17 days in...

So, anyway, I promised to answer some of the questions I had been asked from all of you... here goes.

1. Is the Irish drinking reputation really true? Yes, yes it is. It's not out of the ordinary to go out every night to a bar or pub or club (or all three). In fact, drinking may start around 3 pm and extend way into the night. The drinking age is 18, and most Irish youths "pre-game" before going out, that is, they have a mini house party and they drink and chat before leaving for town. There are numerous bars, pubs, and clubs in Galway city. Most students say they come here for university because it's considered to be the best city in the country for partying and student life. I assure you, I believe that to be true. When students come back in the fall, the Galway city population swells; 20% of the people are students. Therefore, much of the life around here is focused on making students happy, meaning the clubs and parties and whatnot. The alcohol is expensive, but the longer you're here, you get used to the schedule of specials and who has the better prices which night and so on. I think most new students go crazy without initially realizing how much money they're spending. I'm not used to going out that much, so I've been trying to play it cool, which means I've also not been spending as much money. But I have to say, the Guinness is much better here than in the States.

2. How are the accents? At first, the accents were impossible to understand. But after making considerable effort to hear it as much as I could, it's normal now. Most of the international students agree that we are no longer surprised when someone starts talking in an Irish accent. Ladies, the Irish brogue is only attractive when the guy is 1) attractive and 2) saying something attractive. If he's cursing up a storm or drunk or whatever, not as hot as you'd think.

3. Does everyone have red hair? Actually, we aren't seeing an odd amount of redheads here. Most women dye their hair, so what might naturally be red is now no longer. Two of my classmates explained the Irish look like this- there are three types: the tall and red haired, the shorter, thinner, and dark haired, and the short squat folk who probably aren't 100% Irish. So far, this is generally true. A sub-question here would be: Are the guys cute? Some are, some aren't. It's just like in every other country; there are some amazingly cute guys, but more aren't particularly eye-catching. What is attractive about the Irish is that they are so friendly and helpful, which makes walking up to that one cute Irish guy much easier. :)

4. What are some of the first names? My family joked about meeting people with traditional Irish names like Liam, Ian, Conor, Ronan, Patrick, etc. And though the older people might still be named like that, the younger men and women have been named differently. Now they're Sean, David, Tom, Andrew, James, Patrick, Maureen, Bridget, Ray, Alex, Kathleen. However, I finally met my first Ronan in class the other day!

5. What's the weather like? The Irish have been plagued with their second unusually-wet summer. So since I've been here, it's been pretty overcast and rainy. The temperature hovers around 55-60 degrees. And the wind can be pretty fierce, considering we're right on the water. Every once in a while, like yesterday and today, we get sun.

6. How is school? Classes here are in full swing. I have four- one literature class, one Irish linguistics class, and two archaeology classes. The mentality here is much more laid-back, almost to the point of apathy. So when my professor didn't show up to teach one day, without notice, none of the students seemed to mind. But the lectures have been interesting so far, and I think the work load will be manageable.

7. How is the food? Meat and potatoes is, like you would think, very commonplace here. But the Irish put spins on things so that you don't realize you're eating meat and potatoes, like cooking everything as a stew, or offering fries (what they call "chips") or chips (what they call "crisps") or even mashed potatoes ("potato smash" or "mash"). But most food here is good. We've been trying new things and have liked what we've had so far.

This week will mark the third week of living in Ireland. It's had its ups and downs, but mainly its ups. I'm learning a lot about other people, and also about myself. The last time I was traveling in Europe, I was about to begin eigth grade. I was gone for about three weeks then, too; about this time, I was so ready to go home. Ruben asked me last night if I missed home. The truth is, yes I do miss home. Mainly I miss my family and all the busyness of life. There, I craved alone time with nothing to do; here I'm struggling to appreciate all the time I'm getting. At home, I was never bothered for not going out at night; here you are tormented if you decide to stay home. I miss family dinners and playing games and going to see my aunt at work and stopping at my gramma's for a cup of coffee. It will continue to be hard as the weeks wear on, but let me assure you, I have little pieces of home everywhere, here. I made rice pilaf within three days of being here. I put together the paper chain my little sister helped me cut. As much as I miss the mountains, nature is still surrounding me. I even had a soda the other day that tastes exactly like Fresca! Haha. And I have so many wonderful friends here. Even though those of us whose native tongue is English are a minority, we are so enjoying teaching and learning from the others around us. We are very fortunate to have each other. I think that's good for now. If there are more questions, or you want to share something with me, just drop me a comment! Thanks!