Back from Adventureland!

Hello hello hello! It has been a while since we last talked, and man, do I have a lot to tell you!

Two weekends ago, Butler (my study abroad program) took all of the students studying in Ireland to the Killery Adventure Center. We stayed at an on-site hostel for the entire weekend and were able to do all sorts of cool, adventure/outdoor stuff. And by cool, adventure/outdoor stuff, I mean there was a high ropes course, a zipline, a huuuuuuuuuuuuge swing, a climbing tower, kayaking, gorge-walking, clay pigeon shooting, archery, all sorts of good stuff. We even had the opportunity to jump in a bog! I didn't, but a couple of my friends did, which was probably even more hilarious than if I had gone in myself. I will admit I was a little wary about the weekend since outdoorsy activities just aren't my thing, but I was able to keep myself busy and mostly entertained during the sessions. It really was a great weekend. Everybody was excited to be there (and not just because we were given free meals!), and it was fun to meet people from the other universities. My one big accomplishment during the weekend was climbing all the way to the top of the rock tower. It was actually pretty scary; not because I was afraid of falling (my belayers were great!) but because the tower was so tall! It was actually kind of weird because it wasn't like I was looking out over something. I didn't even have to look down to successfully freak myself out. I was just thinking about how high I was and bam! I was stuck. My friends down at the bottom were absolutely wonderful though. I had my own little cheering squad - I really wouldn't have been able to make it to the top if they hadn't been so supportive and great.

So that was my first amazing adventure weekend. This past weekend I adventured myself all the way over to France for what turned out to be less than 24 hours in Paris to see, as it turned out, two beautiful Scrippsies. It was a pretty crazy weekend. I started my journey at 1:15AM Saturday morning and got back to my apartment around 2PM Sunday afternoon. I didn't get very much sleep that weekend. I was really worried about travelling by myself to a country where I didn't speak the language, but I made it there (and back!) in one piece. My visit was fantastic. Julia met me at the bus stop with two croissants for me (one even had chocolate!) which melted my heart and made my stomach very happy. We went to her foyer (it seemed like a cross between an apartment/college dorm and a hostel) to drop off my stuff. Mirabelle, another Scrippsie who is studying in Paris, showed up and we all went out and had a three hour lunch where we caught up, ate quiche and pasta, and drank the most amazing hot chocolate. It was wonderful. Afterwards, we took the obligatory touristy, Scripps reunion pictures by the Seine River, and then we parted ways. Julia and I ambled along the river for a while on the way to the Musee d'Orsay. Unfortunately, the museum was closed by the time we got there. But not to worry! We simply headed over to the Eiffel Tower. (Good subsitute, don't you think?) By that time it was getting dark, so we were able to take pictures of the tower once all of its lights had been lit. It was so beautiful! We also walked to the Arc de Triomphe then had crepes for dinner off of the Champs-Elysees. We ended the day/night with blues dancing! That's right. I blues danced in Paris. How fantastic is it to be able to say that sentence? It was so great to dance again! We both had a really great time.

That trip was absolutely perfect. Julia was the perfect hostess even though she had to deal with my extremely sleep-deprived self. I couldn't have asked for a better tour guide. It was great to be able to talk to people from my own school, although I will admit talking to Julia and Mirabelle about Scripps made me the most homesick I have been this semester. I am already so excited for Spring semester.

My next trip is (hopefully!) this weekend to Cork, a city in southern Ireland. I'm going with a few other girls, and I don't think we've done any planning whatsoever, but if we are going, we're going this weekend. I'm 85% sure we're going though. I am super stoked.

Now that I've told you all about my past and future weekends, I should probably tell you about my past, present, and future weeks. However, this post is long enough, so we will just have to wait until next time (next week at the latest!). Thanks for reading (and bearing with all of my empty promises about when I will post next)!

hugs and kisses!

Just another manic Monday

All Mondays are long, annoying, inconvenient, and a big hassle.

I know people will believe me when I say that I'm not an I-hate-Monday-just-because-it's-Monday kind of gal (mostly because I've said it before). It just depends on my class schedule for the day, and this semester, my Monday class schedule is long, annoying, inconvenient, and a big hassle.

Today was particularly bad. But (always the optimist!) it was also particularly good. How is that possible, you might ask? It's either one or the other! Well, let me tell you.

I'm sick. For the second time since I've been here. That'll be once every two weeks if this ridiculous pattern keeps up. I caught my first cold while I was in Dublin for Butler's orientation. I would rather not have had it, but it made sense what with the stress of flying, the time change, and coming into contact with new people. The cold I have right now also makes sense (Jennifer and I were both double-dipping in the same ranch sauce, even though I knew she was sick) but TOTALLY preventable which makes it waaaay worse. I definitely felt it today and according to Jenn, it's going to get worse.

A cold? Big deal! People get those all the time! Yes, but you don't understand. I haven't been sick in almost three years! You heard me. Not so much as a sore throat during my entire college career. I don't know how. I don't know why. But that's what happened. I guess I am overdue for a cold, but twice in one month? Really?

Most Mondays, I'm at school from 10 until 6. It's not that I have 8 hours of class. I actually only have four, but I have these awkward breaks in between classes. I have a two hour class followed by a three hour break, then a one hour class followed by a one hour break, and ending with a one hour class. It would be totally worth it to go back to my room during a one hour break at Scripps, let alone three whole hours, but when it takes at least forty minutes to walk to and from the close end of campus? I don't think so! So you will understand when I say Mondays make for a very tired and grumpy Maria. In terms of my schedule, however, today really wasn't too bad. A three hour break is my max in my When is it worth it to walk back to Menlo scale, so when my two hour class finished an hour early leaving me with four hours until my next class, I decided to go to the apartment for a really long lunch break. I was able to eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich while watching Veronica Mars (Dani, forget dancing! Let's just have a Veronica Mars marathon next time I visit Oxy!), and I was much more inclined to do some reading for class.

Of course this flipside has a catchside. ('Catch' is the closest antonym of 'flip' I could find. Let me know if you have any better ones!) I had to walk back to school when it was drizzling, and let me tell you, twenty minutes in drizzling rain has the same exact effect as two minutes in a downpour. Even with a rainjacket and rainboots! The water just slid off the jacket and onto my jeans. I don't mind walking in the rain, but I do mind wearing wet clothes while sitting in class and writing on potentially damp notebooks. Yeah, that part wasn't so fun.

More good news: I went to my first Irish dance lesson!!! I had to stay at school for an extra hour, but it was totally worth it! I'm not very good at it, because my feet and legs just don't have the level of coordination that it takes, but I'm so glad I went. The teacher is a student at NUI, but she's been dancing since she was tiny and really knows her stuff. She's also a good teacher which is probably the best part. (Just because someone can dance doesn't automatically make them a good teacher.) It was wonderful to be able to dance again. I'm really looking forward to the salsa lesson on Thursday and next week's Irish dance lesson.

Even better good news: I thought I lost my favorite chapstick (ChapStick 100% Naturals for those of you who were curious) BUT THEN I FOUND IT AGAIN!!!! It was hiding in the tissue box I brought to school with me today. Finding something you thought was lost is seriously one of the best highs ever.

The best and most exciting news today? I got to chat with one of my best friends today! If that's not a mood-lifter, I don't know what is. We were finally able to catch up with each other for the first time since our sleepover two days before I left. I can't wait for our yet-to-be-scheduled Skype date!

So what have we learned from this post? Mondays? BAD! This Monday? Could have been worse.
What have I learned from this post? Complaining is so much fun! I feel better already!

hugs and kisses!

Menlo Park Apartments: Where 'furnished' means 'complete with a jet engine'

In order to avoid writing another final-essay-long post, as Dad observed during our Skype chat, I figured I should post more often. So here I am. Posting more often. (And by that I mean making the effort to post more often, getting distracted, and ending up with infrequent, super-long posts.)

The jet engine I am referring to in the post title is actually my apartment's washing/drying machine. One of my flatmates is washing her clothes and I can hear the machine all the way upstairs. It literally sounds like a plane is taking off in our kitchen. It's pretty entertaining. 

Sightseeing update: I went to the Aran Islands last Saturday. It was a pretty dreary day so the main island probably wasn't at its awe-inspiring best. I did have a couple of mini-adventures though. Our first stop on the bus tour was at a lighthouse and stone fort at the highest point of the island. My accomplices and I had a lot of fun climbing through the holes in the fort walls and taking silly pictures. It was just like being back in elementary school on the jungle gym. I should act like a kid more often - it was fun! We also hiked up to another fort on the edge of the island. It took about 20-30 minutes to get up there and that was probably the first time I had done any hiking since my family hiked the Grand Canyon four years ago. (I was only just a little traumatized.) It was a good first-hike-since-the-Grand-Canyon. We were able to walk to the very edge of the island, and by 'the very edge' I mean one step too many and you would find yourself cliff diving - and not in a good way. I was able to stand at the edge for maybe ten seconds before my fear of heights pulled out the megaphone and told me to slooooooowly back away. The Aran Islands are also really famous for their knitted sweaters, which was probably one of my favorite parts about the islands. There was a documentary about yarn-making and knitting running in the sweater shop and it was SO COOL! There are stitches that only the Aran Islanders know and the families who have lived there since the beginning of time have their own stitch. I love knitting; I can only do the basic stitch, but after seeing the sweater shop, I really wanted to learn something more complex. (Insert not-so-subtle Christmas gift request here) Even though the weather wasn't perfect, it was a fun day trip.

I joined the Dance Society at school and ended up volunteering to teach salsa lessons. The DanSoc was able to get the teacher from last year to teach them, but I thought I was in charge there for a while. I'm actually pretty happy that I'm not the teacher because I was starting to realize how unprepared I was. I don't have any salsa music and I also don't know the lead's footwork for any of the moves, both significant problems unless I was teaching deaf follows. It would have been a really good experience, but it also would have been a fairly big time commitment. And now I get to go to the lessons and imagine how much better my class would have been if I was teaching! So much more fun! I really am super stoked to go to the lessons. I miss CCBDC (Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company) SO MUCH!!!! Salsa nights, Underground Blues, 7AM practice. Wahhhhhhh!!! I have found a bar in town that has salsa dancing but the challenge there is finding people who want to go so I'm not walking around at night by myself. I'm sure I can find someone to drag along at least once, but I WILL GO at least once before the end of the semester.

I also joined the Archaeology Society (cheap sightseeing trips that I don't have to organize!), and there was a meet and greet at the college bar on Tuesday. I went with Alyssa, another Butler student in Menlo. I knew about the free food, but I was not expecting the free glass of wine. It was definitely one of those culture shock moments for both of us (but not in a bad way!). I love being legal.

I don't have any trips planned for this weekend. I figure I should stay here and actually get some work done. Unheard of, I know, but I'm ready to do nothing, er, I mean, be productive, for a change. Alyssa and Jennifer are coming over later to bake carrot cake and make it a study party. I am so excited for this carrot cake. Yum!

Wish you were here!
love always!

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!