Tuigim cúpla focal (I understand a couple of words)

Haha, this is in response to the title of this blog as a whole. It's pronounced "tigim coupla fukl" and it's true, I am starting to understand a few things in Gaelic, pronounced "goelgay" (kinda). We've been spending a lot of time looking through children's dictionaries, the ones with pictures, and just finding the ones we like and telling them to the person next to us. Also, we've learned to talk about the weather (aimser), and to count. Oh, as well as introduce ourselves, say where we're from and...well I guess that's about it.

So it's definitely been awhile since I wrote last and I'm going to try to cover all the exciting, and probably not so exciting things that have happened since then. So let's seeeeeeeee:

A week ago today (last Saturday, the 22nd) we headed out to Blarney. It was chilly, as per usual, but the weather was nice, there was no 1000 mile an hour winds and no rain. The town was really cute and the grounds of Blarney castle were beautiful. We wandered around the outside, taking goofy pictures, then we headed into the castle. Right at the bottom there was a tunnel, where apparently, invaders were trying to dig their way into the castle, but were unable to make it, it was a tight squeeze, but we crawled through.

Blarney castle through the mist

Alyssa crawling through the tunnel, like a marauding invader...

Then we climbed our way up crazy small spiraling stairs to get through all of the chambers (if you want to see more pictures, hit up my facebook, there's a whole album), which were really cool. It's weird to think that a whole household used to live there, children used to scamper through the hallways and play in front of the fire, now it's just all open, all of the wood has rotted away, leaving a very cold, gray tower castle covered in the graffiti of hundreds of years of tourists. Anyways, we made it to the top safely, had a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside and town of Blarney (it's important to know the difference between 'Blarney' and 'Baloney'!! Blarney = when you ask a woman how old she is, because you want to know at what age women are most beautiful. Baloney = when you tell a 50 year old woman she looks 18). So we get to the top, and most of us decided to follow through with the kissing of the stone. It's actually well below the walkway, so a man is up there with things to sit on to make sure you don't fall and break your head open, it was kinda fun!

Me kissing the Blarney stone. Below you can see the personalized "Blarney Castle" bench that one would basically fall on if there weren't those bars there to catch you.

After making it back down the skinny spiral staircase, we wandered the grounds. They were really beautiful, but oddly, I've find that the Irish really like to do landscaping with tropical plants that don't really survive through the cold winter weather here. There was still a lot of frost even in the afternoon as we walked around, beautiful, but cold. There were a lot of different gardens, a lot of old stones/relics. Including a druid's cave, wishing stairs, a portal tomb, a witch's kitchen, and last but not least, a druid's stone, which of course, I had to be sacrificed on, twice. which can be seen here http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150121841288055&set=t.723997034&pid=7889524&id=584978054

Then we wandered to the poison garden, which was not in bloom, but there were a lot of interesting facts and plants there. It would be interesting to see if anyone has ever tried to poison someone with something from that garden after visiting Blarney...We just continued our wandering from here. I saw that there was a fern garden, which I definitely wanted to hit up, but everyone else headed for the manor house, which I realized may have been the better choice when I got to the fern garden. They had planted it full of tree ferns, which by gum, I love to death, having seen them all over the place in New Zealand and Australia this summer, but they do not fare well in this cold weather, they were all covered in plastic and sad. I met up with the rest of the gang after wandering by myself with the ferns and we made our way to the lake. We were hoping to be there for sunset, but were too early, the light on the water and the grasses were still beautiful, and there were some swans swimming around as well.

A very sad tree fern. I saw pictures of them healthy, definitely in the spring and summer, but it just seems silly to have them here looking like that for most of the year!

Pretty lake with pretty sunlight.

We decided that since it would be too long to wait for the sunset, and people were getting hungry, we'd head back into town, grab a snack and then go home. The town was nice, we went to a pub, the owner of which spent time living in Connecticut and had connections, either brothers or relatives, that owned pubs in or near all the places we lived...cool. Then we headed back to Cork for a low key evening, I don't even remember what I did, probably made dinner and read or something exciting like that. 

The week was pretty uneventful. Whistle lesson on Monday, I wish we could move faster and just learn tunes, but there are a lot of us in the class. That night we went to  an Spailpín Fánach, the pub that has UCC sessions every Monday. I just sat, ate the free finger food, and chatted with some people from some of my classes, it was really nice. OH! Also, I met a friend of a friend, both from France, anyways, the friend of the friend, Martin, has two guitars, and loaned me his acoustic for a couple of weeks, so I'm playing the guitar again!! It's really nice, but my fingers hurt, I don't know what I'm going to do when he wants it back, but he does live in my building so hopefully I'll be able to borrow it again.

Tuesday, I went to rugby practice again, at the beginning of it I decided that I didn't want to go anymore, that I just don't like the sport enough to continue, but by the end I felt I was improving and decided to keep trying and see what happens. It wasn't as cold as the previous week, so that was a little better. On Wednesday the team had a match, which I did not play in! But I did go to watch, and even though they expected to lose big time, we managed to pull ahead at the very last second (literally) to win the game. It was exciting, but still confusing to watch, and that night it was freezing. The girls I went to watch the game and I went to the "Old Lady Bar" (this isn't really what it's called, it's just owned and operated by a very nice old lady) afterwards to warm up. We sat by the fire and had Irish coffees, which were just right to bring us back to life. The pub itself is a little different then most of the others I've been in, it had more of a classy feel, wood panelling, dark, it almost felt like the 20s, I almost expected a flapper and men in their smoking jackets to show up. It was really nice. 

However, I only realized as we were leaving, that somewhere along the way I'd lost my ID card and my key card to get into my building. Both of which I really needed, the key card, to of course, get in my building and go to bed seeing as it was getting close to eleven, and my ID card because I was planning on going to immigration the next day and needed it. I tried not to freak out, called my roommate, who kindly let me in the building, and went to bed, figuring I would figure something out the next day. The next morning, I awoke bright and early to trek the two miles back to the field as quickly as possible because immigration is only open at specific times and is notoriously slow going. The cards were right where we'd been sitting, thank goodness ( I would've had to pay to get new ones) and I hustled butt to get back and meet my friend to get to immigration, which went smoothly. I am now allowed to stay here until May 31st...woot! That was the majority of my Thursday. Well I guess that's not true, it was such an ordeal that I feel like that was it's own separate day. I rested, at lunch, then went to uillean pipes (which I am getting good at bt-dubs, just you all wait!!)

After classes, I headed over to Colleen's and then to Claire's. She wants to make a new cocktail each week and had big plans for Thursday which didn't exactly work out. She did make some good sangria and we watched the British version of the Oscar's? The Emmy's? whichever one is about television, I never remember these things. Anyway, it was interesting to see what they're watching over here...a lot of Glee also...hmmm

Friday was definitely low key, played guitar, went grocery shopping, wrote applications and emailed people about summer internships. Right now I've got a lot of lines out there, hoping for at least one bite!! There's the research program at UW-Madison, Kent Island through Bowdoin, the Forest Service, and then a Forest ecology internship in the Smokey Mountains that I just learned about and sent stuff in for, just cuz...cross your fingers, hopefully this summer will be full of cool ecology in same new and exciting place!! On Friday I also cooked an awesome chili, I've been really proud of my cooking endeavors so far. I just wish I could have more dinners with people. I have cooked for some friends before, but they just came up, ate, they did help clean, but then they left. I wish we could all cook together and hang out and so forth. I make delicious food that I would be happy to share with people (as long as they pitched in monetarily or made it a pot luck) and I've tried, but I guess people are just busy and it's hard to organize. Anyways, again, if anyone has any favorite easy recipes they want to send my way, please do. My email is rperez@bowdoin.edu, you should also have access to my address....!!!

Today we had our first archaeology field trip to West Cork. It was really cool! We started at a Ringfort. All that was left of it were three ditches and three banks, the fortifications basically. This was from the early medieval period, around the 5th century AD. There was a lot of cool pottery and stuff found there, indicating it was probably an important king that was able to import wines and food from as far away as France and Spain.

The inside of the fort. It was just grass now, but it used to have huts and such, it was a little village.

This is one of the three ditches dug around the Ringfort. The professor said that they dug into living rock (I'm not exactly sure what living rock is) but it was 3 or 4 meters into the ground...really really deep...very impressive.

Our next stop was the Ballinacarriga Tower House. It was very similar to Blarney Castle, just a bit smaller. Same tiny spiral staircase, three floors, fire places, windows...and so on. Our professor has a master key to all the cool old places like this so we got to go in and up. It's really cool to be in these places. All I could imagine was actually being someone who lived there, what would they think if they could see a group of 40 twenty year old kids with cell phones and jeans wandering around their home and their chapel??

The tower house. The windows have all been murdered, they used to be really pretty but people took the stones out and sold them. Doesn't it look kinda like a barren place to live in? At the top you can see the divet where they would have thrown things out of at attackers. Apparently it wasn't so much hot oil as rocks and maybe boiling water.

The window added in 1585. We thought the light streaming in was really cool. I wanted it to be pointing at some clue to a mystery or something, but there wasn't anything where the light hit....bummer.

Next stop: Clonakilty for lunch. Colleen, Betti (my roommate) and I walked around, got a cookie to share and ate the lunch we'd packed. There was a beautiful church, and it was a cute Irish town, but we had to head out pretty soon to our next site, Coppinger's court. This place was a manor house, a lot bigger then the tower house, a lot more symmetrical, and not built to withstand any possibility of attack. It was also completely falling down, it was too dangerous to go inside. This place was built in the early modern period, so only around 400 years ago, and it hasn't lasted nearly as well as the tower house which was built 300 years before it!

The house, in complete ruins. Apparently some American wanted to make it into a hotel, but now the Ivy has it and won't let go!!

A lot more symmetrical then the tower house. It was more about aesthetics then utility and defense for these nobles.

Our final stop was at the Drombeg stone circle, which was from the Bronze age, way before either of the two houses we'd seen. It was really cool, kinda like a mini stonehenge I guess. There was also remnants of a house and of a separate kitchen building which had a well, and a water trough which was used to boil meat...way cool!

The Drombeg stone circle. So ancient...so cool

The kitchen area, the trough is the rectangle and the well is the circle up and to the right of the trough. At the top, where the person is standing, is the house that possibly belonged to the person who was in charge of the rituals at the circle.

There are a lot of pretty ferns around Ireland. And these ones are the normal kind that will survive this type of weather, I approve. 

So, to sum up this epic of a post: life here continues to be good. I'm staying healthy, enjoying my classes, finding fun things to do on the weekends, meeting cool people, etc. Tomorrow I plan on joining the Mountaineering club for the weekly Sunday hike. I'm not sure where we'll be headed, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. Also, I'm putting more pictures up on facebook, so head over there if you want to see more of Ireland and what I've been doing.

Irish proverb of the day:

Hunger is a tasty sauce.
Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras.

Sláinte (good health/cheers)

Another week on the Emerald Isle

So the past week as been good. Thursday I had my first uilleann pipes lesson and OMG they are hard to play. As usual, my tiny hands do not help at all. I think I need some type of finger extensions or something, I mean really, then I could play the piano, guitar and pipes so much easier...it's just really not fair. Anyway, the pipes are very similar to the whistle, they just have a couple extra finger holes and a lot more baggage, like literally, there's a bag on your left side and a pump on your right. While trying to play the thing you have to pump with both arms, the right to keep air in the bag on the left, and the left to get air to go through the chanter. I am going to be buff and have very nimble fingers by the end of the semester.

Whistle is going a little better, it's much more manageable and much easier to learn and a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll work up a bank of tunes in my head, real traditional Irish musicians don't read music, they just have hundreds of tunes memorized...crazy! But once that happens for me I can start playing in the sessions at the pubs...that's my goal for this semester. I am desperately missing my guitar...I think if I continue this traveling thing, I'm going to need to get a travel guitar, five months without one is going to kill me!

Last weekend was actually a lot more low key then expected, it poured on Friday and Saturday, and it didn't just rain, the wind was howling as well, umbrellas were inside out all over the place! We decided to postpone the Blarney trip to this weekend and go to the Gaol (prison) instead. Christine and I started walking there, got partway and couldn't go on, we were sopping wet and cold and didn't want to spend six euro to be uncomfortable for hours. Also, I got splashed by a car for the first time! You'd think living in Portland this would've happened before, but this was the first time. Also, I'm pretty sure it was deliberate, the car had a lot of space to go around the puddle but just drove right through it...rude! So instead of going to the goal we beat a hasty retreat to the English Market. Christine was going to a wine and cheese party so needed a bottle of wine. I decided to buy one too because...well I can, and I've been cooking scrumptious meals that would go really well with a glass of wine. The wine merchant was uber nice, he knew a lot about wine from all over the world, including Oregon, and helped us find some really good, inexpensive wine. Then we went home. I curled up in bed in my sweats for the rest of the day. I really needed a fire and some hot chocolate and possibly even a cat curled up on my lap, oh and a really comfy lounger (like Basil) to make the day perfect, but the tea, book and bed were good enough.

On Monday I had my first Modern Irish class. The professor is really nice and just had us going over words we know in Irish and giving us an idea of how the language works. It's beautiful, but tough. Letters act differently in different words in different combinations. I guess it's kinda similar to the way 'g' sounds one way by itself but differently if there's an 'n' in front or an 'h' behind. This teacher is definitely better then any of the Spanish teachers I've had in the past, so hopefully I'll do better then I did then. 

Last night I went to my first rugby practice ever, and I can't decide how I feel about it. They spend a lot of time on the ground in this sport. You're always getting tackled or throwing yourself on the ground. It's nothing like soccer! They're already halfway through the season, so there was no like grace period for teaching the newbie (me) anything. They just threw me into the drills...I think I would've liked to spend more time watching and learning, or at least learning how to tackle and be tackled. Also, it was FREEZING, like the ground and grass were literally frozen. I've played sports in the freezing cold before, but I've never had to be thrown on the ground during them. Colleen keeps telling me that rugby is actually really great, but honestly, I really prefer the game we played in Australia, on a tropical beach, with the sun setting. Oh man, you have no idea how much I missed that last night, and this morning when I woke up and was unable to move. However, despite all these negatives, the girls were all really really nice. I don't know what it is, but people here are really nice. They were really trying to help my out the best they could while trying to get the most out of the training session too. Also, actually exercising felt really cold (even if the air was freezing cold) and the fitness was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be on me (aka a lot easier then we ever had it in soccer). I think I'm going to continue going to practices. Rafa said she'd work with me on tackles and such, that way maybe i won't be so afraid of hitting and getting hit...oh man...we'll just have to wait and see.

It looks like this weekend it's not going to be stormy so we're actually going to go to Blarney, hopefully stay for the sunset, which is regularly beautiful. 

So I've been trying to get my camera out more often, even though I hate looking really touristy, but I've been realizing that Ireland is so different then either Brunswick or Portland, or anywhere else I've been really. I've also found some really cool features on my camera, like panorama and face recognition, I will be trying those out soon. My parents said they wanted to see more pictures, so here are some:

This is the view of the city out of my bedroom window. I feel kinda like Mary Poppins, on top of the world.

I walk across this bridge to get to the road that leads up to the music building.

A view of the River Lee from the same bridge. At some points, like here, it's a really pretty river.

There are tons of churches and cathedrals here and they are all beautiful, you can see a bunch of spires in the first picture. Some time I think I want to go in one.

The street on the way to the music building. The sidewalks are so narrow here in some places, and will often disappear altogether. That stone wall is probably pretty old.

I really like these houses, they have a funny walkway thing leading out to the road. I can't help but think of Jude's neighborhood from "Across the Universe" and I really just want someone to belt out "All my Loving" down the street.

Can we all just oogle at my schedule for a little bit? No class on Friday, barely any class on Tuseday, Wednesday, or Thursday and no four hour labs...ever. So beautiful!

Irish proverb of the day:
As old as the mist and older by two.
Chomh sean leis an cheo agus níos sine faoi dhó.

Past the one week mark!

Ok, so doing away with the day count thing, it's hard to keep track of when I don't post every day and I always have to look up the number and...anyway, it's just a hassle.

So, life is still kinda uneventful. As of right now I only have 8 hours of class a week...this is CRAZY and so great. Today I had one class (Archaeology) from 2-3 and that was it. I may be adding three more hours with Irish, but I'm waiting to see what they've schedule because if class is on Friday...well we'll just have to wait and see won't we? However, this would only bring it up to 11 hours a week, which is a lot less then the 18 or so I've had every other semester at Bowdoin. I do have one evening class, marine environments, but it's cool, although the walk does seem a bit longer in the dark and the rain...oh Ireland.

Since being here a week, I've made some interesting observations:

Bump-its are surprisingly prevalent here. As are Adidas track suits in bright colors, often with matching shoes. These two things are often found together, I've seen many the well coordinated track suited women with a bump-it. These girls also seem to be much oranger then is natural.

The women who are not wearing track suits, or perhaps the same women, just at a different time of day, wear a short skirt... and a looong jacket. Very much like that CAKE song. And everyone wears boots, some type of boot, a lot of Uggs. I don't really get it, it's cold and rainy here, short skirts, fake tans...hmmm. I did see a very interesting jacket today, it was like a pea coat, but it flared out kinda skirty like at the bottom, she actually looked like she was one of those people from the Grinch movie with Jim Carey.

Men wear sweat pants, women don't really...not fair.

I think they mostly walk on the left, I've been trying to pay attention and have found that when someone goes to pass me on the right, they tend to look more American, i.e. wearing North Face or having backpacks. Now, our off campus study (ocs) director said that Europeans don't really use double strap backpacks, which I think is mostly true, but not exclusively. Back to the walking down the street thing though, backpacks and clothing are good indicators, and most people I peg as Irish move to the left to pass...but sometimes I think people will just choose whichever side is closer.

Umbrellas are everywhere. It kinda just drizzles all the time, kinda like in Portland. But at home people just wear raincoats. This is not the case here, everyone has an umbrella and it becomes difficult to walk down the street, I've seen many instances of possible injury due to umbrella stabbing...I'm telling you, it's a dangerous world out there when too many umbrellas get involved...I prefer my good old REI raincoat any day.

Our ocs director told us that we probably didn't want to bring too many clothes because we would want to buy some wherever we're going so as to fit in. If I were to follow his advice I need:
bronzer (a lot of it)
short skirts
long jackets
bump-its (of various size...which can actually be find in the 2 euro store at a reasonable price...2 euro actually)
boots (but definitely not the hiking boots that I brought)
tights (mostly black, but I've seen a lot of different kinds)

Needless to say, I don't think I'm going to really be fitting in any time soon. And these are also just generalizations, everyone does not fit into these categories, but a crazy amount do.

In terms of classes, they are going well. I've enjoyed all of them so far. Archaeology is way cool, I wish there were more of it at Bowdoin. Traditional Irish music will be interesting, our first class was interrupted by a fire alarm, but it's in one of the more historic buildings. Actually, it's the one that looks like hogwarts, all castly like. Marine environments also looks like it will be a good class, the professor is from Dublin and I can actually kinda distinguish the accent. He's a little easier to understand then people from Cork whose accents are a little sharper. I had my first tin whistle lesson and I'm totally stoked to go to uillean pipes tomorrow, this is definitely my favorite part. I will be so good when I get back...just wait!!!

Possibly going to Blarney Castle this weekend. Hopefully I'll start taking pictures and will put some up. So far I've just really been in the city, which, though very European and different then home, isn't gorgeous, and I feel too much like a tourist if I start taking pictures of everything.

Irish proverb of the day:
Never take advice without a woman's guidance.
Ná glac pioc comhairle gan comhairle ban.

lá a seacht (Day seven)

I think that if I had to describe my life here so far in one word, it would be "walking". I have walked a lot...like a lot a lot. It's about twenty/twenty-five minutes to campus alone. Then the music building is fifteen minutes from there and up a huge hill. Also, Colleen lives completely on the other side of the campus, about 45 minutes away, and Rafaela is somewhere between us. I have been back and forth to all these places quite a few times, and it will never end. I guess I like the walking, it feels good to be out and about, the weather has been ok, just a little rain, but gohlee, the miles will surely be adding up!


So, for the first time ever since I started college I don't have at least one four hour lab and I don't have class on Friday! It looked like I may not have class on Thursday either, but it turns out my uillean pipe lessons have been scheduled then, but they will definitely be worth it. This is the nicest schedule I think I've ever seen!!! We're hoping that we'll be able to travel to some closer countries (like Scotland) and around Ireland (Dublin, Galway, Killarney) on these three day weekends. So much to do and see, and actually hopefully enough time to do all of it! We keep thinking of things we want to do and try to schedule it into our day and then realize that we're here for five months and should have plenty of time to at least see everything in Cork.


Not much else has really happened. Been wandering around the city...again with the walking, met some cool people from cool places. My friend's roommate is from a tiny island called Reunion off of Madagascar, they speak French, Googlemap it, beautiful and tiny place. There are also people from all over the states and Europe. hmmm, that's actually about all I have to say, when more exciting things start happening I'll write more.


Irish proverb of the day:
It is the quiet pigs that eat the meal.
Is iad na muca ciúine a itheann an mhin.

lá a ceathair (Day four)

So yesterday we had orientation. I think perhaps them telling us over and over not to be worried and that things will work out, only managed to make us that much more stressed. For the rest of the university, classes started yesterday so we are already coming in a day late. Then, the registration system here is crazy. You look at classes on the list of modules and then you go to these really complicated timetables that have the code of the class (which is impossible to find and keep track of) the place (also in a code that is impossible to break) and the time, which is easy to read, but only if you can like up your class right. Also, the environmental studies department doesn't seem to actually exist...which is fabulous. I'm going to talk to the director tomorrow to try to figure things out.

After you've managed to put together some type of schedule, you just go to the class. yep, that's it, you just go and then we fill out a form of what classes we're attending and turn it in. What's also crazy is that the classrooms change from day to day. The archaeology class that I just got back from meets in three different classrooms on three different days at three very different times. How is one supposed to get a system??? Some of the classes also just meet once a week for one or two hours.

However, because of all this craziness, right now I'm taking 32.5 credits and have class only on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...four day weekend?? YES! A full course load is 30 credits, but I am taking uillean pipe lessons, and I may also take tin whistle lessons, which would bring me to 35 credits. Also, one science class looks like it only meets for one week when the rest of classes have finished because it's a field science course which would be cool.

I think once this all settles down the classes will be cool. I want to take: intro to archaeology of Ireland, modern spoken Irish, environmental science in the field (all three of these classes have field trips), marine environments (hopefully for credit at Bowdoin), and uillean pipe and tin whistle lessons. If this all works out it should be a cool semester.

Anyway, that's kind of what I've been dealing with the last couple of days. Today, I did finally get a cell phone. The service I got has an interesting set-up. I just got a sim card to put in my phone (which was cheaper then buying the phone here) actually, the sim card was free and I just spent money to put minutes on it. However, what's weird is that it will cost 20 cents a minute to call an Irish number, 15 cents a minute to call the states, and 10 cents a minute to call other european numbers...weird.

Another recent discovery is the English Market, which kinda operates like a farmers market and is open every day. It's a great place to get cheap, fresh produce and apparently meats and breads and such. A friend and I were talking about perhaps going to there and putting together a dinner that we'd all cook, which sounds really nice. I did finally buy some fruits and vegetables, so far I've been eating bagels and soup, need a change. If anyone has any simple, easy, tasty, and cheap recipes they want to send me that would be fabulous!!!

Here are some pictures and a video from the music session in the pub the other night:

One of the pubs that we've been in. They all seem to be long and skinny, brick, very quintessential...

The music building/department...up a HUGE hill/cliff. It's a fifteen minute walk from campus and probably about twenty from my apartment

a view of the city at sunset. To the right you can see the roof of the music building. I do realize that most of the city is in silhouette, but let me tell you...the view was beautiful.

mmk so the video wasn't really loading, I'll try again later, but here's what I had to say about it:
This was so cool. Apparently there are sessions every Monday night. I will definitely be frequenting them!! These sessions are actually really cool; one person starts the tune and is then the leader. They play the first section through a few times and then everyone seems to stop at the same time except the person who started, who transitions into another tune and then everyone joins in again. Someday perhaps I will be able to join in.



Also, here's my address if anyone wishes to send me mail, if you send a letter I will do my best to write back!

Rebecca Perez

Apt 26 Room 3

Copley Court

Copley Street

Cork, Ireland

Irish proverb of the day:

Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile

A beetle recognises another beetle

lá a dó (Day two)

So not that much to report for today. Ran some errands..bought food, toilet paper, the essentials. What was actually really great was this evening. One of the people I've been wandering around with, from Boston College, is really into Irish music, and is also really good at the fiddle, and he knew about a pub that has sessions on Monday nights so we headed over there. IT WAS SO COOL you don't even know!!! There were like eight musicians: three fiddles, a flute, uillean pipes, accordion, whistle, concertina, guitar...ah...this is why I came to Ireland. I recorded a couple songs and will upload them when I have more time.

Tomorrow is orientation, hopefully I will gain some insight as to how courses and such work because I start class on Wednesday...crazy.

Also...started talking to Dan (the fiddle guy from BC) about maybe doing some weekend traveling to places close by, Scotland and so forth which would be amazing.

YES finally getting stoked about being here.

Irish proverb of the day:
Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat
May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat

lá a haon (Day one)

This has been a very full day and a half...or however many hours it's been since I left. I wrote this first portion in the Heattrhow airport (which becomes obvious as you read):

So the great journey has begun. I’m not sure that I’ve yet realized exactly what I’m doing, or that I’m actually doing it. Currently I am sitting in the Heatthrow airport after hours of travel waiting for my last flight to Cork, Ireland where I will be spending the next five months of my life. I started in good old Portland, Oregon and rode in a crazy Air Canada plane to Vancouver. The thing was ridiculous, row 13 (which I was seated in) was at the very front of the plane, facing row one, and only on one side of the plane. I decided to sleep for the duration of that flight because the people facing me definitely didn’t want to make small talk (which I was quite willing to do) and I didn’t want to have to stare at them awkwardly for an hour and a half.

The Vancouver airport is gorgeous. It took some wandering to find the way to the international terminal. You had to like walk through a really dark room which had a bridge over a painted river…I don’t really know what was going on there. Anyways, just chilled there, watched a gorgeous sunset, and then boarded my eight hour flight here. I think I may have watched six episodes of Bones but I did spend some time working on my resume (see Mom, I’ll get it done!) and then slept. Getting around Heatthrow has also been kind of a hassle but I think I’m set, just waiting for a gate number. It’s kinda cool to sit and watch, and mostly listen, to all these people here from all around the world. Currently some child is growling at his mother, and most everyone else is kinda just in that travellers daze that I am most definitely in.

Travelling internationally on your own kind of sucks. Just seven months ago I was travelling around the world with a really great group of people, this experience is sooo much different. I don’t think I’ve really talked to anyone since I left Portland. A couple flight attendants, the customs people and the airline representative have been my only social interaction in hours. Soon I’ll be in the land of gorgeous accents though, so I guess that’s more motivation to strike up conversations.

            

So yeah, about to be in Ireland. Something I’ve been talking about for awhile, but I still can’t believe I’m going to be there in less then three hours. I’m not even sure what I’m going to do. Take a taxi to my apartment and then…rest probably. I have all of tomorrow to wander around. Two other girls from Bowdoin are gonna be getting in tomorrow as well so hopefully we’ll find a way of meeting up. The next day is orientation and then classes start on the 5^th!! I can’t believe I’m starting school again so soon, usually I’d still be on break for another two weeks. But hopefully the classes will be cool, although I still have no idea what I’m going to be taking. Hopefully some environmental science, music and maybe spoken Irish…I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to start a blog or not…but I guess this means I am. Don’t be surprised if I don’t post regularly, but I will try to keep a record of some of the best shenanigans I get into. Shenanigans being anything exciting or noteworthy of course. Perhaps something so amazing will happen that I’ll have to write a book about it and get rich and famous…woohooo…not. (can you tell I haven’t really slept in…a long time?). Hhrrrmmmm, well I think that’s enough for this first post.

p.s. noise cancelling headphones are AMAZING for airplanes…just…blow my mind amazing…that is all.

Since then I have arrived in Cork. Successfully took a taxi to my apartment building, but then was unable to enter the building and had to search around the block with all my bags for the reception area...oh well, found it. The woman who runs the building is really really nice. My room is nice, I'm sharing with an Austrian girl who also seems really nice, I only met her for a little while and then she headed out for the night to stay with friends. 

I happened to arrive at the same time as some other people who had been on my flight. We decided to wander around, get our bearings and find some food/a pub. We successfully did all of these things. The people I spent time with are also both from the states here for the semester and were a lot of fun. We just wandered for awhile, found stores that would be useful, groceries and so forth. Then we found a cheap chicken place that was either actually good or we were just starving after having travelled all day. We then made our way to a pub to get a pint of Guinness...something we thought necessary to the first night in Ireland. When we found one (called Bodhran) there were some really nice Irish guys who we sat and chatted and drank a pint with. It was really great...but the three of us were getting tired so headed back here.

Now I'm surprisingly not tired, however I think if I were less tired I would've been able to write a lot more interestingly about what I've done so far...however I don't seem to have the mind capacity to think of witty things to say. 

So I am off to bed. Tomorrow we find our way to the university (which apparently looks like Hogwarts...yay!), get cell phones, and continue to try to find our way around this new and exciting place.

Oiche Mhaith (Goodnight)