Final Goodbye

I didn't have time to post yesterday so i'll start with that:

we had our last day of class. film we just did some reviews and then we went it the library and came down early to have pizza with the group. it was really good and their pepperoni here is just seasoned ham. then we went and bought some bulmers from the off license and they guy there was really funny. he was talking about how having to be 21 is the stupidest law he's ever heard of and that it's even worse than dumb muslim laws. he then asked to make sure we weren't from canada. after that we came back and hung out until dinner. we had potpies with mashed potatoes, carrots and peas. it was super good and then we got ready to go out with the group. we were supposed to meet at 8:30 but we knew people would be late so we didn't show up until 8:45 and we were the first people there. we met one of the aha staff and it actually worked out good being early because he bought us a drink and then no one else. finally everyone started showing up and we had fun. i started talking to some irish guy for a bit and then a really really ugly italian guy but he was nice. we then left and met a guy at the bus stop. i whispered to him about a girl in our group that's really weird and was at the bus stop with us. it was funny and then nick and him had a convo about football. when we got back in made a sandwich, we had chips and then cookies and hot chocolate. it was good and a fun night :)

Today we had lunch/brunch with mark and anita. they were really nice and it was a good little cafe. after that we packed and hung out until dinner. we had pizza and then strawberries and ice cream. we then went and walked the pier for the last time. i've been ready to go home these last few days but now that the time is actually here i know i'll miss being over here. it's such a beautiful country and i wish i could just take people from home and bring them here for another month or two. a lot of changes have been going on at home and we'll be busy right up until we go to school so i'm excited about that. we've met some cool people and i'm sure i'll still see a couple of them. since nick and i came here together we really didn't get to know the rest of the group very well which i'm ok with. being gone has made me appreciate what i have at home and how lucky i am to have the people in my life that are there on a daily basis. it also really shows you the people who will make an effort to talk to you while you're gone, even with a 5 hour time difference. i will miss our host family and it's really weird to think about how i will never see them again after living with them for 5 weeks. overall i just can't wait to come home and see my family and my bfff :)

Last Excursion

Today i had cereal again for breakfast and then we were off to the jail. it was really cool and historical at the same time. it was awful some of the conditions people had to live with and the age some people were put in there. the youngest boy was only 5 years old and served a 3 month sentence for steeling part of a wagon. the youngest girl was 8 who stole some bread. these are the youngest there were in there on their own for their own sentence but many others had to go with their parents because there was no one else to care for them outside. one lady had to spend 3 years in solitary confinement in a cell that didn't even allow you enough room to stretch your arms. the only sunlight she seen was once a week or month not sure which for an hour. they even gave you breakfast/dinner meals at random times and mixed up the meals so you couldn't tell what time of day it was. other people got special treatment such as parnell who had a huge room and food delivered to him from restaurants and even got to attend his nephew's funeral in Paris without being accompanied. after that we went to the jameson distillery and that was cool. they don't actually make whiskey there anymore so it was just models of everything but you still got to see all of the steps. at the end we all got a sample of it and you had the option of straight up or mixed with cranberry juice, gingerale or sprite. i tried it with cranberry juice but i don't like it. i got a flask from there and nick got a glass. after that we came back and hung out and worked on our papers for the rest of the night. for dinner we had pizza and fries which was good. tomorrow is our last day of class and we get pizza for lunch :)

Winding Down

Waffles for breakfast and then class. Seamus extended the date on our papers to Thursday due to some people not reading the syllabus and assuming they were due on the last day of class. i was annoyed by this seeing i actually did my paper on time but it was quite entertaining hearing him rant about those who didn't get it done. a couple of people also finally got yelled at for walking in late every single day. him going off on people was probably one of the best parts of the day. people also didn't read the syllabus to see that their reviews were also due on tuesday not thursday so he wasn't happy about that either. since all of that happened we did what he had planned for thursday today instead and watched the movie "the commitments". it was another movie about a band and it was good but i wouldn't watch it again. in lit we watched some movies and i fell asleep. from then on we just hung out at home and worked on our papers. for dinner we had chili and white rice and it was good. we watched some of x-men and i just found out nick watched the rest of it without me. little arse. but tomorrow the distillery and jail should be fun :)

School

So today i had some type of cereal that was kind of like honey oats. it had the corn flakes and honey and peanut pieces and it was good. in film class we watched the movie "once". it was about a singer guy that plays on the streets and then meets a girl. it was really good and the songs in it were good too. we went to the library as usual for our break and nick had a really hard time with printing our papers off. nothing was working but he eventually got it figured out. i'm really glad he dealt with it and not me. in lit we talked about more stories that neither of us had read and then we watched a documentary on bridget cleary. her husband burnt her alive because he believed she had been taken over by a fairy. i think this was in 1895 so it was at the time where everyone knew it was ridiculous and yet it still happened. the film definitely drug on though. it could have been half as long and we still would have known everything. after class we came back and just hung out. i should have been working on my essay but oh well. i'll get it done. for dinner we had the noodles with sauce and sausage/ham. we also had a twister pop again. after dinner i watched zookeepers and then multiple harry potter interviews. i can't wait to see the movie. soon we'll probably make some hot chocolate and then maybe head to bed a little early :)

Chill

For breakfast we had some waffles and then we hung out in nick's room for a bit. we've both been really tired lately so we didn't do much today. we went into dun laoghaire and walked around along the coast and on the pier. there was a little festival thing going on in the park and it was kind of like at in the park except a lot more food stations. we then went and got the last of the groceries that we're going to need here and then headed back home. we watched thor and then hung out until dinner. for dinner we had chicken, potatoes, vegetables and stuffing. it was super good and really filling. for dessert we had this layered thing. it had pudding, cream and then spongy type jello. it was good. we have a 1500 word paper that's due on tuesday and we have to print it off tomorrow so we were working on that most of the night. i was at about 600 words and then i read nick's paper and talked to him about it and i had gotten the entire assignment wrong so i started over. it really wasn't bad and after i forced myself to sit at the desk in my room i started over and got it done in about an hour and a half. i did work. we then got some hot chocolate and cookies and then just hung out the rest of the night. not really excited to go back to school tomorrow but it will make the day go by fast. we've got a 2,000 word essay due on thursday so that will be fun. i'm excited to go home but i want to enjoy my last few days here :)

Views

For breakfast we both had some bread and cereal. then after chilling out for a while we headed to Killarney Hill again. we just went and explored around and it was a fantastic day. we got to see some dolphins which was cool. we weren't close or anything but you could definitely tell what they were. we got some cool pictures and nick had a song that he made up that he sang a few times. something about taking steps and making the world go round. we went and walked the beach and nick almost used some really sketchy bathrooms but when he walked in he walked back out and said there was no toilet paper, no toilet seats and it smelt awful. that's what he gets for going into a sketchy looking area. we had another rock skipping contest on the beach and nick won this time with 4 skips. neither of us did very good. we ended up going up a hill and we fell asleep for about a half hour in the sun. we took the dart back and hung out until dinner. we had breakfast which was eggs bacon sausage beans and these other things that evan called pudding patties. we've had them every other time but never known what they were called. after dinner we finished watching transformers 3 and we're going to try and get some of our papers done. it's so hard to concentrate and finish them but it has to be done by monday and i only have 300 out of 15,000 done so i should probably get to work. we'll probably end up making some hot chocolate later :)

This looks like a good place to play my ukulele

For breakfast i had coco pops (chocolate rice krispies exactly like at home). then we headed into dublin for our blarney tour. we got to the office and then we had to ride in the little bus that smelt like BO and it was just nick and i and the driver and we were afraid we were going to get stuck riding in this little bus with this man the entire way there but he just took us to where the aircoach picked us up which is a big coach company. the bus we were supposed to take ended up having a dead battery so we had to wait another half hour for a new bus and then headed to cork. it was about a three and a half to four hour bus ride. it sucked. then we got there and got on another little bus with just us two and the driver and headed to blarney castle. this driver was cool and actually told us about the castle and he said that michael jackson wouldn't kiss the stone and he thought it was because he was afraid his nose would fall off and fall down the castle wall. the castle was cool and the steps to the top were very narrow and kinda freaked me out but we went and kissed the stone. as soon as we went to walk down nick said "did you kiss the actual stone?" and i was just informed that it's literally a stone you have to kiss and i thought it was just that general area so i may have or may not have actually kissed the blarney stone but oh well. there's lots of gardens and areas to explore but we didn't have long to be there. i wish we could have done a day trip just to the castle but oh well. we got to see the poison garden and then some dungeons and a few really big trees. we then went to this little town that's pretty much the same as every other little town except this one had an awful tiny carnival. we just sat in this little park and looked at the harbor that hardly had any water. we then went back into cork and had a while to walk after before we took the 4 hour bus ride back. we found a pennys and i got a shirt. nick got a sweet zip up from a sports store that says "manchester united" which is a really well known team. then we headed back home and when we finally got here derek had stayed up and he made us some pizzas. it was really good but i was so hungry i ate it even though it was hot and i can feel how tore up and raw the roof of my mouth is right now. we both had twister pops too which is a combination of a popsicle and ice cream. i'm extremely tired now though so i'm heading to bed and i get to sleep in tomorrow :)

Rain Rain Go Away

Today we had waffles/pancakes for breakfast and then headed to class. we did the regular. watched clips in film and then instead of going to the library we came back home and ate lunch and took a nap because it was closed toady. lit class we talked about fairies which was pretty interesting and we have to write a paper about it soon so it'll help. after class we came back and just hung out in nick's room. it's been rainy and chilly a lot lately which will probably explain my cold. for dinner we had another type of curry that dereck and grannie made. it was good and a little bit spicier than the other one but i still liked it. Angela got caught in Paris with one of the girls on the basketball team because something was wrong with the girl's passport but they ended up figuring it out so aoife is probably in america and angela is on her way. nick downloaded the movie bad teacher and we watched that. it was good but i'm glad i didn't spend the money to go see it in theatre because it wasn't amazing. now we're just sitting around and i'm somewhat working on my paper every once in a while. we're going to go make hot chocolate and get some biscuits sometime and then an early morning for blarney tomorrow :)

I have a list of some things i miss from home

1. family
2. nichole
3. guys that actually look good
4. sun
5. pennys

if i could bring these things here i wouldn't mind staying for another month

Fairies

Today we had pancakes for breakfast and then headed into don laoghaire to get the bus for Boyne Valley/Trim Castle. the trim castle was pretty cool. it was big and we actually got to go look around inside of it. it's the largest norman castle in ireland and it's also the only castle in ireland to have a type of dungeon that they just drop you down the shaft and leave you there so that you slowly starve to death. this area is now the castle's office. after that we headed to boyne valley and seen the burial chamber knowth. it's just a really big hill with passageways through it. we got to climb through a tunnel that was an escape route which was pretty cool. nick almost got stuck. we finally got back and for dinner we had breaded chicken that had some sort of sauce inside it, broccoli, carrots, turnips, celery and potatoes with gravy. the chicken was AMAZING. i love chicken. tonight is out last night with angela and aoife. we got them a thank you card for everything they've done. it's sad and i'm really going to miss them. i'm sure they'll have a great time in america though. it'll be weird without them here for out last week. she's going to show us how to make the hot chocolate tonight so we can make it while she's gone :)

HP

Today was just a regular day. waffles for breakfast and then we had class. we just talked about different movies for film. we split a pb and j for lunch and i hadn't had one of those so it was really good. in lit we had another quiz and we both think we did really good on it. after school we went into don laoghaire and went to pennys. nick and i both got shirts. we then headed back and for dinner we had curry. it was really good. it had a little bit of a kick to it but not spicy enough to the point i didn't like it. nick got the recipe because he liked it so much. after that we just hung out in nick's room and watched youtube videos and i looked up harry potter facts. it was actually really interesting. i also found a person to cyber stalk and he is now the love of my life. ben wells <3. we got cookies and hot chocolate and it felt really good on my throat. i'm beginning to get a little bit of a cold. angela gave me some medicine stuff to put on my pillow and it's supposed to clear your sinuses for when you sleep. tomorrow is their last day here before they leave for america and i'm going to miss them. tomorrow we have a trip to a fair mound and our last castle, trim castle. :)

Basketball

Today we had waffles for breakfast. i burnt one of mine so i just put a ton of nutella on it and you could hardly tell. in film we watched a movie about a hitman and a bunch of people died in it. then during our break i fell asleep in the library. i really should be working on my paper but oh well. the lit class we learned about some demon ladies which was pretty cool. then we came back and hung out in nick's room until dinner. we had chili over spiral noodles with garlic bread and it was really good. we then headed out for Aoife's basketball game which was interesting. it was cool watching how another country played compared to american teams. now we're just sitting in nick's room until the end of the night. angela told us she's going to show us how to make the hot chocolate so we can still get it every night. tomorrow we're going to go into dun laoghaire after school to see what it's like during the week when places are actually open. :)

FIFA

today we slept in and then had some toast for breakfast. it wasn't too nice of a day out but we got on the DART (train) and headed to the town of Malahide. It was misty, windy and a little chilly but it had a really nice beach and it reminded us of walking the coast of lake michigan on a late fall day. we had a rock skipping contest and i won with 7 skips and nick had 5. we went and ate the sandwich and chips that we had packed on a little bench and watched some people playing tennis. i love some of the words people use here like rubbish and calling people bold and using me instead of i. after lunch we decided to head back since it wasn't a great day out. i like the train more than the bus because it's not a constant stop and go but the train was a little old. the seats looked like they were from the 70's. when we got back we just hung out in nick's room until dinner. we had carrots, peas, turnips (we've had them before but i just found out what they were) 2 kinds of potatoes and beef. it was really good and really filling. after dinner we hung out in nick's room again until the fifa world cup came on. it was a really good game and the us had so many chances to win but ended up losing in a shoot out. a really good game to watch though. while we were watching angela brought us some hot chocolate and cookies. tomorrow we have to head back to school which sucks but the day always seems to go by a lot faster and we get to watch aoife play some basketball :)

Kilkenny

First off here's my blog from yesterday. the internet got shut off while i was doing it so i wrote it in word and now it's copied and pasted:

I keep forgetting to do my blog and they're getting somewhat repetitive but oh well. we woke up and went to the National Museum of Ireland Natural History Museum aka "The Dead Zoo". It was neat but kind of weird because it was just an entire museum of taxidermy animals. after that we were going to go to another museum but just ended up walking around and found a place that made the chicken sub we had the other day cheaper than where we got it before and we stood under an awning and ate lunch. after that we just got on a bus and went back and took naps and started doing some reading for one of our papers before dinner. for dinner we had pizza and a salad. i love pizza. and then we went into dun laoghaire and got some ice cream and walked around. we seen a sea lion in the water which was cool. we then came back and just hung out. our host family showed us a tv show that had a famous dublin singer and she was really good. aoife brought us cookies and hot chocolate and tomorrow we have to wake up early for an exciting tour of wicklow :)

Now for today. We went on the tour and the first stop was to a little abbey that had a round tower, a grave yard and then about a mile back there were 2 famous lakes. the next stop was to an ancient burial chamber which was a HUGE rock which was being held up by 3 other quite big rocks. then we went to Kilkenny and we shopped at pennys. nick got 2 pairs of shorts and i got a necklace and shoes. the kilkenny castle looked pretty cool. a lot bigger than some of the other ones we've seen and then we went and walked around all of the paths. there was a huge open field and some crazy guy was dancing so we took videos of him. it was pretty funny. after that we headed back to dublin and then got a bus home. the bus ride was annoying because the bus was FULL so nick and i couldn't sit next to each other. i had to sit next to an old man that was sick (literally sick) and kept coughing. finally we got back and had dinner about an hour ago. it was eggs, sausage, potatoes, fried onions, ham and stuffing. it was really good. tomorrow we're planning on going back to killarney hill if it's nice out and then watching the US hopefully dominate in the fifa world cup with out host family :)

Play

Today we went to class and it was pretty normal. Film clips during film class and then we watched a movie in lit. for lunch we had a chicken salad sandwich and some chips. not my favorite but it wasn't bad. the soccer game got cancelled so that people would have time to eat dinner before we went to the play so we went straight back after school. we had to eat pretty quick and we had the spaghetti with sausage and a little bit of ham and cheese. we then headed off for dublin to go to the play "translations". it was confusing and we didn't really know what was going on. when i finally thought i knew what was going on (there was some love triangle and 1 of the guys went missing) it suddenly was done and i felt like nothing happened the entire time. after the play was done nick and i went into the pub o'neills and had a glass of bulmers and listened to some live irish music. we then got back and had some hot chocolate and cookies even though it was midnight :) it doesn't seem like we did a lot today but it was pretty borrow :)

B-E-A-UTIFUL

today we had waffles/pancakes for breakfast and i had nutella on the pancake, butter with syrup and jam on one waffle and butter and syrup on the other. we then met up with the aha group and headed to Glasnevin Cemetery. it's a huge cemetery and it's split up into 2 different parts. the part we were in had over 1.5 million people buried there and around 800,000 didn't have head stones. there was one time where our tour guide said there were bodies only 6-8cms beneath us. we seen some different famous people and i got to touch a coffin that apparently gives you good luck. the most famous grave we seen was Michael Collins. he helped with the IRA and all that stuff. for lunch we each had our own chips and then we went into dublin and found a place that had a really good chicken sandwich. we still had some time to kill so we went onto trinity's campus and laid in the sun on the grass. we both ended up falling asleep (me longer than nick) and then was woken up by a lawn mower. we met up with the group again and went to dublin castle. it was really cool to see the inside of a castle that was still in use and actually standing. we got back and for dinner we had sweet and sour chicken over white rice. our host family then took us to killarney hill. it was a bit of a hike but the views were amazing. we seen another harbor that our bus/dart pass will get us to so we might go see that on some weekend. Angela brought us some scones with butter and jam on them with some hot chocolate and it was another great day in ireland :)

Papers Papers Papers

For breakfast i had toast with butter and jam and then we headed to class. Film class went by pretty fast because we watched a bunch of different clips from movies all directed by Neil Jordan. We then went to the library to begin our papers and just hang out. For lunch we split some weird sandwich that had lettuce cheese tomato and some weird sauce. Not my favorite but it wasn't awful. We also had the usual salt and vinegar chips. Lit was boring and it's hard to pay attention because all of the stories are the same and everyone knows what they're talking about except for me and nick but oh well. After class we went down tot he super value store and we got two 2 liters for a little over 3 euros which is a really good deal and then we got a bag of 15 bags of chips that cost the same as 4 bags of chips at school we we were pretty happy. We got back and worked on our papers and both did some pretty good damage on them before dinner. For dinner we had chicken, potatoes, carrots and broccoli. There was some gravy type sauce over all of it and was really good as usual. I had an ice cream cone and the ice cream was that crazy good ice cream we had the other night so i was pretty happy. My paper is now finished and we're just going to hang out in nick's room until it's time to head to bed and go on our excursion tomorrow :)

Ordinary

I forgot to do my blog last night so here's what my day entailed of yesterday:

I woke up and had waffles with syrup and jam on them and then headed to class. we watched a movie about a man who was a cross dresser which was somewhat odd. I was really angry when i found this out because the guy who plays the main character is actually a very attractive guy but not while wearing a dress and make up. For lunch we split a chicken and bacon sandwich and a bag of salt and vinegar chips. I think that's my favorite type of sandwich so far here. Lit class we just talked about our stories as usual and we both did better on the quiz last thursday than we had thought we would. I got a B and nick got a C. We came back and watched the film nick has to do for his paper called "this is my father". it was pretty dumb and predictable. We had dominoes for dinner which was amazing. it tasted like regular pizza. we each got 3 pieces. 1 with pepperoni and 2 with ham and meatballs. we also each got some chicken fingers and potato wedges. it was super good. Later we had cake was well because it was cian's birthday. this kids like to warm the cake up in the microwave first to melt the frosting so we tried it too and it was really good. We spent the rest of the night working on papers and just relaxing in nick's room so it was a pretty ordinary day. We got hot chocolate and cookies again as well :)

Lucky Charms

Today i had the usual waffles and nutella for breakfast and then we headed out for the leprechaun museum. while we were on the bus there was a huge group of spanish students that got on and the entire bus ride it was just non stop spanish girls talking very loudly and it was extremely annoying. we got off the bus earlier than we needed to and went and booked our tour for the blarney castle because we were so annoyed. then we set off to find the museum which was actually quite difficult. we finally found a sign that pointed us somewhere and we just kept following that road and never seen any other sign. eventually we were sick of walking so i went into a store and asked them if they knew where it was. they told me but then said "i wouldn't be too upset if you missed it. leprechauns aren't real." obviously i know that leprechauns aren't real. i'm not an idiot. anyways we found the place and it was 8.50 euros to get in. we decided we'd never be here again so we might as well check it out. the first room was just a bunch of stuff that had leprechauns on them and after that we went through a "magic tunnel" that made us small. it was really cool how everything was so big in the room we went into but that was the only cool part about the whole thing. at the very end of it we drew pics of leprechauns and it looks like a 5 year old drew mine. oh well it was still fun. we then went to have some lunch at burger king. everything is so expensive and we got a "king meal deal" for about 5 euros and it was a small drink a small burger and regular fries. it tasted like normal except it had some odd sauce on it. after we ate we looked around at different gift shops and then at the bargain store "pennys". i got a shirt and a necklace and nick got shades and shoes. it was a lot of walking but still a fun day. for dinner we had i think roast beef, potatoes, veggies, some other thing that i think was a mashed up vegetable, and then these bread things that were on top of the meat. it was super good and after dinner i chatted with angela and she told me some funny stories about some of her other foreign students. after that we just hung out in nick's room and worked on our papers. he got a lot more accomplished than i did so i'm going to have to really start working on it tomorrow. angela brought us hot chocolate and cookies tonight again and tomorrow is cian's birthday so it will be cool to see if they celebrate birthdays the same way here :)

Zoo

Well normally i don't do my blog until later but i have a lot to say this time so i'm going to start early. We had waffles and nutella for breakfast and then headed to the zoo. The bus ride was pretty long and we had to go through the ghetto part of dublin. when we got there and got out tickets we seen all the monkeys first. It's a zoo so everyone knows what went on and if you want to see the animals you can look at the pics. We got to see the elephants being fed which was really cool. they went underwater and everything. we also seen the sea lions and penguins and somewhat the rhinos. We then went to phoenix park and it's a really nice area. we seen a huge statue so we went and got pics with it and angela said she thinks there's a person buried there standing up. On our way back we looked and there was a bunch of people standing outside a theatre in Dublin and it said irish premier of hp7 and we didn't think much of it. finally nick said let's go check it out so as soon as we got up the bus started moving so we had to get off at the next one and walk back. after standing there for a bit we heard that 4 stars of the movie were going to be coming so we stayed and waited. Bill Weasley was the first to show up and we had some really annoying spanish girls in front of us. After he showed up i edged my way closer and was in the 2nd row and it was amazing. Luna was the next to show up and then the two twins, Fred and George. I got a super good picture of them and it was AMAZING. It's going to be hard to top that. For dinner tonight we had bacon, eggs, sausage, beans and bread. It was really good and we had a popsicle afterwards. Now we just sitting around. I have a few things about Ireland or just in general that have been annoying me lately so i'm going to rant about them now.

Language
I can't stand it when people can't speak english when they're in an english speaking country. I realize that it's not really their fault and that they could be tourists but it gets really annoying and i don't know how people that live here can stand it. It happens in America as well but since we're in a city setting it just happens a lot more often.

Dressing
At the zoo today 90% of the people were wearing dresses. It's a zoo people. there are smelly animals everywhere and children mostly under the age of 12. who are you trying to impress? there was one girl even sitting on a bench looking into a mirror putting lipstick on. i'm going to be very happy when i get back and everyone else is wearing jeans and a t-shirt just like me. Most guys wear skinny jeans here too and i can't stand it. i can't wait to see a guy with regular jeans were they're pants aren't down to their knees with a t-shirt on and baseball cap. I will miss seeing all the guys dressed up nicely though. you see a lot of people in nice pants and ties and they look very spiffy :)

Smoking
It's amazing to me how many people smoke here. Every stop we got on our tour yesterday people had to get out and smoke and then stand next to the trash can as long as possible to fill their lungs with as much tar and toxic chemicals as possible. they were so eager to sit there and slowly develop lung cancer it amazed me. If you want to give yourself cancer then fine go ahead but i was beyond angry when people were smoking at the zoo. there are little kids everywhere and they have tiny little lungs and no way to speak for themselves. i think those people should be put in jail for life.

On a happier note i'm having a wonderful time here and i can't believe how fast it's going by :)

Mad Mouse

Today was a long long long day. pancakes with nutella for breakfast and then off to the bus stop at 6am. our tour guide today was really cool. he told us a lot of stories about his life, let us choose some of the places we stopped and made sure to point out anything that might be of interest. Our first stop was to a little town that had some castle that started with a b. neither of us remember the name though. then we stopped to see the Atlantic Ocean since some people have never seen the shore before. There were lots of rocks and it was crazy that it was a main surfing spot. it seemed very dangerous just from looking at it. We then headed to the cliffs which were really pretty and we got some good pictures. We stopped for lunch in a little town and Nick and I went to the pizzaria. I got a slice of pizza which was really good. The sauce tasted more like actual tomato sauce and than it does at home. Nick got a tomato and cheese with country relish sandwich which was also pretty good. After that we stopped in a little valley whose name meant "stony area" and it was very easy to tell why. All of the pics on facebook where the ground is covered in rock is from there. We then stopped at an old abbey and looked around. The ruins where really cool and there's still one family that owns the rights to burry their family there. The tour then took us around the country of Galway and the countryside is so beautiful. It's something you just have to see for yourself. Most of the shore is rock unlike the nice sandy beaches at home but you do see them every once in a while. On our way back we rode on the top level of the bus again and the front seats. Riding the bus here reminds me of being on the roller coaster "Mad Mouse" at michigan's adventure. You feel like the bus is going to run into things or tip over at any minute. When we went to get off the stop as we were climbing down the steps the bus stopped very abruptly. I had already made it down but nick came sprinting down the steps and jumped 3 steps onto the ground level. It was one of the funniest things i have seen in my life and i couldn't tell if he had done this ninja jump on purpose or not. After talking to him he said he was just trying to make it so he didn't fall down the steps and it was so funny we laughed the entire walk back. Angela had pizza and a salad for us which was really good. The salad here has really leafy lettuce but i still liked it. The onions were the only thing i had trouble with. The pizza was absolutely amazing and just what we needed after such a long day. we got on the bus at 6am and didn't get back off until after 9pm. Tomorrow we're sleeping in until around 9 and then heading to the zoo. I can't wait! :)

Movies

Today i had waffles and nutella for breakfast again. I almost got nick to try it but he said he doesn't like the sound of chocolate for breakfast but maybe he'll change his mind soon. In film class i had to do my presentation and it didn't go too bad except i didn't know the date the movie was set in or the date it was released but oh well. For lunch we split a burrito and some rice cakes. the rice cakes weren't great but the burrito was good and it was a nice break from a sandwich. for the lit class the quiz went horrible for both nick and i and we had to do our presentation today. it went pretty good except no one knew what i was talking about when it came to one of my questions and they just stared at me like i was an idiot. other than that school was good though. we then came back and just hung out and watch the stars of harry potter arrive at the premier until dinner. We had broccoli carrots green beans potatoes and meat with some sort of sauce on it that was really good. Then we watched the movie "the wind that shook the barley" it was a war movie and was really good. i cried twice of course. during the movie angela brought us ice cream and strawberries and it was soooo good. the ice cream was amazing especially. then we went and skyped for a while and she brought us hot chocolate and cookies again. tomorrow we're headed for a long day at the cliffs of moher and i'm really excited it should be a fun filled day :)

The Croke

Today i got up and had toast with Nutella on one and jam and butter on the other. I am now obsessed with Nutella and am very glad that we have it at home as well. We then headed to Trinity to meet the group and then went on to the Leinster House. This is where the government takes place and we got to see a debate go on about a hospital. It was kind of funny seeing grown men in suits and ties arguing back and forth but i guess that's what happens in all forms of government. We then took a tour of the rest of the house and then nick and i went to mcdonalds for lunch. It's much better and much cheaper at home. Here you get a regular hamburger for 1 euro and at home you'd get a mcdouble which are much much better. After that we went a shopped for gifts and then met the group again to go to the GAA Museum/Croke Park. It was really cool seeing something that means so much to the Irish culture. Our tour guide said that the championships held there is like the super bowl at home. The difference is that these athletes don't get paid and it's pretty much just a hobby for them. He told us a story about how last year a guy got a hat trick in the finals which hasn't happened in 70 years and would be like a person making 3 touch downs in the super bowl and then had to go into school the next day to teach a classroom. After the tour was done and we looked at a bit of the museum we left and after a long bus ride and walk in the rain we got home. Dinner tonight was like a stew kind of. It had potatoes, meat and carrots. It was good and very filling. Nick and I then got to work on our homework which we're still trying to work on and Aoife brought us cookies (they call them biscuits) and hot chocolate again :)

Rounders

Today we had waffles with Nutella for breakfast again and it was really yummy. Film class was a little boring and we just watched clips of movies and talked about different directors. Lit class was also kind of boring and we went over different mythology goddesses and then stories that we had read the night before. After class we went down the street to the store i had seen while riding on the bus called "O'Farrells" and it turned out to be a realtor place instead of a store so that didn't work out. We then came back and hung out until dinner which was fish, chips (fries) and peas. I've never been a big fan of fish but i tried it and it was good. After dinner we went out with the aha group to play a game of rounders which is pretty much like baseball except with a tennis ball and funny looking bat. The entire team gets to bat until each individual player is out and you can advance bases without tagging up on a caught ball. If you catch the ball with one hand the entire team is out and you switch infield and outfield. The teams were Michigan vs everyone else and Michigan dominated of course. When the game was over we came back and just hung out for the rest of the night. Angela made us hot chocolate and brought us each cookies again. I'm looking forward to going to the stadium tomorrow. It's HUGE and should be lots of fun :)

Lazy Day

Today we woke up and had little mini waffles for breakfast. I put Nutella on mine and it tasted super good. In film class we watched the movie "My Left Foot" which was about a crippled man that learned to function in society and wrote a book about his life. It was good but a tad bit depressing. In Lit we discussed the stories we had to read for the night before and then discussed the papers we have to do. They don't seem like they'll be too hard it's just actually sitting down and doing them that will be the problem. After class we went into Dublin and booked a tour to Wicklow. I'm already excited for our trip this friday to the cliffs :). When we got back we had dinner which was white rice with a homemade chili on top. yet again it was an amazing dinner. I then watched my movie that i have to do a review on for film class and it was supposed to be some love story but to me was just a bunch of sex scenes and a crazy jealous guy who makes up scenarios that never happened. I still don't know what i'm going to say about the movie but that's not until Thursday. We got hot chocolate and cookies again tonight and thank goodness we're splitting lunches or else i'd gain a million pounds from this trip. It was a pretty low key day but still an enjoyable one :)

Glen Colmcille

Friday

We headed off for the small little town of Glen Colmcille. After waking up and having breakfast we got on a bus and drove out of the city. The views were amazing along the way and it was nice to finally see "the rolling hills of ireland". Nick and I both read Harry Potter most of the way so the ride didn't seem like it took long. We stopped at Enniskillen castle which was really pretty but i hope the rest of the castles are bigger. This isn't the type of castle you'd see royalty living in, it was more like a base and eventually did become a military base. It was still pretty cool and we've got pictures up of the place. The lunch that our host mom packed us was amazing. It was a big chicken sandwich/sub that had lettuce and the same dressing that our chili chicken twister had, a bag of chips, an apple pastry, a bag of toffee cookie things, two kit kats and a pepsi. We kept the chips and cookie toffees for later and ate the rest. When we were at the castle you could tell what a strong accent our guide had. I couldn't tell what she was saying when she kept saying "town" but after you got used to it it wasn't that bad. After the castle we got back on the bus and headed to Donegal. we looked around the little town for a while but there wasn't much there so we just wondered around until the bus was ready to leave. There was an area set up where a band was played that night but there was just music playing from speakers while we were there. We headed back on the bus for the rest of the journey there and when we got there we understood the meaning of a "small town". This place was tiny but it was really cute and it was soooo pretty. If i could afford a summer home somewhere this would be the place. The pictures don't even come close to showing how wonderful it was. We walked to a church nearby and then went back to the room to eat our dinner which consisted of the rest of our lunch and then some granola bars and starburst. We continued reading Harry Potter (it's addicting) until someone in our group asked us to come out and hang with the group we went we to the local store and each bought a bulmbers (amazing). We were with the group just hanging out for the rest of the night. We started in someone's room and then headed to two pubs but we didn't stay long because we had a very noisy group and we went back up to the common area above the pub. This was then named the "channel 8 lounge" and after hanging out there for a while we left and went to sleep after finishing my book.

Saturday

We got up and apparently breakfast time had been changed from 9am to 9:45 so we just took a little walk and sat down and talked until breakfast was ready. It consisted of a fried egg, sausage, bacon, toast and tea. I do not like tea. I even put LOTS of milk and sugar in it and still don't like it. I tried it once and now i'm done. After breakfast we went to learn to play gaelic football. We started off by doing drills and then ended with playing a short game. It's really fun and beth and i were talking about how we're going to have to get some friends together to play it when we get back to school. After that we got lunch from the local store. We split a BLT sandwich since the breakfast was big and neither of us were that hungry. The group met again and we started our hike. The first stop was the church nick and i had already went to the night before. This time though there was a tour guide that was a local guy that told us about all of the history. When they were burring a man they came across old tunnels that used to how monks during a raid. They would cover the entrance with a huge stone and then move it when the raid was over. We actually got to go down into these tunnels and even though it looks bright with the flash of the camera, it was pitch black and you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. We had one flashlight that he called the "torch"and only about 10 people could go down at once. After the church we headed for a well that i think was named after st. columbus. If you took 3 pebbles and walked around the well clockwise and threw one into the pile each time around it was supposed to give you good luck. I did the whole ritual thing and Nick just threw his in and then went exploring. After i was done I seen him up on the side of the mountain/cliff so i went to join him. This experience made me remember how absolutely terrified i am of climbing on steep inclines with extremely large drops. When i finally got to him the view was amazing and he went to go climb higher and i took pictures. Then thinking i would just take the road with the rest of the group while nick cut across up top everyone else i was with decided they wanted to cut across too so i joined them in climbing higher. the views during this hike were hands down the most amazing things i've ever seen but i was also hands down the most terrified i had ever been in my life. We finally got to the cliffs and the only thing i can tell you is to look at the pictures. They don't even compare to what it actually looks like. On the way down Nick, devon, meg and travis all went down the side of the cliff while beth, stacy and i all took the road. They explored a lot more and it was even steeper and i know the views would have been great but i don't think i could have handled it. I know i sound like a complete baby but i was terrified. Nick said he found some sweet waterfalls and both of us have pictures posted of them. After that we went to dinner at a little folk village about five minutes down the road. We had soup and sandwiches that were really good and then they gave us apple pie for dessert. The apple pie wasn't like it was at home. It was a lot more natural here without all of the preservatives and a different type of flour. the whip cream was also homemade even though it wasn't my favorite. While we were eating there was traditional irish music and they even played the song that's on the movie P.S. I Love You. After dinner we went back and showered and then nick and i headed to the beach together. We got some really good pictures but because it was cloudy we couldn't see it fully set. After that we went back and read for a little bit and then i went out with meg and beth. After being with the group for a bit I went back to their room so they could get money and then we all went to the pub where there was live music. Nick was so nice that he gave me 5 euros to use. one drink was 3.90 so it went really far (not). After being down there for a bit everyone else was really drunk and it was getting annoying so i left and went back upstairs. The band at the pub was super cute but it just wasn't worth it.

This is literally the entire town.

Sunday

We woke up and had irish pancakes and cereal for breakfast. The syrup was yet again amazing. After that we just rode the bus back. We stopped at a small town that i don't even know the name of and we couldn't find anything to eat so we just shared some chips. After getting back we get on the computers for a while and then had potatoes, cooked/sliced/mashed carrots, green beans, corn, and we think possibly lamp or pork chops or something. It was really good. I talked with Aoife about harry potter and basketball and eventually we got talking about something that led to her showing me youtube videos and she showed me some funny ones. One was a british boy singing and then some other groups singing some funny catchy songs and also a band that was on xfactor. After that i skyped with my mom/sisters and our host mom brought us ice cream and strawberries which was wonderful and then later Aoife brought us hot chocolate and cookies again. It was a great first week in Ireland. :)