Perfect Day

Not that there was anything spectacular or out of the ordinary, but it seemed like today was a day where everything seemed to work out perfectly.

1. We had a crazy adventure to an irish club last night where we had fun dancing but were practically trampled to death. I have bruises all over my feet but we met so many great people and had a lot of fun!

2. Classes today were wonderful. I'm taking an Irish folklore class that seems like its going to be brilliant!

3. The sun was out and shining for a good part of the day and even though it was FREEZING by nightfall we still managed.

4. I was extremely productive opened myself a bank account, got my computer login and email set up, and met some great people in the process.

5. Megan and I ventured into the city around 3pm in time to run some errands and make it to our immigration appointment at 6pm. We stopped by a travel office to figure out how to get around Ireland. Megan needed to get her phone fixed so we went by the store and the guy who originally sold them to us was working again. We talked to him and even though he'd been a little standoffish we'd won him over by the end of the conversation. We asked him where he would recommend for us to go for fish and chips in the city (since its so popular here we figured its a must). He responded immediately and even smiled at us and told us to have a nice day as we were leaving! Then we managed to both trip off the same curb at the exact time and couldn't stop laughing about it.

6. We had dinner at the fish and chips restaurant which was a little hole in the wall place and I was even able to get my ranch dressing (aka garlic sauce) with dinner!

7. We made it to the immigration office (by now we're starting to get the hang of crossing the street in the city). Our spirits were high and everyone in the office was as friendly as could be.

8. We left the office and decided to do a little exploring. Both of our sweet tooths kicked in and we decided to find a place for dessert. We ended up asking a kind irish lady where we could go and found ourselves in a quaint little italian restaurant. It was the perfect setting and a warm calming atmosphere that helped us escape the cold.

With our stomachs full, so much accomplished, perfectly content and as happy as could be we headed home. We caught the bus right away, talked each others ears off and made it home safe and sound. With a full day ahead tomorrow, including three classes, a nice gym workout and some fun in store tomorrow night I'm exhausted and ready for bed. A group of us are taking off Friday afternoon for a trip to Galway and we could not be more excited! Be expecting updates from it! Love you all!

Week 1

This is the beautiful view I wake up to every morning!

I am completely obsessed with this wonderful country. I have met some fantastic people, from Ireland, Canada, the east coast of the US, and even good old Chapman. We've already had way too much fun and theres only more to come.

The weather is absolutely freezing, but I must say I think I'm slowly getting used to it. I have my own room in a 6 bedroom dorm apartment. I have my own bathroom, a huge bed and most importantly A HEATER! I just met my roommates Sunday when they moved in (so yes I was all alone in a huge apartment in a foreign country for almost a week) They all seem very nice and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better!

I've successfully experienced some pubs, the downtown city center, and have slowly been picking up on the irish lingo. We're still trying to figure out the cultural norms and anything from what side of the sidewalk to walk on to whether or not you should tip taxi cab drivers.

I had a bit of a scare the other day when I was told there is no ranch dressing in ireland BUT I did find out last night that it does exist but they call it garlic sauce instead. We've already made multiple trips to the city to get groceries and then had to trek not only through the city but 15 min across campus in the freezing cold with extremely heavy bags of groceries.

I've met some FANTASTIC people like I said and Irish people are so nice. For those of you who know my recent incident with a not so respectable boy...well let's just say I've moved on ;)

We get some pretty strange looks from people when they hear us talking. It sucks because we get pegged as Americans right away. We asked one guy if it was our accents that gave us away and he said that and our straight white teeth. Basically, we walk around and something about us just screams American...trying to fix that.

It finally rained for the first time today and you know how much I love the rain! We also have a Farmer's Market on campus every Tuesday and finding out they had sushi just made my day. Classes have been alright but they're just introductions so far and we have two weeks to shop around and decide what we'll be taking.

More updates to come! Love and miss you all!