Monday, January 31, 2011

REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!!!! :)

THE BIDDIES REUNITE. THE BIDDIES REUNITE. This weekend I decided to break apart for the Galway group and not go to Belfast. Instead I headed to Maynooth to visit some of the biddies. I left Friday around 2:30p.m. from Galway and got to Maynooth at about 6:30p.m. or 7p.m. I cannot really remember. The ride took longer than I thought it was going to and at one point I had a slight freak out because I thought I was on the wrong bus. Don't worry though because I wasn't. I made it to Maynooth safely. I got off the bus and then asked someone how to get to the center of town where Christine and Liz were meeting me. I was so excited to see them. We got some alcohol from the grocery store and then headed to their dorms. They live in dorms. Liz is moving from her current one and Christine lives with boys. It is kind of weird but also funny. Liz is moving in with Christine and the boys (although they are more like men). Christine and Liz made dinner, noodles and meat sauce, while I got ready.

Once we were done eating we pregamed a little and then met up with the rest of the people in their program. We went to a place called The Roost where they were having an international student meet and greet. They gave us free food which was nice. We had a beer and then Christine and I asked the bartender to make us a shot of anything. He made us a brain hemorrhage which was kind of gross or at least looked kind of gross. After our shot we left that bar to go to another one called O'neills. We stayed there for a long time and met a group of Irish guys and asked them where we should go for St. Patrick's Day and all the best places to visit in Europe. We had a great time.

The next day they showed me around their campus and the town. It took about 5 minutes because the town is ridiculously small. I thought they were kidding when they mentioned how small the town is. We stopped to have lunch at a restaurant that had a sign outside for great sandwiches. When we went inside though they gave us a menu that had no sandwiches on it which utterly confused us. We asked the waitress and she told us we could have whatever. She had salad and some meats. Christine was brave enough to order a chicken sandwich with whatever the waitress said she was gonna put on it (which we could not really understand). Liz and I were not as brave and decided the only thing we liked on the menu was on the kid's menu. We ordered...wait for it...chicken nuggets and fries. They were so good and so worth it.

After lunch Christine and I napped and Liz just hung out since she is incapable of napping. After our naps we got ready and ate dinner. Then we met up with the Maynooth group again and headed back to The Roost. They had live music and it was a blast. We all just hung out and talked. After The Roost we went back to their dorms.

I left the next day to head back to Galway. It was such a great weekend and I am so happy I decided to go see my friends. I miss them so much. It was really hard because we also video chatted with Chiara and I realized how much I miss BC too.

More 21st Birthday Celebrations.

Today is Haley's 21st birthday. Haley is Lindsay's (my roommate from BC) best friend from home. She invited me over to pregame and then go out with her and her friends. I met her in town at about 8p.m. to walk to her apartment. She told me that she lives 15-20 minutes away from the town and I kind of thought she was kidding. SHE WASN'T. She lives so far away from everything. I could not believe it. We walked past things I have not even seen yet. Her and her friends take cabs to and from the bars almost every night because the walk ends up being so far and so cold. Her apartment is nice though, although her room has mold. EWW. They are fixing it for them but I walked in to her room and already felt sick. I would definitely not be able to stay in her room. Her internet is also way better than mine though. We pregamed for a while and then we skyped with Lindsay which was nice. (I ALSO FOUND OUT YESTERDAY THAT LINDSAY IS COMING TO VISIT. AHHHH. I AM SO EXCITED!!)

We eventually left her apartment to go to the bars. We got a cab for about 8 of us and we only had to pay 1 euro each. I don't know how we did it. We went to Sonny's/The Front Door first and it was packed as usual but it was a lot of fun. I saw the rest of my group/all of my friends. We all hung out together for a while and then I left with the birthday girl to go to Coyotes. The night was a blast and I am so happy I met new people.

Happy Australia Day!!

Apparently today is Australia day?! I had never heard of it before but we decided to go to a new bar and celebrate the day. When we got to the bar, the bar was full of guys dressed in suits and the girls were dressing in prom type dresses. We have no idea why but apparently there was some kind of ball. Once we got around the guys and girls who were dressed so nicely we found the people who were celebrating Australia Day. They were hilarious. There was a DJ, an Australian flag, and people dressed up as though it was summer. We met some Irish guys who we talked to for awhile and then we hit the dance floor. They were playing great music such as "YMCA" and other good dance songs like the "Macarena." Me and two other girls split pitchers of Fosters and danced the night away. It was such a great time.

Karaoke Night! :)

I had my first children's fiction class today and LOVED IT. I can honestly say it is the only class I really enjoy. We read childrens' books such as The Witches and Holes but I like that it is something interesting. The class is really small, only about 15 of us maybe, which is also nice. The room is tiny and the teacher is really nice. She is from France and has such a passion for the subject.

Tonight we decided to go to karaoke at a new place. I forget what the bar was called. We got ready kind of late and got to karaoke late but we were able to sing one song. Four of us got up to sing "ABC" by Jackson 5. Quickly we learned that we did not know the words as well as we thought. It was hilarious and made me miss the summer a whole lot.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

INTERNET WHERE ART THOU?

I had a meeting with the International Student Society today. We planned our first trip to the Cliffs of Moher and tickets go on sale this week. Unfortunately, I have already been and will be in London the day they go so I will not be attending. However, next on the list is to start planning Belfast. I can't wait to go on that one, especially since I do not have to pay.

I went food shopping today after class. I wandered around Dunnes for about an hour crossing off things on my list and finding deals. I kind of like food shopping and finding the deals and foods that are on sale. The turkey here is kind of weird and I am not a huge fan so I have been buying ham for my sandwiches. I have also been buying pitas and they are really good. Today I bought the same things I buy every week but I also bought chicken seasoning.

After the gym it was time to make dinner. I cut up my chicken breast and froze the other 3. I learned that I need to freeze them in separate bags because they freeze together and defrosting the chicken multiple times freaks me out. After cutting up my chicken I put on my seasoning and put the pieces onto the stove in a pan. I then cooked rice that was in a bag and some frozen vegetables. When it was all done and I had all the parts on my plate it actually looked like a meal my mom would cook at home. The chicken was delicious! The seasoning was amazing and something that I will definitely continue to buy.

A continuing problem here in Galway is the lack of internet access. Apparently all the international students are having issues with the internet no matter where they are living but today the internet access hit an all time low. I could not even check my email on yahoo nevertheless try to video chat with my mom. The only site that worked was facebook. I had to message my parents to give them updates on my life. We have complained to our landlord but what he has told us in the past is that everyone is on youtube and trying to watch movies and that is why the internet is very slow. However, since we realized this early on none of us have really tried to watch movies or television shows. Even me, the T.V. fanatic, has given up on T.V. shows back home. But not being able to email people or do school work is ridiculous and we are hoping to have it fixed soon. I never thought it would be so hard to live without the internet.

In other more exciting news, I GOT MY FIRST PACKAGE TODAY!! Oma and Pop Pop sent me a package and Oma mailed in on the 19th. When I was leaving at 9:30a.m. the mail was already arriving and by the time I got home the package was in my room. So it must have gotten to the post office on the 23rd which means it took maybe 5 days to get from the States to Galway. I could not believe it and neither could Oma and Pop Pop when I called to tell them. In my package was two new scarves (which I cannot wait to wear), a letter, and a couple of newspaper cut outs. One of the cut outs was a cartoon of a grandmother trying to text and the granddaughter being embarrassed. It was really funny. There was also an article about simulation men being used in the medical profession. They talked about one simulation man that is being used for practice on ambulances. Their simulation man is cooler than ours at Boston College because he bleeds and can have actual bodily fluids come out of him. He is the newest thing in the medical profession. Hopefully the BC nursing program will invest in one although he does come at the low price of $99,000 (YIKES).

J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS!

Today I met up with Keira's godmother, Alyssa, for a couple of beers. We met in town and just hung out. It was nice to know that someone from home is also here. We went to a place I had never been which was also a nice change of pace and I had Carlsberg beers which are quickly becoming my favorite. She lives about 20 minutes from the city and 20 minutes from the school so she has a bad living arrangement. She is the only one from her school here though so she went into this blindly. I am so happy that I am here with such a big group and that I had so many people from past years to talk to about classes and living arrangements.

One of the girls in my program is a HUGE Steelers fan. I wish I loved a team as much as she loves the Steelers or as much as Christine loves the Jets. I do not have that much team loyalty to anyone. However, since I had to spend 2 years with Christine being her roommate and 1 semester of her texting me constantly every single Jets game I have decided to cheer for them. I mean it is hard not to cheer for a team when they are the only one you ever hear about. The only problem with my sudden interest in the Jets is that I am now in Ireland where there is a 5 hour time difference. The game was on at 6:30p.m. at home which meant the game did not start until 11:30p.m. here in Galway. We left at about 10 or 10:30 to go to the bar because there is only one bar that plays the game. Garveys (the bar) shuts its doors at 11:30p.m. (the start of the Jets vs. Steelers game). Good thing we got there early because they shut and locked their doors and had all the blinds closed at 11:00p.m. Unfortunately, as you all know the Jets lost but the time quickly caught up to me and I was exhausted by half time so I decided to go home with a couple of the girls. When I got home I realized that it was 2:00a.m. already. Never did I ever think that I would be up that late watching football. The Jets did make a comeback in the second half but were unable to finish the game with a win. At least now I have no loyalty in the Super Bowl which is a good thing since it will not start until 1:00a.m. in Ireland and I will be in London that weekend.

BC Cork Comes to Galway

So this weekend the people from Cork but who go to BC with us asked if they could all come. We decided that it would be great because when we want to Cork we can then stay with them. We asked Oliver (our landlord) for extra mattresses and they arrived on Thursday. We all pregamed in the gigantic room upstairs and left to go out at about 11:30p.m. The problem was that the Cork group did not really want to separate and they were rolling about 15 deep and we also roll about 15 deep which meant that 30 people had to try to go to one pub/club. This was completely unrealistic so the Galway group split up because we don't mind doing that and all went to different bars. I went to Coyotes and then to Sonnys and finally we went to Quays. It was fun but eventually my friend Lauren and I wanted to go back to the apartment because it was just a long time. When I woke up the next morning and got out of bed to get breakfast I expected to see Cork people sleeping on our couch or on the floor. Somehow 402 got really lucky and ended up with no Cork people.

Friday night we pregamed in the big room upstairs again (room 501) and then we went out. I went out with my roommate and then my friend Megan to The Kings Head because they usually have a really good live band. The band was great. It was just the three of us at first but eventually most of the group ended up there because it was by far the best place to be. We danced all night.

Woke up Saturday morning and once again there were no Cork people in our room. I do not know how we got so lucky but I was not about to start complaining. Especially because I heard that they were making themselves right at home. Their stuff was everywhere and they all asked to shower. In one of the rooms the girl who lives there showered first and had cold water. She told the Cork kids that they could shower but they would most likely have cold water. A bunch of them showered and they all had warm water. It was a touchy subject after that because that room has basically yet to have hot water since their arrival at the Niland House.

Saturday night I decided to stay in. It was nice because I was the only one in my room who stayed in (although other people in my group also stayed in). I relaxed and watched Gossip Girl season 1 on my computer. I had some sort of reaction on my face and my face was red on one side and near my chin. I have no idea what happened or why but I decided that since I was tired I might as well stay in and take care of my skin.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Surf Club and College Bar!

Another day of classes. Another day of me being bored in my classes. I thought that going abroad I would be able to take easy, interesting classes. Instead I find myself bored in a majority of my classes. Oh well. After class I went to the gym and then quickly came home to shower and get ready.

Once I was ready it was time to head back to campus to meet my friends at the College Bar. We hung out for a little and then headed over to our Surf Club meeting. The guys were really funny and LOVED surfing. They had just come back from a trip to Portugal where they surfed for a week and got lessons everyday. The lessons also included getting video taped and then told what they were doing wrong. I thought it was pretty interesting. They are planning a weekend surf trip for the end of the month. I am planning on going with a couple of my friends. The trip includes accommodation, bus ride, lessons, and equipment. I am pretty excited and who knows maybe I will love it so much I will start surfing in the States. After the meeting we went back to the College Bar where some of my friends split a pizza. I did not have anything (not even a beer) although pints are 3 Euros on Wednesday nights. Maybe next week!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Time for some real cooking.

Today I had class and it was boring as usual. After class I went to the Computer Services to get my campus account fixed. They locked me out of it a couple of months ago when I tried to set it up. I emailed them to have them fix it but they were slow at getting back to me so I decided to go straight to the source. I was able to fix my account and also get my internet to work on campus. Yay!

After getting my campus account fixed it was time to meet with our coordinator Margaret. She told us she would be on campus at 2:30p.m. if we wanted to meet up. We all hung around and talked to her for a while. It is nice to have her because she is a great support person. She even texted Oliver (our landlord) to complain about our internet.

I had my appointment with Garda today which is the immigration office in Galway. I had to get my Visa. My appointment was for 4:20p.m. so my friend Katey and I took a cab at 4 since she also had a meeting. It was pretty easy and I was prepared with all my documentation. I was so thankful to have all my documentation because the lady I had was very mean to the guy before me because he was missing his acceptance letter from NUI Galway. I had all of my forms out and ready to go and she was beyond nice to me. I had to get my picture taken for my Visa card and pay 150 Euros for it. Yuck to both! I need the card to enter the country if I travel though so I am happy to finally have it. I got it just in time since I booked my first trip today!! A bunch of the BC girls decided to go to London the first weekend in February. I am going from February 3-7 and am beyond excited. The plane ticket was fairly cheap (30 Euro) and I am pumped to finally start traveling.

I went food shopping yesterday and decided to try and cook myself a real meal today. I had broccoli and cauliflower with pasta and chicken. I unfroze a chicken breast and cooked it. I then cooked my frozen cauliflower and broccoli and my pasta. The vegetables were boiled in a chicken broth (Mom's idea). After cooking each part of my meal separately I added them all to a pan and cooked them together with some salt, pepper, and oil. For my first home cooked meal without a recipe it was delicious. I was proud of myself for actually cooking for myself and making more than just pasta. :)

Events and Social Officer - Wish this existed in the States!

We had our first meeting of the International Student Society. I had to meet with the other board members at 11a.m. before my 12p.m. class. We started planning our first trip which will be to the Cliffs of Moher. The trip will take place the first weekend in February. We also talked about a trip at the end of February to Belfast. The good thing about the trips is that I do not have to pay to go on the trips because I am a board member. Who would have thought that I could not only be in charge of parties but also get free trips out of the deal. Pretty amazing. I love the fact that in Ireland they literally had to name someone to be in charge of social gatherings because the Irish love to go out so much. We have another meeting next week at the same time. I am actually enjoying the club so far.

Boston College brings 21st birthday celebrations to Galway.

One of the girls in my program turns 21 tomorrow so we all decided to go out tonight to celebrate. We figured it did not matter that much when we went out because it is not like the States where we had to wait until midnight for her to be able to drink. Some of the girls got pizza and pregamed in the room upstairs but the people in my room opted out of that. We decided to save some money and make our own meals. After dinner we got ready and headed up to the room upstairs to have birthday cake and pregame a little before going out. We got Dorothy (birthday girl) a bunch of presents which included a tiara, fake jewelry, a birthday sash, and some chips. We also decided to ICE her. I know many of you may not know what this means but it is a game that many college kids take part in where you hide a Smirnoff Ice and give it to someone. If they find it they must kneel down on one knee and chug the Smirnoff Ice. We put hers in the birthday bag and then wrapped her sash around it. As she was unwrapping the Smirnoff Ice she had no idea what it was but when she finally figured it out she wished she hadn't. It was hilarious but she did end up drinking it. You can get pretty creative with the game.

Yesterday when we went to Coyotes we asked the manager about having birthday parties at the bar. He said that if we brought a party to the bar we got free shots, a free glass of champagne, and free rides on the mechanical bull. We decided this was the place to bring the birthday girl. We got free shots (if you can call them shots - more like shots of cough medicine) and free glasses of champagne. Unfortunately, the mechanical bull was broken so we did not get our free rides. We had a ton of fun celebrating a 21st birthday in Galway and realizing that it was a way bigger deal to us than anyone else in the bar. I saw a girl in the bathroom whose 21st birthday it was also. She is from Ireland and I asked her if it was a big deal. She said that 21st is not that big of a birthday, more like all the rest but that in Ireland someone's 18th birthday is similar to someone's 21st birthday in the States.

During the celebration I got updates from some of my friends who were at the bar across the street watching the Pats vs. Jets game. I left the bar with 5 minutes or so left in the game to go to the bar across the street, Garvey's, to watch the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the bar was closed to people on the outside because as soon as the game was over they were gonna kick everyone out. I got my friend to let me in (she convinced the bartender to open the door) and I sat down and watched the end of the game. I blame Christine for my obsession with the Jets currently because she is a huge fan. I was a minority at the bar cheering for the Jets but I was happy when they won. Now it is time to beat the Steelers this Sunday. The BC girls plan on getting to Garvey's early to get a good seat and watch the game. Again, I am a minority because everyone who was a Patriots fan is now cheering for the Steelers. Who cares though. J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS!

After the game was over we went back to Coyotes where we hit the dance floor and had a ton of fun. It was nice being able to celebrate someone else's 21st birthday. Back to school tomorrow.

Rain rain go away and take the wind with you.

Today I slept really late (shocking I know). But it was also really really gross out. After trying to video chat with my parents and Dylan multiple times (and failing of course) I decided it was time to go to the gym. I ventured out in the awful weather to the gym and quickly regretted it. It was beyond windy out and the rain just kept coming down. I made it to the gym though and made it back to my apartment where my frustration with my internet continued. We barely get any service in our apartments. We have complained to our landlord but it hasn't done much. The other people in various other apartments around Galway seem to be having a similar problem.

I have yet to go out to dinner so my two roommates, Meredith and Krissy, along with our friend Megan decided to try a place called Couch Potatoes. It was so good. I had heard that it was delicious and have been wanting to go since I got to Galway. I pass it everyday on my walk to school and after I posted my first set of pictures to Facebook Devin commented telling me to try Couch Potatoes if it was still there. Boy am I glad I listened! At Couch Potatoes the menu is basically only potatoes (shocking from the name of the restaurant). They place various ingredients into the baked potato. I got chicken and cheese on my potato so it was a baked potato filled with chicken and topped with cheese. SO YUMMY!! I was going to be more adventurous and go for an Italian type of baked potato that is filled with chicken, cheese, and tomato sauce but decided to play it safe. I will have to have the Italian potato next time I go. Mom and Dad I cannot wait to take you here.

After dinner it was still raining and we decided to watch a movie and hang out. It wasn't until abut 10p.m. that we decided we wanted to actually go out so we finished watching the movie and headed out. We went to a place called Coyotes which mainly has a younger crowd. It was a blast.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Day 11

THE CLIFFS OF MOHER!!

We had nothing to do today so we decided to take a trip. About 8 of us decided to go to the Burrens and to the Cliffs of Moher. The bus picked us up at the Niland House at 9:45a.m. and drove us to the bus station where we picked up the rest of the group. The bus was really nice and we drove about an hour to the Burrens where we did a walking tour. A guy gave us a walking tour because him and his family owned the land. It was so amazing to think that one family could own so much land. The guy was also an archeologist so he knew a lot about the land and the surrounding places. Him and his family own the land with some other families. They make most of their money on cows. We got to see the cows and many of them were pregnant right now or had just given birth. We got to see a baby cow and it was so cute. The guy told us that once winter comes he takes the cows to the top of the mountain and when spring arrives he brings them back down. So around October the cows were brought to the top of the mountain and recently they were brought back down. This is mainly done because up at the top of the mountain there is limestone which soaks up all the water and allows the ground to be dry. Once we were done looking at the cows we started our walk.


The walk was pretty amazing. It was more of a hike than I thought it was going to be. Luckily for us the weather was beautiful. It had rained earlier in the morning (and hailed) but when we started the walk it was gorgeous. The walk took about an hour. There were so many rocks and the rocks were hard to maneuver especially with my oversized rain boots that I was given by the guy so that I did not ruin my sneakers with all the mud. We walked up to the almost top of the mountain and had made many stops along the way and the guy taught us about everything around us. On the mountains there are random walls and he told us that during the potato famine so many people needed work and they did not know what kind of jobs to give them. So they decided to have them build walls on the mountains because it would keep them busy but would not have any affect on the land. Basically the walls are useless and mean nothing. Also during the famine some families tried to move their potato farms to the tops of the mountains because of the blight that was ruining the potatoes at the ground level. So many families moved their potato farms to the tops of the mountains with hopes that they would be able to grow potatoes. However, blight traveled with the wind and followed the potato farms to the top of the mountain. There is also a tree that he showed us where Irish people tie something on the tree and it symbolizes them leaving behind a trouble. They used to do this a long time ago when his grandfather was alive and they had stopped doing it for awhile but recently the tradition has started up again.







Once we reached the top of the mountain we walked back down. When we looked in the distance we saw that a rain storm was heading our way so we were trying to beat out the storm. Once we got back to the guy's home and sat by the fire to wait for our bus to come back the rain starting to come down. It was pouring and we had just made it to safety. It was such a relief. When the bus finally arrived we got on it and continued our travels to the Cliffs of Moher.

We made other stops along the way to check out some other landmarks. We went up a corkscrew mountain which had lots of turns.



Once we made it to the Cliffs of Moher we had an hour to walk around before it was time to get back on the bus. The Cliffs of Moher are the prettiest thing I have ever seen. I could not believe how amazing they were. The weather was once again beautiful but there was a lot of wind. It was kind of ridiculous how much wind there was. We took a lot of pictures. The Cliffs of Moher overlook the water and there were waves crashing. One picture was prettier than the next.





We left the Cliffs of Moher and got back on the bus. We stopped for lunch and then headed back to Galway. Along the way the tour guide continued to show us various sites and we got off the bus once or twice. One of the stops near the water and the tour guide said that during the winter the water can come right up over the rocks we were stopped at. We finally got back to the Niland House around 5:30p.m. We were exhausted but it was such an amazing day. The best one so far.



All of the pictures from the walking tour and the Cliffs of Moher are posted on my facebook page. Oma and Pop Pop ask Mom to show you them because they really are gorgeous.

Day 10

Since we had no seminars this week I had no classes today. YAY!! It was club day at NUI Galway so I had to go to campus for that. There was also a meeting for the International Student Society. My friend Krissy and I went to the meeting. They talked about everything they had planned for the semester such as trips to Belfast, Dublin, the Cliffs of Moher, and other places. They then proceeded to elect people to run the society. I ran for being in charge of parties and such. Hopefully it is not too much of a time commitment.

The clubs day was funny. There were a lot of clubs and they had everything from surfing to rowing to lacrosse. I signed up for surfing, lacrosse, kayaking, and volleyball. I can't remember if I signed up for anything else but I don't think so. After signing up for the clubs we went to check what sociology classes we got into. I got into all of them. I couldn't believe it because I thought that if you signed up for a bunch you would get into one or two because of the limited amount of space. I got into all four of my choices so I had to email the head guy telling him I did not want to take all four.

When we left the school it was off to the gym for me.

At night we went out. It was such a fun night. We went to a new bar and I met up with my roommate from BC, Lindsay's best friend from home. Haley and I have been trying to meet for a long time, we even tried to meet at BC a couple of times. She goes to UMASS and it was really nice finally meeting her. After meeting up with Haley, the BC crew left and we all kind of split up and went to different bars/pubs.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Days 7-9

The Irish do classes extremely weirdly. Classes technically started this Monday, the 10th but you do not register until the 20th of January. So we viewed this as you "test out" the classes for a week and then you actually start. However, during the first week (so this week) we had to register for the individual departments also. So Monday we had to register for our sociology classes.

Monday I had my first class at 12-1 and it is Medieval Castles. It is pretty interesting but not the best ever but I have heard it is really easy. We also get to go on a field trip to see some of the castles. Plus the final is an essay and the last day of all the classes is the end of March. At 3 I had to register for my sociology classes. So much more stressful than at BC (I did not know that was possible). Like I said before we had to stand in line and wait for the guy to show up and then just hand him the paper but it was a first come first serve kind of thing. We were in line from about 1:30 or 2 until 3. I then had a class from 5-6 called Practical Ethics. SO BORING! But as we were told by another group, it is also an easy class. We walked in and the professor told us to not even take notes because he would give us a handout of the notes at the end of class. After class we went food shopping and then made dinner. We got ready and only a couple of us decided to go out. We went to Taffes and the King's Head again. Taffes had some interesting people there. One of the guys was so wasted he could barely walk. It was funny and his friend was even funnier. However, eventually they annoyed us so we left.

Tuesday I had Castles again which got more interesting and I am hoping I am going to enjoy. After class Krissy and I decided to sign up for the gym membership at the Harbor Hotel (the cheap one) and then worked out afterwards. We came back to the apartment and then got ready for class. Drama was from 5-6 and of course at this point it was raining. The walk seemed way longer than normal and my Uggs got soaked because I did not realize how hard it was raining. We did however find a new way to walk to class along the river which is a nicer walk. We could not find the building where our class was and had to ask a couple of people. When we finally found it we ended up being late which ended up working out better for us because the class was AWFUL. The professors (two of them) were so boring and it was just not a class I was interested in. If I could have I would have left early but we stayed for the whole time but then crossed it off of our list of classes to take. After class we walked back to our apartment, this time through the city, and got ready to go out. We ordered pizzas with some of the other girls (buy one get one free-what a deal!) and decided to eat dinner together and pregame. We were going to go to a place called Monroes for Irish dancing but no one wanted to walk in the rain so we went to Taffes again. It was pretty fun. We went to a couple of other places but the night for the most part was low key.

Wednesday our first class was cancelled (the professor did not tell us) but we found out from someone so we did not go. I woke up around 11 and watched some television before heading over to campus with my roommates to go to class. I was trying a new class called Environmental Justice from 1-2. It was good and the teacher was really nice. She is from Canada and the class was pretty interesting. After class we went to SOC Day which is Societies Day. All the different societies were in a room and you were able to sign up for any of them you wanted. I only signed up for baking club and international student club. The good day is tomorrow where we get to sign up for clubs. I cannot wait.

I want to take an English seminar and a Sociology seminar and these classes do not start until next week. The seminars are smaller and you are not guaranteed a spot which is upsetting. The English seminar is on children's book where you read books like Holes and I REALLY REALLY want to get in this class.

Fun Fact: Scarves are ridiculously in here. Everyone wears them to the point where I did not even bring enough. I wear one almost everyday and I want to try and find more. I want to find some that have fun designs and prints on them.

Day 6


We went to the Radisson today for lunch. Margaret thought it would be fun if we all had lunch together so she made a reservation at the Radisson. It is pretty close to our apartment. It was buffet style lunch and the food was pretty good. The casear salad was amazing. I tried the "bacon" but it was not bacon it was more like pork. It was really good though. I also tried Tiramisu. It was delicious. We all came with our appetites because we are not the best cookers. We have all been living on salads and pasta basically. The view from the lunch was beautiful. It was overlooking the water and we took some group shots in front of it. The photos are on someone else's camera though. After lunch we were all stuffed but we stayed at the lunch for a little longer just talking and hanging out. We went back to the apartments later on and just hung out for the night and relaxed. We all seem to be really tired here all the time which is weird. Tomorrow starts classes so we also want to be well rested for that.

Day 5

I forgot to mention that yesterday I had my FIRST GUINESS. :) It was at a bar called hole in the wall and the beer was really good. Better than I expected.


Saturday we hung out and then I wandered around with my friend Lauren. We found the gym at a hotel. It was really small (only a couple of machines) but way cheaper than the really nice gym at school. This gym is only 70 Euros for 3 months which beats the 195 Euros for 5 months. Also, this gym is less than five minutes from our apartments and the other one is on campus and campus is about 15-20 minutes away. We also walked by the water again and took more beautiful pictures. Today it was nicer out so the pictures are even better.




We also wandered around town and tried to explore it a little more. We wanted to be able to walk around and know where we were going. Oma we found a TkMaxx. I could not believe it. I was dying of laughter when I saw it. And Dylan there was a band performing in the town center that was playing a song you like. I will post the video to facebook later for you to see.


Later that night we decided to try the bar that is behind the Niland House. There is a back room in our apartment building on the ground floor that we thought might go all the way through to the bar so that we wouldn't have to walk outside. Most of us were scared to try it though until finally one of us decided to just open the door. Sure enough it goes to the bar but we are not supposed to use the door. We open the door and it brings us to the back of the bar, you can see the kitchen and stuff. There is a guy and he asks us what we are doing and how we got here but finally agrees to let us walk through. 13 girls walking through the back of a bar. Too funny. Once we get to the bar (after getting dirty looks from some of the employees) we order some beers. I had another Guiness. A table near us asked us where we all came from. They said we came out of no where and we explained how our apartment is attached to a bar and they found that very convenient. We stayed there for a while and it was fun. Very low key. I also had a speciality beer of Galway called a Galway Hooker. It was pretty good. I loved the glass though because it said Galway Hooker so I stole it (I guess I learned from you Mom). When we left we decided to take the long route and walk around the block and back to our apartments.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Day 4

Today we had another day of orientation. This time it was for academic advising and we went to the beginning at 930a.m. and got our packets. Most of us stayed for the sociology department advising because it was the first one and we figured it would let us see if it was worth staying for the rest of them. It is safe to say that we found it almost useless. We were given a packet which was probably the most useful thing they gave us, other than that we barely understood what the guy was saying and realized that they register for classes wayyyyyy differently than we do. We don't actually register until the 20th of January but apparently for sociology classes you have to register on the 10th of January. They also have modules (lectures) and then seminars which are smaller and more discussion based. The seminars close faster and there are only a couple of spots held for visiting students so they are hard to get into. To register for sociology classes and in general you just drop a piece of paper off on a certain day with all of the classes you want to take written down. I cannot imagine all of the visiting students being in one place trying to drop off a piece of paper so we will see how that goes.

After we got bored of advising we left and most of us went back to the apartments. After hanging around for a while I decided to wander around. I went and bought tape so that I could decorate the room and I also bought wine. :) After that I decided to walk in a different direction. I went towards the water and it is BEAUTIFUL!! I took a lot of pictures and it just felt nice to be near water again. The only thing I did not enjoy was the temperature. The air was freezing but no rain so I could not complain that much.


For dinner we got a rotisserie chicken and split it between the four of us. It was really good and then we each made our own side dishes. I had pasta and broccoli and cauliflower. The dinner was really good. All of the girls came over later that night and we had wine and some drinks and then we decided to go out. We went to King's Head which was SO MUCH FUN!! Probably one of the best nights so far. There was a live band who was playing a lot of American music but dancing kind. It reminded me a lot of Crab's Claw type of music on karaoke night. There was a little old lady who was probably about 60 dancing with us and she was hilarious. I think she said she had been married for 50 years (Oma this could be you when you come visit). We then decided to leave and we went to Sonnys again. IT WAS PACKED!! I could not believe it. I did not love it there this night and most of the group had left already so there was only about 6 of us left. It was okay there, the music was very American (top 40) but you could barely move. We left and decided to go back to King's Head. Good decision on our part. The little old lady was still dancing, this time her friend was also dancing. The other lady was even older than 60 and was dancing up a storm. A bunch of the younger guys were dancing with her also. It was hilarious.


Fun Fact: In Galway if you are not done with your beer you can get a to-go cup. They have stacks of plastic cups near the exits of bars and you just fill your cup up with your beer and leave. It is perfectly legal to walk around the streets with a plastic cup of beer. You are not however allowed to walk with any glass cups or bottles. I can't wait to get my first to-go cup.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Day 3

ORIENTATION!!!! We finally had to do something school related today. We had to be at the school at 9:30a.m. which seemed extra early to us. (Dad my alarm clock did not go off, luckily I woke up on my own) When we got to the school there were packets and juice boxes waiting for us. The orientation was from 9:30-11:00a.m. then we had a break and then it went again from 11:00a.m. until 1:00p.m. For the break they had bakery goods and coffee. It was actual coffee and not the instant stuff I had to drink for breakfast. I am REALLY missing the latte machine at this point. You put a scoop of the mix and then hot water and all of a sudden you have coffee. They also don't have my vanilla that I usually add to my coffee. Oh well. The coffee is not that bad but the one I had at the school was definitely better. At the supermarket and in some other places they have machines where you press one button and it gives you a latte. I love it. It shoots out the milk and the coffee and it is so good but will eventually add up to more than I can afford so for now I am going to stick with the instant stuff. The orientation was great. Pretty interesting and they talked about drinking a lot which I thought was hilarious. The one guy also said how he goes out and has a crack which apparently means something like have a great time but can only be used in Ireland (or maybe it was only in Galway I forget) but we all started laughing. He thought it was funny that we had never heard of it. After orientation we went back to our apartments and just kind of hung out. No one did much. We also decided later that night to be lame (probably the lamest group to come to Galway yet) and stay in. We were all exhausted and since we had to be up in the morning we decided we might as well stay in tonight and go out tomorrow. Orientation is again tomorrow (if we choose to go). It is academic advising for different classes, so we will see how that goes.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! I miss and love you so much. :)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Day 2



Galway is gorgeous. The town is so pretty and luckily the past two days it has been nice out. Rain on the first night for a little but other than that mostly sunshine. Today we had to meet at NUI Galway at 12:30p.m. today to meet up with Margaret who helps us with everything in Galway. She is amazing. She showed us around the campus and then brought us out to lunch. She paid and everything. We ate on campus somewhere, I forget what it is called. She left after lunch and we hung out for a little longer. We are going to see her again on Sunday for lunch. After lunch we walked back towards our apartments (about a 10-15 minute walk). On the way we stopped at Dunnes which has EVERYTHING!! We shopped upstairs first to get sheets and stuff. Some of us wanted an extra set and we needed some other stuff for the apartment. Our apartment is weird. It comes with sheets and towels and then all the bowels and kitchen things are just items that people have used in the past and have left. Basically the apartment is furnished with things that other abroad students have bought and did not want to bring back. So we have mugs, bowls, plates, silverware, a waffle iron, water heater, toaster, and some other stuff. We started off upstairs getting apartment stuff and then we went all the way downstairs where they have the grocery store. We shopped for a while to get things to make dinner and lunch. We also had to buy reusable bags because they charge you for paper or plastic bags here (mom you would hate it since you use one of each at the store). We dropped everything off in our apartment and went back out into the city to find a phone. Margaret was able to get us a deal at some place but we wanted to shop around and ask what other places were like. It ended up the Vodophone (?) the place that Margaret knew of had the best deal. We paid 35 Euro for phone and free texting for a month to everyone in Ireland. Every time you top up your phone for 20 Euro you get free texting for the month. To call America is not that expensive, it is actually way more expensive to call within Ireland which is weird.
After shopping we all just hung out and got ready to go out later on. We went to a couple more pubs and then ended up back at Sonnys.
Orientation is tomorrow. Weird that we actually have to go to school (just kidding).

Day 1


So our plane was delayed a little bit for no reason so we did not land in Shannon until about 7:30a.m. (ireland time). It took us about 2 hours to get through customs (ughh worst thing in my life) and the line seemed as though it was standing still. The problem I think was that they did not tell everyone what they needed to get through customs so when people got to the front they had to dig through everything to find what they needed. To get into Ireland for studying abroad you need proof of finances (1000 Euro), health insurance, passport, and acceptance letter from NUI Galway. However, some of the girls did not have everything or only had their debit card and the guys let us through. We then had to wait for the next bus which was at 9:55a.m. and it took us about an hour and a half to get to Galway from Shannon. Once we arrived in Galway we had to take a taxi from the bus station to the Niland House where I am staying. It is a walkable distance but it is probably a ten minute walk and with all of our suitcases we decided against it. Once we finally got here the guy in charge, Oliver, greeted us and split us up into rooms in the most random way. He just went down the list and put us in groups of four and asked if we minded living together. My room is super nice, not really big but big enough. The girls upstairs have a HUGE room. We all unpacked and then passed out for about 4 hours. We then showered and went to a pub named Taffes. It is a traditional Irish bar. I loved it. I had a Bulmers (?) which is a cider and then I had a Carlsberg. The pub had an Irish band and there was lots of traditional dancing. It was hilarious. Then we went to a place called Sunnys where the music was all American. So much different than the first place we went. So far the alcohol has been pretty expensive so I have not ordered more than 2 drinks a night out.

Of course I somehow caught a cold from someone and the symptoms did not hit me until the bus ride to Galway so I am currently trying to fight that off and the jetlag. Neither have gotten me down yet. Let's hope they don't.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Galway here I come.

AHHH I LEAVE TODAY!!

My flight is at 7:25 p.m. I can't believe it is time to leave already. :( Not quite enough time at home but I am starting to get really excited. I wonder when I it is going to finally hit me that I am going to be away for 5 months! So much stuff to bring and the suitcases are so heavy (of course within the 50 lbs. though) Now if only I could finish packing...