A singer in a smoky room...

So last night was one of my friend's last night in Ireland, so we went out to give her a going away party. I did not know this, but Wednesday nights are apparently classic rock nights, since everywhere we went, they played the most excellent music.

Case and Point: one place, we walked and they are playing "piano man," complete with harmonica (while this is not necessarily "most excellent music" per se...we are getting there)
then, another place, it was eighties night, and we got to dance not only to MC Hammer, but also Wham! and Oh! What a Night (which are two of my favorite songs!) Then the last place we went they had an eighties cover band (complete with a guitarist who looked just like Ron Weasley) and they totally played "Don't Stop Believin'" and there was one of those moments where every person was on the dance floor, singing along, united in the gloriousness that is a Journey powerballad. (Unfortunately though the guitarist couldn't play the solo, but it was the thought that counted). My friend and I had totally been talking about that song earlier cause we had heard someone playing it and she mentioned that it was awesome, and I agreed.

Anyway, I digress. The main reason for this post is because I am re-posting some of our family trip photos, including some never before seen shots of my father driving on the left side of the road.

Here is the link: http://www3.snapfish.ie/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=413258010/a=158696412_158696412/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink

Enjoy!!

As promised...

Okay, so after buying a new computer cable at PC World, I am back with a longer (and hopefully more awesome) post about adventures with the family (and a little about My Sister the Boy Magnet)

So... The best things about traveling with my family are the little memories I have collected of our time in Ireland. For example:
-Me and Haley having an 80's powerballad medley in the backseat of the car, featuring Video Killed the Radio Star, Livin' On a Prayer, Don't Stop Believin' and Wannabe by the Spice Girls
-Eating really big breakfasts and Mom and Dad making jokes about it. Dad: "We didn't really like it." Mom: "We are eating our way through Ireland." Waitress person: blank look. Me and Haley: Laugh under our breaths.
- Stalking some sheep at the Rock of Cashel
-Yelling at our GPS lady like she can actually understand us.
-Meeting the singer in Kenmare who dedicated a song to us while Mom and Dad met some new Polish friends
-Listening to the awesome accordion guy
-Haley's first clubbing experience and being semi-stalked by the dudes we met that night
-The cute guy making faces at us
-Walking in the rain though gardens
-The experience with the tiny lane and the truck
-The cliffs of, as Dad says, "Mo-herr"

Mainly I remember getting to see gorgeous parts of the countryside as we drove through extremely narrow roads and prayed that other cars wouldn't come because there would be no way that we could fit two cars in the lane. An excellent time was had by all!

On another note, I am v. excited about my apartment next year with Corinne, Rachel and Justine...it is going to be super fun! More later, as it is raining and I am contemplating going for a walk in my rainboots...

And after an extremely long hiatus...

Hello again!! It has been quite awhile since I last posted on this thing, but I figured I should provide a little update. For starters, my computer is about to die in approximately 1:59 hours. This is because there is something wrong with the power cord and it broke. And also sparked. I am going to take it to PC World tomorrow (Like Ostrich World...only not as cool...as Haley said) but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will probably have to get a new one. Sad Days! Luckily one of my friends has one that I can use to charge this baby.

In other news, my family left today (they have been visiting for Spring Break). I was extremely sad to see them go...it has been so much fun having them here! We have been traveling all over the country, from County Wicklow to County Kerry and seeing the beautiful countryside (also driving on these extremely narrow roads and yelling "left!!!!!" whenever cars come at us). I definitely enjoyed seeing places like the gardens at Powerscourt and the Killarney National Forest....so pretty! Plus, Haley and I had some excellent adventures involving crazy irish boys and also sheep (although the adventures were not at the same time!!)

I have an exam tomorrow, so I will post more later, now I have to brush up on my knowledge of the Banshee, Lug, the Dagda and the rest of my mythological friends!

Break!

So for all intents and purposes, I am finished with school (except for 2 finals which occur on the 23rd and 28th of April, respectively) so I have been detoxing from too much caffeine and essay writing as well as planning trips and excursions for the remainder of my time here. One month seems so short!

One of my friends and I are planning a week-long trip to Germany and Prague. She speaks German, so that will be handy. We are planning to go to Bavaria to see castles, and also the Berlin zoo. We are kind of ridiculously excited about the zoo. I am also planning on going camping with some friends when my lease runs out and they kick me out of my apartment.

Last night, I celebrated Seder for the first time with some of my Jewish friends. It was pretty fun; we ate latkes and I tried chicken liver (which was actually pretty good). Nice time hanging with friends, and it is always a fun experiencing traditions different from your own.

Speaking of traditions, I am excited to see what Easter will be like here. I have a feeling it will be geared a lot more toward religious celebration than it is in America...Although Tesco has been selling very large chocolate eggs...my family is coming to visit me (yay!) and we are going to be in Dublin for the holiday, and apparently there is going to be a Messiah festival...so hopefully we can catch that!

Anyway, I am going to make a cup of tea and read some Women in Love by the fantastically verbose DH Lawrence (I love that I have time to finish all those books I meant to finish during the semester!!)

My Most Excellent Day

So the reason I have been absent for the past few days is because I have pretty much been living in the library of NUIG...a horrible soulless place with no nooks and only long tables, sweaty people, and if you arrive after 8:30am, there is pretty much no chance of getting a computer plug...anyway, I have been writing my final essays, and am now 3 for 5...yay!!

Back to my excellent day. I finished an essay this morning (Literature of the American South) and with a glow of accomplishment, decided to visit my friend Melanie. Melanie was in dire straits, however, and needed someone to help cohost her indie/folk radio show. I'd never hosted a radio show before, but it was a fun experience...and I kinda want CBU to have a radio station so I can become a radio DJ! Then Sheila and I cleaned our apartment, for reals. We mopped and reorganized and made everything super-beautiful. Which meant it was time for me to make a cake for my roommates!

On another note, I went on a CEA excursion last weekend to the Aran Islands. At first it was fun...we took an amazing bike ride along the coast and saw the cliffs, which were incredible! Then after a little mixup at dinner (during which our group director was telling us what we reminded him of, and he informed me that I looked like a mafia wife and would marry a "psycho cokehead." Others in our group were "cute gremlins" and "the victim in silence of the lambs," just to give you an idea). We decided to go out for awhile.

After some CEA bonding time, we planned to leave the next day on the noon ferry since we all had to get back for various tests and papers. However, while at the pub on the island, we were informed that there was no noon ferry, only an 8am and a 5pm. When we call our group director, he says "I know." We all end up having to get up at 7 am to get the early ferry. Luckily, it is also the day of the time change, so it is really 6am. It is also pouring rain. We manage to convince our director to get us breakfast once we get back to Galway, since we missed the hotel breakfast and we also missed showers. Our director leaves us to find our way back to our apartments. Needless to say, I don't get any studying done. However, the first day was fun, so the Aran Islands do have merit...

So, it is late, and I still have two more papers (on Clockwork Orange and Modern Irish Drama, respectively) so I've gotta sleep.