Well friends, the end of the most memorable semester of my life is here. I am currently typing this on the flight home… only 2 hours left, ughhhhh. So far I have tried to sleep, had a chicken dish for ‘dinner’ although it is not dinner time in either time zone, watched the movie seven pounds, read some magazines, and played Sudoku on the screen in the headrest in front of me, now I will recap the last few days of Ireland and if my computer has enough battery and they don’t come around with our light snack too soon I will keep typing probably random stories that nobody really wants to hear, awesome!
Ok so the majority of the last 2 weeks of my life have been spent at the library. My library buddy Celia and I had quite the intense schedule. Andrea usually made her way there at some point during the day but her exams were not as coordinated as Celia’s and mine were. Ally showed up a couple days too! So every day I left Roebuck around 10am and left around 2pm for lunch. Returned to the library at 4:30 and stayed until about 8 or 9 when we left, had dinner, and hung out until we went to bed only to get up again and do it over.
Ally and I went out once during the study week with the other Americans and it was so much fun! I really didn’t hang out with them that much all semester so it was kinda sad to start hanging out when we only had a weekish left.
While most people finished their exams on like Wednesday or Thursday, I was fortunate enough to have the last final on the last day. It helped that a lot of the other Americans I know were in it as well as Violeta and Celia. Celia had an exam at 12 that day so she didn’t want to leave the exam center and waste all that extra time so I went to the city centre in the morning to do some last minute errands and picked up some lunch for both of us. I got there at around 2:30, we ate together, then studied on and off until the exam at 6.
We obviously went out immediately on Saturday night after the exam. We ended up at Turks Head for the ERASMUS party. It was fun, as always, especially because it was a party held by the ERASMUS so all the international students were there. That also meant that Celia knew absolutely everybody.
For my last night the girls and I went out to dinner. We went to the Hard Rock Café because I wanted to go to dinner and they had been wanted to go there. We met Sandra there because her parents were visiting so she was already in the city centre. Celia brought a bag to our apt and didn’t leave it there but brought it to the city centre. I asked her what was in it and she said it was something for Sandra, I totally accepted it. When we were all sitting down after Sandra arrived they told me they had gotten me a little something for my birthday. I was so surprised! They got me a little Ireland stuffed animal and a giant 21st birthday card that they wrote in and all signed. It was the cutest thing. It was completely Celia’s style, starting with “Hey American!” and everything, haha!
After dinner we got a giant brownie sundae, it was delicious. Then we headed to Blackrock to the Wicked Wolf to say our goodbyes to the Spaniards. It was karaoke night and a lot of fun, but the place closed at 12 so we were only there for about an hour when it closed. Afterwards everyone congregated outside. It was a very long process for Sandra to say goodbye to everyone and Andrea, Celia, and Vio to say goodbye to all the people who would be gone by the time they got back from Germany. I know most of the Spanish but am closest to Maria, Blanca, Fifo, and Vicki so I only had 4 people to say goodbye to. Eventually we exited before the water works started but the taxi ride back to campus was pretty somber. It was starting to set in that we were all leaving. =(
We hung out in Andrea and I’s kitchen for a few hours because none of us wanted to say goodbye. The girls were leaving at 7am for the airport and Sandra had to wake up to meet with her parents, I had to finish packing, vacuum my room, check out, etc but we didn’t care because it was our last night and sleep was not important.
We finally got too tired to avoid it any longer and I started to say my goodbyes. It was the worst moment of my entire trip. We were all so sad =( I promised to visit Spain and they promised to visit the US. Someday we will see each other again, until then we will have to get by with Tuenti, Facebook, MSN, and Skype.
The next day I finished packing, vacuumed my room and bathroom, tidied up the kitchen, and checked out. I called a taxi to take me to the airport because I had way too much stuff to handle myself. My cab driver was so friendly and talked to me the entire way to the airport, he was so funny!
I got to the gate pretty early; luckily another kid from my program, John, was on my flight too. He got there early too and we talked for an hour while we waited for our plane to start boarding. It was a good time killer, I know I would have been bored out of my mind sitting there alone.
That brings me to the flight which I described at the beginning…..
I am now at home and still unpacking. Trying to get used to the time but no matter what time I go to bed… even past 1am… I always wake up between 7 and 730am. This has to stop asap. I am missing all my Dublin people and places already. What a great semester it has been. I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you. I don’t really know who reads it but if I see you around then let me know! Since the blog is called jen in Ireland I guess this will be my last post.
I have had the experience of a lifetime. I will never forget the places I have been, the people I have met, and the things I have learned. I know I am a better and more well-rounded person because of this semester. I am much more cultured and less of an “ignorant American”. I’m glad to be home but I will talk your ear off about Europe if you let me. I recently found a quote from James Joyce, I think it is a good finale to my blog. Bye bye!
Love, Jen
“When I die, Dublin will be written in my heart” –James Joyce
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Finals
Finals have taken over my life.
This is the only studying we have to do all semester so you can only imagine how much material I have to go over.
They are all essay exams and 2 hours long.
I have taken 3 already, including my Irish History final I took the last week of classes, and have two left to go.
The testing center is honestly an oversized barn with 3000 desks set up in rows of about 125. Several subjects take their exams at the same time in the same location. When you arrive at the center.... which is off campus so you have to catch a bus, shuttle, or walk...... you have to find your name on the list and memorize your seat number.
The first exam I was seat 556 and today I was 1398.
One perk is they have free bananas and lollipops! woot woot! banana before the exam and lollipop after is how I roll.
my last exam is of course the last exam the university has, saturday from 6-8pm. Then I am done! we are all going out afterwards =)
I have the 17th to pack up everything into two suitcases and a carry on..... yikessssssss
May 18th I am heading back to Chicago. It is definitely bittersweet because I am VERY excited to see everyone at home, eat non-boring food, sleep in my bed, etc but I am also really sad to be leaving Dublin and all the friends I have made here. I know I will keep in touch with them and some live as close as Wisconsin..... but then I have the Spanish and French and who knows when I will get to see them again. We are dreading saying goodbye. =(
Well back to studying for me. I have procrastinated long enough!
This is the only studying we have to do all semester so you can only imagine how much material I have to go over.
They are all essay exams and 2 hours long.
I have taken 3 already, including my Irish History final I took the last week of classes, and have two left to go.
The testing center is honestly an oversized barn with 3000 desks set up in rows of about 125. Several subjects take their exams at the same time in the same location. When you arrive at the center.... which is off campus so you have to catch a bus, shuttle, or walk...... you have to find your name on the list and memorize your seat number.
The first exam I was seat 556 and today I was 1398.
One perk is they have free bananas and lollipops! woot woot! banana before the exam and lollipop after is how I roll.
my last exam is of course the last exam the university has, saturday from 6-8pm. Then I am done! we are all going out afterwards =)
I have the 17th to pack up everything into two suitcases and a carry on..... yikessssssss
May 18th I am heading back to Chicago. It is definitely bittersweet because I am VERY excited to see everyone at home, eat non-boring food, sleep in my bed, etc but I am also really sad to be leaving Dublin and all the friends I have made here. I know I will keep in touch with them and some live as close as Wisconsin..... but then I have the Spanish and French and who knows when I will get to see them again. We are dreading saying goodbye. =(
Well back to studying for me. I have procrastinated long enough!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Update!
I am at the library right now and I am sick of studying so here is my attempt to catch everybody up a little. I will begin with Portugal. Ally and I were flying out at 7am, so obviously we decided to just not go to bed at all….. I went to Sandra, Violeta, and Maria’s apartment with Andrea and Celia because Blanca was making crepes! Since they are all Spanish they obviously didn’t start preparing them until after 9pm.
By the time they were sitting down to eat Ally and Jackie were drunk and waiting for me to go out so I told them to come over. We were going to go out but never made it off campus, haha. After crepes we were hanging out in the apartment and at midnight Ally decided she was tired and needed to go home so she left. Jackie was sleeping on the couch. I was looking through a Spanish gossip magazine with Andrea and Celia… they read me my horoscope and everything, hahaha. Jackie went home soon after Ally and eventually the 3 of us decided to go back to our apartment. Thanks to them I was able to stay awake. They were determined to stay awake with me and I appreciated it.
Ally and I got a cab around 4:30am and got to the airport very quickly…. not much traffic at that time. Ally was still slightly intoxicated and after we got past security she fell asleep on the floor of the Dublin Airport, hahahaha
I slept the entire flight. I have never slept so well on an airplane before! We arrived in Lisbon and it wasn’t even 10am. We took a bus to our hostel, which was right in the middle of the city on a very cute pedestrian street with lots of good shopping, souvenir shops, and cafes. It was one of the nicest hostels I have been to. We dropped off our things and immediately went to eat. Then we changed and ventured out to find a beach! It wasn’t super nice out… the temp was good but it was getting late and it was cloudy. We didn’t care. I didn’t have any sunscreen but figured I would just buy some there. We didn’t pass anything and I decided to just buy it the next day, no big deal.
Ughhhhh such a bad idea!! I definitely got burnt on one awkward line down the front of each leg and arm, hahaha. After we left the beach we hit up the local mcdonalds for some mcflurries and noticed that the mcdonalds in Portugal definitely serve beer, like draft in a plastic cup, hahahaha. So funny.
That night our hostel had a Portuguese sausage dinner thing for 4euro so we had that. It was so good! They had all different kinds of sausage and some of the best cheeses I have ever had, bread, ham, olives, wine, ya know. Needless to say, we went to bed early that night, I was exhausted.
We got up and had our breakfast that was included in our hostel…. Cereal, eggs, toast, juice… not bad at all. Heather arrived that morning so we waited for her to get in and the 3 of us went to the beach. We ate at a café on the beach and I ordered a hamburger… and not only was bread not included so I had to pay extra for a bun, but apparently a fried egg on top is included, hahaha! That night Ashley and Tiffany flew in to meet us from London. We all met up at an Italian restaurant and had dinner then went out. It was so funny because nobody stayed in the bars. You just bought your drink there and people were everywhere on the streets just holding their drinks!
The next day was sightseeing! We walked up and down the hills of Lisbon to castles, churches, monuments, etc. it was a very nice day and I had to roll up my shirt sleeves because I didn’t want any more awful tan lines, haaha. For anyone who has never been to Lisbon let me just tell you that all you need to do is go to San Francisco and you will get the main idea…. Things they have in common: cable cars, very steep hills everywhere, the golden gate bridge….. well in Lisbon it isn’t golden but it looks the same otherwise.
We signed up for a night tour through our hostel and that started at 9pm so we grabbed some sandwiches for dinner and met up with our guide. He took us to the modern part of the city where the world expo was held and then to the old part of the city and a pasteleria with the best egg tarts in the country… they really were fantastic. We learned a lot about Lisbon and definitely enjoyed the tour.
The last day all 5 of us hit up the beach. It was beautiful! I got burnt again because I am dumb… this time it was all on the back of my arms, legs and my back. I was so mad at myself because it hurt! Luckily my face never got burned =) Ally and I managed to do some damage at Zara and H&M during the trip, I got a shot glass for my collection, and caught up on my gossip magazines. good stuff.
Heather, Ally and I left for Dublin on Tuesday. Ashley and Tiffany were continuing on to Madrid. I got back to my room in the Dub, unpacked, showered, and got ready to go to The Fray concert!!
Jackie, Ally and I went to see The Fray right in the city centre. I think we were the only people over the age of 16 there besides the dads that obvs wouldn’t let their daughters go alone, hahaha. Whatever, it was a really good show! They sound exactly the same live as on their cd. I got some good pictures and videos too.
I was going to start being productive and study for finals on Wednesday but that most definitely did not happen… oops! It is so hard to get motivated when you still have 9 days before your first exam. It’s ok though, I made up for it yesterday. I left for the library with Celia and Andrea at 10:30am. We studied until our lunch break at 2pm. We ate at the student restaurant just to do something different, it was pretty good. We took a short break in our rooms and met up again at 4:30pm to head back to the biblioteca. Around 9:30pm we packed our stuff up and headed home. At 10:30pm we ordered pizza for dinner! Yummy!
Today I met Celia at the library 10:30am because she got here early and Andrea was staying home. Vicki came to study also and we studied until 2:30pm then went to Celia’s to have lunch. We made a big salad and Andrea decided to show up by then, haha. After our break we headed back to the library where I am now…. .not studying. It’s ok though, I don’t think my brain can take any more right now. Vicki and Celia have left to go play football…. I passed even though they said I could be the goalie and wouldn’t have to do much because they were so good, hahaha.
By the time they were sitting down to eat Ally and Jackie were drunk and waiting for me to go out so I told them to come over. We were going to go out but never made it off campus, haha. After crepes we were hanging out in the apartment and at midnight Ally decided she was tired and needed to go home so she left. Jackie was sleeping on the couch. I was looking through a Spanish gossip magazine with Andrea and Celia… they read me my horoscope and everything, hahaha. Jackie went home soon after Ally and eventually the 3 of us decided to go back to our apartment. Thanks to them I was able to stay awake. They were determined to stay awake with me and I appreciated it.
Ally and I got a cab around 4:30am and got to the airport very quickly…. not much traffic at that time. Ally was still slightly intoxicated and after we got past security she fell asleep on the floor of the Dublin Airport, hahahaha
I slept the entire flight. I have never slept so well on an airplane before! We arrived in Lisbon and it wasn’t even 10am. We took a bus to our hostel, which was right in the middle of the city on a very cute pedestrian street with lots of good shopping, souvenir shops, and cafes. It was one of the nicest hostels I have been to. We dropped off our things and immediately went to eat. Then we changed and ventured out to find a beach! It wasn’t super nice out… the temp was good but it was getting late and it was cloudy. We didn’t care. I didn’t have any sunscreen but figured I would just buy some there. We didn’t pass anything and I decided to just buy it the next day, no big deal.
Ughhhhh such a bad idea!! I definitely got burnt on one awkward line down the front of each leg and arm, hahaha. After we left the beach we hit up the local mcdonalds for some mcflurries and noticed that the mcdonalds in Portugal definitely serve beer, like draft in a plastic cup, hahahaha. So funny.
That night our hostel had a Portuguese sausage dinner thing for 4euro so we had that. It was so good! They had all different kinds of sausage and some of the best cheeses I have ever had, bread, ham, olives, wine, ya know. Needless to say, we went to bed early that night, I was exhausted.
We got up and had our breakfast that was included in our hostel…. Cereal, eggs, toast, juice… not bad at all. Heather arrived that morning so we waited for her to get in and the 3 of us went to the beach. We ate at a café on the beach and I ordered a hamburger… and not only was bread not included so I had to pay extra for a bun, but apparently a fried egg on top is included, hahaha! That night Ashley and Tiffany flew in to meet us from London. We all met up at an Italian restaurant and had dinner then went out. It was so funny because nobody stayed in the bars. You just bought your drink there and people were everywhere on the streets just holding their drinks!
The next day was sightseeing! We walked up and down the hills of Lisbon to castles, churches, monuments, etc. it was a very nice day and I had to roll up my shirt sleeves because I didn’t want any more awful tan lines, haaha. For anyone who has never been to Lisbon let me just tell you that all you need to do is go to San Francisco and you will get the main idea…. Things they have in common: cable cars, very steep hills everywhere, the golden gate bridge….. well in Lisbon it isn’t golden but it looks the same otherwise.
We signed up for a night tour through our hostel and that started at 9pm so we grabbed some sandwiches for dinner and met up with our guide. He took us to the modern part of the city where the world expo was held and then to the old part of the city and a pasteleria with the best egg tarts in the country… they really were fantastic. We learned a lot about Lisbon and definitely enjoyed the tour.
The last day all 5 of us hit up the beach. It was beautiful! I got burnt again because I am dumb… this time it was all on the back of my arms, legs and my back. I was so mad at myself because it hurt! Luckily my face never got burned =) Ally and I managed to do some damage at Zara and H&M during the trip, I got a shot glass for my collection, and caught up on my gossip magazines. good stuff.
Heather, Ally and I left for Dublin on Tuesday. Ashley and Tiffany were continuing on to Madrid. I got back to my room in the Dub, unpacked, showered, and got ready to go to The Fray concert!!
Jackie, Ally and I went to see The Fray right in the city centre. I think we were the only people over the age of 16 there besides the dads that obvs wouldn’t let their daughters go alone, hahaha. Whatever, it was a really good show! They sound exactly the same live as on their cd. I got some good pictures and videos too.
I was going to start being productive and study for finals on Wednesday but that most definitely did not happen… oops! It is so hard to get motivated when you still have 9 days before your first exam. It’s ok though, I made up for it yesterday. I left for the library with Celia and Andrea at 10:30am. We studied until our lunch break at 2pm. We ate at the student restaurant just to do something different, it was pretty good. We took a short break in our rooms and met up again at 4:30pm to head back to the biblioteca. Around 9:30pm we packed our stuff up and headed home. At 10:30pm we ordered pizza for dinner! Yummy!
Today I met Celia at the library 10:30am because she got here early and Andrea was staying home. Vicki came to study also and we studied until 2:30pm then went to Celia’s to have lunch. We made a big salad and Andrea decided to show up by then, haha. After our break we headed back to the library where I am now…. .not studying. It’s ok though, I don’t think my brain can take any more right now. Vicki and Celia have left to go play football…. I passed even though they said I could be the goalie and wouldn’t have to do much because they were so good, hahaha.
Ok this is very long but I just wanted everyone to know I haven't forgotten about you! Enjoy and have a great weekend!!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Be back later
I am off to Lisbon, Portugal for the weekend!!!
I will be back on Tuesday.... then I will most definitely have time to completely update this because I have no more classes!
Sorry for the lack of updates. The last week of classes killed me with all the projects and papers due.
I will be back on Tuesday.... then I will most definitely have time to completely update this because I have no more classes!
Sorry for the lack of updates. The last week of classes killed me with all the projects and papers due.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Galway
I went to Galway for a night with Sandra, her boyfriend Salvo (Salvador), Violeta, and Nadine. I left the same morning Michelle went back to Chicago. We spent a LOT of time in a bus but the Cliffs were BEAUTIFUL and so worth it =)
All the US girls went to Galway the day before, this did not work out for Michelle and I, so I planned the trip with the Spaniards. Story of my life, haha. I was a little worried because Salvo doesn't speak English, Vio has the least English ability of the girls, and Nadine is here for a month to improve her not so good English...... sweet. It turned out fine though!
Vio is actually decent at English and initiated a ton of convos with me. She said she doesn't have a chance to usually because Celia speaks so quickly in English that she can't keep up or get any words in to me. I told her we would just tell Celia to shut up next time so she can talk too, haha.
Sandra is a very good translator too and I felt like I was actually talking to Salvo at some points, haha. She said she was speaking so much English she was dreaming in English! This from the girl who is fluent in Spanish and French, wow.
It was Easter Sunday so Galway was pretty much closed. We walked along the beach and stopped at a pub and walked through the city. We visited the college and church and had pizza for dinner! We were all tired so we decided to just go to bed..... apparently this was a crime because Galway has great nightlife, oh well, I am already over it.
The next day we took a bus tour to the Cliffs of Mohr. It is about 1.5 hrs from Galway but a lot longer when you add in all the extra stops we had. Random places that none of us really cared about but the tour company added them in so their tour looked better than the others. ugh.
It rained on and off the whole way and we were worried it might be raining when we arrived. It was not. It was so beautiful!! It did rain the whole drive back to Galway though...... Once back in Galway we took a bus back to Dublin.
When I arrived I was planning to pass out immediately because I was exhausted, however, Andrea and her boyfriend Raul and Celia and her friend Dan were here. They had 11 cups of instant noodles stacked on the table and invited me to dinner, hahahaha!! It was 11pm, no big deal. I was actually hungry so I agreed. Maria came over and we ate 10 of them. They were good, I tried every kind. They were so weird though cuz you add hot water but there is also a packet of either soy sauce, tomato sauce, or mango sauce that you add too. I was disgusted but it tasted fine so I got over it.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Recent things
REUNITED!! =D
UofI ladies
My Spaniards Ok so I have decided that I will post about my trips once I have time. I don't want to keep falling behind so I am just going to jump to now and fill in things later.
Heather came to visit! We celebrated "The Lanuti Family and Friends Irish Spring Break Adventure 2009" and it was great!!
The Lanuti's with Irish pride!!!
Food
Heather, Haley, and I hit up the UCD Spring Fling at Tripod and I am pretty sure we were the only non-Irish people there. Good times.
As for the family... we took it easy and did a pretty chill tour of Dublin. Not too many touristy things, mostly just hanging out. I enjoyed it a lot.
We went to Belfast with my school for the day and that was very cool.... we even saw where they built the Titanic!
YAY!They took some of my friends and I out for "real food" and it was great!! I had the Irish stew, yummy! I was glad they could finally meet all the people I talk about.
At dinner my dad wow-ed Andrea, Celia, and Sandra with his knowledge of the Spanish language- una cerveza- and that is it, haha! =)
My mom became Celia's first fan for her future Hannah Montana-esque singing career... Celia still talks about having a fan.
Kelsey had an entire conversation about bowling with Andrea and Celia before we realized that Celia thought she was talking about baseball, hahahaha. Andrea had to set her straight.
Dad showed Celia the "American" way to eat Irish Stew and had her doing crazy things with her bowl and spoon, bahahaha!! She knew he was messing with her and just didnt care, oh man.
Kelsey, Ally and Heather all ordered the Dublin Double Burger.... it was the biggest double burger I have ever seen in my life! Good news for me because I got to bring home an entire burger that Kelsey didnt eat!
Michelle!!I had a few recovery days to catch up on sleep and organize my life and then Michelle came!
She is here now and has a very busy schedule for herself if I do say so myself.
We had a great weekend!
Dublin loveOn Friday we went to Newgrange with my school, Andrea came too. We saw the Neolithic Tombs and they were very cool! They are older than the pyramids!
We went out Friday night and Saturday night.
I got together the combination of Ally, Heather, Michelle, Violeta, Celia, Sandra, and Andrea for Friday night. It was so fun! We played circle of death spanish style, hahahaha. It is the same idea as the way I would normally play except they have a "toast to the queen" card, "bomb" card (my personal fave), "despertaco!" card, "rabbit" card, and others.
Celia is a bad influence on meSaturday we had a similar crowd of Michelle, Ally, Sandra, Andrea, Celia, Violeta, Julie, Rachel, and Lauren. We played cards at Ally's apartment before hitting up three different pubs/clubs. I guess we just couldnt make up our minds.
Hahahaha, sleeping standing up?
I love group pics with my Spaniardsthere are so many funny pictures! Usually we dont bring a camera out because nobody thinks about it but Ally and Michelle were all over it this weekend. Ahhhh! I have added a few cute ones and a few funny ones =)
I have no words for this pic....
Friday, March 27, 2009
Family is HERE!!
mom, dad and kelsey arrived today!!!!! I was sooooo happy to see them!
They are all sleeping now but did a very good job of not falling asleep early. mad props!
Tomorrow we are going to be traveling to Belfast with the school, I am looking forward to it!
Heather and her parents will be back from London tomorrow night so we will try to all get together before they leave on Sunday.
My family brought some Garrett's popcorn for me... yummy!!!! Along with other things I missed from home. However, the most important things were.... pancake mix and maple syrup so I can finally make my roommates the 'American' pancakes they have been dying for. They also brought me a waffle iron, hahaha, because my roommates are fascinated by them also and really want to see me make them. oh man.
They are all sleeping now but did a very good job of not falling asleep early. mad props!
Tomorrow we are going to be traveling to Belfast with the school, I am looking forward to it!
Heather and her parents will be back from London tomorrow night so we will try to all get together before they leave on Sunday.
My family brought some Garrett's popcorn for me... yummy!!!! Along with other things I missed from home. However, the most important things were.... pancake mix and maple syrup so I can finally make my roommates the 'American' pancakes they have been dying for. They also brought me a waffle iron, hahaha, because my roommates are fascinated by them also and really want to see me make them. oh man.
Monday, March 23, 2009
I'm back!
Hello all!
I am back from Spring Break and it was great!!
Heather and her family are here now so the party is continuing in Dublin!!
I haven't had time to upload the pictures from Morocco onto my computer yet but once I do I will put some up on here. I also plan on writing about all my trips but it may take awhile because I am still very busy. Don't worry, it will be up eventually!
I am back from Spring Break and it was great!!
Heather and her family are here now so the party is continuing in Dublin!!
I haven't had time to upload the pictures from Morocco onto my computer yet but once I do I will put some up on here. I also plan on writing about all my trips but it may take awhile because I am still very busy. Don't worry, it will be up eventually!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
packing again
Hello all!
I am back from Spring Break part 1 and Spring Break part 2 is starting way to soon for me to possibly write about everything that I did so far this break. So, the best I can do is post a few pictures from each place and fill in the details when I return again. My flight to Madrid is at 7:25am... I have to wake up at 4am, yuck!!! We have a 2.5hr layover in Madrid before flying to Casablanca, Morocco. I am so excited to check Africa off my list!
I have been walking around the city the past two days and people watching all the crazy tourists in town for St. Patrick's Day. The huge hats with attached leprachaun beards or the painted faces are my favorite.... and all the street performers that have come out of nowhere. Last night we went out and everywhere in Temple Bar area was packed, even the street was hard to walk through! It was a weird crowd too, much older than normal and of course a lot more green than usual. It was fun though.
Today I bought an air mattress for all my visitors!! I am so excited for Heather to be here when I return from Morocco!! I also vaccuumed my room and am thinking about tackling the kitchen too before I go to bed.
Be back March 21st!
Destination: Amsterdam
I amsterdam.... also known as a climbing place for all young children
Typical view in Amsterdam
One of those houses is where Anne Frank and her family hid......... yeah, I would have never known either.
Just chillin' in a big wooden shoeDestination: Vienna (Wien)
Vienna Zoo! The oldest zoo in the world... they have 3 real pandas along with this statue of 2 fake ones.
Delicious dinner, I will never remember the name of it though
Schonbrunn Palace, no big deal 
People really live in these apartments!Destination: Munich (Munchen)
Hofbrauhaus, famous beer house
Nymphenburg.... summer residence of the King
City Hall
Old school merry-go-round in the Coach exhibit at Nymphenburg
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
packing
I am taking a break from packing for spring break part I to give a final update before my adventures begin.
This week has been very busy. I spent the entire day on Tuesday writing a paper for Irish History (it is due March 25 but I won't have time to do it any other day before then), and studying for my midterm in International Monetary Econ. The midterm was today, I think it went well. I also printed out all my itineraries and directions to hostels and hotels. Packing is going ok, I just dont know what to bring! And it isn't even like I have that much here to choose from in the first place, haha!
Here is my itinerary for anyone who is interested:
Amsterdam, Netherlands- 3/5-3/9
Vienna, Austria- 3/9-3/11
Munich, Germany- 3/11-3/13
then back to Dublin for 2 days to regroup, repack, and rest before Morocco!
Look for another update sometime between 3/13 and 3/16 =)
This week has been very busy. I spent the entire day on Tuesday writing a paper for Irish History (it is due March 25 but I won't have time to do it any other day before then), and studying for my midterm in International Monetary Econ. The midterm was today, I think it went well. I also printed out all my itineraries and directions to hostels and hotels. Packing is going ok, I just dont know what to bring! And it isn't even like I have that much here to choose from in the first place, haha!
Here is my itinerary for anyone who is interested:
Amsterdam, Netherlands- 3/5-3/9
Vienna, Austria- 3/9-3/11
Munich, Germany- 3/11-3/13
then back to Dublin for 2 days to regroup, repack, and rest before Morocco!
Look for another update sometime between 3/13 and 3/16 =)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Tuenti
As I continue to slip into the habits of the Spanish.... it is after 7:30pm and I still haven't eaten dinner.... I have been forced to join the social network site "Tuenti"
It is pronounced like twenty and apparently all the rage in Espana. You can't just join it, because it is too cool for that, you have to be invited. So they are showing me pictures on Tuenti and telling me why they like it so much better than Facebook, etc when they get the genius idea to have me create one. Let me just tell you that they searched the entire website and there is definitely no way to change the language....
They sent me an invitation. It is an email that is completely in Spanish, which I put into an online translator to get the idea of what was going on. I changed my Facebook language to Spanish so I would know the common verbs. It was quite the adventure trying to create my account.
I got stuck when they asked for my universidad, colegio, o trabajo..... the university of illinois was definitely not an option... and which provincia I was from, Illinois was not an option. So I used my newly downloaded msn messenger to ask andrea where I could pretend I go to school and live. She said to just do the same as her. So according to Tuenti I now attend universitat de valencia and live in valencia.
Once I set up the account I figured out how to upload a picture and add a friend. I already had Violeta as my friend because she invited me.
I now have four friends, two tagged pictures, four comments on my wall, and fourteen profile views!! woot woot! Celia just showed me how to add youtube videos on 'me perfil' so I am going to have to try that sometime.
If any of my readers have a Tuenti account you should definitely add me, thanks!
It is pronounced like twenty and apparently all the rage in Espana. You can't just join it, because it is too cool for that, you have to be invited. So they are showing me pictures on Tuenti and telling me why they like it so much better than Facebook, etc when they get the genius idea to have me create one. Let me just tell you that they searched the entire website and there is definitely no way to change the language....
They sent me an invitation. It is an email that is completely in Spanish, which I put into an online translator to get the idea of what was going on. I changed my Facebook language to Spanish so I would know the common verbs. It was quite the adventure trying to create my account.
I got stuck when they asked for my universidad, colegio, o trabajo..... the university of illinois was definitely not an option... and which provincia I was from, Illinois was not an option. So I used my newly downloaded msn messenger to ask andrea where I could pretend I go to school and live. She said to just do the same as her. So according to Tuenti I now attend universitat de valencia and live in valencia.
Once I set up the account I figured out how to upload a picture and add a friend. I already had Violeta as my friend because she invited me.
I now have four friends, two tagged pictures, four comments on my wall, and fourteen profile views!! woot woot! Celia just showed me how to add youtube videos on 'me perfil' so I am going to have to try that sometime.
If any of my readers have a Tuenti account you should definitely add me, thanks!
So busy!
Thanks to Ally and the dude at the race track for this pic!I know I have been slacking on the updates but I have been so busy!
I am leaving on thursday afternoon for the first part of spring break! Amsterdam, Vienna, Munich!!
There is so much to do before then....
I have a midterm on wednesday in International Monetary Econ.
An Irish history paper due right after spring break... won't have time to do it during SB so I have to start/finish it ahhh!
Lots of laundry to do, hahaha
then I have to pack, yikes!
Quick run through of what I have been doing......
On Friday Celia, Violeta and I tried to study for our Econ midterm.... we got through like half the slides. Celia definitely understands a majority of the English business terms because at her university in Spain she takes her classes in English. Violeta has a much harder time so we have to stop so Celia can explain to her what it is in Spanish.
Friday night I went to the cinema to see Confessions of a Shopaholic with Andrea, Violeta, Celia and Sandra. After the movie Heather met up with us and we all went to get pizza. Andrea went home after pizza because she was sick and wanted to sleep. The rest of us went out to temple bar area. We hit up a pub that Celia likes because of their band... we listened to like three songs and left. We ended up at Turks Head again. Heather got tired and went home. by then we had somehow turned into a group of me, Celia, Violeta, Sandra, and about 7 Spanish boys. 2 of them were from the Canary Islands which I thought was very cool. they were all nice but it is intimidating for them to talk to an American. one tried to talk to me in spanish and sandra was like "no, no! en ingles!!" hahaha.
Saturday afternoon I went with Sandra, Violeta, and Celia to a nearby town called Howth to check it out. We took the DART and it was pretty close. It is a coastal town... we had fish and chips, walked along the beach, watched the crazy jet skis out in the freezing water, and just hung out.
Ally has some friends visiting so we all went out to twentyone on Saturday night. I really liked the club and they played good music!
On Sunday afternoon Jackie, Ally, Heather and I went to Leopardstown to the horse races. It was a nice day except the 5 mins that it rained. It was completely different than horse racing I have been to in the States so I had no idea what to do! I bet on two of the races and lost both times.....
Friday, February 27, 2009
Mardi Gras
Celia, Me, Andrea, VioletaFor Mardi Gras the school was having a party for the Erasmus students..... they are the students who are here on exchange and basically from every country except the US. the US has their own program because we are study abroad and not exchange students. Anyways, Andrea and Celia invited me to go with them. We wanted to dress up but realized none of us owned anything fun to wear...
The party began in the student centre so Jackie, Violeta, Andrea, Celia and I headed over. They had free (Jamaican) beer for us..... it was 'best before Jan 08'.... I didn't have any, haha. There wasn't really anything going on and people were just talking to the groups they came with. Since it was only 8:30pm, Andrea and Celia had not eaten dinner. After a few minutes Celia decided "vamos!" and we left... with some extra beers in Violeta's purse and Celia's pocket.
We stopped at Centra to get some bread, wine, and diet coke. Andrea and Celia made us some dinner and we drank calimocho- red wine and coke. I did not want to try it, but I actually enjoyed it! I provided the music and cookies for dessert, haha
Celia made me wear her hat for awhile because she was sick of it....
Around 11:20pm we decided we should get going. Jackie didn't come with us but we picked up Violeta on the way to the bus. Once we were on the bus the three of them opened some more expired Jamaican beer, I still passed. The school rented out Turks Head for us. I had never been there and it was actually a really nice place. It was 1euro to get in and we had the place to ourselves. The dj was pretty horrible. I even went up and asked him to please play some better music, he really didnt. Andrea was surprised, she said they usually have good music there.
Example of an unflattering picture I took of Celia, haha
I was the only one who brought a camera so Celia borrowed it and took a ton of unflattering pictures of everyone. When she gave it back I made sure to take just as many of her. We also took a bunch of group pictures and Celia didn't have a normal face in any of them... it truly is hopeless!
This would have been a nice picture if it didn't look like Celia was eating my hair
Thursday, February 26, 2009
London!
sorry it has been so long! once I got back from London I was very busy, but it is the weekend now and I have some time to catch up on the past week....
Ally, Heather, and I left for the airport around 6pm thursday evening. we only brought a small bag each, no checked luggage, because it costs a lot for even one bag. we got to the airport, checked in, and through security no problem. grabbed some dinner at the food court and boarded the plane. It was very nice because it was not a full flight and I had the aisle and another guy had the window and nobody sat in the middle. The flight was just long enough for me to listen to like five or six songs on my ipod before electronics had to be stowed away again for landing, haha.
We bought an oyster card at Heathrow.... it gives you discounted rates on the tube, I put 10 pounds on it to start with. the three of us got on the Picadilly line and headed to the city. Ally was staying with a friend so Heather and I got off at our stop and changed to the District line... our hostel was right across from the Bayswater station (one stop after notting hill gate, which made me want to watch that movie so badly!).
So, my first hostel......the main area was pretty active when we arrived with people hanging out, playing pool, drinking, etc. Since this was the first time Heather and I had booked a hostel, we did it seperately. Not a good idea, we were in seperate rooms. good thing only one person booked for everyone for all the other hostels from now on. We got our keys, sheets, and tag to put on our bed and headed in. There was a weird smell everywhere, hahaha. We were each in a room of 14. My room was packed, and everyone was already sleeping! I had to get Heather to come help me find the bed that was open because I couldnt find the empty one in the dark. Bottom bunk in the corner... I put my sheets on in the dark and shoved my bag under my bed. We walked around the block but pretty much everything was closed so we just went back and went to bed.
Ally, Heather, and I left for the airport around 6pm thursday evening. we only brought a small bag each, no checked luggage, because it costs a lot for even one bag. we got to the airport, checked in, and through security no problem. grabbed some dinner at the food court and boarded the plane. It was very nice because it was not a full flight and I had the aisle and another guy had the window and nobody sat in the middle. The flight was just long enough for me to listen to like five or six songs on my ipod before electronics had to be stowed away again for landing, haha.
We bought an oyster card at Heathrow.... it gives you discounted rates on the tube, I put 10 pounds on it to start with. the three of us got on the Picadilly line and headed to the city. Ally was staying with a friend so Heather and I got off at our stop and changed to the District line... our hostel was right across from the Bayswater station (one stop after notting hill gate, which made me want to watch that movie so badly!).
So, my first hostel......the main area was pretty active when we arrived with people hanging out, playing pool, drinking, etc. Since this was the first time Heather and I had booked a hostel, we did it seperately. Not a good idea, we were in seperate rooms. good thing only one person booked for everyone for all the other hostels from now on. We got our keys, sheets, and tag to put on our bed and headed in. There was a weird smell everywhere, hahaha. We were each in a room of 14. My room was packed, and everyone was already sleeping! I had to get Heather to come help me find the bed that was open because I couldnt find the empty one in the dark. Bottom bunk in the corner... I put my sheets on in the dark and shoved my bag under my bed. We walked around the block but pretty much everything was closed so we just went back and went to bed.
The London Eye with Big Ben in the center
We woke up early the next morning and got our free breakfast, which turned out to be toast with butter and jelly, hahaha. We took the tube to Westminster and took pics of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. Since Heather had never been to London I decided it would be best to just do the hop on/hop off bus tour so we could see everything. We found the stop and a man was selling tickets that were valid for 48 hours, perfect! He gave us a 4 pound discount for paying in cash! We hopped on the bus and started seeing the sights, haha. We didn't want to actually go in to everything because we didn't have much time so we would just get off and take pics and get back on the next bus.
We met up with Ally in the shopping area between oxford circus and bond circus. We ate lunch and then shopped til we dropped at H&M. The prices on their clothes are in Euros and Pounds and since the pound is weak these days it was so much cheaper than buying things in Ireland. By the time we finished browsing in the other stores we had to go back to the hostel to get ready for our night out.
Big Ben and Houses of Parliment
Heather and I met Ally at the South Kensington tube station and we walked together to her friend Tiffany's apartment. A group of us went to dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant down the road and stopped at Tesco afterwards to get some wine. We hung out until 10:45ish and then all 11 of us headed out to the tube station. We went to Fabric nightclub. It was crazy. Soooooo much techno my head was hurting, but it was fun! I made the mistake of wearing heels and my feet were killing me by the time we got there, yikes! The place was cool and had a few different rooms along with a vip like section. we ended up in a less crowded corner by a roped off section with only 4 people in it! As one of them was walking by us to go get more drinks he asked if we knew who Blondie was.... Heather said yes, and he said she was right there. After he walked away we looked at each other and realized neither of us knew who this person was, hahahaha!! I still don't.
The bus Heather and I needed to take home definitely flew by us as we were trying to wave it down, along with a few other people at the bus stop... so we took a different bus to hyde park corner because we figured it would get us closer at least (our hostel was on hyde park but we didn't know how close to hyde park corner it was because it is quite a large park). When we got to Hyde Park corner we got a cab to take us to the hostel.... we were definitely on the opposite corner of the park, hahaha!
We got up early on Saturday, had some free toast for breakfast, and went off to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. After that we went to Harrods and rode the bus some more, haha. We were going to get tickets to a musical, but they were all sold out at TKTS. So we had some time to kill. We had a yummy meal in notting hill at a tex-mex restaurant and then walked back to the hostel. We stopped at some little shops along the way. Once at the hostel, I definitely took a nap. When I woke up heather and I got ready for the night and went to get dinner. I got a waffle with gelato, hahahaha. It was soooooooo good. heather had a cheeseburger from McDonalds. We walked around the mall that was across from McDonalds and tried to kill some time.
Buckingham Palace- changing of the guards
Finally we went to meet up with Ally and her friends again. This time we went to the Ministry of Sound. it was even more crowded and loud and sweaty than the first night! Benny Benassi, a dj I have never heard of, was playing in one of the rooms. I guess it was a big deal but I definitely couldnt not have cared less, it was just more techno to me. ally and I went to get some fresh air outside and ended up spliting a hot dog from this cart in the smoking area that was delicious. We made friends with the men working in the cart and ally even took a picture with them, hahahaa!
This time there was a direct bus to Queensway... a 3 min walk from our hostel, so that was really nice. Another late night and another early morning... this time to catch the plane. Heather and I had our last free toast breakfast and packed up our things. we got on the tube and headed back to Heathrow. I returned my oyster card to get the 3 pound deposit back and we headed to the gate. The plane was full this time. I had a man all in my space most of the time but since I found an US Weekly magazine near the hostel before we left I was perfectly happy just reading that.
We got on the bus when we arrived back in Dublin and I was actually really happy to be back. I just wanted to have my own bathroom again, and sleep in my bed. Once I got back to my room I took a very long nap to make up for my lack of sleep in London.... it felt great!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Misc
FACT: The paper here is longer and it really annoys me because it sticks out of the top of my folders and binders. Also, I have to write a 20 page paper (in a group) for one of my classes and the longer sheets mean I have to write more..... just great.
FACT: Andrea and Celia made me lunch today. It was delicious. I have no idea what it was called, I even had them repeat it twice and I saw it written down. Oh well, not important. They said their moms make it better and it would be better if we had an oven and not just a microwave so I can only imagine how good it is supposed to be.
FACT: We made crepes again on Sunday. I actually cooked some of them this time, and they were good! I watched Cecilia make the batter too so I could probably do it myself by now. Yummy!
FACT: On Friday evening Ally and I took a dinner adventure to the city centre to find traditional fish and chips. We used her handy little map to find Leo Burdock's. It was right across from Christ Church Cathedral. It was strictly carry-out so luckily it was a beautiful night and we sat at a picnic table outside a nearby pub... which we weren't really supposed to but oh well. I don't usually eat fish so I was skeptical but really wanted to try it. They give you a HUGE piece of cod that is all battered and fried and a good amount of chips, put some salt and vinegar on it, and wrap it up in paper. It was REALLY good! I could only eat half of it but it was definitely one of my favorite meals here.
FACT: I just wrote a lot of facts about food, haha!
FACT: I went to the library yesterday and checked out not one, but FIVE books! I have to do a research paper for my Irish History class and we can't use internet sources.... I know, crazy. Four of the books are falling apart and a couple are from the early 1900's, this is what I get for picking a topic from 1768.
FACT: Tesco delivers groceries and it is amazing. Jackie, Ally and I combined our orders and split the delivery fee. It was cheaper than the bus fare would be and we didn't have to worry about only getting as much as we could carry across campus. We will definitely do it again.
FACT: I need to invest in more scarves. They are definitely the thing to wear here.
FACT: Celia made my day today when she was describing to me the meal she wanted Andrea to make us. She said she didn't know how to say it in English so her and Andrea talked about it for a minute in Spanish and Andrea said she didn't know it either. So Celia says "ok, so... it is like a ball.... of meat...." to which I replied "A meatball?"
hahahahaha!!
She was like "Oh my gosh, really? English is so simple! We have very specific words for everything and you just say 'meatball'?!?"
FACT: Last week I went to the Copi-Print center in Quinn and printed out all the lecture slides from the beginning of classes until now. I'm glad I got a start on that so I can look them over and write on them... it is so much easier than reading from my computer.
FACT: Andrea and Celia made me lunch today. It was delicious. I have no idea what it was called, I even had them repeat it twice and I saw it written down. Oh well, not important. They said their moms make it better and it would be better if we had an oven and not just a microwave so I can only imagine how good it is supposed to be.
FACT: We made crepes again on Sunday. I actually cooked some of them this time, and they were good! I watched Cecilia make the batter too so I could probably do it myself by now. Yummy!
FACT: On Friday evening Ally and I took a dinner adventure to the city centre to find traditional fish and chips. We used her handy little map to find Leo Burdock's. It was right across from Christ Church Cathedral. It was strictly carry-out so luckily it was a beautiful night and we sat at a picnic table outside a nearby pub... which we weren't really supposed to but oh well. I don't usually eat fish so I was skeptical but really wanted to try it. They give you a HUGE piece of cod that is all battered and fried and a good amount of chips, put some salt and vinegar on it, and wrap it up in paper. It was REALLY good! I could only eat half of it but it was definitely one of my favorite meals here.
FACT: I just wrote a lot of facts about food, haha!
FACT: I went to the library yesterday and checked out not one, but FIVE books! I have to do a research paper for my Irish History class and we can't use internet sources.... I know, crazy. Four of the books are falling apart and a couple are from the early 1900's, this is what I get for picking a topic from 1768.
FACT: Tesco delivers groceries and it is amazing. Jackie, Ally and I combined our orders and split the delivery fee. It was cheaper than the bus fare would be and we didn't have to worry about only getting as much as we could carry across campus. We will definitely do it again.
FACT: I need to invest in more scarves. They are definitely the thing to wear here.
FACT: Celia made my day today when she was describing to me the meal she wanted Andrea to make us. She said she didn't know how to say it in English so her and Andrea talked about it for a minute in Spanish and Andrea said she didn't know it either. So Celia says "ok, so... it is like a ball.... of meat...." to which I replied "A meatball?"
hahahahaha!!
She was like "Oh my gosh, really? English is so simple! We have very specific words for everything and you just say 'meatball'?!?"
FACT: Last week I went to the Copi-Print center in Quinn and printed out all the lecture slides from the beginning of classes until now. I'm glad I got a start on that so I can look them over and write on them... it is so much easier than reading from my computer.
Sangria Party!
Clockwise from left: Marine, Me, Violeta, Celia, Sandra, Andrea, CeciliaAfter taking a nice siesta, I was ready for the St. Valentine's Day Sangria Party!
Andrea and her friends had invited Cecilia and I to come along so I knew I was in for a real Spanish treat! We paid ahead of time and Andrea told me afterwards they bought 67 bottles of wine, yikes! I had never had Sangria before but I actually liked it.
Since the buses weren't running we had to catch a couple cabs from campus to the Blackrock campus. My cab was Cecilia, Hoi, Marine, Andrea, and Celia in shotgun. The driver didn't know exactly how to get there and poor Celia was trying to tell him but didn't know street names so she was yelling to Andrea in Spanish to the way back seat and the driver was getting so confused. They worked it out and we got there perfectly.
The party was fun. I was glad there were a lot of non-Spanish there also. I met a girl from Connecticut, and two other guys from the States. Our German friend showed up too. Hoi was so funny. She brought a carton of OJ for herself and her really nice camera. After the first 5 mins of the party Andrea asked me if I had seen Hoi and Celia ran by and told us Hoi had taken charge of the Sangria... sure enough little Hoi was holding the huge jugs of Sangria and pouring for everyone that came to the table, hahaha! She was very good at it.
Hoi pouring the Sangria for everyone!
I met a lot of Andrea and Celia's friends. The first girl they introduced me to- I stuck my hand out to shake hers as she was coming in to kiss my cheek. Awkward. So I asked Andrea and Celia what I should do when I meet new people and they said they always give two kisses on the cheek, to everyone. Cecilia told me the French do the same. So I became more observant and sure enough everyone was greeting each other like that. I adapted for the evening, it wasn't awkward once I was expecting it.
We were both wearing red! Celia takes awful pictures, this was our 6th or 7th try... she was determined to get a good one, haha!
After the Sangria ran out (at 11pm) we headed out to City Centre for the pub. Andrea told me that it was a pub she didn't like and they played bad music. I figured it would be fine...
This time the cab was Celia, Violeta, and I. The driver knew where the Temple Bar area was so we got there fine, haha. We walked past a random pub and of course Celia knew some of the people who were outside smoking, so we stopped to give kisses, etc. We continued walking and ran into Andrea, Cecilia, Marine, and Sandra. We walked together to the pub. The good thing was they didn't charge cover, so I was fine with staying there.
Andrea was so right. The music was awful. I think it hit rock bottom when the Star Wars theme song came on. Jackson 5 played as well as Frank Sinatra. Not kidding. Nobody really seemed to care though, haha! Celia came up to me at one point and she was holding her heels... not like the whole but just the heel part, she was still wearing the shoes. I don't know how it happened but she walked like that for the rest of the night, oh Celia! The pub closed at 2:30am so we slowly made our way out. We got back around 3:30ish. Andrea, Celia and I hung out until like 4am in our kitchen, mostly laughing at Celia for breaking her shoes.
My roommates Andrea (Spain) and Cecilia (France)
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