Paris!!!!

I don't really have the time at the moment to write up some stuff about Paris but I did upload photos. I am waiting to get more photos from Colleen and I'll post those on webshots in due time. Best trip ever!!!!!!
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569158395RuOvtE

The Real Ireland

Here are the pictures from my weekend: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569009496SzPSdX
Well I finally saw proper Ireland this weekend. It only took three months of being in the country. I went to my Irish friend's house in Clonakilty this weekend. We drove down on Friday and I came home last night. I hav felt a little bitter towards this country for awhile and now I'm realizing that it's not towards this country but it's Limerick that is making me feel this way. And plus I've really only seen cities up close, I haven't been able to see the real country. One thing I noticed while on my trip was that Irish people drive like maniacs. Most of the roads here are wicked tiny and Emma was driving over 40 down all these windy roads where there was oncoming traffic. I was clutching the door the whole time in slight panic. She thought it was really funny because she said her friends say that she's a safe driver. I can't even imagine how other Irish people drive. Her house is absolutely adorable. It's on a lot of land and it overlooks mountains and cows. Her house is over 300 years old and it looks like what I thought an Irish house would look like. We then went into town and got some chinese take away and rented a couple of movies. The town that she lives in is also what I thought Ireland would look like. The building are all different colors and there are a lot of wool stores and Irish souvenirs and whatnot. Also lots of chippery's which is expected in this country. On Saturday we went to the bay which was gorgeous. We then drove out to Bantry House. There are pictures of it. It was built in the late 17th century and it overlooks the bay and mountains. The house itself was closed but we got to walk around the grounds. It was breathtaking. We then went back to her house and cooked a huuuge chicken roast. I felt like that was my Thanksgiving. She's a damn good cook I must say. Her boyfriend and friend were also there this weekend. So while there were only four of us, she cooked for 8. I also made snickerdoodles. By the end of the dinner none of could even move we were all so full. Sunday I got up to Emma making a real Irish breakfast. This is what's in it: rashers (bacon), sausage, white pudding, black pudding, toast, eggs, potatoes, onions, and tea. We started off the morning to where all of us could barely move we were so full. We took a drive to the beach which was about 10 minutes from where she lives. The Cape has really pretty beaches but I must say that this beach definately impressed me. Then we went back and just relaxed for the rest of the day.
It took me three months to finally see what I've been looking for the whole time I've been here. I was so happy to see the country that I had fallen in love with a long time ago. It lived up to its expectations. Friday and Saturday a bunch of us will be renting cars and driving around the ring of Kerry and then Sunday I'm off to Paris for 4 days :) I only have three more weeks left and I'm going to fit in as much as I possibly can.

Halloween

I had a great time on Halloween. I went as Sarah Palin!!! We went to a house party at our Spanish friends' house. It was funny because for half the night it was mostly in English but as the night progressed most people were speaking Spanish. Not very nice if you ask me. They made us Sangria and we had some Paella. They also had a DJ and a good sized dance floor set up. We were originally going to go into the city centre after the house party but we stayed there longer than we had planned. A lot of the people at first didn't know who I was and then they thought that the reason why I was dressed like her is because I liked her. And then there were people who didn't even know who she was. So by the second half of the night it was just easier to tell people that I was a secretary. http://community.webshots.com/album/568456025tfgGHO

Dinner Party and Dublin!!

http://community.webshots.com/album/568299063sPVxZI These are the pictures from my weekend. This weekend was the best weekend I've had since I've been here. It was soooo much fun and I am completely exhausted. I hosted a birthday dinner party for my friend Lydwine. He boyfriend was in from Holland for the week and she also wanted to do something special with her close friends and him. We had an absolute blast...ate lots of food, played some great games. We then went to Costello's after which is the one place that all of the international students go to all the time. The next night we had a party for Lydwine at the pub on campus called the Stables. It was really relaxed and we all just sat around, ate some food, and talked. We needed that after the night before. On Saturday we left for Dublin at about 7:45. The bus ride wasn't bad at all. I slept for a lot of it. It was only about a 3.5 hour drive. And it's funny because I crossed the country in that short amount of time...this place is so small! When we got to Dublin we had to check in at the hostel. It was great because the hostel was about a two minute walk to Temple Bar and about a 5 minute walk to O'Connell Street. The only thing that I really wanted to do was go and see the Book of Kells. That's what I told everyone and I won! We walked over to Trinity College. That place is absolutely gorgeous. The buildings are quite impressive. And then I finally saw the thing I've wanted to see for years now. The Book of Kells was absolutely amazing. It met my expectations and I am so happy that I finally saw it. I also went into the Long Room which was incredibly impressive. I remember when I walked into the room my eyes teared up. It was just so amazing to actually see something that I've been obsessed with for so long and for it to be that awesome. We then left Trinity College and went out in the absolutely terrible weather. It was typical Ireland when we stepped outside. It was cold, wicked windy, and pouring out. We decided to take a walk to the Guinness factory. Mind you, from where the Trinity College is to the Guinness factory, it's quite a hike. And factor in the awesome fantastic weather...that was one of the worst walks ever. We were all miserable by the time we got to the factory and we all really needed a beer. I must say that I wish we hadn't wasted our time going to the factory. It was basically the most expensive beer of my life. We paid the 11 euro entrance fee and went into the factory. It was pretty boring. By the time we got to the second floor and realized we still had 5 more to go, we just hopped on an elevator and went to the top. We left there eventually...not soon enough, and took the bus back to our hostel. We then all got ready to go out. Thankfully by this time the rain had stopped. We first went to the Temple Bar. It was really really nice but wiiiicked expensive...surprise surprise. A beer cost 6.20!!!! Considering here in Limerick most beer is under 4.00. I was so surprised when I got my drink. We didn't stay there long because it was really crowded and we all wanted to dance. The whole Temple Bar area is really nice. I really enjoyed it. It had a really good atmosphere and people were playing music in the streets. It was great. We then went to this club called Club M that was really really nice. They had it decorated for Halloween and the music was very very loud. We stayed there all night and then went back to hostel and went to bed. The next morning we got up pretty early and went out for breakfast. We wanted to have a pretty easy going day so we went to Grafton Street and went shopping. I fell in love with Dublin. It's a gorgeous city filled with interesting people and incredible buildings. We also went to St. Patrick's Cathedral which was really impressive. We had planned on staying another night but by the time we were done with the cathedral we all decided we wanted to go home. I got back to my apartment at around 11:00. So all in all it was a fantastic weekend. Dublin is my favorite place that I've been to in Ireland and I hope to go back there again before I leave.

I'm an aunt!!!!

My brother is now a father. Ally had Madelyn Riley and she is sooo adorable!! I really wish I was home right now.

Tiiiiiiiired

Thank you all for letting me know that people are reading this. It makes me feel a lot better :) So I am pretty tired right now. I've had a long week and I'm just ready to do absolutely nothing at all tomorrow. I went to the gym a lot this week and I feel like I'm really progressing with my workouts which is really nice. I am going to school. It's really hard to concentrate on school around here because I just feel like I have no time. I mean I'm trying to do as much school work as I can but then I usually find something else to do instead. I just know that I'm not going to let myself fail anything because that would be just absolutely horrible. I only went out twice this week and I'm really proud of myself for that. Thursday night I went out with my friends Lydwine and Colleen and we went out to Costello's which I have concluded that it is my favorite pub. We went a little earlier than we are used to and there was a group of musicians playing trad Irish music. It felt like I was in a movie. We all drank some Guinness and just listened to the music. It was fantastic. We met up with our Italian and Spanish friends and just had a good time. It's crazy because me and Colleen are the only two Americans that hang out with the Erasmus students. She's the only other American that I spend the most of my time with. I love talking to the European students and the differences between our countries. I'm realizing more and more how much the educational system in the U.S. is screwed up. It makes me feel like I'm missing out on a lot of stuff when talking to these people. Another thing that I am noticing is that the image of Irish people that I'm used to hearing about in America is pretty incorrect. The Irish as a whole are a lot more rude than people back home. They don't say excuse me when they walk in front of you, if they want to grab something that's on the shelf in front of you they'll just grab it and not say anything. When you're walking down the street and someone is coming the other way, they don't move over for you at all. You either knock into them or you have to move. If they drop something from a shelf in a store they just walk away and pretend that nothing happened, they don't smile and say hello when you say it to them. They usually just pretend that you aren't there. The children here are so unbelievably misbehaved. I mean there are plenty of little kids back home that aren't the best in the world but here it seems like they all just run wild. I am making huge generalizations but it's to the point where I really am noticing the difference. It's so weird too because I've been told my whole life how nice the Irish are and I'm not really seeing that at all. I still love it here though. It's absolutely gorgeous and you can find nice Irish people to talk to. So yea, Friday I went to the gym again and then a group of us went to this bar called Molly's. The place was awesome and we all had an absolute blast. Today I went to Bunratty castle. It was the castle and then there was a Plymouth Plantation style folk park that was supposed to represent a mid-1800's village. It was really cute and a lot of fun. So I finally saw my first castle. There were a lot of spiral staircases. And the staircases were wicked narrow. There must not have been any overweight people back in the 1400's. We all had a great time and it was wicked touristy. I am being such a tourist here and it's great. Then I went to a Munster Rugby match with my Irish housemate and her boyfriend. Rugby is sooo much better than football. It's non stop action. I didn't understand anything that was going on but it was still awesome. Then we went back to my housemates apartment and had lots of pizza. So now I'm just sitting at my desk and relaxing. I have a lot of random stuff to do tomorrow like laundry and just cleaning up. It's pouring outside right now and the clothes I was wearing to the match are completely soaked through. I will probably be going to more rugby games as time goes on because my Irish housemate's boyfriend gets tickets for a discounted rate. I added more photos onto webshots so you can all view them on there. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/567630683YpqZtg I also have a video of the hall at the castle. This is mainly for my mom because I can't send the video to her on email because it's too big. But anyone can view it :)

Good job me :)

Karen so graciously informed me that I needed to set it so that people without a blogger account can make comments on my blog. I have now set it up so anyone can comment so I hope this will make me feel loved again. I would love to hear some feedback! Miss you all!!

Hi

I just wanted to know who is reading this blog. I can't tell if anyone is reading this so I don't know if I'm reaching out to anyone out there. So if you could please just leave a comment if you are reading this then I would definately appreciate it.

Jeez!

Umm...yea. Can you tell that life is really hectic over here? I keep meaning to post new things on here to keep you guys updated but its hard. My week has been incredible...or my last two weeks rather. I've been going out a lot which is great. I have a base group of friends that I hang out with all the time and I'm forming some awesome friendships. Last week I went to Galway and went rock climbing at the Burren. Galway is absolutely gorgeous. I doesn't really feel like a city because it's so clean. There were musicians playing in the street everywhere and it's such an awesome atmosphere. I hope that the link I put on there worked and you guys are seeing all my pictures. My friend Colleen moved into my village so I have a new neighbor and I've been hanging out with her every night since Wednesday. My friend Emma and I go to the gym a lot together and do step class. I am training people at the gym now which is crazy. Once people found out that I do weight training I had people asking me if I could help them. My friend Colleen had a movie night on Wednesday and her friend Jeff is down from New York. Thursday night us three went into town to this place called Costello's. It's a traditional pub downstairs and upstairs is a disco. I met a bunch of people there and had a great time. I went clothes shopping with Colleen and Jeff Friday because I am definately lacking in going out clothes. People dress up a lot more here and I feel like such a slob. Then Friday night Colleen had a dinner party at her place and there were a group of us. We had delicious pasta and we played charades. It's funny to explain charades to people from other countries because they don't get it until you actually play it first. So me and Colleen were the only Americans. And we also had to plan it so that we were doing things that everyone would understand since we're all from different countries. Then the group of us went to the Stables after. Saturday morning I had to get up really early because I was going to Cork with the international students. The bus ride was about 2 hours which wasn't that bad. We stayed in a hostel. http://www.kinlayhousecork.ie/ We split two rooms. There was 10 in one room and 8 in the other. We all walked around the city during the day. It was great there. It looked more like a city than Limerick does. There was a lot going on, lots of interesting shops. We ate at this hole in the wall but they had great food. We then met everyone back at the hostel and got ready to go out. We went to Burger King to get some good American food and then went to this awesome pub called Old Oak. The place was huge and it got really confusing to figure out where everyone was. We met up with another group of international students and with all of us together we were about 40 people. We spent the night dancing like crazy. Then we left there and there was a guy playing music outside on the way back to the hostel and we all got together and danced and sang. This morning we were all completely exhausted and walked aimlessly around the city. I didn't get to Blarney Castle but I have 3 more months which will give me plenty of time to visit it again. Here is the link to my photos from this week. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/567475014shlnFV?start=0 My friends will probably post more so I'll be adding as the week progresses.

Oh My

So yea, I have been really busy this week and I'm sorry for not posting. :( I am beyond exhausted and there is no way that I can even think of things to write. I am just going to post the link to my webshots where I have pictures of my week. I plan to write something up tomorrow if I can find the time...hopefully.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/567230311CjtwUs

Sooo tired!

So! I had a very busy day yesterday and I was supposed to go hiking today in Mangerton but I knew there was no way I had enough energy for that. So...my week. My week has been pretty busy. I had my first week of classes and they went pretty well. My schedule is kind of sparse, it's hard to get used to since I don't have a job. So yea, the classes I'm taking are Irish Language, Irish Folklore, Comparative Literature, and American Literature. The reason I'm taking the American Literature class is because I need it to graduate from Bridgewater. It's kind of interesting since they're talking more the beginning of America and how the writing has influenced it over time. So it's more of a history class which I'm enjoying. This week was kind of a blur. I've made it to the gym a couple of times which is awesome. It can get kind of intimidating at the gym since the only people that use the weights are guys. I was a little freaked out the first time I went there since I wasn't expecting that. I got over it pretty quickly though. Thursday night I went out with some friends. It's just really funny how the Irish around here only really go out on Thursday nights and Sunday nights. It's so different from home since the nights to go out are Friday and Saturday. And then people have class in the mornings so I don't know how they do it. Us international students are going out the normal nights so we can stay awake for our classes...or at least attempt to. I finally got to get out of Limerick yesterday. I was sooo excited. Five of us went on a bus tour to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. It was fantastic because the one place I've wanted to go the most is the Burren and I'm finally able to say that I've been there. The country is beyond gorgeous. Pictures pale in comparison to what it really looks like. There are also an unbelievable amount of cows. The Burren is beautiful. It is so peaceful there....so quiet (minus the cows). We went to this old stone fort that was built around 1000 CE. It was ok. I just think looking at the surrounding area was the only thing that was really

worth it. I made a video of the cow noise...I hope this works.
After we went to this fort we went to the (the name is in the picture to the side.) It is an old Dolmen and it was awesome. That is one thing that I've always wanted to see since I've been here and I was quite excited that I finally got to see it. I think the tour guy said that it was built about 3000 years ago. The landscape it self was pretty barren. There were a lot of rocks all over the place. It was really quiet. It was absolutely nothing like around here. It was just completely different than anything I've ever seen before. We didn't stay in the Burren for too long. We went to this small little Irish village in Doolin. It looked like a movie set. It was quite interesting. We went to this great small Irish pub. I had some beef and Guinness stew. I had been craving it all day and when I saw that on the menu I got wicked excited. The girl from Holland, the guy from Slovacia (I'm probably spelling that word wrong), and the guy from Austria had never heard of a stew before. They thought it tasted fantastic. So after we went to this small village to have a lunch break we went to the ocean. I had completely forgotten how much I missed the ocean until we went there. It looked a lot more dramatic than the ocean at home. There were lots of cliffs and huge waves. It was gorgeous. We stopped at this cliff edge and took lots of pictures. So after we left this cliff we finally went to the Cliffs of Moher. It wasn't that expensive at all.

You would think that since it's such a tourist destination they would charge an unbelievable amount of money to get there. But thankfully they didn't. My brother had told me that it wasn't worth it to go near the castle that they have there and that you should go where everyone else is away from. So we decided to do that. But of course the way that is not designated for people to walk on it quite muddy and slippery and dangerous. But by being a tourist you have to do silly and muddy things. So my originally pretty decent shoes are now caked in mud. But it's totally worth it. We stayed at the Cliffs for about an hour and a half. I've finally seen the Cliffs! Now the pictures that I see online all the time will pale in comparison to what I've seen in real life.

Pictures from My Trip to The Burren and Cliffs of Moher

http://community.webshots.com/album/566893497nLEUld?vhost=community

The Weekend

So I have been in Ireland for almost a week now. I absolutely love it here. I have met some great people and I am definately having the time of my life. I have met a lot of international students this weekend since most of the Irish go home during the weekend. Thursday night I just stayed hom because I still had jet lag. All of my housemates have been gone all weekend so I had the whole place to myself and I just relaxed and slept. I had orientation on Thursday and Friday. It was all very overwhelming and it was so much information to take in. They do school differently here. I don't even know how to describe it. I got my student ID on Friday and I look pretty angry in my picture. Friday night I had an absolutel blast. I went to the Stables with a girl I had met at orientation. We sat at a table with a couple of girls that she knew. There were people from Austria, France, Finland, and Holland also sitting at the table. When we got there, there was a group playing some traditional Irish music. They also had some dancing. I finally had my first Guinness. Guinness seems to taste a lot better here than it does at home...or maybe its just all in my head. Then we decided to go to the Lodge. It was wicked fantastic. We all got in a circle and were dancing like crazy. We stayed there until they closed and then I took a cab back home. Yesterday I had my first run in Ireland and it was incredible. Nothing looks like that back home. It was gorgeous and it was the first time where it really hit me that I was finally in Ireland. After my run Jakob (the Austrian) came over. We took a bus into Limerick. The city is awesome. It looks like a movie set. Its interesting because there are some castles scattered around with modern buildings. I found a castle in an alley. It just looks like it wicked doesn't belong there. We then went across the river and took a walk to King John's Castle. It was closed by the time we got there so we couldn't go in there. I figured that I will have plenty of time to go into it while I'm here since it's not that far away. We walked around for about 2 hours or so. We ate at McDonald's. The chicken nuggets taste different which I was a little disappointed about that. It looks different in general. And it's more expensive. The chicked was kind of tasteless actually. But that's ok, at least the french fries tasted the same...or chips as they call it here. Today I have been completely useless. Jakob came over and we watched TV all day. They have a lot of American TV so we watched Gladiators all day. This week starts school and I'm very nervous. It should be interesting to try and figure this whole thing out. I will leave you with one of the weirdest and funniest signs I have ever seen. It was down a random road in Limerick...they have a lot of weird businesses.

I hate jet lag and it hates me right back

Jeeeez I'm tired. This has been the longest week ever. So...now onto my story of arriving at the campus. I finally get to the college and it's pretty big. It's spread out and I still don't have a good grasp of where everything is. I really wasn't expecting it to be huge. I'm just used to thinking that things in Ireland are pretty small. I got to me apartment at about 9-something on Tuesday and no one was there yet. There was a jacket and lots of liquor bottles lying around which made me nervous. I'm not the biggest fan of big partiers. So I then unpacked and took a walk up to the student union. I met Adam and a girl named Hannah (both American). We all decided to take a walk into town. They have a TK Maxx! It's the same exact thing as a TJ Maxx back home. I thought that was wicked weird. We walked by a gas station and I saw an empty box for a penis enlarger...that was quite odd. Welcome to Ireland and get a bigger penis in the process :) We then went to the cell phone store and got cell phones. They aren't that expensive. They are pay as you go and you get free calls and texts through people with the same network. Then I went back to my room to take a nap. Then I heard someone come in. It was my housemate!! She's awesome. She's from Cork and she's teaching me the ways of Ireland. We get along great and have fun. She's quite talkative. All the Irish are it seems. They weren't lying. We went out shopping for random things and then went food shopping. When we got back to the apartment, we met our other 2 roomates. They are both 18 and Irish. They are pretty messy it seems since they don't do their dishes. They said they were inviting people over then they were going out to the Lodge which is about a ten minute walk from campus. So Emma and I agreed to go. We got dressed up. Then my other two housemates said they were going to invite 4 people to come over before we headed out. It turned out to be about 15 people...fantastic. It was quite loud and hectic inn there for awhile. This better not be the norm because I couldn't take that noise on a regular basis. They were all Irish which was great. I'm meeting a majority of Irish people. We then went to the Lodge and had an absolute blast. Emma was shocked at how much of a flirt I am. I didn't think I was that bad. But I got to talk to many Irish guys. I actually met a really nice one. His name is Sean. We went out last night also. I have a weakness for the accent. Yesterday was a pretty lazy day. I didn't actually do much of anything until about 7. Me and Emma and her friend went out to the Stables which is a pub on campus. There was a band playing and we had a couple of pints. Then we went to the Lodge again and we danced for the most of the night. I met Sean there and hung out a bit. Today was orientation and I'm completely overwhelmed. School seems like it could take a bit to get used to. But I'll figure it out. Tonight I'm just going to stay in. I'm completely useless. I feel like I was hit by a truck and I just want to catch up on sleep. I have more orientation tomorrow then I'm probably going to go to the Arena and get a membership.

I'm here!!!!!!!

Ireland....I'm finally here. At the moment I am sitting on a couch in the kitchen, drinking tea and milk and eating toast. I'm watching Irish TV and it looks like America has corrupted TV. I am absolutely exhausted. The time difference is still getting to me a little bit but I will get used to it. Yesterday was basically the longest day of my life...but one of the best. I'm still recovering from it. Leaving mom and dad wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. It was still wicked sad since I was leaving them and going off into the big world on my own. We got to the airport about 2.5 hours before I was supposed to board the plane. I am very happy that we got there so early. We weren't running around and freaking out or anything. It was almost relaxing. We got some pizza and mom and I had a beer. We just sat and talked for about an hour. That's what I love so much about my parents. We can just sit and hang out together with no problem. I said bye to them at 5:30 and my plane was boarding at 6:15. Saying buy to them was definately difficult. The reality of the situation hit me all at once. But after I went through security I wasn't nervous anymore. Everything was working out fine at that point so I figured there was no reason to be nervous. The plane ride was aboslutely awful and wicked long. I got to sit by myself. The flight attendants had the ugliest weird green suits on. Everything on the plane was green. It was a little sickening. There were a group of middle aged Boston men sitting behind me. They were the stereotypical loud Bostonians with harsh accents. Ugh...I couldn't sleep for the life of me. I kept on being on the brink of falling asleeop and then something would wake me up. We arrived in Ireland at about 5:30 AM. It was still dark when we arrived in Ireland so I could only see lights. But I remember seeing cars driving on the wrong side of the road for the first time. I was really excited when I saw that. I waited at the airport for about 2.5 hours. We had to pass through immigration. They had all the students wait on the side. It took them about 5 minutes to check each one of us and there were at least 50 of us there. I met a guy named Adam. He was also going to Limerick. That definately helped me because i had someone to talk to. He was really nice. We waiting around the airport then finally left at around 8:15. It was raining of course. I was so excited to see Ireland...finally. It is wicked green. The trip to campus took forever. Traffic here is pretty heavy. There are sooooooo many rotaries!!!!!! It seems like every 100 feet there's on. And it's weird because they go to opposite way around the thing than we do. The things I noticed on the way to campus:
It's soooooo green!!!! It's like neon!! They have different birds here. There are lots and lots of cows and a good amount of horses. The cars are tiny. I don't think I've seen any SUVs. There are lots of station wagons. The houses look really different. They are adorable. I'm not really sure how to describe them. They spell things funny. They have lots of pubs....lots and lots of them. People are crazy drivers. All the kids wear uniforms to school. The gas stations look funny. There are no decimal places so it looks like you're paying 129 euro for a litre of petrol. Everything is in euro. There's no added taxes on items, it's already added on. If it says it's 2.99, then you pay 2.99. There is no base tax like home. Different things have a different amount of tax. Luxury items have the most. The phone numbers are weird. The faucets are odd. They have two seperate faucets for cold and hot so you can't have warm water. The Irish have a certain look to them. A lot of the men look the same. I understand most of what people are saying. There are so many various accents. It's awesome! So that's my general information on Ireland itself so far. My next post will be about my arrival here and what happened after.