Irish Studies 101 An Introductory Course in Irish College Culture

As I’ve been writing this blog it seems that the most successful posts have been those where I discuss the differences between Irish and American culture.  So I wanted to devote a couple of posts just to his topic.  So here I’m going to write about different observations I’ve made about the Irish people (at least Irish college students), their culture, turns-of-phrases, and anything else that I think you might find interesting.

“Having the craic” OR “What’s the craic?”

This is the single most common phrase that you hear around college age people.  “Craic” is an Irish word, and loosely translated it means “fun”; it is pronounced like “crack” so yes it can be pretty surprising when people use it at first!  Basically people use this to greet eachother but also to talk about going out or partying.  

“Babs”

Used when addressing women/girls.  It is kind of a shorter version of “babe”.  Used like: “How ya doin, babs?”

Potato Chips

As you’ll read later on, the brands are a bit different here.  But the strangest thing about Irish potato chips is that the “regular” flavor isn’t plain salted potato chips, it is cheese and onion!  Definitely a weird combination.  The most popular potato chip is made by Tayto Crisps, and is cheese and onion.  But there are also strange flavors like Prawn Cocktail, Paprika, and Thai Sweet Chili!  I miss my plain old Lays salted chips.

Informal government agencies/practices

In general things are a bit more relaxed in Ireland than in the US.  For instance, in terms of government practices…when having to get clearance to work with young children, instead of going to the Garda (police) station and getting things signed, we had a solicitor come and sign our papers in a parking lot!  You wouldn’t see that in the USA!

"Cheers"

This expression is used in 2 ways: to say “you’re welcome” or to say “good bye”.

“Oi”

An expression used to get your attention.  At home you’d hear a lot more “excuse me”.

Monday Night Partying

The big night to go out here in Galway is Monday night, mostly because Irish students all go home on the weekends.  In the USA this is almost unheard of, Thursdays-Saturdays are considered the going out nights.

1-4pm Lunch Break

Everyone here takes an extended lunch break.  Good luck trying to go see a professor or anyone in school administration, or even to the post office during the hours of 1-4pm.  They won’t be there.  Much different than the American mentality of work work work with a 15 minute break.

Sales Tax

There is none here!  If the price of an item is 10 euro, than that is the price. I love it.

Tipping

There really isn’t a system for tipping in Ireland.  Although at restaurants you are expected to tip, 10% is really the highest that is expected unless a stellar job is performed.  This is really different form the USA where you are considered stingy if you give anything less than 20%.

A “trolley”

A trolley is the Irish word for shopping cart.

Lecturer vs. Professor

In the USA all of the people who teach in universities (unless they are a TA) are considered professors.  Here, you better not call a “lecturer” a professor, because they haven’t earned that right yet.  A lecturer is an academic early on his or her career who haven’t earned a doctorate yet.    Also, don’t call a professor a professor if they have their doctorate.  Always address them as “doctor.”  It gets very confusing when you’re just trying to be polite and ask a question!

Tutorial

The Irish word for a “discussion section.”  The smaller groups that large lecture classes are broke up into to facilitate discussions.

Sausage Roll

A delicious breakfast or snack!  Essentially a light and flakey pastry dough filled with a savory meat filling.  You can buy them everywhere here, at convenience stores, bakeries, and EVERYWHERE on campus.

Gypsies

At home we don’t really have to deal with this population.  Gypsies, or “travelers”, are a part of everyday life here in Ireland.  They speak a different language called Shelta and live apart from other Irish society.  They are racistly called “pikeys” from the word turnpike since they are a nomadic people.  They are considered fascinatingly frightening here...for instance a very popular reality show just came out called "My Big Fat Gyspy Wedding" which chronicled 16 and 17 year old Travelers getting married.

Snood

A snood is like a scarf.  It is essentially a scarf with the ends sewn together as well, so that it basically looks like a fabric necklace.  They come in very handy and are easier to wear here because they don’t get blown off!

Smoking

EVERYONE smokes here.  And I mean everyone!  I’m so not used to the smell of cigarettes haunting me through the halls!  During the day, even in the worst and coldest weather there will be huddles of people lighting up outside of the library, on their apartment balconies, and outside of every pub.  This is one difference that I really dislike.

"Solicitor"

The word for lawyer.

"Car Park"

A parking lot.

Chips vs. Crisps

A chip is a French fry.  A crisp is a potato chip.  Don’t get this wrong because you get some mighty strange looks when you ask for sour cream and onion chips…

“Hiya”

The way everyone greets each other here.  The way that American college students would say “hey”.

I also wanted to list a few Irish relatives of big name American brands that I’ve seen so far in Ireland!

• Eddie Rockets Diner: the less-tasty Irish half-brother of Johnny Rockets
• TK Maxx: the Irish cousin of American clothing store TJ Maxx
• Walkers: the Irish and UK cousin of Lays Potato Chips
• Radisson Blu: the worldwide name for the US Radisson hotels.  The only difference?  Looks like the only difference is that there are neon blue lights shining on the building at all times!

I’ll keep an eye out for any other big differences and American companies in Irish disguises!

Cheers!

Adventureland

So this weekend I didn’t go on any planned trips or anything quite so regimented as the Cliffs of Moher trip.  Instead, I explored Galway with my roommates.

Friday
On Friday I woke up at around 11am and meandered into my kitchen to cook some eggs for breakfast.  It’s actually strange, I keep telling my roommates that I can’t sleep in here.  Ok, I know both of my parents are rolling their eyes thinking “You can’t sleep in?!  11am is enough of a sleep in!”  But at home if you let me (and a few times they’ve made the mistake of letting me) I could sleep until 2 or 3 in the afternoon!  Here, I wake up at 10 or 11am on the weekends and I can’t fall back asleep because when I try I have this overwhelming feeling of guilt!  I mean, I’m in Ireland for goodness sakes, I can’t just spend all day snoozing!!! 

Anyways, Caitlin had appointments in town that day so she was out of the apartment.  When Maria woke up we looked at each other and decided there was no way we were allowing ourselves to stay cooped up in our apartment!  1. That’s dull.  2. I’m kind of in Ireland to maybe do things?  How horrible would it be to come home and have all my friends and family ask about Ireland, and I say yeah well it wasn’t that different…I slept, ate, went out, went to school etc…  Yeah, I’m not so much thinking that’s going to fly.  So, Maria had to go to the grocery store.  But instead of just walking straight down the road to the Dunnes down the street (Dunnes is a large chain here, almost like a Target or WalMart), we decided to go on an adventure!  Ok, adventure might be a bit too strong a word, but we decide to go exploring at least.  

We walked up the road, in the direction of Salt Hill, which is one of the more high end areas of Galway.  We walked past a bunch of middle school girls in uniforms just getting let out from school, and down through neighborhoods.  Finally we saw a building we had recognized from our bus tour.  It had been one of the pick-up locations and we knew it was right next to the beach.  So, we decided to go check out the beach!  Keep in mind that it’s about 30 degrees Fahrenheit here, so no bathing suits were involved! 

We ran across the road through the oncoming traffic (crosswalks aren’t a huge deal here), and carefully slid down the slippery seaweed covered steps onto the beach.  You could see that the high tide essentially covered the entirety of the sand, so there was a TON of seaweed (gross!), and seashells (awesome!).  Maria keeps a seashell collection at home, so she immediately locked in on the huge piles of seashells that covered certain areas of the sand (I started calling them “seashell graveyards” because there were just so many in a couple of small areas).  I enlisted her help finding the prettiest and coolest shells and I ended up getting some real beauties! I have tiny bright yellow, bright orange, green, and a couple of striped brown shells, and then one larger one (no idea what kind of organism lived in them, and I don’t really want to know).  

The Famine Memorial

The view was spectacular from the beach, there were a couple of boats going through the water there, so we got to watch them chug along past, and there was an island with a light house tower that was so covered in fog that you could just barely make out its shape.  After we had stared and gawked at the sea for awhile, and taken a picture of a group of French students who were also there, we decided to continue our exploration by hiking through mountains of seaweed to a small grass area just past the sand.  When we got there we saw a large pointy boulder strategically placed in the middle of the grass.  When we got closer we saw that it was actually a memorial for the Great Famine (1845-1852) that caused so many Irish people to emigrate to the United States.  The Memorial stone reads:

“The lighthouse you can see in the distance is Mutton Light.  It is the last light of their homeland seen by the many thousands of refugees who fled the Great Famine through the Port of Galway 1847 – 1850”

This was a bit sobering and for a while Maria and I were quiet as we continued to walk around the small park.  But, we couldn’t let that damper our mood too much, because our exploration was not complete!  Maria still had to go to the grocery store so we decided to try to go to the one in City Centre, so we would have to find a new route home.  We took off walking along the coast in the direction that we hoped was where Galway City Centre was.  Thank goodness I had paid attention on the bus ride to the Cliffs of Moher and hadn’t just fallen asleep which is my usual custom, because we actually found our way!  As we walked up to the city, we passed a small harbor where there were some boats moored, and we saw a HUGE gaggle of swans (I know gaggle is used for geese, not sure about swans but they seemed the “gaggle” sort).  I went up closer to look at them and take a picture, and omigosh they came right up to me, and started kind of fighting as if they thought I was going to feed them!  Maria warned me to move back, because apparently swans are vicious birds??!  Um…maybe the poster bird for love (you know you’ve heard of those Tunnel of Love swan boats) shouldn’t be vicious?  Just a thought…

After our little adventure, Maria and I walked into City Centre and went to Dunnes.  Maria picked up some stuff she needed while I grabbed the fixings for our dinner.  Our apartment had planned to host a girls’ night with a Mexican theme!  So, I whipped up some ground beef, fried some flour tortillas (they don’t sell corn here!), heated up some beans, and mixed together some homemade guacamole.  Maria had never tried Mexican food before, so I did my best to make authentically American Mexican food (yes I know cheese, and beans don’t actually go on true Mexican tacos, but hey I can’t make carnitas like a pro yet so cut me a break).  Our friends Nicole (from USC), Jess (from Canada), and Kelsey (from Pennsylvania) came over and we annihilated those tacos!  Our friend Logan came too (even though he’s a guy) because he lives right door and he usually ends up at our place for food.  After dinner a group of people decided to go out to the pubs on Shop Street in City Centre, but my roommates and I stayed in and watched “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” instead.

Saturday

Saturday morning, Maria had to work on an assignment for her university in Malta, and all of our friends had gone on the Connemara bus trip, so Caitlin and I decided to strike out on our own for an adventure to see the Spanish Arch.  Now the Spanish Arch was built in 1584 and was originally an extension of the town wall from Martin's Tower to the bank of the Corrib (a measure to protect the town's quays).  

So off Caitlin and I went to discover the wonders of the Spanish Arch!  We expected something kind of grand, intimidating, threatening even….fail.  We found a dark stone wall with two short and narrow tunnels, one barricaded with a metal gate.  We were disappointed to say the least!  However we didn’t let that stop us from our fantabulous day in the foggy city of Galway.

We walked along Shop Street, trying to decide what to do with ourselves, when we had an excellent idea!  Caitlin had wanted to get a tattoo for years, and had been thinking about getting it here in Ireland to commemorate the trip, so she decided why wait!?  We had already scouted out a few tattoo shops a couple of weeks ago, so we went straight to Pink Tattoo and only 60 euro, and half an hour later Caitlin had the word “Strength” tattooed on her wrist.  The people at the shop asked me if I wanted them and I had to just laugh at the thought, I told them that my mother would either cry or say “I brought you into this world, I will take you out” and that my father would just come after me with sand paper.  What do you know when I told my mom about Caitlin getting a tattoo she said, “I brought you into this world, I can take you out!”

The rest of the day was pretty quiet, but I still felt pretty accomplished after seeing the Spanish Arch and helping Caitlin get her tattoo.  Life is about making your own adventures, right?

Sunday
Sunday was shopping day!  I have been looking at my meager assortment of clothes and thinking to myself that not only do I look hopelessly American (and not in a good way), but that I just don’t have enough clothes for 6 months here!  So, Caitlin, our friend Nicole, and I decided that it was time to enhance my wardrobe. We hit the streets.

This time when we walked down Shop Street we were a bit savvier than our first day in Ireland, we stayed away from the tourist trap shops, and the flash signs promising discounts.  Instead, we went to the places that all the locals shop: Dunnes, Penneys, Oasis, and Neu Look.  Here we found tons of local Irish people buying their own favorite fashions for fabulous prices!  I left with a pair of cream-colored flats, a sweater, a skirt, and a couple of tops.  All in all, an extremely successful shopping trip (sorry men-folk if that just bored you tears, but hey I don’t even like shopping!). 

Then while we were out shopping, our friends decided to have an impromptu potluck dinner.  I ran into the Dunnes and grabbed a loaf of French bread and some brie and bought it along as my contribution and prepared myself for the feast of a lifetime.  The last time we had a potluck like this, I left with a food baby in my stomach.  But omigosh this was like nothing I’ve ever seen!

Appetizers: Guacamole, chips & salsa, caprese salad, and bread w/ brie
Main Courses: Pesto Pasta, Fish Filet, Egyptian Chicken Pitas, and Pizza Bagels
Sides: Potato Salad, Fruit Salad, and Spinach Salad
Dessert: Apple Pie

There were about 10-15 people crowded around a small kitchen table and then sitting in the living room devouring more food than I’ve ever seen!  There’s just something wonderful about great food and good friends.

This weekend was really about finding my own footing in Galway.  The only way I’m ever going to feel like a true Galwegian (yes, that’s what they call themselves) is if I put myself out there and go explore!

A Day with Desmond

The Tower at the Cliffs

Ok..so the long awaited tale of my trip to the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren!  Probably most of you have heard of the Cliffs of Moher before, and if you haven’t well you’ve at least seen my brief and LOUD video tour of them..  But you are probably asking yourself, what on earth is The Burren…well I’ll get to that.  But I better start from the beginning of the day and my work my way to that question.

So, to go on our bus tour with Galway Tours, my roommates and I had to wake up at 8:30am and meet the bus outside of our apartment complex at about 9:15.  Not necessarily my favorite waking time on a Saturday morning, but hey… You do whatcha gotta do.  So, the 3 of us loaded onto the large shuttle bus sent to pick us up, and we left the complex.  The driver had to make a few other stops, including making a u-turn and going back to our complex (a group of 3 or 4 other girls had gotten on the bus with us and then become convinced that they were on the wrong bus so they had immediately disembarked…guess what…they were on the right bus…so we had to go back and get them).  Finally we arrived back at the Galway bus station where I had first entered Galway about 2 weeks before.  Here we all had our tickets checked and the 2 tours separated onto different buses (one tour group was going to Connemara, and the other was going to the Cliffs).

After loading up onto our different buses, we were off!  There were about 13 or 14 of us that knew each other, and we all sat together in the middle of the bus, brimming with the sort of exhausted excitement that bubbles over quickly before completely fizzing out into sleep.  Then, we met Desmond.

From Left to Right: Logan, Kyle, DESMOND, and Jason

Desmond Morrie was our bus driver for the day, and boy was he a character!  If you Googled “quintessential Irish grandfather,” his face would be right there smiling.  His jolly voice introduced himself and he began the day by giving us all his mobile number in case of emergencies (god only knows what could have happened to us at each of our 15 minute stops, but the motive was sweet).  This seemed pretty run of the mill, but then he followed up  with one thickly accented sentence that shook us all to our core, “Now ladies, this does not mean that you can just call me up tonight to have a good time, this is for emergencies!”  Oh man, and with that we knew we were in for a fun day!

As we got going on our long bus ride, Desmond began his tour guide spiel, and to be honest, I only halfway paid attention (partly because I could only understand about every other word, and partly because I was so caught up in the landscape that I didn’t even try to hear him).  However, I did here  this joke that Desmond told at the very beginning of the trip when he was warning us/apologizing in advance for the rough and windy roads ahead of us:

“So there’s a priest who says Mass every Sunday in church.  He does his job faithfully and well.  One day the priest dies.  When he gets to the pearly gates he tells Saint Peter his name and profession and then asks to be let in to Paradise.  However, Saint Peter says ‘Oh no, I’m sorry we weren’t ready for you yet.  You’ll have to wait.’  The priest is confused and waits.  Suddenly there appears another man in front of Saint Peter, who again introduces himself, “My name is Desmond Morrie and I’ve been a bus driver for 37 years.”  Saint Peter smiled and immediately opened Heaven’s gates, welcoming Desmond to Paradise.  The priest is confused and asks Saint Peter, ‘I don’t understand.  I have been a priest all of my life, preaching for the good lord.  That man was only a bus driver, why can he enter while I must remain?”  Saint Peter replied, “Well sir, your sermons didn’t cause people to ponder God, they really just put people to sleep.  But that man drove the same road each day for 37 days and he turned thousands of people to God; each person he drove ended up praying to God.” (At this point Desmond broke into peels of laughter before warning us that the windy and narrow roads were going to turn us all into believers)

If that one joke doesn’t personify our spunky driver, I don’t know what else could. He was a witty 70-80 year old man who clearly loved his profession, and milked it for all it’s worth.  He flirted with every girl, calling us “honey” and sang loudly to the song “Galway Girl” while substituting it with “American” or “Italian” depending on who he was flirting with at the time.  He also spoke in depth about the aphrodisiac qualities of oysters!  His constant stumbling and stuttering chatter was entertaining and well0informed, though the presentation of facts could sometimes lose their force as he repeated some sentences 5 or 6 times. But really, I could not have asked for a better guide.  When it came down to it, Desmond really just wanted us all to love Ireland as much as he does and to have a wonderful day.  When the credit card machine at the pub we stopped off at for lunch was broken, Desmond even paid for my lunch!

At Dunguaire Castle
From Left to Right: Caitlin, Me, Nicole, and Cassie

Anyways, apart from our driver, the landscapes themselves were exquisite and interesting!  In total we stopped 6 places: Dunguaire Castle, Corcomroe Abbey, Poulnabrone Dolmen, Kilfenora High Crosses, Fairy Fort & Fairies, and of course the Cliffs. 

Dunguaire Castle was the first place we stopped and everyone rushed right out to get pictures of ourselves in front of a real life castle.  It definitely fulfilled a bit of the little girl princess fantasy while allowing me to “nerd out” over a historical landmark.  The castle was built in the 16th century  and was once home to Irish king, King Guaire.  Now it is known as being home to the traditional sailing boats known as “Hookers” (for some reason this word is really popular in Ireland, Galway has a beer named “Hooker” too…kind of a weird thing to do, to walk up to a bar and order a nice cold pint of “Hooker”).

Then after a bit more of a drive we stopped at Corcomroe Abbey, its name inspired by the environment “Sancta Maria de Petra Fertili” translated to→ “St. Mary of the Fertile Rock.”  It is named that because of the abbey’s location in the Burren…so now, here is a bit of an explanation of the Burren.  The Burren is a completely limestone landscape that covers 320 square km (about 124 square miles) of Ireland.  It is considered a National Park as the area is home to over 70% of Ireland’s native flora, and boy is it a strange sight!  It’s almost like driving over the moon!

Caitlin's looking for a Fairy!

Then we stopped at one of my personal favorites…Ballyalban Fort, also known as “Fairy Fort”.  It sounds really exciting, but at the time it was a bit disappointing.  It’s really just a prehistoric ring-fort where ancient farmers are thought to have built circular dwellings.  However since then much mysticism and folk lore have been applied to them, and they are now thought to be the hiding places of leprechauns and fairies!  This was pretty fun to see, and it was a good excuse to get out of the stuffy bus and climb around in the grass and dirt!  I felt like I was five again; running around a big hole, jumping and playing while secretly hoping that a fairy would suddenly fly by (I always liked Tinkerbell!). 

The Poulnabrone Dolmen

After briefly returning to my childhood for a bit, I was transported back to my 20 year old History nerd self when we next visited the Poulnabrone Dolmen.  This is The Burren’s most iconic landmark and it was constructed by Neolithic famers about 6,000 years ago; it is older than the Egyptian Pyramids!  It is a burial site, within which uncremated remains of about 30 people were found.  Apparently this was originally on a farmer’s land and he and his family would hold parties and dances around the stone structure, with people even dancing on top of it!  The structure was beginning to lean and slide, when the government of Ireland finally stepped in and took over the care of the historic landmark, posting a security guard at the site and ensuring its safety.

One of the Celtic Crosses at
Kilfenora Cathedral

Our last stop before the Cliffs of Moher was the Kilfenora Cathedral.  This Cathedral is known as “The City of Crosses” because of its abundance of Celtic Crosses.  It is a 6th century monastery and within it there is a bishop effigy that we saw.  This was a short stop, and most of us were hungry for lunch, so we didn’t spend too much time here.

A Rainbow I saw while on the Bus

Lunch.  Definitely always one of the most important parts of the day.  Like I already said, the credit card machine wasn’t working at the pub, so Desmond paid for my lunch (I immediately borrowed money from a friend and paid him back of course, but it was definitely a sweet gesture!).  Desmond always brings his tour to his particular pub because the food is less expensive than the food sold at the Cliffs of Moher (which is definitely true after looking at the menus there).  I ordered the Beef and Guinness Stew that came with brown bread.  Omigosh.  This was truly one of the heartiest, stick to your ribs meals I’ve ever had.  It instantly warmed me up and made me want to get up and go do things!  Now I know at least in my family that not everyone enjoys stews, but I’m making a point of saying, that if you ever come to Ireland, not only must you eat the obligatory fish and chips, but you also MUST try some Beef and Guinness Stew.

The Cliffs of Moher

Drum Roll Please!  After a hearty lunch, we were finally taken to the famous Cliffs of Moher.  And my oh my was it pretty!!!  You have all probably seen my video and read my commentary on the gorgeous views, but it is truly not something to be understood until you see it yourself!  Before getting off the bus, Desmond warned us all to be careful as the winds of the cliffs are so strong that they have swept people off before, in fact 14 people died this way in 2010.  So with that in mind we all headed out to the cliffs, and boy he wasn’t kidding!  The wind was so fierce that if I leaned into it, I almost felt like I was flying!  But with the stunning sunset over the cliffs and ocean, the vivid greenery surrounding the scene, and the feel of ocean spray as it hit the rock, this was one of the most relaxing and retrospective moments I’ve ever had.  I’ve never been particularly in touch with nature, in fact I shudder at people who are too what I consider “crunchy granola.”  What can I say?  I like driving my car, I forget to recycle, and I have no idea what my carbon footprint is.  But at this moment, I felt so at peace, that I understood what my dad’s always saying about going camping and getting out into the wilderness.  It was one of those lifecycle moments, when you feel a part of something larger than yourself.  No, this was not a religious “coming to God” moment, it was more that I felt my size.  I felt the sheer magnitude and strength of the scene around me, and how very small I was in comparison, and rather than that making me feel insignificant, it made me feel at peace and in control.  Anything that I choose to do is just one small decision in a large world, and there’s something so comforting in that thought.

This trip was wonderful, and while this is a long post, it doesn’t even kind of go into enough depth. All I can say is if you ever get to Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher are an absolute must-see!

Cliffs of Moher Video Tour

As I walked around the famous Cliffs of Moher with my friends, I wanted to share the beauty with all of my friends and family at home in the states.  So, I decided to create my very own little video tour for all of you!  I thought I’d post it before I posted the story of my long day trip around the Western Coast of Ireland, so that all of you could see the wondrous views as soon as possible. 

Now, before watching…
1.    Pardon the poor narration, but the howling wind kind of overtook my voice.
2.    Sorry about the shaking video, but again that wind was STRONG! There’s a reason that the bus driver kept telling us all to “Mind the edge” and that 14 people died by being blown off of the cliffs in 2010!
3.    Please recognize how lucky we were to have such a beautiful and sunny day- it rained Friday and Saturday, but cleared up just in time for our tour on Sunday morning!

Anyways, enjoy the views.  I know I did!

Taking Care of Business

I’m officially a student at NUI Galway!  That’s right, I’ve had my first week of classes (and by week I mean my first 3 days).  It turns out that I don’t start a couple of my tutorials (otherwise known to US students as discussion sections) until second or even third week!  So, this week not only do I not have classes on Friday (which I of course scheduled on purpose) but also I don’t have class on Thursday!  So I think I’ll just let you know day by day what I’ve been doing.

Monday

At 8:40am I took the shuttle to campus.  It leaves right from our complex and is free if you live here YAY!  Definitely nicer than walking to campus, which in the dark and rain isn’t necessarily a cheery walk.  At 9 o’clock I met with Professor Steven Ellis, the Head of the History Department at NUI Galway, and a Tudor Specialist (can you say my favorite professor, ever?!).  I’m taking two classes with Professor Ellis: The Mid-Tudor Crisis, and The Tudor Conquest of Ireland.  I had to email Professor Ellis before being allowed to register for the seminar class The Mid-Tudor Crisis, because there were only 3 spots open in the class, and I had to ensure that I had a spot.  So I went to meet with him to get my spot finalized and in writing.  Thank goodness I got in!!

So then, I had a few hours to kill.  I don’t have classes on Monday until 1pm, and I only have two hour-long classes.  I sat in the student café area in the Arts & Sciences Concourse (one of the main buildings where most of my classes are) with two girls that I met from USC: Sally and Meg.  After they had to rush off to class, I decided to perform one of the more embarrassing newbie maneuvers...I looked for every single one of my classes.  I pulled out my chunky red orientation folder (which is a dead giveaway for all the new international visiting students by the way) and wandered around the campus (in the rain) figuring out where all my classes would be.  I’ve done this since 6th grade when I made my dad go with me the day before big bad middle school started and I was petrified to get lost on the first day.  So, my dad took me around the school showing me my exact route the next day. 

Although I got lost a few times, I ended up running into a few more chunky red folders wandering aimlessly, and I made some new friends ☺ (isn’t it great when mutual fear of the unknown silently bonds you together?).  Anyways, I went to lunch with Haley and Caitrin (yes, my name but with a “r”) and the College Bar where we discovered that we’d be in a couple different classes together.  Then, at 12:40 I wandered slowly and confidently to my first class- HI208: The Two Irelands in the Twentieth Century.

The Two Irelands in the Twentieth Century: It’s an hour-long lecture class that I have twice a week.  Except, since classes end on the hour while simultaneously beginning on the hour, class never begins before 1:10 (this is the same in all Irish classes).  We began the first week with straightforward history lectures; I found it incredibly interesting already!  We are going to be studying a bit of the historical background behind the Republic and Northern Ireland, before truly delving into the modern day specifics of the two different countries. 

After HI208, I knew right where to go. A long hallway and then a clear bridge connect Concourse and the IT building over the street. So, I booked it straight there for my second and final class of the day!

HI358.E The Tudor Conquest of Ireland: Can you say perfect?  I mean really, when I read this course title my mind was blown just a little bit!  For those of you who don’t know that I’m completely and utterly obsessed with the Tudors, well I am!  Dr. Ellis, the head of the History Department, teaches this class and I’m already in love with this course.  We are studying the implications of the Tudor Dynasty specifically on Ireland as a part of the empire; it will definitely be a distinctly Irish perspective on a part of history that I’ve studied exclusively from the British point of view (while the facts may be the same, I’m thinking the interpretation may be a touch different…). 

After that, I wandered around for a bit before taking the shuttle bus back to my apartment complex.  Not having homework made the first evening pretty relaxed.  We even received word that Monday and Wednesday are the big party nights in Galway because the Irish students always go home on the weekends, so we decided to venture out into City Centre for the evening.  We met a bunch of people at the pubs and attempted to navigate the streets and more popular pubs…kind of a disaster if only because every square inch of space was taken up with HUNDREDS of students.  Oi Vey!  Yeah… I’m not thinking Mondays are going to be my thing…

Tuesday

So Tuesday I also only have two classes! Yes, I’m actually going to classes, and yes I am going to do actual work (I feel like I already need to explain myself for what seems to be a lackadaisical schedule...remember people, I wrote 26 papers last semester!).  Bummer about Tuesdays though…9am class.  Awesome thing about Tuesdays…it’s my Service Learning class!!!!!!

Yes, that’s right!  I got into EN150 Service Learning.  This week we only had a bit of orientation; we met our professor (his name is Dermott- my roommate Caitlin has decided that this should be the name of her firstborn child), and introduced ourselves to everyone.  The class is all visiting American students, so it was pretty comforting to walk in the first day and hear a roomful of American accents for a couple of hours.  In the next week or two we should be choosing our homework clubs that we are going to go help with in Galway.  I’m so excited to get started and meet the actual Irish kids! 

This class is actually 2 hours long, but I didn’t have class again until 5pm, so I headed home for a quick catnap.  After taking the shuttle back to class I got to go to my favorite class I have EVER taken.  EVER.  From 5-6pm on Tuesdays I am in HI429 Mid-Tudor Crisis.  The class explores the uncertain time period in England’s history after King Henry VIII’s death when his three children quickly ascended the throne in succession.  I’m already reading King Edward VI’s 1550 diary (when he had first become king and was about 12 years old).  This is my calling in school.  I love it.  In this class, on the first day our professor explained that we were expected to give a 5-minute presentation in the class and he was going to assign us for each week.  He asked for a volunteer for the following Tuesday; no one volunteered.  We sat there in silence for a good 3-4 minutes until out of sheer need for the awkward moment to pass I volunteered.  So, I’m already preparing for a pretty major assignment. Ah well!

Wednesday

Wednesday is my ungodly long day; I have four classes.  I begin the day in a tutorial section (the Irish equivalent of a discussion section, basically a smaller break-down of a larger lecture class) for my Mid-Tudor Crisis history class at 10am.  After that, I go to IR120 Imagining Modern Ireland (an Irish studies class).  However, this class did not meet this week, because it starts on the 19th.  So, wait for an update on this!  Then immediately following my two-hour long lecture in Irish studies I go to The Tudor Conquest of Ireland, and after an hour break finish my day in The Two Irelands in the Twentieth Century at 4pm. 

On Wednesday I signed up for societies (to Americans, these would be our clubs and organizations).  I joined the International Student Society, a group that organizes fun trips around Ireland for International students; last semester they went to Belfast!  I also signed up for Choral Society, which will be on Tuesday evenings from 6-8pm in the Chapel on campus.  One of the things I truly miss about high school is being able to sing. When I sing I am able to forget everything and just enjoy being me.  So, I decided to reconnect with that part of me again.  Finally, I signed up for SIN (no I’m not becoming a devil worshipper or something like that).  SIN used to stand for the Student Information Network, and then it became the Student Information News.  Now it is a meaningless acronym that is the free student newspaper on campus.  I write for the yearbook at USC, and wrote for the newspaper all through high school, so this was just a natural thing for me to do.

Thursday

So this Thursday I didn’t have any classes!  But, it won’t last.  Usually I’ll have a tutorial for my Service Learning Class at 9 or 10am, but it didn’t start this week.  So, I only went on a campus for a brief time to go and sign up for clubs (the American equivalent of club or intramural sports); I signed up to do volleyball on Thursday evenings!  We’ll see how it works out, but I wanted to give myself a fun way to stay in shape and another opportunity to meet people.

Friday

Well, obviously, I have scheduled my classes so that I don’t have any on Fridays (you know for traveling, and just my overall sanity). 

So, that is the end of my first week as a third-year university student in Ireland.  Keep checking in for a description of my weekend trip to the Cliffs of Moher!

Dia dhuit, Galway!

Walking the Streets of Galway

My first couple of days in Ireland have been incredibly interesting, eye opening, and fun!  The morning after my arrival into Galway, I woke up before the wake-up call I had ordered.  So, at 8:30am I started getting ready to head to my new apartment.  I was pretty nervous and needed some background noise to distract myself, so I turned on the TV.  Almost immediately I was sucked into a program called “Famous and Fearless”.  It’s a British television show that features lower level “celebrities” doing dangerous stunts like motor-powered skateboarding races, and skydiving.  Richard Branson’s son was on it…even an ocean away from home I can still find me some awesome reality TV ;).

Anyways, after quickly getting ready I got a taxi from the hotel and we drove across the Quincentennial Bridge by the National University of Ireland, Galway (where I’ll be going to school this semester).  We arrived quickly to my apartment complex where I checked in at Reception and received my keys to apartment 13.  I hurried over, and carried my 2 extraordinarily heavy bags one-by-one up the steep stairs to the door.  When I reached the door I saw that the bedrooms were up a further staircase, which I then climbed.  But, when I reached the top, my bedroom was occupied.  There were things on both beds, and suitcases open in the other room.  No one was around so I left my bags there and then proceeded to Reception to explain the problem.  They were just as confused as me, because I was definitely supposed to have a bed in that room, but they quickly moved things around and suddenly I was in apartment 9.  After I climbed 3 levels of stairs to apartment 9, I struggled opening the door.  Man did it feel like I was unwanted in Ireland!  After 21 hours of travel, someone had taken my bed AND I couldn’t get my new door open!  Not going to lie, I definitely had a moment where I thought I was going to cry and I had to deep breathe.  I probably would’ve called my parents except it was 10am my time, and only 2am there’s (they both should be happy with the time difference, otherwise they might have heard an earful of a combination of stress and fear that morning!).

Finally, I rang the doorbell, hoping that someone might’ve already checked in.  A really friendly looking girl opened the door, and I immediately relaxed.  I introduced myself as Caitlin, and a flicker of surprise passed over her face, “My name’s Caitlin too!”  I quickly found out that Caitlin is a student at Emory University, but her family is from Florida.  She gave me a quick tour of the apartment, and boy did I luck out!  Thank god someone had taken my room, because I’m clearly in one of the largest apartments…and the best part?  Totally the castle room that I’m in, a winding staircase leads up to my room on the 2nd floor, and I’m totally and completely in love with it.  Well, I didn’t stay chatting for too long, because I needed to go get my bags back from apartment 9.  So after dropping off my backpack in my new room, I hurried back down to Reception to get the key from apartment 9 in order to get back in to get my bags (are you getting the idea that this wasn’t necessarily an ideal move-in? Good.  If you’re not…picture a LOT of sweat).  As I let myself back into apartment 9 to get my things, I noticed that my bed was no longer taken.  A girl had clearly gotten out of the shower and ripped her things off of the bed.  I was greeted by a girl apologizing saying she accidentally took the wrong bed, but just was too lazy to change it.  I said it was ok, because I was changing rooms.  Her response?  “Oh ok cool.”  And with that statement she threw her things back on the bed and went into the bathroom.  Yeah…sounds like a winner, huh?  Let’s just say I got out as soon as I could.

After lugging my bags up the stairs (4 flights including my bedroom stairs), I hurriedly made my bed.  I came down and Caitlin was saying that she was planning on going into town, and would I like to come?  Um, duh!  I’d basically been alone for the last evening, was bored, and totally overwhelmed by the thought of being alone, unpacking in a room.  So we walked the half an hour walk into the city center of Galway.  On the walk over I learned some interesting things about Caitlin.  Like me, Caitlin is the oldest of three kids.  Like me, she has a younger brother, and a younger sister.  But even stranger…her name is Caitlin Rael, mine is Caitlin Rae.  Yeah….that’s right….she has my exact first and middle name, with the addition of an “L” at the end.  How crazy is that?  Basically we were fated to be roommates. 

Once we got into city center the first stop was getting me an Irish phone.  Caitlin had already bought the cheapest phone at the Post Office of all places!  So I decided to do the same.  I ended up only spending €20, an unheard of amount (even if it is for a janky middle-schooler phone)!  The next purchase was a new pair of flat-soled black leather boots for only €30 (by the way, for those of you that don’t know the difference in currencies…A dollar is about 1.3 of a euro).  I felt more European already!  Boy is Irish/European fashion different from home though!  Jeans, t-shirt, and flip-flops?  Not so appropriate here.  Girls were wearing leather boots with leggings, mod-looking shirts, with cute coats and scarves.  Caitlin and I decided we need to up our game a bit, so we have kept looking around for more European clothing choices (as of now I’ve only bought the boots and a tank-top.  Caitlin’s fared a bit better with some more tops etc..)

After our day out shopping, we wandered around the university a bit, attempting to make ourselves feel more comfortable before Orientation the next day.  No such luck.  First of all, we couldn’t find a campus map anywhere!  Second of all, all of the signs were in Gaelic first, so it was pretty difficult to understand where anything was.  After a while we gave up because of the cold, and headed home.  After getting home I spent some time unpacking, and watching TV until our other roommate showed up.  Her name is Maria, and she’s from Malta (for those of you who don’t know, that’s a small island nation off the coast of Italy).  Maria’s mom traveled with her to Galway to get her settled, so we didn’t see her much the first couple of days except for Orientation.  Anyways, after a long day I pretty much collapsed into bed (plus we had to get up at 8am in the morning to walk to school for Orientation).

Thursday and Friday were Orientation days for International/Visiting Students.  The first day was filled with lectures welcoming us to Galway, and the different opportunities we would have at the university.  Here we learned how to say ‘hello’ in Irish, “Dia dhuit” from a particularly enthusiastic language instructor, and were informed that the Irish invented punctuation (true story.  It seems that when writings were being translated from Latin into Gaelic, the Irish people decided that there needed to be a way to show a reader that a thought had finished—native speakers of Latin and Italian had seen no need as they spoke the language and clearly knew when the thought should end).  We were ambushed by information, speech after speech actually stressed me out more than before I had arrived.  The one golden light was that I learned about an English course offered to American students that is a “service-learning” class.  The students work in a small classroom environment twice a week learning about literacy acquisition, and then once a week work with Galway children in homework clubs throughout the city, helping them learn how to read.  I immediately knew I HAD to take this class.  The problem is that only 30 students are admitted, and you have to submit an application.  The choice of students is on a first-come, first-serve basis (cross your fingers for me!).  We also learned about the importance of registering with the government, otherwise we risk deportation.  The day ended with us learning about the “societies” offered at NUIG (essentially what American students would consider clubs), and then “clubs” (what we would consider club SPORTS). 

Friday centered more around academics.  We learned about NUIG’s registration process, and boy is it different!  Talk about a bit of a culture shock.  At first I definitely complained about missing USC’s streamlined computer program process, but I do see the merits to this different way.  There are 4 things to understand about this registration process. 

1.    You don’t register until 2 weeks into the term.
This means that you do not technically have to go to classes your first 2 weeks, or you can go to as many as you want, to pick what you really like.

2.    The entire process is done through paper.
No snappy build your schedule ahead of time, and then press click!  You have to fill out a sheet of paper and wait in line to register.

3.    The timetables don’t come out until right before classes start.
Timetables are the actual schedule of classes.  So I had USC approve 2 classes that were at the same time, thus I had to move everything around. 

4.    Seminar classes are very few and far between.
Seminar classes are those with about 30 students or less in them.  At NUIG most classes are lectures, which do not have a cap on them.  You could have as many as 500 people in a lecture hall for one class!  So, in most majors you are only allowed to take one seminar class a semester, in order to save room for everyone. In the English department, seminars are in such demand that you actually have to line up one morning to get your choice (last year apparently people started lining up at 2am for a 9am seminar approval). In the History department you only need to email the professor in question in order to gain approval to add the class, and then show this approval to the secretary of the department.  You also have to have departments write a letter agreeing to allow you into a seminar, in order to register.

After figuring out what classes I wanted to take and looking around campus, I was pretty exhausted.  Every night my roommates and I had ended up talking for a bit, watching some TV and going to sleep.  Friday night was just the same (woohoo we are some crazy partiers, huh?).  Our plan was to sleep in and then really do something fun on Saturday.  Unfortunately Caitlin and I were so tired that we majorly slept in (Maria went on a daytrip with her mom to the Cliffs of Moher).  So we basically ended up wandering Shop Street (in city center) again and going shopping.  After that we came home to eat dinner and relax.  Then the USC students that are here decided to have a meet and greet a local pub called Taaffes.  There are about 14 USC students here, and I didn’t know ANY of them!  I’d been feeling a bit isolated and lonely so we decided what they heck, and Caitlin and I headed down there.  The group then decided to head to another pub after hanging out for a while, so we all went to the King’s Head Pub, which was a bit more crowded with live music (an Irish band played every 90s song you could imagine!).  Now, what we gained from that evening was a clear insight into Irish nightlife.  3 important lessons learned:

1.    Don’t buy drinks at the pubs!
A beer cost €6!  A cocktail €7.50!  Oi, with those prices, we’ll go broke! 

2.    Irish girls dress up to go to pubs.
Ok, so a pub.. you figure you’d wear blue jeans and a nice going out shirt, maybe some nice boots or heels?  Wrong.  The Irish girls were dressed to the nines!  We’re talking NICE semi-formal dresses, expensive heels, lots of makeup, and intricate hairdo’s!  We Americans looked ridiculous standing next to them!  Not the boys mind you, they wore plaid shirts and jeans…hmm….a bit unfair?  I’m sorry if I have to dress up, the boys better too!  I think I’ll just stick to my jeans!

3.    Guys have some strange pick-up lines.
I guess this is true no matter what country, haha.  Yeah…one girl had someone keep coming up to her to ask the time, and another guy complimented my hat.   

Anyways, after hanging out, meeting some fun people, we decided to call it a night at about 12:45am (or 00:45).  That brings us to today, Sunday.  This morning Caitlin and I met up with a couple of people we had met last night and got lunch.  I had a delicious fish & chips, while she got the quesadilla (an interesting choice that I think she regretted…not the place to order Mexican..).  After that we decided to check out the “walking tour” scheduled for visiting students at school.  The tour was supposed to lead us around Galway…key word?  SUPPOSED.  Yeah, it ended up being an hour and a half lecture about the history of Galway City, in a lecture hall.  Now I love me some history lectures, but I did not sign up for a class on Galway City…on a Sunday…when I was told we’d go walking…fail.  The rest of the day I spent cleaning my room, until my roommates and I went to a GREAT Italian restaurant for some roomie bonding for dinner tonight. 

All in all, so far it’s been a great week.  Tomorrow’s the big day, though!  Classes begin and I’m a bit nervous…send me some positive thoughts ☺.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round: The Travel Saga Part III

From the bus- Pretty lights in Dublin!

Ok, so here it is folks… the last part of my journey to Galway!

Once the plane arrived in Dublin, things began to run smoothly…FINALLY.  Actually this was the most pain free leg of the journey.  After getting off the plane, Marie and I walked to Immigration where I had to state my reason for entering Ireland and then prove that the university had ACTUALLY asked me to come.  So I presented to the Immigration officer my passport and letter of invitation from NUIG, and he gave me his “stamp of approval” (Haha..I’m proud of that pun). 

After getting through Immigration I waited a total of 7 minutes for both of my bags to come out from the baggage claim and I hurried through the doors into the cold Irish night air.  I got a tad bit confused when attempting to find the bus that would take me from Dublin airport to Galway, so I nervously went back into the baggage claim area and found an information desk to ask for help (Man I hate doing that!  Especially here. I’ve never been so conscious of my American voice…I sound like such a tourist!).  The woman behind the desk was very sweet and she directed me to where I should go for the Coach Park (the “Bus Parking Lot”…the Irish make everything sound cooler by the way.. I mean a Coach Park sounds way cooler than a Parking Lot, and a shopping cart is called a trolley here!)  Once I found the Coach Park my bus was sitting right there with a big sign so I hopped on and paid my €15.  I sat down in a seat on the bus, and a few more passengers loaded on after me.  The bus seemed pretty empty when we left the airport and headed into Dublin City. 

The lights as we drove past in Dublin were incredible!  The city was a gorgeous mix of old stonework and modern architecture.  A plain and seemingly simple stone footbridge would be only paces away from a modern suspension bridge with what looked to be a glass bottom!  We made one stop in Dublin where the rest of the passengers got on, and boy did the bus fill up!  It suddenly got very noisy for 20 minutes, as people answered their “mobiles” and chatted with one another.  The woman in front of me was particularly busy on her mobile, calling at least 5 different people to arrange to meet them at the pub to get a “good hot one” because she had a cold.  Yup, she wanted to get a hot whiskey to cure her cold…never heard of that as a cure of the common cold!

After the chattering calmed down, I conked out!  The bus ride from Dublin airport to Galway city center is about 3 hours, so everyone pretty much passed out.  When I woke up we were about half an hour from Galway.  Of course it was pitch black while I was on the bus, so I couldn’t see any of the supposedly beautiful surrounding countryside.  Although I did see a few very cute lit manger scenes in front of what seemed to be lonely little farm houses.  Suddenly it was pouring outside, and I do not mean the kind of “pouring” that USC students freak out about.  I mean POURING!  The bus was shaking with the extreme power of the whistling wind encircling the bus.  It was almost impossible to see in front of the bus, and the bus driver was forced to slow down.  At that point I was thinking oh great… I’m going to have to find my way to my hotel in the rain, but it ended up being just fine.  Right as we pulled into Galway City Center the rain stopped!  As we collected our bags from the bottom of the bus, I began to steady myself for the next part of the journey, finding my hotel (I was supposed to check-in to my apartment complex that day, but because of the many delays I would’ve had to wait for the security guard to let me in and I wouldn’t have had my keys, so I opted to stay in a hotel for my first night in Galway).  However, just as I found a taxi and told him that I wanted to go to the Park House Hotel, I looked up, and BAM!  The Park House Hotel’s backdoor literally faced the bus station that I was at!  One point for Cait!  So, I took my bags out of the cab and trudged across the street into my hotel.

If any of you are thinking about visiting Galway (which obviously you all should be…I mean come visit me!), the Park House Hotel is beautiful.  It was one of the more affordable choices in the city, and the staff was incredibly friendly.  I felt really bad for the one porter on duty the night that I checked in, because he had to keep coming to my room.  He brought my bags up, came up and fixed my phone, brought me a dinner menu, brought my dinner when it was ready, and picked up the dishes when I was done.  Anyways, when I reached my hotel room I was too jazzed to go to sleep!  I mean c’mon!  I’d been traveling for basically 21 hours at that point, and I did not want to go to sleep!  So I put on my jacket and went out to explore Galway.  Now it was 9pm at that point, and I’m not an idiot, so I know not to walk out alone at night as a young woman (I DO go to school in South Central LA).  So I didn’t go too far from my hotel, just around a couple of streets and into a cute little park.  Then I went back to my room and ordered room service for dinner, enjoying “fresh Galway salmon” for dinner, and spoke to my dad on the phone before arranging for an early morning wake up call at 9am and heading off to bed.

Now, this leaves me in Galway.  I’ll let you know about my first couple of days in the city soon!

I AMS sick of delays!: The Travel Saga Part II

After the debacle that was my flight to Amsterdam (AMS airport) I was SO nervous that I wasn’t going to have a flight to Dublin, since I’d missed my connection.  Once we landed I jumped up from my seat and rushed like a lunatic out of the plane.  Once out there, I met up with the other girl from my flight that was trying to get to Dublin. Her name was Marie and she is a student at Trinity College.  We both power-walked like pros through the long AMS terminal to the Transfer Desk where a very helpful KLM employee booked us on new flights (I was super impressed with the speed and efficiency until I found out from my Mom that my parents had stayed up late the night before after my delay to ensure that I got on the next flight).

So, now I had a seat on the 3:10 flight from AMS to Dublin.  Alright… I have to rant a bit about the set up of the Dutch airport.  Marie and I walked from the Transfer desk to gate D6, where we planned to sit and wait for our Aer Lingus flight.  Except we couldn’t sit and wait….why?  Because there weren’t seats!  Ok, that’s not quite true, there were seats but they were in a closed off area behind a security checkpoint.  That’s right, apparently the Dutch don’t make their passengers go through security before heading to their gates.  The x-ray machines are actually at each individual gate.  So, we had to settle down and sit on the cold tile floor outside of the gate for an hour before being able to go in for board…or so we thought…but because Ireland doesn’t seem to want me to come, that flight was delayed too!  The flight to Dublin was supposed to only be delayed for an hour, but it turned out to be about an hour and a half before we actually went through security and sat for 2 minutes before they began boarding.  But boarding wasn’t easy either!  They checked our passports before taking our tickets, and then they filled up another waiting room until all passengers were ticketed.  Once EVERYONE was ticketed they FINALLY opened the doors to the plane, and ushered us in.  It took forever to load then because everyone was going at the same time…at that point I would’ve turned back except the flight to Dublin was shorter than the flight back to SFO ;)

At least during the whole AMS shenanigans I had someone to talk to!  Marie ended up being a real joy to talk to, she’s American and her family lives in Napa but when she was in a high school her parents moved to Ireland and she never wanted to leave, so when they moved back to the States she decided she had to return for university.  When we met she sounded just like any American teenager/college student, but as soon as we sat down in AMS waiting for our Aer Lingus flight, something changed.  It was incredible!  As soon as Irish people speaking surrounded Marie, her voice suddenly changed!  She suddenly had this lilt that previously wasn’t there.  It was actually incredible to listen to!  Another thing changed while we sat there, she spoke a lot about how Ireland was so much better than the US.  All right, I want this trip to be amazing, and I want to learn as much as I can about Ireland and the Irish people, but suddenly it was like everything American was horrible. Our voice is too harsh sounding, people are rude, etc.. etc…  Ok, I agree that our voice isn’t as pretty sounding, and that some people can be rude.  But c’mon, we’re not THAT bad.  They don’t say Party in the USA for nothing ;) and even God Blesses America!

Anyways, all the waiting aside, the trip to Dublin was pain-free.  The flight was only an hour and 20 minutes, and I slept the ENTIRE time.  As soon as the engine started, I was out cold.  I had an aisle seat and the middle seat was free, so I stretched out a bit and dreamed of shamrocks and leprechauns (not really but I thought it sounded good).  And when I woke up we were pulling into our gate.  Why hello, Ireland.  Nice to see you…it took long enough!

The Grand Galway Tour

Before I go on about getting to Galway, I wanted to show you all how happy I am to finally be here!  I've moved in today and I am in LOVE with my apartment.  I finally have a CASTLE room!  My apartment is 2 stories and I'm in the upstairs room, the stairs going up to my room are windy castle stairs! So after going to the shops of Galway and purchasing a cell phone and some boots, I thought I'd show you all my beautiful apartment! So, this is the grand tour!

The Left Engine that Couldn’t: The Travel Saga Part I

My first legal drink--at 20!

January 3rd was an absolutely beautiful day in the Bay Area, better than we’d had probably the entire time I was home this break.  The sky was bright blue with puffy white clouds.  It was the perfect goodbye to home for six months.

The day was rarely interrupted with tears (shockingly I only cried four times…I think?).  Surprisingly when I dropped my sister off at school in the morning, I didn’t even get mildly teary.  Usually Máire is the hardest person to say goodbye to; she was only 4 when I went away to college (she is still my “tiny” as we call her)!  Anyways, as we walked up to her first grade classroom, her best friends ran up, and off she went!  They were in the classroom pulling up the blinds, taking down the chairs, and then suddenly they were on the playground then back again.  So when it was finally time for school to start, I gave her one giant twirly hug and kiss and we parted in laughter.  As I walked out of the classroom I heard her turn to her friends and explain that I “had to go away to college in Ireland” and that’s why I was embarrassing her (imagine the sass in that small body… I have no idea where she gets it from ;) ).  Saying goodbye to Patrick was definitely harder.  Every time I see my baby brother he’s so much bigger and stronger and just plain more mature!  Not seeing him for a couple months, I’m hoping that when I come back he’s not like the hulk or something!  We dropped him off at his basketball practice early, which I hope he didn’t resent TOO much…I mean who wants to sit around their high school on their day off? Not me!  The worst tears though were at the airport.  My mom and I drove up to Burlingame to have lunch with my daddy and then we all drove up to SFO.  They got me checked in and safely to the security checkpoint, but apparently (and I think this is highly stupid by the way) you can’t get passes to the gate unless you register as an unaccompanied minor…now do I look like a minor to you?  Do I want to be walked to my gate in Amsterdam?  I am 20 years old, no thank you!  So at that point I gave my parents the biggest hugs I could manage and then walked into the line.  They stayed there until I got all the way through the gate—every time I looked back I saw them, and every time I teared up (if one of my friends were here they would laugh, because I’m tearing up as I write this). 

Now don’t get me wrong, I signed up for this.  I WANT to do this in fact, I would argue that I NEED to do this.  But…saying goodbye to my safe and reassuring Mommy and Daddy as I travel alone almost 6000 miles away from home just isn’t easy.  It just isn’t.  Anyways, security was a breeze, and I moseyed up to my gate just as boarding began.  Perfect, right?  Of course not, because this is me.  And oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I HATE flying.  HATE it.  Petrified of heights, and don’t like being thousands of feet in the air, just not my thing.  So you know, because KLM airlines sensed just how to nervous and emotional I would already be, there was an engine problem.  The left engine to be exact.  I sat at the gate, with the door open for 2 hours.  Ok, ok.. I don’t want to seem too whiny, I mean the cabin crew was very nice and poor guys I think they were getting it from some passengers but still….my layover in Amsterdam?  Well, it was the perfect length just 1 hour and 45 minutes; not too long, not too short, plenty of time to get to the gate.  False.  A girl right across the aisle heard me saying that and apparently she was going to Dublin too.  You know the Freshman Feeling?  That feeling you get when you don’t know anything, are embarrassed, and totally not in your element.  Yeah, that’s how I felt when she looked and responded to my assurance that I’m sure they’d find us another flight, “Yeah I know, I go to school there.  It’s not a problem to get a new flight…they go about every 2 hours.”  Oops…my bad!

As I sat in 9E for two hours, and the airline staff attempted to fix the engine trouble, the flight crew brought around some free snacks.  Quickest way to a dog, man, and Finnigan’s heart?  Food.  Oh yeah, they got me.  I settled right down.  It wasn’t high class, but Lays Potato Chips, Oreos, and Milano cookies?  Perfect for a girl who’s a little scared and not feeling like a grownup.  Funny story, The Dutch flight crew didn’t know what a Milano cookie was!  As they passed them down, one of the male flight attendants was explaining the choices and looked at it and said…I don’t really know what kind of cookie this is.  So I explained to him the beauty of the Milano cookie (don’t worry I didn’t go too in depth and act like some crazed fat kid), but it was nice, because he smiled and asked me, “So if I say ‘Milano cookie’ people will know what I mean?”  A half hour after snack time the engines started up and we FINALLY pulled away from the gate.  Oh yeah, and when the engines revved…of course, I was out like a light. 

I woke up just in time for dinner.  Ew plane food, right?  Wrong!  Omigosh the food on this flight was DELICIOUS.  I ate a chicken and sesame noodle dish with snap peas, a yummy roll, and a piece of carrot cake (sorry Mom…the salad was questionable…).  You know who made that?  A UK celebrity chef…their version of a Food Network chef.  His name is Daniel Green, and apparently across the pond (or I guess on my side of the pond now) he’s a big deal.  Um excuse me Emeril Lagase?  Bobby Flay?  Mario Batale?  Rachel Ray?  What are you doing in your big 5 star restaurants?  Clearly you should take a cue from Mr. Daniel Green and you should be servicing the US airlines.  Think of it not as making unmemorable airplane food, but instead as your opportunity to make a weary traveler’s day that much better (did I mention that Daniel Green had a whole print out come with his food… talk about your free advertisement!).  Honestly guys, we don’t know what we’re missing in the States when it comes to airplane food… can we impose a draft on chefs?

Before I got on the plane someone explained to me that because KLM is a Dutch airline that when I step onboard it’s like being on foreign soil.  So, their laws apply.  Which law in particular am I thinking about?  Well I know all of my college-age friends have got it…that’s right, the drinking age is 18 in Holland.  Ok, so I thought about it.  I could legally order a drink.  It almost seemed like my moral imperative to legally order a drink…I know my USC friends would be telling me to do so!  But, I just couldn’t do it.  It seemed wrong, so I asked for a Diet Coke with dinner.  Then as I ate my dinner, I started to look around, two seats over from me sat a guy, clearly younger than me sipping a Heineken.  Dang it, if he can, I can…I HAVE to!  So after dinner I ordered my first legal drink, nothing crazy just a glass of Chardonnay…and technically guys, I was still over the United States ☺!  After what I’ve decided to consider my first liberating adventure abroad, I settled down to watch a rom-com (“Life As We Know It” with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, about the two people who go on a blind date and hate each other and then their best friends die and leave them their one-year-old daughter Sophie).  Yes I cried…stop laughing ;). 

Oh, and best part of this first flight?  Um the free chocolate ice cream served at midnight!