Movie night!

Today I had classes, they were fine. Irish was fun with a combination of culture and singing and speaking. I really should practice more outside of class though. You can't learn a language only practicing for two hours a week, I know this and yet I still am lazy...

Leaving school today I ran into "Melissa Sister" and we had a lovely chat. Turns out I'm not the only one whose attitude is reflected with the weather. Today, bright and sunny skies meant that I was quite the cheery girl! I stopped by at one store for cheap off brand snickers for the movie night and then by another store that had avocados half off! Lunch consisting of avocado+tomato=guac was delicious. I used toast lacking chips... guac really does make anything taste delicious! Then I progressed to be quite lazy all day. I'm kind of ashamed actually!

Around 7 Mandy showed up and a bit after that, Irene's friend Betti showed up as well and we enjoyed some chips (or crisps as the Irish would say, but we were Americans and Italians so forgive me please) while watching Beauty and the Beast. I truly love that movie. It's genious: the music, both songs and the score; the way they brought inanimate objects to life; the way it sings to my childhood... Love it! Half way through we busted out the ice cream and enjoyed some lovely talk.

After the movie Mandy and I shared pictures of loved ones and funny videos with each other. I showed her the video from my usmed duet last spring, I was Michael Jackson in "The way you make me feel." Not going to lie, I see that and I think two things: Oh how I miss dancing! and Damn I looked good! Haha/sad, but all is well, it has to be. (Kayla don't be too quick to take those summer dresses of mine).

Speaking of which (the "it has to be"), I truly admire my mom, especially lately. I know a lot of people, and on occasion I fit in this category too, who have no problem pitying themselves. Sometimes, I just want to crawl into bed or just be "bleh" all day when something gets me down, or eat more chocolate which in a way just makes it worse... Yet I only fit in that category sometimes because of the wisdom of my mom. I'm butchering what she told me but it basically goes along the lines of : when shit happens, you can sit around and feel sorry for yourself, but doing so wont change anything. You choose how you feel. I (my Mom) choose to feel good, to be happy, even when it seems like there is no silver in that freakin cloud!

So, thank you Mom. It has helped me get through many situations, although I ought to employ it more. Being proactive is the only way to fix stuff. I sadly know this and thus kick myself in the butt when I decided this morning, and many others, to sleep in another hr instead of getting up to exercise. But... like Mom says, I can sit around and mope, or just shrug it off, and do better the next time. I will not sleep in that extra hr tomorrow, I will get up, work out, and do the hw I didn't do today and then I will go to Kerry on a weekend trip and have a freaking good time!

That was sort of a pep talk to myself... kind of lame to make it a post, but, if you've been reading, you've noticed that this is stream of consciousness and since it's my consciousness we're talking about, there's no point trying to map it out before hand.

They say public declarations help solidify things. So I'm going to make some goals public, because once it's out there, you can't go back on your word, b/c that'd just be embarrassing, right? So, here are my goals, or, as I'm currently calling them, Lenten resolutions:
-No spooning peanut butter; it can only be used on a sandwich (or tonight in ice cream). And along food lines: practice moderation.
-Work out daily: I want to get into shape for summer and returning to tae kwon do, I can't have Master Muhammad disappointed in me now!
-Limiting tv watching: I need to be more productive, only one episode a day and then news while I'm eating if I must.
-Limit facebook: only 2 times a day, I've actually been doing this really well already, go me!
-Reflect/pray/talk with God more: I miss feeling that stronger connection. I'm more spiritual than religious and I know I'm always a bit happier when I'm feeling like my spiritual life is strong and sound. Speaking of which, if you pray, or send out well wishes, mind adding my fam to the list? All is well, it just seems like the shit has hit the fan in a way or two and they could use some well wishes... if anything some good weather/not rain until the plumbing is taken care of.
-Be productive: whether it's doing hw or looking at flight tickets, I need to be more productive and not end the day asking myself "where did all of that time go"
-Do one random act of kindness a week: watch out, it might be directed towards you!
-Kayla's suggestion: not be so hard on myself.

Ok, it's public, I have to do it, there. It's done. Yay! This should bring about the result of less posts where I write about how I did nothing all day except sit on my bum and finish Will and Grace and more posts about exciting adventures or great achievements ;)

Now I have to go be productive and pack for tomorrow!

Ah Will and Grace

Monday Tuesday recap: nothing terribly exciting. Watched MILK on Monday, good movie, learned a lot about the Gay Rights Movement, and on Tuesday I went out to Monroe's and met up with Mandy and ran into a couple of others and had some good craic while enjoying the music and the dancing!

Today: So I have officially not done any hw at all today, well, I did some this morning. But, I have just finished watching season 8. This means that I have now caught it from beginning to end (unless there were some episodes Kayla caught without me last summer or two summers ago on our Branson vacation when this marathon began-only such a long time coming b/c the eighth season only recently came out).

Weather in Galway is starting to remind me too much of KC's bipolarness. Take today for example. When I went outside this morning, it was snowing. My walk to school was more rainy. Then the precipitation stopped. On my walk home, sleet. As I rounded the corner to my apartment, hard little balls of hail, that, with the help of the wind, freakin hit my face and hurt! My tiredness all day + the reasonable amount of sleep that I get leads me to believe that the weather really does affect my mood or general state of well-being. Not that I wasn't happy today, I just know that I am much happier when the sun is out, like yesterday, walking in the rain wasn't too bad b/c the sun was out. In all honestly, I've been really lucky and have not had to make as many rainy treks as the stereotype about Ireland would have suggested.

So... classes today were good. In Irish we learned a song: Óró ´sé do Bheatha bhaile. Which, in my phonetic notes sounds more like "oh-roh shay du vaha walia" if that gives you any idea of how amazingly different Irish is ;) Here is a pretty version I found on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VqEtpOdhTE&NR=1 It was really fun, and the chorus is stuck in my head now. I think I got the best deal with Irish professors, Dathi ("da-hee") is awesome! We stray a lot from the book and learn more practical/fun stuff!

Braving the winds/precipitation, I came back and just watched W&G. When Irene returned, she surprised me with a little travel packet of tissues, fun part, it has Wall-E on the front!!!! I got so lucky with my roommie! And I'm getting more and more excited for tomorrow night, girl's night with movie and ice cream. Irene just picked out Beauty and the Beast, possibly helping me love her even more!! I love the cultural exchange too. Haha, like today, I learned that "Squirt" from finding nemo isn't "squirt' in Italian, and that instead of "dude", Crush repeatedly says "ciao bella!" Pretty sweet! Oh, and Irene, poor girl, was up til like 5 working on her paper she told me (it never wakes me, she worries she wakes me when she stays up late, I worry I wake her when I wake up early, neither one of us bothers the other, it's perfect!) but she told me "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?" hahaha, I asked if she was able to make any of it out, she wasn't able to. She didn't know if it was because it was in English or if it was because I didn't actually make coherent sense, probably a bit of both!

Now I'm going to go look at what I might want to study for my social stratification paper (US classes or social stratification within higher education?) and study that song a bit more for tomorrow's class!

Catch up

Recap on weekend:

Sunday Hike to Mweelrea, the highest mountains in the Connaught region. A perfectly legit excuse for procrastination, this fourth hike was terribly enjoyable. Like the Mamturks, Mweelrea was in a bit of a marshy area, a lot of muddy bog to maneuver through, watching out for sinkholes, which I think I did a pretty darn good job of this time! Short walk again with the lovely Mandy, this time led by the very fun Tommy and joined by Mandy's roommate Carolyn. The other people in the group were equally enjoyable, a fun bunch of 11 people total made for good conversation between the huffing and puffing at the more strenuous parts. I truly enjoy actually getting some interaction with Irish students/adults and other internationals on these hikes (not that I don't enjoy being an American magnet). The day was surprisingly sunny to begin with, giving us a sprinkling while at the bottom and then again at the very top. The ominous clouds greeted us at the top, but not before I managed to get a good look around at the surrounding area.

I absolutely love the hikes; the views are phenomenal. The exertion is totally worth it! We didn't even have to reach the full top before enjoying a spectacular view. Before us lay a lake and up in the distance we saw Croagh Patrick, just making out the white speck on top, the chapel I'd reached just a few weeks earlier on the last hike!

At the top, believe it or not, we caught some snow! The wind picked up quite a bit and the cloud had joined us. As I sat to enjoy my pb and j, I thought Tommy had thrown a snowball at me, cheap shot I thought! Wound up being a sudden flurry of snow. Big, huge, snowflakes, almost ball like. It was the weirdest thing. Our view was somewhat hidden, making me grateful I'd taken a bit of it in before fully resting. The snow stopped towards the end of our lunch break, giving us a dry walk down.

Now usually the walks down are killer on my knees, this time not so much. Maybe on account of the ground being so squishy. All I had to do was be really cautious of the sink holes. It was so funny coming down because as far away as it seemed that we had come from the top, we never quite seemed all that much closer to the bottom. Enjoying fun conversation and an occasional "whoop!" as I slid down and caught my balance, we finished out the hike quite lovely like.

I think I enjoyed myself more at the pub this time than any other. Sitting around a table, eating a Lion candy bar as suggested by Tommy (can't quite explain it, a sort of cookie wafer with caramel, surrounded by chocolate with crisps in it?) whilst they enjoyed their Guinness and ham and cheese sandwiches (I'm so healthy opting for the chocolate!). Then discussing peanut butter, beer, drinking games and who knows what. The ride home consisted of random stuff and ended with Disney movies.

The Disney convo left me wanting a Disney movie marathon. Coming back home, exhausted and not quite ready for more Ivory research, I joined Irene for a sit down while she ate dinner. Basically, after some Disney movie talk of our own, we've decided to do a Disney night on thursday, complete with ice cream. I'm stoked!

I somehow managed to do ivory research and then called it quits around 1. I woke this morning around 6 and got back to work. Managed to piece it all together enough that I emailed the power point presentation to my professor before I left for college. I practiced the presentation on my walk to school and a little bit in between the hour break I had between Globalization & Democracy and Economics. Come economics I was the second to present, I guess I did just fine and was terribly happy to have it over with!

After the second round of Globalization I went to the store (Lidl) and picked up a few groceries. Realizing I didn't get bread (didn't like their selection) or apples I stopped into Dunnes on the way back. HOly crap is Dunnes expensive in comparison to the others! I'll wait until tomorrow to stop by on my way home from school!

Once home I did laundry, watching MILK during the loads and after dinner. After the movie, which was awesome by the way (I learned loads about the gay rights movement of which I previously knew hardly anything), I pretty much just skyped all evening/night. I caught Kayla and Jess. Kayla gave me another ASL lesson, she's awesome and has a web cam on her laptop so I get to see her pretty face. Then a call from dad interrupted and I hung up with her and chatted with Dad for a bit. Shortly after hanging up with Dad, Kevin called me and I caught Wendy as well. All in All I felt pretty darn special tonight. Needless to say I didn't do any homework but I have everything for tomorrow done already so I don't care. I'm updating on this so all is well.

(In the photos, the one that looks at the snake river going towards the two lakes... well, we started by the lake on the left I believe and worked our way up past where that photo was taken... yeah man, I think it was like 720 meters, wohoo!).

Hike 4= exhaustion

Not good for someone who needs to stay up doing a presentation.
I'll recap on the hike later, wish me luck. For better or worse, I'll be giving this presentation tomorrow. I'm thinking it'll be fine, as long as I can get through this research without looking at the graphic pictures, it'll get done... that chocolate I just ate ought to have enough caffeine to keep me up for a bit ;)

I fail at research

I'm doing it now, well, technically after I post this. But yesterday, my day without class, I read Harry Potter, finally got out and worked out, running to the post to drop off a letter, watched Will and Grace, laughing out loud while I ate lunch and later dinner, and skyped with Kayla and Mom. No regrets on the skype or work out, or even Harry Potter, just on the lack of getting Ivory Trade research done.

I bet you'll never guess what today will consist of.

This week

Now to back in Ireland. Funny thing, I had an amazing time in London, could have easily explored for way longer, yet at the same time I was content returning to Ireland. It left me feeling happy with my country decision, which is definitely a good thing!

This week is RAG week: Raise a Grand, although I've no idea how they actually do it. It's more of a get trashed 24/7 as opposed to only in the evenings. No joke, on Monday I saw guys walking around campus with beers around 11 am, others already swaying. Centrepoint is usually fairly quiet, not this week! I think my apartment might be one of two in the complex not hosting a party (although Rachel did come back for the first time in over a week with friends and Irene said it kept her up til 3...). But things have been chill.

School has picked up a bit. I've got a presentation on a paper about the Ivory Trade (to ban or not to ban, that is the question). Funny thing, I've yet to write the paper, like most of the class. Instead I've been doing readings for other classes, studying ever so little for the test I had today (another one I feel good about) and reading Mandy's British copy of HP7.

I did catch Ash Weds mass yesterday. It was the shortest one of my life! I don't quite get mass here but whatever. It was nice because I got to see some awesome people, like Melissa my "sister", who I hadn't seen in a while.

I've also been looking at price tickets to Spain. I'm looking for those 5 euro ones that are really 25 after they charge me 10 for check in and 10 for credit card handling. Not having a whole lot of luck with Ryan Air just yet. Also looking at going to Nantes and Pais Vasco, again, neither one really cheap... hmmm I'll keep looking I guess.

That's it for now, sorry London was such a novel. I had such a great time and half of it is for me so that way I can remember the awesomeness.
Oh, even better, returning from London I got a package from home with contacts, electric toothbrush replacement, chocolate (good thing I'm doing moderation not complete abstinence this lent!) and photos. Thanks Mom!

slowly but surely

Last Friday was the Cambridge day of fun!

We started off our morning meeting up with Curt for some toast and corn flakes, yum. (Free food, can't beat it). Since Ellen wasn't going to get out of class until 1, we decided to explore the British Library for a while. Oh my goodness, if that was my library I would be there all of the time!

We didn't even get to see much of it with our 1 and a half hour visit. Actually, we only got to check out the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library, and it was phenomenal, I'm getting chills just thinking about it. This gallery took us through time, literature, music, religion, science, geography and politics! I saw the original copies of Handel's Messiah, Mozart's notes and an original book of compositions, Beatles' song lyrics (even with cartoon sketching on one of them), Jane Austen's handwriting in her original copy of Persuasions, Original Daoist, Hindi, and Buddhist sacred texts, one of the earliest copies of the Bible (A fourth century Codex!!!), early Qu'ran copies, the Magna Carta, Leonardo DaVinci's notes next to Sir Isaac Newton's diary entries... so much history, culture and tradition in there! I was sad to see the clock speed by so fast in a room that seemed to stand still in defiance of the sands of time.

Nonetheless, our sad departure from the library brought us to the happy adventuring in King's Cross Station. We first wanted to buy our tickets and make sure we knew where our train was leaving from. After that was settles, I started to ask our big security guard friend if it'd be ok to leave that area even if we'd already swiped our ticket through. Immediately he said, "You're looking for Harry Potter?" How'd he know?! ; ) He told us how to get to "Platform 9 3/4" Which was actually between platforms 8 and 9. Either way we took tons of pictures and had loads of fun before buying lunch and hopping onto the train towards Ellen!

In the Cambridge Station we waited ever so shortly for Miss Ellen to arrive. She came along with Carly, a truly fun girl, and the two showed us to Homerton College where they are living for the year. After settling down, we embarked upon our tour of Cambridge, led by the lovely Ellen. Wow, I had no idea how huge and sprawled out Cambridge was. I don't remember the exact number of colleges that make up the university, somewhere around forty or more?, but it was amazing. In each college I kept having to be reminded that students actually live there. Students actually live in King's College, near that giant of a "chapel" that still blows my mind! Students actually live where Sir Isaac Newton studied. Ellen showed us around loads of colleges, took us by a pub where Watson and Crick would chill over a pint while discussing the structure of DNA, introduced us to punting along the river, and made me jealous of their every day of the week open market. It was a lovely walk and the company was only better!

We weren't the only guests at Homerton and as such there was quite the feast to enjoy that night! I helped ever so slightly, mostly just hung out, while Ellen cooked a scrumptious meal for 20 or so (a pasta with a cheesy pesto sauce with tomatoes, sans the chicken for me... I still have yet to eat meat, it almost feels weird to think of it...). After the meal in the hallway (at least I think after it) we went back to town to pick up two other girls who had come to visit. Basically, after a visit to the co-op, the night became one of hanging out in the hallway, good stories, laughter, friends and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and wish I hadn't gone to bed but had only stayed up. Thanks again Ellen, you were a fantastic host and it was so good to see you!

Sadly the next morning we had to leave in order to meet up with Curt at Platform 9 3/4 at 10. I mean, how cool is that, to say that you're meeting up at Platform 9 and 3/4? Anyways, we met up without a problem. We actually split up again, he to view the changing of the guards (in which the band played Lion King, I was jealous!) and we went to Hyde Park. Again, time escaped us and we didn't get to see but a fraction of the park, but that fraction was gorgeous. The day was lovely, the people happy and the park beautiful. Only had it been after everything had bloomed could things have been more perfect. I kind of wish my Hyde Park was like that, it's ok, I love my neighborhood all the same. We met back up with Curt and a new friend, Renata, who he'd met the previous day. Renata was a treat! A Brazilian girl studying in Portugal who was traveling solo for a month. She said that the beautiful thing about traveling alone is that you're never alone! She gave me some ideas...

Anyways, we wound up with a whirlwind of a day. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral, the Millenium Bridge, and then walked along the river towards the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. We then split ways again.

Little did we know we chose the perfect day for using the underground... not. The lines out to where we were were out. We wound up walking all over, from closed stop to closed stop until we finally found a break! We raced around, in hopes of getting to the Museum quickly so that I could see the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon, so that Ellen and others wouldn't disown me, and then to Westminster Abbey for Mass at 5. Well, I did indeed see the stone and greek monuments. "No wonder Greece is pissed" escaped my mouth upon seeing such impressive structures within the British Museum. And the Rosetta Stone, having unlocked the Egyptian culture for us, gave me chills! Sadly that's all that I got to see in this last visit to the museum (good thing I'd caught it thursday!) before racing over to the Abbey. Unfortunately the race was in vain: the service was held at 3 on Sat, not at 5. So we were 2 hours 20 mins late, not just 20 mins late.

All I could do was laugh and look for a bench to sit at. All was well though: Big Ben at sunset was beautiful. From there we went back to Tottenham Court Road to get Mandy HP 1 and 7 british versions, catch a bite to eat (falafel for me!) before heading back to the Tower Bridge to catch it at night ( a wise tip from Renata). It was beautiful all lit up, and this time we knew how to best get back to a working underground! Then we returned to Big Ben and Parliament to see him all lit up. Again, terribly Impressive.

Favorite memory: Mandy reading aloud the first chapter to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as we sat in a bench facing Big Ben and Parliament. It was truly magical, had goosebumps the whole time. A motorcycle even drove by shortly after Hagrid arrived on Sirius' bike! It was the perfect ending to a wonderful adventure. From there we hopped on the underground for the last time to connect with the Stansted Express Train to take us to the airport.

Staying over at the airport Saturday night to Sunday morning, not so much fun. Didn't really sleep at all. Bright side, we did find Curt again and even ran into a friend we'd met here in Galway on her return back to the lovely Emerald Isle.

London was a fantastic adventure!