"Look at your life. Look at your choices."

It's refreshing that college students everywhere watch too many youtube videos, will eat anything if it's free, facebook the people in the next room, and wait to do laundry until they have no clean underwear left. The video that prompted this comment (and the post title) is Sassy Gay Friend: Romeo and Juliet. Who doesn't love a modern interpretation of some Shakespeare?!

10/4-10/10
I'm really beginning to settle in here. I've checked out books from the library, stolen enough posters from the walls of pubs that my walls aren't completely bare, and established a weekly taco Tuesday tradition with Ruby. Technically I guess, it's burrito Tuesday but regardless it's a delicious routine. This week was especially wonderful because it was followed by my first and only choral society meeting! I decided to swallow my nerves and make the trek to school at 7 to participate in the weekly choir practice. It seemed pretty normal when I first walked in, it was a warm room full with the dull murmur of 50 some college students talking about absolutely nothing. The music was on the front counter and was some Christian tune and "You've Got a Friend In Me" from Toy Story. I sat towards the top in the sopranos section with Ruby, even though I think Justin Beiber's voice is higher than mine so I'm probably an alto. But I definitely wasn't calm, cool, and collected enough to separate and sit in a different section!

Like all things Irish, the practice was much less organized than even the least structured meeting in the United States. I'm not saying that the Irish characteristic of disorganization is bad, in a way it's really refreshing not to have some agenda that must be followed. The only problem with this practices disorganization is that the room was really hot, I had to go to the bathroom, and seats in the Hogwart's esque building were less than comfortable.

After practice I headed over to my friend's for some cans (see the party edition of the Irish dictionary below) and ended up party hoping and meeting a bunch of Irish students, hence the realization that every college student share some common interests. The next day some friends and I had another family dinner (fish tacos this time--yum!!) and watched Glee, a show that I have come to appreciate after the Irish TV I have been watching. The British Isles are not famous for their high quality television, don't even get me started on X-Factor. Simon's gone soft, that's all I have to say on the subject!

Irish Dictionary: Party Terms
The shift- making out.
Gaff- house.
Cans-pint sized cans of beer/cider.
Lad(s)-guy(s)
Pain in me hole- pain in the ass
What's the story-what are you up to/where are you
"What's the story, lad? Ye comin' ta my gaff for cans."
"Quit being a pain in me hole. I'm gettin' the shift tanight."


Other than Glee, family dinner, and choir practice it was a pretty uneventful week full of lectures and going out to the usual pubs. Each have their own personality, the usual stops are outlined below!
The Star- on the edge of the city center, so it's usually a first stop for a 3 euro pint! Very American though, usually not full. Beautiful bartender that wear sweatpants to serve drinks. Not my favorite place, but it was a good place to celebrate Arthur's Day!
The Washington Inn (the wash)- Plays bad '90s music, crowded, almost always full of men.
An Brog- Only good after 11 or so because it's a late bar (open until 2 am!) Definitely a spot for college kids, but definitely a good time. Usually playing fun music to dance to (MGMT, the Strokes, the Beatles, ACDC, Patti Smith, random selection).
The Quad- Clientele seem to be students in their final year that have grown up enough to wear real clothes out! Good for a chill pint.

Friday morning (10/8) I woke up much earlier than I wanted to and boarded a bus with my fellow IFSA Butler students and drove 6 hours up to Killary for the annual adventure weekend! It was not nearly as exciting as it sounds. Definitely more of a learning experience. First thing I learned? I'm so glad I am not studying in Limerick. University of Limerick has maybe 1/16 the charm of Cork. Second thing I learned? I am so blessed.

Killary Bay courtesy of google

After snoozing on the bus we arrived at Killary Adventure Company which is in the middle of nowhere and is just gorgeous. We stayed in dorm type rooms with all the IFSA students from across Ireland and basically had a weekend of good dining hall food and feeling awkward. I am really glad I did the Early Start Program and that I am in Cork, but I realized how doing these two things through Butler skewed my experience. First, although my early start group consists of really nice people, none of them and I had the strongest connection and we have become "opportunistic friends," meaning that when everyone else around are strangers, we stick together. Second, after attempting to branch out a little I discovered that IFSA students at every other school live with Irish students. I love my roommates, but I do go to school in the United States and happen to live with Americans at school at home!

Although it was an awkward weekend, I did get to do some cool things. Saturday morning I started out doing a high ropes course challenge thing, which I was super pumped about because there is nothing I love more than team building at high altitudes. But this was unlike any high ropes experience I had ever had. Me and the nine boys who were in my group didn't even introduce ourselves. It's a strange feeling to push your limits doing these challenges without the usual chorus of "Woohoo! Yeah, Abby, you got this!" or other encouraging statements. I have to say doing a ropes course silently definitely removes 3/4 of the experience.

Following the high ropes course was laser combat! Laser combat was unlike any laser tag I have done before. Instead of being inside a dark battlefield with a blacklight, we were given camo clothes and directed to a battlefield that easily could have been the set for any war movie. I take pride in my ability to dominate at laser tag, but I really failed to bring my A-game for this battle. Probably because I was thrown off my the fact that my teammates were all male and experienced fake soldiers and because as soon as the starting whistle was blown and my team hit the deck I got a mild (and terrifying) taste of what battle would actually feel like.

I was uncomfortable to say the least, but I didn't "die" and my team beat the cliquey "Team Galway!" (Very satisfying). The low point of my combat experience happened after the battle was over and we were heading in to celebrate our victory. During my strut in  I stepped on what I thought was a little muddy ground but ended up being a bog. While I narrowly escaped fully face planting I did manage to sink waist-deep into mud only to require my bro-y teammate to come and help pull me out of the mud. I tried to shake it off and accept that I was by far the most bad ass and dedicated member of my team but mostly it just was VERY EMBARRASSING.

After scraping the mud off of my pants, being hosed down, and then showering I recovered over lunch. In the afternoon I decided to stay away from potentially muddy activities and signed up for gorge walking and sea kayaking. It was crazy windy and the water was rough so kayaking was more of a workout than a leisure activity, but the instructor was cute and we jumped off cliffs so it turned out to be all good. Gorge walking, on the other hand, was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. Definitely the highlight of the weekend. Although it was extremely un-environmentally friendly (sorry, ODS) it was so cool. We walked up a creek from the end to the source, climbing over waterfalls, wading through deep pools, and basically just frolicking in the creek. I felt like I was in Avatar or Fern Gully, I'm such a water baby that I had the time of my life.

That evening was surprisingly wild despite the draining day. Once everyone had thawed and taken a power nap we all began playing various card games and teaching our program leaders American drinking games. Yes, our program chaperones. This weekend really was like the twilight zone. The evening only gets weirder. Around 10 the main even started and we all were herded into the dining room for the disco! In the corner was the DJ who looked about 75, but kept spinning the newest jams so there were no complaints. Next to DJ Maturity the "bros" from my laser combat team could be found dancing on a table to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. It was great fun but too weird.

The rest of the weekend was a little more normal. In the morning I did a different ropes course (better, but still not at OPC level) and a giant swing with my fellow early starters. After lunch we headed home and I did a much needed load of laundry (see picture of my pants if ya don't believe me!)

A Weekend with Snakehips and Celtic Ligers (9/27-10/3)

Caheersiveen

I might be the worst blogger on the face of planet, but just as they say, you can either live your life or you can blog about it, right?

The past few weeks have gone by as the first weeks of school usually do--way too fast! I am finally figuring out my daily routine, how many times I can hit snooze before getting up, when the water in the shower will be hot, and when I can go to BLT (no, not the delicious sandwich but rather  stands for Buns Legs Tums!) or step it out!

Outside of class I've been exploring the music has to offer on Monday (9/27) I went to a 21+ club called Crane Lane (I must just emit an air of maturity) and watched a jazz/swing band perform. Wednesday (9/29) I drank a Guinness at a trad session at Spailpín Fánach, a VERY Irish name. This group was especially interesting. The accordion player looked like a thug soccer wanker person, the drummer was a blind man who was texting on his phone, and the rest were a haggard looking group of Oregonian-esque men complete with gortex jackets and beards. For my Irish Traditional Music class one of our assignments is to write a 1000 word essay comparing a trad music session and concert, basically a session takes place in a pub and is super casual with players coming and going as they please and playing whatever they want. So essentially, two of my professors have required me to go to pubs.

View of Skellig Islands from the telegraph plaque!

The most spectacular of my musical endeavors this week took place on an international student trip to the Ring of Kerry where I somehow found myself learning some traditional Irish dancing! But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. My roommate and I, Ruby, boarded the coach (one of probably 100 bus rides I've been on since being here in Ireland) and headed off towards Killarney to pick up students from Limerick and Dublin. On the way over we learned some common Irish phrases as we drove past thousands of red flags celebrating Cork bringing home Sam McGuire. Irish is by far the most confusing language to learn. It sounds like jibberish when you hear it spoken and it looks nothing like what it sounds like. For example, dia dhuit is how you say hello (er technically God is with you). But if someone says dia dhuit to you it is rude to say it back, you have to do one better and say "dia's Muire dhuit" meaning God and Mary are with you. Overall, the Irish language and me are not the most compatible pair, which stinks because speaking Irish is becoming more fashionable again. Friends of mine drop Irish phrases all the time and they are even opening more Irish-only schools. Most people don't speak Irish fluently, except for a few communities in the West.

On our walk over to the forts!

We knew we had officially crossed over into county Kerry when the festive red flags suddenly disappeared and were replaced by the occasional, sad green flags. Cork and Kerry have a notorious rivalry that's all in good fun except when talking about Gaelic football. But if the championship were to come down to Kerry and Dublin, the Rebels would swallow their pride and root for Kerry because as an Irish friend says, "Everybody hates Dublin." Marian, our group leader, caught us up on all the pranks the county fans had carried out as we pulled into the Killarney bus station/outlet mall.

View from top of Geokaun Mountain

With our bus filled to the brim with a variety of foreign exchange students we made the rest of the bus trip to our hotel in Cahersiveen. I'll probably end up saying this over and over, but the Ring of Kerry is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, the pictures from the window of the bus are even spectacular! After a few photo op stops we made it to the hotel and stuffed our faces with a delicious salmon dinner complete with the typical Irish spuds and steamed veg (I am not making this up, they call them spuds and veg). Full of warm food I was ready for a little food coma but instead Marian, a native Kerrywoman, had a friend of hers come and talk to us about life in Kerry.

West Kerry apparently is notorious for its lack of people and modern amenities, a lecturer of mine actually made a reference (while looking at the international students) that there's no way any of us had even heard of West Kerry, followed by a cackle. See, Corkers really don't think highly of Kerry! Our guest speaker was a Kerry native who had lived his whole life in West Kerry. Born in 1948, he looked about 75 and spoke with the best Kerry accent, which might even be harder to understand than the Cork accent. The way he described growing up in Kerry sounded like stories from Little House on the Prairie walking to school without shoes, getting smacked across the knuckles for spilling ink, and coming home and NOT having a TV (they didn't get a TV until 1976!)  Kerry is rural and I think during the entirety of my trip I saw more sheep than people!

Walking up to the top of the Mountain!

If you thought my immersion into Irish culture would stop with the guest speaker, forgetaboutit. From the speaker we went straight into our céilí dancing call with a live trad band! The trad band was a motley crew of three local boys that clearly owed Marian a favor and grudgingly put on their finest Hawaiian shirts to come teach the international students how to dance. You might think that Irish dancing is a little, um, silly looking but let me tell you it is a blast and a HALF. And what a workout! Marian taught us 5 dances full of hand holding, bouncing, and spinning around. Although I am not the most coordinated person in the world, I definitely was in the top of the curve in our group, which really isn't a very impressive feat. During our rests between dances we were entertained by either the really good dancers taking the stage or the trad band doing covers of bad American music ("Take it Easy" by the Eagles for example). I don't think I stopped smiling during the whole 1.5 hour dance session!

On the beach!

On Saturday we woke up, ate a traditional Irish breakfast of rashers, bacon, eggs, and wheatabix, and took a power nap before heading out to take in the beauty of the Ring of Kerry. We began the Skellig part of the tour by crossing over onto Valentia Island and stopping at the Foilhomerrum Cliff the site of the first permanent communication cable connecting Europe to the United States! The first message, according to the plaque, was "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will to all men." From the monument we headed to Valentia Island's highest point to take in all the stunning views.


Geokaun Mountain originally was just a sheep farm owned by a local Kerry family, but after the end of the Celtic Tiger and the decline in a demand for sheep's wool, the owner decided to take advantage of the stunning views and made a beautiful hill walk for tourists! Smart thinking. Because Marian is a Kerrywoman she knew the farmer and when we rolled in he was there, smoking a cigarette with his sheep dog, ready to tell us the story of his farm. Also, another example of great Kerry accent.

From the path you can see the the Miner's view, the Shepherd's view, and Carraig na Circe. I wish I had taken pictures of the plaques so I could say which view was which, but it was just too pretty to waste pictures on plaques! From different points on the path you can see the Skellig Rocks (where Skellig Michael, the World Heritage monastery is!), the Blasket Islands, Cromwell's lighthouse, Portmagee (yes, the name of a town), Fogher Cliffs, and lots of wildlife (chough, puffin, whales, etc). The trek to the top of the hill was definitely worth it.


From Geokaun Mountain we almost got killed driving in a coach on a tiny road on our way to the Grotto, apparently a famous slate quarry. It was pretty unimpressive, basically a cave full of machines with a statue of Mary perched above. The ride over did provide nice views and Marian encouraged us to "buy" a souvenir while visiting the quarry. With stolen slate in our pockets we completed the drive around Knightstown on Valentia Island, where most of the residents were employed by the telegraph company. More importantly, the road we were driving on is located next to the site of fossilized Acanthostega footprints aka tetrapods aka the first creature to crawl out of water and walk on land 365 million years ago!

Another O'Brien towerhouse!

Because we didn't come in the peak tourist season, the Island was virtually empty even at the Skellig Michael Experience Center. Boat tours out to the Islands are restricted by weather, so we didn't actually go to the Islands, but we did learn all about them! They tend to always be partially hidden by a layer of fog, making these islands extremely mysterious. One island is home to a group of hermit monks who built beehive huts without mortar 218 meters (670 steps) above the sea, while the other to a plethora of birds species. The Experience Center was a little sad without the hoards of tourists, but it was nice to have the place to ourselves. After watching a video and going through the exhibit we were treated to an Irish dance performance by the owner's two daughters. Now they could really dance!

After being put to shame by the 6 year old dancers, we headed off for a quick walk on Ballinskelligs Beach! On our way over to the beach Marian pointed out her house, her mother's house, her brother-in-laws house, the house of her aunt and uncle, the house of the boy she first dated, her cousin's house, and the house that used to be abandoned where they would play as kids. She told us stories of how in a village that consisted of 8 houses, when she was growing up there was a child population of 60! It was really a treat to have her guide us around her home and getting to hear the stories about every house we drove past.

Am I in the Shire right now?

We passed Saint Finian's Bay, apparently a big surf spot, and I really started getting excited; I was going to walk on a beach! Ballinskelligs Beach looks a lot like the Oregon coast and I almost exploded with joy! Ruby and I got really into the beach experience and took off our shoes and went for a little dip. Let me tell you, once you go wading on the Oregon Coast no other water will ever be considered cold. It's only cold if after 20 seconds your feet ache and are bright red. Right next to beach is another O'Brien tower house (archeology flashback!) and I got to impress all of my friends with my knowledge of the O'Brien legacy. Who knew archeology would come in handy some day?


After putting our socks back on our wet feet we boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel for lunch (yeah, that's right. We had done all of this BEFORE lunch.) We ate a traditional Irish lunch of tiny sandwiches, hot soup, and rolls followed by tea and coffee. Full of food we took 30 minutes to relax then headed out to Cahersiveen to do some exploring during our afternoon free time. Cahersiveen is a tiny little street of a town that was the birthplace of Daniel O'Connell, otherwise known as the Catholic Emancipator who fought for the Catholic right to vote during  British Rule. We wandered around the town ducking into little shops, visiting the giant cathedral (the only Irish cathedral named after a layperson, O'Connell), and spending the rest of the day in a little pub called the Anchor where there was a fireplace burning turf! What a cozy way to spend the afternoon.

Still full from lunch we headed back to the hotel followed by a new canine friend we had made and named Sheila. After dinner there was another guest speaker, this one a famous Kerry Gaelic football player. He came with his son and his talk almost made me cry. Call me a baby, but it was actually beautiful the way he described a Gaelic Football as a brotherhood representing every single person in their county, and how each person in the county supports the team. Basically, he talked about support, community, expressing yourself, and being part of a family in terms of this horribly gruesome sport. Having his son their really took it took the next level because it's rare to hear an Irishman talk about feelings let alone in front of his son! Maybe I read too much into it, but it was just beautiful! My fellow front rowers were then invited up to join his Gaelic football team so that we could visualize the many different positions and rules. He even cracked a joke about how big the celebration of Cork's 7th win was, and how he's sure the Kerry team celebrated during after their 7th championship win in 1926. They have since won 29 more times making their grand total 36.

After the speaker was the table quiz, which we knew from the get-go we would win because Ruby and I happen to be game show connoisseurs and we had picked our fellow teammates wisely (the Swedes taught us the Swedish equivalent of crossing your fingers). Team number 7 did in fact win in a sudden death showdown, although it was not without help from Marian's mother, aunt, uncle, and brother who were sitting next to us. The prize was Skellig chocolate (yum) and slate coasters from a church. Overall it was quite a successful day.


Sunday morning after eating breakfast we walked over to the Stone Forts outside of Cahersiveen. I don't know what it is about me, but for some reason I cannot go anywhere without visiting a fort of some sort! The walk over was more impressive than the forts, but that might just be my cynical archeology perspective coming out. While we were tromping on the ancient structures a downpour came out of nowhere (typical Ireland) and we all sought shelter in the souterrain, which Professor O taught us were added to ring forts during the era of Viking attacks. I don't know how effective it would be against Vikings, but it kept all 40 of us tourists dry!

Ladies' View, Killarney National Park

Our bus driver picked us up at the forts and we began our journey home. We drove through Waterville, Sneem, and stopped for a tour of Daniel O'Connell's house. Basically, Mr. O'Connell had one hell of an interior decorator and every picture I took was to document his fine home design. After Mr. O'Connell's house we stopped at various viewpoints to stretch our legs and document the amazing scenery. One of the more spectacular views was Ladies View, named after Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting made their visit in 1861. It is in the middle of the Killarney National Park a place I definitely hope to hike around sometime in the immediate future.


We returned home around 7:00, made dinner, and vegged out in front of the TV to prepare for the upcoming week of school that we were by no means prepared for!

Ireland by birth, Cork by Grace of God: first week of school part 2

Everyone knows that there is much much more to studying abroad than studying! After a full day of school and a night in the airport, instead of heading home for an early night like a responsible individual would, my roommates and I headed into the city center to bring welcome home Sam McGuire! Ol' Sam is the trophy given to the winner of the All-Ireland Games Gaelic Football tournament and 2010 marked Cork's 7th win and the welcoming home of the players with Sam McGuire was quite the spectacle! Corcaigh Abú!! (Irish for Up Cork/Come on Cork!) Wearing our 5 euro Cork shirts from Pennys, we fit right in with the 40,000 other fans that had gathered for the celebration. 40,000 people is about 1/3 of the population of Cork city, just to put it in perspective. The program consisted of typical pump up music performed by Cork natives (you know, like "We are the champions," "Don't stop believing," and a clever cover of "Your sex is on fire" by Kings of Leon changed to "Bring back Sam McGuire") and lasted way too long. After 2 hours of standing on your feet and taking a million pictures of cute families all decked to the nines in their Cork gear, the celebration gets a little old and all you want to do is see Sam! Eventually Sam made his appearance and everyone went crazy, including me, who has seen 1.5 gaelic football games! It was really all about the atmosphere, these people were so excited/happy/overjoyed that I was too!

Biggest Rebel fans from apt 84!

The next night (last Tuesday) was my first real night out after the Irish students had arrived and if you want to see a spectacle come to UCC's freshers week. Oh. My. Gosh. These Irish students are NUTZ. A group of friends and I headed out around 10:30 to the city center to be bombarded by half naked girls cackling, wearing an inch of makeup, and probably only an inch of fabric too. While the girls probably took 2 hours to get ready, their male counterparts decided to really dress it up by wearing sweatpants. Sweatpants=the staple male pant at UCC. This, although extremely unattractive, is much more practical than the girls' gameplan of wearing sky-high heals and an alcohol blanket out. Meanwhile, my friends and I were dressed like extremely practical grandmothers in flat shoes and sweaters, we looked frumpy in comparison to these girls.

My apartment is about a 30 minute walk away from the city center where the clubs and bars are concentrated, and despite seeing the massive numbers of drunk people around our apartment, we thought that we could find some fun in the city center. What were we thinking? We should have forseen that the number of trashed teens would only increase as we neared the location of more alcohol! The city center was a sight to behold, but wearing far too much clothes with far too little alcohol in our bodies, we decided to head home and debrief the spectacles we have seen.

Exploring Cork culture at St. Finbarr's Cathedral

I love the Irish, don't get me wrong. I was just utterly overwhelmed and concerned that this debauchery would be a nightly occurrence for the rest of the semester and the relaxed pub atmosphere I had grown accustomed to had such been snatched away by 17 year-olds on their own for the first time. Luckily, that turned out to be a needless concern. For Thursday of the first week of school I went to an Irish house party and met lots of relaxed Irish students wearing real clothes and smiles!

Full of the excitement of the first few days of a new school year the next few days consisted of a club and societies fair, lots of people looking lost, and free stuff being handed out around every corner! The club and societies fair was very overstimulating and resulted with me signing up for 9 different clubs/societies including both the Labor Party and Republican Club. In my defense, the room was very hot, full of people, and full of charismatic people with accents promising candy if you signed up! So far I have yet to follow through on any club invitations, but once I gain some courage I plan on checking out the choral club, mountaineering club, canoe/kayak club, surf club, the cow-punchers society and/or ultimate frisbee. We'll see, who knew I was too shy and reserved to attend a meeting on my own? I definitely need to suck it up, smile, and start to try new things!

Looking good while cutting onions for family dinner

The weekend was spent mostly surrounded by Americans because almost all the Irish students go home for the weekend. On Friday some friends and I went to some Cork Culture Night events including a youth choir performance in Saint Finbarr's Cathedral and an Aerial dance performance! Both performances were spectacular and goosebump-y but my favorite part of the evening was exploring parts of the city that I had never seen on a beautiful night underneath Jupiter! Saturday was also spent exploring followed by an evening "Beach Party" in a neighboring apartment.

I spent Sunday recovering from the weekend of exploring and preparing for our first family dinner! My roommates and I decided to have a weekly (or bi-weekly) family dinner where each week a different person presents a family recipe or meal and then we all chip in to buy the ingredients and cook it! This week was Ruby's night and we made a cheese ball, french onion soup, and brownies. I was in charge of cutting the 9 onions that made up our soup and wore my swim goggles to keep from crying. After a round of skip-bo and stuffing our faces we snuggled and watched 300 on TV. All in all, it was a great first week and weekend!

haytches, jumpers, and tirty-tree and one tird crisps: the first week of school!

I have officially been a student at the University College Cork for 1.5 months with two weeks of real classes under my belt! Go me! The first two weeks have been overwhelming, disorganized, and sleepless. Starting off the school year after a night in the airport probably wasn't the best way to set myself up for success, but it was entirely worth it.

Even though Ireland is an English speaking country that I thought would basically be a lot like the States because almost everyone I know is "Irish," and while it isn't as different as say a non-catholic country, an American entering the Irish school system is a recipe for culture shock! My first week of school was full of professors not showing up for classes, classes being listed in the wrong room, and powerpoints getting the better of people with PhDs.

Classes start whenever the professor arrives, usually about 10 minutes later than the actual start time. They enter silently, set up the computer, and just start talking and keep going without acknowledging when the class is actually listening. The first announcement made in each of my classes went something like this. "The lecture notes will be available on blackboard (online class resource database), but you really should come to class."  I should come to class? I can't imagine not coming to class?! Irish students receive a free college education and therefore have less than stunning attendance. But really, who could blame them? From here, the professor mentions that the syllabus is available on blackboard, unfortunately the syllabus online is from 2007 and says that the my final exam is on February 12th, 2007!

The extremely laid-back attitude of the education system (college, at least) reflects the general Irish tendency to not get too caught up in or stressed about anything, a trait I could definitely benefit from! Other than the disorganization, the professors just seems less happy to be in class and are full of anti-American comments! It's pretty interesting to see the Irish perspective of the United States because they, as a whole, are an extremely friendly and open people, but still make snide comments about the United States and our inability to accept the views of others as valid, see the world beyond our boarders, and share the wealth. All things that I agree are the main flaws of the States and I would agree whole-heartily that these things need to change, but I still found myself getting mildly offended! If I were bold I would want to stand up and say, "What about all the good things we do? Nobody is perfect, but appreciate all we've done!" Something these comments have made me think about: are the sneaky and selfish things we do outweighed by the advances we have made? This especially coming from the perspective of public health, which is the focus of almost all of my classes.

Speaking of classes, I absolutely LOVE all of mine. Sure, I feel asleep during two of them last week, but that was after a long night out and during one of my four hour days! Here are my classes:
1. Nutrition: macronutrients
2. Nutrition: vitamins and minerals
3. Microbiology: transmission and epidemiology of infectious disease
4. Music: intro to Irish traditional music
5. Sociology: health and the body
6. Public health: public health and health promotion

and last, but not least, I am starting fiddle lessons tomorrow! Look at me getting back to my Irish roots choosing a pint of Guinness in a pub, taking fiddle lessons, and walking quickly and everywhere! However, you will never use the words grand, veg, or craic! Craic=fun or the happening, as in "What's the craic, lads?" or "It's great craic!"

Other weird things Irish people say?
-"t" instead of "th" as in 33 1/3=tirty tree and one tird, or thank you=tank you.
-the letter H as "hay-ch"
-veg instead of vegetables
-crips instead of chips
-chips instead of fries
-naggin to describe a small bottle of vodka
-More to come, I'm sure!

Sverige: the land of beautiful people, candy, and barbeque accents

Only a crazy person would ever leave Cork by

 choice!

From the second I got off the bus from my archeology field trip I had approximately 2 hours before my Ryanair flight would leave from Cork International Airport! Sounds stressful, right? If Cork weren't the amazing place it is (with minimal traffic and even more minimal airport lines) then it would have been. However, 45 minutes after disembarking my bus I was sitting in the airport with six friends, eating Subway and waiting for the adventure to begin!

Traveling with Ryanair is an experience every person should have. I can promise that I will never fuss  about any airline ever again. From the moment I booked my flight I knew I was in for a wild ride because with Ryanair you are in charge of booking all of your own flights, unlike orbitz or anything else I'm used to that books you all the way through to your destination. When booking my flights to Sweden I was put on edge at the prospect of doing each myself in my room with temperamental Internet and with good reason. I started with my flight from Cork to London-Stansted. Phew, no problem. Then after entering my credit card info for my ticket from London to Skavsta, Stockholm the worst thing I could have ever seen popped up "You have been logged out. Please re-enter your password." Oh. my. gosh. What password? Did I just shoot 30 euro into cyberspace!? After five hits of the refresh button things seemed to straighten themselves out and my blood pressure returned to normal and my tickets officially paid for.

The next step in Ryanair's flight process is printing out your own boarding pass, if they have to do it it's a 5 euro fee. Then once you get into the boarding area you form one angry line waiting to get the best seats on the plane, which by the way don't have the little pockets on the back of the seats! AKA no Skymall magazine! Fortunately, the entire job of the flight attendants is to sell sell sell! From bottled water to smokeless cigarettes the advertisements barely ever stop on a Ryanair flight. Although I'm complaining about it, it's actually quite entertaining and they actually got me and my roommate Ruby to make a purchase. Because we were feeling lucky we bought a 2 euro scratch-it and we almost won a free tank of gas or something!

Crazy times staying entertained in London!

After a quick hour flight we had arrived in London and the first leg of our journey was done! Only 12 more hours before we'd be in Stockholm! The beauty of Ryanair is that we had a 9 hour layover in London Stansted with all of the other people crazy enough to refuse to pay 30 extra euros for a decent flight. The airport was bumping when we got there and we, being foolish new travelers, didn't immediately find an area of benches to make our beds. Instead we walked around, ate snacks, and people-watched a bachellorette party in an arcade. Around 12 we started feeling tired and tried to no avail to find a cozy bed and had to settle for the floor, which wasn't so bad except it got very cold around 3 am. It actually is kinda fun to sleep in the airport with all of the other loons and their backpacks, although next time I am definitely bringing warmer clothes!

At 4 we went through security and boarded our next flight to Skavsta, which is a tiny airport about 1.5 hours outside of Stockholm. I slept most of the way on both the flight and the bus ride, waking up just in time to see the drive into Stockholm. Sweden, from the small bit of time I spent there, is truly an incredible country full of beautiful people, places, and things to eat. There is just something about it that you instantly feel safe in this clean and elegant city. It also is very humbling to see such sophisticated people who are so well dressed and beautiful, who speak 2 languages fluently, but who are also extremely approachable and friendly. Stockholm is free of rubbish, crime, poor people, and diversity, which is probably its one drawback.

Excited to officially be in Sweden!

With my nose glued to the bus window during the drive into Stockholm from Skavsta I tried to take in all that I saw. My first thought? Hey, looks like Oregon! The best part of traveling is definitely comparing the places that I've seen and the way people are who hail from there (more on this later). For example, the aerial shot of Ireland is very telling of its personality: the fields are just sort of haphazardly fenced and each is filled with a million stinky cows. Translation: Irish are a little disorganized and there are more cows than people! Whereas the Swedish fields are perfectly lined up in orderly rectangles

The city itself is less linear because it's constructed on 14 islands where Lake Malaren meets the Baltic Sea (thanks, wikipedia!) Everywhere you look there are bridges and boats and modern buildings next to ancient ones. As soon as we got off the bus we wandered around hunting for the hostel where they were staying all while gawking at the models that walked by. Proof that Sweden is the best country ever is the cleanliness of the hostel! Who ever heard of a clean, comfortable hostel? No one.

The one flaw in Swedish taste: KraftOst aka flavored cheese in a tube!

After dropping off our bags we headed out to lunch at a cafe where I got an Italian sandwichy. Around 4 the small amount of energy I had from my restless night started to reach a very treacherous level border lining on cranky! After a quick coffee we decided to head home on the subway. Riding the subway in Sweden is a really amazing experience. First of all, it is clean (what?). Second at each stop the most beautiful person you have ever seen gets on. Boy or girl, old or young it doesn't really matter. They are all so beautiful, it's like the models from the billboards came alive and got on the train.

The Morning Benders even hipper than downtown Portland!

Once I had recovered after a nap and a delicious dinner we headed back into Stockholm to go to a concert at this supa hip club called the Debaser. The club was pretty neat consisting of two rooms with two bars playing two types of music. We saw this really hip American band called the Morning Benders and despite having never heard them we were probably the most enthusiastic members of the audience, the Swedish are so sophisticated and tend to be more reserved than us wild Americans.

The next day we woke up to ominous clouds in the sky, but we braved the weather and boarded the train into Stockholm. Once in Stockholm we walked through the touristy part of town but decided to get a more legitimate Swedish lunch so we got lasagna and quiche with coffee. When we were eating the weather finally delivered on its threat and it started down pouring. We stalled as long as possible in the restaurant but eventually we had no other choice. What were we going to do that would be both cheap and dry? Logically, we went to the aquarium that is located in the island we had explored the day before.

A cute Swedish child at the aquarium (thanks, google!)

The aquarium was crazy. The first room was a rain forest room (basically a warm version of the weather outside) complete with piranhas! The rest of the rooms focused on tropical coral reef type creatures with one room dedicated to Nordic aquatic life. We saw some pretty sweet creatures like a leopard shark, Nemo, Dorry, poisonous frogs, and seahorses! At the end of the aquarium was a really classy cafe (leave it to Sweden to have a fancy cafe in an aquarium) where we got fika and did some people watching. This cafe is the perfect example of the main differences between the United States, Ireland, and Sweden. Only in Sweden would you have a million blond people, adults and children alike, divulging in tasty treats using a knife and fork and not throwing temper tantrums!

Although we had somewhat warmed up in the aquarium, we were still soaking wet which put a damper on out spirits (I am so clever!) so we just headed home, bought a pizza kit, and went to warm up. While we were cooking dinner a Swedish student came into the kitchen and was just so Swedish. He looked like a very fashionable viking wearing all H&M clothes but in a very relaxed and effortless way, and was really humble when talking about how he is really talented and smart! Those Swedes are just too much.

Full of pizza we met some friends downtown and went to a couple bars. What a fun group, they are all Erasmus students from all over Europe and they are just nuts! The best part of traveling I've decided is meeting people from all over the world and talking to them about their lives only to realize how weird a lot of the things you do are! Meeting people different from yourself forces you to discover new things about who you are, why you are the way you are, and maybe how you want to be. I am so lucky I am able to travel.

Sunday was bittersweet with another 9 hour layover looming over my head. I didn't really spend much time in Stockholm that day, but in the few hours I was there it was packed full of people because it was election day. The journey home was rough with another night spent in the airport and a 9 am arrival on the first day of school! Literally I had time to put my backpack down, check my email, and change my clothes then it was off to school!

"Oh hey, another castle!" and other sites in the Burren

Marie Rua's love nest, very Jane Austen, right?

Whoooey! What a crazy week! In the past 6 days, I've slept in three countries, on 2 airport benches, 4 flights, and on 3 buses, but before I get too carried away with my traveling adventures or the first day of school I have to wrap up the final days of archeology. Even though the professor is maybe the cutest Irish person I have seen so far, I gotta say that I am relived to be done learning about rocks, church architecture, and copper artifacts. 

The weekend before the final week of my early start class was pretty uneventful spent working on my paper, pretending to work on my paper, and of course a quick day trip to Waterford. A group of girls who live in my building and one of my roommates trekked down to the bus station on Saturday morning only to miss the bus and have an extra free hour to roam around the city center. The bus journey to Waterford takes about 3.5 hours, but you go through a couple very cute "Irishy" looking towns along the coast. We arrived around 3ish and looked around for the largest food festival in Ireland that we had planned on going to only to hear that the food portion of the event was the next day! With our spirits low and our stomachs empty we trudged along until we came across an empty Italian cafe and decided to wage our bets. We knew we had made the right decision when the waiter came to our table (1 of 4) and asked us where we were from and what we wanted to eat in a thick Italian accent. I ordered gnocchi and bruschetta and it may be the best food I have ever eaten. Who knew, Italian food in Ireland?

Poulnabrone Portal Tomb, aka dance floor extraordinaire!

Once full of delicious Italian food we checked out all the shopping Waterford had to offer with the highlight being the store at the Waterford crystal factory, probably the only place containing a giant crystal harp and rugby ball. It didn't take too much exploring for us all to realize how tired we were from the long week and the girls night out the night before, so we boarded the bus and headed home. The next day I pounded out my paper, went to a real Catholic Church to watch my roommate sing in the choir, and went to B.L.T. (buns, legs, tums) an exercise class complete with a severe Irish instructor who never really meant "last set." 

View from Cahercommaun Cashel

Monday and Tuesday marked the last few days of class and of an empty UCC campus, both of which are welcome changes! At 7:00 on Wednesday morning I made the final trip to the class bus for my last archeology excursion, first stop: Kilfenora Cathedral, Co. Clare. I hate to be the typical American student, but it was hard to get excited by the architecture of this church when it felt like we were in the middle of Hurricane Sean (get it? It's an Irish name! I am too clever). The church is a small medieval monastery founded by St. Fachnan and used to be important enough to house the book of Kells for a bit!

East side of Corcomroe Abbey (the side they built when they still had money)

Up the road we made a quick stop at a tower house turned fortified house that was the home of Marie Rua, the wife of Conor O'brien who was apparently the original black widow. What an example of girl power, Marie had 3 rich husbands, fish ponds and formal gardens, and a house with a name! What more could a girl ask for?

From the Laemaneh Tower House we headed from the fringe of the Burren right into the middle to the Poulnabrone Portal Tomb, the largest and most bad ass of all portal tombs! Around the tomb is a fence that, according to Mr. O, was put up to dissuade Italian tourists from dancing on top of the tomb. Who could blame them? It would make for a great stage.

Limestone pavement in the Burren, Co Clare

From the ancient disco tech we went to another church,Corcomroe Abbey, Gleninsheen wedge tomb, and the Cahercommaun Cashel. The Cahercommaun Cashel was my favorite of these three sites despite the fact that as soon as we hiked to the top of this huge hill it began seriously down pouring. Luckily for us, Ireland happens to go through every single season each hour, so the torrential storm quickly passed and we were able to enjoy the views from the cashel. Poor Mr. O, by the time we got to these three sites the entire class was obviously burnt out on forts, churches and tombs, so we entertained ourselves by reciting our favorite Arrested Development quotes and probably didn't appreciate the sites quite as much as we should have.

Respecting signage and giving tourists a better reputation.

The Burren is an amazing place to visit, the limestone "pavement" that distinguishes it from the appearance of the rest of Ireland cannot really be captured on film. It feels almost like a scene from Fern Gully or Fantasia. For you science buffs, the Burren earned its name "place of rocks" not from deforestation after the last Ice Age but rather from overgrazing and overpopulation during the Neolithic Period. This caused the erosion of limestone into fissures called "grykes." When you are riding in a bus you get great views of how the landscape changes as you drive down into the valley where the limestone isn't exposed, but the best feature of the Burren is by far the Cliffs of Moher.

I wish I could do the Cliffs of Moher justice!

There is good reason why the Cliffs of Moher attract visitors from all over the world, they are really a site to behold! Walking from the parking lot to the cliffs you look around and can see the ocean in the distance, but otherwise all you can see are fields full of cows and you can't help but think, so where are these cliffs? Once you have fought the wind and make to the edge in both directions you can see waves crashing 300m below at the edge of the cliffs. We were there around 5 so most of the tourists had headed home so we basically had the place to ourselves. A couple of my friends in the class and I were feeling daring so we took the opportunity to go beyond the recommended path, whata thrill! Standing in the wind and looking around, I realized how crazy it is that I am in Ireland, that 10 feet away is a cow grazes on the edge of maybe the most amazing attraction in Ireland. It's easy to forget that people live here and that for the next 4 months, I'm living here too.

Bunratty Tower House looking dapper in the sunshine!

Sitting where the very important (and slim) archbishops sat!

After trespassing, taking too many photos, and awing at the site of the ocean we headed back onto the bus and off to the hotel. Seriously, Mr. O had pulled out all of the stops for this field trip. Not only was our hotel crazy nice (complete with a double bed, hot shower, and cable TV) but for dinner we had 3 courses, all of which we got to chose! I ate a chorizo salad, salmon and vegetables, and dessert platter thing. They were very delicious, but after gorging myself I wasn't quite ready for a big night out, which is what we had planned, but I rallied and we headed off the the pub. It's amazing to travel from Dublin to Cork to a little tiny town in the Burren because you can see what the touristy pubs in Dublin are trying to look like! This pub was small, smelly, and covered in posters, cash from other countries, and Irish phrases. We listened to some trad music over a pint and then decided to call it a night.

Quin Franciscan Friary

Despite the comforts of our hotel the next day was filled with yawns and nodding off on the bus. It was a quick day with only three stops: the Bunratty Tower House, Quin Abbey, and Moughaun Hillfort where great Clare's hoard was found. These three sites passed in a blur because I was too busy being excited for the next adventure I had on my plate for later that day I was getting on a plane to fly to Sweden for my first college-student-in-Europe travel experience! Check back for more on that, I have to go to class now!

"Alright lads, there's booty to be had in America."

Complete rainbow #2 in Slane!

This, according to my professor, is what the early medieval Irish and Vikings were thinking back in the day, and, let me tell you, they're still thinking now! What a crazy week it's been, full of tours, bus naps, and complete rainbows. I have never seen a complete rainbow in my entire life only to see two in one day while up in the most northern part of the Republic of Ireland.

Monday and Tuesday went by without much excitement. Surprisingly, the dreaded archeology test went by pretty smoothly after hours of online flashcards so I celebrated with a trip to the English Market and some avocados for guacamole. On Tuesday I stepped it out at the university gym in my frumpiest t-shirt only to discover that when Irish girls go to the gym they are dressed up, seriously. Forget sports bras and baggie shorts, it's all about push up bras and leggings in Ireland. Don't get me wrong, I am very pro-leggings but not when working on my fitness!

Hey look, another Irish Church!

Campus is slowly starting to pick up with regular classes starting in a week. I didn't realize how the only Irish person who knew my name was my professor, but seeing the Irish students made me realize how surrounded by Americans I had been so far. It's a refreshing change and hopefully means soon I will feel less like I'm on vacation.

Other than the giant test, the paper I have due on Tuesday, and the fact we'll have covered 10,000 years of information, my archeology course has really felt almost like a vacation. On Wednesday I woke up obscenely early (6:45!), walked to school, and boarded the bus with my classmates to Dublin. First stop? The National Museum of Ireland for a speed tour of all the artifacts we'd seen slides of earlier in the course. Although Mr. O zoomed through the information, it was actually quite exciting to see all of the stuff in real life and I'm sure I appreciated the stone axes having known a little about them.

From the museum all 40 of us navigated our way through the busiest part of Dublin up to Christ Church Cathedral and where "Viking Dublin" was excavated. The Church holds the tomb of Strongbow, the man who initiated the Anglo-Norman colonization of Ireland, the remains of a mummified cat and rat found in an organ pipe, and is, for all you architecture gurus, a great example of Romanesque and Gothic style architecture!

After using the bathroom (located in the crypt) we walked 100 feet to the Dublin City Council offices that were built in 1979 over the site of a semi-excavated viking trading port despite protest from archeologists and citizens alike. Pretty lame, Dublin.

"Irish traffic jam" on the way to Newgrange

From viking Dublin we bussed up to observe the "best examples of Irish high crosses" in Monasterboice. The crosses were really neat, but it made me feel uncomfortable to stomp around and snap shots in a graveyard full of people's family members. While our professor pointed out key features of the old monastery I watched an old man meticulously clean his wife's tomb stone and it just didn't feel right that we were there. 

The most amazing thing about Ireland is that it can rain when there is not a cloud in the sky, thus all the beautiful rainbows! I saw my first rainbow from the bus on the way to the hostel, which was probably the single cutest hostel on the face of the planet. Built out of an old farmhouse, it is a series of rooms filled with cozy bunk beds with a view of cows and fields out the window. Famished from the tiring day we then drove back into Slane for dinner, which was the best meal we've eaten so far consisting of mashed potatoes, chicken, and steamed vegetables with apple pie for dessert! After dinner we walked around Slane and I saw my second complete rainbow as we got back on the bus for our hostel. We recovered for a bit back at the hostel only to head out minutes later for a night at the pub! Apparently, it's totally normal to go to a pub for a pint with your professor in Ireland!

Newgrange Passage Tomb

Waking up the next morning was rough and class morale was low. Luckily for us we were headed to the most anticipated spot first thing in the morning-Newgrange. Newgrange is the most famous Neolithic passage tomb in the Bend of the Boyne cemetery complete with a roof box that on the sunrise of the winter solstice illuminates the inner chamber for 17 minutes. May not sound that impressive, but it's really cool. We are really lucky to get to enter inside the chamber that is at the end of a 40 m passage and consists of a dome weighing 25,000 tons without mortar that is still standing 4,000 years after it was built. Once you walk through the passage the tour guide dims the lights and you get to see what it looks like to be in the chamber on the winter solstice. Imagine what it'd be like to be the farmer who discovered the tomb one day while plowing his fields!

"You can take our land, but you'll never take our freedom!" -BH

After Newgrange we went to Trim Castle where some scene from Braveheart were filmed! I hadn't seen it, so lots of the references the tour guide made were over my head, but I'm sure if I ever see it I'll recognize something! Our tour guide at Trim was by far the best guide we've had. He is a Trim native and used to climb on the ruins as a schoolboy and he knows absolutely everything one human could know about Trim Castle. Braveheart or not, Trim Castle impressed me despite a lack of sleep, which is a very impressive feat. Luckily for me I would have plenty of time to nap during the 4 hour bus ride from Trim to Cork!

All tuckered out from our adventures the rest of the evening was spent laundering clothes, planning my schedule, making chili, and eating chocolate. All-in-all a great evening! Once "recovered" from our trip, I woke up and went off to class followed by a hot date with the library. I definitely am ready for the weekend!