes) and met these 5 boys outside behind the apartments to play football. At first we were trying to play boys versus girls (I was quarter back, which shows how good our team was), but then the guys were complaining that American football moves too slow. So we tried to play rugby, but we had no idea how to play. They tried to explain it to us, but it didn't work out too well. So, we split up into mixed teams and tried football again. It was really fun, and Beth caught the winning touchdown pass for our team. We chatted with the guys after, trying to explain to them the concept of boys asking girls on dates (because they don't really do that here). After that Leslie and I noticed John Flynn (a boy she knows from tennis) up in his room, so we threw rocks at his window until he opened it and invited us up. So, Leslie, Elizabeth and I went up and chatted with him and his roommates David Riley and Brenden (I don't remember Brenden's last name). Then we met up with Missy because she had to go meet Dave (a boy that she met at the Roost the first week and has a major crush on). While we were walking him back to watch a movie at Missy's, Leslie waved at some boys looking out their window in the River Apartments. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into their apartment building. We sat around and chatted with our new-found friends: Tiernan, Peter Ryder, Brian, and Porick (I don't think I'm spelling that right... it's the Irish version of Patrick). When we came back, Beth, Erin and I got dressed up and went to Brady's. We saw Marky and Jimmy (some guys that we had met at the Roost... Marky is the most hilarious dancer and sooo nice). They waved us over and we chatted with them for a bit, met their friend Martin, and then we made our way to the crazy crowded dance floor. We danced with Marky and his friends, and with the football boys that came later. I danced with the boy that was the quarterback on our team when we played football. His name is Niall. He's pretty cute. It was lots of fun, except when this boy triend to kiss Beth and she freaked out. That's the way the Irishmen do it at the clubs, I guess. So, we immediately left. I consoled Beth on the walk home, and we met up with Leslie in John Flynn's room again and chatted before bed. Besides Beth's bad time, it was a really great day... so much happened!
Thursday after classes we went out to the Roost. We met up with Peter Ryder and Tiernan and danced the night away. I tried a vodka and lime and it tasted like key lime pie-- real yummy! Friday I vacuumed my room (that's a big deal because I feel so much better about being in my room now). My SMC girlies came over to order pizza... Tiernan and Peter Ryder came up and chatted with us for awhile too. Peter had to leave to take the bus home, and the rest of us watched Boondock Saints in my room. (FABulous movie! But now we realize that that their Irish accents in the movie are pretty bad). Tiernan's friend Martin came up, and after the film, we chatted for awhile. Tiernan and some of the girls left until it was just me, katie, leslie, tom, and martin. I got Skype going, and we talked to my mom and my sister katie. Then, we were just chatting until we realized that it was 3 in the morning and we weren't even tired. Martin had to catch a bus at like 8am, so we decided just to stay up all night. I finally went to bed after sunrise (which was cloudy and uneventful) and slept until 2:30pm. The rest of the day was spent trying to make myself do some reading until I came to katie's to cook some pasta for dinner, eat some digestive biscuits, and now we're going to dunne's to get chocolate before we watch grey's anatomy.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Pancake Party
I spent the weekend decorating the common room in my apartment. It's so much homier now, and I hardly spent any money. I got some Christmas lights from the box of stuff that the Saint Mary's girls left us last year and put them on top of the cabinets... I got a cheap blanket in Dublin yesterday to cover the couch, some pillows at Dunnes, a few table clothes, some inexpensive candles, and a pot of daisies... it's pretty cute, I must say, and I feel a lot better about my apartment now.
Friday night we went to the Roost. There weren't many people there since all the students go home for the weekend, but right when we walked in, Missy spotted this beautiful boy in a red shirt and said she was going to talk to him. Well, it took her awhile, but by the end of the night we were cutting a rug with him and two of his friends. The red-shirt is apparently a Gap model, and the other two are Civil Engineers. They live in the next town over, and they said they'd love to take us on a tour of Dublin sometime if we want. They were really nice! Also, earlier in the night, we had decided to split up because a big group of 10 Americans can be a little overwhelming. So Elizabeth, Katie, and I ended up together at this table. Suddenly, this man... probably in his 30s, comes and plops down and starts trying to talk to us. His name was Ray, and, well, as it was very loud in there and he had a very thick brogue (Irish accent), it was hard to understand him. He was pretty nice, I guess... but mostly we just nodded and smiled as he chatted away until the music started playing and we told him we were going to go dance. It was awkward. But, in retrospect, funny.
Fun times in Dublin yesterday! I love that city! It's so old and charming, and I love how people just walk down the middle of the roads... I feel like I'm in Disney World. I love that it's a big city, but not too big. It's not as crowded as the big American cities, and it feels a lot safer. The train wasn't running, so we took the bus. It took a little bit longer but it was nice for a change. And it was cheaper. We went to H&M and Penney's. Penney's is pretty much my new favorite store-- it's soooo cheap! I got a few things to treat myself, including this really fabulous and cheap skirt. I also got a Claddagh ring: The Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring, given in friendship or worn as a wedding ring. The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old walls of the city of Galway. The ring was first produced in the 17th Century during the reign of Queen Mary II, though elements of the design are much older. The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart, and usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the crown). The expression which was associated with these symbols in the giving of the ring was: "Let love and friendship reign." The way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer's romantic availability, or lack thereof. Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the heart facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship, and may in fact be single and looking for a relationship: "their heart is open." When worn on the right hand but with the heart facing inward toward the body, this indicates the person wearing the ring is in a relationship, or that "someone has captured their heart". A Claddagh worn on the left hand ring finger, facing outward away from the body, generally indicates that the wearer is engaged. When the ring is on the left hand ring finger and facing inward toward the body, it generally means that the person wearing the ring is married. It was one of the things I just really wanted to get while I'm here, so I can cross it off my list!
Overall, it was a fabulous day. It was beautiful out, and we treated ourselves to hamburgers and cheese fries at Eddie Rocket's. DELICIOUS! When we got back, a few of the girls came back to my room to watch Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Can't miss Grey's!
Friday night we went to the Roost. There weren't many people there since all the students go home for the weekend, but right when we walked in, Missy spotted this beautiful boy in a red shirt and said she was going to talk to him. Well, it took her awhile, but by the end of the night we were cutting a rug with him and two of his friends. The red-shirt is apparently a Gap model, and the other two are Civil Engineers. They live in the next town over, and they said they'd love to take us on a tour of Dublin sometime if we want. They were really nice! Also, earlier in the night, we had decided to split up because a big group of 10 Americans can be a little overwhelming. So Elizabeth, Katie, and I ended up together at this table. Suddenly, this man... probably in his 30s, comes and plops down and starts trying to talk to us. His name was Ray, and, well, as it was very loud in there and he had a very thick brogue (Irish accent), it was hard to understand him. He was pretty nice, I guess... but mostly we just nodded and smiled as he chatted away until the music started playing and we told him we were going to go dance. It was awkward. But, in retrospect, funny.
Fun times in Dublin yesterday! I love that city! It's so old and charming, and I love how people just walk down the middle of the roads... I feel like I'm in Disney World. I love that it's a big city, but not too big. It's not as crowded as the big American cities, and it feels a lot safer. The train wasn't running, so we took the bus. It took a little bit longer but it was nice for a change. And it was cheaper. We went to H&M and Penney's. Penney's is pretty much my new favorite store-- it's soooo cheap! I got a few things to treat myself, including this really fabulous and cheap skirt. I also got a Claddagh ring: The Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring, given in friendship or worn as a wedding ring. The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old walls of the city of Galway. The ring was first produced in the 17th Century during the reign of Queen Mary II, though elements of the design are much older. The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart, and usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the crown). The expression which was associated with these symbols in the giving of the ring was: "Let love and friendship reign." The way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer's romantic availability, or lack thereof. Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the heart facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship, and may in fact be single and looking for a relationship: "their heart is open." When worn on the right hand but with the heart facing inward toward the body, this indicates the person wearing the ring is in a relationship, or that "someone has captured their heart". A Claddagh worn on the left hand ring finger, facing outward away from the body, generally indicates that the wearer is engaged. When the ring is on the left hand ring finger and facing inward toward the body, it generally means that the person wearing the ring is married. It was one of the things I just really wanted to get while I'm here, so I can cross it off my list!
Overall, it was a fabulous day. It was beautiful out, and we treated ourselves to hamburgers and cheese fries at Eddie Rocket's. DELICIOUS! When we got back, a few of the girls came back to my room to watch Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Can't miss Grey's!
Today before my pancake party I spent the day cleaning my apartment while the roomies were gone. I mopped and scrubbed and swept and sponged, and it feels good to have the place nice and clean. I had to have it all spic and span for my Pancake Party tonight! All my Saint Mary's girls came over for pancakes and french toast; it was delicious! After dinner we watched the Notebook-- classy!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Tons of Giant, Ugly Crows
We took our laundry into town the other day. It felt like I was pampering myself when I shouldn't be, but it really is cheaper just to take it into town. Otherwise it costs 6 Euro per load plus detergent... Anywho, we rolled our suitcases through town, dropped them off, and picked them up a few hours later. And my towel was warm when I took a shower that night... gotta love that feeling.
Yesterday was fairs day where all the clubs and societies from the university set up tables in the sports complex and you can go sign up to be a part of them. It costs 2 Euro for each club-- not a bad deal. I signed up for choir, drama society, and SVP (Saint Vincent de Paul-- it's a volunteer group... Elizabeth and I are hoping to get involved in a tutoring opportunity through SVP; I'm not sure I could make it the whole year without being around kids). I really wanted to do "Playdough," an arts, crafts, and photography club, but I don't want to be involved in too much.
Our first drama society meeting was last night already, and I'm really excited about it! There were 330 kids that signed up, and they do about 7 plays and 1 musical every year. This year they are doing a series of one-acts just for first years, so that will be a really great way for us to make friends. My friends Jackie and Katie signed up too. They also put on workshops through the Gaiety School of Acting, which apparently is a pretty big deal. I'm really excited to get involved in all of that!
After our drama meeting I went to Beth's apartment to do her roommates' make up for the Moulin Rouge Ball. I did a pretty fabulous job, if I do say so myself. They looked pretty hot :) Then we watched the first few episodes of the first season of Grey's Anatomy in Beth's room. It's really annoying that Irish DVDs are different than American DVDs, so you can't watch American DVDs on the Irish DVD players, or vice versa. Dumb.
Also, I've been meaning to say that there are TONS of giant, ugly crows here and they gross me out.
It's really sunny and beautiful outside right now, so I'm sitting in my windowsill with my window open writing this. Just thought I'd mention that because we don't get that a lot. It's not that we never get sun, it's just that we don't get whole days of sun. The weather literally changes every five minutes. It could start raining any minute right now, even though it's really nice at the moment. Oh well, it just makes me appreciate the sun even more.
So my roommates basically just ignore me when I walk into the common room. Sometimes they say hello, but that's about as far as it goes. What the heck? If I was back at Saint Mary's and I had a foreign roommate, I would be totally curiuos to know all about them, and I would certainly try to make them feel as welcome as possible. I guess I haven't been making a huge effort, but I'm really not in here very much anyway, and when I do come into the common room, they're usually deep into some Irish or British soap opera and I don't want to interrupt them with "so, where are you from again?" THEN, my new roommate Rachel who just came last Thursday is in the common room when I walk in yesterday. She goes "oh, Kelsey, I've been meaning to ask you: sometimes I like to smoke out the window... does that bother you?" What the heck, right? YES, it bothers me! Everyone smokes here, and it's so disgusting. I just want to yell: "Don't you know that that can KILL you and that it STINKS?!?" Every time you walk out of a building here, you walk into a big cloud of smoke from the sick cigs outside. Anyway, I said to her "yeah, actually it does bother me." After an awkward silence, I said "oh, no, now you're going to hate me." Rachel replied: "Oh, no, it's okay. I might still do it when it's really rainy outside, but I'll try not to."
TRY? How can you TRY not to smoke inside? First of all, it's illegal to smoke inside... second of all, it ALWAYS rains, so basically that means she's going to smoke in here all the time. And third: why did she even ask me if she was going to do it anyway? Ugh.
Oh well, things will get better, I think... but clearly we aren't going to be life-long friends.
I've tried to like alcohol, but I just can't. I don't know HOW people can drink it! It's disgusting and it burns my throat. I've had sips of beer and wine and mixed drinks and they all just make me want to puke. I guess I'll have to stick with the fruity drinks that don't taste like alcohol. Or maybe I'll just go with a Coke next time... if I'm going to spend the money, I might as well get something I really love, right?
They don't have screens on the windows here... I'm kinda scared that I'm going to fall out of it... or that a bird will fly in or something... that would be scary.
Tuesday nights are officially pasta nights with the SMC girls, and this Tuesday, yet again, we had a delicious meal of spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and this delicious carmel chocolate icecream cake that Mary got. MMM! Tuesdays are good days!
I think Elizabeth and I have decided that we're going to Germany for fall break... Johannes (the German exchange student at my high school senior year who said I could come stay with him) said he's going to be home the same week as us! I can't wait! We also might meet the other girls in Paris for a few days and go to EuroDisney! Yay!
That's all the exciting news in my life thus far, I guess. Things get better every day!
Yesterday was fairs day where all the clubs and societies from the university set up tables in the sports complex and you can go sign up to be a part of them. It costs 2 Euro for each club-- not a bad deal. I signed up for choir, drama society, and SVP (Saint Vincent de Paul-- it's a volunteer group... Elizabeth and I are hoping to get involved in a tutoring opportunity through SVP; I'm not sure I could make it the whole year without being around kids). I really wanted to do "Playdough," an arts, crafts, and photography club, but I don't want to be involved in too much.
Our first drama society meeting was last night already, and I'm really excited about it! There were 330 kids that signed up, and they do about 7 plays and 1 musical every year. This year they are doing a series of one-acts just for first years, so that will be a really great way for us to make friends. My friends Jackie and Katie signed up too. They also put on workshops through the Gaiety School of Acting, which apparently is a pretty big deal. I'm really excited to get involved in all of that!
After our drama meeting I went to Beth's apartment to do her roommates' make up for the Moulin Rouge Ball. I did a pretty fabulous job, if I do say so myself. They looked pretty hot :) Then we watched the first few episodes of the first season of Grey's Anatomy in Beth's room. It's really annoying that Irish DVDs are different than American DVDs, so you can't watch American DVDs on the Irish DVD players, or vice versa. Dumb.
Also, I've been meaning to say that there are TONS of giant, ugly crows here and they gross me out.
It's really sunny and beautiful outside right now, so I'm sitting in my windowsill with my window open writing this. Just thought I'd mention that because we don't get that a lot. It's not that we never get sun, it's just that we don't get whole days of sun. The weather literally changes every five minutes. It could start raining any minute right now, even though it's really nice at the moment. Oh well, it just makes me appreciate the sun even more.
So my roommates basically just ignore me when I walk into the common room. Sometimes they say hello, but that's about as far as it goes. What the heck? If I was back at Saint Mary's and I had a foreign roommate, I would be totally curiuos to know all about them, and I would certainly try to make them feel as welcome as possible. I guess I haven't been making a huge effort, but I'm really not in here very much anyway, and when I do come into the common room, they're usually deep into some Irish or British soap opera and I don't want to interrupt them with "so, where are you from again?" THEN, my new roommate Rachel who just came last Thursday is in the common room when I walk in yesterday. She goes "oh, Kelsey, I've been meaning to ask you: sometimes I like to smoke out the window... does that bother you?" What the heck, right? YES, it bothers me! Everyone smokes here, and it's so disgusting. I just want to yell: "Don't you know that that can KILL you and that it STINKS?!?" Every time you walk out of a building here, you walk into a big cloud of smoke from the sick cigs outside. Anyway, I said to her "yeah, actually it does bother me." After an awkward silence, I said "oh, no, now you're going to hate me." Rachel replied: "Oh, no, it's okay. I might still do it when it's really rainy outside, but I'll try not to."
TRY? How can you TRY not to smoke inside? First of all, it's illegal to smoke inside... second of all, it ALWAYS rains, so basically that means she's going to smoke in here all the time. And third: why did she even ask me if she was going to do it anyway? Ugh.
Oh well, things will get better, I think... but clearly we aren't going to be life-long friends.
I've tried to like alcohol, but I just can't. I don't know HOW people can drink it! It's disgusting and it burns my throat. I've had sips of beer and wine and mixed drinks and they all just make me want to puke. I guess I'll have to stick with the fruity drinks that don't taste like alcohol. Or maybe I'll just go with a Coke next time... if I'm going to spend the money, I might as well get something I really love, right?
They don't have screens on the windows here... I'm kinda scared that I'm going to fall out of it... or that a bird will fly in or something... that would be scary.
Tuesday nights are officially pasta nights with the SMC girls, and this Tuesday, yet again, we had a delicious meal of spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and this delicious carmel chocolate icecream cake that Mary got. MMM! Tuesdays are good days!
I think Elizabeth and I have decided that we're going to Germany for fall break... Johannes (the German exchange student at my high school senior year who said I could come stay with him) said he's going to be home the same week as us! I can't wait! We also might meet the other girls in Paris for a few days and go to EuroDisney! Yay!
That's all the exciting news in my life thus far, I guess. Things get better every day!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Sun in the Forecast
Wow! It's been awhile since I've written... I guess I've been pretty busy!
Last week we went to Brady's Pub on Wednesday night, but it was CRAZY busy and all the girls had short little skirts and dresses on and we felt WAY under dressed. The music was so loud we couldn't even make conversation. We ended up leaving pretty early...
Thursday night we went to the Roost which was also SOOO packed! I think the first two weeks will be really busy and everyone will be going out every night, but hopefully after this first fortnight things will calm down. Anywho, I found a 20 Euro bill on the ground by the bar which pretty much made my night. It got really busy so we left early again, but this time we went to Maximas and got garlic cheese chips (french fries) which were amazingly delicious. Then we came back and sat outside and chatted until we met these two random Irish boys named Stephen and Siaorsea (I don't think I spelled that right, but it's pronounced "Seer-shuh" and means "freedom" in Irish). They were really funny and we were chatting and taking pictures. Then, some guy shouted something at us out a two story window, and we started having a conversation with him... the Siaorsea started talking to him for like 10 minutes in all Irish. It was all very funny. Then he invited us up to the apartment, but we had to be quiet because it wasn't really his apartment and his friend was passed out on the couch. We went up and all chatted for awhile before retiring to our own apartments for the night. It may not sound that funny, but the whole situation was really hilarious... guess you had to be there...
Friday night Katie and I stayed in, made pasta, and watched Maid in Manhattan in my abandoned apartment (since all my roommates go home on the weekends) because we had to get up early Saturday morning for a trip with the Saint Mary's girls.
Saturday morning we left at 8am to go to Co. Sligo in the northwestern part of Ireland. It felt like most of our time was spent on the bus, but we watched the entire second season of Grey's Anatomy, so that made things go faster...
Our first stop was at Boyle Abbey in Co. Roscommon (the county that my great great grandmother was from!) Boyle Abbey was settled by the Cistercian monks 1161 when they were invited by archbishop St. Malachy in order to help him reform the old Irish church back to Christianity. The monastery was laid out according to the usual Cistercian plan, a church on the north side of a roughly rectangular cloister area, with a chapter house for meetings of the monks on a second side, a kitchen and a refectory on the third, and probably store houses and dormitory above on the fourth. Only small parts of the cloister survive, because it was turned into a barracks by the Elizabethans in 1592 and the Cromwellians who besieged it in 1645. We also stopped at King House (an old manor) in Boyle before lunch.
We had lunch at a charming hotel in town, and it was absolutely delicious! Fresh ham with parsley sauce, mashed potatoes, cabbage, and cooked carrots with chocolate cake! It was probably the best meal I've had since I've been here.
After lunch we headed to Carrowmore in County Sligo. Carrowmore is the site of a prehistoric ritual landscape. There we saw pretty landscapes (more mountains!) and lots of neolithic stone tombs. We were supposed to hike up to see the famous Queen Maeve's tomb, but our bus broke down earlier in the day in Boyle and by the time we got there it was already getting dark. We were very disappointed...
So we departed for Bundoran, Co. Sligo where we stayed over night. Bundoran is apparently a resort town, but it was pretty dead when we were there. There was a pretty main street and a boardwalk leading down to the OCEAN which was BEAUTIFUL! I'm sure the town is bustling and bright in the summer. We walked around down town and took pictures by the beach. Then we headed back to the apartments we were staying in and made burritos and chocolate chip cookies that were both delicious. It was a fun and relaxing night eating cookies and watching X factor (England's version of American Idol). In the morning, however, we had no electricity because we had used up our 5 Euro limit. So, we couldn't shower and we had to get ready in the dark. It was lovely.
We left Bundoran and headed back toward Maynooth that morning. We stopped at Parke's Castle in Co. Leitrim. Parke's Castle is located on the banks of Lough Gill (a lake); the lake was like glass... it was really beautiful. The castle was built by Robert Parke in 1610 on the site of the earlier fifteenth-century O'Rourke castle. The castle was pretty, but the fake people inside were a bit tacky, I thought. We had tea and scones in the tea house and got back on the bus.
Our last stop was at Knock, Co. Mayo. This is the site of a well-known shrine and is a major pilgrimage site where Catholics believe that in 1879 there was an apparition of the Virgin Mary. There were hundreds of people there. I guess it's a pretty holy place, and maybe we just didn't appreciate it enough, but Elizabeth and I got bored and went to get icecream. We felt pretty guilty, but it wasn't a super beautiful place or anything. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting thing to witness: all these people traveling to this shrine. But the icecream suited us quite well, and we were very happy.
More Grey's Anatomy kept us busy on the three hour drive home, and when we got back we went to Jackie's to order pizza and chips! It was very delicious.
Today I had classes and work all day, and then we went to see Maynooth Castle with Roberta. It's incredible that Maynooth used to be a political centre of Ireland. There isn't much left of the castle, and it's strange that it's in the middle of town with a pub across the street and Dunne's store just behind it where the gardens used to be...
I'm very excited about my English class... we are studying poetry for the first half and drama in the second half of the semester. My sociology class today was kind of a waste of time because we talked about finding sources the whole time... Seriously, if you don't know how to do that by now, you shouldn't be in college (or university, as they call it here). I almost fell asleep.
We got our stipends (food money) today for the rest of the month, and we just got word from Roberta that Saint Mary's has granted us 5 Euro a week MORE than we thought we were getting (because she complained that we weren't getting enough)... so now we get about 200 Euro more for the whole year! Yippee! I went grocery shopping right after we saw the castle, and I'm pretty freakin' excited about all the food that I bought. I splurged a bit and got some things that I really love.
Tonight Katie and Elizabeth came over to make scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and BROWNIES! Elizabeth was in charge of making the brownies, and they weren't QUITE cooked all the way... but we were impatient and we ate them anyways. I hope I don't end up with a bellyache tonight. But I think it was worth it... they were delicious!
I've got three classes tomorrow and some tasks from Roberta to complete. We are going to take our laundry to town too (it's cheaper and easier just to take your things into town, I guess, and pay to have them launder it... fine with me!) It should be a long day, but I think there's sun in the forecast!
Last week we went to Brady's Pub on Wednesday night, but it was CRAZY busy and all the girls had short little skirts and dresses on and we felt WAY under dressed. The music was so loud we couldn't even make conversation. We ended up leaving pretty early...
Thursday night we went to the Roost which was also SOOO packed! I think the first two weeks will be really busy and everyone will be going out every night, but hopefully after this first fortnight things will calm down. Anywho, I found a 20 Euro bill on the ground by the bar which pretty much made my night. It got really busy so we left early again, but this time we went to Maximas and got garlic cheese chips (french fries) which were amazingly delicious. Then we came back and sat outside and chatted until we met these two random Irish boys named Stephen and Siaorsea (I don't think I spelled that right, but it's pronounced "Seer-shuh" and means "freedom" in Irish). They were really funny and we were chatting and taking pictures. Then, some guy shouted something at us out a two story window, and we started having a conversation with him... the Siaorsea started talking to him for like 10 minutes in all Irish. It was all very funny. Then he invited us up to the apartment, but we had to be quiet because it wasn't really his apartment and his friend was passed out on the couch. We went up and all chatted for awhile before retiring to our own apartments for the night. It may not sound that funny, but the whole situation was really hilarious... guess you had to be there...
Friday night Katie and I stayed in, made pasta, and watched Maid in Manhattan in my abandoned apartment (since all my roommates go home on the weekends) because we had to get up early Saturday morning for a trip with the Saint Mary's girls.
Saturday morning we left at 8am to go to Co. Sligo in the northwestern part of Ireland. It felt like most of our time was spent on the bus, but we watched the entire second season of Grey's Anatomy, so that made things go faster...
Our first stop was at Boyle Abbey in Co. Roscommon (the county that my great great grandmother was from!) Boyle Abbey was settled by the Cistercian monks 1161 when they were invited by archbishop St. Malachy in order to help him reform the old Irish church back to Christianity. The monastery was laid out according to the usual Cistercian plan, a church on the north side of a roughly rectangular cloister area, with a chapter house for meetings of the monks on a second side, a kitchen and a refectory on the third, and probably store houses and dormitory above on the fourth. Only small parts of the cloister survive, because it was turned into a barracks by the Elizabethans in 1592 and the Cromwellians who besieged it in 1645. We also stopped at King House (an old manor) in Boyle before lunch.
We had lunch at a charming hotel in town, and it was absolutely delicious! Fresh ham with parsley sauce, mashed potatoes, cabbage, and cooked carrots with chocolate cake! It was probably the best meal I've had since I've been here.
After lunch we headed to Carrowmore in County Sligo. Carrowmore is the site of a prehistoric ritual landscape. There we saw pretty landscapes (more mountains!) and lots of neolithic stone tombs. We were supposed to hike up to see the famous Queen Maeve's tomb, but our bus broke down earlier in the day in Boyle and by the time we got there it was already getting dark. We were very disappointed...
So we departed for Bundoran, Co. Sligo where we stayed over night. Bundoran is apparently a resort town, but it was pretty dead when we were there. There was a pretty main street and a boardwalk leading down to the OCEAN which was BEAUTIFUL! I'm sure the town is bustling and bright in the summer. We walked around down town and took pictures by the beach. Then we headed back to the apartments we were staying in and made burritos and chocolate chip cookies that were both delicious. It was a fun and relaxing night eating cookies and watching X factor (England's version of American Idol). In the morning, however, we had no electricity because we had used up our 5 Euro limit. So, we couldn't shower and we had to get ready in the dark. It was lovely.
We left Bundoran and headed back toward Maynooth that morning. We stopped at Parke's Castle in Co. Leitrim. Parke's Castle is located on the banks of Lough Gill (a lake); the lake was like glass... it was really beautiful. The castle was built by Robert Parke in 1610 on the site of the earlier fifteenth-century O'Rourke castle. The castle was pretty, but the fake people inside were a bit tacky, I thought. We had tea and scones in the tea house and got back on the bus.
Our last stop was at Knock, Co. Mayo. This is the site of a well-known shrine and is a major pilgrimage site where Catholics believe that in 1879 there was an apparition of the Virgin Mary. There were hundreds of people there. I guess it's a pretty holy place, and maybe we just didn't appreciate it enough, but Elizabeth and I got bored and went to get icecream. We felt pretty guilty, but it wasn't a super beautiful place or anything. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting thing to witness: all these people traveling to this shrine. But the icecream suited us quite well, and we were very happy.
More Grey's Anatomy kept us busy on the three hour drive home, and when we got back we went to Jackie's to order pizza and chips! It was very delicious.
Today I had classes and work all day, and then we went to see Maynooth Castle with Roberta. It's incredible that Maynooth used to be a political centre of Ireland. There isn't much left of the castle, and it's strange that it's in the middle of town with a pub across the street and Dunne's store just behind it where the gardens used to be...
I'm very excited about my English class... we are studying poetry for the first half and drama in the second half of the semester. My sociology class today was kind of a waste of time because we talked about finding sources the whole time... Seriously, if you don't know how to do that by now, you shouldn't be in college (or university, as they call it here). I almost fell asleep.
We got our stipends (food money) today for the rest of the month, and we just got word from Roberta that Saint Mary's has granted us 5 Euro a week MORE than we thought we were getting (because she complained that we weren't getting enough)... so now we get about 200 Euro more for the whole year! Yippee! I went grocery shopping right after we saw the castle, and I'm pretty freakin' excited about all the food that I bought. I splurged a bit and got some things that I really love.
Tonight Katie and Elizabeth came over to make scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and BROWNIES! Elizabeth was in charge of making the brownies, and they weren't QUITE cooked all the way... but we were impatient and we ate them anyways. I hope I don't end up with a bellyache tonight. But I think it was worth it... they were delicious!
I've got three classes tomorrow and some tasks from Roberta to complete. We are going to take our laundry to town too (it's cheaper and easier just to take your things into town, I guess, and pay to have them launder it... fine with me!) It should be a long day, but I think there's sun in the forecast!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Spaghetti and M&M Cookies!
Beth Murphy made us spaghetti, garlic bread, salad (no, our new friend Tom from upstate New York brought that salad), and M&M cookies (because they don't have chocolate chips) for dinner last night and we watched Grey's Anatomy (although they are pretty far behind on episodes, it was still fun to watch).
I had my first bag of Irish potato chips yesterday (although they call them "crisps" or "taytos.") They call the courses here "modules," cell phones "mobiles," and shopping carts "trollies." To "call" someone is to stop by their place, and to "ring" is to call them on the telephone. "Grand" is good, "Lovely" is better, "Brilliant" is better yet, and "Savage" is the best. If you have a class at 10:30, it's at "half ten," and all the clocks are on military time. And doing something for "good craic" (pronouned "crack") is doing something for fun. I'm slowly learning the lingo...
Today I had anthropology with an American professor. All my professors so far seem really really nice, but it's just weird that there are hundreds of people in the lecture halls and that my professors will probably never know my name. We will have smaller discussion groups or tutorials for a few of the classes, but it's still going to take some getting used to; my biggest class at Saint Mary's last year was about 30 people...
The sun was out this morning when I woke up; it was beautiful.
I had my first bag of Irish potato chips yesterday (although they call them "crisps" or "taytos.") They call the courses here "modules," cell phones "mobiles," and shopping carts "trollies." To "call" someone is to stop by their place, and to "ring" is to call them on the telephone. "Grand" is good, "Lovely" is better, "Brilliant" is better yet, and "Savage" is the best. If you have a class at 10:30, it's at "half ten," and all the clocks are on military time. And doing something for "good craic" (pronouned "crack") is doing something for fun. I'm slowly learning the lingo...
Today I had anthropology with an American professor. All my professors so far seem really really nice, but it's just weird that there are hundreds of people in the lecture halls and that my professors will probably never know my name. We will have smaller discussion groups or tutorials for a few of the classes, but it's still going to take some getting used to; my biggest class at Saint Mary's last year was about 30 people...
The sun was out this morning when I woke up; it was beautiful.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Poland!
I just talked to one of my roommates (Milena, the friendly one), and she's from Poland! I'm very excited to get to know her. The other two girls still aren't very friendly... and Milena said the last of our roommates is coming on Thursday; I think she's friends with the two unfriendly Irish girls... maybe she sill make things better...
I just ate a ham sandwich. I'm sick of ham sandwiches.
Also, I have a crush on the head of the English department... good shoes. I hope I have him for a class :)
I'm sure you're all very interested in what I eat for lunch and who I have crushes on, but, well, as the excitement dies down, there will be less and less to talk about on here...
I just ate a ham sandwich. I'm sick of ham sandwiches.
Also, I have a crush on the head of the English department... good shoes. I hope I have him for a class :)
I'm sure you're all very interested in what I eat for lunch and who I have crushes on, but, well, as the excitement dies down, there will be less and less to talk about on here...
Monday, September 24, 2007
Funky Tasting Alfredo Sauce
My roommates finally came today! I haven't talked to them much; one of them, Milena, seems really really nice, but she's quiet and keeps to her room when she's here. The other two (I'm supposed to have 5 total, but I've only seen 3 so far) are friends already... they aren't very friendly, and when I come into the common room they pretty much ignore me. Their names are Maria and Onya (I'm not sure how to spell that), and they have a friend named Brita that is always in here with them too. Roberta told us the Irish are pretty shy, though, so I think it will just be a matter of breaking the ice. We got a TV, though, which will be nice. We watched a little bit of "Coronation Street," an English soap opera which was hilarious, and I even caught a little snippet of Oprah today!
Last night the fajitas that Deb (my friend Beth's Irish roommate) made us where delicious, and then we all did a shot (my first) of tequila... blecgh. It was disgusting. But now I can say I tried it, I suppose. Then we went to the student union (where they have a bar), and danced for while... it was fun, but we didn't stay out too late because classes started today!
I only had one class so far and it was so packed with hundreds of students (including a LOT of adults) that I had to sit on the steps. I still have no idea what's going on with my schedule, but I'll catch on, I guess. I'm learning how to "go with the flow" here; that's just how the Irish do it.
I also started "work" today. I'm the assistant to the Saint Mary's coordinator, Roberta, and I basically just had to run errands and copy some things down for her. She said most of my job will be to make calls and reservations for the trips she's planning for us, run errands, and a lot of the time she won't have work for me so I can just sit in the office, do homework, and use her heater (free heat!).
I had pasta for dinner tonight with some funky tasting alfredo sauce... it was kinda gross. I'm going to have to really start thinking about cooking soon...
We had a meeting/class with Roberta today in which we just asked her quesitons and told her how we were adjusting. She had some things that the girls last year left us, so I got some string lights that are now hanging in my room, a clock (which is on military time, so it won't be much use), some hairspray, cold medicine, tape, and hangers! Whoopie!
That's all, I guess... nothing too exciting today. I'm staying in tonight (even though it's "fresher's fortnight and we're supposed to go out every night) because I have a class at 9am toorrow. I'm sure my Tuesday classes will result in more questions than answers, but I'll figure it all out.
I'll figure it all out...
Last night the fajitas that Deb (my friend Beth's Irish roommate) made us where delicious, and then we all did a shot (my first) of tequila... blecgh. It was disgusting. But now I can say I tried it, I suppose. Then we went to the student union (where they have a bar), and danced for while... it was fun, but we didn't stay out too late because classes started today!
I only had one class so far and it was so packed with hundreds of students (including a LOT of adults) that I had to sit on the steps. I still have no idea what's going on with my schedule, but I'll catch on, I guess. I'm learning how to "go with the flow" here; that's just how the Irish do it.
I also started "work" today. I'm the assistant to the Saint Mary's coordinator, Roberta, and I basically just had to run errands and copy some things down for her. She said most of my job will be to make calls and reservations for the trips she's planning for us, run errands, and a lot of the time she won't have work for me so I can just sit in the office, do homework, and use her heater (free heat!).
I had pasta for dinner tonight with some funky tasting alfredo sauce... it was kinda gross. I'm going to have to really start thinking about cooking soon...
We had a meeting/class with Roberta today in which we just asked her quesitons and told her how we were adjusting. She had some things that the girls last year left us, so I got some string lights that are now hanging in my room, a clock (which is on military time, so it won't be much use), some hairspray, cold medicine, tape, and hangers! Whoopie!
That's all, I guess... nothing too exciting today. I'm staying in tonight (even though it's "fresher's fortnight and we're supposed to go out every night) because I have a class at 9am toorrow. I'm sure my Tuesday classes will result in more questions than answers, but I'll figure it all out.
I'll figure it all out...
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Polish Cheeks
It's sad to see all the Irish students moving in today with their families here to help, but what's even more sad is that my roommates STILL aren't here!
Today I finally got to sleep in! Some of the girls went to church, and after, Beth's Irish roommate Deborah took us into Dublin to show us around a bit. We met her friend Jason there too; Deb and Jason are soooo nice and friendly. We took the train into Dublin which only cost like 5 Euro. (Luckily, the German dream boat came too and we all got to chat with him a bit... although we found out he has a girlfriend at home. But that's okay, we can still be his friends.) We stopped to eat at a cafe and I had a delicious chicken pannini (yes, I DID spell that right; here they spell the word "panini" with an extra "n".) After that we walked down to Temple Bar which is pretty famous. We went in a few shops, and then to a shopping center where we found a TK MAXX!!! I got myself a new winter coat, and now I'm finally done spending money (until it comes time to go on a trip!) We didn't have a lot of time in Dublin today, but we got to know Dominik (the German boy), Clare (his French friend), and Deb and Jason, and now we know where the train station is and we know how to go about getting to Dublin, so all in all it was a good day. We only had a slight problem getting the train to come back... Jason took us through Trinity College to get the the train station there, but when we got through the college, the entrance to the train station was blocked off, so we thought we were going to have to walk all the way around (and then we'd have missed the train), but we found a whole in the fence and slid through... it was quite funny, but some ladies watching us didn't seem to approve. But we made the train! When I told Deb today that I'm Polish, she told me that I look a bit Polish: that I have Polish cheeks... just something kind of interesting that I learned about myself! :)
It also didn't rain all day today! Two days in a row with no rain! It's been beautiful! (knock on wood).
Tonight Deb is providing us with nachos, fajitas, icecream, and tequila (although I only gave her 5 Euro instead of 10 because I'm only going to be there for the food.) At least I don't have to cook again! And where there's people, there is warmth!
Today I finally got to sleep in! Some of the girls went to church, and after, Beth's Irish roommate Deborah took us into Dublin to show us around a bit. We met her friend Jason there too; Deb and Jason are soooo nice and friendly. We took the train into Dublin which only cost like 5 Euro. (Luckily, the German dream boat came too and we all got to chat with him a bit... although we found out he has a girlfriend at home. But that's okay, we can still be his friends.) We stopped to eat at a cafe and I had a delicious chicken pannini (yes, I DID spell that right; here they spell the word "panini" with an extra "n".) After that we walked down to Temple Bar which is pretty famous. We went in a few shops, and then to a shopping center where we found a TK MAXX!!! I got myself a new winter coat, and now I'm finally done spending money (until it comes time to go on a trip!) We didn't have a lot of time in Dublin today, but we got to know Dominik (the German boy), Clare (his French friend), and Deb and Jason, and now we know where the train station is and we know how to go about getting to Dublin, so all in all it was a good day. We only had a slight problem getting the train to come back... Jason took us through Trinity College to get the the train station there, but when we got through the college, the entrance to the train station was blocked off, so we thought we were going to have to walk all the way around (and then we'd have missed the train), but we found a whole in the fence and slid through... it was quite funny, but some ladies watching us didn't seem to approve. But we made the train! When I told Deb today that I'm Polish, she told me that I look a bit Polish: that I have Polish cheeks... just something kind of interesting that I learned about myself! :)
It also didn't rain all day today! Two days in a row with no rain! It's been beautiful! (knock on wood).
Tonight Deb is providing us with nachos, fajitas, icecream, and tequila (although I only gave her 5 Euro instead of 10 because I'm only going to be there for the food.) At least I don't have to cook again! And where there's people, there is warmth!
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