In love with a little city called Sevilla.

So my last blog post may/may not have been a little cranky and sleep deprived, silly me. I can't believe I spent so much time freaking out about my trip, when really it was prrrrobably the five best consecutive days of my travels to date.

So when I was in the train station in Madrid, I met a charming woman who spoke English and was able to help me navigate my way through the various confusing lines. As previously mentioned, I had missed my 12:00 train and had to get into an obnoxiously long line to get a new ticket and pay another exorbitant fee. I was upset and alone, and I'm convinced she was an angel specifically put there by God to help me. Anyway, I hopped on the lovely AVE train and enjoyed the views of the Spanish countryside as we sped towards our destination, Sevilla.

Even though my Spanish came in handily enough--Donde estas [fill in the blank] Calle?--I couldn't understand the various passerby's responses and decided to straight up call the hostel to figure out where they were located. The hostel is right on the Alameda de Hercules, a nifty little square with a sort of "alternative, hippie" crowd. That night there was a large party sorta thang going on, complete with a band, DJ and girls dressed up in flamenco dresses who later stripped down to booty shorts and tank tops. But I met lots of really interesting people from my hostel, including a bat biologist from Germany, many Kiwis, Brits, French and Italians. It was a most enjoyable night. Then we all headed over to a bar and a few of us went to La Feria afterwards. I don't know how to explain the Feria...I've never experienced anything quite like it. Basically, we walked 40 minutes to a large fair grounds that had all the normal sort of rides you'd expect, but the main attractions were the "casetas," or tents. Families from Sevilla put up these massive tents and serve food and drinks, but you have to be on the guest list to get in. Luckily there were a few public tents that we managed to hang out in. The women looked so beautiful, dressed up in either fancy cocktail dresses or their amazing flamenco dresses. Seriously, regardless of their shape or size, they looked HOT. I wish I had had money to buy one/enough room in my little carry on. Which, let me remind you, contained enough outfits for 4 days...not 11. Needless to say I wore the same dress every other day. Anyway we returned home around 4am and I woke up 3 hours later for my bus tour through Andalucia., which was fantastic and left me very sunburnt!

Wednesday I slept in much later than I usually do, but I didn't even care! I was traveling by myself and didn't have to feel guilty about sleeping in or trying to get somewhere early in the morning. I absolutely loved being by myself--it was so much easier to meet people and do whatever I wanted, whenever. Don't get me wrong, I adore my friends and traveling with them, but it was such a unique experience! Anyway I walked to the Cathedral and climbed the bell tower--such amazing views, and strolled through the Alcazar, the old palace. I honestly don't know much about it because I didn't understand all the Spanish signs and didn't get an audio guide, but it was beautiful and the architecture was fascinating. AND THE GARDENS. I've come to the conclusion I'm in love with nature and beautiful things. I spent most of my time in the gardens, wandering around them and taking awkward self timer pics. Wa wahh. But seriously they were so beautiful and grand. I also got some delicious apple cake at the little cafe overlooking the gardens. So quaint! That night I made dinner and met up with a friend I had met at my hostel. We did a bar crawl with his hostel and had a really fun night, where I met even more people from around the world. It was super enjoyable, and we all got to have some rebujito, a traditional Feria drink that consists of sickeningly sweet white wine and Sprite--it tasted better as you drank more of it. After a few bars we headed to a public caseta at the Feria and danced the night away. I tried to learn the special dance they were all doing--the Sevillania? and asked a nice Spanish man to teach me--"Yo quiero bailar la Sevillania pero yo no se como!" ...or something like that. Anyway it was a great night..and I randomly ran into a high school friend studying there. Such a small world!

Thursday I slept in again after getting home in the wee wee hours of the morning--so early/late that people were heading to work when I was heading back to the hostel. Oops! But I headed to the Belles Artes art museum, hung around the Maria Luisa park and shopped around for souvenirs. I bought a poster and a flamenco dress-inspired apron. Love ittttt. The charming young Spaniard working there chatted me up and gave me his number--he said he noticed my eyes from across the room and commented that my smile is "simpatico." What a charmer! Too bad I couldn't get another euro knocked off the apron, but I did get an invitation into a private caseta ;) My friends joke that I am good at making new friends/getting discounts/things for free by tilting my head and smiling at prospective friends/helpers/whomever. I don't know if it's true or not, but hey!..if being smiley and charming gets me ahead in life, I'll take it. I had an early night in after getting sub-par paella and sangria--I think I went to bed around 11pm!

Friday I went to the bullfighting museo pero it was CLOSED because of the fight. I would've gone to one but they were expensive, and I didn't want to watch all the gore by myself. I walked around, shopped, tried on espadrilles, got ice cream, strolled through the Maria Luisa park and visited two museums there. The museums were a little bit boring to be honest, though I enjoyed the one on Sevilla customs and art more than the archaeology. Later that night I got churros con chocolate--they were way greasy and icky--but then I saw a flamenco show with my new Kiwi friend, Ben. The show was so beautiful--the dancer was so passionate and firey! Very fierce. And the 2.50 Dos XX wasn't bad either!

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. I had such a great time hanging out with my friends in Madrid and Barcelona and by my onesies in Sevilla. I feel like I learned a lot about myself and am more independent than ever! It's an empowering and very cool feeling. Woooo! Except now I have no money to travel anywhere else, but it ain't no thang. After all, I came to Ireland to study and live here, so I'll try to budget in one or two more trips within the country. Maybe a bike trip around Killarney and somewhere farther up north? We shall see.

Adios!

This is why God invented credit cards.

So my flight to Dublin was cancelled because of the dumb volcano. I bought the way too expensive plane ticket to Madrid to spend some time with my friends, but I wish I had thought about a bus...oh well. Anyway we spent 2 days there in the pouring rain, which was slightly miserable. But we saw the Prado (luckily I got in for free before a bunch of people in my group were charged 4euro). I tried to call Aunt Tara´s neice who lives in Madrid but unfortunately she never picked up, boo. But I spent a fare amount of time freaking out, trying to figure stuff out, and decided to extend my vacation to Seville by myself. Hopefully my flight won´t be cancelled this Saturday, woof. I also cancelled my Scotland trip and won´t be going to London-Amsterdam-Bruges either because I have no moneyyyyyyyyyy. Anyone who wants to contribute funds to me is very welcome to do so.

Anyhow, on Monday I had an adventure getting my train ticket. I bought a ticket at 11:30, after waiting in line for 45 minutes, for a noon departure. But silly me, I didn´t bring my bags with me. So I RAN through the Metro, SPRINTED through the streets of Madrid and ran up 4 flights of stairs to grab my bag, ran back and missed the train, of course. SO I waited another hour in line to get a seat at a different time, paid another fee and waited. The train was nice though, and the country was beautiful. And, in true Teal fashion I got lost finding the hostel...the directions were VAGUE! But I made some friends, got groceries, made dinner and hung around the square last night listening to live bands where everyone was drinking litres of cheap cheap beer. Then we headed to a bar for 1euro cups and walked a good 40 minutes to the Feria, which was SO AMAZING! Ridiculously cool and crazy. Came home a few hours later than I meant to, woke up 3 hours later to shower and got ready for my bus tour!

Jenny recommended a tour through the Spanish countryside where an Australian guy takes you through some of the white towns, an olive oil mill, a winery and gives you a chance to just enjoy the scenery. It was so ridiculously beautiful--possibly moreso than Dingle¿?-and I even got burnt! My fair skin just doesn´t know how to handle the Spanish sun. But I climbed a castle, soaked up rays and ate a delicious frozen mango treat on a stick. Now I´m exhausted and must take a nap before more festivities tonight!

Adiossss

Espana...Barcelona Part 1

I love when the biggest decision of the day is which twisty straw to drink my sangria out of...normal sized straw or huge one?

After 12 hours of travel to Spain and getting lost for 45 minutes looking for our hostel, we crashed. The next day we wandered around Las Ramblas, a really crazy street full of street performers, exotic birds and flowers. We also hit of La Boqueria, an AMAZING market full of dead animals, cheese, fresh fruit juice and crazy fruit and candy. And I'm serious about the dead animals...I definitely saw a lamb's head with the eyeballs, teeth and tongue still entact. It was awesome. Then we tried to find a tapas place Aunt Tara recommended and ended up dining at a lovely, less expensive place across the street. I had FANTASTIC iberian pork with quince jam that was salty and oh so crispy. I also got fried camambert cheese with red fruit sauce. Not too shabby! Then we walked along the beach, got ridiculous hot chocolate the consistency of pudding, and headed to a market for bread, cheese and wine before dinner. Kelly, my travel buddy, and I drank the wine, ate most of the cheese and a full baguette. YUMMO. A bit later we headed to Las Ramblas for dinner, found a special with tapa, paella and dessert, got sangria *I've definitely had better* and ate waaay too much. But it was very lovely. Then we met up with some other Arcadia peeps at a cute bar that seemed like a fairy tale. It was decorated with trees and levitating people..very cool. Then we went to bed!

Yesterday Kelly and I met some of the boys to check out the soccer stadium, though little did we know how much it would cost. She opted to sit out, but I thought it might be interesting to see...with the price of admission I figured we got a tourguide and a free soccer ball or at LEAST a soccer player to take home, but nay. We got NONE of the above and just walked through the place. Succch a waste HOWEVER the museum at the end was cool. Then a few of us got picnic fixins and I embarrassed myself trying to use what little Spanish is left in my vocabulary. I tried to chat it up with the cashier-hola, como estas? and he may/may not have tried flirting with me by asking if I was on vacation but I didn't understand what he was saying so I went all catatonic on him. I turned bright red, the people in line behind me looked at me like I was a moron, someone asked me if I'm on holiday, I said yes, turned even beet redder and ran away. Traumatizing. Anyway we continued on heading to Parc Guell and just died. It was SOOOOO awesome. Gaudi is one creative dude and must've had a wicked sense of humor. We enjoyed our cheese, meat, baguettes and strawberries-olives for the ladies and pringles for the boys-and explored the park for a good four hours. The view of the city was incredible and there were so many new and exciting and different things around every corner! Then we got more pudding hot chocolate, met up with the rest of the group for dinner, found amazing sangria and then ate at a DARLING restaurant, Petra. It had silverware for chandeliers and had an excellent and inexpensive menu. I had duck magret salad with pumpkin dressing and sesame seeds and blue cheese gnocchi, of course. And we all decided to split 5 desserts and pass them around. So delightful.

Today Kelly and I wandered around La Boqueria again, got picnic fixins, but it started raining so we went back to the hostel to eat. And for me to change. Apparently I don't believe in weather forecasts, or they don't believe in me because I brought sundresses to wear. Oh well. Though I've gotten SO many weirdo looks, but ya know what? I think YOU'RE weird, lady in the down jacket that goes to your ankles. It's APRIL and you're in wool/leather with fur/whatever. It's springtime, embrace it. But yeah a lot of peple looked at my pasty American legs with confusion. Anyway I changed into my black cropped pants, we went back out and went to the Picasso Museo-coolness-and then the beach. It was beautifulll and there were 2 nudist dudes walking around...everyone else was fully dressed, weirdos. But I received a lovely text from RyanAir stating my flight home to Ireland is CANCELLED due to a little volcanic throw up in the north. Flights are cancelled until at least Monday, woof. Guess when God gives you lemons you make Sangria and extend your trip to Madrid!! Flights aren't cancelled within Spain, just EVERYWHERE ELSE in Europe. Although I am supposed to be in Scotland on Wednesday--I already bought the plane tickets and stuff. We'll see how that goes. But yeah. There's an update!

Have you seen lambs dancing in a field next to the ocean? I have.

Well I have just departed from Mom and Dad, and I must say I had a fabulous time with them. And there’s a man in front of me with wicked dreadlocks poking into my bus-seat bubble, and I kinda want to see what they feel like. But no.

So, to start off this epic journey, I met M&D at their hotel in Galway, where mom burst into happy tears of joy upon seeing me. We all chatted for a bit, and I showed dad around town and campus. Unfortunately we had THE rainiest week I’ve experienced yet whilst living in Ireland, but it did not damper our spirits. Anyway I suggested we go to my class on Irish lit so that I could hand in my paper and go to my lecture (I also may or may not have a major crush on my teacher). Dad thoroughly enjoyed the class and is even inspired to read On Another Man’s Wound now! We got a scrumptious dinner at La Carla, a Spanish tapas restaurant, where I got the MOST delicious duck with plum and honey glaze, decent fried calamari and not-the-most-wonderful goat cheese balls. But it was so much food, and I’m not at all used to eating that amount of stuff in one sitting. I had sort of been living on small portions of vegetables in a pita and fruit for the past two weeks to save on money and just an overall desire to eat more healthfully. It was paying off…until now. Anyway, after dinner we went to the Bierhaus where I got a Belgium Leffe—woof—and dad tried the Galway Hooker. THEN we headed to Monroe’s for Guinness and Irish dancing, though the dancing wasn’t quite what I thought it’d be; I thought it would be more interactive, but nay. Then they put me in a taxi to go home—such a luxury—and bade me goodnight.

Wednesday I picked them up for my Irish language class--which they thought was fun when they weren’t dozing off from jetlag—and headed to MacDonagh’s for fish ‘n chips! Then I finally got my claddagh ring and did a bit of shopping with mom. I had her bring me some clothes from home, and she commented that she “has no idea what I’ve been wearing at school” because all my clothes are “horrible.” I have to agree—I brought the bulk of my cute stuff here with me, but I’m so sick of it now (though I knew I would be, I just didn’t realize to what degree). So I showed them around the city more, had tea and got a few new dresses, yay! Then we went to Nimmo’s for dinner and I had steak for the first time in months, and it was lovely. After that we did a pub-crawl of Tig Coili, The King’s Head and the Quays, took a taxi home again (so exciting!) and went to bed.

Thursday we drove through Connemara (beautiful, as always) and I made, if I do say so myself, a delicious dinner of rocket salad with pear and Parmesan, mushroom risotto and chocolate biscuit cake. We stayed in that night and watched Criminal Minds (finally! I’ve found it on the telly!) after I had my international phone call interview for the Center for Talented Youth (a gifted youth camp organized through Johns Hopkins). If all goes well and my background check is clean (which it is—spotless, even), I’ve got a summer jobbbbbb. Woo!

Friday we drove to Westport, a charming neighboring town, though EVERYTHING was closed because of Good Friday. Not cool. Dad and I took a walk to the Quay and then we headed back to Galway for Italian food. I had gnocchi, yum. It was a filling meal, though the guy across from our table WOULD NOT stop staring at me in the creepiest way. Even mom and dad noticed. I can’t say I’ve ever felt like I was being hunted like that before, but whatever.

Saturday we went to the market, but Daniel my donut man wasn’t there. So sad! But his sister was getting married that weekend so I guess I can forgive him. He and I are tight, so I know these things about him. Anyway we got falafel, shopped around and got some Connemara marble jewelry and sweet bread for Easter morning. Then we got way lost on the drive to the Cliffs of Moher, but all was well. It turned into a lovely day, thank goodness, and we enjoyed our time there. Though, I must say, it was more exciting when I was on the complete opposite side in February—the part where most people don’t go. I didn’t realize how much they cut off the cliffs from the public and how many barricades are set up. I live life on the edge, and the cement slabs were cramping mah style. Anyway, we got burgers at Boogaloo, a gourmet-type burger joint and attempted to go to a few pubs, including Taaffes and Busker Browne’s, but it was waaay loud for my parental’s delicate ears and we headed home. BUT they finally got to meet some of my friends, and that was good.

Sunday I made a really tasty Spanish tortilla with lots of fresh veggies, some fruit, crispy rashers and the cake from the market for Easter brunch. Then we headed to the cathedral for mass, came home and packed, and headed to the Ring of Kerry! The weather was pretty dismal for a few days, but we drove through the Ring and stayed in Kenmare, an adorable little town. We had a delish dinner that night (I had duck breast with some duck liver, so francy) and for the next few days we relaxed, drove around, jumped around in crazy wind, and got “Ireland’s best fish n chips” (they lied, they weren’t); I also read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the 6th(?) time. I was hoping to do a boat trip across some of the lakes, too, but Dad thought the weather was too ugly to do such a thing. I think I’ll go back to Killarney in May with some friends and see about those boat/bike/hiking excursions. OH and the charming hotel we stayed at, the Landsdown Arms Inn, is a 250 year old establishment, but more importantly, had amazing porridge with thick cream and Irish whiskey. Hollla don’t think I won’t try to make it myself.

Anyway we drove to Dingle on Tuesday and were blessed with some beautiful weather while there. Dingle is so insanely beautiful it’s hard to believe it’s real. Beautiful, beautiful clear blue-green (or teal, ok) water, rocky cliffs, ridiculously green grass, SO many sheep, and lovely sloping hills. The most beautiful and peaceful place I’ve been to yet. We drove around the Peninsula a bit, took an amazing walk (listed in a book as being among the top 14 most beautiful walks) along some cliffs, visited a 2500 year old ring fort, a famine cottage, saw baby lambies dancing around and having a rave, and also checked out a really cool pottery shop/factory. I splurged and bought a lovely single stem vase and an olive oil container (?) and got a free tea candle holder! Wooo holla for the free stuff. The B&B we stayed at was so lovely, and had amazing breakfasts, too. Ya’ll know me, I love food. Dad and I also went horseback riding! His horse, named Guinness, was “the least spirited horse” he’d ever been on, and mine was worse. I could barely get her to move, and all she wanted to do was munch on grass, the big turd. I would pull and pull on her reigns but to no avail! It was also interesting to ride in the English saddle—I think I prefer the Western; it’s a little more comfortable and has the horn to hold on to. Needless to say I was prrretty sore the next day and a half.

Next, we stayed in Kilkenny for a night before heading to Dublin. Kilkenny is a quintessential Irish town, with great shops, restaurants and a huge castle. I had the 2nd best dinner of my trip—rare tuna rolled in sesame seeds—and dad and I went on a really nice run the next morning. The weather was beautiful again, and we ran through the grounds of the castle. It felt awesome to stretch my legs and run again. I definitely need to get back into it. Then we showered, checked out and shopped a bit before driving to Dublin.

Our time in Dublin was fun, though short-lived. We stayed in a really nice townhouse/hotel/B&B kinda thang and got comped free drinks and a delicious selection of cheese for mixing up our reservations and giving us the wrong room. Then we got a nice dinner, and dad and I headed into town for a walk. Yesterday we had a super full day! We started on the hop-on, hop-off tour (which dad affectionately refers to the “ho-ho” bus) and went to Kilmainham Gaol. It was soooo cool, and sort of spooky. I learned about the penopticon (the shape of the more ”modern” gaol) in one of my lit courses, so it was neat to see that applied to real life and see it in person. I can’t exactly remember the context of learning it, but something about literary theory. Anyway, then we headed to the Jameson distillery where dad and I were selected as whiskey taste-test volunteers, yeah boiii. We sampled Johnny Walker Black label (Jameson said they might be a little cocky for having us taste this particularly aged label), Jameson, of course, and Jack Daniels. I have to admit, the Jameson was smooth, but I preferred the taste of Jack Daniels. The tour guide had everyone push forward the shot glass of the whiskey they preferred and dad and I, with two others, pushed forward the Jack Daniels. Haha, oops! She teased us and told us our punishment would be to take the tour over and over again until we changed our minds. However, she gave us a second chance to choose our next favorite; I chose Jameson and dad was “wrong again” with choosing Johnny Walker! Wa wahhh. Afterwards we got certificates and a glass of Jameson (with cranberry and lime for me, on the rocks for dad) and browsed the collection of ridiculously expensive bottles of vintage whiskey. My favorite was the bargain price of 50,000euro for 13 bottles of whatever special kind it was. What is this?! Then after a seriously immediate buzz, we took the bus to the Irish writer’s museum, and I saw the first edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula! That was pretty cool, fo sho. And some old editions of other writers’ stuff too. Then we got dinner, went to the hotel packed up and hung out a bit.

It was suchhhhh a lovely treat to have them come, and I’m so grateful to be able to share a little bit of my Ireland experience with them. Thank you again for coming, ma and pa! Love youu.

Also, I promise not to let these blog posts get so out of hand anymore. That is just way too much to read, if anyone does read it. Wa wahh. Up next: BARCELONA!

Stay tuned…

London Bridge is NOT falling down.

This past weekend I went to London with Dayna and Miranda to visit a friend, Leslie, from grade school. She happened upon my facebook one day, saw I'm in Ireland, messaged me and then we got in touch about visiting! She graciously offered to host us for the weekend and it was soo fun to catch up with her! We arrived Thursday night, got some mixin's for stir fry, drank some wine and caught up on life. Then we walked to her college and got some amazing waffles with ice cream!

Friday Dayna and Miranda took a bus tour, while I opted to have Leslie take me around and show me the cool jams. We were going to take a free walking tour but the tube was ridiculously backed up and we missed it, unfortunately. But we headed to the Tate Britain, which I thoroughly enjoyed. My favorite work was in a large sort of rotunda where the walls were covered with snippets of conversation that the artist had overheard. I can't remember his name, but he was fascinated with light and dark, good and evil, basically any opposites and the phrases and sentences had opposites on other walls in the rotunda. Some of the words were written backwards, too, and some things made no sense, like "from the moment you hear this to the moment you kiss someone with blue eyes" or "tell someone a beautiful truth" with "tell someone a beautiful lie" printed on the opposite wall backwards. Stuff like that. I'm sorry I didn't explain it well but trust me, it was really cool. After that we went back to where the next free tour was supposed to start, ate some sandwiches and then found out the tour started at 1pm, not 2pm. SO I was annoyed I had mixed up the times but we got ice cream and took a double decker bus to the last stop, which happened to be the area where Oliver was being performed. We checked out ticket prices and then Leslie headed home while I went to the Museum of Natural History. I spent a good 2 1/2 hours looking at dinosaurs, mammals, gemstones, sea creatures and other SWEET stuff. I seriously could've spent the whole day wandering around. I get REALLY into museums and like to take my time checking out the scene and reading the plaques (only if I want to and am interested, I don't read every single one just to read it) and I loved all the dinos! And I learned more about the human body than I'd ever learned in any health class (read: never had a proper health class). But it was pretty amazing. Then I headed back to Leslie's apartment, met up with the ladies, mapped out our next day and got Indian at the restaurant around the corner, and it was DELISH! So tasty. Then we hung around the apartment and went to the flat across the hall for some fun and games before everyone went out.

SATURDAY we planned to go to Westminster Abbey for a service at 9am (it was free, as opposed to paying 12 pounds to take a tour) but of COURSE my tube was backed up and their bus was on time. So they got to go and I didn't, but it ain't no thang. I took a tube to Notting Hill to walk around Portobello Market, met them and had fun wandering around the millions of stalls set up. I'm really excited about the ring I got--it's sterling silver with an amber stone. I haggled it down to 10 pounds, woot woot! And I got a pretty summer-y pink paisley scarf. AND of course, a delicious bratwurst with the works and apple strudel. I love walking around markets and poking my head into cute and overpriced boutiques. The girls left a little earlier than I did as they had a "rockstar" walking tour to catch but after I had my fill of the market, I headed to Buckingham Palace to take some pics of me awkwardly standing in front of it with a camera in hand. I walked through Green Park and St. James's Park, and ended up at Westminster Abbey for the Evensong. It was ridiculous and so beautiful inside. And the choir was amazing, of course. It was sort of funny, though, to see all the people at the Evensong. Some to most of them, like myself, were tourists, but a lot of people had no idea what was going on. Luckily I'd been to an Evensong before and church in general, but it was slightly entertaining to watch people hesitate before doing anything or making any moves. So after the service, I was supposed to meet the ladies at Harrods and take tea. Well, OF COURSE the tube was delayed and the most direct line was under construction, so it took me 45 minutes to get through 3 tube stops. I would've walked but had NO idea where I was going, though it probably would've been faster if I had gotten lost on the streets of London. At least I would've seen sunlight..or rain. Whatevs. So EVENTUALLY I got there, ran through the beautiful fine jewelry section as sparkly things danced across my eyeballs, and found them in the "food court" of Harrods, which is must francier than any food hall I've ever seen before. But we sat down for tea and I realized it was all wrong! We were supposed to be the grand tea room on the 4th floor, but as I looked at the time, I realized we wouldn't have enough time for tea AND the Grim Reaper tour we had planned for the evening. So we left Harrods WITHOUT TEA and without looking at the beautiful and way expensive gorgeous Valentino bags, Burberry anything, ridiculous jewelry, and whatever treasures were hidden from my direct line of vision as I walked out slowly and in very bad spirits. Harrods! You've slipped through my fingers again! At least I made it in the building this time, BUT STILL. I suppose a nugget of back story is needed. When mom, dad and I went to England years ago to visit Katie, we drove past Harrods and I begged them to take me inside but we "didn't have enough time" to go in. SO 10 years later I was finally there but still didn't get to look around :( Anyway, we took the tube to the tour, and it was really cool! And creepy and fun! It lasted about 2 hrs and 45 minutes in the rain and darkness. We learned about the Black Plague, Tower of London, Jack the Ripper and Prostitute's Church! It was really interesting and the tour guide was awesome! After the tour, we went back to Leslie's, had dinner and went to a club in Piccadilly called "Shaftesbury." Luckily we got the 5 pound cover rather than 15. Holllla! I loved the music--the beats were siiiiick, yo. And I got a gin and tonic that was more like gin and TOXIC, but it was palatable. We got home in the wee hours of the morning, and I slept like a rock.

TODAY Dayna, Miranda and I headed to the Museum of Childhood. It was full of toys and fun stuff geared towards children, but I liked it even if it was a little bizarre. We even played dress ups and did puppet theatre! Then we took a train to the airport and eventually landed safely in Shannon. Ryanair flights are somewhat crazy, and they reinforce why I hate flying. Every flight I've been on with them has made me fear for my life for about 10 minutes and then feel kind of ok. I can't explain the feeling, but I'm curious to know where their pilots come from. They're just crazy. If you've been on Ryanair, you know exactly what I'm talking about, with the feeling of being pressed down into your seat and feeling like you're on a roller coaster.

Anyhoo, I had a nice weekend, albeit short. I wish we had had more time in London--I felt like 1/3 of my time was spent on the tube or chasing people down to meet up with them. I certainly didn't mind spending most of Friday by myself. It was nice to wander at my own pace and not feel like I was holding anybody back. I might just have to schedule another trip there this semester before I go home to check out Harrods (obvs), the Tower of London (I didn't take a tour because I heard the exhibits were closed down but I wish I had anyway), and the Tate Modern art museum. Phew! Busy busy.

This week I have to read a book, write 3 more papers, and make a portfolio of my volunteer work for my literacy service course before M&D come A WEEK FROM TUESDAY! I can't wait to see them, it'll be so nice to have my family with me!!!! Yay! Ok time to buckle down.

Cheerio!

How old are you? Oh, 21. No big deal.

So I rang in my 21st year to Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come on Eileen," and it was very epic. We started the night off trying to get into Roisin Dubh but there was a cover so we walked very quickly up to Shop Street to see where the cool jams were. We found a lovely young lady promoting "Coyotes," a honky tonk sort of bar that was giving out free shots of whatever. So we got there, had the free drink (champange mixed with red food dye? it was weird and gross), danced a little bit and then I jumped up and down like a crazy person at midnight. A few minutes later a fight broke out amongst some guys and a girl, and I must say, I've never seen a girl with so much..will power and flair. I should also note the sorts of...ladies...who were at Coyotes. To put it delicately, I have shirts longer than some of their dresses, and they looked a lot like Bratzzz Dolls. But anyway we left that place quickly and headed to Bar 903 which was a lot of fun! We basically danced all night, hung out at the Spanish Arch and of course got Charcoal Grill. I'm not sure if I've mentioned Charcoal Grill, but it's a kebab/burger place that serves dirt cheap (2.30 for a cheeseburger) food and it's amazing in the wee hours of the morning. So my gal pal and I enjoyed our burgers and headed home. It was a fun night and I'm glad I got to spend it out dancing woooo!



Later that day after I woke up, I picked up my friend Colby (from my a cappella group NOTA), and it was SOOO awesome to see him. I was (and am) so excited and happy that he came-it's so nice to see a familiar face. We walked back to my house, ate lunch and then walked along the ocean for a bit before getting Guinness at Tig Coili, my fave place for the good stuff. He was completely in heaven the entire time. Then a bunch of my friends met us for dinner at Tamarind, a cool Asian fusion place and I treated myself to the 24euro appy and entree special, and I got fried goat cheese wontons, Pad Thai and a glass of white wine that had a terrible after taste, but whatevs! It was so nice of my friends to come and we had a great time. AND I got a complimentary bellini from the restaurant for my birthday, holllla! After that we skipped home to get ready for the party that my housemate was throwing for me and I put on my black sparkly sequin-y dress that I bought for the occasion. Then we headed downtown and danced a bit at Roisin Dubh and tried to dance at Bar 903 but it was waaaayyy too packed. So we headed home to bed.

So this past week was RAG week (Raising And Giving but more like Rum And Gin), which is supposed to be about raising money for charity but it was mostly about drinking copious amounts of alcohol. People were milling about outside for 4 days in the suspiciously beautiful weather, playing games and smashing bottles everywhere. It was...interesting...to see how ridiculously drunk people would be by 3pm after I got home from classes. Unfortunately I couldn't join in in all the fun because I had classes I absolutely HAD to go to, but I didn't stay in the whole time, no worries. Colby and I went to a few parties during the day and at night which were all really fun. But Monday night I didn't go downtown because I presented at a conference on Service Learning on Tuesday (it went well), and I had to be up by 8am. But Tuesday night we had lots of fun at an apartment before heading out. However, before we even left Gort (where I live), I sprained my ankle really badly. To make a short story even shorter, I jumped in the air and crumpled to the ground. So Colby took me home and I iced my ankle all night. But all the people who went out came home almost immediately because someone forgot their I.D. and they brought the party to me! So that was kind of them and I didn't feel so badly for not being able to take Colby out.

Wednesday I had more classes but couldn't go to them because I couldn't move, so Colby helped me get to the student health clinic on campus where the lovely nurse gave me a compression support sock sort of thing and it's absolutely helped my recovery. I can totally walk on it and it only hurts when I walk on uneven surfaces or rocks. More on rocks later. So I just stayed in all day while Colby went shopping with one of my friends to get his souvenirs. Then I made dinner for us and we just chillfaced before he went out dancing with my friends. Then he left the next day for Cork!

Yesterday we went to the Aran Islands (specifically Inis Mor) through Arcadia. I think there are 900 people who live on the island, so it's really small. There's one ATM on the island and I think one grocery market. But it was absolutely beautiful and so peaceful. We rode bikes around and stopped by every horse and fed it, petted it and I even kissed a few for the "Romance" photo competition Arcadia was doing that day. I have no idea what it's for (other than cold hard cash) but it was fun. We also went to Dún Aonghasa, a 2000 year old ringfort on top of a cliff on Inis Mor. It was really really cool and old. The only catch is an uncomfortably long walk up a rocky and gravely hill. It would've been cake if I hadn't injured myself but oh well. Then we got home and I made AMAZING pitas with my friend. We bought eggplant, mushrooms (I know, mom and dad, I'm surprised too), pepper, onion, olives, feta cheese, spinach, celery, and tomatoes and hummus and it was so delicious! Oh my goodness I'm going to eat this every day for the next month. I haven't exactly been eating healthfully the past week so it's good to get some veggies in my diet.

Phew alright there's a recap of my birthday week long celebration!

I had my cake and ate it too.

So this past weekend I spent my time in Belfast. It was sponsored through Arcadia and we left Friday morning and arrived around 3pm. It was pretty rainy and dreary, but we were seriously ahead of schedule so a few of us decided to walk around. BUT before doing so we were warned NOT to go to the Royal Pub because it's dangerous. And also right behind our hostel. OH and the hostel room I was in had TWENTY TWO GIRLS IN IT. It was ridiculous and there was a LOT of estrogen floating around. And it smelled kinda funky. But a group of us walked around and saw City Hall and a giant ferris wheel. There was also a super cute shop we wandered into with all sorts of fun cooking supplies and aprons and home goods and what not. Reminded me a lot of Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie. I picked up some lotion to sample and realized it was SOLID PERFUME and I smelled like an old lady for a good solid half hour before we found a store to wash my hands. Oops! Then I went to a cupcake cafe and had a nutella cupcake and tea...yum! Then we had dinner in the hostel [chicken curry--Sorry God, I couldn't help eating meat :(] and then met my good friend from home's Irish boyfriend (I'd met him before) who lives and works in Belfast. It was so nice to see a familiar face and we headed to a karaoke bar where they wouldn't let me sing. BOOOO. Apparently I was too late signing up, but I begged and promised I was good. Oh well, their loss. So we chatted and caught up, had a lovely time, danced and went home.

The next day we headed to Giant's Causeway, and it was really cool though I thought it would be bigger. There are tons and tons of hexagonal rocks sticking out of the ocean. Pretty cool and spectacular. So we got a tour and took lots of pics. I also made a wish in the famous "wishing chair" though I can't remember it and if I did I WOULDN'T TELL YOU! Then we stopped in a beach town for lunch and got fish n chips. It was really bizarre to see all the British flags. Weirdddd. Then we got home, and I took a nap because I hadn't slept well the night before, and then met John for rugby at a pub. It was crazy to see so many men standing in one room staring up at a giant screen, screaming and jumping and cheering. But we met some of his friends, had a pint and then headed back to the hostel to get dressed for dinner. Arcadia provided dinner for us at a nearby hotel, but it was pretty meh. Soggy lasagna, potatoes and rice. I definitely don't need that many carbs in my diet, but I ate it anyway. THEN we went back to the same pub, hung out and John met up with us again! We left after a bit to go to the Stiff Kitten club but the cover was 14 pounds soooooo we headed in a different direction, and I got samosas. After searching for a pub for a bit and realizing how tired I was, I parted ways with him and headed on home to bed and slept quite soundly.

Sunday we had a lecture on the murals of Belfast which was actually very interesting. Then we had a bus tour of Belfast, saw some really cool things we wish we had known about Friday so we could've gone to those cool things, saw where the Titanic was built and then saw some of those crazy murals. Some are very creepy...armed, masked men pointing very big and scary looking guns directly at you. Others are a bit more friendly, but it was still a little unsettling. Then we headed home!

It was a reeeeaaaallly quick trip and I wish we had had more time, but I might be going back with Mom and Dad. It was interesting to hear about how we couldn't go into certain parts of the city because of the strong Unionist ties..like that pub. John was also talking about showing us a mural but decided against it because "they wouldn't like my accent in that part of town." CRAZY.

Anyway, this week has been pretty busy. I'm working hard on finishing about 8 papers before March 31. We'll see how that goes. Well, it must go because I want to get them done before mom and dad get here. Wednesday night was pretty cool...my friends threw me and my good friend a joint surprise party! Our one friend invited the two of us (me and Liza) over for macaroni and I was going to go home to do work but he insisted I go with him to watch Glee at Liza's house. He was pretty persistent so I finally gave in, thinking I'd stop by for 10 minutes. We walked in the door and there was a cake on fire and about 20 people!!!! It was really really sweet and the cake was vegan red velvet--so delicious!!! No one's a vegan, it's just a delicious recipe :) But then I had to go get dressed, naturally, and put on the LOVELY awesome new birthday outfit mom and dad sent me for my birthday in a lovely carepackage including a beautiful ring and about 8 cards, and just about everyone from Arcadia went out to a club to dance. It was so much fun! I definitely needed to get out of the house after being trapped in my room for the past few days and it was great to express myself through the medium of dance. Wa wahh. But it was perfect. Then todaaaaay the weather was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS and I went for a run, did laundry, returned a book to the library and got an overdue book fee knocked down, and then went to a CAKE TESTING COMPETITION at the Galway museum. My cooking teacher told us about it and how she submitted a cake. The competition was intended to benefit Fairtrade, which I didn't know much about but now think is really great. Anyway, I taste tested FOURTEEN different cakes and voted on the chocolate Guinness cake with crystalized rose petals as the winner. It was delish! (the audience got to vote on the best cake and the winner got a gift basket of fairtrade stuff). THEN I went shopping and got a dress for my birthday!! My Irish housemate wants to throw me a party on Sunday for my birthday and to kick off RAG week! Rag week sounds like it's going to be out of control. It's supposed to benefit a charity but it's just an excuse for all the students to get rip roaring drunk. I don't know that I'll be participating in all those crazy things, but I'll definitely go to some events because my dear friend from NOTA Colby is coming to visit on Sunday! WOOOO!

Alright, back to work!