So today was probably the best day I've had so far in this great Emerald Isle. I'm going to lump last night into it, too, because it really started around 9 pm last night. I was a little tired of going out on the town so often, so I decided to stay in. Immediately, I was contacted by four people on Skype- Chelsea, my friend Andrew from home, Tiffany, and my parents (okay, so that makes five people). It was SOOO good to talk to all of them. I hadn't talked to my mom at all since I got here, and it was good to hear her voice. Dad even got the dog to bark into the microphone! Haha.
So I went to bed really happy that I had heard from those folks. I woke up today and decided to go downtown in order to buy everything I need. I've been putting off getting things, but I had to make a trip to get my school books anyway, so I figured it was then or never. So I spent four hours running around a town that I only semi-know, searching for things like a rain jacket and a hair straightener. I got "lost" a few times- lost only in the sense that I went down streets with which I wasn't familiar. But I got to where I needed to go, AND I found a lot of cool shops in the meantime. For example, the ritzy boutique where I found the perfect rain jacket, or the freetrade coffee shop where I bought incense and was given a brochure for this really cool arts festival in October. Or how about stumbling across the open air market outside of the boys' school? Or turning the corner and bumping into an outdoor store that made my heart leap with the familiarity of the mountains and home? I found everything I needed, including an obscure book for class about Irish slang and the hair straightener I've been searching for since I got here. Plus, taking time to myself, with no agenda, was brilliant. I needed to settle back into my own skin for a little while, especially because of all of the cultural pressure I'm facing to be someone I'm not.
After catching the bus back to my apartment, I spent some time with my roommates and took a shower. Then I went to a get-together at another French girl's place. At first, there weren't many people there, but after about an hour, the place was packed with international students. My WCU friend Garrett and I taught people how to play the card game Bullsh*t, and we played an international version of Uno (international meaning we made up new rules because everyone plays it differently). Apparently, the security guard wasn't happy with all the noise, so eventually the party got shut down, but we just moved to another place and kept hanging out. I met so many new people and had a lot of great conversations. Plus, we weren't at a bar or club spending tons of money on booze. It was a lot of fun, and now I have 20 more friends than I had before tonight. So really, it was probably the best day I've had yet. Tomorrow I think we are all going down to a pub where they play traditional Irish music. I also want to see if I can download a podcast of the sermons back at Pinedale. The general Irish population is Catholic, and nondenominational Christian churches aren't really around. And I don't think I can go three and a half months without church. So we'll see.
I want to thank everyone again for reading this blog. I have a mailing address too, if you wanted to mail something. I'm not going to publically post it, but if you email me at rathkatie@gmail.com, then I'll send you the info! Thanks!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Is it already Friday?
Wow, this has been such a whirlwind week! I started "classes," basically meaning that I'm going through orientation and the basic overview classes for all of the courses. Tomorrow, I'm headed downtown to the Galway Museum as part of class. It's like a fieldtrip, I guess. According to our lecturers, we will be going on fieldwork trips often. (::smile::) That makes me very happy. It's a cool way to explore what's going on around us in Ireland.
So today, I didn't have class, so some guys from WCU and I went to Salthill, which is the town next to/part of Galway. It's right on the water, and the Aran Islands are in that bay too, and you can see them on the horizon. The day started off as a typical, dreary, Irish summer day. After some rain and high-powered winds, the evening cleared up and the sun actually peeked out! I took full advantage of this and went for a run. I found this great little route that isn't too hilly or off-road or next to the highway. In fact, this route was so close to perfect, I almost cried. As close as I can tell, it's about 2.5 or 3 miles, roundtrip. After the run, I showered and the guys and I made Irish burgers for dinner. The meat here is good, but definitely different. It almost tastes a hint like pepperoni. But I seasoned them up like Gramma does and they were really tasty. Tonight I took one of my apartment-mates to the student bar, The Library, to meet some of my friends, mainly guys from my program. Well, none of the Irish guys showed up, so it ended up being us and a bunch of American guys. Haha. But we made the most of it and eventually just started talking to everyone else around us.
OH! Speaking of roommates. I have two now! They got here last night. One is named Ensophie (I don't know how to spell it) and she is from France. She's a third year studying business. The other is a guy named Ruben from the Netherlands. He's a third year studying European construction management. He'll actually probably be taking classes with a lot of the guys from WCU. Both of them said that they chose Ireland to work on their English, so how perfect is it that they were stuck with an English speaker who loves to talk?! Ha. It'll be fun I think. I already like them and we seem to be getting along okay. It will be different living with internationals, but also living with a guy. But I think it will be fine. We all have our own rooms. Ha. So anyway, about getting up tomorrow for class. It's time to sleep in my lovely Irish bed. Night!
So today, I didn't have class, so some guys from WCU and I went to Salthill, which is the town next to/part of Galway. It's right on the water, and the Aran Islands are in that bay too, and you can see them on the horizon. The day started off as a typical, dreary, Irish summer day. After some rain and high-powered winds, the evening cleared up and the sun actually peeked out! I took full advantage of this and went for a run. I found this great little route that isn't too hilly or off-road or next to the highway. In fact, this route was so close to perfect, I almost cried. As close as I can tell, it's about 2.5 or 3 miles, roundtrip. After the run, I showered and the guys and I made Irish burgers for dinner. The meat here is good, but definitely different. It almost tastes a hint like pepperoni. But I seasoned them up like Gramma does and they were really tasty. Tonight I took one of my apartment-mates to the student bar, The Library, to meet some of my friends, mainly guys from my program. Well, none of the Irish guys showed up, so it ended up being us and a bunch of American guys. Haha. But we made the most of it and eventually just started talking to everyone else around us.
OH! Speaking of roommates. I have two now! They got here last night. One is named Ensophie (I don't know how to spell it) and she is from France. She's a third year studying business. The other is a guy named Ruben from the Netherlands. He's a third year studying European construction management. He'll actually probably be taking classes with a lot of the guys from WCU. Both of them said that they chose Ireland to work on their English, so how perfect is it that they were stuck with an English speaker who loves to talk?! Ha. It'll be fun I think. I already like them and we seem to be getting along okay. It will be different living with internationals, but also living with a guy. But I think it will be fine. We all have our own rooms. Ha. So anyway, about getting up tomorrow for class. It's time to sleep in my lovely Irish bed. Night!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
I'm getting emails from a bunch of people asking me specific questions, so I thought I'd open it up for you all to ask too. Then I'm going to post one huge entry with all of my answers and comments about Ireland. So, ask away! Thanks!
Comment settings
Hello all. I have changed the comment settings so that anyone can comment, instead of only blog users. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, and thanks for wanting to comment!
"What's the crack?"...
... he asked Tiffany and me. We were sitting there in the bus station yesterday, minding our own business, and out of nowhere an older gentleman inquired about our.. crack? Well, not one to jump to conclusions, I asked him to repeat himself, thinking maybe I had heard him incorrectly. "What's the crack?" he asked again. Noticing the puzzled looks on our faces, he asked us, "What's the crack? Are you familiar with the Irish expression? You're American, right?" He went on to explain that he was just asking how we were, what's up (and it's spelled CRAIC, it means "fun"). We immediately began laughing at our blunder, thanking him for teaching us something new. He wished us well, and we soon boarded the bus to Castlebar where Tiffany is attending college.
On the busride over, I began to ponder the peculiarities of this new country. Some of the most interesting, and obvious, differences, lie with the people. Firstly, Irish idioms and words are different. Most people know this. The trunk of a car is a boot, a party is a revelry, liquors are spirits, shopping carts are trolleys, etc. "Cheers" is the official goodbye, and cursing in public is as en vogue as skinny jeans. Speaking of fashion, it is so different here. Black is worn with brown (my younger sister would hate this), girls wear heels everywhere and dress to the nines all the time (I am completely uncomfortable with this, and therefore I stick out like a sore thumb), and guys have the chic "I'm too cool for fashion but I look good anyway" thing going on. You can't really tell what's in or not in style here. The only conclusion I have made about clothing is that layering is the most fashionable, and it's incredibly practical; you never know what the weather will do, except it's bound to rain at least every other day. Despite the precipitation, men and women of all ages straighten their hair (not good for my stubbornly curly head) and girls as young as eight wear makeup. If older women go out without makeup on, prepare to suffer public scrutiny. That one makes me feel completely comfortable too.. not.
Besides fashion, personalities are different. People generally keep to themselves. They are all very friendly, but they won't strike up a conversation first. The culture is a little more reserved than the cocky Americans who are stereotyped as being too bold and rude. And though I'm not completely sure of this, it seems from observation that men and women do not hang out with each other unless they're dating or married. Mixed gender hangouts appear to be lacking.
One of the most frustrating things I've found here hit me upside the head within the first ten minutes of being in the country. Everyone here has a cell phone. That's no shock, cellular technology is everywhere. BUT because everyone has a phone, no one wears a watch and clocks are hard to find. And it's nearly impossible to find watches for sale in stores. Because my cell doesn't get signal here, I've been without a time piece since Thursday. I've been asking around, only to get different answers every time. If it's 4:30 pm, I might hear "4:30" or "16:30" or "Half four" or any number of other slang phrasings. My head is readjusting. Finally, today in Castlebar I found a watch at a grocery store. It might have been the highlight of my day.
So, people talk, dress, act, and tell time differently. They also keep up with American politics and television. I've seen two news reports and three different newspapers in two days giving their opinions on the race. Let's just say McCain isn't regarded fondly. Hmm, what else? Everyone smokes. Everyone drinks. There are no street signs. I have yet to see one bad looking car, almost all are luxury vehicles. I saw a guy washing his BMW today in the 55 degree weather....
I PROMISE I thought of more on the bus. I'll have to start carrying a notepad around with me and jotting everything down. For now, I have to get to sleep. It's almost half past one here, and I have to meet with my department head in the morning to lay out my class schedule. Cheers!
On the busride over, I began to ponder the peculiarities of this new country. Some of the most interesting, and obvious, differences, lie with the people. Firstly, Irish idioms and words are different. Most people know this. The trunk of a car is a boot, a party is a revelry, liquors are spirits, shopping carts are trolleys, etc. "Cheers" is the official goodbye, and cursing in public is as en vogue as skinny jeans. Speaking of fashion, it is so different here. Black is worn with brown (my younger sister would hate this), girls wear heels everywhere and dress to the nines all the time (I am completely uncomfortable with this, and therefore I stick out like a sore thumb), and guys have the chic "I'm too cool for fashion but I look good anyway" thing going on. You can't really tell what's in or not in style here. The only conclusion I have made about clothing is that layering is the most fashionable, and it's incredibly practical; you never know what the weather will do, except it's bound to rain at least every other day. Despite the precipitation, men and women of all ages straighten their hair (not good for my stubbornly curly head) and girls as young as eight wear makeup. If older women go out without makeup on, prepare to suffer public scrutiny. That one makes me feel completely comfortable too.. not.
Besides fashion, personalities are different. People generally keep to themselves. They are all very friendly, but they won't strike up a conversation first. The culture is a little more reserved than the cocky Americans who are stereotyped as being too bold and rude. And though I'm not completely sure of this, it seems from observation that men and women do not hang out with each other unless they're dating or married. Mixed gender hangouts appear to be lacking.
One of the most frustrating things I've found here hit me upside the head within the first ten minutes of being in the country. Everyone here has a cell phone. That's no shock, cellular technology is everywhere. BUT because everyone has a phone, no one wears a watch and clocks are hard to find. And it's nearly impossible to find watches for sale in stores. Because my cell doesn't get signal here, I've been without a time piece since Thursday. I've been asking around, only to get different answers every time. If it's 4:30 pm, I might hear "4:30" or "16:30" or "Half four" or any number of other slang phrasings. My head is readjusting. Finally, today in Castlebar I found a watch at a grocery store. It might have been the highlight of my day.
So, people talk, dress, act, and tell time differently. They also keep up with American politics and television. I've seen two news reports and three different newspapers in two days giving their opinions on the race. Let's just say McCain isn't regarded fondly. Hmm, what else? Everyone smokes. Everyone drinks. There are no street signs. I have yet to see one bad looking car, almost all are luxury vehicles. I saw a guy washing his BMW today in the 55 degree weather....
I PROMISE I thought of more on the bus. I'll have to start carrying a notepad around with me and jotting everything down. For now, I have to get to sleep. It's almost half past one here, and I have to meet with my department head in the morning to lay out my class schedule. Cheers!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
My saving grace
As I'm sure you could imagine, I was ridiculously tired after getting settled in to my apartment two days ago. I ended up sleeping until 1 pm yesterday, something I'm not sure I've ever done. Well, it helped, a little.
Not long after I woke up to a grey, dreary, rainy afternoon, I got a phone call on my apartment phone. At first I had no idea what that strange ringing was. You'd think I'd forgotten what a phone sounded like. I followed my ears to the kitchen and gently lifted the receiver. Maybe I thought a bomb would go off, who knows. "Hello?" On the other end I recognized two voices, one of the receptionist at GMIT who so kindly gave me directions the other day, and the other of my American friend Tiffany. The receptionist handed the phone to Tiffany, who was calling to make sure I was at my apartment. She was here! In Galway! To see me!! Oh, the heavens rejoiced and the rain immediately stopped and I could hear birds singing for miles! OK, not really, but it sure felt like it. My friend was alive and well, and taking a taxi to my apartment right now!
When she stepped foot in my door, soaking wet and smiling from cute ear to cute ear, I felt my spirits lift. She pulled in two monstrous bags behind her... they were wet too, but not smiling so much. I had her pull her stuff in the living room and I turned on the heaters so we could dry everything. After catching up on what happened (we thought we were getting there on the same day, but she got in the day after; she doesn't have an apartment yet in Castlebar, so she came to Galway), we hit the town for dinner and grocery shopping. The grocery stores here charge a fee for using plastic bags; I, fortunately, had read about this in the news a few years ago when it started, so I advised Tiffany to bring her pack and I had mine, so we filled them with food and headed back later. Side note: Mom, I saw zero bananas at the grocery store! Mhmm... But they did have these amazing mangos for 49c. Bought me one of those.
After an evening of watching both American TV ("America's Got Talent" and "Sex and the City") and Irish TV (the news mainly, but we were also introduced to the sport of hurling), we goofed off, taking pictures and chit chatting.
This morning, I'll be taking Tiffany up to Castlebar, a campus about an hour and a half busride north. She's supposed to meet her landlord at the apartment at 4 o'clock. Both of us are praying she likes the apartment and she decides to live there because we'll be carting her bags around with us until she finds a place to permanently keep them. Since she will be staying in Ireland for a year, she brought double what I did. I'll crash at her place tonight- late bus transportation on the weekend are a little shady, from what we can tell. So I'll ride the bus back here tomorrow and ready myself for school to begin! For now, I need to go make sure she's awake...
Not long after I woke up to a grey, dreary, rainy afternoon, I got a phone call on my apartment phone. At first I had no idea what that strange ringing was. You'd think I'd forgotten what a phone sounded like. I followed my ears to the kitchen and gently lifted the receiver. Maybe I thought a bomb would go off, who knows. "Hello?" On the other end I recognized two voices, one of the receptionist at GMIT who so kindly gave me directions the other day, and the other of my American friend Tiffany. The receptionist handed the phone to Tiffany, who was calling to make sure I was at my apartment. She was here! In Galway! To see me!! Oh, the heavens rejoiced and the rain immediately stopped and I could hear birds singing for miles! OK, not really, but it sure felt like it. My friend was alive and well, and taking a taxi to my apartment right now!
When she stepped foot in my door, soaking wet and smiling from cute ear to cute ear, I felt my spirits lift. She pulled in two monstrous bags behind her... they were wet too, but not smiling so much. I had her pull her stuff in the living room and I turned on the heaters so we could dry everything. After catching up on what happened (we thought we were getting there on the same day, but she got in the day after; she doesn't have an apartment yet in Castlebar, so she came to Galway), we hit the town for dinner and grocery shopping. The grocery stores here charge a fee for using plastic bags; I, fortunately, had read about this in the news a few years ago when it started, so I advised Tiffany to bring her pack and I had mine, so we filled them with food and headed back later. Side note: Mom, I saw zero bananas at the grocery store! Mhmm... But they did have these amazing mangos for 49c. Bought me one of those.
After an evening of watching both American TV ("America's Got Talent" and "Sex and the City") and Irish TV (the news mainly, but we were also introduced to the sport of hurling), we goofed off, taking pictures and chit chatting.
Another side note: Dad- On the news, all of a sudden they were intereviewing an Irish Elvis impersonator? Haha it was pretty goofy. Naturally, I thought of you.
This morning, I'll be taking Tiffany up to Castlebar, a campus about an hour and a half busride north. She's supposed to meet her landlord at the apartment at 4 o'clock. Both of us are praying she likes the apartment and she decides to live there because we'll be carting her bags around with us until she finds a place to permanently keep them. Since she will be staying in Ireland for a year, she brought double what I did. I'll crash at her place tonight- late bus transportation on the weekend are a little shady, from what we can tell. So I'll ride the bus back here tomorrow and ready myself for school to begin! For now, I need to go make sure she's awake...
Thursday, September 4, 2008
31 hours later...
Man, have things happened since my first post. To start things off the right way, thanks to everyone who prayed or wished me well on the trip over here- I got in safely and I am currently typing from the comfort of my apartment in Galway. But I don't wan't to jump the gun, I'd rather tell you about my trip over here!
In case the nerves didn't shine through in the last post, I'll just outright tell you that I was very anxious about coming to Ireland. Those nerves ate me alive during my 5-hour layover at JFK airport in New York. I bounced around the airport trying to dispel the nervous energy that clouded my mind, but no success. I tried to eat, I tried to watch a movie, I tried talking on the phone, I tried just being still. No matter what I did, I wasn't feeling better. I couldn't even get online and write it out! Oh well. We'll skip forward a bit, to the actual departure from JFK. I was seated with a very nice young many named Henry, a student at SUNY-Buffalo who was traveling to study business in Dublin for a few months. Henry started up a conversation, and before I knew it, his excitement rubbed off and I stopped freaking out so much. Among many fun things on that 7-hour plane ride, I woke up just in time to join Henry in eating breakfast while watching the sun rise over Ireland. It was amazing. I know I've seen the sun set while on a plane, but I've never seen a sunrise from the air. Truly beautiful. And before we knew it, we were in Dublin! Not a lot of sleep on the plane, but I was ready to go!
After being held up momentarily at the passport station (I had to be registered as a student), I grabbed my bag from baggage claim and began to inspect my surroundings. I said bye to Henry, promised to keep in touch, and settled down to wait for my friend Tiffany. Over two hours later, she hadn't shown up yet. Sadly, I had to leave if I wanted to get to the college before the offices closed for the day. I pulled my bags into the cool morning Irish air, took a deep breath, and continued on to the bus parking lot, the coach park. I found my bus, paid my fare, and spent the next four hours alternating staring at the beautiful landscape and staring at the inside of my eyelids. If there's one thing to be said about Ireland, it's so beautiful. Gorgeous green pastures, charming farm manors and homemade stone fences. The fierce gray cumulous clouds rounded out the picturesque scene and touched the painted land with a sense of foreboding; I should have known then...
When I arrived at GMIT and eventually found Helen O'Reilly, she informed me that I really don't have much to do for the next week except to meet my advisors and the other exchange students. Whoo hoo. So here I am, a little depressed, pulling my heavier-than-I-remember bags (I swear someone put rocks in there) up to my apartment complex, where I'm praying that someone will hand me a key to the hotel suite of my dreams. No such luck. I got a key, yeah, but not exactly the mansion of my dreams. For what I'm paying, I wasn't sure what to expect. It's not bad by any stretch, just... different. Don't you love when people use that word? Normally it's a euphemism for something bad, but I really mean that this apartment is just different. For instance, no AC, but that's not necessary for Galway in September. There are no carpets, but beautiful hardwoods. The TV is small, but at least we have one, and it has full Irish cable. There's minimal furniture but a sizeable bathroom. So far, no neighbors. And it was in desperate need of supplies. With the help of about five Irish men and women, I got into Eyre Square in town and did some shopping. Towels, sheets, shampoo, trash bags, toilet paper, cereal. Eyre Square is probably one of the most important places to figure out as far as any type of shopping goes. I'll head back in tomorrow to get a student bus pass and to go grocery shopping. But for tonight, I'm fine. I grabbed a burger from the food joint in our apartment complex and jammed to my iTunes shuffle as I unpacked and arranged the apartment. It's going to be a challenge to entertain myself for the next three days until more students arrive, but I'll figure something out. I always have this blog!
As always, thanks for keeping up with me! I look forward to sharing more of my Irish adventure with you!
In case the nerves didn't shine through in the last post, I'll just outright tell you that I was very anxious about coming to Ireland. Those nerves ate me alive during my 5-hour layover at JFK airport in New York. I bounced around the airport trying to dispel the nervous energy that clouded my mind, but no success. I tried to eat, I tried to watch a movie, I tried talking on the phone, I tried just being still. No matter what I did, I wasn't feeling better. I couldn't even get online and write it out! Oh well. We'll skip forward a bit, to the actual departure from JFK. I was seated with a very nice young many named Henry, a student at SUNY-Buffalo who was traveling to study business in Dublin for a few months. Henry started up a conversation, and before I knew it, his excitement rubbed off and I stopped freaking out so much. Among many fun things on that 7-hour plane ride, I woke up just in time to join Henry in eating breakfast while watching the sun rise over Ireland. It was amazing. I know I've seen the sun set while on a plane, but I've never seen a sunrise from the air. Truly beautiful. And before we knew it, we were in Dublin! Not a lot of sleep on the plane, but I was ready to go!
After being held up momentarily at the passport station (I had to be registered as a student), I grabbed my bag from baggage claim and began to inspect my surroundings. I said bye to Henry, promised to keep in touch, and settled down to wait for my friend Tiffany. Over two hours later, she hadn't shown up yet. Sadly, I had to leave if I wanted to get to the college before the offices closed for the day. I pulled my bags into the cool morning Irish air, took a deep breath, and continued on to the bus parking lot, the coach park. I found my bus, paid my fare, and spent the next four hours alternating staring at the beautiful landscape and staring at the inside of my eyelids. If there's one thing to be said about Ireland, it's so beautiful. Gorgeous green pastures, charming farm manors and homemade stone fences. The fierce gray cumulous clouds rounded out the picturesque scene and touched the painted land with a sense of foreboding; I should have known then...
When I arrived at GMIT and eventually found Helen O'Reilly, she informed me that I really don't have much to do for the next week except to meet my advisors and the other exchange students. Whoo hoo. So here I am, a little depressed, pulling my heavier-than-I-remember bags (I swear someone put rocks in there) up to my apartment complex, where I'm praying that someone will hand me a key to the hotel suite of my dreams. No such luck. I got a key, yeah, but not exactly the mansion of my dreams. For what I'm paying, I wasn't sure what to expect. It's not bad by any stretch, just... different. Don't you love when people use that word? Normally it's a euphemism for something bad, but I really mean that this apartment is just different. For instance, no AC, but that's not necessary for Galway in September. There are no carpets, but beautiful hardwoods. The TV is small, but at least we have one, and it has full Irish cable. There's minimal furniture but a sizeable bathroom. So far, no neighbors. And it was in desperate need of supplies. With the help of about five Irish men and women, I got into Eyre Square in town and did some shopping. Towels, sheets, shampoo, trash bags, toilet paper, cereal. Eyre Square is probably one of the most important places to figure out as far as any type of shopping goes. I'll head back in tomorrow to get a student bus pass and to go grocery shopping. But for tonight, I'm fine. I grabbed a burger from the food joint in our apartment complex and jammed to my iTunes shuffle as I unpacked and arranged the apartment. It's going to be a challenge to entertain myself for the next three days until more students arrive, but I'll figure something out. I always have this blog!
As always, thanks for keeping up with me! I look forward to sharing more of my Irish adventure with you!
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