Hot water heater: 17 Maria: 2

Yes, I have been keeping track of how many cold and hot showers I've had since coming to Galway. Gah! I'm so spoiled at Scripps - nice, steaming, almost-instant hot water showers. I almost wish I hadn't had those two warm (they weren't even hot!) showers, because now I realize how cold the water is the rest of the time. It's too bad you can't put "Able to take a cold shower without contracting hypothermia" under the Skills section of a resume.

Speaking of Scripps, I've realized that being abroad has cemented my love for Claremont. I've always appreciated being there, appreciated the work that is has taken to get me there and the opportunities that I've received and will continue to find because I've attended this amazing college but I have always balked at calling it my 'home', or even my second home. (That just goes to show how much of a homebody I really am.) But I think from now on, I will.  (Even now, I still hesitate to call it home just because I think that word will always be associated with my family, but Scripps will be a cozy, vacation bungalow at the very least!) But I really do feel so much more connected and attached to my friends at school now that I've been given a chance to miss them. Isn't it funny how that all works out?

Enough with my sappy self-reflections! Let me talk about something infinitely more fun ... like classes! I officially registered for my courses this past Friday. The university is supposed to send me a confirmation letter in the mail, which has given me yet another reason why I shouldn't do my homework. Of course I'm doing the homework that the lecturers specifically give out during class (It is me we're talking about here. I create reasons to do unnecessary work. Once in second grade, I thought my teacher told us to take a worksheet home as homework. The next morning I couldn't find it and began to freak out. I was so worried about not turning in my assignment that I made my dad write my teacher a note explaining that I had lost it. Turns out, we had finished the worksheet at school and never had to take it home. I'm fairly certain that whole incident made its way into my teacher's family dinner conversation.) but I definitely haven't been taking the Recommended Reading lists very seriously. Originally my excuse for not stepping inside the library was "I haven't registered for classes, so why do the work when I might not get in?" and now it's come down to "There is a 5% chance, due to some freaky and unlikely computer glitch, that I'm not registered for my classes, which is basically like not being registered at all so I don't need to read. Besides, I might jinx the other 95%." But in all seriousness, I think I picked a pretty good line-up. I've got a good mix of serious classes (meaning they'll count for my major requirements or be useful for a future career) and fun electives (mostly about the Irish history and culture).

This past Saturday a few friends and I went on a bus tour to Connemara and Kylemore Abbey. The weather was dreary almost the entire day, but everything was still super beautiful - it was just a different beautiful than if the sun had been out. Everything about Kylemore Abbey was stunning. The building, the story behind it - breathtaking. It was built by Mitchell Henry who loved his wife so much he decided to build her a castle. (Why You Should Marry Rich Reason #48) She died on a family trip to Egypt and he brought her body back to Kylemore and built a small church in her memory. Benedictine nuns own it now and ran a boarding school in the abbey until last year, I think. I can't even imagine living and going to school there.

And here begins a lovely little segue from Benedictine nuns to church on Sunday. I was going to the university chaplain's Mass like the good little girl I am when I ran into a couple girls from the Butler program. They were also going to Mass but at St. Nicholas' Cathedral in town. I made a spontaneous decision to go with them into town, and I'm so glad I did! It was a very traditional Mass, and the cathedral was so gorgeous. It made me wish I was 8 years old again and be able to get away with looking at all of the pretty stained-glass windows and mosaics on the ceiling instead of paying attention to the homily. I think I might go to that Mass from now on. It takes a little longer to get there but is so worth it!

More exciting news! (I'm so sorry this post is so long! Almost done, I promise!) I bought tickets to Paris!! I have a lovely lovely friend from Scripps who is studying abroad there so I am going to visit her and we are going to dance the night away! I'm actually pretty nervous because I have to get to and from the airports in Ireland (I'm flying out of Dublin and flying back in to Shannon) in addition to getting from the Paris airport to my accommodation for the night. I'm also really hoping my inability to speak or understand a word of French (besides the phrase 'raison d'être') won't result in me being stranded at the airport during my entire stay. Maybe I can convince Julia to meet me at the airport.... I'm not going for another month, so I have time to work out the logistics. Regardless, I am super excited to see Julia. And who could miss the chance to blues dance in Paris??

Now, I'm pretty sure I have some hot chocolate downstairs calling my name, and as it would be rude to ignore him, I am going to have to say good night.

Oh! Pictures! I forgot! Ok, I'll give you just a couple. (And you thought I was done!)



Kylemore Abbey





The Gothic Church close to Kylemore Abbey

I hope you like the abbey as much as I do!

love always!

Sightseeing like a proper tourist!

The Galway Tour Company had this amazing deal on their tours (buy a discounted ticket for one tour and get a ticket for another tour free!), which I, of course, took advantage of, and Robyn, Jennifer, and I went to see the Cliffs of Moher on Saturday.

Let me just start off by saying the weather could not have been better.

We were able to see a castle, A FAIRY FORT, an abbey, A FAIRY FORT, a cathedral, and A FAIRY FORT, all on the way to see the Cliffs of Moher. We also stopped along the coast and took some pictures next to the Atlantic Ocean. Did I mention the fairy fort? Don't get too excited; it wasn't a big deal or anything. I mean, who wants to see Tinkerbell's house? Certainly not me.

...

Right. Because I can't possibly describe how incredibly breathtaking everything was, I'll just show you! ... If I can figure out how to post pictures.

Me and Robyn at Dunguaire Castle

The view from Dunguaire Castle

The fairy fort that I wasn't excited about in any way.

Kilenfora Cathedral

The Cliffs of Moher!

I couldn't decide if Dad would be interested in seeing Irish cattle or if he would think I was crazy to have pictures of cattle on my camera. Either way, I decided I should take a picture of them.

Me at the Atlantic Ocean!

Jumping jellyfish! (Another set of bonus points to whomever can guess what movie that quote came from.) That took FOREVER! I don't know how often you all are going to get pictures after that ordeal. But I've given you a taste of how incredible this tour was. Simply gorgeous. It was a fantastic trip, and I can't wait to see more!

I miss you all tons! Hope you are doing well!

P.S. The quote was from The Little Mermaid. You know, you should really brush up on your Disney trivia.

Ravio-sagna!

I just emailed my parents about this and am still incredibly excited and proud of myself, so I figured I would create a special post solely describing how great I feel about successfully cooking a real dinner. (It was either blog about it or knock on every single door in the apartment complex to tell them I made myself dinner.)

I was getting pretty sick of eating salad, so I decided to make something that involved more than a knife and a cutting board. When I say I decided to make dinner, I mean I decided to make dinner. I chose a salad, a main course, and dessert from my handy-dandy cookbook and even invited Robyn and Jennifer (the two girls I mentioned in my previous post) and Ben (who is also with Butler). The dishes were super simple to make, but that's besides the point. Robyn and Jennifer made the cucumber and tomato salad, and I made the (very edible) ravio-sagna and the cookie ice cream sandwiches.

A note on the ravio-sanga: It's either lasagna made with ravioli instead of the long strips of pasta or baked ravioli. I can't decide which description I like better.

Robyn and Jennifer even picked wildflowers for our dinner! It was super cute and sweet of them. The flowers were a fantastic centerpiece. We had such a lovely family-style meal. I will admit, I was (and still am) preening my feathers. I felt like such a productive member of society (or the apartment, at least); I actually fed other people! They are no longer hungry because of me.

So that's my big, important, blog-worthy news. It doesn't matter that my first week of classes is half over or that I'm going sightseeing (hopefully!) on Saturday because I MADE DINNER!

love always!

My First Week Here

Wow. So much has happened. I'll try not to write a novel.

So, I am here. In Ireland. Galway to be exact, which happenes to be on the west coast. I realized this week that I never mentioned where exactly in Ireland I would be studying. Now I've told you! I flew into Dublin on Sunday where I spent the next few days with the other IFSA-Butler (the study abroad program through which I'm ... studying abroad) kids who were also going to the National University of Ireland (NUI) at Galway for our orientation. Then on Wednesday, we drove from Dublin to Galway which took about two and a half hours. We basically crossed the country in the time it takes me to eat five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (It really does take me 30 minutes to eat a sandwich - it's been timed.) The last half of the week has consisted of mostly NUI orientation. There weren't any orientation events today, but there is a historical walking tour of Galway on Sunday that I want to go to.

There you have it! An overview of my first week in Ireland. But have no fear, I have plenty more to write about! Such as ...

First impressions! Always a good place to start. I can't decide if Ireland is really as different as I expected it to be. Or I guess there are more similarities than I originally thought, to put it differently. Temple Bar in Dublin and Shop Street in Galway most definitely cater to the Irish stereotypes in terms of what the store fronts look like and the general atmosphere of the area, but those seem to be the tourist-y areas so it would make sense that they come off as Irish. But as we were driving to Galway, the countryside didn't seem that different from what you could find in the Midwest. They do use stone walls as fences though which I'm pretty sure you can't find in the Midwest. It also surprised me (although it shouldn't have, being a farmgirl myself) how many people owned livestock. The horses and cattle were SO big! Or at least super leggy and tall. It was a gorgeous drive. Most of the people that I've interacted with (cashiers, ... actually, that's about it, random university staff) have been really polite and helpful. I know that's their job, but that's usually not a guarantee that you'll be helped out by someone who seems to be enjoying themself. I've heard a lot of people say 'Thanks a million' which makes it seem like what you did matters that much more to them. I know it's just a colloquial  phrase, but I like it!

It's all been a little overwhelming, to be honest. There is still a lot of administrative stuff that I have to do for school (silly stuff like figuring out class schedules) and for the bank. I've been making daily trips to the store for things like hangers and tupperware and food. Food! - feeding myself is now one more thing I have to worry about. I started to panic after my first attempt at cooking myself a decent meal ended up in the trashcan, especially since I only tried to make cous-cous. However, I think my main problem was not following a recipe (which, if you know anything about making cous-cous, is incredibly pathetic because all you do is add water). I did bring a cookbook with me from home and have proved to be capable of correctly following recipes in the past, so I will now only eat from my slightly embarassing I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening! cookbook. The recipes looked good, ok?

The people on my program have all been really friendly. I'm getting along with my roommate, and she even told me she loves having me as a roommate. She had been talking about the people she's glad she wasn't stuck with, but yay me! My suitmates are also really nice, (All of the girls in my apartment are American but there is an apartment full of Irish boys right next door. Do you know how I know? They're really loud when they're drunk. And they hopped the dividing wall between our patios and hung out with us last night.) and there are two girls in an apartment a few doors away that graciously let me tag along with them. One of them looks like Mimi from Rent and is refreshingly blunt.

Anyways, I hope that's enough information for you! This upcoming week is the first week of classes so I'm sure I'll have loads to tell you next weekend. I promise to have pictures up by then too. Thanks for reading!

I love and miss you all!