Do you ever have one of those times where you are just coasting along, doing laundry in the rain, eating deliciously addictive Crunchy Nut cereal, checking your e-mail...and then all of a sudden you receive an e-mail reminding you to turn in your paper on Tuesday? (This is, of course, the paper that you thought was due in APRIL, and is supposed to be written about Ulysses, a humongous novel that you have not actually finished yet.)
Panic, my friends, pure and unadulterated panic.
So, I have been frantically gathering resources about the linguistically and stylistically creative Mr. Joyce...and will most likely be a hermit until noon on Tuesday...whereupon I will emerge, like a butterfly. Ahhh...the college life.
I have actually missed this kind of work, to be completely honest. All of my other classes have an essay due at the end of the class (and they are all only 1200 to 1500 words...so not bad) or an exam, and so other than that, I only have to read about the Dagda eating porridge, or listen to my professors sing to us in Irish, or practice my Irish language class, or toss around literary slang with my friends. So, as ashamed as I am to admit it, the frantic "write a paper in 3 days and finish roughly 500 pages as well as share a somewhat meaningful insight on Molly Bloom's soliloquy" feeling is a little invigorating!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Happy Castle Day!
So from this day onwards, I will officially be celebrating Castle Day every 21st of February in order to commemorate the awesomeness of this day (More on how in a minute...) To recap:
Today I went with my friend Leah's (actually said Leia...like the princess) archaeology class on a field trip around County Galway to see some castles. That sounds pretty cool in itself, but I could not have predicted how much fun the day would actually be. At first I was a little skeptical, since we went to a Fortified House, which kind of looked like an English manor house (which is was actually modeled after). Found out it was called Portumna Castle. Afterwards we went to a Towerhouse, which was where things began to get more exciting. It was called Pallas castle, and we got to go all the way to the top and look out over the countryside, which was AMAZING. We had so much fun climbing all over the ruins, and up the stairs and all around the old walls. It is incredible to think that people actually lived in fortresses like that.
Next we went to another towerhouse, but were unable to actually go inside due to an angry bull that was in front of the castle...so we just admired it from afar. Next they gave us lunch, which was at pub and consisted of sandwiches, delicious soup, chips (fries), and coffee. Feeling very refreshed, we continued to Clonmacnoise. The main attraction there is actually the monastery, but we looked at the ruins of an Anglo-Norman Castle that was on the grounds. According to Leah's professor, there is a lot of focus on the Gaelic tradition, and early Celtic history, and so many of the Anglo-Norman things get ignored since they are not really "Irish" (This was evidenced by the fact that we all had to crawl under a fence to get to the castle...there were about 50 of us plus the professors!) Then we wandered around the monastery for awhile. It has several chapels, towers, and a cemetery. It is crazy to see crosses and castles that were built in the 8th century. I don't think we have anything that old where we live!
On the bus ride home, Alecia and I were talking about how cool castle day had been (we got to climb around on stone castles and the weather was fantastic!) and we came up with the idea of building our own castle to celebrate. We mentioned this idea to Leah, and so when we got back to Corrib Village, we built a model castle out of cookies to celebrate Castle Day. We used Nutella as glue, and made a fortified wall, arrow slits, watchtowers, an inner keep, and all the rest of the official castle markers. We decided that this will have to be a Castle Day tradtition, since we had so much fun making it. We are planning on sending some of the pictures to Leah's professor since we were so proud of it! (There are pictures on my Facebook of this glorious event... as well as pictures of all the castles I saw! Also, here is a link to my snapfish account of the same photos...http://www3.snapfish.ie/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=279901344/a=158696412_158696412/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink) Hopefully you can all incorporate Castle Day into your schedules as well...since they are an extremely interesting piece of history!
Today I went with my friend Leah's (actually said Leia...like the princess) archaeology class on a field trip around County Galway to see some castles. That sounds pretty cool in itself, but I could not have predicted how much fun the day would actually be. At first I was a little skeptical, since we went to a Fortified House, which kind of looked like an English manor house (which is was actually modeled after). Found out it was called Portumna Castle. Afterwards we went to a Towerhouse, which was where things began to get more exciting. It was called Pallas castle, and we got to go all the way to the top and look out over the countryside, which was AMAZING. We had so much fun climbing all over the ruins, and up the stairs and all around the old walls. It is incredible to think that people actually lived in fortresses like that.
Next we went to another towerhouse, but were unable to actually go inside due to an angry bull that was in front of the castle...so we just admired it from afar. Next they gave us lunch, which was at pub and consisted of sandwiches, delicious soup, chips (fries), and coffee. Feeling very refreshed, we continued to Clonmacnoise. The main attraction there is actually the monastery, but we looked at the ruins of an Anglo-Norman Castle that was on the grounds. According to Leah's professor, there is a lot of focus on the Gaelic tradition, and early Celtic history, and so many of the Anglo-Norman things get ignored since they are not really "Irish" (This was evidenced by the fact that we all had to crawl under a fence to get to the castle...there were about 50 of us plus the professors!) Then we wandered around the monastery for awhile. It has several chapels, towers, and a cemetery. It is crazy to see crosses and castles that were built in the 8th century. I don't think we have anything that old where we live!
On the bus ride home, Alecia and I were talking about how cool castle day had been (we got to climb around on stone castles and the weather was fantastic!) and we came up with the idea of building our own castle to celebrate. We mentioned this idea to Leah, and so when we got back to Corrib Village, we built a model castle out of cookies to celebrate Castle Day. We used Nutella as glue, and made a fortified wall, arrow slits, watchtowers, an inner keep, and all the rest of the official castle markers. We decided that this will have to be a Castle Day tradtition, since we had so much fun making it. We are planning on sending some of the pictures to Leah's professor since we were so proud of it! (There are pictures on my Facebook of this glorious event... as well as pictures of all the castles I saw! Also, here is a link to my snapfish account of the same photos...http://www3.snapfish.ie/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=279901344/a=158696412_158696412/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink) Hopefully you can all incorporate Castle Day into your schedules as well...since they are an extremely interesting piece of history!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Balls, Bands, and Valentines
Quite a few people have been asking me if the Irish celebrate Valentine's Day. Did you know that the original St. Valentine is buried in Dublin? His remains were actually right across from the hostel we stayed in a couple of weeks ago! (True story.) This year for the world's day of love, I got together with some friends for homemade dessert night. My contribution was lemon-scented blueberry cupcakes, courtesy of cookinglight.com. Anyway, ten girls plus desserts always equals a fun night! Some people went out to a dance club afterward, but a couple of my friends and I decided to go to this Irish place called Club Aras n Gael, which had Irish dancing (and also Spanish dancing, which was really fun to watch...I want to go back and learn how to salsa now!) so that was pretty cool.
Last night I attended the NUIG Arts Ball, which is basically a formal dress party for all the students in the arts program (i.e. anything that isn't science, law, or commerce...called business in America...they already had their balls.) You are allowed to go though even if you aren't an arts student, but most of the people were Arts students. They were also mostly Irish. We may have been the only Americans there! It was a lot of fun; kind of like prom actually. We all got together at my friend's apartment to get ready beforehand, just like before a high school dance! Everyone was dressed up all formal, and there was an excellent band at the beginning, and later a DJ (not as excellent). I totally got to dance to my new favorite song here (no, not "Disturbia", but "December 1963, Oh, What a Night"...it's really popular here...along with that oddly catchy song by Kings of Leon...you know the one...) and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to just hang out with a bunch of friends and dance! People definitely don't dance as much to bands here, except apparently at balls.
Well, that is it for now...I am currently in trip planning mode, and I need to summarize the 2nd Battle of Moytura for my Celtic Myths class...
Last night I attended the NUIG Arts Ball, which is basically a formal dress party for all the students in the arts program (i.e. anything that isn't science, law, or commerce...called business in America...they already had their balls.) You are allowed to go though even if you aren't an arts student, but most of the people were Arts students. They were also mostly Irish. We may have been the only Americans there! It was a lot of fun; kind of like prom actually. We all got together at my friend's apartment to get ready beforehand, just like before a high school dance! Everyone was dressed up all formal, and there was an excellent band at the beginning, and later a DJ (not as excellent). I totally got to dance to my new favorite song here (no, not "Disturbia", but "December 1963, Oh, What a Night"...it's really popular here...along with that oddly catchy song by Kings of Leon...you know the one...) and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to just hang out with a bunch of friends and dance! People definitely don't dance as much to bands here, except apparently at balls.
Well, that is it for now...I am currently in trip planning mode, and I need to summarize the 2nd Battle of Moytura for my Celtic Myths class...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Goin' to the Ceili
This week is Muscailt at my school, which is basically a week dedicated to plays, music, films and concerts (i.e. week of AWESOME). On Monday, I went to a Ceili, (said Kay-lee) which is like a traditional Irish music and dance party. I was lucky, since I got to dance with one of the guys who does Irish dancing as a hobby and he knew exactly what he was doing! It was quite fun. For those on the Central Coast, my Civil War Ball dance skills came in handy, since we did one of the dances I learned (The Waves of Tory) only it was way faster (so much fun faster!!) and more twirly! Who knew my mad skillz would serve me so well?
Then last night, I went to Battle of the Band, which featured band like "Pelican was Taken" (Taken where??) and Savage Henry. Bless their little hearts. I think Haley would have a real chance at making it big here, since some of the guitar stuff was..interesting (But I'm not really a fan of the "I paint my nails crimson with the blood of lovers past" kind of stuff...) One of the guys had a nice Ibenez though. It was pretty fun though, and I'm glad I went.
Personally, those of you who know me know that I'm really looking forward to the LOTR triathalon on Friday (you know you're jealous...). I actually don't think I can go for all three...but I am probably going to see the Two Towers. Thursday is also my roommate's birthday, and we are making her a fajita dinner, and maybe going to hear a band...so that should be fun. No Valentine's day plans as of yet, although I am hearing rumors about a dessert night (just what I need...but I get to dress up!!)
Then last night, I went to Battle of the Band, which featured band like "Pelican was Taken" (Taken where??) and Savage Henry. Bless their little hearts. I think Haley would have a real chance at making it big here, since some of the guitar stuff was..interesting (But I'm not really a fan of the "I paint my nails crimson with the blood of lovers past" kind of stuff...) One of the guys had a nice Ibenez though. It was pretty fun though, and I'm glad I went.
Personally, those of you who know me know that I'm really looking forward to the LOTR triathalon on Friday (you know you're jealous...). I actually don't think I can go for all three...but I am probably going to see the Two Towers. Thursday is also my roommate's birthday, and we are making her a fajita dinner, and maybe going to hear a band...so that should be fun. No Valentine's day plans as of yet, although I am hearing rumors about a dessert night (just what I need...but I get to dress up!!)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Birthdays and Trips
I've decided that I should probably update my blog, since I've been shamefully neglecting it. Sorry blog.
As many people know, Wednesday was my 21st birthday, so I am officially legal in all countries! (although legal age in Ireland is 18, so it doesn't really make much difference here...) The birthday was a fun one; I made a delicious carrot walnut spice cake with one of my friends, and then a big group of us had a party and made pizza. I definitely had a birthday crown. We went out afterward, which was fun! It is always an interesting thing, going out in Ireland. In America, we tend not to see it as a weird thing if a big group of people go out together, but here, the groups are usually smaller (about seven at the most), so it is strange when a group of ten or eleven people go somewhere together...especially American girls!
Then this weekend, I went to Dublin with some friends, which was really fun. There was a rugby match this weekend against France, so our entire hostel was full of French people, an interesting experience...especially when you walk out in the morning to brush your teeth and are confronted by a French guy in his underpants. They didn't even seem awkward embarrassed about it, so we just said "Bonjour" back to them! I got to meet some other CA people (although they usually got to Brown and are studying at Trinity) and we had a good time wandering around St. Stephens Green (A park in Dublin). They knew some of my friends, so we went over to their apartment and made breakfast at around noon. Good times. I also got to hang out with some cool Dublin musicians, which was fun! It was snowing a little in Dublin, which sort of confused the whole city. It was gorgeous and sunny most of the time though. If we ever go back, one of my friends and I are going to try and get a free night at the hostel by performing a 40 minute set at their open mic night!
As many people know, Wednesday was my 21st birthday, so I am officially legal in all countries! (although legal age in Ireland is 18, so it doesn't really make much difference here...) The birthday was a fun one; I made a delicious carrot walnut spice cake with one of my friends, and then a big group of us had a party and made pizza. I definitely had a birthday crown. We went out afterward, which was fun! It is always an interesting thing, going out in Ireland. In America, we tend not to see it as a weird thing if a big group of people go out together, but here, the groups are usually smaller (about seven at the most), so it is strange when a group of ten or eleven people go somewhere together...especially American girls!
Then this weekend, I went to Dublin with some friends, which was really fun. There was a rugby match this weekend against France, so our entire hostel was full of French people, an interesting experience...especially when you walk out in the morning to brush your teeth and are confronted by a French guy in his underpants. They didn't even seem awkward embarrassed about it, so we just said "Bonjour" back to them! I got to meet some other CA people (although they usually got to Brown and are studying at Trinity) and we had a good time wandering around St. Stephens Green (A park in Dublin). They knew some of my friends, so we went over to their apartment and made breakfast at around noon. Good times. I also got to hang out with some cool Dublin musicians, which was fun! It was snowing a little in Dublin, which sort of confused the whole city. It was gorgeous and sunny most of the time though. If we ever go back, one of my friends and I are going to try and get a free night at the hostel by performing a 40 minute set at their open mic night!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
