Highlight Reel

Highlights from the last few days:

1. Last night we were rull classy and went to a play in city center..sorry centre. We saw 'The Speckled People'. Super good! It was one of those stories though that was a kind of awkward mix of funny and really serious. I was nervous to laugh sometimes

2. I official know everything there is to know about the Irish prison system. Not because I was arrested. See for one of my classes we have to write our term paper on an aspect of current Irish society and we were supposed to have topics chosen by Tuesday. I forgot to do this..so when my professor got to my name on the roster and asked my topic I froze. I then quickly glanced down at the list of suggested and past topics and for some reason mumbled 'uhh prison and punishment..' So ya 8-10 pages baby.. about the prison system.

3. I bought salsa!-- this highlight is for Morgan..who thinks I talk about food too much pshh

4. I got to talk to the love of my life:

3

Today was a good day. I think I know exactly why it went so well..two reasons:
1. Yesterday was my half birthday. I am way more mature now, almost 22.
2. I decided to wear real clothes today. I'm talking skirt, tights AND matching scarf.

So in my contemporary Irish society class we talked all about the Irish education system. Most people found this completely boring. I, on the other hand, was on the edge of my seat..even stayed after class to ask questions. Probably reason number 7787 why I am meant to be a teacher. Fun fact: Irish schools are funded by the government and ran by churches.

After that I had a kind of boring health policy class sooo we wont dwell on that one.

After thattt I went to the library to study. I love libraries. Odd since I hate books..but whatever the DCU library is very nice and conducive to good studying. Very comfy chairs and big windows.

Okay probably the best thing that happened today was that I finallllyyy got my internship placement. I am doing research under a professor in the college of nursing on some psychological study. It is not at all what I was hoping for but I am excited because I have no research experience so yyaay! tryin to stay positive.

reason 3 today rocked:
I bought garlic and cheese yesterday..ate them both all day.

Wild West

This weekend was AMAZING! 168 photos worth of amazingness to be exact. Where to start..

First we went to Galway city which is just beautiful. It is a small city that has two of Irelands top Colleges so the place is very young and bohemiany. We got to our hostel around 5ish and it was super nice. We had 6 person bedrooms, 3 bunk beds..I got the top. clutch. We ate dinner that night at a cute restaurant that had a very highly recommended seafood chowder. I got that and it was delicious. Restaurants here are a little frustrating though, I was explaining to my parents how you don't tip waiters and bartenders..which is nice for a penny counter like myself..however this directly translates into the service is kinda just poop. That aside din din was fun and you better believe right after we paid we were thrown into the first pub crawl of the weekend. This time the deals were on jager bombs, long island ice teas, double vodka red bulls and baby guinness shots and the free drinks were shots of straight Jameson. These people are trying to kill me.

Galway City

Favorite Pub crawl picture- Some reason we thought collecting these paper Arthur Guinness signs was a fab idea..I have quite a collection now..

After a looong night, we had an early morning..well actually I chose an early morning. We had the option to sleep in or check out a small farmers market..I am incapable of sleeping past 7 am. Thank you BU crew and BU physical therapy. So bright and early I was walkin around Galway and buying yummy coffee..btws the yummy is sarcasm. The Irish are big fans of instant coffee..I am not. After everyone (besides the four early risers) got up we hit the road for the cliffs! A long BEAUTIFUL drive through the Irish countryside we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. We were informed that there are two options for viewing the cliffs. You can walk to the right which is paved and there are fences.. hence lots of old people and children running around.. or you can walk to the left which is still paved but there are no fences and you can get pretty close to the edge. Our teacher also explained that when you walk to the left the path will come to an end and there will be a big sign that tells you not to walk any further and a memorial to all those who have died falling off the edge. She went on to say 'just keep walking'. I'm not gonna lie..I didn't know my palms could get so sweaty. I got very close to the edge..in fact looking back at the picture I am kind of mad at myself..I guess I lived though. Also the coast guard was there looking for a body. creepy. Still, officially the most beautiful thing I have ever seen...yep beat out the Grand Canyon.

The scary sign

Gorgeous.

Soo close..too close

After the cliffs we toured an actual Irish working farm! okay sarcasm again..I was less than impressed by the REAL cows and gettting to pet the sheep. Whatever.. they made us delicious traditional Irish food. I have already decided my contribution to Stump family Christmas this year is going to be Irish coffee and homemade brown bread! yuuummm.

Next we did a scenic drive to the village we stayed in Saturday. This hostel was not as nice but still fun. Saturday night was yet another pub crawl..I only went to one. Too sweepy for that much crawling and I was not alone in this dilemma. We left our tiny village of Doolin and took a very sceenic drive..saw some cool things and ended the trip with a shopping trip at the orginal Claddagh ring store. The Claddagh ring is that ring that has two little hands holding a heart, the heart points into your body if someone has your heart and away if its open to take..or something like that..I read all the info I swear. I also bought a ton of cheesy post cards..which I need to go write! So enjoy these last few pics!

Country

CASTLE..I'm still incredibly impressed by them..apparently that makes me very American


A fairy tree. You are supposed to tie something that represents a problem in your life and when you leave the tree your problem will stayed tied on. This one was thousands of years old!

To Arthur!

I have decided that Gaelic football is my career plan. I love it. I wasn't awful either, in fact I held my own against the boys in our group. Now I have some nice bruises too! Hurling was a different story..between helmets and sticks there was just too much going on for me to handle. We actually get to play some more Gaelic football today I am sooo excited!

After a looong morning of Irish sport and class, a few friends and I went out to celebrate Arthur's Day (which I must admit I had no idea existed until I was celebrating it). Basically people drink Guinness in the street all over Ireland and count down until September 22 at 17:59 because that is when the lease for the Guinness factory was signed..by an Arthur. Then everybody keeps yelling 'To Arthur" alllll night. It was fun but I was still a little/lot pooped out from the morning.

Now today I spent all morning getting to the grocery store. I got realllly lost :( anyway I had to buy road trip snacks because its WESTERN IRELAND WEEKEND! this is bucket list kind of stuff..after Sunday I will have my own pictures like this:

Up the Dubs

Last weekend there was a huuuuge game here. The all Ireland Gaelic football final..Dublin won for the first time in like a million years and people are still going crazy about it.

Naturally we studied all about Irish sport in my Irish Culture class today. Hands down my favorite lecture so far..cause I'm a bro. But in all honesty very interesting how closely politics and sport go hand in hand here. Fun Fact: Athletes in Ireland are all amateur, which I think is pretty cool.

To reinforce this topic tomorrow we are going on a field trip to play all the traditional Irish sports..

Here is what I have to look forward to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEAbWrdB9XU&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmzivRetelE

Love the subtle 'better than American sports' feel you get from these videos.

This is not England

So one of the first things I learned after arriving here is that Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom. There was a huge war about this and still causes a lot of controversy today. opps. not so common misconception (public schools have failed me). That being said health care is not universal nor free like I thought upon arrival..in fact quite the opposite. Now I need to go the doctor and I don't want to..but I'm sick so I probably should. Where's ghetto student health when you need it?

Moving on..today I decided to ditch the gym and go for a nice long run outside! It was absolutely PERFECT. Fall colors and crispy air is my favorite. I ran in the beautiful combo of short spandex and long sleeve top and I was kinda cold. Seriously perfection. This may just be my new Tuesday tradition to clear my head (we have an exceptionally long Tuesday).

Oh ya..fall colors=Christmas music
that happened today

Completely different subject but today during some class time day dreaming I realized that I will never (at the rate I'm going) use all my pre-paid phone allowance unless I start texting people not in my Irish phone network.
soooooo...
353-085-230-3880
Not that I actually think anybody that reads this will text me...I kinda just think its fun to write out my number because its soo long!

My looong day

Let me tell you about today:
1) I cried in class TWICE
2) I got yelled at for an hour by the biggest bro I have ever met

Number 1- In Bio Ethics today we watched a movie called Wit. It is a very good movie that follows a famous professor through her battle with ovarian cancer. You watch her be completely mistreated by all the medical professionals around her. Also she has no one come visit her. Then she dies an awful, slow, painful death. Like.. fine it was a very good teaching tool.. I guess I should have taking a better look at the syllabus because I was just not emotionally ready for that.

Number 2- My excercise plan thus far in Dublin has been little cardio and lotta weights in the morning then cardio in the evening in some form of class. Well let me tell you.. Monday spin class with Anthony is gonna be the death of me. I have never disliked someone so quickly in my life. First his shirt said "Learn my name. You will be screaming it by the end of the night." I spent the whole warm-up trying to figure out what this meant..was it supposed to be suggestive or intimidating. Still don't get it. Anyway second thing I noticed was he was wearing short shorts..I learned the hard way that you can't cycle in short shorts so I was very interested to see how this was gonna work. Oh wait he didnt actually do the work out. He just yelled at us. Rude. But real life he was actually very good at his job..

Ok done ranting and being cranky.

Next topic: Sunday night we had our first family dinner! Look at this menu:
Bruschetta
Cheese and fruit planter
Chicken and Rice
Steak
Roasted veggies
Salad
Irish cider
and my contribution..Pazooki!

sooo delicious! and really fun!! Check out our cute little table:


Speaking of cooking..look at this bomb din I made tonight. Lots of Irish cheap veggies basically cabbage and mushrooms and oatmeal fried chicken..which sounds and tastes really bad for you but in fact is not. win.

Big Girl Now

I finally had my first Guinness..well I only had a glass not a pint so some may argue it doesn't count. Anyway I can say with confidence that I was the last of the 49 BU Dubliners to try one. The idea had to grow on me.
I absolutely hated it. For the record it does not taste like chocolate or coffee like promised. Don't worry though, finished the glass like a champ. Side note..absolutely LOVE Irish coffee..apparently I'm just a whiskey girl.


See this Saturday we all had a pub crawl lead by one of our professors. Only in Dublin is this socially acceptable. First she gave us a walking tour of the city..I think thats how they slid this one by as academic. On the tour we saw some cool stuff but mostly we had all already seen it and just wanted it to end. I did really like this memorial to the victims of the potato famine. Fun fact: the average family size in Ireland before the famine was 18 people! so many babies.


Anyway so pub crawl..7 bars followed by a night club. I think we only made it to 4 of the bars. At each place we were greeted with free shots and drink discounts. Needless to say it was a very fun night and we all got to know each other very well.

Glendalough!

Finally made it to the Irish countryside. Literally one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. We were in Glendalough which was the site of a very very old monastery. The stone buildings were mostly in-tacked and pretttty cool. I really liked the grave stones..creepy I know..but they were from the 16th century and still really nice because people's families are still coming to visit them. I found this interesting at least. We got to wonder around for awhile then started our tour. After we had a VERY animated tour of the old buildings lead by a man named Dara..it was time for a hike!
Truth is sometimes I dread hikes. When I hear that word I immediately think bright sun, 8 mi loops, 110 degree weather, not enough water, cacti and people walking obscenely fast (ethan). However after this hike all I wanted was the good ol' superstition mountains. The "hike" (paved trails with steps) was only 2 miles and took only 2 hours..I had no idea it was even possible for there to be that much rain in that amount of time orrr that much complaining. All annoyances aside the walk and the views were absolutely breath taking. I can understand why people went there to reflect for years on end. The only thing that would have made the experience better would have been if I had my parents were there to pack extra food (because I always underestimate how much I need) or some sisters to convince the bus driver to stop at On the Border on the way home.

Backtrack- night before some friends and I went to an all you can eat Chinese buffet..in china town..that included sushi and cake batter ice cream. So basically I know what heaven is like. Please appreciate the shape of crab rangoons here:

Gacilye

Today we had our last first class of the semester! It is an optional class in Irish language which is the same thing as Gaelic. I was glad she cleared that one up because I thought I was stupid for not knowing Irish existed.. but apparently only foreigners and academia call the native language Gaelic. Anywho the class is suuper fun and some people didn't decide to take it. Losers. They are missing out on some cool stuff..for example:

Natalie is aimn dom- Natalie is my name!
I am living in Dublin- Ta' me' i mo chonar i mBaile Atha Clianth
I am from the United States- is a strait Acntathe

Annnd My Fav
good job!- go han-mhaith!
Pronounced like this--- go hana wa

See! so fun! not as fun..the teacher kept calling me Kelly. I even had to answer 'whats your name?' in front of the class. I clearly said NATALIE is aimn dom. She responded 'very good Kelly.' Now I think its been to long to correct her..so I might stay Kelly. White girl problems.

Also the title of this post is Gaelic in Gaelic. I just think that's fun to say.

Sore Bum

My butt is basically numb for two reasons. One is that I sat in class for one million hours today and two because I took a wicked hard spinning class. We will start with the latter..

So whenever I am making new friends I somehow always gravitate towards very athletic people. Probably because they are not offended by my school clothes that are mainly sweats or the messy bun look I rock almost everyday to class. Fancy clothes are for the weekend. Anyways somewhere in get-to-know-you conversation and what did you do this morning questioning..I end up talking about going to the gym. Which ALWAYS prompts a "hey we should take a class together!" and I always respond "yaa that would be awesome!!" then I spend the next couple nights praying that the class is nothing dance related. The only other kind of fitness class that I dread is spinning. I mean I consider my self pretty in shape and at my prime I have competed at some pretty high athletic levels..but truth is no 6'7 Yale beast of a rower ever intimidated me as much as people in spinning classes do. Sure enough tonight I was dragged into one..after a ton of excuse making. These girls were not letting me off the hook.
So I went.
I died.
I was too tired to stand and cook dinner after.
I ate golden grahams.
Oh and cherry..an old man in short shorts and a rugby top kicked my trash the whole time.
Don't worry no more spinning tomorrow..its Zumba time.

Moving on..Class!
I had my other two classes today, Contemporary Irish Society and Health Care Policy and Practice in Ireland. Both were very interesting, but I am still having trouble sitting through these extra long classes (even with the coffee..). In my Irish Society class we were asked to keep a diary of our reactions to the material we learned and how it relates to the Ireland we see orrrr turn over the address to our blog at the end of the course (so long as we reflect on what we have learned and make a list of questions about things we see and a glossary of terms we hear). So you all get to hear me ramble about that every Tuesday through Thursday yaaaay... or you can just not read it.

Sooo today I found the most interesting topic we talked about to be why the Irish are perceived as such a happy group of people. I mean its definitely more than just a perception from my experience but still.. Even before I came here I would have guessed that. Apparently this is because among the European nations they have never fought with anyone..not in ANY European war.. they have just managed to stay completely neutral. Breaking away from Britain aside. As long as the Irish were/are not British they are happy. This lack of enemies has landed them a label as nice and friendly among almost all of Europe and spread to most the world.
Vocab:
Cheers- I have been told cheers in nearly every place in conversation as a goodbye, hello, thank you, you're welcome, or just a random interjection
Question:
What is a sandwich here? I've seen it on bread, cakes, and cookies (not ones with filling either..that would make sense)

School..Finally!

Yaaaay! I love the first day of class. My roommate (Carolyn) and I were very ready to be back in school. However at the moment this picture was taken we had no idea we were about to meet the most intimidating man in the world. Our medical ethics professor..sorry lecturer..is quite a catch. I'm pretty sure hates Americans and women. Score. Luckily this my second go at this class..somehow it worked out like that..so I'm not that scared. Today on the first day we got a respectable 50 page reading assignment. That didn't bother me until I realized 20 of these pages are glossary..I guess we are supposed to memorize the terms for tomorrow? Suddenly I am less excited about school. Good news: they are all about coffee breaks during class! Bad news: the pages of paper are longer..which means my term paper will be longerrr.

On another note, I have spent the last hour planning my fall break trip! Which as of now is backpacking. I just can't decide between France/Italy, France/Spain, or Hungary/Croatia/Slovenia... choices choices choices!

Good Morning!

Yaay! Its gym time..cant you tell I'm super excited to be up this early?
No but really.. nothing makes a girl wanna do some intervals like an Irish diet.

I am going to start the day like I have started every single day since I've been here (and most likely how I will start every coming day) with some porridge. Its cheap and delicious...and not calling it oatmeal lets me pretend I'm living in a cottage in the 1800's. Also I like to eat these mini apples..they have an odd amount of mini fruit here..its funny.
I am sooo excited for the rest of the day becaaauuse I am going to bake and skype a million people from home (3 maybe 4..depending on how many people actually like me)! I have been feelin pretty homesick lately so hopefully these actives will help me out in that department.

New Blisters

We are FINALLY done being oriented. thank the lord. This new found freedom has lead to some great adventures.

Thursday night was a blast..we went to Temple Bar which is a neighborhood downtown that is filled with a million different pubs. Later we were taught that the whole Temple Bar area is kinda an over-priced ultra tourist trap like Faneuil Hall in Boston. Ehh ya live ya learn. I have learned one thing going out here and that is people weren't kidding about the Genuiss obsession. It is all anybody drinks! Except me.. because I'm a baby and still haven't tried one. Also the Irish are crazy about American classic rock. I have never seen so many guns and roses sweatshirts in my life. Makes me wish I had gone through a rock stage sometime in my life so I knew what all the hype was about.. anyway we didn't get back until 4am because unlike Boston things just don't close here.

Friday I was reminded of how I am not the type of person that can go without sleep. We had our last day of orientation and it was all about our internships. I however have not been placed yet sooo I just kinda sat there very worried (and trying to stay awake) until I learned that most kids haven't found out where they are interviewing either..pheww. Friday night we all went to a bar right by campus so that was nice. I was reallly tired so I was just daydreaming about bed..I probably wasn't very fun but whatevs.

My absolute FAVORITE day so far was today. Why? because me and few other people went on a walk..like the good kind. The kind where you find really nice places and end up in the ghetto and then in Chinatown Dublin.. also the kind where I have some maddd blisters. We also ate the most delicious curry from a random food cart. Irish are obsessed with curry..the stuff is everywhere..its AMAZING. I took a ton of pictures!! Here are some of my favorites..

Our original destination was the leprechaun museum..never found it

Sooo we just wondered..this is Temple Bar during the day..less sketchy

Random gorgeousness

These have saved my life a few times now..its amazing how hard it is to look the other way

okay so I have noticed that Irish advertising and media in general is a little more risque than the states.. just some butt crack nbd

Even the Dove chocolate is a little suggestive...

DUBLIN!!

I would tell you about my first day in Ireland if I remembered it..thats how tired I was. Actually the whole first 48 hours are a big I-wish-I-were-sleeping blur. Few things I do remember..

• no salsa
• turkey is not a lunch meat option
  
• bike lanes are on the sidewalk and thats why no one is walking there..opps
• I wouldn't really consider English the main language..at least not on written signs
  

Besides that I got nothin..sooo I will start with last night when we got to go into the city! We did a super corny scavenger hunt..but it helped me figure out the general areas in the Dublin downtown area. I absolutely loooove the city! It reminds me of a cooler, older, busier Boston. There are a few stores that I recognized but for the most part all un-americanized...except for Burger Kings everywhere...I don't hate it.

I think the coolest thing by far is that most of the signs here are first written in Irish (surprise we take a class in that..thanks for the warning BU) then in English..not sure if you can see the writing in the pic below but its super neat looking.

Last cool thing is this...It is in the center of the city. It is the Dublin Spire..or Monument of Light. I don't have any idea the significance but I'm sure I will learnnn (also apprec the sky...that is apparently how it always looks..fun fun)
Thats all I got for now but tonight is our first night out in the city so Im sure I will have some good stories this weekend. Oh and class starts on Monday in case you were worried about the academic part of this shindig.

Bye Bye!

My last days with the big brother were super fun!

First we went to the Newseum..which I didn't only love because of the punny name but also because it was actually REALLY interesting. If you are in DC it's definitely worth checking out, especially the photos of the year and Pulitzer prize photo galleries.

The next/ last day we went to embassy row because my extensive google searching of "things that are not monuments to see in DC" told me to. It was pretty cool. I kind of thought that the embassies would be guarded and like mini little mansions that look like their countries...perhaps a mini Taj Mahal or Parthenon. False. They are just regular houses...still cool. Plus embassy row in conveniently located by delicious empanadas.

Soo yummy! Chilean spicy beef with some fruit I didn't know existed..

And some cool and boring embassies..

Picture Fails

Yaay I went to DC! I also did a really bad job at taking pictures but here are a few..and their interpreted meanings

This says touring by your self is peaceful but boring.

This says “I'm Ethan. No I won't smile AND look at the camera at the same time because I'm too cool.”

This says I went to China Town and I don't know what to do with my hands.

I wish I had thought of taking a segway tour.