Haigh! Is mise Rachel. Ta ceathrar i mo theaghlach. Taimid inar gionai i Nua Shasana, i Na Stait Aontaithe. Ach ta me i mo chonae in Eirinn. Ta athair agus mathair agam, Richard agus Sandra. Ta siad colscartha. Is dliodoir e m´athair. Is maith leis an peil agus drama. Is fuath leis leadog. Is dioltoir i mo mhathair. Teann mo mhathair go dti an phictiurlann o am go cheile. Is brea lei galf. Ta deirfiur amhain agam freisin, Becky. Nil si posta go foill; ta si singil. Ta cat amhain aici, Titus. Is eolai i. Teann Becky go dti an teach tabhairne. Imrionn Becky rugbai freisin. Is mac leinn me. Ba dhioltoir me ach anois ta me. Ni singil me, Matthew is mo bhuachaill. Imrim cluiche corr agus sacar. Seinim an piano agus teim drama anois is oris. Is brea liom clasiceach racheol. Ta ceithre chat agam freisin, Ginny agus Mackenzie agus Raycroft agus Patrice.
Translation--> (Note that some of the facts had to be changed because of my limited vocabulary..)
My family
Hi! My name is Rachel. There are 4 people in my family. We are living in New England, in the United States of America. But right now I am living in Ireland. I have a father and mother, Richard and Sandra. They are divorced. My father is a lawyer. He likes football and drama. He hates tennis. My mother is a sales person. My mother likes to go to the cinema from time to time. She loves golf. I also have one sister, Becky. She is not married yet; she is single. She has one cat, Titus. She is a scientist. Becky goes to the pub. Becky also plays rugby. I am a student. I used to be a sales person, but now I am unemployed. I am not single, Matthew is my boyfriend. I play softball and soccer. I play piano and go to the drama every now and then. I love classic rock. I also have 4 cats, Ginny and Mackenzie and Raycroft and Patrice.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Belfast
Last weekend we went on a trip to Belfast. The city itself is very small and pretty shitty aside from a few nice areas. We were able to see the ship yards and where the Titanic was built which was pretty cool.
Saturday morning we did a day trip to the Giant's Causeway. It's wicked cool. There's a legend behind it...
According to mythology, the Giant of the Causeway was Ulster warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill (also known as Finn McCool), and two legends of Fionn's exploits provide an entertaining alternative to geologists' explanations of the Causeway's origins. In one, Fionn became besotted with a woman giant who resided on the Scottish island of Staffa (where the Causeway's fault-line resurfaces) and constructed a highway across the sea by which he could travel to woo his inamorata. An alternative version of the story suggests that Fionn built the Causeway in order to head over to Scotland to give another giant a good kicking, but, when confronted by his enemy's superior size, fled back to Ireland and hid in an extra-large cot which he'd persuaded his wife to construct. When the pursuing Scots giant arrived, he took just a glance at the sheer size of Fionn's supposed "baby" and fled back to Scotland.
The second story, with the baby, was what our tour guide told us. There's another story about geological basalt formations.. but I think that's just a load of BS. After the tour that took us down by the causeway, we were able to take a cliff walk up to the top. It was very cool!!
After that we met up with some of the Belfast kids that we met during Dublin orientation and walked around Victoria Square and stuff. It was a fun, relaxing evening.
The next day we went to a lecture on the political murals in Belfast. It was very interesting. At the end the lecturer talked about how they were painting over some of the nastier murals with things that showed more unity.. like famous soccer players. The lecturer, and our tour guide on the following bus tour of the city, talked about how Belfast used to be a very scary place to live. They also mentioned how they have peace now and that Belfast is becoming a very safe place to live.
I don't know if any of you have been following the Irish news, but the weekend after we were in Belfast, two British soldiers were shot and killed. A few days later a police officer was shot while sitting inside his cruiser. The gunmen have yet to be found but they are pretty sure that they are members of the IRA.
Here are links to some articles..
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090308/world/international_us_irish_army_shooting
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/europe/10ulster.html?hp
I'm just happy I didn't go to school in Belfast.
Saturday morning we did a day trip to the Giant's Causeway. It's wicked cool. There's a legend behind it...
According to mythology, the Giant of the Causeway was Ulster warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill (also known as Finn McCool), and two legends of Fionn's exploits provide an entertaining alternative to geologists' explanations of the Causeway's origins. In one, Fionn became besotted with a woman giant who resided on the Scottish island of Staffa (where the Causeway's fault-line resurfaces) and constructed a highway across the sea by which he could travel to woo his inamorata. An alternative version of the story suggests that Fionn built the Causeway in order to head over to Scotland to give another giant a good kicking, but, when confronted by his enemy's superior size, fled back to Ireland and hid in an extra-large cot which he'd persuaded his wife to construct. When the pursuing Scots giant arrived, he took just a glance at the sheer size of Fionn's supposed "baby" and fled back to Scotland.
The second story, with the baby, was what our tour guide told us. There's another story about geological basalt formations.. but I think that's just a load of BS. After the tour that took us down by the causeway, we were able to take a cliff walk up to the top. It was very cool!!
After that we met up with some of the Belfast kids that we met during Dublin orientation and walked around Victoria Square and stuff. It was a fun, relaxing evening.
The next day we went to a lecture on the political murals in Belfast. It was very interesting. At the end the lecturer talked about how they were painting over some of the nastier murals with things that showed more unity.. like famous soccer players. The lecturer, and our tour guide on the following bus tour of the city, talked about how Belfast used to be a very scary place to live. They also mentioned how they have peace now and that Belfast is becoming a very safe place to live.
I don't know if any of you have been following the Irish news, but the weekend after we were in Belfast, two British soldiers were shot and killed. A few days later a police officer was shot while sitting inside his cruiser. The gunmen have yet to be found but they are pretty sure that they are members of the IRA.
Here are links to some articles..
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090308/world/international_us_irish_army_shooting
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/europe/10ulster.html?hp
I'm just happy I didn't go to school in Belfast.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Waterford
So 2 weekends ago we (Scott, Liz, Patricia, Stev, David and I) decided to take a trip to Waterford. You know.. like Waterford Crystal?
So we got up wicked early on Saturday morning and took the bus into Dublin. Then walked to the Bus station in Dublin and got tickets for the bus to Waterford. The trip to Waterford was very long, like 4ish hours? Lame.. Scott and I slept or made up new rules for all the observation games that we already know. It was sort of fun.
When we finally arrived in Waterford we went to the tourist information building and I found a lot of cute sheep apparel! It's super cute how many sheep there are everywhere here! I try to spot the baby lambs in the fields as we drive by.. they're super cute. Sadly I didn't get anything.. not even the sheep in Ireland calendar.
Since Liz, Stev and Patricia were spending the night in Waterford and then going to New Ross in the morning we walked to find them a hotel to stay in. (Our Irish professor gave them a few suggestions and said that she would not feel comfortable suggesting a hostel.) The important part of this is that there was a McDonald's next to the hotel and I got a euro milkshake. It was tiny, and not that great.. but still made me happy!
After they got a room and everything we hurried back to the visitor's center because there was supposed to be a historical tour of Waterford leaving soon. (According to our guidebooks it was the only really cool thing to do in Waterford.)
Unfortunately, the tour does not run in the winter and would be open again in March. (We were there at the very end of February. Bad luck!) So instead we ate our bag lunches we packed ourselves and then went to the museum. It was pretty cool. Sadly Scott and I left early because we wanted to go see Reginald's Tower, the far corner of the city wall in the Viking times, and were afraid that it would close. (If the other people missed it they could just go the next day.. but since we were leaving on a 7:30pm bus we didn't want to miss it..)
Reginald's Tower was really cool! There was even an ancient latrine! After that we walked around the city and tried to follow the ancient city walls all the way around. Waterford is a very cute city! Then we walked back to the museum to find everyone else and turns out they made it into Reginald's Tower right before it closed. So we waited on the pier for them to finish in the tower and made up hillbilly personalities for everyone. Quite entertaining!
After that we had pretty much done everything there was to do in Waterford. So we walked around more and then chilled in a pub until it was time for the bus home, which was pretty uneventful. The bus was, however much quicker because there were a lot less stops to make, thank goodness. When we got to the train station in Dublin we learned that the train back to Maynooth didn't leave for over an hour. This sucked because we were tired and hungry, so I said fuck it and walked to Burger King on O'Connell St. and ordered the Recession Buster! A double cheeseburger, small soda and small fry for 3.50 euro. Whoo!
We ran into a kid from our Irish class on the train platform and talked with him until the train came and then all the way back. It was a fun, but very tiring day.
An interesting note about Waterford and Waterford Crystal-->
According to our Irish professor, for many years now they've been making majority of the crystal in cheaper places, like China, and then sending it to Waterford Ireland to be stamped and then sold. Now that the recession is happening, they can no longer afford to make any crystal in Waterford and have shut down their factory and moved to a cheaper place.. like China.
So Jill.. I was thinking Waterford crystal might not be the best choice for your souvenir.. any other ideas?
So we got up wicked early on Saturday morning and took the bus into Dublin. Then walked to the Bus station in Dublin and got tickets for the bus to Waterford. The trip to Waterford was very long, like 4ish hours? Lame.. Scott and I slept or made up new rules for all the observation games that we already know. It was sort of fun.
When we finally arrived in Waterford we went to the tourist information building and I found a lot of cute sheep apparel! It's super cute how many sheep there are everywhere here! I try to spot the baby lambs in the fields as we drive by.. they're super cute. Sadly I didn't get anything.. not even the sheep in Ireland calendar.
Since Liz, Stev and Patricia were spending the night in Waterford and then going to New Ross in the morning we walked to find them a hotel to stay in. (Our Irish professor gave them a few suggestions and said that she would not feel comfortable suggesting a hostel.) The important part of this is that there was a McDonald's next to the hotel and I got a euro milkshake. It was tiny, and not that great.. but still made me happy!
After they got a room and everything we hurried back to the visitor's center because there was supposed to be a historical tour of Waterford leaving soon. (According to our guidebooks it was the only really cool thing to do in Waterford.)
Unfortunately, the tour does not run in the winter and would be open again in March. (We were there at the very end of February. Bad luck!) So instead we ate our bag lunches we packed ourselves and then went to the museum. It was pretty cool. Sadly Scott and I left early because we wanted to go see Reginald's Tower, the far corner of the city wall in the Viking times, and were afraid that it would close. (If the other people missed it they could just go the next day.. but since we were leaving on a 7:30pm bus we didn't want to miss it..)
Reginald's Tower was really cool! There was even an ancient latrine! After that we walked around the city and tried to follow the ancient city walls all the way around. Waterford is a very cute city! Then we walked back to the museum to find everyone else and turns out they made it into Reginald's Tower right before it closed. So we waited on the pier for them to finish in the tower and made up hillbilly personalities for everyone. Quite entertaining!
After that we had pretty much done everything there was to do in Waterford. So we walked around more and then chilled in a pub until it was time for the bus home, which was pretty uneventful. The bus was, however much quicker because there were a lot less stops to make, thank goodness. When we got to the train station in Dublin we learned that the train back to Maynooth didn't leave for over an hour. This sucked because we were tired and hungry, so I said fuck it and walked to Burger King on O'Connell St. and ordered the Recession Buster! A double cheeseburger, small soda and small fry for 3.50 euro. Whoo!
We ran into a kid from our Irish class on the train platform and talked with him until the train came and then all the way back. It was a fun, but very tiring day.
An interesting note about Waterford and Waterford Crystal-->
According to our Irish professor, for many years now they've been making majority of the crystal in cheaper places, like China, and then sending it to Waterford Ireland to be stamped and then sold. Now that the recession is happening, they can no longer afford to make any crystal in Waterford and have shut down their factory and moved to a cheaper place.. like China.
So Jill.. I was thinking Waterford crystal might not be the best choice for your souvenir.. any other ideas?
Friday, February 20, 2009
American Battle sites vs. Irish Battle sites
As someone who has lived in Gettysburg for 2 and a half years and has been to the battle field countless times, on my own, with friends, family and had at least 3 of those tours where the park ranger drives your car around. And having grown up with a father who loves history and has taken me to countless battle sites and other historically significant places, I think it would be safe for me to say that I know what to expect when it comes to battles sites.
The Battle of the Boyne is a very famous battle that took place in Co. Meath, Ireland. Here's a mini bio on it..
The Battle of the Boyne (Irish: Cath na Bóinne) was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants for the English, Scottish and Irish thrones - the Catholic King James and the Protestant King William, who had deposed James in 1688. The battle was won by William, was a turning point in James' unsuccessful attempt to regain the crown and ultimately helped ensure the continuation of Protestant supremacy in Ireland.
The battle took place on July 1, 1690 (Old Style) just outside the town of Drogheda on Ireland's east coast. The armies stood on opposing sides of the River Boyne. William's forces easily defeated those of James who led an army of mostly raw recruits. The symbolic importance of this battle has made it one of the best-known battles in British and Irish history. It is a key part in Ulster Protestant folklore and is still commemorated today, principally by the Orange Institution. As a consequence of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar ("New Style" dating), the battle is now commemorated on July 12 each year.
Now it all sounds very cool and what not, but seriously.. this battle site was so lame! They had a 3 room museum type thing. One room had tents with what each James and William were probably doing the night before the battle. The other room had quotes written on the wall about the battle. Then the last room had some guns and stuff and a large board with lights showing where the two side's troops were at what times. That was actually pretty cool, but didn't Gettysburg have one of those and now it's like totally obsolete?
Gettysburg on the other hand, has an entire museum as part of their visitors center. I know this is new, but it's wicked cool. The museum is huge! It has like 5 videos as part of it, interactive games, lots of memorabilia and lots of other cool stuff.
The video about the Battle of the Boyne, while it was free, (actually this might not be true. I think you had to pay to get into the museum, which you don't have to at Gettysburg.) was actually quite funny, which isn't good. It was random and weird and the re-enactments filmed for certain scenes were horrible. And it was only 7 minutes, without stadium seating.
The Gettysburg movie on the other hand has Morgan Freeman. Need we say anything else? Not to mention they cyclorama.
There were no monuments at the Battle of the Boyne site, compared to the hundreds at Gettysburg. And I counted no more than 3 cannons, though there may have only been 2.
The most disappointing thing about the battle site however, was the size. Now I know that you cannot plan out ahead of time how big the battle site will be, but seriously, it was tiny! My Dad has done like, at least 10, battle field walks at Gettysburg. You could have easily walked around the entire Battle of the Boyne site in 30 minutes. In fact, we almost did.
Here are pictures..
These two pictures are from more or less the same place looking in opposite directions. And that's pretty much the entire site.
Overall, I think that as someone who has been living in Gettysburg, my hopes were high for the Battle of the Boyne site, but it did not deliver. Sadness..
The Battle of the Boyne is a very famous battle that took place in Co. Meath, Ireland. Here's a mini bio on it..
The Battle of the Boyne (Irish: Cath na Bóinne) was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants for the English, Scottish and Irish thrones - the Catholic King James and the Protestant King William, who had deposed James in 1688. The battle was won by William, was a turning point in James' unsuccessful attempt to regain the crown and ultimately helped ensure the continuation of Protestant supremacy in Ireland.
The battle took place on July 1, 1690 (Old Style) just outside the town of Drogheda on Ireland's east coast. The armies stood on opposing sides of the River Boyne. William's forces easily defeated those of James who led an army of mostly raw recruits. The symbolic importance of this battle has made it one of the best-known battles in British and Irish history. It is a key part in Ulster Protestant folklore and is still commemorated today, principally by the Orange Institution. As a consequence of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar ("New Style" dating), the battle is now commemorated on July 12 each year.
Now it all sounds very cool and what not, but seriously.. this battle site was so lame! They had a 3 room museum type thing. One room had tents with what each James and William were probably doing the night before the battle. The other room had quotes written on the wall about the battle. Then the last room had some guns and stuff and a large board with lights showing where the two side's troops were at what times. That was actually pretty cool, but didn't Gettysburg have one of those and now it's like totally obsolete?
Gettysburg on the other hand, has an entire museum as part of their visitors center. I know this is new, but it's wicked cool. The museum is huge! It has like 5 videos as part of it, interactive games, lots of memorabilia and lots of other cool stuff.
The video about the Battle of the Boyne, while it was free, (actually this might not be true. I think you had to pay to get into the museum, which you don't have to at Gettysburg.) was actually quite funny, which isn't good. It was random and weird and the re-enactments filmed for certain scenes were horrible. And it was only 7 minutes, without stadium seating.
The Gettysburg movie on the other hand has Morgan Freeman. Need we say anything else? Not to mention they cyclorama.
There were no monuments at the Battle of the Boyne site, compared to the hundreds at Gettysburg. And I counted no more than 3 cannons, though there may have only been 2.
The most disappointing thing about the battle site however, was the size. Now I know that you cannot plan out ahead of time how big the battle site will be, but seriously, it was tiny! My Dad has done like, at least 10, battle field walks at Gettysburg. You could have easily walked around the entire Battle of the Boyne site in 30 minutes. In fact, we almost did.
Here are pictures..
These two pictures are from more or less the same place looking in opposite directions. And that's pretty much the entire site.
Overall, I think that as someone who has been living in Gettysburg, my hopes were high for the Battle of the Boyne site, but it did not deliver. Sadness..
Photo Contest!!
The rules..
I know that you happen to be on an Arcadia trips this Saturday and a few of you on Sunday so I've come up with a little idea which may interest you! I have decided to run a small Valentine's Photo competition.
When you have your camera out on Saturday and you are busy clicking at what strikes you as something good to take a picture of -
THINK "ROMANTIC"!
Now I don't mean Romantic in the sense of couples or the cheesy stuff! Just remember you are in Romantic Ireland and this means you can perhaps stretch the imagination of what the word means to you.
Once you have decided on a nice photo then please send it to me by email with a short description of where exactly it was taken and what it means to you.
My entry..
And the response of the person running the contest..
Hi Rachel
Thank you so much for your wonderful work, it has been most impressive!! I would also like to print this in the Arcadia Newsletter which means I can pay you for your work also. More details later!
Once all the pictures have been carefully examined we will come up with a winner.
I will be in contact.
I haven't heard anything yet but I'm hoping soon! I'll let you know when I hear though!
Also.. Mom, in Ireland you have to pay to get plastic bags at the grocery store, so you can tell Vikki that her tote has proved to be vital for my trip! :C)
I know that you happen to be on an Arcadia trips this Saturday and a few of you on Sunday so I've come up with a little idea which may interest you! I have decided to run a small Valentine's Photo competition.
When you have your camera out on Saturday and you are busy clicking at what strikes you as something good to take a picture of -
THINK "ROMANTIC"!
Now I don't mean Romantic in the sense of couples or the cheesy stuff! Just remember you are in Romantic Ireland and this means you can perhaps stretch the imagination of what the word means to you.
Once you have decided on a nice photo then please send it to me by email with a short description of where exactly it was taken and what it means to you.
My entry..
And the response of the person running the contest..
Hi Rachel
Thank you so much for your wonderful work, it has been most impressive!! I would also like to print this in the Arcadia Newsletter which means I can pay you for your work also. More details later!
Once all the pictures have been carefully examined we will come up with a winner.
I will be in contact.
I haven't heard anything yet but I'm hoping soon! I'll let you know when I hear though!
Also.. Mom, in Ireland you have to pay to get plastic bags at the grocery store, so you can tell Vikki that her tote has proved to be vital for my trip! :C)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Modern Irish
(Person 1)- Dia duit.
(Person) 2- Dia is Muire duit.
1- Dia is Muire duit is Padraig.
2- Dia is Muire duit is Padraig is Brid.
1- Cad is ainm duit?
2- Jean-Luke is ainm dom. Cad is ainm duit?
1- Popeye is ainm duit.
10 points to whoever can guess what they're saying! (Contest goes till whenever I decide to update again.)
Anyways, I like modern Irish. Which is weird because after Latin I was sure that I had sworn of languages, other than English, forever. It does suck that it's the only class that I have 2 times a week, 2 hours a day.. for a total of 4 grueling hours a week. As Scott pointed out, 2 hour blocks are too much to learn a language.. there's just too much.
Irish numbers are weird. We did 1-10. Got it down nicely. Then we started to do more 11-100. Don't have it down so well. The teacher suggested we played Bingo with the numbers 1-20. She starts calling off numbers and after a little while looks up at the class and asks if anyone has Bingo yet. We all shake our heads no and she looks at us and said that she already called all the numbers. Oops. At least it was the whole class and not just me.
So we have numbers 1-100. Cool. Think it's that easy? No, of course it isn't. The Irish have a different counting system for people and nouns. (I'm not sure if that makes 2 total, or 3 total.) So now we have to learn a whole new set of numbers for counting people.. ugh. Why can't they just have one set of numbers like normal languages?
We also listen to these tapes of people speaking Irish and have to either choose the right answer to what they said or try to write down what they said, like their phone numbers and stuff. These started really, really easy. And I was really excited because I was getting the answers right. But now, the people talk so fast I'm trying to figure out what they said 3 words ago and miss bits. It stinks. Actually I didn't do as bad on the last one as I though I had, but she did play it 3 times..
I will impress you all with my Irish soon. I'll tell you all about Maynooth and the things that we have. Be prepared to be impressed! :C)
(Person) 2- Dia is Muire duit.
1- Dia is Muire duit is Padraig.
2- Dia is Muire duit is Padraig is Brid.
1- Cad is ainm duit?
2- Jean-Luke is ainm dom. Cad is ainm duit?
1- Popeye is ainm duit.
10 points to whoever can guess what they're saying! (Contest goes till whenever I decide to update again.)
Anyways, I like modern Irish. Which is weird because after Latin I was sure that I had sworn of languages, other than English, forever. It does suck that it's the only class that I have 2 times a week, 2 hours a day.. for a total of 4 grueling hours a week. As Scott pointed out, 2 hour blocks are too much to learn a language.. there's just too much.
Irish numbers are weird. We did 1-10. Got it down nicely. Then we started to do more 11-100. Don't have it down so well. The teacher suggested we played Bingo with the numbers 1-20. She starts calling off numbers and after a little while looks up at the class and asks if anyone has Bingo yet. We all shake our heads no and she looks at us and said that she already called all the numbers. Oops. At least it was the whole class and not just me.
So we have numbers 1-100. Cool. Think it's that easy? No, of course it isn't. The Irish have a different counting system for people and nouns. (I'm not sure if that makes 2 total, or 3 total.) So now we have to learn a whole new set of numbers for counting people.. ugh. Why can't they just have one set of numbers like normal languages?
We also listen to these tapes of people speaking Irish and have to either choose the right answer to what they said or try to write down what they said, like their phone numbers and stuff. These started really, really easy. And I was really excited because I was getting the answers right. But now, the people talk so fast I'm trying to figure out what they said 3 words ago and miss bits. It stinks. Actually I didn't do as bad on the last one as I though I had, but she did play it 3 times..
I will impress you all with my Irish soon. I'll tell you all about Maynooth and the things that we have. Be prepared to be impressed! :C)
Friday, February 13, 2009
An American in Ireland.
Do you want to know how the Irish people can tell who the Americans are?
We all wear a North Face. And it's so true! Majority of the American students here have a North Face and wear it every time they go out. Out of the 12 or so kids from Arcadia at the Dublin ornamentation (the people going to Maynooth and Belfast), 3 of us had the exact same North Face coat. 2 of those 3 are Scott and I. We can be seen a great deal of the time walking around Maynooth looking like twins in black shoes or sneakers, jeans, a hoodie and a North Face.
You can also tell who the Americans are by the people not wearing skinny jeans and flat boots all the time or flowery skirts with black tights. Also, look for the handful of girls who are severely under dressed at the Roost on Thursday nights and you'll find Americans.
Or you can just wait until after participating in class discussion for about an hour and a half your American professor (we think) looks at you in front of the entire class of about 40 students and says...
Professor- I just realized that you don't have an accent! You're not Irish are you?
Me- No.
Professor- Are you from the States?
Me- Yes.
Professor- Where abouts?
Me- Massachusetts.
Irish students- *laughter*
I should have asked this professor where he was from since we're pretty sure that he's American and the anthropology world is rather small in the US.
He's also pretty funny because it's his first time as a lecturer, although he said he has been a guest lecturer before (presumably in the US). On the first day of class he asked everyone, "They don't actually lecture for the full 2 hours do they?" To which the class responded that they usually give you a break in between or only lecture for an hour and a half. The professor looked rather relieved and said "Okay, I didn't think so." All of his lectures have been about an hour and a half.
Also getting prescription drugs are ten times easier in Ireland than in America. This morning I went to the doctor, asked for the prescription, got it, went to the pharmacy and filled it in under 40 minutes and for only 7 euro. The longest part was figuring out what the overseas equivalent to what I take was, but we did!
And with that I'm almost late for being early to class.. tootles!
We all wear a North Face. And it's so true! Majority of the American students here have a North Face and wear it every time they go out. Out of the 12 or so kids from Arcadia at the Dublin ornamentation (the people going to Maynooth and Belfast), 3 of us had the exact same North Face coat. 2 of those 3 are Scott and I. We can be seen a great deal of the time walking around Maynooth looking like twins in black shoes or sneakers, jeans, a hoodie and a North Face.
You can also tell who the Americans are by the people not wearing skinny jeans and flat boots all the time or flowery skirts with black tights. Also, look for the handful of girls who are severely under dressed at the Roost on Thursday nights and you'll find Americans.
Or you can just wait until after participating in class discussion for about an hour and a half your American professor (we think) looks at you in front of the entire class of about 40 students and says...
Professor- I just realized that you don't have an accent! You're not Irish are you?
Me- No.
Professor- Are you from the States?
Me- Yes.
Professor- Where abouts?
Me- Massachusetts.
Irish students- *laughter*
I should have asked this professor where he was from since we're pretty sure that he's American and the anthropology world is rather small in the US.
He's also pretty funny because it's his first time as a lecturer, although he said he has been a guest lecturer before (presumably in the US). On the first day of class he asked everyone, "They don't actually lecture for the full 2 hours do they?" To which the class responded that they usually give you a break in between or only lecture for an hour and a half. The professor looked rather relieved and said "Okay, I didn't think so." All of his lectures have been about an hour and a half.
Also getting prescription drugs are ten times easier in Ireland than in America. This morning I went to the doctor, asked for the prescription, got it, went to the pharmacy and filled it in under 40 minutes and for only 7 euro. The longest part was figuring out what the overseas equivalent to what I take was, but we did!
And with that I'm almost late for being early to class.. tootles!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Snow
There was some light snow here a few days ago and it was actually very pretty despite being freezing. The rather annoying part of it however is that the Irish have absolutely no idea how to deal with the snow. Classes were canceled and the roads were packed with traffic. It was a genuine Irish blizzard.
The sad thing is that there wasn't even enough snow to cover the grass. This light dusting wouldn't even have given us an hour delay in grade school. In Mass it would be considered a disappointment and we would curse the weather man for predicting a blizzard. (Or we would be happy that there was so little snow depending on age and plans.. was it a school day?.. stuff like that.)
It was actually pretty funny and pathetic watching the Irish try to deal with the snow. Especially 2 days after the "snow storm" when a maintenance man walked around putting salt down on the walkways.
We're meeting tonight to discuss travel plans while were here. The top of my list is Salzburg, Austria because I really, really want to do the Sound of Music tour. It's a little pricey but it's 4 hours and takes you all around the town and even to the mountains the opening scene was shot at. Plus all the reviews said it was really fun and the bus drivers are a lot of fun!
Other possibilities include Rome, Venice and London. Plus trips to Galway and Cork. Scott has friends in London and Rome who we might be able to stay with so we wouldn't have to pay for housing.. always a plus! Anyways more details about travel plans later.. probably after the meeting tonight.
The sad thing is that there wasn't even enough snow to cover the grass. This light dusting wouldn't even have given us an hour delay in grade school. In Mass it would be considered a disappointment and we would curse the weather man for predicting a blizzard. (Or we would be happy that there was so little snow depending on age and plans.. was it a school day?.. stuff like that.)
It was actually pretty funny and pathetic watching the Irish try to deal with the snow. Especially 2 days after the "snow storm" when a maintenance man walked around putting salt down on the walkways.
We're meeting tonight to discuss travel plans while were here. The top of my list is Salzburg, Austria because I really, really want to do the Sound of Music tour. It's a little pricey but it's 4 hours and takes you all around the town and even to the mountains the opening scene was shot at. Plus all the reviews said it was really fun and the bus drivers are a lot of fun!
Other possibilities include Rome, Venice and London. Plus trips to Galway and Cork. Scott has friends in London and Rome who we might be able to stay with so we wouldn't have to pay for housing.. always a plus! Anyways more details about travel plans later.. probably after the meeting tonight.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Whoo!
Sorry for the extremely long delay. I've just been typing in every possible password and email address combination and have finally gotten back into the blog! Yay!
Anyways, Ireland is going very well. We just had our homestay weekend. It was a lot of fun, but I think that I may have caught a cold from the kids, which sucks. Also, I'm pretty sure that I wasn't warm all weekend.
I also finally have my class schedule worked out!
Monday-
10-12- Modern Irish
3-4- Women in Rome
Tuesday-
2-4- Applied Anthropology
4-6- Affliction and Healing (medical anthropology)
Wednesday-
5-6- Women in Rome
Thursday-
2-4- Modern Irish
Friday-
12-2- Ireland since 1800
Each class is worth 5 credits with the exception of Irish, which is 10 credits for a total of 30 credits. (what I need to take.. yay!) 2 hour classes suck. There's really no other way to put it. Irish wasn't too bad today, but really.. it's so long. And Tuesdays.. 4 hours of anthropology in a row like that. Ew. The classes are also a lot less discussion based and more lecture based than in the US. Apparently the Irish professor like having American students because they talk when the Irish students don't.
In other news, all of my roommates seem very nice. I don't see them too often, I think they all go home on the weekends. I've been hanging out with the other students from Arcadia, plus Patricia who we met here, mostly.
My room is adorable. Pretty much everything I need. Although I am having severe back pains from the state of my mattress...
Right now I'm dipping custard cream cookies into a jar of nutella and it's delicious!
I have some reading to do before class though so ta ta for now!
Anyways, Ireland is going very well. We just had our homestay weekend. It was a lot of fun, but I think that I may have caught a cold from the kids, which sucks. Also, I'm pretty sure that I wasn't warm all weekend.
I also finally have my class schedule worked out!
Monday-
10-12- Modern Irish
3-4- Women in Rome
Tuesday-
2-4- Applied Anthropology
4-6- Affliction and Healing (medical anthropology)
Wednesday-
5-6- Women in Rome
Thursday-
2-4- Modern Irish
Friday-
12-2- Ireland since 1800
Each class is worth 5 credits with the exception of Irish, which is 10 credits for a total of 30 credits. (what I need to take.. yay!) 2 hour classes suck. There's really no other way to put it. Irish wasn't too bad today, but really.. it's so long. And Tuesdays.. 4 hours of anthropology in a row like that. Ew. The classes are also a lot less discussion based and more lecture based than in the US. Apparently the Irish professor like having American students because they talk when the Irish students don't.
In other news, all of my roommates seem very nice. I don't see them too often, I think they all go home on the weekends. I've been hanging out with the other students from Arcadia, plus Patricia who we met here, mostly.
My room is adorable. Pretty much everything I need. Although I am having severe back pains from the state of my mattress...
Right now I'm dipping custard cream cookies into a jar of nutella and it's delicious!
I have some reading to do before class though so ta ta for now!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Cold and wet...
So my flights went really well. The plane to Dublin wasn't even full so I was able to have the window and a smelly, yet very nice European man had the isle with a seat barrier. The extra leg room was nice! :C) I did end up taking CJ and Sophia in a pillow case so they're here with me now! Yay!
Haha.. anyways. Once I got off the flight I went through immigration and all that fun stuff. I had to wait approximately 30 seconds to get my luggage and found the aircoach thing with no problem. I got a tiny bit turned around walking to the hostel.. and my shoulder still hasn't recovered I think, but in the end I made it just fine and everything was nice.
Hostels are interesting. There are 4 of us in 2 bunk beds, so we all have our own bed and stuff, and we share a small bathroom. All that is fine, the problem comes with the lack of space for our luggage. We all packed for 5 months and there is not floor space for 4 people's shit for 5 months. We're making due though, we only have to stay here for a few days anyways..
So today we went to a group lunch and everyone seems pretty nice. There are only 5 people going to Maynooth and the rest are going to Belfast. But we're all doing our Arcadia orientation together. It's cute really. After lunch we walked around Dublin together. We went to Trinity College, tried to see the Book of Kells but the exhibit is closed until later in the new year, bitches. Then we went to the Archaeology Museum of Dublin and then to the Dublin Castle, which was closed because it's Sunday.
Tomorrow Arcadia paid for some type of sight seeing tour so we will probably get another chance to go to the castle. Yay! Right now I’m chilling in the downstairs lobby of the hostel and I think I’ll take a nap in a little bit. I’m trying to harass Jon to find Matt and make him get on aim. Most restaurants aren’t serving dinner tonight because it’s Sunday so I think we’re going to grab something quick on our own and then meet up later to go to a pub and hang out or something. Sounds like fun! :C)
Haha.. anyways. Once I got off the flight I went through immigration and all that fun stuff. I had to wait approximately 30 seconds to get my luggage and found the aircoach thing with no problem. I got a tiny bit turned around walking to the hostel.. and my shoulder still hasn't recovered I think, but in the end I made it just fine and everything was nice.
Hostels are interesting. There are 4 of us in 2 bunk beds, so we all have our own bed and stuff, and we share a small bathroom. All that is fine, the problem comes with the lack of space for our luggage. We all packed for 5 months and there is not floor space for 4 people's shit for 5 months. We're making due though, we only have to stay here for a few days anyways..
So today we went to a group lunch and everyone seems pretty nice. There are only 5 people going to Maynooth and the rest are going to Belfast. But we're all doing our Arcadia orientation together. It's cute really. After lunch we walked around Dublin together. We went to Trinity College, tried to see the Book of Kells but the exhibit is closed until later in the new year, bitches. Then we went to the Archaeology Museum of Dublin and then to the Dublin Castle, which was closed because it's Sunday.
Tomorrow Arcadia paid for some type of sight seeing tour so we will probably get another chance to go to the castle. Yay! Right now I’m chilling in the downstairs lobby of the hostel and I think I’ll take a nap in a little bit. I’m trying to harass Jon to find Matt and make him get on aim. Most restaurants aren’t serving dinner tonight because it’s Sunday so I think we’re going to grab something quick on our own and then meet up later to go to a pub and hang out or something. Sounds like fun! :C)
Friday, January 23, 2009
My living room looks like it exploded with clothing. Therefore, the packing process has begun. I'm trying really hard not to overpack. (I know I overpacked for Greece. Sadly I think I packed more for Greece than I'm planning to for Ireland.. maybe not though.)
I'm packing my rainboots and in order to save space I was trying to stuff things inside them. My sheets are big an bulky so I attempted to shove each sheet in a boot. It didn't work very well.. as one could imagine..
Anyways.. one thing I was incredibly worried about I took care of this morning. In order to register with the Irish Police as an alien I need to show them a whole bunch of paperwork, my passport and a bank statement saying that I have at least 1500 euros (around $2000) in my account. I thought up until about yesterday that this could be your parents account and they could write a letter saying that they agreed to finance your trip, blah blah blah whatever. Well I found out yesterday that it needs to be in my name! Uh oh!!
Neither of my parents had a free $2000 lying around to put into my account and the program director said that I should really bring the statement with me. So this morning I put all the money I had for the first few months of my trip, plus the measly little amount that was already in my savings account, plus all but $40 worth of my checking account in Gettysburg, plus $500 Linda temporarily lent me. Whooo! I'll go back tomorrow morning and get the rest of the money I put in and take it out because you can't access saving accounts overseas!
A sort of sucky thing happened after my victory at the bank. I got a call from Amanda from Arcadia in charge of the programs to Ireland. She said that she had just gotten a call from Ireland and the Arcadia people there who decided to cancel the group pick up at the airport because not enough people were coming in that day (tomorrow.) So she asked if I was comfortable getting from the airport to the hostel in Dublin and walked me through the 2 main ways. Taxi--> easy but like $50 or airbus--> not as easy and only about $10. I think that's a no brainer. So that will be pretty interesting. I have the directions written down so I think I'll be able to manage. She said it was the first stop off the airbus, which comes every 15 minutes to the airport, and from the first stop (O'Connell street.. so Irish), it is only about a 5 minute walk with luggage. Can I do it? Yes I can!
Anyways.. I guess this is probably enough procrastinating and I should start making decisions on what I should and should not bring. And I think the dog just farted or something because he stink and the room stinks and he's awfully close to my jeans. Ick!
PS- I'm watching The Girl's Next Door while I destroy the living room and their trying to find the 55th anniversary playmate (a huge honor apparently). And the one girl was saying that when she got the offer to be one of the finalists the first person she called was her grandma and her grandmother was so proud of her and thought it was a great opportunity. Can I just say that if I told my grandmother that I wanted to be in playboy she probably would have dropped dead. Like seriously. I don't know if any of you have met my grandmother, but she like grew up in a tiny little town, with a one room school house, hand sewed her wedding dress, totally Little House on the Prairie. Seriously.. she would not think it was a great opportunity, to say the least.
I'm packing my rainboots and in order to save space I was trying to stuff things inside them. My sheets are big an bulky so I attempted to shove each sheet in a boot. It didn't work very well.. as one could imagine..
Anyways.. one thing I was incredibly worried about I took care of this morning. In order to register with the Irish Police as an alien I need to show them a whole bunch of paperwork, my passport and a bank statement saying that I have at least 1500 euros (around $2000) in my account. I thought up until about yesterday that this could be your parents account and they could write a letter saying that they agreed to finance your trip, blah blah blah whatever. Well I found out yesterday that it needs to be in my name! Uh oh!!
Neither of my parents had a free $2000 lying around to put into my account and the program director said that I should really bring the statement with me. So this morning I put all the money I had for the first few months of my trip, plus the measly little amount that was already in my savings account, plus all but $40 worth of my checking account in Gettysburg, plus $500 Linda temporarily lent me. Whooo! I'll go back tomorrow morning and get the rest of the money I put in and take it out because you can't access saving accounts overseas!
A sort of sucky thing happened after my victory at the bank. I got a call from Amanda from Arcadia in charge of the programs to Ireland. She said that she had just gotten a call from Ireland and the Arcadia people there who decided to cancel the group pick up at the airport because not enough people were coming in that day (tomorrow.) So she asked if I was comfortable getting from the airport to the hostel in Dublin and walked me through the 2 main ways. Taxi--> easy but like $50 or airbus--> not as easy and only about $10. I think that's a no brainer. So that will be pretty interesting. I have the directions written down so I think I'll be able to manage. She said it was the first stop off the airbus, which comes every 15 minutes to the airport, and from the first stop (O'Connell street.. so Irish), it is only about a 5 minute walk with luggage. Can I do it? Yes I can!
Anyways.. I guess this is probably enough procrastinating and I should start making decisions on what I should and should not bring. And I think the dog just farted or something because he stink and the room stinks and he's awfully close to my jeans. Ick!
PS- I'm watching The Girl's Next Door while I destroy the living room and their trying to find the 55th anniversary playmate (a huge honor apparently). And the one girl was saying that when she got the offer to be one of the finalists the first person she called was her grandma and her grandmother was so proud of her and thought it was a great opportunity. Can I just say that if I told my grandmother that I wanted to be in playboy she probably would have dropped dead. Like seriously. I don't know if any of you have met my grandmother, but she like grew up in a tiny little town, with a one room school house, hand sewed her wedding dress, totally Little House on the Prairie. Seriously.. she would not think it was a great opportunity, to say the least.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Boo!
I just wrote a really long post and accidentally deleted it trying to add a picture. Ugh. Whatever. The post was called the end of my procrastination, but it was a lie. I was procrastinating. Badly. Boo!
In short my trip to Gettysburg was amazing but I was sad that I didn't get to see a lot of people. Matt and I had a wonderful spur of the moment trip to Baltimore for our anniversary dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was delicious. Then we went to hang out at his cousin's house who lives in Baltimore. That was a lot of fun too.
I went into more detail in the post that I accidentally deleted but it involves med school, dissecting cadavers, and why I'll never eat fast food again. Ick!
Anyways I need to buy a couple things before I go. I can't for the life of me find my adapters I took to Greece so I guess I need new ones. There's actually a wicked cool one that has like 120 countries in one little device. (Which will be much harder to lose I hope.) And then I need like a toothbrush and a toothbrush holder I think. Maybe a loofah, a bottle of advil and a pack of socks. Other than that I just need to sort my paperwork, get the things I'll need to register with the Irish police and hopefully (if my insurance company lets me) get all my prescription medicine that I'll need while I'm over there.
Well, no that I've written a list of things I'll need I think I'll put on a load of laundry and write my list on a piece of paper and then read more or something...
In short my trip to Gettysburg was amazing but I was sad that I didn't get to see a lot of people. Matt and I had a wonderful spur of the moment trip to Baltimore for our anniversary dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was delicious. Then we went to hang out at his cousin's house who lives in Baltimore. That was a lot of fun too.
I went into more detail in the post that I accidentally deleted but it involves med school, dissecting cadavers, and why I'll never eat fast food again. Ick!
Anyways I need to buy a couple things before I go. I can't for the life of me find my adapters I took to Greece so I guess I need new ones. There's actually a wicked cool one that has like 120 countries in one little device. (Which will be much harder to lose I hope.) And then I need like a toothbrush and a toothbrush holder I think. Maybe a loofah, a bottle of advil and a pack of socks. Other than that I just need to sort my paperwork, get the things I'll need to register with the Irish police and hopefully (if my insurance company lets me) get all my prescription medicine that I'll need while I'm over there.
Well, no that I've written a list of things I'll need I think I'll put on a load of laundry and write my list on a piece of paper and then read more or something...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I have so much to do..
And I haven't even made any lists yet. I suppose that will be my main goal for tonight or tomorrow.. or whenever I get around to it. I have pretty much all the technical stuff done.. I just need to get the other stuff, like shampoo and what not. Lately when people would ask me if I had everything I need I would say that I needed rain boots (apparently it rains a lot in Ireland..), now when they ask I tell them that I have rain boots. I don't suppose that I can go with just rain boots though.
I'm still trying to figure out the Sophia issue. My options right now are..
1. Leave her in Gettysburg will Matt.
2. Have my mom mail her to me.
3. Stuff her in a pillowcase and take her on the plane with me.
3 seems like a good option but I'm thinking I'll have a lot of shit to carry when I get off the plane.. I don't know. I have time to think about it. But I really, really don't want to go to Ireland for 5 months without her..
Anyways I am beyond excited to go Gettysburg this weekend!! It'll be really good to see everyone one last time before I leave. Not to mention I get to see Matt for the last time and we're going to celebrate our 2 year anniversary a week early because I'll be in Ireland for the actual day. (Hopefully it will be better than our one year.)
Ugh.. more cleaning to get to. I don't think I'll accomplish my goal of re-reading all the Harry Potter books before I leave, but I will finish all my Nancy Drew games!! Woot!!
I'm still trying to figure out the Sophia issue. My options right now are..
1. Leave her in Gettysburg will Matt.
2. Have my mom mail her to me.
3. Stuff her in a pillowcase and take her on the plane with me.
3 seems like a good option but I'm thinking I'll have a lot of shit to carry when I get off the plane.. I don't know. I have time to think about it. But I really, really don't want to go to Ireland for 5 months without her..
Anyways I am beyond excited to go Gettysburg this weekend!! It'll be really good to see everyone one last time before I leave. Not to mention I get to see Matt for the last time and we're going to celebrate our 2 year anniversary a week early because I'll be in Ireland for the actual day. (Hopefully it will be better than our one year.)
Ugh.. more cleaning to get to. I don't think I'll accomplish my goal of re-reading all the Harry Potter books before I leave, but I will finish all my Nancy Drew games!! Woot!!
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