Thought I'd go for a title that listed what I had to talk about, so people could skip to the part that interested them.
I went to London (still amazing, although Buckingham is less impressive the 2nd time after seeing Versailles in the interval), then Oxford (gorgeous old buildings, saw Christchurch College where some of the first two Harry Potter films were done and where Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland) and then Bath (Jane Austen!! I walked the same streets!!)
I got a tattoo today on my right foot of a double trinity knot. Didn't hurt as bad as I had thought. And I love love love it. Have wanted a tattoo for several years but unsure what to get. Now, thanks to some guy from Chile who told me that the tat was cool and that I should be cool, I have one.
And my Dad sucks. He sent me a form to fill out about loan deferment. Didn't include an explanatory note, or email me about it. Just included a stamped envelope addressed to the company. I filled out my part, then realized there was a part for my school to fill out, and thought he just hadn't noticed it. So I sent it to Emmanuel for my financial officer to fill out. Since I was getting the tat on my foot, walking barefoot is the best I can do for a couple of days, so I figured I'd mail it this morning. Only to come home and find an email from my mom saying that I was supposed to get someone in IRELAND to fill it out. HOW THE FUCK WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?! Am attempting to suppress anger. Would have been nice to have a note explaining this, instead of the assumption that I can read minds cross-Atlantic. Hopefully they can get another copy to me, and since I'm going to AMSTERDAM on Wednesday, and I doubt anyone is working at the college on EASTER BREAK, I hope there's no time limit or I'm FUCKED.
Way to ruin my day
- Mood:
GRRRR
Also she wrote a 3000 word paper today, and feels pretty good about it.
- Mood:
rugburned
What can you say about Paree?
I went to see all the sights, I had baguettes and brie, I was hit on in the red light district (don't make eye contact!), I had a fabulous time...
Now it's RAG week, which is about charity and alcohol...BEYOND CRAZY. Already one roomie has a shaved head, and one of our friends came into my room yesterday with a smiley face tattoo on his chest....oi....I went out last night into the craziness of city centre...the pub I was at was selling pitchers of cocktails for 10 euro and ran out by TEN THIRTY....mad
- Mood:
complacent
Finally I left the smoking den and went upstairs to my room to breathe, and laugh and laugh....they get so earnest when they're smoking, and so funny.
Also, FYI, Irish people hate redheads (they call them gingers, and are way meaner to them than we are to blonds).
- Mood:
crazy
- Mood:
sleepy
Oh yes, Jess decided to join in with the boys....lots of craic, lots of craic.
Halfway to sober at 3 when she went to bed.
Got up for her 9 o'clock class......only to find out it was cancelled when she got there.
Is that any way to reward her heroic efforts to get the hell up?
I think not.
- Mood:
calm
Got up at 4am, and it would be generous to say I slept for 2 hours.
Got to school by 5, to wait OUTSIDE in the DARK
At 8 we got numbers, and retreated to a cafe.
8:45 saw us in line again, and 9:20 got me my sign up for my seminar, thank goodness.
Tired is not teh woord
- Mood:
tired
Is what I walked through, my shoes being sucked off of my feet.
Puddles? You ain't seen puddles until you walked in the dark for 20 minutes by an Irish river on a path you can't fucking see. Then how did I see the puddles? I didn't, until I stepped in them halfway to my knees.
Thorns. My thigh. Do the math.
Vines. My foot. Death trap.
Throwing a rugby ball in a circle? Priceless
- Mood:Muddy
Highest temps are low 40's...that is mid afternoon with the sun....
It's actually not THAT cold, the problem is that there is shit for heat....so walking outside I feel warmer than sitting at my computer right now!
The new API people are here, weird to be the one who knows how to get to College, city centre, etc. And I don't go to all of the things they do (campus tours? no thanks) so I'm like both in and out of the group...my new roomie seems super sweet and I think we'll get along well.
- Mood: complacent
We then spent a night in Ashford Castle, outside of Cong, GORGEOUS. Definitely a one night stay at those prices. After spending a week and a half in hostels on my own, the luxury was nice.
Then we drove to Oughterard, and the next morning drove through the tiniest road in Connemara (and that's saying something, since the roads are TINY) only to realize that on Christmas Eve, the ferries aren't running to the Aran Islands. Mom shooed some horses out of the road by yelling, "Hey!"
Christmas in Limerick. We drove up to our hotel, which looked like a Soviet Era Block Apartment, but had nice suites inside. The Cliffs of Moher one day, and we attempted to find the Burren the next (apparently just a region, we gave up on finding the national park). We got stuck behind some sheep (no joke) that a kid was herding with a hurley (the stick used in hurling, kind of like seeing a New Englander herd something with a lacrosse stick). Apparently the technique is that you just drive into the sheep and when you hit them, they move. 2 cars passed us and demonstrated.
Now we're in Ballydehob, renting a house, small but nice. We took a looong walk today along the tiny roads with a random dog we picked up who followed us for 2 hours (we named him Spot) and got to Kilcoe Castle, owned by Jeremy Irons. He wasn't in, damnit.
While Christmas just wasn't the same, and didn't feel like Christmas at all, it was wonderful to have my family (is wonderful, they're not leaving until the 2nd). I hope everyone laughed as much as we did, even when things didn't quite work out the way we would have liked.
- Mood:
cheerful
I can't even say goodbye to Libby, my roomie, I'm going to get up tomorrow morning at like 6:30 and see her to her cab....so sad
- Mood:
gloomy
Vienna was gorgeous. I became Queen of the Underground. I saw churches, musuems, palaces, christmas markets, gardens, etc. It would bore you to read all the names, so just look at pictures on facebook.
Took a train to Prague, good times, wondering if I would be arriving in Prague or Hamburg, but my travel skills won the day.
Prague, also gorgeous. A little more medieval/romantic, a lot less good about naming things. In Vienna they put signs up in either German or English AND German. In Prague, the map has a place name in English, while the street sign points in Czech. Not helpful. But I navigated like a pro, and mastered the Metro. Got hit on by a creepy Czech kid, but when I refused to hold his hand, he got the message despite his complete lack of English.
I spent forever in the Prague airport, my plane was delayed, arrived in Dublin at 11, went to go find where my bus would be leaving from in the morning, and voila, the 11:15 bus, which started its very first run on that very day (lucky me). Three hours or so later (you can fly on the roads at night, no one's there, but they're about 3 inches wide and bumpy as hell), I arrived at the bus station.
Got into a cab, driven by a Transylvanian who used to live in the village next to Dracula's castle. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up. Got home at 2:45. Collapsed.
Wonderful trip.
- Mood:
content
- Mood: calm
- Mood:
contemplative
and stuffed, we went to Eddie Rockets...I had a BLT, this giant BOWL of fries, and a huge milkshake.
yummy
- Mood:
indescribable
I have the weirdest feeling of sadness/excitement for the end of this December. I'm sad because all of my group is going home, and I can't imagine what life will be like next semester without them, especially our Tuesday night dinners, when we all actually eat meals.
But I'm excited because December means Vienna and Prague, and my family coming to Ireland after that, which will lead to lots of traveling and Ireland, and MY FAMILY. I have never been away from them for so long. I consider myself a pretty independent person, but living in another country has taught me not to take friends and family for granted back home. It's easy to forget how great the Emmanuel gang is when I can see them everyday, but all our early morning breakfasts and freakum dress outings, and just random funny moments acquire so much more value when I can't have them all the time.
25 new people next semester. There's bound to be a few good people to make friends with (again).
- Mood: cheerful
I went to my 10 o'clock class, then came home.
And instead of starting another paper, like I've been doing nonstop for 2 weeks, I took this time to be unproductive. I read Sense and Sensibility. Thanks Jane, you made me feel much better. And some poetry by Adrienne Rich (love) and I started Henry and June, which has parts of Anais Nin's diaries that weren't put in the original published version because so many of the people were still alive, and there are lots of details about her affairs and her husband, etc. Fascinating. I wrote in my journal for a while. Watched a bit of TV.
Basically I was (and am) unproductive, and I think I needed to be, no homework, no papers, just pure laziness. I'll start working again tomorrow. Already I feel better and refreshed.
- Mood:
relaxed
2. Conor broke a plate, and left it on the floor and started playing playstation.
3. I need to be rained on in a different country.
4. Papers...I've got 4 and 3/4 of another one done...with another 3 to go. It's all I do.
5. I need to get away from the people I'm surrounded by. Certain people more than others.
And #6:
I need to go somewhere where my toilet can be counted on to flush when told to, not when it feels like it.
- Mood:
crappy
So today, for Tuesday night dinner, I bought TWO cakes. One chocolate, and one Baileys. Cuz I'm in Ireland yo. We had hamburgers, french fries, and soda for dinner. American goodness. It's amazing how much food and friends can lift one's spirits.
- Mood: chipper
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