Sunday, October 30, 2011

...Catching up, AGAIN!

Well it appears I have once again fallen behind in my blogging. Fortunately, this time I have a decent amount of stuff to update this with! So, lets go back in time a little and pretend I remembered to blog every time something awesome happened!

Thursday, October 20, 2011
On this day, I traveled to Dublin with Sister Mary, my room mate and my boyfriend. Sister Mary had been wanting to take us on a trip to Baggot Street, where Catherine McAuley is buried. We were going to bring some of the other Carlow girls, but many of them were away for the weekend already. So the three of us went off together. On this trip, I learned what the Luas is. It is pretty much a bus on subway tracks, but much nicer than the Pittsburgh transportation I am used to. We also sort of mini toured some of the big shopping streets in Dublin and even found a Disney store! Andrea and I were so excited, especially when they had a Lion King display out front!
When we went to the international sisters of mercy house on Baggot Street, I was amazed. We were greeted by a Sister that Sister Mary knew well who offered us loads of home made scones and hot tea, WAY more than we could ever consume! The Sister was a very nice woman who seemed to know a little bit of everything and was very pleasant to be around. Once we finished our treats, we were met by another Sister who took us on a tour of the house. We watched a film about Catherine McAuley and learned a lot more about her life than I had known previously. I can now better understand why she is so praised back at home, and around the world! Then, we walked to where she was buried. Her grave site was beautiful!


While we were in Dublin, Sister Mary also took us to the Chester Beatty Library. It was a very interesting museum, and we took a bit of time looking at some of the religious books here because of the intricate detailing.
The trip with Sister Mary was definitely and experience I am glad I had here in Ireland. Sister Mary is always very helpful and welcoming and made this day a really great experience for us. :]


Friday, October 21, 2011 - Sunday October 23, 2011

I went to Dublin with my boyfriend this weekend! It was really awesome to go the day before with Sister Mary because it helped us to get a layout of the town and we also picked up maps and were able to plan our trip a little.
On Friday, we went to the Dublin Zoo. I was completely blown away by the different animals they have here! They had animals I have never seen in person before, and many of them even had babies! The zoo itself was even incredible! It has a nice layout with a lot of foliage and decoration, so many times it feels as if you are out on a safari rather than in the zoo! It was a nice escape for the day! Here are some pictures from it :
















The rest of the weekend, we hung out around Dublin. We visited the Natural History Museum on Saturday and went out to a nice place called Murray's for dinner. Sunday we had lunch and visited the shopping areas in Dublin and then made our way home. We had really good weather the entire weekend until Sunday, but it was ok because we were heading home that day anyway. Turns out we picked a good time as well because with all of the rain, Dublin eventually flooded!!

Friday, October 28, 2011
Field trip day!
We visited Dublin and went to Kilmainham Gaol (Jail), Trinity College and a history museum. In lieu of typing all about it, here are some pictures from the day!

Kilmainham Gaol







Trinity College








 Museum






Yours Truly,
Alicia  

Monday, October 17, 2011

To catch up...

Well, it has been a little over a week since I last posted here. But, not a whole lot has changed.

The best part of this week so far (even though it has just begun) happened in class today. When I originally blogged about this class, I had mentioned (I think) that my lecturer did not seem very willing to help students. She had said she was not available after classes and such because that is not professional and it is also just not how things are done here in Ireland. This made me nervous because I am used to taking time after classes to ask questions or clarify things with my professors. However, today things began to look up. Now that my lecturer is aware that there are three American students in her class, she was a bit more prepared. She spoke to us before class and told us about a few books that would be helpful to us as well as letting us know she would be more available to us. She even spoke with us after class and gave us her e-mail. This made me feel much more confident about this class because now I feel as though I can ask for help if I need to. I also feel more welcome and as though I fit into class a bit better now.

If anything else good happens this week, I will let you know. However, I don't think much will happen until this weekend because I am going to Dublin! I will be staying there from Friday until Sunday, so I am sure something worth blogging about will happen. :]

Yours Truly,
Alicia

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Bi-Polar Irish Weather

Well, I wasn't going to post anything today but a series of events made me want to...

Today is my day off from classes. But, I still decided it was a nice looking day out and I should go the library to get some things done. Upon leaving, I decided I should go to the local supermarket, Tesco, and buy some apples and coffee because I have a craving for applesauce and I am almost out of coffee. It was not until after I left the store thinking today was going so well that the Irish Weather decided to get fierce.

First, a light mist. No big deal. It's Ireland, it rains and its cloudy almost all the time. Then, without warning, rain pelts out of the sky like a million freezing cold daggers out for cold blooded revenge. I tried to pull up my hood on my hoodie and get out my umbrella, but then the wind decided it needed in on this plot as well. My umbrella folded backwards and my hood constantly threatened to flip off of my head! So with rage, I fought with my umbrella to close it and carry it home, still being viciously attacked by the wind and rain. About halfway home, the wind decided it had had enough. It was nap time or something. So, I put my umbrella back up. However, motorists sometimes are not as friendly as the weather. Now that I was able to stay a LITTLE dry, a car sped up and ran right into a massive puddle which of course then sprayed me from my shoulders to me feet. I kept my head up and ignored it as to not give them the satisfaction I know that they craved. Not a moment later, the rain stopped. I put my umbrella away and watched as the dark clouds blew away revealing a bright blue sky and sunshine. -.-

On the plus side, my room mate and I are making apple sauce today. I can not WAIT because I love applesauce and you can not buy it in a jar here as far as I have noticed. This is the first time I have made homemade applesauce and I can't wait to try it! It smells and looks delicious! We just put it in the fridge so it could cool down a bit first.

Coffee and Applesauce. The saviors of my intense scuffle with the weather. <3

Yours Truly,
Alicia

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Mid-week Four.

It's Wednesday. "Over the hump day" as some say. I can not wait to be over it. Wednesdays are my long days here in Carlow, Ireland. I have 2 classes that tend to be between an hour and a half to two hours long. Then again, at least I'm busy instead of sitting in my flat most of the day.

I find that I am still not over the homesickness I have had since I arrived here. Much to others dismay, I am already counting down the days until I get on the plane to go back home. It's 73 days in case you were wondering. I am trying to wake up each morning and tell myself today will be the day I get over this, but it has not happened yet. I'll keep doing my best and finding something to look forward too each week. So far, the only thing I look forward to are Friday's for our excursions. They always end up being fun and interesting. I came to Ireland to learn and see the country, and the excursions are allowing me to do that.

On a slightly different note, I am also really hoping my Monday class, Developmental Psychology, gets better. Here in Ireland, it is a second level course, so it makes sense that people should have some idea what they are there for. However, this week someone had to ask what psychology is and what various types of psychologists do. I hope I am going to learn something from this class so I am not behind when I head back home. That would be terrible.

Yours Truly,
Alicia

Saturday, October 1, 2011

 Another long week down. I am still trying to accomplish my goal of one whole week where life in Ireland feels like an adventure rather than a struggle. Why is it a struggle, you may ask. Well, I have found that I am having trouble adjusting to the culture, a new room mate, being away from people I can trust, etc. Sometimes you simply do not realize all that you have until everything is turned around. I find I am missing home much more than I imagined. While Ireland is great and I know I will slowly find things to enjoy, I find that I would really like to grab a bowl of applesauce and watch a movie on the couch or wander the mall with friends. These things are kind of hard to find in Ireland. The only apple sauce I can find is bramely applesauce which has an odd color and the label reads "goes great with pork!" Due to this, I am a bit intimidated to try it. And as far as movies go, there isn't a channel on tv for them and I didn't bring dvd's. Finally, the only thing I can call a mall here does not really have any stores I am drawn to explore. Maybe I will find more luck in other cities here.
Which leads me to something I am excited for. Today I booked a hotel for myself and my boyfriend for a weekend in Dublin! We will be leaving Carlow Town for Dublin on October 21st and staying until the 23rd. I can not wait to explore one of the biggest cities in Ireland and hopefully find some stores with clothes I would like to wear! There is also a Harley Davidson store there! Can't wait!!

As far as exploring went, our weekly excursion took us to Wexford. While we were there, we walked through the Irish Heritage Trail and learned a lot about Ireland's known history. As it turns out, much of Irish history is a mystery. Before the stone age, the tools, clothing, etc of the people were made of organic materials that have decayed away. However, what we do know of the history here is still very interesting. From the Celts to the Vikings, Ireland has seen its fair share of turmoil and change.
After the history lesson, we traveled to the beach. And not just any beach, but the beach where Saving Private Ryan was filmed. I personally have not seen this film, but I can see why they chose that beach. When you stand between the dunes and the endless ocean, and breathe a fresh breath of air, life somehow gains a new perspective. It unexplainable and magical. It is something that everyone should experience. I found that I was able to let go of a lot of stress and let it fly off into the wind. And when the rain started to get a bit intense, I could feel some of my fears wash away.


Unlike my time at the beach, I am currently finding it difficult to clear my head and get this blog post written. For that reason, I will bid you adeiu for now and write some more soon!

Yours truly,
Alicia