Stop the presses!
It has not rained in Cork, Ireland since WEDNESDAY. That's right, Wednesday. How amazing is that? (At least in our experience two whole days without rain is sort of the Irish equivalent of a 60 degree day in Iowa in January.) So, we took advantage of our rain and class free days and did some major exploring of Cork. We found (uh oh) the mall, and a lovely place called St. Patrick's Street that is literally JUST shopping. Our other fun find was the English Market, which I've heard all the Irish kids talking about but have until today been unable to actually locate. It's sort of like a farmers market back in the states but it's indoors and it's HUGE! There's a grocery store right around the corner from us that's a lot like where we'd go at home, but now we have one more place to go when it's not pouring down rain and the wind isn't blowing hard enough to carry off small children and we feel like walking a little further. (Cork is right on the coast...so we get a lot of rain and a lot of wind at the moment, but...they promise this will stop in February.)
Next week we start classes for real...no more going to whatever we feel like and trying to decide which professors don't seem totally crazy. It was kind of fun that we got to do that though, and it saved me from being stuck in a 20th century history class taught by an 80 year old Irish man who spoke in a constant whisper with the heaviest Irish accent I've heard yet. Not only was I almost totally unable to understand him, he will spend the next 12 weeks lecturing on World Wars I and II while operating under the assumption that everyone taking his class has at least a masters degree in world history. Okay...so he didn't come right out and say that...but I was there for his first lecture, and that's certainly the way I felt.
We think we've finally decoded the bus schedule, and we're going to Blarney tomorrow! Our first little trip out of Cork! Hooray!
No comments:
Post a Comment