Bailey's, Butterscotch Schnapps, and Half-and-Half

I.e. the most delicious drink EVER. We discovered the Dandelion Bar and Cafe last night, where the deals are pretty freakin' sweet. Five euro cocktails, buy one get the second one free pints, and two for the price of one meals. WIN.

The atmosphere of the place was also rockin'. It was kind of a trendy, hipster-esque place, but at the same time was a classy establishment. Half nightclub, half high end restaurant. The music was pretty good, the drinks were excellent, and basically we had a fantastic time. We all agreed that we have to go back sometime in the near future. It's not quite the Irish pub experience, but I think we're ready to change it up a little (yes, two weeks in and it's time for a change already. Aren't we fickle!)

I'm getting increasingly pumped for London this weekend, and increasingly terrified of my research. Sometimes, it seems to be going great, and other times it seems to be careening out of control. I flip-flop between feeling like I'm really comfortable with my schedule and feeling really stressed and like I've already fallen behind. AUGH IT IS LAST SEMESTER ALL OVER AGAIN WHY WHY WHY. It doesn't help that I also keep remembering other things that I want/need to do, in addition to socializing, traveling, schoolwork, and the research: volunteering, writing groups, working on my own writing, transcribing for a little extra cash on the side.

I keep telling myself that I can do it all. I have plenty of time to do it all. But then I lay things out, and wow, it looks more and more like the semester is going to fly by. London this weekend, then hopefully two weekends of project trips, a weekend in the city for someone's friends, possibly a free weekend, trip to the West of Ireland, Keatley's here, then a weekend of spring break that will hopefully be spent traveling, trip to the North of Ireland, Rome, three weekends in April for more traveling if all goes well, two weekends in May of studying or traveling around Ireland, and then the weekend of going home.

It doesn't always feel like enough time. I know I will get everything done, because I have no other option, but I'm still kind of frightened. I'm hoping that it will pass after today.

Adventuring

I lived out the fantasy of adventuring in a forest today.

Almost everywhere in Ireland is picturesque. There's moss growing everywhere. Stone walls crop up in the middle of a forest, half standing and half falling in acquiescence to Mother Nature. You walk down a street, cars racing past you, but on the other side, you pass a little waterfall.

No joke, I saw all these things today. We went to Howth, which is a fishing village a little northeast of the city. First of all, the water around this little peninsula is this perfect blue-green-turquoise color. It was so beautiful. We went on a hike, trying to find a circle of white stones that supposedly marked a grave, because it was supposed to be cool. Needless to say, we found a castle, spurred by our rallying cry of "To the castle!" and wandered around hills a lot, but no grave.

Still, we fought our way through this damp, muddy, forest-y hill to a place above the fog that covered Howth for the majority of the day, and it was incredible. We definitely followed a path, but it was overgrown and wild, and I felt like every step I was taking led me deeper into something incredible. And indeed, sometimes you would follow secondary paths, and find yourself bursting out of the foliage into a small little plateau, where all you can see is green and sky. Or you follow a dark scary path and find out that it isn't a path at all, but instead a stream.

I'm hoping to go back in April or May, when it's a little warmer and the flowers are blooming. Hopefully, the skies will be clear that day and I will get some amazing shots of the sights from the cliffs on the shore.

Oh, and I also had fish and chips for the first time today. That was also magical.

Bargain Shopping

I like to get a good deal when I am out shopping. Most people know this about me. I like to shop, but I like to BARGAIN shop. Example A: I got my prom dress for $20, and then helped a friend get hers for a similar price. WIN.

Today, I found my haven for this in Dublin. Penneys. There were deals there that were better than deals in the States! I could get myself into deep financial trouble at this place. I am glad it is on the other side of the city.

But still glad that I know where it is, and what treasures it contains within. YAY!

I am going to Howth tomorrow. Hopefully it will provide some excellent stories!

Academic Nonsense

I meant to post this yesterday, but got distracted by new roommates and wine =D

I have officially met all of my roommates. Most of us are doing study abroad (two others are from ND and one studies in Montreal), and no one is Irish. I thought it would be really cool to live with Irish students, but oh well- everyone is really nice, and I think things will work out really well.

Getting books for classes is going to be harder than I expected though- some of the books appear to be more in demand than others, and you really just can't find them. And if you do, it is like 10 euro for a 70 page book of poetry. NOT COOL. Like one that I need for one of the first classes I have that's a discussion seminar. Fail. I'd prefer not buying it, but I think I'm going to have to.

I started class at the ND center Monday night, and at UCD yesterday. Oh! And I registered with the Garda on Monday! Yay legally residing in the country! That's a win.

Back to classes. The ones at the O'Connell House are an hour and a half long. Cue my death here. The first one was really interesting, but I was really tired and thus almost fell asleep multiple times. The one today was much better. UCD classes were pretty good- my sociology one is intimidating, because we have to watch the news for a lot of the work, and I don't have a TV! Here's to hoping I can stream that nonsense.

The beginning of the semester cold has set in today, but in spite of that, it was a day of victory. I started contacting schools for my project, and one of them said they'd be happy to do it! WIN! I have to call another one back, and the other two have not gotten back to me yet. But hey: we take the wins as we get them, yes?

So I realized the other night that one of the challenges for me with this blog is making it interesting. My life just seems to boring for it right now. But then I thought: if people are reading this, they just want to know what I'm doing, entertaining or not. Thus, if it isn't entertaining enough for you, DEAL =D

That said, I shall endeavor to regale the masses with my wit. Once I get past these initial stages, I'm hoping things on this side of the pond will get more interesting. As for now, the cold medicine is kicking in, and keeping my eyes open is more of a challenge than I would like. My conclusion is to solve the problem by going to bed.

Scavenging the City

I made someone steal coasters for me today in the middle of the day. We were doing a scavenger hunt, and he grabbed one for that that I liked, so I made him go back into the pub- where we were not buying anything- and grab me another one. He ended up stealing many, because others requested it as well. We thought for a little while that the bartender had taken him to the dungeons, because he was gone too long for a few coasters, but then everything was a-ok.

You may ask why we were taking a single coaster in the first place. Well, we were on a scavenger hunt. This led to lots of awkwardness and being creeper and the like. It was fun (though we did not win- SADNESS).

But I'm keeping this short: I have to get up very early in the morning in an attempt to get my visa from the Garda. Wish me luck!

Doing that College Abroad Thing

I have given in. It is clear that to truly capture the abroad experience, I must blog it. Even though the blog is starting a week into the adventure. This does not make it illegitimate.

So yes. I got to Dublin on Tuesday, and jetlag SUCKS. It was a day of highs and lows: being super excited and pumped to be in this beautiful (though rainy) little city and being exhausted and wanting to die. Great, right? Yeah, it kind of sucked. Wednesday and Thursday were the Days of Orientation, and Friday snuck that in their as well. Today we wandered around the city, which was a lot of fun.

The big victory of the day was finally getting my phone to talk and text other phones on the same plan for free. YES!!! I never realized how much I relied on not having to worry about paying my phone bill before. Free talking and texting is a MUST, and I couldn't get on it earlier for some reason. But I turned the cell phone people into my bitches (by smiling and acting nice =D) and so now all is well. WIN.

The week has been really crazy, so I feel like I'm still settling a lot (though my room is freakin' sweet. I have my own room and bathroom, and that is AWESOME). I think I will really like Dublin once I completely settle, but until then, I'm still a little whiny about not being home. I miss everyone tons, and sometimes that sucks. I'm making some great friends here, but nothing can replace the ones back at ND and home! It would rock if they were here. For serious.

Enough of the whining. It's bedtime.