So yesterday it was great sleeping in until 12 after the long day in Dublin.  I wanted to go to the cathedral but there are plenty more services to go to.  I met up with some girls and we ventured into the city for some food and shopping.  It was drizzling, so a good day for shopping.  We stopped at McDonagh's since it was highly recommended for fish and chips.  And it was goooooood.  My first fish and chips while here actually!  The tartar sauce was even good...and I don't do tartar sauce.  I think it had dill in it.  Super tasty.  Anyway, afterwards we just looked in different shops and I got a few things for people.  We even went in the shop of the original claddagh ring makers.  They had a small room set up as a museum with old rings and such.  She explained how the original rings are uniquely casted one by one with intricate detail and have an official stamp on the inside from Ireland...kind of like a registered trademark I suppose.  I'd like to have one but definitely not buying for myself...defeats the whole purpose of the ring.  After that, we went to Butler's, the Irish chocolate shop.  I bought some chocolate and we all got a hot chocolate since it was chilly out.  Soooo good with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top!  I think Kelly would love this store as much as she loves Godiva haha.  On the way back to the apartments we stopped by Aldi's for a few groceries and the rest of the day I just chilled out at the apartment.

Today I had class at 11:30.  We talked about the first farmers and how those kinds of communities spread.  We also looked at different types of pottery that went along with the farming communities.  I honestly was spacing out from staying up too late so I guess I'll go find it in the book and read over it...though I think this class is pretty chill.  Our first test is next week and from what I understand he's going to be very clear about what is on it.  Tomorrow is our first field trip to the Burren to look at prehistorical archaeological sites....can't wait!!  I'm hoping it doesn't rain.  After class I just hung out with some girls and waited for the optional Irish language class to start.  Let me just say, the Irish language is sooo confusing...I'm gonna have to study my pronounciation charts and stuff they gave us because Spanish and Latin was a breeze compared to this.  I'm really excited they are offering these optional classes because there is so much Irish, in this region especially, and it's going to be great to at least know how to say the words!!  I think she said there were 7 or 9 Celtic languages...craziness.  I love it though and am definitely pumped for these classes, which are twice a week.  After Irish was over, I chilled out on the couches in the concourse and waited for the optional seminar on emigration to start.  I was really wanting a nap but I also want to soak up as much as I can while I'm here, so I toughed it out.  The seminar was pretty interesting.  I never realized how normal it was for young Irish people to go live in other countries for a period of time.  It's interesting to see the cultural differences between the Irish and Americans.  I think that while we are a melting pot of many cultures, we are cultured very little in the rest of the world.  We have so many opportunities right here that we don't need to go other places, and many people don't go see how other countries are.  I think it's really sad.  They pointed out now how fewer people are going to other countries from Ireland because of security issues, along with the Celtic Tiger of the 90s of course that was a major economic boom for Ireland.  I think traveling and experiencing other cultures should definitely be encouraged.  After the seminar I was soooo tired but went back to the apartment to finalize travel arrangements to Scotland (:-D) and have dinner.  I discovered that we have house keeping...they changed my sheets, gave me a new towel, emptied the trash, and maybe washed the dishes?  Not sure if one of the roomies did that or not...anyway, I was shocked that we had all that! Definitely not complaining...it was nice to come home to that, though I wish I had known so my room would be a little neater :-p

After dinner I was just laying in bed contemplating whether to read something or just go ahead to sleep...even though it was around 8 PM.  Then I heard Libby and Jordan calling my name (I keep my window open all the time for the amazing breeze here in Galway).  I love it, talking to them from my window haha.  Anyway, we wound up going to Dunnes for a few things and drinks and went back to Rachel's apartment.  We hung out for a while painting nails and reading magazines while True Blood loaded and then watched it in Rachel's room, complete with munchies and alcohol.  It was such a good time...definitely something we have to do every Monday night.  I'd love to go out to the pubs every night but it's just really expensive and we always wind up staying out late.  Having a girls' night was definitely a lot of fun and a good alternative.

Anyway, so I am going to Edinburgh, Scotland with Libby ( and hopefully Ali and Jordan as well) July 15-17th.  I'm really excited and went back and forth as to whether or not I should do this but I finally decided (with some words of wisdom) to just do it.  So, I'm nervous about figuring out my way into another country but that's half the fun.  I have the airfare and hostel booked and will be booking my bus ticket to the airport later.  After that, who knows what will come up but I'm excited!!

In Dublin's fair city...

Nothing else really happened yesterday.  I took a lengthy nap, like everyone else, and hung out with some girls at a pub.  Most of the CEA group was gone to either Dublin for the night, or to Spain in the case of my flat mates.  Though we did almost not get our tickets for the bus to Dublin printed.  We decided to try to print them around 9 PM then had to wait on everyone to get ready.  After walking to NUI's campus, it was nearly 9:40ish so we  were feeling some pressure!  A nice lady on campus directed us to another computer lab since the library had closed early.  Printing credits and such had to be bought and long story short the security man came to lock up before we were actually finished printing.  He was nice though and went to lock up other rooms while we finished....definitely just about gave us all a heart attack trying to get it done fast!  We decided that deserved a pint ;-)

At 9 AM this morning I met up with Libby, Nicole, and Ali to head into Dublin.  The trip actually took less than 3 hours.  We spent a lot of the day trying to navigate the city, which is hard!  We even had multiple Frommer's maps...not much help.  We finally found the way we wanted to go and stopped to eat, where I had my first ever lamb meat :-( but it was good!  We saw so many things, some of which I really don't know what they are.  I took pictures of the Customs House, Four Courts, Trinity College, Dublin Castle, Parliament building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and a few more.  I love the architecture there.  Sometimes it feels like New York but I think the architecture really sets it apart.  I definitely love all of the old churches.  There was a medieval and viking museum of Dublin I wanted to go see but it was 6.50 to get in and there were other places on our list to get to first.  I also wanted to go to the National Museum of Ireland that was free, but once again we ran out of time.  There was quite a ruckus going on in the city and we saw rainbow flags everywhere...and we stumbled upon the Dublin Pride parade...which we somehow kept managing to walk in haha.  That was definitely a new experience.  We wandered around until our legs wanted to fall off and ate at Sweeney's.  I had beef and Guinness pie...which was sooo good.  We were pretty give out by that point so we decided to start trying to find our pick up point for the bus, which took a little while like we figured.  We were there about an hour early but it was nice to just sit by Dublin Port enjoying the weather and sunset.  I'd definitely need a few more days to get a feel for the city but I am so happy I chose Galway.  I definitely missed my little city today.  One driver in Dublin honked his horn at us as we were taking a picture and threw up his middle finger...I suppose he doesn't like tourists.  That doesn't happen in Galway.  And there were more people living on the streets.  I'm definitely glad I got to see Dublin and its historical buildings, but it would swallow me whole.  I'm a Galway girl all the way.

Our bus left Dublin at 10:15 so we all grabbed a window seat and conked out.  I was definitely disoriented when we got back to Galway because we were in a different place than when we left and I hadn't seen that street.  Luckily Nicole knew how to get us back.  I was definitely tempted to just get a cab and avoid the 1-2 mile walk back to the apartment since we had been walking all day but we toughed it out and made it.  And now I'm going to get some much needed rest! 

Yesterday I slept in til noon since I stayed up entirely too late.  Class was at 2, which was quite interesting.  We talked about what archaeology is and briefly discussed the various periods.  He also brought in artifacts from each period for us to examine.  He's so passionate about archaeology, it's really cute.  After class I went back to the apartment to grab my grocery bag and headed into the city with my flat mate, Kathleen, to get some food at The Cellar.  I had a traditional Irish breakfast, which was delicious!  I tried white pudding for the first time and it was pretty good!  I don't know if I'll ever work up the nerve to try black pudding since it's made with blood...ewww.   After that I left Kathleen to go find cooler clothes for her trip to Barcelona this weekend (so jealous) and headed back to the apartment to meet up with Libby at Dunnes (the grocery store).  By the time we put our groceries away it was time to head back into the city to the town hall theatre to see the play, "The Cripple of Inishmaan."  We actually had no idea until today that the Irish Studies programme at NUI had bought us all tickets so of course we wanted to go!  It was a really good play, I definitely enjoyed it.  It was about a crippled boy on the island of Inishmore that goes to a filming thing on another island.  He eventually gets to go to the US to have a screen test for a movie but winds up coming back to Ireland.  There's a lot more in between but it was about 2.5 hours long!  Anyway, afterwards I went out with some girls for a couple drinks.  We went to the King's Head pub where a band was playing popular rock hits.  It was a really good time, I'm thinking we'll be hitting that pub up again.  I'd say I walked a total of 130 minutes over the day.  Definitely felt like I was walking somewhere all the time.  The walk  to school was especially horrible.  I didn't think my calves were going to make it, but after that inital walk they seemed to warm up and quit cramping the rest of the day.

Today I definitely didn't want to get out of bed...10 AM class comes early :-p  Plus it's been raining all day, more than just the drizzle that seems to fall at some point every day.  When it's raining like this I get sleepy.  Anyway, I actually used my umbrella for the first time!  I was excited.  In class we talked about the mesolithic period and various sites around Ireland and a few in other countries.  He even talked about a dig he did on what was thought to be a fishing platform but turned out to be some type of tool-making platform.  I love how he gets excited talking about these things.  He also got excited talking about stoats, "rather pretty" weasel-like creatures from the mesolithic era :-p.  After class I just headed back to the apartment in the rain and wind again.  My flat mates are heading to Barcelona this weekend, so it's going to be pretty quiet around here.  For now I'm just staying cozy with some chicken soup.  I think I'll read some of my archaeological readings and maybe take a nap...hopefully some girls will be going out tonight.  Not sure if I'm joining them on their day trip to Dublin tomorrow but I probably will.

Until next time...

First day of class and a night of music and dance

Today my calves are finally trying to die.  All of the walking the past couple days has made them so sore and they want to cramp when I walk but I just keep pushing through since it's either sink or swim really.  I'm hoping in the next couple days they'll be fine.  Anyway, got up for the opening lecture that was at 9:45 AM.  She talked on Ireland after Tara.  Tara is kind of an ancient center for the kings of Ireland.  It holds great significance for Irish history and is a huge archaeological site.  There has been a lot of argument about a road being constructed through it going to Belfast that really only saves about 15 minutes.  She went on to talk about being Irish and who says what makes a person Irish...so on and so forth.  Alright lecture, too early in the morning for me haha After that I sat outside with some girls at the gym and enjoyed the sunshine...with SPF 100 this time!! :-p The weather was quite funny today...we were walking and the sun was shining.  All of a sudden rain just starts sprinkling all around.  So weird.  It'll do that, just randomly lets down several drops here and there no matter what the sun is doing.  After that we grabbed Subway in the food court for lunch and just hung out. My archaeology class was at 2. My professor is adorable. He's an actual archaeologist with a special interest in landscapes and how they affect the population.   I haven't met the other man helping because he said he was either on a dig or surfing :-p.  Luckily on 2 books were required for the class, one of which is hard to get so we'll be getting photocopied pages.  The other book is written by one of the instructors and is about The Burren where we'll be going and the Aran Islands.  The lecture was pretty much an overview of the various stone ages and tools found that belong to each one.  I think I was just sleepy today from staying up too late last night...I nodded off once.  Tomorrow should be interesting because he's bringing in artifacts for us to examine so I'm excited!  After class I went back to the apartment for a long nap.

I discovered that the first pub we went to last night is actually really famous and is one of the oldest run pubs by one family...since 1894 I believe.  It's name is Tigh Neachtain (Neachtain House).  During the Irish War of Independence it was machine gunned by the English for displaying its name in Irish.  After carbon dating the wood beams, the pub was dated back to the 1470s.  Before the Neachtain family owned it, the Tribal Kirwan family lived in it.  On down the line, the most interesting piece of historical information to me was one of the famous Jacobites, Robert Martin, lived there and hosted Bonnie Prince Charles on his secret visit to Ireland in 1752.  It's so awesome to think I was standing in such an old and significant piece of Galway's history having a Guinness and didn't even know it.

Tonight, CEA planned an excursion to Trad on the Prom in Salthill.  It was an incredible night of traditional Irish music and dance. I am in awe at the talent of these people and jealous of how music is such a rich and tremendous part of their culture.  The dancers were phenomenal, I couldn't believe how fast someone's feet could move!!  I'd be falling all over the place.  These dancers were actually world champions, so the best of the best.  I also got to see the Irish pipes, uillean pipes (pronounced "el-in"), or "elbow" pipes.  They were beautiful and I think I like them better than the Scottish version.  We were exposed to different dances, reels, and jigs.  I absolutely loved it.  They also had Ireland's top male vocalist perform "Danny Boy," "You Raise Me Up," and another I can't remember the title of.  Gave me the shivers!  I love how much passion these people put into their music...you can really feel it.  This was definitely a worthwhile show to see.

Not really sure what I'll do tomorrow...my room really needs to get in order!  I haven't fully unpacked yet, which definitely needs to be done!  Anyway, I'm off to bed so I'll be rested up for tomorrow's adventures!

Orientation day

Whew, just got in from the pubs!  It's been a busy day!

Everyone met up with Brian to walk over to campus around 10:30.  Not too bad of a walk...quite scenic crossing over the River Corrib.  The weather was pretty nice...actually got a little sun on my chest O.O...gonna have to start being vigilant about the SPF I guess!  Anyway, campus is nice...especially the quad.  I felt like I was at Hogwarts!  So beautiful.   We were given all of the information for classes and such and then had a campus tour.  Afterwards, Brian did a little CEA orientation.  Never knew the  peace sign we use is actually the same as flipping someone off!  After that Brian took us out for lunch...ate at McSwiggan's, the same place Dana and I went yesterday!  I got something different and it was delicious...definitely a good place to eat!  While we were out and about we walked by the main cathedral of Galway...not sure what the name is.  All I know is it's Catholic. I think I may go on Sunday with some of the girls just for the heck of it.  Never really been to mass but I'm in Ireland and the cathedral is gorgeous...might as well.  Then Brian showed us around the city and pointed out good places to go.  We also went to the Spanish Arch by the River Corrib...which is hundreds of years old.  It protected the city.  We sat by the river for a while, the breeze and sun felt amazing.  Then we broke off into smaller groups and did whatever we wanted.  I did a little shopping for people back home, got some cute stuff.  I was  pretty proud that I could actually navigate the city...and people say I have a horrible sense of direction psssh. 

After wandering around the city I just went back to the apartment for a nap...around 5 PM by this time. I don't think I actually went to sleep until 6ish since I was uploading photos and such...but I slept like 2 hours!  All this walking is exhausting but so worth it.  When I got up my flat mate told me some of the girls were going pub crawling so I got ready in a flash and headed out.  We were actually late for the organized pub crawl so I went with some other girls to do our own thing.  I'm hoping to do the organized one another night because it's only 12 euros and you get a free shot and discounted drinks in every pub along with the guided tour.  The pub crawl I did in Savannah was fun so I'm excited about this one.  Anyway, I have no clue what the names of the pubs we went into tonight were....I think they were all in Irish so I'm not even gonna try that haha.  The first was super crowded but really cute.  I downed my Guinness pretty fast to get out of the stuffiness and stood in the rain to cool off a little.  There were a few musicians playing some traditional music, which was awesome.  The next pub we went in was much less crowded and roomier all around.  I had Bulmer's cider there...really good.  I love ciders.  A couple musicians came in there and started playing some Beatles tunes.  I love live music!  Anyway, we were all feeling happy by that time and decided to head back since we have the opening address tomorrow morning at 9:45.  Me and two other girls were hungry since we had skipped dinner so we broke off from the others and found some fast food.  Annnnd we took a taxi back haha Laziness but whatever...we had walked our legs off today and may have done more walking than necessary if we had to find our way back.

These long days are so weird!!!  It was like 9:30 PM and felt like 6.  Craziness.  Tomorrow is the opening address, like I said, and meeting for the first class, which mine is at 2.  Then I think I'll grab some more groceries if I have time.  There's a reception later in the afternoon and then we are taking a little excursion to a theatre to see some traditional music and dance!  Sounds like a lot of fun...I'm betting there will be people going to pubs after as well.  Anyway, it is now 1:44 AM so I'm off!

Getting there/First day in Galway!

I'm the world's best procrastinator. Saturday I got up at 5:30 AM and worked til 3:30 PM then had my little going away celebration with family and friends. Up until that point I still hadn't packed. Long story short, I got a 30 minute nap before having to head to Charlotte for my flight leaving at 6 AM Sunday morning. Definitely felt like a zombie! Anyway, Mom, Dad, and Kelly took me to the airport...luckily I wasn't flying US Air because it was paaacked. My nerves really hit me while standing in line at the security check point but I think fatigue won that battle. My flight wound up being delayed due to a dead battery, so we didn't leave until around 9:30 AM and I got a free breakfast out of it :-) so definitely not complaining there! Luckily I had an 11 hour layover scheduled at JFK so I didn't have to re-work my plans...others weren't as fortunate. One family had to be put up in a hotel. I slept most of the flight over of course, though not well. I had an aisle seat :-(. When I got to JFK, I realized how grateful I was for that delay...Charlotte airport is just nicer even if it doesn't have fancy shops and such. I walked a mile or two trying to get out of my terminal and rode the airtrain to the one I needed after stopping a few times for directions haha. I wound up sitting for a few hours on the floor in what looked like a warehouse and was hot like one too waiting on the check in desk for Aer Lingus to open. Once in line though I started talking to a girl from NC going to Galway through CEA as well, which was really nice! I also met a man from Massachusetts originally from the midlands of Ireland. After we all got new boarding passes we went to an Irish pub by our gates so he could treat us to a meal and a beer.

By this point, I was just ridiculously exhausted and delirious.  I'm not sure when I fell asleep on the plane to Shannon but I don't think we had taken off yet.  I slept on and off for most of it and missed dinner haha.  I sat beside a really nice lady from Ireland.  I'd wake up every now and then and watch the TV screen on the back of the seat in front of me that showed exactly where  the plane was and how fast we were going, how long it'd take to get there, etc...which was really cool!  The seats weren't as nice as Jet Blue's but I survived. 

Getting into the country wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be.  We were given a card to fill out with just basic info about who we were and how long we were staying in Ireland.  Got through customs in a flash!  I was super nervous though that my luggage had been lost after having such a long layover.  Buttt it came around on the belt and I was majorly relieved.  After all of us had our luggage we went out to find the site director waiting for us.  He's a psychology PhD student at NUI Galway and super adorable!  I'll have to get a picture with him before I leave!  Anyway, we all hung out in a little cafe and got to know each other while we waited for a bus.  I really like all of the girls and think we're gonna have a blast together.  I definitely can't wait to see what things we get into!  I'm not sure how long the bus ride was...maybe an hour and a half?  Didn't seem that long but that's what everyone is saying.  The scenery was beautiful....a lot of green hills and COWS! and stone fences...which is the part I love.  No castles yet.  We took the bus to Galway's city center and took taxis to the apartments...which are really nice though kind of deserted.  I live on the third floor of the apartment...so 4 flights of stairs for me!  Awesome built in exercise haha  After we unpacked a few things, several of us took off to find a grocery store, which wound up being about a 5 minute walk.  The director gave us reusable bags since Ireland charges you to use the bags in their grocery stores...weird but a good idea.  I just bought a few basic things until I figured out my routine and plans, etc.  I know some of the girls really enjoy cooking and may cook for all of us too.  I'm not complaining because I'm really not a fan of cooking! :-p

After the grocery store I had some down time while waiting for Dana to get here.  She wandered around all over Galway trying to figure out where I was and finally gave in and took a taxi...silly Dana.  She rested and I got a much needed shower, even though it was cold!  Apparently you have to heat the water before using it by using a control dial where the hot water heater is.  I don't think I waited long enough before I got in because it got slightly better than freezing cold and then just stayed freezing.  Apparently the heater comes on automatically for 4 hours in the morning so hopefully the girl I'm sharing a bathroom with isn't going to take super long showers because I doubt I'll be up during those hours haha!  So Dana and I went off to see the city...which wasn't hard to find.  We walked around, poked around in a shop or two, and had dinner at Mcsomethinganother...I forgot the name.  The food was really tasty though a little pricey.  We had a really great time though and I had my first Guinness!  When I tried it in the US it was soooo disgusting!  I could actually drink this though.  I think it's stronger too...or maybe I'm just a lightweight :-p  Either way, it was great and I'll probably have another at some point. 

Galway is such a cute city, I love it already!  And let me just say, my calves and butt are gonna be bangin with all this walking by the time I come home! haha  Luckily I've been going to the gym so it's not completely horrible, my calves just like to protest from time to time haha  And I bought a new pair of tennis shoes before I left home that I'm definitely glad I got.  Anyway, I'm just sitting here now on my bed with the window open enjoying the breeze...and I think it's raining a little too.  Some of the girls may go out for drinks tonight...not sure if I want to join them since I've already ventured into the city.  I may just rest but then again I don't want to miss out on the fun.  Orientation is tomorrow at 10:30 and I think Brian may give us a tour of the city and campus....so definitely more pictures and blogging tomorrow!

10 days!

For those of you who don't know, I'm leaving June 19th for Ireland.  I won't actually get there until the 20th, though.  It's crazy to think I only have 10 days left!  I started my countdown as soon as I was accepted into the program and it seemed so far away.  Now that it's getting closer I'm getting so nervous and excited! 

I'll be staying in Galway on the west coast from June 20th-July 21st....should be back in the States on the 21st late that evening.  While I'm there, I'll be living in student apartments, not really sure who my roommate or "flat" mates are yet.  I'm taking one course in Irish Archaeological History, which has absolutely nothing to do with nursing but I think it will be awesome!  Apparently this class has a lot of field trips to various sites, so I'm super excited about taking it.  I'll get to see things from Viking ruins up through the middle ages.  I don't really know how long I'll be in class every day but I'm hoping just taking one class will give me lots of opportunity to explore Ireland.  The program I found to do all of this through is CEA Global Education (http://www.gowithcea.com/).  I didn't really like the programs offered through LR so I spent many hours researching others until I found one I was happy with.  I didn't really want to stay in Dublin because it's HUGE, we're talking over a million people...something I'm definitely not used to.  Galway is a smaller city, about like Winston-Salem.  It's also a major hub of the arts and is known as Ireland's Cultural Heart.  Apparently a major arts festival will be going on while I'm there so I can't wait!!

I'm also really excited to see Dana, a roommate and sorority sister from LR!  She moved over there with a guy she met while in Ireland.  Hopefully I'll get to go stay with her one weekend near Dublin and she'll be coming over to Galway at some point as well.  It will definitely be nice to see a familiar face and get to meet some of her Irish friends and boyfriend.