Yes We Did.

"Right now, organizers, full-time volunteers, campaign staff, and everyone else who gave single-minded effort toward November 4 are waking up and saying to themselves and each other, "what do I do with myself?" Their cars are messes, their rooms disaster zones, and they've been cut off from friends and family for God knows how long.
This was by far the longest and biggest election season in US history, and there is so much left to process. The elation that Democrats feel is mixed with the hangover of carrying so much emotional electricity in the body for so long. Its discharge is necessarily going to leave an exhaustion behind.
We feel it too. There will be moments in the coming days, randomly standing in line at the grocery store, driving down the street in contemplation, the sight of a door you knocked, catching a certain song, a glimpse of Chuck Todd, hearing someone tell a story... where these emotions will just come bursting through, the enormity of it all. Just think of how much effort went into this. How much sacrifice. How many things had to go right. How many people had to want it so badly, and how the masterpiece of a campaign structure that David Plouffe and cohorts engineered allowed all that effort to be channeled into the right places to maximize efficiency."
-Sean Quinn (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/)

For the rest of my life I will never forget watching Barack's acceptance speech, where I was or who I was with at the time. The enormity of the thing hit me all at once and I just started crying. I wasn't the only one either. Months of hard work, little sleep, and even less free time all came down to one amazing moment for me. And it was all worth it. All of the sleepless nights, early mornings, moments when I just felt like it was all so pointless, all of the "normal college stuff" I missed because there was work to be done, it was all worth it on November 4th watching our next president address the nation from Grant Park.

At the moment I'm catching up on homework...still processing...and still constantly asking myself "what now?". My car is a mess. My room is worse. And about half of my closet seems to have migrated to the back seat of my car. Finals soon...and then Christmas break. Anyone remember what I was doing a year ago? I'd just been officially accepted at UCC for spring semester. Weird right? I was getting ready to get on a plane for Ireland on New Years Day. What a difference a year makes.

p.s. The speech at Grant Park :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU

You didn't think I'd forgotten about the blog did you??

Hello everyone!
I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've done any kind of update on this, but it was a crazy summer between navigating the flood waters and navigating new responsibilities at sports camps.
I guess I can now say Ireland is fully done and dusted, even if I'm still in denial about it (my UCC student ID is still in my wallet, never know! I might need it for something...) My transcript from UCC finally landed stateside and everyone is moving back into Leeside... getting ready to start a new year at UCC :-( Someone say hi to Boole for me... (and The Old Oak, because I know you'll make it there before you ever find your way to Boole).
It is good to be back in Iowa City though, and as always there's more then enough going on here to keep me busy. New school year, new classes, and FIVE new roommates! Crazy right? They're all awesome and our house is a regular six ring circus most days.
I'm down to my last few credits at Iowa...getting ready to Graduate either this summer or winter of 2009. That also means I'm grad school shopping, studying for the LSAT and the GRE, and trying to figure out what the heck I want to do with my life. (Ideas anyone?!) Right now the tentative plan is to head back to Ireland for my masters (yes I love it and miss it that much) and I guess we'll see where I go from there?
Still working at the admissions visitors center - giving campus tours and working in the office. This will be my third fall of high school recruiting craziness, kind of hard to believe. While I was studying abroad I ran for STAR exec board, so I'm learning how to be Public Relations Chair too, yay!
AND...I'm an intern!! Working here in Iowa City to turn Iowa blue by November 4th.
Okay...well that's life right now, crazy as always but I wouldn't have it any other way.


ONE LAST THING!
If you're checking this out because I met you at the study abroad fair today...the application deadline for the Iowa Regents Spring Semester in Cork is October 15, so it's not too late! (take it from someone who turned her application in on October 15th last year) And if there's anything, anything at all you want to know about life in Cork...email me! I'd love to hear from you. alyssa-thomas@uiowa.edu My five months in Cork were some of the best of my life, there's nothing like it, and (in my seriously biased opinion) no better place to study abroad!

So...where are all the pictures?!

I guess most of you know (or at least you know now) that taking pictures is kind of my thing. So here you go! My favorites from the last 5 months! Eventually they'll get photoshopped and cropped and all that good stuff...but this is a start anyway.

Out at Fota, I just like the color in this one.

Aran IslandsRight by my apartment

More Aran Islands

Kylemore Abbey

Cliffs of MoherBeth demonstrating the wind at the top of the cliffs for us
Coral Beach

Aran again


Dublin, Paddy's day parade
Blarney


Gaelic Football
Gaelic Football


Diana Memorial Fountain

Grafton Street (notice the little kid in blue and the street performer on the left!)

Dublin, near St. Patrick's Cathedral, Literary walk
Hyde Park, London
Aran again!

Connemara

River Lee, Cork

Begoa, UCC trad fest '08

River Lee, Cork
Connemara

Spire, Dublin

Blarney

Back at it

One week back and I still try to pull out on the left side of the road. I look the wrong way when I cross the street. I am seriously a danger to the average person driving down the street. I am a serious danger to myself trying to cross the street. I still can’t remember the password to get into my voicemail. I wake up at 3 am every now and then because I think its 9am and time to get up.
I’m back at work already. Hooray Sports Camps. Despite my driving difficulties I’m behind the wheel of a 15 passenger maxi-van with people’s children in the back on a daily basis (parents - I truly am sorry, but cross your fingers that your kid got into someone else’s van). I guess you could say we're having a pretty normal start to the summer. I mean as normal as things ever get in a job that requires me to carry a walkie talkie and two cell phones at all times (Yes two. Don’t ask questions.) The hours are completely insane, and randomly waking up at 3 am isn’t really helping matters. This morning I asked Olympic champion and coach of the national championship Hawkeye wrestling team, Tom Brands, for his last name. Smooth. If anyone sees my brain laying around anywhere in the greater Cedar Rapids/ Iowa City area please return to Iowa Sports Camps, I’d much appreciate it.
For now we’re keeping track of middle school girl’s basketball players. Today’s major crisis was bed bugs (totally serious). Come Sunday mayhem and chaos ensue as high school football camp checks in. I’m armed with two bottles of Febreze air effects and a bottle of laundry detergent, I'm expecting both to be gone by the end of football camp. My boss is referring to it as a 10 ring circus. I think 10 is a rather conservative estimate.
The Head Counselor On-Call cell phone is quickly becoming the bane of my existence. I am convinced that the thing has a censor, it knows when I walk away. Every time I'm more then 10 feet from the phone- it rings. I jumped out of the shower today to answer the stupid thing, soap and water everywhere. And the worst part…half the time, when it rings, I don’t have a freaking clue what to do! Bed bugs were not in the counselor handbook. Being head counselor does not give me magical powers, I don't have a GPS locator on every camper, and I definitely don’t know where you put your keys.

Under construction...

Hey everyone,
The rumors are true, after 5 amazing months I'm back in Cedar Rapids. Thanks so much to everyone who emailed, left me comments here, and sent letters/packages/ all of that fun stuff.
URL for my blog may be changing shortly, and there are SO many more Ireland blogs to post, just haven't gotten there yet! So hang in there with me and I'll get them up as soon as possible.
But for now I'm stateside again, safe and sound and back to work on Tuesday. The adventure is no where near over though, you can bet I'm on my way back to Ireland as soon as possible :-)

Washington Street Primary

I’d like to congratulate Senator Barack Obama on his latest primary win. Last night Obama claimed victory in the Cork, Ireland Washington Street Primay. Obama defeated Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain 11 to 4 to 3. A new candidate named John McLain also received one vote.
Voters fell in the 18-25 age group and most are students at University College Cork. There is some dispute over the validity of the results. The primary was conducted rather informally and just after pub close. Due to the high number of non respondents and slightly or severely intoxicated respondents...and the fact that all of these voters hold Irish citizenship the 0 delegates at stake may not be seated by the Democratic Party later this summer. But the results of the primary are intriguing none the less.
The primary coordinator, Dennis (who may have just forgotten his own name), from County Kerry (if in fact he was capable of remembering what county he hails from) held the primary in front of the Washington Inn and voters were asked to make their selection by shouting the candidates name. Voters cited “a focus on economy” and a “need for change” as their reasons for selecting Senator Obama. Clinton supporters cited such reasons as “Bill rocked!”

Oh, and there aren’t actually people here, just leprechauns

“So how’s Ireland? The Irish, they’re like all- merry and singing and dancing and laughing all the time right?”
Uh. Right. They wear green all the time and dance through the streets with their red hair blowing in the wind wielding a pint of Guinness. And did I mention that everyone pins a fresh shamrock to their lapel daily just for good measure? Oh, and there aren’t actually people here, just leprechauns.
Sorry everyone, but the Irish are not THAT fond of Guinness, people just walk down the street (except after pub close but we won’t get into that). There is not an abundance of red haired people. There is no dress code requiring the wearing of green at all times, and most of the shamrocks are sold in tourist shops.
I am truly sorry if my dispelling of bad Irish stereotypes ruined anyone’s vision of the Emerald Isle forever. But I feel like the distinction between real Ireland and post card Ireland is an important one.
However, now that I’ve stuck up for Ireland, I’m sticking up for the states. No we are not all blonde and I don’t want to be Paris Hilton when I grow up. American girls are not required by law to be high school cheerleaders and not all American boys were on the football team. My high school experience was nothing like “Bring it on” or “10 Things I Hate About you”. I am not from New York City and I didn’t vote for George Bush. And no. I don’t spend my summers at the beach. I’m from Iowa people, that’s in the middle.
It’s been interesting to see what everyone expects when they find out I’m American. The shock and awe on their faces when they find out I don’t especially like New York City…and the confusion when I try to explain where Iowa is! I met a Geography major last week, and my jaw literally dropped when he said “Oh! Iowa! Capitol is Des Moines right?” He takes the prize for being the first person in Ireland to be able to locate Iowa on a map. He also gets bonus points for not asking if that’s where we grow all the potatoes. (Idaho people! Geez!)
Basically it’s been a 5 months study in how people the world over view other parts of the world. I’m sorry to have ruined so many Irish people’s view of America, really I am. But imagine how sad I am to be going home not having seen a leprechaun! The travel books and TV shows…they lie to you!

Theories of dating evolution

About the time the rest of my graduating class decided to settle down I decided to dive back into the dating pool. That’s right, 2 ½ years of tied down and I decided to plunge back into singleness. After a rather auspicious beginning it occurred to me that the last time I’d been single was…high school. No wonder it felt like all the rules had changed. Dating had apparently come a long way since “hey my friend thinks your cute and wants to know if you have a boyfriend”. Now all of the sudden there were all sorts of dating rules. And different kinds of dates! There were meeting for coffee dates and dinner out dates and you him and ten other friends in a bar dates. Apparently which kind of date you were asked on said all kinds of things about how much the boy liked you. Who knew! It was a strange confusing world and I realized that the mating habits of people my age had evolved rapidly in the two and a half years I’d been off the market.
Then I made the semi crazy decision to pack up and move halfway across the world. Well- if you wanted to throw a monkey wrench into the whole dating scene that was it. All of the sudden my boring flat Midwestern accent or rather lack of an accent is foreign and apparently kind of sexy. Cool. That helps.
So my first real “date” in Ireland. I’m supposed to meet the guy for drinks. He picked the pub across the street from my apartment- creepy, felt a bit like I’d been stalked, but decided to play along. After one pint and a serious lecture on his profession (which we’ll call accounting for the sake of confidentiality) I realized that this date was going nowhere but downhill quickly. I escaped to the bathroom, called a friend, and the second she answered said “you’re going to call me in about 45 minutes with a very serious personal problem”. I then hung up and walked back to the table as calmly as I could. After about one more drink my phone lit up with “Dermot slept with someone else! Why aren’t you answering?! Ring me!” Have to hand it to my friend- that was a pretty good story. Especially considering Dermot is the name of the stuffed monkey that lives on her desk. Unfortunately the idea of Dermot the happy smiling stuffed chimp cheating on poor Siobhan was so funny it took everything in my power not to burst out laughing. I must have put on a sort of concerned face, because my date bought the story. I apologized up and down, agreed to have one more drink, and then told him I simply had to go help my friend with her crisis. I can only picture the conversation with the lads back at his flat.
“You’re home early”
“Ah you know birds, always a crisis, had to go help her friend”
"Yea? And what was the crisis”
“Friend’s boyfriend- Dermot or something like that, is a cheating ass”
“Dermot eh? I’ll bet you a pint of beer Dermot is someone’s teddy bear.”
In fact it would cost me a pint of beer and several nights of wingman duty to alleviate myself of the debt I incurred forcing my friend to come up with an on the spot crisis. It’s been several weeks and we’re still laughing about Dermot’s “indiscretion”.
So anyway, went to London with a friend last weekend. I walk up to the bar and while I’m waiting a guy walks up to me. Sweet! What does he says? “My friend thinks you’re cute and wants to know if you have a boyfriend”. So much for dating evolution.

Shameless Promotion

I’m done! The end! No more classes at UCC for me (hush yourselves Smart Alecs, I’ve been to more then one class!)…Handed in my last paper today and went to my very last class. Next week is study week, and then we have finals all through the month of May. I honestly can’t believe it’s almost May, that seems crazy. I guess this is the part of the “study abroad experience” that the brochures called “adaptation”. It’s when we all stop thinking this place is so weird and finally start to settle in and really live life in a different country. When we first landed on the Emerald Isle we couldn’t stop talking about what we were going to do when we got home, all the things we missed, all of the places we wanted to go out to eat, all of the people we couldn’t wait to see. We couldn’t shut up about how the cars were on the wrong side of the road (leading to many near misses while crossing streets), the food was funny (what do you mean you don’t have mac and cheese here?!), the professors were weird (did he really just tell us to take a 15 minute tea break?!). Heck I couldn’t figure out how to send text messages on my new phone for the first 3 weeks or so, and even when I figured it out it still felt funny- where were all the friends in my phonebook, I didn’t know ANYONE in Ireland! Ah!
But the thing is…nothing feels too terribly weird or foreign or bewildering anymore. I know my way around the UCC campus as well as I know my way around the U of I campus. I do a lot of the same stuff I do at home- homework in the library, going to movies and the mall with my friends, last week we attempted home made pizza in the flat. Some things are different, weekends for one. No Hawkeye football here. Last weekend we took the bus over to Limerick for the GAA Hurling finals. Had to be loud and proud in support of the GALWAY TRIBESMEN! I know I know, I'm living in Cork, but I was adopted in Galway, so my hurling loyalties lie now and forever with the Tribesmen. (If you have no idea what Hurling is as I suspect at least 95% of the people reading this don't, youtube it and prepare to be entertained). Anyway, other weekend stuff...we go to a lot of concerts, something I almost never do at home- Cork just has a really great free music scene if you know where to look. Class is a lot different. No assigned readings really, we’re meant to go to the library, and actually do research. What do you mean you’re not going to spoon feed us information?? Isn’t that what college is for?! It’s a different system that’s for sure, but I like it. Some weird twisted part of my brain likes hanging out in the library doing research finding the answer for myself instead of having a professor tell me what to think. I know…now that that comment is on the world wide web I’ll never live it down. I’m off to find a rock to hide under until the laughing stops.
But before I head off to find my rock to hide under, I feel I should address another point that concerns me greatly, I’ve been accused of using this web address to take the piss (or as we Yanks would say, “make fun”) of anyone and everyone I’ve come across in these last few months. So, to make up for my sometimes brutal sarcasm- some shameless promotion of a few of the people I’ve met here who have made me laugh, gotten me to dance, and are looking for as much exposure as they can get .
First up- Gary O’Toole. We met him on the bus to Limerick, this guy kept us entertained for two straight hours with his antics. He claims to be an actor, but having seen his film debut we’ll leave that to you to decide.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=890HXzyQT6A
Second- The Marvels. A Cork staple. I truly believe it is impossible to watch their act without jumping up to dance at some point. And you have to respect any guy with the guts to go out in public wearing that hat.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=u-t-CHOSGQY

Language barrier

Hola! (That pretty much expends my knowledge of the Spanish language.)

One of the fun parts of study abroad is having other friends studying in far off places. Last weekend I got to jet off to Spain to see what my buddy Mick has been up to all year. I was greeted by a Spanish band as soon as I got off the Metro. Mick said it was “all for me” to welcome me to Spain. I’m going to venture a guess he’s full of sh*t. But, either way, pretty cool. Thursday night we went to a really small tappas place. It was literally shove your way through, stranding room only crowded, but the food was fantastic and it was kind of fun to be right in the middle of so many Spanish kids my age. I woke up Friday morning and was shocked to see…no one. Madrid seemed to have emptied out overnight. I gave my self the Sol walking tour and found coffee. I also found yet another country where my name produces some problems. In Ireland people tend to think it’s spelled Elisa. In Spain they think it’s Alice. All of these new aliases…what fun. I started walking back to the hostel and someone stopped me to ask for directions, in Spanish! I was so happy about being confused for someone who might speak Spanish that it took me a few seconds to realize there was no way I could break out enough Spanish to help the poor girl. I even knew how to get to the metro stop she was asking about! Sad! I headed back to the hostel and shocked Mick with my ability to order coffee “how did you do that?!” (I’m resourceful!)
So anyway, apparently Spain doesn’t really wake up until 11 or 12. Which is why I felt like no one was out and about. I mastered Madrid underground…via Madrid’s ridiculously extensive metro system. We went the Prado, which is a very very cool art museum. The royal palace (King of Spain gets a pretty sweet set up, let me tell ya). And wandered Madrid above ground. Found the US embassy, Real Madrid stadium, and the national library! (Was that a dead give away that I’m a nerdy English major??)
Saturday we went to Segovia. A very small, very cool Spanish town about an hour outside Madrid. There’s an amazing Roman aquaduct, an absolutely beautiful cathedral, and the castle that Disney land based Snow White’s castle off of. You can climb all the way up to the top and it looks out over the whole city of Segovia and the mountains. That’s right, mountains, real, snow capped mountains. I missed the majority of winter in Iowa, so seeing snow, even from far away, was actually kind of exciting.
Sunday was an adventure all in itself. Mick’s brother in law is from Madrid, so his parents still live there. I got to see the more “residential” part of Madrid which was neat, there’s a really pretty neighborhood right in the middle of the city. They made lunch for us, having any sort of home cooked food when you’re studying abroad is wonderful, but when you get to try something new it’s even better. Only downside was that I don’t speak any Spanish at all, and they don’t speak any English! Funny thing though, is that even though I have no idea what they said, I could still tell that they were amazingly nice. Weird how that works right? Mr. Gutierrez gave us a ride to the airport, with a detour to point out the bull fighting arena. Turns out Spain drives on the right hand side of the road (Ireland and the UK drive on the left). I’m now thoroughly confused about which side of the road cars belong on and which side of the car drivers belong on. American drivers…beware. I’ll be home June 1st and I’m guessing it’ll be awhile before I’ve got the whole side of the road thing figured out again.

Cead Mile Failte Connemara

Greetings from the sticks. (Name that Julia Roberts movie). I’m currently camped out in the seaside village of Connemara, Ireland spending the first two weeks of my spring break driving around the Irish countryside, hiking, climbing mountains, and playing a lot of card games. No internet out here you see, and as my cell phone only works to call Ireland, I’m pretty much cut off for the week (if you’ve emailed, don’t feel bad, I’m not ignoring you). So I’m getting lots of fresh air, hanging out on the beach, and tomorrow morning I have every intention of getting up at the crack of dawn to watch the sun rise over the water. (The Devaney’s told me to go ahead but I better not wake them up). It’s kind of a good feeling though, and living in an Irish house in a small town is an experience. We were back in Connemara’s favorite pub, Hughes, a few days ago. Siobhan started laughing and told us the old men at the bar were talking about us in Irish. Something along the lines of “I know that one, one of the Devaneys- but I don’t know the other two.” Muahaha, the mysterious Americans strike Spidal again. Word must be getting out that we’re here though, I’ve seen more Devaney’s in the last few days then I ever thought possibly existed. Apparently they’re all turning up to meet the guests. I’ve met 7 or 8 aunts and uncles already, but Siobhan’s parents come from families of 11 and 14, so my guess is that I’m no where near done yet.

We spent a day on the Aran Islands. I climbed all the way up to the top of a cliff and the proceeded to cling to the edge of it and look straight down. Beth and I found our dream house on Inis Mor island- we’re hoping we can make some money off of it if we dress it up and tell tourists it’s the birthplace of St. Patrick. Aran is also where I met the lovely horse pictured below...there was an apple in my pocket and he definitely knew it. We spent one morning going through a cave and that afternoon at the cliffs of Mohr. We’ve been to Kylemore Abbey- which is beautiful, and apparently Madonna almost sent her kids to boarding school there. We also went out to Achil, another small Island off the coast of Mayo County. We hung out on one of Europe’s 3 coral beaches for a morning and we also made the long steep climb up Croac Patrick mountain, between driving and hiking we were gone most of the day, but by the time we got to the top we were literally up in the clouds, pretty amazing. I’m sure my legs will forgive me for the climb someday.
Aside from that we’re teaching the Irish all of our silly American card games, we made dinner one night so they could experience American food. I baked chocolate chip cookies today- an interesting adventure considering they don’t have measuring cups in Ireland. I had to guesstimate everything- but it still worked out, Siobhan used “weighing scales” to measure everything while I was baking so that she can replicate my cookies later- so if you want my chocolate chip cookie recipe I can send it to you in ounces- Irish style.
The Devaney’s are teaching us a lot about life in Ireland too. My favorite new story…in this very catholic community they hold mass in a family’s home twice a year. Siobhan’s mom said it’s to bless the house. It turns into a day long thing with tea and socializing, and one of the rooms in the house set up so that the priest can hear confession. Mrs. Devaney said that when it was their turn her brother joked about hiding a tape recorder in the wardrobe so they could finally figure out who stole the goat. No one’s really sure if he actually did it, but maybe that’s a good thing.

The St. Patrickans

Our friends love us and came to see us! My little Cork crowd had company last week and it was SUPER exciting to see familiar faces on our side of the pond. We decided there was no better way to introduce them to life in Ireland then by taking them to Dublin for St Patrick’s Day weekend. Crazy? Yes. Completely memorable? Most definitely. I’m more in love with Dublin then ever before- however, I’m discovering an odd dislike for tourists. I say odd because I guess I am technically a tourist, it’s just that I don’t feel like one so much anymore. I’m not sure when this dislike for tourists started, or why, but I’m not a fan of the massive hordes of people who spilled into Ireland this week. The walk from the Abbey Street Luas stop to Nassau Street told twice as long as usual, the line at the Guinness factory probably stretched at least 5 miles (hooray for knowing how to cut it), and AIB stopped traffic on Grafton Street with their huge moving advertisement which all the tourists then stopped traffic to gawk at.
But anyway…the moment you’ve all been waiting for, just how crazy is St Patrick’s day in Dublin? Well, first of all the Paddy’s day parade is apparently “just for tourists and kids” ouch. Let down number one. And apparently the Irish don’t necessarily wear green on St Patrick’s Day. Let down number two. But, however touristy the parade is, Paddy’s day is still a full on, banks closed, no classes, no work, and sure as heck no postal service holiday in Ireland. So that does mean the Irish celebrate in full force. It’s a little tough to come up with an appropriately edited summation of our Paddy’s day that won’t embarrass anyone too terribly. (Considering that even that little bit of legal jargon embarrasses me!) But I’ll give it a shot.
Touristy as it may be we went to the parade decked out in green with shamrocks painted on our faces and some truly stylish green hats. (I was told by an Irish person later in the night that I should really just take the hat off and abandon it somewhere.) After the parade we hiked over to Croke Park (a short walk when the parade isn’t going on, but when it becomes impossible to cross one of Dublin’s main streets due to the parade the walk to Croke Park becomes a very long one.) We got to see the club hurling finals and the club Gaelic football finals. So because we sprinted to the stadium and then saw two different sports I’m dubbing it the Croke Park Triathlon. Oh, and yes. The former yearbook person in me snuck out and I took a million pictures of the hurling and Gaelic football. After the match we made our way to “Ireland’s oldest pub” where we met everyone from a 40 year old from Florida to some 20 something attorneys from Dublin. And of course we spent a fair part of the evening laughing at the crazy St Patrickans (Beth’s term, thanks Beth!).
Besides the Paddy’s day silliness that took over Ireland our friends got to see a lot of Dublin (I’ve become a pretty good Dublin tour guide since my last adventure to Ireland’s fair city.) I managed to cram the Guinness Factory, the Jameson Distillery, Dublin Writer’s museum, Garden of Remembrance, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, a whole lot of shopping and of course our favorite Dublin pubs and restaurants into two very touristy days – so no matter what “setbacks” we may have had, we still managed to see and do a ton. More updates to come, I'm just all typed out of the night, so stay tuned!

Gone Hurlin'

So I’ve caught a bit of slack the last few days or so for not blogging lately, believe it or not I kinda like that, lets me know that someone besides me is actually looking at this thing.
Right now I’m sitting in my window wondering if the River Lee is about to overflow it’s banks…we’re experiencing a “gale” or the Irish version of severe weather. Lots of wind, lots of rain, very high tide. Not fun! It was a long walk back from the bus stop tonight.

So, that said I suppose the bright sunny picture to the right doesn't make a whole lot of sense? Well...we spent the weekend in Connemara with the wonderful Devaney family (Beth is one of my fellow Hawks in Ireland, Siovhan is her roommate and her family lives in Connemara.) We got to be “really” Irish for a weekend. Friday we took a fantastically awful four hour bus ride up to Galway (Connemara is about 45 minutes outside of Galway) and our mom for the weekend met us there. Siovhan’s mom played tour guide during the drive to their house, I’ve officially seen the first house built in Connemara, but the coolest part? They get to see the ocean EVERY DAY! We were driving alongside the water the whole way to the Devaney’s house, which means they get a lot of rain…but also means they get a very scenic drive home.
Friday night the Americans conquered the local pub, Hughes’…or rather the pub conquered the Americans. Saturday we went into Galway to do what girls do best, shopping! Galway has a really cool market every weekend with food stands, crafts, all that kind of stuff. One of my friends (whose name I won’t use for fear of inflating his ego) has his very own crepe at the crepe stand in the Galway market, which made me laugh...and shake my head at the same time. You can get the Big ____ or the Vegetarian ____ (editing out friend’s name in order to keep his ego in check, although Siovhan tells me there is probably no chance the crepe was actually named after my friend in particular, he just has a very common Irish name.)
My one purchase from our shopping excursion, which I’m very excited about…is a Claddagh ring I found in an antique shop in Galway. If you’re not sure what that is…the Claddagh is two hands holding a heart with a crown on top, which is supposed to represent friendship, love, and loyalty, “let love and friendship reign”. You wear the ring on your right hand facing out if you’re single or your “heart is free” and facing in if someone has “captured your heart”. The Claddagh ring originated in Galway, so Beth and I now have Claddagh rings right from the source, pretty cool right? The picture isn’t my ring…but looks a lot like mine. The ring in the picture (and my ring) have the Irish holy trinity where the hands would normally be, same meaning, just a slightly different, less common design.
We went back to Connemara and walked down to the ocean (a whopping 10 minute walk from their house). I forgot how pretty the Atlantic is while the sun is going down.
The Devaney’s made a HUGE dinner for us Saturday night, which Siovhan swears is just a normal Irish meal (yes, there were multiple kinds of potatoes). It was absolutely wonderful, and I now understand why the Irish kids go home on the weekend so often. Saturday night was a concert/birthday party. The music was amazing, but the dancing, oh my gosh the dancing. Real, traditional Irish dancing is amazing (forget Riverdance here folks, that’s not real Irish dancing, it’s a pretty modern invention, and the Irish don’t want you to forget it.) Real Irish dance is very close to tap dancing, which means I was in heaven all night long. Only tough part of the night…Connemara is a mostly Irish speaking village, no English road signs, pubs have Irish names, shops have Irish names. So the introduction to the concert…all in Irish. I know that at some point the lady introducing the group said welcome, music, friends, and thank you. Past that I’ve got no clue.
We woke up Sunday morning and experienced our first full Irish breakfast. I’m not sure I’ll ever need to eat again. Again, so that’s why the Irish kids go home for weekends so often, I don’t blame them! It was SO nice to have a real bed, in a real house, and real food for a weekend. The Devaney’s even have a dog! Lassie walked down to the ocean with us Saturday afternoon.
After the marathon that was breakfast we went to a Galway hurling match. Picture soccer with football goal posts and baseball bats and something close to a softball and you’ll about have the idea. It’s one of the oldest Irish sports and the people in Galway LOVE it, after today I think I’m falling in love with it too! Still not quite sure what all of the rules are…but we’re going to attempt to get tickets for the Galway/ Dublin hurling match in Dublin on St. Patrick’s day. Hooray!
One minor complaint…next time I’m in Galway I want a better back story. All of Connemara now knows me as “one of the Americans the Devaney’s have”. Can we please come up with something a little more exciting? Can we be part of the witness protection program? Discovery channel reporters? Beth has suggested we call ourselves the Bobbsey Twins…but unfortunately they never made it over here, so no one really gets the joke. We’re working on it though, and when we’re up in Connemara over Easter we’re determined to have a better back story for ourselves, so that we can be called something other then “the Americans”.
Well…that’s the most recent news from Ireland. I’m going to attempt to keep the blog more up to date…especially after Friday when I’m done with my Gaelic final. Funny thing about the Irish kids we were with in Connemara this weekend…they’re good Irish teachers, my Irish is slightly improved thanks to them, but I have a feeling I’m failing my final if I repeat most of what they taught me to my teacher during the final.

Oh. And my favorite picture from the weekend. Lassie on our walk by the ocean.

Homework, boo.

I know, I know, it’s been awhile. But we actually had homework to do! Believe it or not that’s kind of a big deal here. I wrote an Irish history paper this week worth 50% of my grade! Yikes! And to follow that up I got to write ANOTHER essay for my Middle Ages class. “Critically discuss Judaeo-Christian influences on Medieval geographical though.” I know. You’re all dying to read it. I’ll be sure to get copies in the mail soon. (In all honestly I’m kind of proud of that paper, I was TERRIFIED to write it, but maybe I’ve actually learned something about the Middle Ages in the last month and a half.) And at least that paper isn’t worth so much…I just have to take a final in May for that class worth 80% of my grade. No big deal right? Kinda like my Shakespeare final worth 100% of my grade won’t be a big deal? Yeah…now I get why they give us a month to take finals. Nothing like the US that’s for sure. The good news though, is that I will have NO 7:30 am finals! Whoever created that finals block is just evil, thank goodness the Irish don’t believe in making you take exams worth 100% of your grade at the crack of dawn. And hey! Our Shakespeare professor DID tell us exactly what’s coming. We’ll be identifying and explaining quotes from King Lear for a good hour on May 9th. He read us one of the quotes from last year’s exam, and then told us that “anyone who missed that question deserves not only to fail but to be stripped naked and made to run about the quad.” Thank you professor, that’s semi-comforting. Sort of.
So anyway, I’m done with two of my papers, but still have a HUGE government project and a paper for that class to look forward to. Jumping for joy over that one. And two days after we come back from Spring break…another Irish history paper, worth the other 50% of my grade. Yuck.
So anyway, with all the paper writing and project doing that has been going on we haven’t gotten out to do a whole lot of fun stuff lately L bummer. But this weekend we’re getting the heck out of here! Watch out Cobh! The crazy American students have gone stir crazy writing papers and we’re ready to go DO something.
Valentine’s Day came and went in Ireland and I barely noticed. It’s just not a big deal here? Looks like Hallmark hasn’t taken over the WHOLE planet. A bunch of us got together, donned our pink and red and celebrated as a group. We had chocolate, I baked brownies, and the Irish kids were totally and utterly confused as to why we were making such a big deal out of it. “Valentine’s is only for people in a couple? So why?” Why? Because we’re silly Americans and we’ve decided to let Hallmark dictate which days on the calendar cannot pass without fanfare. Notice the red outfits and the paper hearts on the walls....
We also kind of sort of attempted the Barrack Street Challenge. There are 13 pubs on Barrack Street. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what the Barrack Street Challenge might involve. A few in our group did the whole thing properly, hats off to them. We just showed up in the middle to laugh at the damage.
So, despite the lack of super exciting stuff happening lately, we have a lot of stuff coming up! March 5th I’m going to Dublin for the day to check out a few Grad schools! Ahhh! How scary is that? It’ll be good for me though, I’ll have to be all independent and stuff J I’m taking the train up by myself and checking out Trinity College and that afternoon is University College Dublin.
That weekend we’re going to Galway for the Trad Fest there. And the week after that my Mom and Christine are coming over! Yay for friends and family from home. I’m SO excited to see them. We’re going to be in Dublin over St. Patrick’s day, then they’re coming back to Cork to see what I’ve been up to here! I think they both have to kiss the Blarney stone while they’re in Cork. Although, I’ve been told that “having kissed the Blarney Stone- doesn't make you more eloquent, it reduces the chances that you'll ever be quiet- which for you, may be a problem!” Thanks Evans.
When Mom and Christine head back to the states Beth and I are heading home with her roommate Siovhan for the first part of our Spring break. Siovhan’s from Galway and has a mile long list of things she wants to take us to do, the beaches, the Aran Islands, the Cliffs of Moher (google Cliffs of Moher. Really. Do it. SO pretty.) Stay tuned for details on the rest of Spring break.
Our break is March 20- April 21st, and after that it’s one last week of class and then a month of finals! I ended up with a big break between exams, so one more friend is flying into Cork for a few days and we’re going to London for a few days after that!
And the scariest part of today’s blog…it’s almost March. Which means my time here is going SO much faster then I ever thought possible. So, mentally, I’ve been making a list of all the things I’ll miss in Ireland. (In no particular order)
-Irish accents
-9 am is REALLY early
-if you have a 9am class no one really expects you to be there
-Getting packages, or anything in the mail, it’s seriously like Christmas. No one sends stuff by mail at home, and we really should.
-Cadbury chocolate is EVERYWHERE
-Trad sessions
-The free notebooks they hand out while you’re walking to class
-My Shakespeare professor and my Middle Ages professor. They are completely hilarious.
-Irish slang (eejit, for example)
-The Old Oak, and everything else on Oliver Plunket Street
-Most of all, the people. If you can look at this picture and not smile there’s something wrong with you.

Gold star for you if you actually read through all of this!