One Republic always puts me in the best mood! 

I shouldn't be complaining, but I am missing their concert in Dublin because I'll be in Germany... oh well moving on..

 Good Life

Feel Again

If I Lose Myself

Late Night Thoughts

I wasn't sure what to expect out of studying abroad when I stepped foot onto the plane as the flight attendants greeted me. I was feeling anxious but looking forward to whatever lied ahead. So far, I've made some lifelong friends, experienced things many people won't in their lifetime, and am trying to live everyday to it's fullest while keeping in mind that I'm only young once. I feel very thankful and blessed.

Be spontaneous.
Love like crazy. 
You only get one shot at life,
 and everyday it is a gift.

Over the past few days there have been a few things that have reminded me of home that are somewhat odd but kind of comforting at the same time so here they are...

• The smell of a fresh magazine
• Hearing construction outside of the window
• The smell of my shampoo and shower gel from back home

(All weird things I know)

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/smell3.htm

**I guess smells really do trigger your memory** 

I also made an "American meal" the other day for my friends. 

Mac and cheese with ham and tomatoes as well as chicken fingers, woohoo!

1. It's snowing
2. Cheers is my absolute favorite Irish word
3. Tortillas are the best invention 

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was interesting to say the least! After hearing about the Red Light District and coffeeshops how can one not be a little nervous about going?  Overall, it’s really a great city and one of a kind.

We stayed at St. Christopher’s Hostel near the Red Light District down a little side street. Don’t worry, it was safe. The hostel was so nice… free towels, comfortable beds, free breakfast, drink specials, and heated towel racks! Bed #8 actually told Madison she hated us a little bit which is not surprising because we couldn't help but being kind of loud and obnoxious, oops!

Apparently everyone in Amsterdam had 2 bikes

 

A small part of the Red Light District

 

After wandering around we decided on Mexican for dinner which was delicious. We had all been craving it because people in Ireland don’t even know what a quesadilla is. To take advantage of the nightlife we went on a pubcrawl and got tshirts with the few euro that it cost. We all had so much fun except it cost 50 cents every time you wanted to use the bathroom.. Afterward two friends and I went and got some food.  Katie had a waffle and apparently L.E. and I ate 2 week old pizza, gross! The man did put hearts on it though so I guess that was nice?

 

On Saturday we ate our free breakfast at the hostel and headed into town to look for the Ann Franks House where she went into hiding. It was so interesting and cool to see that historical place and her actual diary. One interesting thing that I heard from an interview with her father was that after he read her diary he realized how many feelings she had. She was always a bright girl and talkative but she did not talk about or show her feelings. This was one of my favorite parts!

We all went to the Pancake Bakery after in which most of the menu is all types of pancakes (chicken and cheese was one of them). I ordered the banana and bacon pancakes… so good.

Then we went on a canal tour where we all took a little nippy nap that kept us up and running for the rest of the day. We learned a lot about Amsterdam from this except when they took time to speak in 5 other languages... They pointed out that there are hooks on the tops of every house/building (whatever it may be) because they use them to move in and out. Also, there are so many houseboats and they cost millions of dollars! Then we went to the cheese museum and we ate a lot of samples before I bought some pesto cheese.

We wandered the rest of the day and walked around by our hostel and had some tea and coffee alongside of the canals. We needed to leave though because some creepy man kept taking pictures of us with the flash on!! We had some Indian cuisine for dinner and then some gelato (I got lemon) and headed to the airport! On the train there a man asked if we were American and said he LOVED America! He started showing us pictures of how he has a life sized statue of the statue of liberty and pillows and sheets that are of the American flag and his background on his phone is the eagle with an American flag across its face. We were all laughing. It’s crazy how much people love/hate Americans.

The flights were great, I slept the whole way there and back!

My family always asks what everyone’s favorite part of vacations are so from Amsterdam I would have to say that walking through the Red Light District would be it. It was just so different from anything else in the world and Amsterdam is just something great to experience while you’re still young!

When we landed in Dublin it was one of the nicest days we had seen since we had been in Ireland so Madison, Charlie, and I decided to take advantage of it and go to Howth.

We met the nicest old man on the train and he brought us to a pub and bought us all a pint of Guinness (the best one we’ve had so far). He also gave us all his information to contact him if we come back. While waiting for fish and chips a bird decided to poop right in the hood of my coat! We all think it’s cursed now.. We hiked a path along the cliffs by the ocean, it was absolutely gorgeous. We ended up on the beach picking up rocks and sea glass. Such a great day! If you’re not spontaneous I don’t know how you live…

Another Day...

So I’m slacking on this whole blog thing but I’m going to get better, I promise.

We’ve been busy having so much fun it’s hard to keep up with everything. I realized how much I don’t know what’s going on in the world when I had to hear about the Pope while getting my eyebrows waxed.. hmm, probably not a good sign.

So, last weekend we took a trip with Saint Mary’s to Kilkenny and toured a castle which was fun. One of my favorite parts about these trips is the food. The meals are just fabulous. We also got the absolute best hot chocolate I’ve ever had from the Chocolate Café. The lady melted the chocolate right in front of us and put marshmallows, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings on it. It was amazing. 

Then, last Sunday we started out by going to the Newgrange Tomb and the weather was absolutely miserable. The tomb was pretty cool. I took after my dad’s phrase “rules are for other people” and snuck a few pictures of the inside even though it was strictly prohibited. Oh well!

After that we had lunch (again delicious) and went to the Hill of Tara. I thank the person who NEVER told me that we were going to be climbing a muddy hill in the cold windy rain because I wore my pearly white converse shoes and my new coat. After attempting not to get them dirty by our friend Charlie giving me a piggyback ride across the muddy field I had to walk on my own. Of course, when a few of us were walking down a hill I had to be the not wearing rain boots to slip and fall on my butt down the hill in the mud. It was just lovely. Apparently I didn’t complain much, it was quite funny but just too annoying at the same time. I guess it happens to the best of us! Then we headed to a meditation retreat and we picked cards that are supposed to fit our lives. I picked “socialize”. It told me not to lie in bed all day if I find myself doing that and to go out and socialize while finding a good balance. I guess I can do that… :)

Right now all I can think about how true the saying “fast time flies when you’re having fun” is. I have almost been here for a month and it feels like I’ve been here for a week. What is going on!?

Today was such a great day! I woke up a little disoriented but had some fruit for breakfast and for once didn’t fall asleep during my marriage and sexual ethics class, it was actually pretty interesting. It was the nicest day we’ve had here so far. It barely rained and was sunny all day. My friend Erin and I went for a walk through town and down a path. We kind of wandered onto a golf course that led to a hotel, it was absolutely beautiful! We also discovered where Ireland Xtreme Training Camp is or something. We still need to look up that it is exactly. It was gorgeous though.  I just had Beautiful Day by U2 in my head. LE also made a wonderful chicken and pasta dinner, props to you girl for cooking it all the way! 

(above) looking down the main street in Maynooth

I just thought this video below was funny also. Last night in Supermac's (Ireland's fast food restaurant) everyone was going insane after going out, I'm not sure why. People are crazyyy

I’m leaving for Amsterdam in 5 hours, crazy!! I’m nervous, but so excited. This language might be a little different than what I’ve been used to, it’s going to be interesting. 

And We're Off!

It is now officially my 10^th night in Maynooth, Ireland! It has been a long 10 days to say the least. Seeing as so many things have happened already in this very short long week and a half I will share a few!

A few things that I have learned thus far:

·         I love accents

·         French fries=chips and chips=crisps

·         The Irish know more about American politics than Americans do

·         Potatoes are part of the EVERYDAY diet

·         It’s okay to skip class to go to the pub (at times)

·         They don’t have real Mexican, mac and cheese, peanut butter, or ranch

 

The pub is the place to be so it seems! I am currently lacking nutrition and sleep because everything is so expensive and apparently the week days are the days everyone goes out here while on weekends everyone heads back home. Instead of GTL (gym, tan, laundry) Irish life consists of DES (drink, eat, sleep) and probably in that order. It is pretty much a lesser version of St. Patrick’s Day everyday.

 

Maynooth is such a great little town! It’s about a 40 minute train ride from Dublin and a 10 minute walk from campus (in normal shoes). There are three main places to go out and they all have student night which is “the night” to go there.

·         Mantra ( a dance club )

·         Brady’s ( a pub which seems to be everyone’s favorite )

·         And The Roost ( another pub)

I’ve always loved Chicago but Dublin may just have bumped it down to #2 on my list of favorite cities. Dublin is so high tech, clean, has great shopping, fun pubs, and some of the best food. What could get much better? Being in Maynooth is perfect because you get the best of both worlds: living in a smaller cute town and being able to go into the city! It’s just grand!

 

Classes have started and the year is finally getting rolling.

Time to make the most of it! (as if I haven’t been doing that already…)