She sounds like a beaver...

Saturday was a very exciting day, because Jordyn made her debut as the goalie on the UCD club field hockey team.  I hadn't really watched field hockey before and it was fun! I think it would be hard for me to play, because I would just mow girls over when they were looking down at the ground. Oops.  The Irish girls says "sorry" when they get a penalty for hitting another player or doing something wrong.  That is very polite, but would NEVER happen in the US.

Jordyn did a great job, and had a shutout!  We made sure to be a loud cheering session which obviously made all the difference.

Our friend Tim made the observation that when Jordyn slaps her stick against her pads, she sounds like a beaver slapping its tail. It was quite hilarious, and she really does!

The Best Care Package Ever!

This is a post of many thanks dedicated to my awesome parents.  I received a package slip, and was very excited to see what goodies they packed!  I had requested a few items, but what I actually found inside was better than I could have imagined.

Hmm...what do we have here?

It is going to be very hard for me to ration these packets of hot cocoa.  Plus even better, they are Dark Chocolate Sensation flavored, and I love dark chocolate oh so much.  But wait...there's more!

Here I am standing over all my loot!  We have a birthday card (with touching notes from my parents and some pretty funny messages from my brothers), some microwave popcorn (its really not the same here, thanks mom and dad for thinking of this) a USB (practical).  Now for my favorites, I'm not really sure what to pick.  I'm torn between the beer pong supplies and the Frank's Red Sauce.  I have been craving Frank's so badly and I specifically requested it.  I can't wait until Monday morning breakfast when I can smother my eggs in them. Nom nom nom.

But red solo cups and ping pong balls? I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.  Red solo cups are the thing of legend in countries outside the US.  Other countries don't have them (probably because they are horrible for the planet) but everyone knows about them from TV shows and movies.

Also, a lot of our friends from other countries have never played beer pong or flip cup.  I feel like I'm some sort of a mission to spread this life changing lifestyle to the less fortunate in the world.

SO thank you again Mom and Dad! Getting the package and reading the card made my day, and now every morning I will have a little taste of home! And to keep with the music theme...

 

Happy Australia Day!

Yesterday (Thursday) was Australia Day!  I am not really sure what Australia Day is for, and neither were any of my Australian friends! But they were all very sure that it is a good time.


We went out to the Woolshed Baa, an Australian (or apparently "Southern Hemisphere" themed sports bar.  We had Australian Beer which was pretty good, and danced to a lot of Aussie Music!

I've had fun talking to everyone about some of the differences between Australia and the US.  Some vocabulary issues have arose, for example:

torch = flashlight

uni= college

porridge= oatmeal

hungry jack's = burger king

There are many more too! Before we went out we jammed to some Aussie music, so here is some of the favorites of the night for your listening pleasure!

Touristy Things

Thursday I was lucky enough to celebrate my 21st birthday here in Ireland.  Jordyn and Katie were awesome and decorate our apartment and got me a cake with candles to sing happy birthday! Thank you guys so much!  We celebrated at our apartment and then headed down to dance the night away. It was great fun, or great craic as it is called here.


Friday we spent the day laying in bed.


Saturday we had a delicious breakfast, followed by a great day of doing touristy things.  We went to Dublin Castle, which we had observed from the outside before, but we paid to go on a guided tour.  This was really exciting to me, because I love history.


One of the things that may be confusing about the castle,is that it isn't really a medieval castle.  We learned that it used to be one, but then a fire started that spread to the armory with the gunpowder, and the castle basically exploded.  So, it was rebuilt with the Georgian style architecture that was popular in the 1800s. We did get to go underground to the ancient ruins of the castle.  


Something interesting about Dublin, is that there are rivers that run underground.  When it rains too much, the water can rise up and cause flooding.  Apparently, that happened in Dublin Castle a few years ago, and it ruined the office that taxes are done.  Our tour guide made a little joke about how the people of Ireland didn't really mind.

Touching the viking built ruins of a CASTLE

The inside of the castle was pretty awesome.  It is so weird to walk where King George and Queen Victoria lived.  And, also to walk into rooms that were converted into Hospitals during the first world war.  We stood in the James Connolly room, and our tour guide told us that James Connolly who was a leader in the Easter Rising was taken to that room because they British hoped he would recover from a shot in his foot, so that they could execute him standing up like they did to the rest of the leaders.  Lovely.

This is the actual throne that Queen Victoria had reduced in size because King George who made it was so much bigger than her.

The ceiling in one of the rooms.

Another site we saw that day was Christ Church Cathedral.  It was a very beautiful building.  We unfortunately were not able to go inside because we all did not feel like paying 3 euro.  We are maybe thinking about attending mass, and then at the end of the service taking a bunch of pictures quickly.  We shall see!

After the church and the castle, we went to the National Gallery.  Entrance to the gallery was free, and we got to see some lovely works of art.  They had a lot of works by J.B Yeats.  They also had a Picasso, a Van Gogh and a Monet.  It was just really cool to go to an art gallery that is open to the public.

For some visuals, if you referred to the map I included in a previous post, Dublin Castle and the Church were on Dame Street, near Temple Bar.  The National Gallery is in between Trinity College and Merrion Square, on Clare Street.  The Fish and Chips restaurant we went to was over the River Liffey on O'Connell Street past Henry Street!

We had worked up quite the appetite by this time, so we went to get fish and chips.  It was the perfect meal after a day walking around the city.  One of the most exciting things I saw though was this:

Tim Horton's clearly on the way to world domination.  Now all I need is to pass a mighty taco.  It was a nice reminder of home to see this sign.

City Centre

In a lot of my posts I talk about City Centre.  I thought it would be very helpful to include a map, so that everyone can visualize what my life here is like.

1. O'Connell Street Area: This street crosses over the River Liffey, and runs perpendicular to the Temple Bar and Grafton Street Area.  O'Connell Street has a lot of good pubs and shops, and a lot of side streets that branch off of it.
2. Temple Bar:  The Temple Bar area is lined with many many pubs and restaurants. Its kinda like Chippewa in Buffalo!
3. Grafton Street Area:  Where we do much of our shopping.  It is also convenient to the Bus we take most.
4. Merrion Square Area: A lot of the Georgian style rows of houses pictures that I took on the Dublin tour were in this area.  Also this area is where a lot of the museums and government buildings that we took pictures of was (I think.)
5. Trinity College Area: Mainly known to me as where we take the bus home.
6. St. Stephen's Green Area: Where the park and shopping center are.

We take Bus 39A most of the time.  It drives us from campus into City Centre.  We get off closest to St. Stephen's Green, but it is very easy to walk to Grafton Street and Trinity College Area from there.  It also is not that long of a walk up O'Connell Street.  Although the map looks big, walking around City Centre once you get there is pretty easy, as long as it is not too cold.

A lot of the main streets we walk on (in the shopping centered areas) are closed to vehicles and are wide cobblestone.  

I hope you enjoyed this visual!

Black Monday

I can't believe it, but i've been in Dublin for a whole week.  It seems surreal but I actually live here! For five months at least. When I think about how lost and confused I was when we got off the plane (or especially when we arrived at City Center) and how now I have a general understanding of the busses and where things are in the city I can't believe it!   


The first Monday back at class here at University College Dublin is affectionately called Black Monday. Basically everyone day drinks in the student bar all day.  Oh the Irish.



Monday we started classes. I had a very busy schedule...NOT.  I ate breakfast (yum) went for a run, went online, ate lunch (yum) went to the bar, got a drink, went to my one class, and then hung out, ate dinner (yum) and went out.   


My class had a total for 4 students registered, but only 2 of us showed up.  SO if I skip the class, it means that 25% of the class is missing. The other student was a nice guy who lives in Dublin, and we chatted before and after.  It is weird seeing so many Irish students, because for so long it was mostly Internationals!


Here are some thoughts from the first week in general:


What I'm Loving:

• The food:  I really pray that my jeans still button at the end of this trip.  We get breakfast and dinner every day.  Breakfast is usually eggs and oatmeal and coffee. Dinner is this feast made by Kay and Eddie a husband and wife.  They know I'm vegetarian, so they always make a veggie option.  For example, tonight dinner was a vegetarian enchilada, mashed potatoes, potato poppers, steamed vegetables, salad, and cheesecake.  Oh. My. God.   Potatoes and Nutella are my life here and I'm not ashamed.(Although I may be ashamed if I develop the diabeetus)
• Cider:  Almost as cheap as beer and delicious.  I've had many a pint and I expect many more.
• The Greenery:  Everything here is just soooo GREEN.  It is the Ireland you imagined.  The grass is emerald.  When I run around campus I run on a path that goes past the fields and into some gardens and it is so gorgeous.  I'll take it over snow any day.
• Making New Friends:  I feel sort of like a freshman, but it is nice to meet new people and to start a new life in a new city, if even just for a while.

What I'm Missing:

• Family, Friends, and Maggie:  I miss my family, I miss my dog, and I miss talking to my friends all day everyday over texting.  I guess I miss texting in general! (But I especially miss the people I talk to)
• Hockey: Be it the Buffalo Sabres or the Southtowns Stars.  I I know I could stream a game here, but I'm busy most of the times that they are on.  Must find a pub that will play a hockey game and go there with people. (And consume cider)
•  Buffalo Food: Franks Hot Sauce, Cheerios, pizza and Mighty Taco.

A long post with not that many fun pictures I'm afraid.  

History 101

On Sunday, me, Jordyn, Katie went on a historic walking tour of Dublin.  The tour was free, and was a school sponsored event so we met up with some of our other friends while we were there.  At first I was a little bit skeptical of the tour, because our tour guide literally went through a full on history of Ireland (and Dublin) while we were standing at an island in the road.  Right behind us some Jamaican street performers were blasting some rasta music and doing some vigorous stretching for what I can only assume is an awesome routine.  However, I couldn't even really hear the tour guide.

We then walked into St. Stephen's Green.  It is a "park" in our sense of the words, and it is across from our beloved St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center.  The park was beautiful.  It was nice to walk around and take pictures.  Of course our tour guide stopped at a statue of James Joyce that was engraved with a line from his work about St. Stephen's Green and started analyzing it. That was about the time I started analyzing how freezing my toes were.  In Buffalo, you know its going to be super cold, so you bundle up, get into your car, and then sprint into the building.  Here, you look at the temperature, see its 40 degrees, think its warm, and then walk around all day losing feeling in your fingers and toes.  

Entrance to St. Stephen's Green

House of the Taoiseach 

Trinity

Trinity

Beautiful Scenery




We then trecked on throughout Dublin.  We got to see the Prime Minister's house.  In Ireland, the Prime Minister is actually called the Taoiseach which is the Irish word.  Another note, do NOT call Irish "Gaelic"  it is politically correct to say Irish.  See, I'm already learning things!

One of the nicest places was Trinity College.  Trinity College is full of old beautiful buildings and pretty fields, but it is in the middle of the city center.  Interestingly, I would not have been able to go to Trinity if I applied 50 years ago, because it was a Protestant only university until 40 years ago.

The Tour ended at Dublin Castle, where they have a geneology center and you can trace your ancestors.  We were all pretty frozen at that point.  Jordyn, Katie, and our friends Lauren, Katie, Kyle, and Kirsten did some quick shopping (shopping is great for warming up in my opinion).  They kept shopping, while Jordyn Katie and I took the bus home and stopped at the groccery store Tesco to stock up on food for lunches.  I got a huge jar of Nutella. Mmmmmmmmmmm.  And some more cider. Cider here is delicious.


All in all it was a lovely day!  ps sorry the pictures are all out order. Technologically challenged.

P.S. I love you

Last night, we were all exhausted so me, Jordyn, Katie, and Marcella watched PS I love you.  Its a movie with Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank and it is a great sappy love story.  But most importantly she is a 19 year old girl traveling in Ireland who meets and falls in love with an Irishman.  Obviously, we all love this movie even more for that reason.


Part of the movie takes place in County Wicklow and in Glendalough (pronounced glenn-da-lock).  We didn't realize that when we watched the movie and we were super excited because that is where we went hiking today!


We woke up bright and early this morning and took a 45 minute bus ride to Glendalough.  We then spent about 2.5 hours hiking.  The hike was beautiful although parts were super steep.  It was worth it when we got to the top though!

Jordyn and I at the top!

After hiking, we were all pretty tired. But we ate our picnic lunch and then explored the area.  St. Kevin apparently founded the tower and monastary there to avoid his followers but instead of finding peace and quiet they followed him.  We also learned that in the lake there used to be a huge monster, but St. Kevin was a gentle soul and befriended the monster instead of slaying it, so the monster stopped being mean and scary and became good.

When we got home we all took a nap and then we went to dinner.  We went to Eddie Rockets which is just like Johnny Rockets.  A lot of our Australian friends wanted to go there, because they had never been to an American style dinner before.  They loved it, although they had a hard time putting away the massive burgers.  Thats how we do it in Americuh.

One thing I noticed is that the dogs here are very well behaved and are rarely on leashes. I must learn the Irish people's secret and bring in home with me!

Keeping up with the PS I love you theme, we went to the pub from the movie, Wahlens for a quick drink.  It was very lively and very fun, I would definitely go back.  It was an exhausting day, but it was very fun.  We have another busy day planned in the city for tomorrow.  I was so happy to finally see the vision of Ireland that I imagined with the green, the fields, the hills, and of course the sheep!

The Land of Guinness

Yesterday morning we were pretty tired after our club adventure.  Dublin has a lot of night clubs and clubbing is very popular.  Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are the hottest and cheapest nights to go out, which is different from home where everyone goes hard on the weekend.


We spent the day in orientation which was pretty boring, but we had a mixer at night.  We got two drink tickets and had some appetizers and finger food and hung out with new friends.  Then we decided to venture to a pub called Hughes.  


Hughes is in city center but it is across the river from the Temple Bar district and a few blocks from O'Connell street so it is less touristy.

Hughes!!!

I ordered my first Guinness from a pub, and it was deeeelicious. We stayed for about two hours hanging out, talking, and listening to the fiddle play.  As they say, it was grand.

Cheesy picture of me and my first Guinness in Ireland!!

We needed to take a taxi home, so we started walking back towards O'Connell street.  One of the things I miss most about going out back home is the many options for cheap greasy pizza late at night.  Some people in our group (ie Jordyn) were really craving greasy food and we were all curious about what McDonald's is like here so we stopped.  I couldn't believe how expensive it was.  I didn't get anything, but everyone said it tasted the same.  I did notice that they have a fishsticks happy meal.  And the candy in the McFlurry is different.  McDonald's, BK, and Subway are everywhere in Dublin.  The influence of Americuh.

Walking home we walked along the river, and we tried to take a picture using the timer which I will put in for a good laugh.  I'm impressed that we noticed that the camera was pointing down and all adjusted accordingly!

I haven't had my camera because I keep forgetting to charge the battery, but we have an exciting weekend ahead of us with many pictures to be taken I am sure.

I heard back home it snowed a lot.  Its 40 and Sunny here.  Happy Days.

They Have Malls in Ireland!?

Shopping. Anyone who knows me is aware that I looove shopping. I am admittedly high maintenance. It's fine.  Anyways, this morning I went on a shopping tour with Jordyn and Katie.  We went to St. Stephen's Green, which is a shopping center in City Center.  It was where we tried to go on our own Monday, but we failed.

The view from the street.

Inside.

The mall reminded me of malls in Americuh, there were even some of the same stores. Notably TJ Maxx is TK Maxx.  One awesome store was Argo.  You look up items on a catalog and then buy them and place the order and they grab them from the store room.  It is pretty awesome!

Jordyn found a really cute dress.  That isn't it.  Today is my first Wine Wednesday in Ireland, a holiday that I observe regularly.  So of course we went to Tesco, which is like a grocery store and bought wine...juice boxes. 

Classy.

Another exciting thing was we passed protestors on the street. Shopping, protestors, and vino.  I would classify this day as a success.  Tonight we are going to a school sponsored Irish event, then to the school bar, and then to a club.  I will end with this sign from my true love, Centra.

Welcome To Dublin!

I made it across the pond to Dublin! 

I barely slept on the plane, so my first day in Ireland was spent in a state of exhaustion, confusion, and slight panic.  Katie, Jordyn, and I took a taxi from the airport to University College Dublin. The driver used the phrases "brilliant and happy days" frequently.  He was super friendly and drove all around campus and even got out to ask people where Roebuck Castle is.  We found Roebuck Castle, but not where we were supposed to check in.  

We were standing in the rain with all our baggage when a kind Irish professor took pity on us, he let us stash our bags while we checked in.  The Irish people all seem really friendly, which is good because we have stopped and asked many of them for help!

When got into our apartment we realized that it is pretty awesome! I was surprised to find out that I have the handicap room.  Around the corner where I'm standing is my shower, complete with a shower seat.

Please ignore my crazy eyes...it was a looong flight.

Our next adventure involved taking a double decker bus into Dublin city center for some shopping.  We met a really nice guy (aka crazy old dude who was maybe homeless but was definitely a street performer and perhaps even a leprechaun) let us play in his band and took pictures of us.

The statue is Molly Malone, whom I sang about in Irish Dance when I was younger.

Today was spent touring campus, meeting other students, and Jordyn and I went on a run. Campus is pretty beautiful to run on, there are a lot of secret running paths through gardens and along fields.  Everything is pretty green (obviously) although I was surprised to see palm trees. 

My favorite place on campus is this bad boy, Centra.  They sell really well priced food as well as some small supply stuff, and a shitload of candy.  I love chocolate, so I love Centra.  Centra also sells $10 bottles of wine. Wine + Chocolate = happy Callan.  Enough about Centra.

Tomorrow is another jam-packed day.  So far, I am really enjoying Dublin.  I cannot wait to stop feeling like a freshman/ fish outta water and start to feel like I am really living in Dublin.  Happy days.