Before I start telling you about my last couple days I would like to thank everybody who takes the time to read my blog. It feels good to know I have friends and family back home accompanying me on this journey. And it also makes me more accountable of paying attention to the small details so I have more to write in my next blog.
Thursday was my first time attending classes that I had signed up for and they both lectures were great. It is true that it is very different from home. You lecture from January to March then you have a month off (spring break) and in May you take your finals. So essentially I am only in school for 3 months! You do a lot of recommended reading (aka you better read it) and that is your homework. At the end of the course you typically write at 1500 word essay and take a test. So as long as I keep up on the reading I will be good to go. After lectures you attend seminars and not all of them are mandatory but it gives you the opportunity to sit down in a much smaller group of people and discuss in depth what you learned in the previous class. So if you took a seminar for each class that’s a total of 12 classes to attend. I asked a friend who I met at school how do the Irish students find time to work?! He said they normally don’t or they would work on the weekends as he does. That’s the other odd thing all the students from different counties go back to their home towns for the weekends. So the best time to mingle with the college students are on Tuesday and Thursdays. So as it was Thursday we decided to get a group of girls and go out to a pub. We randomly selected one and it turned out to be one of the best ones students go to. We had a blast and danced ALL night long! My feet were aching the next day but it was so worth it.
Friday morning me and a couple girls were up way to early as usual and decided we just wanted to have a home cooked breakfast. So we walked up to the store (the one that’s only 5 min away! Haha) and bought some food. We had toast and one of the girls made potatoes (so delicious!!) and I cut up apples, bananas and pineapple. Which by the way the pineapple was only 1 euro! I was SOOO excited to see that. We then drank our orange juice and proceeded to watch trashy British talk shows (equivalent to Maurry. The title was “Cheated 4 times.. .Who’s the daddy?”) while eating our delicious breakfast. The rest of the day I just relaxed and around 3 walked into town and caught up with a couple of the girls. We shopped for a while and I bought a skirt for 5 euros. I went to bed that night around 8:30. I think no sleep is catching up to me!
Saturday (which was yesterday for me now) we got up early and went to the Blarney stone! I am not going to lie and at first I thought this is so touristy and I don’t want it to be something that will in the end make me feel like I wasted my money. IT WAS NOT AT ALL! We had a blast! You do a ton of walking but everywhere you walk you have something to look at so it doesn’t feel like it takes as long. It cost about 10 euros to get inside the castle and walk the grounds. You easily spend all day on the grounds and in the town. Once we got to the castle we could go into these hidden doors. I walked half way through a couple but I was feeling a bit suffocated with no light and small areas so I walked out. Then when you get inside the castle we have to climb up these SUPER narrow stairs. So narrow you have to hold a rope for support. Thankfully every 10th step it led you into a room where you could take a break and explore and read about the particular room you are in. After about 6 or 7 pit stops later we made it to the top and it was beautiful! Once again I fell in love! The grass is neon green everywhere and the houses are so colorful it makes for a grand picture. After going through the castle and walking the grounds we walked into town for a bite to eat and some shopping. It’s a very small town but we seemed to spend all day their just looking at everything. I have to admit I have never actually experienced not having time to be somewhere or no plan of what’s next. If we saw something we did it! We arrived back into town around 5ish and walked home. It was an exhausting day so we all went back to our dorms and called it a night!
I have been blessed with a great group of friends over here. They are so different from each other but that’s what makes it so nice. Today we are all going to the store to buy stuff for a dinner and birthday cake (since tomorrow is my bday!) and just hang out. I didn’t know what my birthday plans had for me since I figured I would still be new and making friends but I am so glad they already care enough to make my birthday special in Ireland. Two of the other girls turn 21 as well on the 16th and 29th so I will make sure to do something special for them as well.
I am catching on to the bus system pretty quickly which is nice around here because I don’t have to spend the money on catching a taxi with my groceries. I can’t imagine driving over here!! I joke around some of you about when they see a pedestrian they speed up… well that’s not a joke I am pretty sure were 20 points! Haha I am also confident pedestrians don’t have the right away. I did however find out it’s not illegal to jay walk. But I can also see why it’s not because you would be stupid to do it anyways. Haha. Also I am not used to looking the opposite direction when crossing either. So to be safe I stick with sidewalks and the little green man. And I am sorry but I need to confess I had Subway.. and it was DELCIOUS! I hate subway at home and would rather starve myself then eat it but here it’s to die for! Which is bad because it’s pretty expensive here.
Anyways I better get going I need to begin getting ready for the day. I am excited to have another dinner tonight. I think the menu is chicken, salad, veggies and bread. We are all pitching in and cooking together. I haven’t told them I am a terrible cook so maybe I will volunteer to make the salad.. or just pour the water? Haha. None the less it will be tasty! I have skype up now and even though the time difference doesn’t allow anytime access I would love to hear from you all so please, please, please set a time up to chat with me!
I will talk to in a couple days… not as a 20 years old either!! YAYJ
Brittany
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