My happy dance

I'M DONE WITH FINALS!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!

I am SO excited! I have nothing but fun planned for the next two and a half days. Our last Family Dinner is tonight, and we are all making something. The boys are making the main course, Amy, Robyn, and Jenn are making the appetizers, and Alyssa and I are making dessert. Then tomorrow we're making pancakes for breakfast and then going into town and ice skating!

I'm going to sleep in as late as I want, and clean, and pack, and listen to Christmas music ALL THE TIME because I DON'T HAVE ANYMORE HOMEWORK! I'm donedonedonedonedone!

Whew! All of that jumping around is really tiring.

I actually have a few things that I need to do before I leave on Saturday. (That's right - THIS Saturday! I can't WAIT to go home!! I get to sleep in my own bed, eat Mama's cookin', watch football, see my friends, drive my car, play with my puppy, watch my Disney movies ... Yayyayyayyayyayyayyayyay!!!! Yay! Ok, second wind over.) I have to close my bank account, go to the grocery store and buy the European candy and tea that I've grown to love, visit the Christmas market one last time. It's all fun stuff though, so I'm not worried about a thing. That will probably change once I start packing but I haven't done that yet so I'm just not going to think about it right now. I am a little worried about flying on Saturday. I'm not sure if my bags will be under the weight limit (Yeah, I've turned into that girl. I have so much stuff I want to bring home!), and I have a really tight connection in Philadelphia. I don't want to spend the night in a hotel! I just have to walk fast and pull out the puppy dog eyes when I get stuck in really long lines.

Anyways, since my semester here in Galway is pretty much over, I thought I would give you (and me!) a little recap of what I've done these past three months (Wow, that's crazy. Time really does fly.) And, of course, I'm putting it in list form. Because I love my lists.

1) I learned the Double Jig. Just don't ask me to perform it when you see me; I probably won't remember it.

2) I went blues dancing.

3) I went salsa dancing.
I didn't do near enough dancing this semester as I'm used to at Scripps or would have liked to, but I feel like what I did do was still wonderful. I learned Irish dance while I was in Ireland. You can't get any more legitimate than that. I can also say that I blues danced and salsa danced in Europe. I'm trying to find the words to describe how amazing those experiences were, but I'm falling a little short. It's just so crazy to think that it was kind of the same as dancing in Claremont because it's the same dance, but then it's so different because I'm not only dancing in a different community but also in a different country.

4) I volunteered at a community homework club.
Yes, it was a class requirement, but A) I was able to take a class that let us go out into the community and tutor kids and B) I was able to talk to kids, people I normally wouldn't have encountered at all this semester. I actually had a lot more conversations with them about the differences between America and Ireland than I did with Irish students my age.

5) I travelled

6) and found my "Favorite Places".
Kylemore Abbey, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Blarney Castle. I think I fell in love with all of them because they are all such beautiful places and there's so much history connected with them; it's simply incredible.

7) I began to learn how to cook.
I feel a little silly including this in my list - I can't even say I learned how to cook while abroad - but it still is somewhat of an accomplishment. It is a life skill, after all, and I had to start sometime. It reminded me how amazing my mom is, not just because she's a fabulous cook, but because she does it ALL the time. I feel so guilty now for not helping more often. But that will change during Christmas break. I'm pretty excited to show off the recipes I've perfected this semester to my family.

8) I went to Mass (for a short period of time).
The reason this is on my list even though I only went a couple of times is because it was on my "My Goals" list (the list I made before I left of things I wanted to do in Ireland; very creative title, I know) and putting it on this list reminded me that I did do something here that I set out to do before I had any idea what my semester would be like. I did enjoy going to Mass; it was just a really long walk.

9) I experienced the Christmas season.
It starts so early here because they don't have Thanksgiving! I love seeing the Christmas lights and the Christmas decorations. Shop Street is so pretty with the decorations, and the Christmas market is so cute. I got all of my Christmas shopping done there. This was definitely a welcome change from Southern California's leaves-still-on-the-trees-because-it's-70-degrees-outside. Gah, I LOVE Christmas.

10) I visited the four sides of Ireland.
My main goal this semester was to do most of my traveling in Ireland. I didn't do as much as my idealistic self had originally planned, but I hit all of the main spots - Connemara, the Cliffs of Moher, Dublin, Cork, and Belfast. All I can say is Ireland is absolutely beautiful.

11) I studied abroad.
I can say that now that all of my exams are over and I didn't accidently forget to go to an exam and automatically fail the class. A lot of this semester has been about the places I went or the friends I made, which has all been amazing, but the real reason for me being here has been so I could take classes. I sometimes didn't give classes and homework enough priority which sort of came back to haunt me during finals, but again, I'm done so there's no use crying over spilt milk! I enjoyed my classes and I did learn a few things, honest I did!

So there's my list. I'm sorry it's so long; I was in a particularly ramble-y mood today. Thank you SO much for reading my blog this semester! I hope you enjoyed reading it. I still can't believe this is my last one and that I'm going home in three days. EEEEEEEE!!!!!!! I love you all and can't wait to see you!

And because I need to finish what I've started ...

Never say good-bye because good-bye means going away, and going away means forgetting.
-Peter Pan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NICOLE!

I hope you have a wonderful, beautiful, and fabulous day today, Nichoche!! Treat yourself to a Human Bean, use the excuse, "But it's my birthday!" at least twice (once for Mom and Dad and once for the teacher of your choice), and and remember, when you're thinking of stealing those pretty pretty shoes, that you get more jail time now. Love you.

I had my first exam today! Exclamation point ONLY because it's over. I'm not done until the Wednesday after next, and my friends and I already have plans for Thursday and Friday next week. Pancake breakfast, ice skating, one last big night out, and visiting the Christmas market! And I think we might have one big packing party in Robyn and Jenn's apartment Friday night, since Jenn, Alyssa, and I are all leaving Saturday morning. Ahhh!!! I can't wait to go home! I just have to get through the next week ...

Good luck with finals, to those of you still in school!
Hugs and kisses.

Just chillin' in my study cave

I'm taking a break from studying to write this because I know I won't be able to focus unless I update my blog. Just to warn you, my next post probably won't be for another two weeks. Finals are (scarily) just around the corner and I should be devoting every waking hour to catching up on work. Yuck. So there's no need to sit around and wait for my always frequent and regular posts.

...

Right. Down to business. Two Saturdays ago I went on a field trip with my archaeology class to County Roscommon. We saw Roscommon Castle, Roscommon Abbey, and the deserted village of Rindoon/Rindown. It was cold but thankfully not raining. It was beautiful area. We were tromping through pastures for several hours. It felt just like home. *Sigh* I felt pretty bad for the students who were wearing sneakers - it was muddy enough to pull a shoe off. I don't think that actually happened but it was a definite probability. It was great to be able to go to a few of the places we had learned about in class. It was also great to see a part of Ireland that I wouldn't have visited on my own.

Then last weekend, Butler took us up to Belfast for Thanksgiving weekend. (Happy Late Thanksgiving, everyone!) We left Thursday morning, which gives you an indication of how serious the Irish are about attending classes since we had to miss the last two days of classes of the entire semester. Anyway, it was about a six hour bus ride so we got to the hotel in Belfast just in time for dinner. We walked to a hotel restaurant where they served us Thanksgiving dinner. It was really a Thanksgiving-themed dinner. Even if the hotel had served the perfect, just-like-Mom's Thanksgiving dinner, I don't think it would have been the same. Thanksgiving really has a lot more to do with the environment of the whole day than the actual meal, I think. Being in the kitchen, watching football, sprawling out on the couch with everyone else. That's what makes it Thanksgiving. The dinner was still fantastic. The dessert especially (graham cracker/brown sugar crumble-cheesecake-pumpkin-caramel/rum sauce loveliness). Friday was a bus tour to the Giant's Causeway, which is basically a really cool rock formation. We had a couple of stops to a rope bridge and a somewhat-intact castle. Our tour guide was really informative and he talked a little about growing up during the Troubles, the conflicts in Belfast between the Catholics and Protestants. It was really inspiring to hear how he dealt with the trauma of living amid so much violence. We were able to go on the Black Taxi tours Saturday morning where the drivers walked us through the history of the Troubles and took us to memorials and famous neighborhoods. I really had no idea how recent the Troubles were. It was really eye-opening and reminded me how lucky I am to live in a peaceful and stable community. The Black Taxi tour was only an hour and a half, so my friends and I walked around the downtown area for a while. We stopped at St. George's Market, which is like LA's Grand Central Market, had lunch at Victoria Square, and went to the HUGE Christmas market by the city hall for dinner. I spent my leftover pounds (the money, not the weight) on chocolate (of course) and honey-roasted cashews and macadamia nuts. Those were the best purchases I made all weekend. The city had their Christmas decorations up, and it was so beautiful when all of the lights were lit. It also snowed while we were there! The snow was more like Dippin' Dots rather than actual flurries, but snow is snow is snow! It was a great kick-off to the Christmas season. Although since Ireland, the silly country that it is, doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations have been out almost since Halloween. I've had to temporarily give up my diatribe against celebrating Christmas before December because there is just no fighting the city lights and enormous store window displays. There's no way I would have won. But it doesn't matter anymore, because it's December!! I fully embrace the Christmas music now; I've been playing it all day. It actually snowed here in Galway yesterday too, which I thought was impossible. Something about it being too warm. And these were legitimate flurries. There's actually still snow on my balcony. Most of the snow outside the apartment complex has turned into ice, unfortunately, but it doesn't make me feel so bad about missing the snowfall at home.

Oh boy. I just scrolled back up through my post and saw how long that paragraph was. Ooops. That, kids, is what not to do in an English paper. I suppose I could have just said I had a wonderful time in Belfast and I'm so happy it's December, but where's the fun in that?

I should probably get back to the salt mines, but now you know how I spent the last two weekends and I can rest easy.

Happy December, everyone!
love always.