Tuesday nights at Monroe's!

Monday: nothing special. Class, homework or sort of... I'm still trying to get into a pattern of being on top of my reading instead of last minute

Tuesday: Kevin's 20th Birthday! After class Chelsea and I went grocery shopping for our dinner, to which Mandy later joined after her lab. I am cheap and so we went to four different places, the only reason we went to the fourth was because I forgot an ingredient at the third. That's right, I walk by four grocery stores on my way home from school.

When I got back I got to Skype call Kevin to wish him a happy birthday. Sadly, every time I've done this (both times) my roommate has been sleeping and so I've had to quiet my voice and calm my excitement. I don't think my friends realize how much I absolutely love hearing their voices, even if I'm being teased/abused in the process (Justin made the creepy noise :( ... it feels like home :). Plus, Chelsea was over and I feel awkward being on a phone around someone else so I sadly had to cut it short but oh how I can't wait to skype again with them and anyone else for that matter!

I made skillet style lasagna, tweaked a bit, but it was delicious! We three ate it all up before heading out to Monroe's Pub. Every Tuesday night they've got traditional music and set dancing. There is this little old guy named Michael who is known for grabbing nearby girls int he audience and teaching them to dance. Mandy, her friends and I were fortunate enough to be nearby and we danced the first set. Once the "real" dancers showed up - a group of people who know what they're doing and just come every Tuesday for some good old craic- most sat down but Michael held onto me and I kept on dancing!

It was like what I'd always wanted: to catch a live trad band and do some dancing myself! I danced for thirty minutes, following Michael's lead or whatever man I got passed to. I had no idea what I was doing with my feet, but enough onlookers thought that I was part of the set so I guess I fooled them. I can't express how much fun I had but I will most definitely be there every Tuesday night!

Wednesday: nothing noteworthy. I bought a ticket for the International Students' Society's three day trip to Kerry in March. Only 35 euro, hostel, transport and a couple of meals included. I thought it was a deal! Only downside was I went to school early to get my ticket with the plan to just chill at the library until class at 2. As soon as I got to school I realized I register for classes today and had left it all at home. Yeah, when you live a half hour walk away, forgetting something is a real pain in the ass. OH well, it's my exercise.

1st Hike: The Burren

Definitely not quite what I expected it to be: more intense, more beautiful, more difficult, more breathtaking and phenomenal than I could have predicted.

The bus left at 9:30 with a group of hikers and climbers. I, along with five others-- Mandy, Chelsea (different from yesterday's Chelsea), Anne (a new friend from Germany), Pat (a 50 or so yr old man) and Andrew (the leader, 4th yr engineering student from Ireland)-- opted for the shorter walk, and am I ever glad I didn't try more!

We were dropped off at the base of a hill in The Burren, in County Clare and known for its desolate, rocky, stony landscape. We started off just walking up a hill of a road but soon it turned into a bit of actual climbing! I didn't look up for a good bit, you just have to watch your step. There are rocks, cut out from, Pat said, acid rain from ages unknown to man. The rocks have all of these crags that you don't want to drop anything down b/c they go quite deep. It sort of reminded me of a glacier, but stony. You know, how glaciers have all of those cuts in them and you just walk across them avoiding the cracks, it was like that but way less intense and obviously not ice.

I'd expected more of a "here's a trail, let's follow it, there may be inclines but no biggie." Instead I got, let's traverse these rocks at an incline, following rock walls, most likely famine walls, up the hill. The hills were somewhat like steps. You climb, zig zaggins up, and then you reach this plateau. At the flat breaks, not only did we get a breather, but out came the cameras! Looking around, we felt like we were in Middle Earth (no joke). Behind us was the sea, and Galway off in the distance. Down below were perfectly cut out squares of property and little houses. Immediately behind us was the bit we just climbed up (when I say climb I mean took big steps up versus just a stride and occasionally held onto something to help push me up, nothing dangerous Mom, I promise). The scenery was breathtaking. Each time we climbed another hill part we couldn't believe that the same area could get prettier and prettier.

The company was great! Pat and Andrew were this wealth of knowledge on history, pop culture and everything in between. Anne is as nice as can be and of course Mandy and Chelsea rock my face off. And... I finally remembered to get Stanley out, everyone was quite fond of Mr Flat Stanley. We took a lunch break or two and breaks in between for camera shots and breathers. It was just right. I was disgustingly sweaty but never too overtaxed and we couldn't have asked for better weather: clear and sunny skies!

We probably got there around 11 or so and made our way back down by 4. The walk down was actually harder: my feet were a bit sore and different muscles all together. We passed by some furry cows on the way down that didn't bother us at all. The walk down was a bit muddy, but come to find out the Burren is most likely the only dry walk, the others go through some marshy/boggy areas. That makes me think this was probably a good one to start with!

Once the others made it back we stopped at a pub and chilled for a while. Pat is awesome and bought us girls hot chocolate: perfect because we were chilly and fatigued and it was a delicious pick me up. Once we made it back the sprinkling began, but I've walked home in the rain before so no worries. I had to do hw when I got back but I got to talk to Rachel on Skype so I basically got to end the day in a lovely way.

Definitely one of my favorite days so far.