| D-town |
[11 Jun 2005|03:27pm] |
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mood |
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 contemplative |
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Here we are folks, back on American soil, safe and sound. We had to leave the house at about 7:30 to catch the bus to the airport, so we had to wake everyone up to say goodbye. It was so aweful, and we were really rushed because the taxi got there so fast, so our hugs were too hurried. It's probably for the best though because any longer and I would have started sobbing. Not knowing when I'll see any of them again is so depressing... I can't even stand to think about it. Already I miss them so much. The night before we left we just went down to Fennessy's then back to the house, and Lorenzo brought down his guitar and we all sang. It was so much fun, really a wonderful final night all together. And Helen said that if we ever come back to Ireland in the summer we are all welcome to stay at Glencairn because she never rents it in the summer. I really hope we can have a family reunion there some day.
The trip itself was really miserable. The security and customs and stuff at Shannon was really ridiculous and stressful, but we got through alright, and the first flight from Shannon to Boston was alright. They fed us twice and we had two movies, including the Incredibles. But then Boston was stupid. After we had boarded the plane the captain announced takeoff would be delayed over an hour because of Chicago weather, so we sat in the plane twiddling our thumbs and enjoying their "water service." We still made our connection though, because it was also delayed. In total we were on planes for about 11 hours, and in all the trip took nearly 24 hours to get from Glencairn to the girls' apartment.
It's lovely to see them. They got pizza, beer and cloves for us, and we chatted last night and played a couple hands of rummy. Obviously Liz and I were exhausted though, so we didn't last long. As soon as I hit the futon I was out like a light. I seriously could have slept for like 15 hours, but we made sure to get up before noon to start trying to shake off the jet lag. Now we're at school for the first time in four and a half months, and it is surreal to the extreme. It sure is wonderful to be able to get on a computer on the weekend... I think this is going to be my last post here, since I am no longer drinkin abroad. Thank you to everyone who read it and made me feel loved. You're all great, and hopefully I will see you sometime soon.
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| we have lots of babies |
[09 Jun 2005|08:01am] |
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mood |
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 indescribable |
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You know how you picture a band in your mind, then you see them and they're nothing like you imagined? Well Weezer is exactly like we imagined, right down to Rivers looking like he was on the verge of tears for about the first half of the show. Their band dynamic is just... weird. Fortunately their music is amazing, and thus the show rocked. They didn't play a very long set, but they got in most of the important stuff. My personal favorite was My Name Is Jonas because I just plain love that song. They definitely could have trimmed a little fat though and added a bit more muscle, like some B-sides or some more off of Pinkerton, and now way should they have ended with Hash Pipe. That just doesn't make sense. Still though, it was a great show. The crowd was really out of hand though. It was absolutely packed, people were pushing and shoving and sweating so bad that it was hard to breathe. We eventually moved further away from the stage because it was so rough that we couldn't even pay attention to the band. Now we're hoping that they'll come to Denver since their extending their tour, then we can see them again and hopefully be able to see and hear a little better. I've saved the most exciting part for last though. After the band had left and they started cleaning up the stage, they started to through out their set lists and picks. Liz and I BOTH got picks. Unfortunately we don't know who's they are, but just knowing that their Weezer's is incredible. What are the freaking chances that we'd both get one?!
Now comes the sad part. I leave tomorrow. My emotions about it are so all over the place. First I'll be sad that I'm going to have to say goodbye to the family, so I'll console myself with being happy to see everyone at home, then I feel guilty about being happy at all. It's this strange sad/happy/guilt combo that endlessly circles, and it's starting to give me a stomach ache. I'm going to miss this place, or rather this time, so so so much. And I'm nervous for this summer, too. Finding an apartment by myself is going to be a little stressful, as is moving and everything that goes with it. And of course getting a job is never fun or easy. At least I'll be volunteering with the baby animals. Siiiigh.... I wish I could just switch off emotion for the next 36 hours, then everything would be okay. Anyway, I have lots to do today to get ready, so I'll leave it there.
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| Helllo from Dublin! |
[06 Jun 2005|10:34pm] |
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mood |
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 post-travel//excited/anxious |
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This is Liz and Adrienne here. We're at the hostel in Dublin. We walked around the city today and found the venue for Weezer TOMORROW NIGHT!!! Then we walked around Temple Bar and a nice little pedestrian area, before finding a nice quiet pub to enjoy a pint together. Tomorrow afternoon Nina and Lorenzo will join us and we'll go to some museums and such. Pretty much anything free.... Oh, and it turns out that the hostel Liz booked is right next door to the B&B where we stayed with my parents. Makes it much easier to orient ourselves. Anything to add, Lizzy?
Hello Friends and Adrienne's buddies. Dublin is strange...different from every part of Ireland...it's just not as Irish...hmmm. Hopefully, we get into the concert tomorrow because we don't have our passports and we don't have an "age card" (an Irish/European thing). Just a little worried, but hopefully I'll have my =w= on full display at this time tomorrow. Ok. Good night. :)
Love you all and see you soon!
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| Here are some lovely pictures, courtesy of Deirdre. |
[02 Jun 2005|03:15pm] |
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mood |
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 confused |
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This is the view from one of the towers at King John's castle.
This would be creepy ol' King John himself.
Here we have some extremely cute baby sheep at Bunratty.
Two hotties outside of the one and only Glencairn.
My stunning sister in the coolest tree I've ever seen.
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| geez louise! |
[02 Jun 2005|02:03pm] |
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mood |
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 blank |
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I never made it back to the lab to post about Deird's visit because I didn't have time before we went to Donegal. The trip was great, but I don't feel like posting about it because Liz and Adrian already did. You can read theirs on my friends page if you wish (you should also check out Liz's website for pictures from Rome). Instead I shall focus my energy on my lovely sister, but forgive me if I forget some stuff since it was like a week ago.
Deird got here the morning Liz and I got back from Rome and we were very lucky that she spotted us at the airport or else all kinds of confusion would have taken place. We took the bus into Limerick and Liz took Deird back to the house while I went to the station to retrieve Thomas and Daniel who had been waiting to pick her up. We mostly just rested during the day since we were both sleep deprived, then had a little pasta before taking a cab to the GAA stadium to watch a hurling match with some other internationals. The game was great, and although none of us had any idea about the rules we enjoyed it. Tipperary just barely nudged out Limerick in riculously long overtime. The next day we both slept in until about noon, which we definitely needed. Then we spent the afternoon taking in the fabulous sites of Limerick. We went to King John's castle where we learned some fascinating Limerick history from a bunch of talking manequins and saw what has to be the worst audio-visual presentation ever. On the way home we stopped at Tesco for some groceries, then headed home to make some damn good stir fry. Then we joined the rest of the family to see Star Wars: Episode III. Aside from the lousy script and hit-or-miss acting, it was a very entertaining film. Monday morning I had to do some homework, so I left Deird to sleep in went to the computer lab for a few hours. Deird joined me later and we got some lunch at Fennessy's before heading to the lovely Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, which I had visited at the beginning of the semester. We went in the castle and explored a bit, but the ubiquitous French tourists inside eventually drove us out to the Folk Park. I hadn't seen much of it before, but it's really quite charming. They have a bunch of little cottages with thatched rooves, a school house, a church and little shops and such that you can go in, and it's all set up like a little town complete with old Irish people in costumes. Back in Limerick that night we got some wine and Bailey's and movie from the library and had a relaxing night in. BTW, Spellbound is hilarious if any of you are looking for a random movie to watch sometime. On Tuesday we got really ambitious and went all the way to Cork and Blarney. We only spent enough time in Cork to get some burgers though. In Blarney we went in the castle, and Deird saw but did not kiss the stone. We spent quite a while up there though, just admiring the view. Then we walked all around the gardens, which are really incredible. They have a lot of foreign species planted in addition to the native plants, like these weird water plants with leaves that were like 3 feet wide and some crazy trees whose roots were like plastic. One of the trees also had the coolest branches I'd ever seen which reached to the ground and the spread out down the hill in all directions. There was a dolmen there too, which had the biggest capstone I've seen yet. Very impressive. After our walk we both did a little shopping, and I bought a sweet zippo with the Irish phrase for 'a hundred million welcomes' on it. When we got back to Limerick we had dinner at Dolan's and a couple of pints. We shared this crab cake thing that was devine.... mmmmm.... Then we went to Corner Flag for Adrian's 21st birthday party. Most people were pretty drunk, and we had a few as well. The pub was pretty empty though compared to the earlier parties we had there. It's sad to see how many people have left. Anyway, the next day we decided to go shopping. Penney's was our number one destination, and I think Deird felt the magic. We both bought some 50 cent underwear and €5 pajamas, and Deird joined the Penney's bag club. Then we went to tourist information shop where Deird continued to search fruitlessly for Guiness sweatbands and shamrock underwear. Kate was with us as well, and the three of us went to Tesco on the way home to get supplies for our big burrito night. Unfortunately it had started to rain and we only had paper bags to carry everything home. They all broke eventually and we ended up finishing the walk soaking wet with everything stuffed into our purses and my coat. It sucked! I got to work making my burritos right away, and despite a bit of initial skepticism, everybody loved them. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for making it possible. What did we do that night? I don't remember and it worries me. Well anyway, Deird had to leave me on Thursday morning. I was very sad to see her go, but I'm greatly comforted to know that she is coming to Wyoming for Fronteir Days. YEE-HAH!! I'm certain that I've forgotten stuff, so maybe I'll add it later. Sorry my memory has gone to hell. Thanks for coming, Deeder! I had a great time!
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| sorry for the lack of updates |
[27 May 2005|11:36am] |
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mood |
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 good - another semester done |
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I know you've all been waiting on pins and needles to hear what I've been up to lately, and now that I have FINALLY FINISHED ALL SCHOOLWORK I'm happy to provide you with you latest dose of Adrienne's adventures.
Rome was absolutely unbelievable amazing. Such a gorgeous place. What other city on Earth contains so much history and art all in one place? Lis and I got there last Wednesday morning after a horrendous night in London Stansted sleeping in chairs. We were sooo tired, but since our time in Rome was limited to only two and a half days we went straight into the city after checking into the hostel. Liz had a really great guide book that included several maps of walking tours. We managed to fit in two on the first day alone and saw a TON of stuff. Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, a crazy cat sanctuary, this random pyramid... just so much stuff that I can't even remember it all now. We did go to the Gesu, which is the mother church of the Jesuits where St. Ignatius Loyola is buried. We didn't even know there was such a place in Rome and then BAM! there it was. When we were planning this trip I was worried that I wouldn't care much about what we were looking at since I don't know much about Roman sites except the Coloseum and the Vatican, but I was so wrong. It's all so huge and impressive that I couldn't help but be amazed by everything that we looked at. We got our first Roman pasta that night at a sidewalk cafe near the Trevi fountain and had some extremely delicious gelato, with which we quickly became obsessed. Then we headed back to the hostel to meet Anne and Kate, but ended up running into them at the train station on the way. When we got to the hostel we went to the restaurant and had some pizza (we're pigs!) before going to bed.
The next morning was dedicated to the Vatican. We started out with the Musei Vaticani which takes you through a whole lot o' old paintings, sculptures, tapestries and such on a very winding course toward the Sistine Chapel. Everyone always talks about the ceiling, which is definitely incredible, but the walls are just as amazing. I mean nothing is left undecorated. I mean look at this! It blows my mind. After that we went to St. Peter's Square which was also incredible. The sun was shining and it was so hot and full of people. We went in the basilica, which Liz tells me is the largest church in the world at a height three times that of the Coloseum (I believe her), and saw the Pietta and the huge alter built over the tomb of St. Peter. There's also a sculpture of St. Peter which people traditionally rub the the feet of, and it's been going on for so long that his toes have actually been rubbed off.
We then departed from the Vatican and went to lunch. It was the best meal of the entire time we were there. We had bread with olive oil and salt, then I had the best pasta carbonara I've ever tasted, then Liz and I split a second course of veal. Soooooooo gooooood..... We followed it up with more gelato, as usual. My mouth waters just thinking about it now. Again I'm having problems remembering what we did in the afternoon, but I know we went to the Piazza Navona, which was packed with tourists, and marveled at the street vendors. They can pack up pretty freakin fast when the police come by! We just ate at the hostel that night, but I had a really good pizza with egg plant and red peppers. Then it was straight to sleep again.
[SIDE NOTE: The man next to me is driving me absol-friggin-lutely INSANE! He has some mucous/breathing issues which are really disgusting and he refuses to do anything about it, and he keeps grumbling louder and louder something along the lines of "Feck this piece of shite" because his computer isn't working. So move to another! I'm not going to miss you!]
The next morning we had to get up and check out way too early in the morning because the public transportation employees were going on strike at 8:30 and we had to get into the city, which is like a 45 min. train ride from the hostel. So we got up at like 6:30 and left the hostel without any breakfast. For awhile I thought the hostel had lost my passport and I was going to be in deep shit, but they found it. Grrr... still angry about that. We went to the Coloseum first, and found out we had managed to hit some sort of free day. We took a tour of the inside, but I was disappointed because you can only go around the sides and not down into the bottom, which looks like the most interesting part. From the Coloseum we went to the Forum and Palantine, which were both basically just ruins, but they were very beautiful. There are gardens surrounding them with amazing trees and lots of shade. By then we were all starving so we went to an outdoor restaurant that we'd spotted the day before.
[SIDE NOTE: Now he's burping repeatedly! I swear some are actually coming out of his nose!]
It was lovely to sit in the shade and eat. There were these little sparrows
[SIDE NOTE: He just blew his nose into his hand! GROSS! I will so never be sitting at that computer again.]
that would fly up and sit on your table, and our waiter was crazy and kept singing. I had spaghetti pomodora, and the noodles were freshly made and delicious. After lunch we got some more, you guessed, gelato. Then we unfortunately had to split up from Anne and Kate because they wanted to go see stuff we had the first day before they left for Venice that night. Liz and I went to Terme Caracalla, which is one of the largest and best preserved of the Roman baths. Inside they had some pieces left from the original mosaics that decorated the walls and floors, and outside there was a beautiful open garden with very few other people in it. We sat under a tree and just took it all in because it was out last destination of the trip. We left and had one more incredible gelato (total consumed on trip: 7 cones, 15 scoops :-P) and went back to the train station to catch a bus to the airport. Our flight didn't actually leave until 6:30 the next morning, but last bus until 4:30am left at 7:30 that night. It meant another night on an airport floor, but at least it was free and we weren't late for our flight.
I'll leave it there for now because my hands are very tired of typing since I just finished my essay before this. After a nap and some food though, I will be all ready to talk about Deird's and my adventures this past week. I miss her already!
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| today's menu: stuffed baked lamb liver. sick. |
[12 May 2005|02:28pm] |
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mood |
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 disappointed |
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This totally sucks. I'm not going to get the ISS shirt because Ellen missed my email. We're going to see if they can make one more, but the prospects don't look good. They have 'drunkenness is upon me' in Irish on the front, and 'It's that' in English on the back. It's sort of an inside joke and I really wanted one! Everybody keep your fingers crossed, people.
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[11 May 2005|07:36pm] |
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mood |
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 i worked myself into a tizzy! |
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You can tell when I'm avoiding homework because I start going nuts posting. Sorry if I'm clogging up everybody's friends pages.... Oh well, I can't imagine there's anyone more interesting than me you'd rather be reading about :)
I'm getting so psyched for Rome. It's in the 70's and 80's there now, and our hostel actually has a pool. We're going to haul our white hinies out and scare all the nice tanned Italians away. Mmmmm.... I'm so excited to be warm. Does anyone have any suggestions of where we should go there? I'm actually fairly unfamiliar with the city. Even so, I have no doubt this is going to be a great trip. Viva la Roma!
Ug, some of my housemates are irritating me lately with their lack of cleaning. Each week fewer people actually do their chores, and the dishes are constantly piling up. Even today after Kate, Liz and I cleaned up all of the bottles, cans, grills, etc. from the party, Lorenzo and Elina came in and stated that they absolutely had no time to clean until FRIDAY because they were just too busy, then proceeded to start cooking an elaborate lunch and add to the dish mound. Business is the lamest excuse for not cleaning in my opinion, especially when it's not even true. We all get busy sometimes, but that doesn't mean that our other responsibilities disappear, and others can't be expected to pick up the slack. I, of all people, should not have to explain time management to them. Grrr.... Fine, let's just let the house stay filthy until Friday, but I am not going to touch any dishes or clean any areas that I don't dirty myself because this happens to freaking often. The end.
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| Here's another! |
[11 May 2005|07:10pm] |
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It's the family!! Front row: Kaitlin, Thomas, Nina. Back row: Lorenzo, Elina, me, Tanya. Liz is behind the camera.
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| I feel like posting a picture. |
[11 May 2005|07:03pm] |
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mood |
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 triumphant! |
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See, photographic evidence that I really wasn't making it up. Those sheep look murderous even now....
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| 'you say potaytoe, I say potahtoe. you say bacon, I say rashers.' |
[11 May 2005|05:14pm] |
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mood |
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 stressed |
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Last night we had a sort of going away barbeque at the house for all of the internationals and a few Irish. It was a pretty sweet party. I had some delicious grilled chicken marinated in lemon and garlic, and most of the housemates made some sort of a salad to share. I made citrus infused couscous and it was scrumptious. Quite a few people came, and we were sort of spilling out of the house. It was by far the biggest party we've had, but it was actually pretty under control. Only a couple of people drank a lot, and most people left the house by like 12:30. So it's somewhat ironic that this was the one time that the neighbors called Helen to complain about the noise. Helen was very nice about it though when she stopped by today, she didn't get angry or anything, just asked us not to do it again. It just bothers me that none of the neighbors said anything to us before calling her. We certainly would have quieted down and asked people to come back in the house if we had realized we were bothering them, but we didn't even realize we'd been that loud. My favorite part of the night though had to be Ellen giving me a haircut in the front yard. She did a great job too, especially considering she had a few drinks in her at the time. So good in fact that five other people asked her for one as well!
I guess I should say a little about Belfast as well. We left early on Friday morning, but I had to run back to the house to get my (actually Liz's, but I didn't know that) passport which we didn't even end up using. The bus ride was mostly uneventful. We tried to stop and Newgrange and Knowth to see that tombs there, but were turned away since we had no reservation. Very disappointing. Our first night in Belfast was pretty low-key. We walked around a little and saw city hall, the botanic gardens and the Queen's University. The city has a strange feel to it that I can't really discribe. You can just sort of feel the tension in the air. We stopped at Tesco to get some stuff to cook at the hostel. I had some delicious easy-mac, courtesy of the parentals. The hostel was really cool and had like a rec room in the basement where you could drink and smoke and such. They had a tv and stereo down there as well, but the best part was the foosball table. We had a hell of a tournament going on, and I actually played better than I ever had before. The we played some quiet cards, just Anne, Holly, Liz and me, and had a nice conversation. We played question games and such, and later when some other people came down we got a good game of Ug going. I was glad to have passed on the old swimmer tradition. After a particularly disgusting/hilarious game of 'would you rather' we headed up to bed. There were 22 of us in one room, which sort of resembled a sea of bed with some heads floating between the rows. Probably my favorite hostel so far.
Saturday we got up to go to the Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. The Causeway was really cool. Some sort of geological phenomenon created the huge group of like 40,000 hexagonal stones that look like a great big stone pathway reaching out to sea towards Scotland. There's a myth about a giant building it that's quite hysterical and I recommend that everyone look it up. There's a road that goes from the visitor's center down to the Causeway, but being the adventurous gals we are we decided to climb down the hill to walk along the coast up to it. Bad idea! It was really friggin slippery because the grass was all wet, not to mention steep as hell. We all took turns tumbling, but it was mostly just funny and not painful. Then we climbed about on the rocks for a while and took some oh-so-hot pictures of our wind-blown selves. We could actually see Scotland across the water. We were in a bit of a hurry so we high tailed it up to the bridge next. It's this rope bridge that supposedly built by fisherman every year so they can reach this narrow little channel which the salmon migrate through. In actuality it's more likely to have been built to dupe tourists like us into paying £2 just to cross it. The first crossing onto the island went smoothly enough, but the wind was quickly picking up. We could literally see a storm barreling down on us across the sea. At the top of the island we had to hold on to one another to keep from blowing over the side! We ran back down to cross back over before it got worse, but the wind was already blowing the bridge practically sideways. Even so, we had to cross. Liz and I went together and were clinging to the side of the rope to keep from slipping, but as we neared the other side I tried to hurry off and my foot slipped off the wet plank. There was netting below that caught my foot, but for the milisecond it took for me to reach it I was certain that death was imminent. I think I scared the shit out of everybody else too, but we ended up just laughing hysterically about it instead. Woohoo rickety rope bridge!
Saturday night I went out to dinner at this really nice restaurant with Holly, Megan, Ellen, Liz, Kate and Anne. We decided to cut loose a bit because they had a really good cocktail menu. I got a strawberry collins, which was fabulous, and they gave us all an extra strawberry daquiri. The food was great too. I had duck for the first time, and I'm officially a fan now. Irish coffee for dessert completed a perfect meal. We went back to the hostel then and it was decided that for the remainder of the night we could only respond to our new names, which were all very silly and stripperish. I have to write them down so I won't forget. Holly=Aphrodite, Megan=Shenaynay, Ellen=Shenequa, Liz=Ginger/ROOTS, Kate=Kookie, Anne=Trixie, and I was Lafawnduh (Napoleon Dynamite style baby!) I borrowed Megan's shirt and Anne did my hair, then we went in search of a karyoke bar. What we found instead turned out to just be a club, but we had a great time. The played the entire soundtrack to Dirty Dancing! Unfortunately it was sweltering in there, so we cut the night short and went to Burger King. Their onion rings we sick!
Sunday morning we decided to walk down Falls Road and Shankill Road to look at the political murals there. We got really lost, but mostly found what we were looking for. The ones on the Protestant side, Shankill, seemed really angry and militant, to the point of making us really uncomfortable to be walking around there. Falls Road had a few like that, but for the most part they were more like memorials or had images of things like broken chains, some called for hunger strikes. This one was a real eye-opener, the thing in the center reads 'Brittish support hook.'. It was all so surreal and strange, unlike anything I've ever seen before. I can't imagine living in a place like that and seeing it everyday. Some of our friends were actually egged by some kids during their tour. It's so scary and sad how deep-seeded the anger and violence seems to be.
So yeah, it was quite a trip. Probably my favorite within the island so far. Even so, I don't think I'd go back.
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| There are my thoughts: |
[05 May 2005|04:35pm] |
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mood |
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indescribable |
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A) I'm really hungry.
B) My last test is over, and I only have three papers left. I don't know about Irish standards, but if Regis standards applied I'd be willing to bet my grades would be pretty good.
C) There was supposed to be a pirate party tonight, but I think it'll just be a regular birthday party now. That is unfortunate.
D) Tomorrow we're going to Belfast. Sounds like there are some pretty cool activities planned as well. The only downer is how expensive everything is sure to be, what with the pound and all. Screw changing currencies.
E) I'd like to sleep for about 20 hours tonight, but that just ain't gonna happen.
F) It literally just hit me that I don't have to go to another single class here. Sweet!
G) I'll still be here for another five weeks. That is a long time, but in perspective to how long I've already been here it's not so long. I think it will pass even faster now that it is class-free.
H) Having my own apartment this summer is going to rule. Hopefully a cat will enter into the equation at some point as well, but who knows right now. I think I'll name it... Alphonsus. Or not. Dedalus? Barf.
I) There's actually nothing else to say, but I wanted to end on a vowell.
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| "You have to wonder if some of these books are crap, but are just old" -- Mom, at Trinity College |
[04 May 2005|12:35pm] |
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mood |
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 nostalgic |
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Mom and Dad's trip was cool, but also a bit exhausting. We spent a lot of time driving from site to site, but it was worth it to get to see the things we did. They got here on Thursday and we took it fairly easy that day so they could rest. I showed them the school and we went to the Hunt Museum together. There was some really cool stuff there, but I didn't get to look very closely because I had to hurry back to school. That night we had dinner at Dolan's, and as we were leaving a band was beginning to play, so we sat back down and had another drink while we listened. The next day we went to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. The weather was gorgeous, so we had a really good view down the coast and out to the Aran Islands once we climbed up to the top. The Burren is really bizarre though. It's got all these crazy limestone formations that stretch clear down to the water, and Dad and I climbed around on them a bit. It's also home to the most photographed site in Ireland, a megalithic tomb that dates to prehistoric times. It's huge and very impressive. When we got back to Limerick we went to Tesco and I made us a big pasta dinner. The next day, Saturday, consisted of driving the Ring of Kerry, which lasts roughly five hours. The weather was not as good, so our views were limited, but what we did see was absolutely gorgeous. The extremely narrow roads put Dad's driving skills to the test though, but I'm proud to report that he did wonderfully, although he will deny it if you ask him. We stopped at Staigue Fort along the way, which was my favorite site of the day, despite being somewhat difficult to find. Kerry was a very long drive, lasting about 10 hours in all including the trip to and from Limerick, and I think I enjoyed it more than Mom and Dad because of this. I'm glad we did it though because I wouldn't have had an opportunity to do it otherwise, and it's one of the most famous locations in Ireland. Liz joined us on Sunday morning and we woke up bright and early to go to mass at the church up the road. I think everyone's first experience with Irish churches is a bit shocking, and Mom and Dad were no exception. You've got to love it when you're out of there in under 45 minutes! Then the four of us began our very meandering trip towards Dublin. We made several stops along the way. The first was Cahir castle, where I was shocked and impressed to see Mom climbing around on the castle walls! I think she's part goat! Then we traveled on to Kilkenny castle, but we didn't get to look inside because it was by guided tour only and we didn't want to wait the extra two or so hours that required. So we piled back in the car and headed on. We spotted a high cross on the map which we all decided we'd like to see, but it ended up being a bit more difficult than any of us anticipated. We had to stop for directions twice, but eventually found our way to the hole in the wall that led to the church where it was held. We were unprepared for our first look at it. It was huge, over 17 feet tall! The stonework on it is amazing as well, considering it's held up for several hundred years. Then we moved on to Glendalough, a monastic site in Wicklow National Park. It had a round tower and some churches, surrounded by a huge cemetary. We got there after the visitors center had closed, but we still got to look around the grounds and the buildings. From there we went to Dublin, but took the world's scariest road to get there. I honestly think we must have shortened Dad's life because of the stress he had to endure from driving so much. It didn't end in Dublin either because it's possibly the most difficult city to navigate that has ever existed. In addition to being designed like a labyrinthine spider web, the street names change practically every block, but even that is difficult to tell, given that the very few existing street signs are hidden twenty feet high on the corners of buildings. Arrrgh!! None of us is quite certain how we managed to find the B&B, but we did, thank goodness. We were all pretty hungry and tired by then, and since all the restaurants seemed to be closed we just ordered Chinese food and colapsed into bed. The next morning we enjoyed a nice Irish breakfast and headed back out into the city. Driving went much better that day because we had studied our maps and gotten out bearings a little bit. First we went to Trinity College, which holds the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from the early 9th century. The museum there gave a great deal of detail concerning how it was made and its significance, which really built up our anticipation to see it. It really is an incredible accomplishment for its time, and it's amazing that it has survived so long and remains in such good condition. We also went in the Long Room, which contains Ireland's oldest collection of books. There are literally thousands of several hundred year old books contained in this gorgeous two-story library. It looked like something from a movie. Then we went on to Dublin castle, which was unfortunately closed for the day because of a concert, but we got to look around the outside a bit. In truth, it didn't seem that cool because parts of it have been painted and remodeled and such, and we didn't really get any history about to put it in perspective. It was big though, I'll give it that. So next we went on a search for the Guinness brewery, which we quickly found, only to be confused because we couldn't find any sort of entrance. Eventually we were informed that we should head to the Storehouse, which is a few blocks away. Dublin blocks, mind you. More driving adventures ensued, but we got there and bought our tickets for the tour. It was very informative. We learned all about how they make the beer, about Arthur Guinness, their past advertising, etc.... It's like a spiral that you follow up for seven floors, and at the end you are given a complimentary pint in a bar at the top floor with a 360 degree view of the city. The coolest part is that they trace a shamrock into the head as they pour it. Liz and I actually got more than a little drunk because we hadn't eaten since this morning, so we started acting a little loopy and Liz tried making profound statements about Irish culture. Hilarious! It was a perfect end to our trip. After a little shopping for souvenirs we headed back to Limerick. Mom and Dad said goodbye to me back at the house because they had to leave the next morning, and it was sad to see them go. Their trip reminded me of a lot of things I miss about home, and now more than ever I'm looking forward to coming back.
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| does anyone know what permanent tsb is? |
[26 Apr 2005|11:02am] |
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Add another B1 to the list for Film Studies! I was even more nervous about this one, so now my day is totally made. How sad is it that I'm only getting any indication of my grades now that the semester is almost over. What if it had gone badly? I'd be screwed, that's what. Thank goodness I'm a genious. Whew!
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| come visit fungi, the fun-loving dingle dolphin! |
[25 Apr 2005|06:30pm] |
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Our first International Student Society trip was quite a success. The entirety of the Dingle peninsula was gorgeous, and traveling with everybody but not having to stay together all the time was really fun. On Saturday we took a 'boat tour' that largely consisted of chasing Fungi the dolphin around the bay for an hour and nearly tipping the boat over because everyone piled on to one side. It was priceless! Well, actually it was a ridiculous €10, but hilarious nonetheless. That evening we got fresh seafood for dinner then did a little pub crawl around the town. A couple of the pubs had some really good live traditional music, and I'd highly recommend them to anyone who's headed that way. The next day started out with a delicious and totally unexpected full Irish breakfast provided by the B&B, but we didn't get to enjoy fully because we had to rush off to mass. It was entirely in Irish, and even though we had no idea whatsoever what was being said, it was a really cool experience. Then we took a trip up through Conor's Pass because at the top there's a gorgeous view over the whole peninsula. The guy who gave us a lift up almost killed a dog we'd been walking with though, so that put a bit of a damper on things. He was okay though. Then while we were up there I was almost killed by some vicious looking sheep who were going to push me off a cliff. I ran away like a little girl and barely escaped with my life. Then Liz, Ellen and I got some pastries that we ate by the harbour, and while we were sitting there the whole rest of the ISS walked up. Some of us then decided that it would be a good idea to go climb on this wrecked ship nearby that had been left exposed while the tide was out. It was awesome! Finally, we went on a tour in the bus around the peninsula itself. It was a bit rushed and disappointing, but there was some cool stuff on it. At one point you have to drive through a stream because when they built the road they didn't have enough money to build a bridge, and when we drove through there was a guy washing his car in the stream. Only in Ireland! After the tour we headed home.
This week is going to be packed! We had our last Irish class today, and Wednesday we have the test. Everyone is pretty stressed out about it because we know so little. Really I should be studying right now, but I'm not. Our review session today made me feel a lot better. We also got our grades back for the Poetry and Prose essay today. I got a B1, which is like a B+ at home, which is a really good grade here. There were only 5 A's total in a class of about 40 or 50, so I feel pretty good about how I did. Mom and Dad get here on Thursday morning, so the rest of the week will pretty much be devoted to them. I'm so psyched!!! I've been missing home like nobody's business lately, so it's going to be great to see them. And they're bringing me black beans, which are like the one thing nobody can find here. We're going to attempt to re-create some big-ass Chipotle burritos. I can't wait!
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[20 Apr 2005|10:58am] |
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It must officially be Spring now because I got my first sunburn of the year. Frankly I'm shocked that a sunburn is even possible here, but perhaps it has more to do with my own complexion than the Irish sun. Anyway, Nina, Liz and I went up to the Cliffs of Moher and were blessed with a gorgeous day. It was sunny with just a touch of a breeze, and it was so clear that we could see all the way out to the Aran Islands. The views were absolutely gorgeous in every direction we looked. It's difficult to comprehend just how high the cliffs are though because there's nothing at the bottom to give you any sort of perspective. I'll just say that we were really freakin high and leave it at that. We took a hiking trail that goes all along the edge of the cliffs clear out to the tip of the peninsula. At the end there was this wonderful soft grass that was all warmed from the sun, so we all laid down for about half an hour and took a little nap in the sun. It was so perfect with the sea birds calling above and the waves crashing against the rocks below, a perfect Irish moment that was completely worth the sunburn.
Getting back turned into quite an adventure though. We had thought that there was a bus when there wasn't because sometimes the schedules get a bit tricky to read. Our hike lasted long enough that we wouldn't have been able to catch another until the next day, which left us with one option: hitch hiking. We felt stupid enough just standing on the side of the road, but when someone pulled over just to tell we were going the wrong way, well then we felt like complete morons. Eventually we got a lift from a couple to a little town called Lahinch, which was less than half-way to Ennis where we needed to catch the bus. It took awhile in Lahinch to find another lift, but eventually this guys in a little crappy red car stopped. He was... odd. He was listening to Swiss German music, which was very funny to Nina, and informed us that we needed to make a couple of stops on the way to Ennis. First we had to watch him feed his four ponies, which meant driving on insane/should-be-illegal roads to his little pasture. One of the ponies was pregnant and its stomach was nearly touching the ground! From there we went to his friend's house where he switched cars for a silver BMW with leather interior and really impressive acceleration, which he seemed to enjoy showing off. Oh, I forgot to mention that when we first got in with him he informed us all that he'd just come from the pub where he'd shared a few pints with a friend. Thank God for seat belts. He was nice enough to take us directly to the bus station though, and we caught the next bus home. Quite an adventure!
On Sunday night Lorenzo's mama made dinner for us. It was incredible. Those Italians really know what they're doing. First she brought out delicious toasted bread with garlic and olive oil drizzled over it. Next was some delicious lasagna. I'm not always a huge lasagna person, but this was unbelievable. We all stuffed ourselves with it. Little did we know that she had also made roast beef! So we all packed in a couple of slices of that as well, and after that came salad. I don't know how Lorenzo is so tiny if he's been eating like that all his life. Yum.
I'm starting to get nervous about finals. Our Irish exam is next week and I'm not prepared for it at all because I thought we'd have a few more weeks before it. At least when it's over we won't have to go to that stupid class anymore. Besides that test there is also one in poetry and prose which I'm a little scared of. At first it didn't worry me, but now I'm realizing that I have no idea what kinds of questions he'll ask and it's making me nervous. Why must school always be so stressful?
Everything else is going pretty well. The weather has been beautiful for the most part, so we've been putting the back garden to use. On Thursday we had a party and now everyone is talking about how we need to have a barbecue back there. I agree whole-heartedly. Now I'm going to head home and eat some of Liz's delicious pasta.
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| Thank God there's no Dixie in there. |
[18 Apr 2005|09:42pm] |
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Your Linguistic Profile:
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70% General American English |
15% Upper Midwestern |
10% Yankee |
0% Dixie |
0% Midwestern |
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| Ticketfest 2005! |
[13 Apr 2005|07:55pm] |
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mood |
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 inexplicably anxious |
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Ladies and Gentleman, it is my pleasure to announce that my last important ticket for a good long while has been purchased. I will be home on June 10th. Wow, that seems so close that it's frightening, and there's still so much to be done before then.
Ashley and Nicole's last package arrived today. Thanks, girls, you're the bestests! Ethel is adorable, although she gave me quite a fright. I accidentally sat on her and she started peeping, but none of us had realized that they made sounds yet, so I was quite surprised and confused. The cd is also really cool - excellent choice. Yay for Easter packages! Hopefully yours will arrive soon.
Anyhoo, for the first time in quite a while I have nothing to do, so I'm going to play some tetris now and then go watch the boys play soccer. Hilarity is sure to ensue.
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drinkin_abroad's journal
