Pictures from Co. Kerry:

Copy and Paste!!!

http://s665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/jbrauck/Kerry/?albumview=grid

Mitchell... Coyle ...Myers... Brauckmann... What;s Baby's real name? How many kids did they have?

I just returned to Dublin from Castlebar, County Mayo! My great grandmother Margaret Mitchell was born to Owen and Mary Mitchell in Mayo, had 2 sisters and 2 brothers, one who died in infancy. Then Margaret moved to the USA, married and had 6 or 7 children- Desmond, Joe, William, Peggy, George and Mary with George Coyle. Mary is my grandmom. Anyway- loooonng story short, Margaret's brother Owen (Sonny) married Bridgie and they had 6 children, one whom I just visited- Joe! So Joe is my grandmom's cousin. Joe and his wife Maureen were fabulous!!!

I arrived on Thursday to Maureen's welcoming hug at the train station. She took me to their house in Belcarra, a small village outside of Castlebar. She fed me of course, with fries and coleslaw and chicken. Yum (and verrrry Irish might I add)!

Dingle- It's all it's CRAICed up to be

So Dingle is my favorite town in Ireland, hands down. It had it all- beach and beautiful rocky coastline, mountains, and small towns and pubs. Everyone in the town knew each other, so it was a very interesting dynamic that I hadn't witnessed in any of the other towns. Killarney was nice beacuse of its small size, but it was still a huge tourist hub. So Dingle, or An Daingean... In 2005, the mayor or whatever of Dingle passed a town law that Dingle must only be referred to as An Daingean, and nothing else. The townspeople protested because while Gaelic is the official language of Ireland, English is also spoken by all. There was no reason why both Dingle and An Daingean could not be posted on road signs, etc. So anyway, the townspeople lost, and every sign in the town of Dingle is in Gaelic. Super Irish and thus a SUPER experience!
When we arrived in Dingle, we immediately found a hostel, the Grapevine Hostel, owned by John MacDonald and his mom. John is about 25 years old, and a very energetic Irish guy. They were very welcoming, and for only 17 euro per night, we weren't complaining. Luckily the hostel was next to Paddy's Bike Rentals, so we headed there and rented bikes for 10 euro, and we could even return them in the morning! So after we grabbed some lunch, we headed off to bike around Slea Head Drive, the most westernly point of Ireland, and it's in the Dingle Peninsula. (For those of you who have never been to Ireland, Dingle town and the peninsula are a MUST.) So Slea Head drive took us about 4 hours to bike, with many photo stops of course. It was just breathtaking. The waves crashing on the rocks were majestic and the small towns along the way offered colorful homefronts, and cows and sheep galore. Ugh it was just amazing!
That evening we got back to the hostel to make dinner and shower before going to a Pub Crawl hosted by John. He took us all over Dingle, which was not much ground to cover. Pubs like J. Curran's, Foxy John Moriarty's, MacCarty's, John Benny's... Foxy John's and Curran's were interesting because not only were they pubs, but they were also hardware stores or farmers' stores. So on one side you could get a drink and on the other, get your boots fixed, or buy a tweed hat. It was bizarre but added to the cozy and close-knit feel of the town. Curran's also offered a troll-like man the town called "Small Gerry," and he was an absoulte hoot! He stood only 4 feet tall, had the squintiest eyes and the type of mouth/jaw a toothless man would have. When we met him, he was carrying a double whiskey, and by the 4th minute of talking, he downed the entire thing. He shook his head, and went on mumbling to us. It was really funny, but kind of creepy. It got better at John Benny's where we heard a singer named Eilis Kennedy . Her voice was absolutely stunning! She sang beautiful trad music, but also played the tin flute, a common instrument used for playing trad Irish music. Her husband played the acordian too. It was just so relaxing. The whole time John and his buddies told us funny stories that had us falling off our seats. Just like the Irish to make your side split. They were a little taken back by our non-drinking nonsense. We were just so tired...
At MacCarty's we saw a Reggae band called Avatar.. They are based in Killarney and were really fun to dance to. Tons of hippies live in Dingle too, so it was a good time. The next day we woke up early to shop, and I picked a few trinkets. We tried to see Fungi, the infamous dolphin of Dingle, but we missed him! So around 1:15pm, we decided to hitch hike to Tralee, a town 30 miles east of Dingle to save on money. At Tralee we could catch the bus or train back to Dublin. Well, this was an experience! Of course Caroline and Emma were totally into it. They had been wanting to hitch for quite some time now- they've also been in Europe longer, so I suppose it's been building up for them. So there we stood, thumbs out, by the gas station in Dingle. Emma made a sign that said, "3 for Tralee?" and she stood in front of Caroline and I. Now for all you parents who are freaking out, the woman who owned the hostel confirmed that it was like public transport in the west of Ireland, so it made us feel safer. And it was true- there was a hitching sign language and everything! The people who wanted to take us would gesture that they either had kids in the car (hands in the air) or that they were going only half way (a point to the right..) It was just so cool. Finally a guy picked us up in his Lexus (not quite 1969), and we were on our way! It was great, we could see the countryside and he gave us tons of insider tips and advice on Ireland. Turns out he owns the only nightclub in Dingle, so next time I'm in Dingle I'l know the guy who owns the nightclub.
Gosh, this trip was one of a lifetime. It was relaxing, and my friends made it so much fun. Nothing is ever a problem with Emma and Caroline- they're just so easy going. I'm really going to miss traveling around, just feeling so free and careless. The problem with Ireland is that it's expensive, so I'll have to pick a cheaper place for my next excursion.

Anywho, I come home in 16 days, and I'm definitely excited. I can't wait to jump into the arms of my family, and eat normal food and smell my house and my car!! Ah!! And summer. It will just be so much fun, and I know already that people at home will notice a change in me. I've grown so much as a result of this experience.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner - Killarney and The Ring of Kerry

So after Cork, we took the train to Killarney to save ourselves 3 hours. (The "we" by the way is Emma, Caroline, me, and this guy Joey from Boston who is in the same program as Caroline and Emma).. So, all the while I have been reading Jack Kerouac's "On The Road," which just makes me feel good about traveling. Anyway, we booked a hostel in Kenmare, which is a town on the Ring of Kerry (Iveragh Peninsula), but we later found that we missed the bus to Kenmare, so we stayed in this AWESOME hostel called The Sugan. It was just so cute. The decorations consisted of coffee mugs hanging from the ceiling, a cozy fireplace, and lots of traveling photos and wind chimes. The hostel keeper, Martin, was so hospitable, and really energetic. He's from Poland and runs the hostel with his wife. He built a fire for us immediately upon entering, so we were sold. The beds, everything, were just so cozy! Best hostel ever.
Afterwards, we explored Killarney a bit, looking for a place to ride horseback through the National Park. A local pointed us in the direction of O'Sullivan's Riding Stables (I think the O'Sullivan's own Killarney) and we were on our way for 1 hour! Now, I've never been on a horse, but this was awesome! We hopped right up, my horse was named Budweiser, and we both trotted and walked with the horses. Maggie- tell Clare I give her credit! My legs were burning afterwards!! It was a good burn, a productive one. The horses were fun, and very tall. I liked riding a lot actually.
We later explored the National Park by foot, which we were told was the first national park in the world. We were delighted to walk it, and we saw Ross Castle (and this was just another castle).
That evening we grabbed some (salty) tomato soup and grilled cheese in the pub across the street, and watched the soccer game (Manchester United vs. Chelsea). It was cool, but again, we were beat! The next morning we explored Killarney some more, but then caught a tour bus around the Ring of Kerry, which contains the highest mountain in Ireland. It was the hilliest ride, and the bumpiest, but we had fun. Our tour guide, John O'Neill was a hoot, and he told us tall tales as most Irish do. He joked about Bill Clinton, the current political problems, old Irish folklore, etc. Bill Clinton one-liner: "When Bill visited Ireland, poor Monica (insert Irish last name) had to take down her store-front sign, but it did say, 'Monica's wash and blowdry'" Ha.
Another joke/life lesson:
A farmer told me once, 'Ya know John, if the Fresian (B&W) cows are layin' down in the mornin' I won't go in the field to tend them. If they're layin, it's gon' to rain, but if they're standin, the sun will shine.'
And I said to him, 'Well, what if some are layin' and some are standin'?' and he says to me, 'Well then that's just some sun with a chance of showers.'
Screw that I says, that's b*llsh*t. And I know about b*llsh*t. One day the bull says to the crow, 'How are ye crow? Fine day isn't it?' The crow says, 'No bull, it's not fine; I'm dying and all me feathers are fallin' out.'
'Well,' says the bull, 'follow me around for a week and eat me droppings, you'll be back on yer feet in no time.' So the crow did just that. He ate and ate, and grew stronger and stronger. He grew so strong that he flew to the top of the highest tree in the farmer's yard. He cawed and cawed as loud as he could all day long; after all, he was so strong now. One day he CAWED CAWED, and the farmer shot him dead, straight at the top of that high tree. So ye know, b*llsh*t will get ye to the top, but it won't keep ye there.

I liked that joke. But anyway, John was typically Irish and had a perfect accent. Very entertaining. The Ring of Kerry had breathtaking views, but overall, Killarney and the ring were crowded and we were excited to get to Dingle, where we hoped it would be less crowded. Killarney was a great cute town; I could see why it was called "Ireland's tourist hub." All I could sing the whole time was Bing's 'Christmas in Killarney' (I thought of you Dad.) The photos, whenever they are uploaded, will explain my happiness more explicitly. I just love Ireland.

First thing's first...Pop the Cork!

So, my 5 day trip to western Ireland was amazing.. so beautiful and serene. The people are much nicer as well. Tuesday we took an 8am bus to Cork (4 hours) and arrived at lunch time in the somewhat poopy weather. We saw the Blarney Castle, which was just wonderful, before going back to Cork to explore the city. Blarney was really pretty, which was a surprise considering we were expecting just another castle. But Ireland has SO much history, more than the United States and many other places in the world. There are village ruins that date back 5,000 years or so- that's before the Egyptian pyramids. Now that's impressive.
So Cork was a nice city too- like a mini-Dublin. They have the Beamish brewery there, a few cool gothic cathedrals, but mostly a really quaint city centre. It wasn't an over crowded city, so it was enjoyable to walk around. That evening we ate at a nice bistro, where I ordered a goat cheese salad=amazing! Dairy products are best in Ireland- it's official! The cows just get so many nutrients and they get to eat in the fields like NORMAL COWS. They aren't mass produced and fattened up in Ireland like they are in America.
That night we stayed with my friend Tyler from Iowa, who I met through my friend Alyssa at Rutgers. He let us take his whole room, and he slept on the common room sofa- very nice of him. Tuesday night we hit up a few bars, the most memorable: The Franciscan Well, a microbrewery. It had a cute beer garden in the back, and I ordered a pint of the Blonde. It was a light German-like wheat beer. Very nice. We were pooped though, so we turned in early (like, 1am). The city is also more hilly than Dublin, so that added another dimension to it. It's nice to have some height in a city. Dublin is just flat, flat, flat.
We woke up early on Wednesday to go to Killarney, a very very cute town. (Read the next blog for Killarney stories)...

Updates

Hey everyone- So the last week has been devoted to school work, but this Tuesday my roommates and I are going to the southwest of Ireland-- Cork, Killarney, Kenmare, the Ring of Kerry, and Dingle Peninsula. We'll probably be there until Sat. or Sun. After that, I plan to go to County Mayo to see my mom's distant family. That should be cool as well.

So for updates- here are some cool videos that I hadn't put up yet. Joey you'll like the one of the guy dancing!!

Street Performer


On the Rope Bridge in Norn Iron

Maggie visits the Emerald Isle!

Hey everyone,
As far as the photos go for the Aran Islands, There is a link posted at the end of my last blog. Copy and paste the link into a new window or tab in your internet explorer.

Maggie visited me from Germany, and we had a blast. We toured Dublin in the warm rain, and Saturday we had wonderful weather in Norn Iron (Northern Ireland). We saw the Carrick-a-Rede ("rock in the road") rope bridge, the Giant's Causeway (legend of Finn McCool) and the city of Derry, aka LondonDerry, where Bloody Sunday took place.

The bridge spans the space between the mainland and Carrick Island, over the Northern Channel (12 miles from Scotland). It was absolutely gorgeous! The Northern Channel is clear as day, and tropical blue. If it had been warmer, I would have thought I was in New Zealand or Hawaii. So Maggie and I crossed the rickety rope bridge, and I even took a video, so you can feel like you're there! WOO HOO!! Afterwards, we stopped for lunch and hiked down to the Giant's Causeway. The story here, as geologists would put it, is that years and years ago volcanic eruptions and cooling lava formed the hexagonal shaped rock. Legend has it that Finn McCool, the giant of Ireland, built those rocks as stepping stones to Scotland to fight the Scottish giant. As Finn began his travels to Scotland, he stopped building because he saw just how huge the Scottish giant was! He ran back home, and told his wife that the Scottish giant was a-comin'! When the Scot came bangin' on the door, the baby started crying. Well, this baby was HUGE, bigger than the Scot himself. The Scot thought, "Well if his baby is huge, then I'm in trouble!" So he ran back to Scotland. Turns out that the "baby" was really Finn, and his wife saved him from a fight (as all wives do...Hey, I'm just tellin' the legend..) The Scots might have a different side of the story, but that's the Irish version. So Finn McCool is Ireland's hero!

Anyway- the hexagonal shaped rocks blew my mind, and I just think it's so cool what nature can do. After that, we went to Derry City. It was a sad atmosphere because this is only city that still has a wall separating the Catholics and the Protestants. The Protestant side is loyal to the Queen of England, and has red, white and blue painted curbs. The Catholic side has green everywhere. In fact, our tour bus was green and at one point, the tour guide wanted to show us something on the Protestant side, but he would only go so far because he feared people would egg the bus, or something. So it wasn't the most pleasant city. But, the people there are a tight knit community, and in that sense, I expected Ireland to be that way. Our walking tour guide in Derry knew everyone who passed by. It was cool.

In my photos you'll see all the murals painted in memory of Bloody Sunday and the ongoing war between the Republic and Norn Iron. There are monuments all over Derry commemorating the lives of people who died in honor of the Queen. For more details on Bloody Sunday, go here:

Will write soon, probably after my papers are all written! But the weather in Dublin is so pretty now, about 60-65 everyday, so it's hard to concentrate! Next week I will be traveling a bit through Cork, Killarney, Co. Kerry, the Dingle Peninsula, and Co. Mayo (to see my mom's family)!! I'll keep you updated!

PHOTOS --> http://s665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/jbrauck/Norn%20Iron%20with%20Maggie/?albumview=grid (copy and paste it!!)

Gaillimh (Galway), Oileáin Árann (Aran Islands), and Mainistir na Coille Móire (Kylemore Abbey)

So this past weekend is the ACTUAL reason I came to Ireland..wait till you see the photos and you will agree! Hands down, it was the best weekend I have had. The weather was amazing in the Aran Islands (I could wear a tank top and I caught a tan!!) and Galway was fun and the city is really cute. So Friday we caught the bus around 10:30am to go to Galway, and we stayed in a hostel called Snoozles. It was actually a really great hostel. Milan (the trip organizer, and Erasmus Society President @ UCD) bought us spaghetti for dinner, and then we all hung out by the river that night. Every pub was shut down for Good Friday, so we made due. By the way, Erasmus is what they called study abroad here. Friday we met a ton of international students, namely Manon (from Belgium), Corinne (from Luxembourg), Marie (from Norway), and Stephanie (from Austria). They were a ton of fun and Emma and I, of course had a blast! But the first night we roomed with 8 others- 1 Australian, 1 New Zealander, 1 Austrian, 1 American, and 4 Canadians! It was definitely fun the whole weekend hearing others' perspectives on life in general. I couldn't stop thinking, "This is why I came abroad. There IS more outside of the U.S." It was nice pal-ing around with the girls because they all love nature and exploring. They were a joy to be around. Saturday we hit up the Galway market- fresh veggies and fruit, freshly baked bread, Irish cheese, and homemade Irish jewelry. There was a sushi stand too (reeaaallly good!!) We bought some goods for our dinner, which ended up being cheese, tomato and spinach wraps. Yummy. We ate them on the ferry to the Aran Islands. The rest of the day in Galway Emma and I putzed around, looking in some shops, etc. Galway has some great homemade toy shops that Dublin doesn't offer, and overall, Galway was a much cozier city. I actually liked the feel of it much better. I bought myself a Claddagh ring, and a bit of an nontraditional one at that! You'll see :-)
But funny story here: Emma and I sat in the park with out soda bread for an hour or so, and at one point a group of French 12-year old's approached me. One girl asked if she could take my picture. I asked her why, and they had trouble explaining why they wanted it. They all had a list in their hands, so we assumed it was a Scavenger hunt. We asked them and of course, they were confused. But it's common in hunts that you need a photo a someone in particular. I didn't know what I had to offer.. I looked pretty normal. Emma confirmed. So I let them take the photo and we moved on. About 10 minutes later, another French group approached- but they didn't ask for my photo at first. One of the girls was being sneaky and took my picture with her phone from behind another girl. It was very Gossip Girl-esque! Emma called her over and asked why she was taking a picture of me! It WAS odd considering it happened not too long prior. They couldn't understand and luckily, a woman next to us offered to translate. They said they needed a picture of a beautiful girl for a school project! Sheesh- it was flattering, but I don't know if that's really the reason. I still think I had something on my shirt and I just never noticed.

Well anyway, the ferry ride to the islands was nice. The islands have 3 mini islands- Inis Mór (the largest, pronounced Inishmore), Inis Meadhóin (pronounced Inishmaan), and Inis Oírr (pronounced Inisheer). We stayed on Inis Mór. It was refreshing to look onto the coast from the ocean to see maybe one or two thatched-roof houses, and not string upon string of row homes like you find in OCNJ. It was just mountains and some houses...made me realize how over populated the U.S. is, and in particular, NJ. That's something that I really enjoy about Ireland. It had open space, but never feels empty. Saturday night on Inis Mór, we went to a pub called Ti Joe Watty's, where we listened to a band while drinking Irish Coffee. It was funny because the band played a lot of hits, but also randoms like 'Mamma Mia,' and 'Fraggle Rock.' It was fun!

Easter Sunday was memorable!! We rented bikes and biked the island (around the Ring of Aran) from 11am-5pm. How incredibly breathtaking!!! We saw seals, ate lunch with out feet dangling from the beautiful cliffs (and I would go as far in saying that they were better than the Cliffs of Mohr), and breathed in the true Irish history that the island was blessed with. Emma and I met an old Irishman who gave us some helpful tips on sights to see, and we had an overall amazing day. It's hard to explain and I hope the pictures do it justice, but I think it's something you just have to see.

Basically I absolutely love Ireland, and have really formed a bond with this place after this weekend. I'm going to miss it when I come home. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for AWESOME photos!!! For now, here is a video of the awesome cliffs where we ate lunch, and below it is the video of Emma and I riding bikes.





PHOTOS!!!!! -->
http://s665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/jbrauck/?albumview=grid

One reason why I came over here I guess...

So in my Rhetoric class, we had to deliver a presentation, analyzing an advertisement in light of Rhetoric. So, my group got together, decided to analyze Coca-Cola commercials, and we're on our way. It was interesting, as it always is, to hear the opinions of people who have spent their life growing up on the other side of the Atlantic talk about the media. A girl in my group mentioned today that there aren't any medicine advertisements in Ireland. WOW. I never realized this but she's right. I have been blessed by Irish television, not by the repetitive episodes of Friends, but by the absence of medicine commercials. I don't know why it's not illegal. They make people think they have restless legs, or high cholesterol, so that they rush to their doctor to buy the medication! It's all a money-making scheme, and through it all, the people sitting at home who are trying to enjoy their TV watching experience have to hear about anal leakage and the like.
The commercials on TV are much shorter here too, both in the individualized sense, and in the fact that there aren't as many between shows. They advertise things like cleaning products, beer, and candy in Ireland. They also have the 'starving kids in Africa' commercials, but they have many Public Service Announcements as well. It's just different here, and quite refreshing. I like hearing the other side, ya know? It makes me feel like I'm learning something real.

Anyway- I'm still procrastinating, but I am feeling better about the papers than I did this weekend. This upcoming weekend is the Aran Islands, which I'm extremely excited for, and then Maggie visits!

April Fools!!!!

Happy April Fools everyone. I hope you all scared the bejeezuz out of someone today. We certainly tried to. This morning I walked out of the bathroom to find Emma and Caroline giggling on the stairs. They were planning an April Fools joke on the rest of the roommates- to scream "FIRE!!!" and run out of the house. I agree to go along with it, because.. why not? I thought we were going to talk about it a little longer when Emma says, "Ready?" and just starts screaming this high pitched scream and runs me into the wall. It was hilarious. She opened all our roommates' doors and Matt freaked out and jumped out of bed. Kate didn't even stir, and Andy ran out the shower with a towel on and razor in his hand (he thought we were being robbed...) The 3 of us run all the way out the front door and out of the courtyard. No one follows and from the top of the steps we hear Matt getting all frustrated because we woke him up abruptly. Dear God was it funny! Such an adrenaline rush early in the morning!

In other news, One Tree Hill was good today, HAHA, and I just saw a chick in the bathroom with THEE biggest hair ever- on purpose. SICK.

Back to homework and this thing called "motivation"

Okay, now for the worst...

So while Thursday and Friday were awesome days, Saturday was, it's safe to say, the worst day I've had in Ireland. I don't think there has ever been another day in my life where my timing was more off and the communications lines were more down.

Matt and I awoke at 4:30a.m. to walk the mile or so to the bus station downtown. I still have to buy our tour tickets for the Giants Causeway and Carrick-A-Repe Rope Bridge, and I have to go to a hostel nearby the bus station to get them. Note: I did not look up EXACTLY where the hostel was, but I did know the street name and I knew it was less than a minute from the station, so I wing it. (Matt wanted to kill me...) We get to the bus station (not the hostel) by 5:47 a.m. Note: We don't have our tickets. We must catch the 6:00 bus in order to get to Belfast by 8:30 for the tour to pick us up. At 5:54a.m. I find the hostel FINALLY.. The man there gets all huffy with me, rightfully so, because I'm late and now making him rush. I give him my Visa and he charges me. The receipt was jammed so he charged me again on another machine. Now I have to go back to the hostel to make sure my credit card was not charged twice. UGH.

Now it's 6:00a.m. exactly. Matt is nowhere to be found, he was in the station using the toilet. Buses here don't have bathrooms on them... The bus driver is now REALLY MAD at me because I am making him late. This is was too much for me before dawn. Matt runs out of the bus station- 6:05a.m. PHEW. We board the bus and we're on our way. I fall asleep and Matt is passed out, when at 7:30 we stop to switch buses because our bus's door was flapping in the wind. This makes us 20-25 minutes late. NOT GOOD. I called the hostel/tour company to let them know what the situation was. She said she would call the tour driver and he would wait for us. PHEW- I go back to sleep.

8:50a.am.- We pull into the bus station. We are supposed to go to Victoria St, but there are no signs directing us so. We find the way, no food or drink in our tummies, and there's no bus outside. So, I called Deirdre again, the nice lady at the tour company. She said she will call the driver again and make sure he gets us. HOWEVER, since we were in the UK, all these calls I had been making costed way more than they do in the Republic. I was then down to 16 cents and incoming calls cost 25. (Insert panic and mild cursing..) I used the payphone instead, letting her know that my phone is out of credit. Long story short here-- we corresponded until 10:00 about this bus. The bus was nowhere to be found and she couldn't call the driver directly, so she was corresponding with some hotel owner in Belfast to get to the driver. It took the longest time just to figure where he was. So at this point, she said that she was going to organize a taxi to pick us up at no additional fee, so that we can meet up with the tour bus in the north. WOW! We were so relieved and grateful!

The taxi pulled up, asking us if we were 2 of the 7 who needed to be picked up to go to a castle. Well, we said No because as far as we were concerned, we weren't. It turns out that that taxi was ours, and that Deirdre assumed the whole time that the entire group of 7 missed the bus too. NOPE- just Matt and I! (Insert more cursing..)
The taxi driver tells us to get out, because now Deirdre can not do anything for us. We found out later that the taxi driver was rude to her too- he just hung up on her after she tried to ask him how much it would cost for us to go up there on our own.. whatever..

NOW, I'm depressed. I wanted to see the causeway and the bridge, and I wanted Matt to see it before leaving Ireland. UGHH.. I just wanted to scream. All the while, I was freezing, the wind was whipping at 70 m.p.h and I was wearing the most uncomfortable and bulky coat because it's STILL NOT WARM HERE. Not to mention we had been awake since 4:30 and Belfast isn't much to see anyway. So it was depressing and frustrating, and the fact that I didn't have any phone credit did not help. I just wanted to cry. It might not sound that bad in writing, but it was BAD. Thank God Matt stayed positive, because without that (you know me..) I would have ruminated on that for hours and hours!

Anyway-- keep on the look out for pictures from the Cliffs of Moher and St. Paddy's!!
PICS: (of st. paddy's..cliffs are below!)

St. Paddy's Day..er...Week

The best and the worst days ever in like, 72 hours..

Thursday, Matt and I set out to Galway on the train (3 hours) to find the cutest B&B location. Salthill is just 2 miles outside of Galway on the Galway Bay, and it's where we stayed for the night. That night we had dinner at a nice wine bar, and the dinner was pretty awesome. Salmon cakes with leek and the sirloin patty with onions and chirizo mashed potatoes! Dear Gosh, this was awesome! Petra- the chirizo mashed tasted EXACTLY like the sausage your mom uses in lecho. I was so excited, and it made me think of you and that awesome Hungarian food. I ordered a pot o' tea and we sat there an extra long time, because, me thinks, we were being ignored due to our American-ness. Probably not, but Matt was convinced. It didn't help that twice that night we were laughed at by taxi drivers for being American. Who knows..
So the next morning we woke up early to the B&B's breakfast. Matt ordered a full Irish, which he loved (Heinz baked beans mostly.. haha) and I had cereal and eggs. Good stuff. We hopped on an O'Neachtain bus tour afterwards to the Burren area of County Clare. The Burrens are so cool because the earth is covered completely in limestone, which is a very porous rock filled with minerals. The tour driver told us that livestock do well in this area because the land on which they graze is filled with minerals and vitamins because of the limestone. They don't do as well in Connemara (my first Rutgers excursion) because the stone there is granite, a non-porous rock.) Anyway, it was actually pretty beautiful seeing the land covered in rock. Many farmers dug up the limestone so their livestock could graze..
We took a tour of the Ailwee Cave after that. It was discovered in 1940 and kept a secret until the 1970s. It was a huge cave with waterfalls and tons of calcite stalagmites inside. It was SO cool!!! The water was the purest you could get, so Matt had a sip.
Then, drum roll please, we came upon the Cliffs of Moher. These are the cliffs you see in the Princess Bride, and they were absolutely spectacular! Wait till you see the pictures!! Woo. The views of the Atlantic Ocean and Galway Bay the entire tour were breathtaking and other castles and tombs we saw along the way were so old and awesome (Poulnabrone Tomb (5000 years old..) and Dunghoire Castle).

When we arrived back in Galway we stopped for a pint and then hopped back on the train to Dublin. We were pretty tired, so we just relaxed that night.

Galway and Cliffs of Moher

This was the "Best Part" of this 72 hours... Read the next blog for the worst part...

Traveling, visitors!

Hello!

Haven't posted in what feels like forever! My apologies. I have been SUPER busy though. Wednesday the 18th I hopped on a plane to Zurich, Switzerland, where my friend Maggie (studying in Konstanz, Germany) picked me up at the airport. We headed on a train to Konstanz and the relaxation began. Konstanz is a small summer getaway town with a university in the middle of it. Maggie has only been there a few weeks but she knew her way around quite well. I had good German food like Frickadella (a German version of a burger-- minced meat with onions, etc stuffed inside) and I also had some Turkish food. Good stuff! There is a huge population of Turkish in Germany. Apparently back in the day the government brought the Turkish over to work all the jobs the Germans were "too good for." Of course now, the Germans want their jobs back. It's kind of like what goes on in the USA with Mexicans. I also had Weinerschnizel (not as good as Petra's grandmother's, but still quite good...) I tried a couple German beers, which are much different, and just more enjoyable to drink. Maggie showed me Konstanz, through which the clean and beautiful River Rhein runs. And Saturday we headed to Freiburg to see the Munster Cathedral and the cute marketplace they are known for. The whole trip was really relaxing it was so good to hang out with Maggie. Monday I left to come back to Dublin, and Tuesday morning Matt arrived.

Yesterday Matt and I had lunch at a cute hole-in-the-wall cafe called Queen of Tarts, went to see Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) and had dinner at a pub called Foley's. The Gaol was AWESOME! It was a guided tour through the place where so many important figures in Ireland's history were held. The tour gave some great information on Ireland's history and focused primarily on the Easter Rising of 1916. The rebel leaders from the Rising were all held in this Gaol and the conditions they described were crazy awful. Like, WOW. If anyone ever comes to Dublin, you MUST go to Kilmainham.

Today we went to the Guinness Storehouse, which lived up to my expectations (i.e.- not worth the money to go...) But it was still good to see. I don't like Guinness so it didn't matter to me to taste much of it. However, I did taste the "Foreign Extra Stout" which isn't sold in the US, and again, not good. But I could see how a beer connoisseur would like it. It was a good day, and we just walked around the city after that. Tonight we are going to eat dinner on a barge and tomorrow we head to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher to see all that good stuff! I am SO excited!!! :-)

Will update soon, and pictures to come!

Germany

THEE most chaotic week of my entire life...

I can't even begin to explain the insanity that happened in Dublin from about March 12-17. Ireland has a 5 day celebration, which is crazy in and of itself. The town was completely overturned, but in a good Irish-fun way. Every pub was packed and the sidewalks were really crowded. On St. Paddy's Day, they had a parade and then everyone continued to drink until God-knows-when. My roommates and I headed in early because the past 4 days had wiped us out. Plus, I had a flight to Germany on the 18th that I was afraid I was going to be miss from lack of sleep. At one point, between my friends and all my roommates' friends, there were 21 people sleeping in our house. It was like a youth hostel. Absolutely ridiculous!

I had a great time though, my friends studying in Florence came to visit from the 11th-15th, and we had a good time in the clubs and around town. We also took a 6 mile walk through some small villages in County Wicklow and ended our hike in Glendalough. They seemed to really like it, so I was glad to be a tour guide for the 4 days.

I wish I could give more details on the St. Paddy's Day extravaganza, but it was just too insane to give all the details. Just know that I had a blast and that no other St. Paddy's Day will (probably) never match up to this one.

Anyway, I flew into Zurich, Switzerland yesterday to visit Maggie, who is studying in Konstanz, which is an hour train ride from Zurich. Already I have gotten more sleep here, so I can tell it's going to be a relaxing trip. We are going to some smaller towns around Konstanz and Frieberg on Saturday; possibly Stutgart on Sunday. I won't get to see Munich because I think it's 5 hours away. Although, Stuttgart looks far away too. She is super far south, so every huge city is far. Apparently Konstanz is a summer getaway town, so that's cool. Germany is MUCH bigger than Ireland, so it's not like every city is a hop, skip, and a jump away.

Still, last night we went out for about 2 hours to this place called Die-Cocktailbar. HAHA. it was the club-iest place in Konstanz, so it reminded me of Dublin. It was cool though- had all these brick archways. It was weird not knowing a lick of German and being in a German bar. Maggie kept having to speak for me.. But a good amount of people know English.. still, I felt rude not knowing the native language. That's why I didn't study here I guess! This one kid last night was reprimanding me- saying, "why did you come to Germany and not know German?? Why don't you have a German name??" (German doesn't have a sound for "J") It was very funny! I just kept saying my name the French way so it would sound A LITTLE more familiar. He wasn't accepting of the English pronunciation.

I'll try to update soon with all my pictures from last week. Cheers!

Out of the Tree of Life I Just Picked Me a Plum

Today was quite the relaxing one. I woke up early to a sunny sky and ate my banana and peanut butter oatmeal, watched some One Tree Hill, and then headed off to the train station to catch some transportation to Malahide. With life's soundtrack in my ears (consisting of Van Morrison and Frank Sinatra mostly), I was on my way! Malahide is this small town on the coast north of Dublin. It was cute, but not any cuter than the small towns I've been to thus far. Howth and Adare were just as cute, if not cuter. But I had a nice day walking around myself- just people watching, taking in the cold fresh air, and drinking tea in a small cafe called Coastal. I wrote in my journal over a Pot 'o Tea and a bagel with cream cheese, just staring out the window to the quaint shops that lay across the street. The cream cheese on that bagel was gooood! Cream cheese in Eire is actually like cheese, and it's not nearly as sweet, so it was a nice and different bagel-y snack! I walked down by the harbor and watched over the stone wall for some fish to pop their heads up- with no luck, and then took a stroll down to the Malahide Castle. It was pretty expensive to go inside, and I really didn't even walk up to it. I just looked around the area.
I really just wanted to get out of my apartment today. Saturday I went jogging in THEE cutest part of Dublin- down by the canal, but after that I haven't down much aside from cleaning the apartment and rearranging my room for my visitors. Yesterday was pretty uneventful, and there a wee bit of a storm a-brewin' outside me window! (my apologies..haa)

Anyway, tomorrow night my two friends Jill and Jes wil be visiting from Florence, Italy, with their two other roommates. Then the 12th of March begins the 5-day St. Paddy's Day celebration all over Dublin! Merrion Square, which is conveniently a block from my house, is holding the city's carnival for the 5 days. I think I'm going to take the girls for a hike down the Wicklow Way, in the Wicklow Mtns. in County Wicklow! Wicklow, Wicklow, Wicklow! I'll give more updates, but until then, have a grand Monday :-)

Me Journey to Emerald Isle!

Some things I've noticed along the way

Heyhey!
I'm bored and procrastinating writing this paper, so I thought I would write some things down here, letting you all know the different lingo and slang they use in Ireland. There's a lot more than I thought!

"maths" = math
"Do you have credit?" = "Can I use your phone?"
"For Let" = "For Rent"
"Off Licence" (different spelling) = "We sell alcohol"
"Carpark" = "parking lot"
"GP" = "Doctor"... stands for General Practitioner
"Tuna (or chicken or egg) Mayo" = "Tuna Salad"
"Ramp" = speed bump
"Notes" = "Bills", like "I have a 50 euro note" or "I have a $20 bill"
"Beer Mat" = a coaster
"Boot" = trunk
"Brilliant" = "cool"
"Crisps" = potato chips
"Chips" = French Fries
"Digestives" are these round graham crackers.. good stuff too
The "first floor" is actually the second floor. "Ground floor" is a first floor.
"Garda" = Police
"Grand" = good; like, "Yeah, everything's grand"
"Hen Night" = Bachelorette Party; my roomies have encountered a few..
"Holiday" = any old vacation...But a "bank holiday" is a legal holiday, like Labor Day or something...
"Jumper" = sweater
"X, Y, and Zed" = "X, Y, and Z"
"A Pitch" = playing field, like, "The rugby pitch is a kilometer away"
"A rubber" = AN ERASER!!!!
"Sellotape" = Scotch tape. When I had to buy scotch tape, I just crossed my fingers that what I was buying was correct, because yes it looked like it, but Sellotape totally threw me off.
"Quay" (pronounced Key) = waterside street
"Queue" (pronounced CUE) = line
"A tick" is a check mark
"To top up" = to refill ANYTHING- a drink, your phone credit...
"To wee or to poo" = to pee or to poop
"Clearway" = the highway
*They use shredded cheese on sandwiches, where there would usually be slices of cheese.
*Exit signs in buildings are Green- makes sense I suppose.
*You could be charged 150 euro for spitting out your gum.

A looong week ended in Glendalough

Hello! Well, this has been my longest and most eventful week. Again, we had visitors. Thursday night some kids from Cork came to stay at the house, so all week has just been entertaining. Today I went on a school organized trip to Glendalough, a town in the Wicklow Mountains about 40 minutes south of Dublin. A beautiful town- it was founded by Irish natives, and the main attraction is the monastery built up by St. Kevin. He went to Glendalough (glenDAlock) to become a hermit because he thought that by removing himself from people and society that he could become closer to God, but when the townspeople found out he was living near them, they asked him to begin his evangelical work, I suppose. The monastery was very cool, grave stones everywhere, and the round tower, called Irish Round Towers (only found in Ireland and Scotland)... They were mainly used as bell towers, and so that visitors could find the monastery. It was neat. The moss-ridden mountains are gorgeous, even on a dull day. The name Glendalough directly means in Irish "town between two lakes" and the lakes were pretty. It's a shame that the sky wasn't bluer.
I met some European people, which was awesome because I hadn't really interacted with any since I've been here. I met an Austrian kid, 3 Germans and a New Zealander (not European.. haha) All very nice people. The Austrian and the Germans were telling me about how the Turks come to their countries and don't fully immerse themselves in their culture, and how it's annoying. This other American and I were saying how America has that "problem" with Mexico and Latin America too. But the truth is, and we all recognized this, that they work the jobs that the natives don't want to work anymore-- the "less respectable" jobs. Sad but true. And as far as immersing in another culture, it is difficult. I'm not even in a culture that's so completely different from my own, and I know how it feels. You can feel pretty proud of where you come from, and sometimes your pride can get in the way of accepting another culture and appreciating it for what it is. I must be even more difficult with a language barrier. (Oh, and Petra- The Austrian kid (whose name I can't remember,..) looked a lot like Andreas. Like his brother.. it was weird. I wanted to ask him if they were related, but that would have been stupid!!)

Anyway, take a look at my pictures! Look at the captions too! I have to sleep as if I were dead until whenever.. I am completely spent!

Powerscourt & Glendalough 1

An Interesting Day

Last night, in celebration of Emma and Caroline's friend Heather being in Dublin from Avignon, France, we went to the Purty Kitchen in Temple Bar. Before 11pm on Wednesdays everyone gets in for free, but after 11pm you have to pay a 10 euro cover charge. Well we here at 11 Stephens Lane hate cover charges more than anything. Drinks are expensive enough. We literally walked into the place at 10:59pm. Emma and I believed that this was reason enough to not pay a cover. There wasn't a bouncer around, and the girl collecting the money was behind a counter, in a closet-like room. The money collector says "10 euro please" and Emma reaches into her purse to 'get money' and then bolted past the girl. The girl didn't look too surprised and she continued to ask me for my cover. I argued with the girl, saying that it was 11pm exactly! That was exactly her point though ... After arguing with her to no good result, I stared at her for about 30 seconds and then bolted up the stairs. She grabbed by arm, which I shook off, and blew her whistle to alert the troops. I ran so fast in my heels up those stairs, I don't know how I didn't break an ankle. There was no one around in the dance floor area, so I hid behind a sofa, just in case they tried to find me. Frantically texting Caroline, I then emerged from my hiding spot to go to the bathroom. I found Kate, who also slid past the cover charge via the bathroom steps. This place really had no security here! This must happen all the time to them! Hilarious!

Then today, in my Syntax class, we were talking about sentences obviously. My very Spanish teacher, Nuria, began to talk about "black talk" and thank god she was in Ireland because that would not have flied in America. She looked straight at me and my friend Alanna, also an American, and said, "Isn't it true that blacks in America say things like 'ain't' and...am I right?" We sort of laughed, 'cause this is a generalization, just a bit. She goes, "Like Ali G.." And that was just too funny because first of all Ali G is a parody on ghetto America, and second of all- the character is played by a Jewish guy! Obviously her view was a bit distorted! So Alanna says that the double negatives might be had by the uneducated.. But this is a generalization too! I just said it was intercity atmospheres. But this was just so funny, because of course Alanna and I immediately tensed up at the thought of talking about an ethnic group in that way, but then we remembered we were in Ireland, and it didn't matter quite as much. It's just not as taboo here.

After that I went to the library to see Caroline with my bag of popcorn. The library nazi caught me with food in the library, which I didn't know was a rule, and told me that I needed to leave immediately or he would give my name to the front desk! Jaysus!! I'm breakin' all the rules over here!

Anywhoooooo, I'm beat and these kids from University College Cork are coming to visit Dublin, so I have to go out again tonight! Time for a nap...

Powerscourt?

Hello all!

Saturday was a good day. It was pretty chilly, but in the morning Emma and I went for a long run in St. Stephen's Green. That park is so beautiful, I did not mind running in it. The lake there had ducks and all the trees are in bloom. The first week of February is the beginning of spring, which it odd, but it does feel like spring some days. Saturday was not one of these days, but the run was quite delightful. Afterwards, the girls and I went to this really cheap produce market. Down by the Jervis Shopping Centre there is a whole street of freelance produce people selling food. They have great deals like 10 apples for 1.50, or 12 plums for 2 euro..or 3 boxes of strawberries for 2 euro! So we brought our backpacks down to the street, where they also have an "under 2 euro" store, like a dollar store. They had a ton of St. Paddy's gear, so we'll have to make a stop there before the holiday. It was cool. Then afterwards we went to the UCD rugby game, UCD vs. Garryowen. Garryowen won I think, 14-7 but we left early because it was so cold! We ambled around campus for a while until we hopped back on the bus to home. That night we went to a place called Devitt's where they had trad (traditional) Irish music. It was a really good craic (good atmosphere). After that we went to Flannery's, and we had a good time. We danced to hits like Thriller and Footloose, but had a good time. On our way home we ran into these two Irish guys, about our age, and we stopped to chat for a bit. They were telling us about their own travels to the U.S., Las Vegas mostly, and how they couldn't drive an automatic car. They had to ask the car rental man for help. I thought that was way weird, but automatics like don't exist over here. Then the one kid started to bug me, 'cause he was trash-talking some Americans. I understand that some are not worldly per se, but c'mon! He was saying that all Americans love to talk about how "Irish" or how "German" or how "Swedish" they are, but they're really just Americans! It's true, so many say "I'm 1/16th Irish.." Needless to say, I did have to defend us a little bit. I mean, Americans did descent from European nations. Of course we're all something-American. But I did understand what he was saying. Another girl he talked with said she was Irish and that her family was from Edinburg, which is in...Scotland. So he was a bit frustrated. Most of the conversation was half-joking around though and he does have a point in saying that Americans are generally uptight considering I was sort of arguing every thing he said. HAHA! Anyway, they were nice and they showed us how to get back home. Sean and Campbell. Good times.
Sunday we went to Powerscourt, where there falls Ireland's tallest waterfall! We got there late though and we missed the opening times. Total bummer!! So we ended up just putzing around Powerscourt and Enniskerry. It wasn't too far from Dublin anyway.
The pictures are in my Picasa album, so check them out!! LOVE

Powerscourt & Glendalough 1

Irish Hospitality is the Best...and the Worst..?

I say that the hospitality here is the best an the worse, because 2 events happened within 24 hours, one which released anger in me, the other which brought true happiness and relief.

Last night, the roommates and I went pub hopping, and we usually end up at the "BK lounge," as some of the Boston College kids like to call it. (BK=Burger King) It's really NOT loungy, because to me lounge implies sofas and an acoustic guitar player...but anyway... All the boys like to eat their faces off after a night of drinking, so we tag along for some laughs. So midway through my roommate Matt's double bacon cheeseburger meal deal (I know, GROSS!) this Irish bloke comes up behind me and taps my shoulder. I turn around to see that he is pretty gone, and he says, "Hey your American friend is outside makin a fool of himself, runnin around naked and what not! You should go tel him to stop." Well all my friends are in the lounge, so I tell him that just because I'm American and this fool's American doesn't mean I have to tell him to stop. I don't care, ya know! So he talks me into the fact that there is some American naked fool outside, and as I leave my chair, I tell Matt to save my seat 'cause I knew this kid was going to try to steal my seat. Shuffle your feet, lose your seat..I know, I know.. but I had backup. Needless to say this kid attempts to steal the seat. Matt, saving the seat, sort of pushes this bloke.. and not a hard push, but the sort of consistent push as if to say, you don;t belong here.. but it was jokingly too because we were all laughing, well, everyone but this kid. He gets up to eat his chicken sandwich next to his friend, and simultaneously calls Matt a fat (not so nice word for a gay person...) Well, Matt gets a little riled up, and says something like- "dude, really?! Do you have something to say?!" I immediately get frazzled because I know what's to come. There was going to be a USA v. EIRE smackdown in the BK lounge. So I butt in and say, "aw man, it's cool, if you wanted my seat you could've just asked ya know! No biggie" His friend then apologized for his loser friend's behavior. Whatever..
So now the french fries are on low, and I'm ready to go because I can still feel tension. I stand outside for a bit, come back in cause no one followed me.. ALL THE SUDDEN, a pile of fries is chucked at Matt's head, and Matt reacted somewhat accordingly, considering he is not a violent guy whatsoever...He went over to him and asked him, with a raised tone, why he would do that. WELL, the bloke HEAD BUTT's Matt! Matt grabbed his shirt, blood is flying, the kid spits fries in Matt's face. There's chewed up fries on Kate's coat, Kevin and Fitz (BC kids) try to intervene! It was a mess. Thank God there was BK security, cause they broke it up. We dragged Matt outside, I gave him a napkin to wipe his nose, and Kate starts screaming at the kid from outside the window! (obscenities of course)...THEN, an Irish girl, not very cute, starts yelling at Kate to go back to her own country, and not to act like she owns this one. Kate starts goin all Jersey on her ass, and I just freaked. I was not about to have the cops come talk to us foreigners about some stupid head butt. Other kids were egging Matt on to find the kid and beat him down, and I stepped in, as you Rutgers girls can imagine I did... I hit some kid's arm, screamed at him to get the hell off my friend, and that we were going home. We turned the corner to Nassau St, and laughed the whole way home. IT WAS RIDICULOUS. Those Irish kids didn't like us Americans much...

I'm ending this blog on a light note. Coming back on the bus from my Disabilities class, bus life is normal. An old woman, old as dirt, sits down in the wheelchair section of the bus with her grocery cart, and then the next stop a man in a wheelchair comes on the bus, there's piles of people's luggage everywhere, the bus driver's trying to move, and these two young girls jumped up from their seats to help everyone maneuver themselves. The next stop a couple with their baby stroller came on, so it was a full house. But it was just really nice that people actually help those in need around here. Now, mix in some alcohol and BK, and I'm not so sure..but it was a good ending to my 24 hour experience with Irish hospitality.

Sequin Speedo

Yesterday a group of cancer fund raising kids stormed into my class wearing lingerie underneath doctors' labs coats, and the boys were too. So at 11am in the morning I saw more silver sequined speedos on human bodies than I ever want to see again in my life time.

In other news, school has been quite hectic lately. This Irish chick who I'm doing a presentation with on Thursday keeps standing me up on getting together to mesh our powerpoints. It's starting to eat at me, cause we have to present tomorrow at noon. RIDIC! But I sat in on a meeting that was not mine today and got free coffee and pastries out of it, plus complimentary tickets to a UCD rugby game on Saturday. That should be fun and I'm really looking forward to it.

Kickboxing was really fun last night and I'm starting to get into it. Tonight there is a kickboxing social at the student bar in the student centre. I still can't get over that there is a pub in the student centre. But I met this one kid Neil who's Irish, and he's super nice, and this other American girl Prathna, who lives in Oregon but goes to school in Philly at Haverford. So I'm definitely going to stick with the kickboxing.

Meanwhile, we still don't have internet at the house, and this country's favorite thing to say is "we'll be there in 3-5 days." WELL, they said that 5 days ago and they said they were sending a router 2 weeks ago. Needless to say, we're getting uber frustrated because we deserve to have internet, especially because we're paying for it--and we need to get school work done at home too. I don't want to spend every waking hour at UCD.

Anywayy, updates later this weekend are to come !!

Birthday and Limerick

So my birthday was awesome. Wednesday night, we went to a club called D TWO. The people who go there are like the girls from “The Hills,” with bleach blonde hair and orangey tan skin to the high heavens. They all wear skirts too short for them, and it was incredibly crowded. We had a fun night, but I wouldn’t go back there again. But the club is also 18 and over on Wednesdays, whereas every other night is 21 and over. So that could have attributed to it. Thursday night we went to a place called Doyle’s in the city centre. This place was fun. It wasn’t too crowded and the music was more rock and less techno. So many clubs play horrible techno music and it gets annoying. Friday I went to the Garda Immigration Bureau to get my “visa.” It didn’t take too long – only 4 hours. Then around 3pm Caroline, Emma and I left Dublin for Limerick. Everyone kept asking us WHY? but we want to see everything in Ireland, and Limerick is a place in Ireland. Plus, the book “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt (a true story) takes place in Limerick so we wanted to see it.
So, the hotel we ended up booking was great. For 15 euro a person per night, it was a beautiful hotel with a full Irish breakfast in the morning. I found it on a hostel website, but it ended up being a hotel. Even though it was about a half mile outside of the city centre in a boro called Roxboro, it wasn’t half bad. We took a taxi around town all night because we didn’t know where we were going, but we ended up at a place called the Wicked Chicken. It was a pretty old looking bar, but the people seemed nice. The bartender was smiley, and had dreadlocks. This was definitely the more rock/punk place in town, which I was totally cool with. And since there was live music, we were totally psyched. The bad who played was AMAZING. They are called The Gorgeous Colours. We chatted it up with some of the band members before they played their set, and they were just so nice! The Irish are perhaps the nicest people in the world. They just love to have good conversation and they enjoy all the small things. The video of them is at the bottom of this blog. They were just so enjoyable, as Emma and Caroline would say. Saturday we woke up early to get to Adare, a small village 20 minutes outside of Limerick. Apparently it is known as the prettiest village in Ireland, but I’ll be the judge of that after I see the rest of Ireland. The thing with Adare was that it so tiny and it was just one street of shops, and a few friaries. It wasn’t THAT great. But it definitely was cute. Then we took the bus back to Limerick city, saw King John’s Castle, the River Shannon and did a little shopping in this great consignment shop called Enable Ireland. They are all over Ireland and the (cheap) procedes go to helping those with disabilities. The city itself is filled with scary looking people, like bad teeth (or no teeth)…just a bit dirty. It was a pretty dirty city overall to be completely honest. Now I know why so many people asked us why the hell we wanted to go there. It was pretty unimpressive. It was filled with more nasty old drunk men than any other place I’ve been thus far. And the younger guys had no problem whistling at you from across the way. It was just sick..people in Dublin just aren’t like that. I didn’t appreciate it. On the bus ride home, we almost witnessed a fight, and I lost my makeup case. I have to call the bus station to retrieve it.
But anyway, Saturday night we headed back to our “home” and went out to a club called Pod. Thank god I got in for free with a pass I picked up, because if I had paid I would have been upset. It was quite possibly the worst clubbing experience I’ve had. THEE worst music EVER, and boring locals. Just so dumb.
Yesterday the girls and I went to Stephens Green shopping centre to food shop and get internet; YES, ours crashed AGAIN. In the foodmarket, we kept colliding with other shoppers, for reasons unknown.. I mean the aisles are pretty tight... and each time we ran into someone, they smiled and laughed and said sorry and were just so happy to be there. We were laughing because at home we would have gotten the evil eye and the middle finger. It's just another world here. On our way out, this 40-something year old man was dancing to his reflection in the store window, like Bee-Gees style. It was HILARIOUS. I wish I had had my camera to capture the moment.
Anywhooo, take a look at my new pictures and videos LOVE

The Gorgeous Colours


A 1312 Augustinian Friary


My album from Limerick

Limerick and Birthday Festivities!

Officially Official

So today is my 21st birthday, and it's not as sad as I thought it would be. I thought I'd be all emotional cause I'm not home, but I'M FIINNEE! It's just another day! My roommates have been great though. Emma and Kate had a cake-bake-off! Emma made a citrus poppy cake and Kate made a choco-peanut butter cake. (hmm, wonder which one will win. Of course I'm the judge!!) Andy insists on helping me judge though, and I think I'll let him haha.
And I woke up to post-its on the walls that said happy birthday, so I definitely don't feel lonely.
Last night was my first kick-boxing club meeting/training! It was definitely really fun. Only Caroline and I went, and we learned some cool moves for taking out a predator. Then when we got home we practiced our sweet skills. But I did realize that I'm a bit out of shape for suicide sprints and push ups. I was in shape for crew, but that's a totally different type of "in-shape." Plus I haven't done more than the gym in the past year and half. It was pretty intense, but it will whip my butt into shape for sure! So we have that every Tuesday and Thursday night, and they have social gatherings too, so this will be an awesome opportunity to meet more Irish.
Tonight, my two 'friends,' I guess you could call them, who I met in Hungary this summer, are taking me and my friends out to some cool, and younger pubs/clubs. So that should be totally fun! And apparently there is a huge Valentine's Day celebration all over campus today. So, we'll see how all that goes. I might have a mid-day pint in the Student Bar (Called the Forum Pub). It will feel a bit weird, but hey, it's my birthday!
Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes, cards, and gifts!!

LOVE

More Pictures --> Read all the captions too! I did little bios!

Nights Out on the Town!

Raw Meat

So, I just accidentally ate raw chicken. Yes, I am sufficiently grossed out. My housemates all agree that when you buy prepackaged breaded chicken, that it is usually precooked, and all you have to do is heat it up. Well, that's not the case in Ireland. Luckily, only 1/4 of the tender was undercooked, so I don't think I ingested that much rawness.
In other news, last night Kate and I tagged onto a pub crawl for free (it was originally 15 euro). Don't ask me how we did that..So we got free entry to some pubs/clubs and strolled in at 4am. Prior to that, I slipped on some ice, and now my right hip is bruised and my knee is scraped a little. There was a shopping cart in our front courtyard, thanks to my drunk roommates. It was pretty funny walking outside this morning. Today though I watched some episodes of Weeds and walked around the city for a couple hours, just taking pictures, window shopping, and catching bits and pieces of the Ireland-France rugby game. There were a ton of Frenchies here last night and today. It was pretty cool.

Hopefully I don't get sick from the chicken.

SNOW?!

So it snowed like crazy here today and yesterday! None of it stuck yesterday, and only some stuck today. But, apparently Ireland hasn't seen snow like this (which isn't too impressive) in 10 years or something! Because it hasn't snowed like this in quite the while, there were snow ball fights galore today! These damn college kids!! I was pelted with iceballs over and over again on my walk from the Arts building to the Student Centre. It was downright hilarious! Caroline, Emma and I were cracking up the entire walk! Once we made it alive to the Centre, we went to a little set up called "Refreshers' Day." They called the freshman 'freshers' here. It was a time to join 'clubs & societies' at UCD. So the roomies and I joined the kickboxing club! I'm really excited because we're going to get to fight with actual people, not just the air. And it will keep my butt in shape! We're going for our first round on Tuesday!
LOVE

A Narrative

I was asked for my Rhetoric class to write a short narrative, and as you know, narratives are a personal account. Here we go...

Here I am a seven hour plane ride across the Atlantic Ocean, away from the true comforts in my life, looking to my right and then my left before crossing a street, having more coins in my purse than I know what to do with, and living in a city with seemingly no street signs. I schlep my way to UCD everyday, which by the way, is nothing like universities at home. My quaint house by Merrion Gardens has no internet, and little water pressure. I watch more Simpsons and Friends now than I ever have in my entire life. I discovered that if you’re not from LA or NY, you’re not actually from America. (It’s funny, because there is actually more bleached hair and orangey-tan skin here than in America!) And although I could go on and on about how different – and in the first week I would have said shitty – my life is right now, three weeks in I now feel liberated and exultant and adventurous and excited despite the change.

There is no experience like living in another place. Moreover, there is no experience like living in another country. At first it is easy to feel robbed of my personality and personal style, my sense of humor and my money, but really – there is nothing like it in the world! In my first three weeks, I have been truly immersed into another culture, another world. I’ve been living in a place where politics actually matters to the youth of this nation, and prejudice is hardly anywhere to be found. Perhaps it is because I’m American and I have been desensitized to prejudice, but I have had nothing but good experiences with the people of Ireland. They are so helpful and willing to lend a hand at any time. People actually smile at you when walking down the street! My friend left her purse on the seat of the bus, and a man bolted to the door to give it back to her. You’re certainly not guaranteed that in every country. Visiting the west coast of Ireland, I found that they too were amazing people who know what it truly means to preserve culture and tradition. To this day, I have never seen such adoration for one’s own culture back in the USA. It was utterly refreshing!

My first three weeks here in the Emerald Isle have been nothing short of an inspiring experience. Despite the lack of internet and water pressure, the overkill on coins, and the orangey-tan skin, I honestly think that Ireland is an amazing country, rich in culture and tradition, good humor and genuine kindness. I could not have asked for a better country in which to study abroad, or better people with whom to surround myself during this learning and growing experience. Note that the rain hasn’t seemed to bother me yet, despite my prior certainty!

Also, I forgot to mention: a small Brazilian man named Luca came up to me at a club and asked me where I was from, and when I told him the US, he was shocked and he said "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Mariah Carey?" My life has come full circle. He then preceded to tell me that the only woman who has ever called him handsome is his mother. I was sorry to say that I couldn't be woman numero dos.

Carna and Connemara

http://picasaweb.google.com/jbrauck/CarnaAndConnemara?authkey=RQzvsHlgG1I&feat=directlink
I feel bad writing so much on this blog!! And I won't feel bad if you guys don't read it, haha! PS- it's snowing dippin' dots outside! First and porb last snow in Ireland! This weekend, we had our first Rutgers excursion to towns called Carna and Connemara, right outside of Galway City. It was a 3 hour train ride there, but once we got there, it was fine. The bus ride from the train station in Galway to the small towns was an hour+ of bump after bump. It was not a fun bus ride. And with no street lights, we felt a little lost. We arrived to our B&B's, met our house mum Sally and then headed back on the bus to go to the Carna Bay Hotel (Ostan Cuan Carna, in Gaelic) for dinner and a trad (short for traditional) night of music and dancing! We met some of the townspeople, one being named Joe-John, who I made quite the connection with! This 80+ year old man just thought I was the shiz, it was too funny. He was smiling at me, telling me how great a dancer I was! We did a trad line dance and another man spun me around like in the Titanic! It was SO much fun. We heard trad "sean-nos" music and singing, done by Joe-John and friends. Sean-nos sort of sounds like Indian music. It was pretty cool to hear. I have videos of it, that I'll post at the bottom of this blog. I learned how to dance that night, and it was just such a great time. Unlike the girlies in italia right now, I'm not raving about the food. Let's just say it was a pretty damn white plate of food (turkey and taters). The next morning, we met Micheal Gibbons, a leading archeologist. He took us hiking up the boggy mountains of Connemara. A bog is bascially a hole in the ground filled with water and covered in moss. So if you step on it, you won't sink in, unless you run across it (the force would break the surface) Some bogs are 50 meters deep while some are not so deep. Micheal told us that recently, a kid drowned in one, and he was really experienced with bogs. But he couldn't swim, so his dog came back to the house without the boy. But the photos are breathtakingly beautiful. Again, I was taken-a-back by the utter beauty of this country. It was moving how places like this could exist, especially in this crazy day in age. It's 2009 and these mountains are still as beautiful as the day they were made. We learned that the tombs on the mountain buried some of the worst people (according to Catholic Law). The tombstone's headstone was pointing north, which was not a good prognosis for that person's chances of making it to heaven. Because Jerusalem is to the East, it was customary to bury the good with their heads facing east so that Jesus could judge them when he came back. All children were buried to the north-south because they had original sin (not baptized). Interesting stuff. Saturday night, we went to a dance competition in memory of Coilin Sheain Dharach, a great Ros Muc (a town) sean-nos dancer! (videos posted!) Then we went to the Tigh Clarke pub in Ros Muc to mingle with the locals and listen to more sean-nos music!
Overall, a great weekend. Check out the picasa album for pics! LOVE

Traditions

Last night, Caroline, Emma and I went to a little hotel down the street from our house. We went to an event, hosted by UCD, called the Irish House Party. The Irish House Party has a new record out, and they were all too excited to be going to LA next week to show off their talents. This group consisted of 4 people- a national/world champion piper (playing the Uilleann Pipes), an accordionist, a river-dancer, and a funny guitarist. Last night was by far the best night in Dublin thus far. PS- the Uilleann Pipes are not like the Scotish bagpipes. They are not war pipes, and they are played sitting down, while the piper pushes air through the pipes with his elbow ("Uilleann" means "elbow" in Gaelic). Anyway, with 2 free beers (I got Smithwick's= my new favorite beer) the night began. It was an educational experience, with the guitarist Jerry hilariously telling the history of Ireland it's tradition of music. We got to sing songs like Molly Malone, Tu La Ru La Ru La, and When Irish Eyes are Smilin'! We were taught some basic Irish dance steps, and got to dance to the polka songs played in the movie "Titanic." It was so fun, and I could not help but think the whole time, that way back when, I had ancestors who were doing this every night- just enjoying life with the people they love, singing songs and dancing all night long. It sort of reminded me of the Brauckmann Christmas parties -haha!
Also, I keep meaning to mention it, but my mom, Joey, Jake and Shannon look particularly Irish. I saw a girl who looked like you Shannon, and it freaked me out!
Anyway, this morning I took a nice jog to work off the beer in Merrion Square. It was misty out, but what a nice run! This afternoon, I will be on my way to Galway until Sunday! Will update then!!!

A few more things...

Just a few more interesting things that I have noticed while staying in Dublin. Many of the people's ideas of the US are skewed a bit. They think that everyone from the US is either from LA or NY. They can't understand that me and my roommates are from small towns in regular ol' states. Yesterday my friend Emma was telling her class that she is from the States, and a girl with bleach blonde hair and orange skin, skinny as a rail (obvi attempting to look like the Hills) says, "Oh, where from?" Emma says, "Colorado." The girl looked SO disappointed and said, "Oh, not LA?" Emma cleverly said back, "No, and not NY either..." HAHA! Like, honestly- how weird is that? I started to think, do I think of Ireland as something it's not? I imagined lots of green- which is has, even in Dublin. And I imagined that Guiness was big, but actually, it's bigger than I previously thought. And while some people back home imagined that everyone in Ireland is drunk all the time, this is not the case. There are many people here, just as at home, who don't care for drinking a lot. I mean, I imagine that the bars here are not much different from the bars in any other big city. I'm interested in going to the smaller pubs in the suburbs though. That, hopefully will be different. One thing that I did not expect, was for every student to be dressed up going to class. It's not common for a girl to be sweatpants at school. Many girls wear heels and dresses and have a good fashion sense. That's fine with me, 'cause I usually don't wear sweats to school either! But that's an interesting tidbit.
Anyway, this weekend I am going to Galway on a Rutgers excursion. I'm really excited because it's one of the most Gaelic-speaking parts of Ireland, aside from Northern Ireland. So, it should be much different than Dublin. We'll take a 3 hour train ride directly across the country, and I'll be there until Sunday! So expect more pictures!

Howth

So this weekend was VERY good. Friday, we went to Temple Bar, a big touristy bar area in Dublin. We danced until about 3am at the Purdy Kitchen, a 6-floor dance/bar/live music awesome place. Saturday, we tried to do the Viking Splash tour, where you get free viking hats, travel on a bus/boat, and, as the ad says "scream out war anthems to the people!" Haha. Saturday I stayed in..Yes I know, lame. Sunday was a busy day though. Me and the roomies traveled the 8 miles on the DART train to Howth (rhymes with growth). The pics are on picassa. It was absoulutely lovely. We even saw seals in the water! We got hit with a nice "rain" right after we came down from hiking up the mountain. (Here, rain refers to a downpour, while "shower" refers to what we call RAIN) I ordered an egg, ham, cheese crepe and ate it inside a fish market. It was fun, and so beautiful despite the tsunami. Will update soon!!!

Some photos!

Took a stroll around Dublin yesterday, and took a few pictures because it was so nice outside. (AKA- it wasn't raining) I went down to O'Connell Street and into Trinity College a bit. The first picture up there is Upper Mount Street, which turns into Nassau St., which is the place to be at night. It leads to Temple Bar, which is a big bar/clubbing area. The second picture is in Merrion Square. It's a small, but pretty park right across the street from my house. The third is the front of Trinity College, and the fourth is the entrance to the bridge crossing the River Liffey onto O'Connell Street.
Below is my street and house. It has a courtyard around the front entry way, and in the back it has a little porch with ivy growing up the stone walls. VERY cute.
This next picture is a section of my campus at University College Dublin. It's the fountain, and swans like to swim there.
You can see more on my online picture album on Picasa. Just click the box below

Me Journey to Emerald Isle!

"Missin Home a Bit, Yeah"

I still can’t believe that I’m here. It’s absolutely insane to think that I will be living here for another 3 and ½ months or so. I never actually thought it would happen.

Classes have been going well so far. College is much different than in the US. All of our assessment is based on generally one huge paper or exam at the end of the semester. It could be good or bad, but hopefully those essay assignments will work in my favor. That’s my thanggg.

Additionally, I read yesterday that behind Finland, Ireland is the 2^nd most expensive country in Europe. That’s disheartening! So as you can imagine, I have become even more conservative in my expenditures because of this. I was in Boots, a Walgreens-type store, yesterday and an umbrella is 23 euro! That’s like $30!! Coincidentally I think I lost my umbrella yesterday. Bummer.

A woman named Paulie in my History of Psych class told me today that February is “by far the dreariest month of all,” contrary to what I heard prior. So, looks like I’m in for a rainy ride the next couple of months. April is nice though, she says.

I have been thinking about home a lot this past week, and it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer than a week. I keep thinking that I’m missing so much at home, but then I have to remind myself that I have a tendency to be melodramatic. Mom and Dad- you’re probably laughing and rolling your eyes. Haha.

But I do realize that this is all a huge learning experience and that living on my own, so far away, will only make me stronger. It’s the truth.

Yesterday, the university held a big catered function to watch Obama’s inauguration! Turns out that the whole world is in love with Obama. Everyone here is SO excited about his election! The Irish I have talked to say that us Americans have no idea how our country impacts the rest of the world, and how Obama in particular will impact it. It’s possible that maybe that’s why we, as a nation in general, are so pompous (in the eyes of the Europeans). Maybe we do actually realize our general arrogance, but are just in denial. Of course, we want to see the whole world, but we fight the force when it comes time to conform to another culture. It’s been a difficult thing to overcome, even in the first week, and I’m sure it won’t get much better until a few weeks from now. I think I will come to enjoy the differences among cultures though. 'Cause there are HUGE differences. But I do believe, however, that I will come back home in May with a new appreciation for the USA. I have already found new appreciation, just being out of the country for a week and being here for the inauguration.

Little differences I've discovered: Don't say excuse me when walking through a crowd, say "sorry." That's how you'll get them to move. No one says "bless you" to a sneeze. Academics have a mild accent while true Dubliners need to be asked time and time again to repeat what they've just said. You need to go to a different store for cough medicine, food, and face wash- but they do sell alcohol in the food store. You have to walk on the left side of the sidewalk, lest you'll get run over. The street "walk/don't walk" signs actually work.

LOVE

First Day of Class

Hello!

Well today is my first day of classes! I just finished my first class, History and Theory of Psychology. The professor seemed a bit dull, but the only form of assessment is a 3000-word essay at the end of the semester. I'm happy about this because I do better with essays than with exams. Psychology classes seem like they're going to be much different here than back home. The whole approach to Psych is just different. So it will be interesting to see it all pan out.
The sun has not come out since I arrived on Thursday, so I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing. Chances are, it's not a bad thing, since it seems to be this way all the time.
Yesterday, Andy and I traveled across the River Liffey to O'Connell St. where we picked up a wireless internet router. We trekked back to the apartment, frozen and wet, to discover that the internet box that is already set up does not work. The way it works here is..you have to plug the wireless router into a phone jack, and from there you can hook up many computers to the router. It's pretty annoying, but Ireland is little behind the times.
I'm coming to accept the people more and more as I stay here. (and Yes, it was VERY different and odd in the beginning.) Something I can not pick up on yet is whether or not they are being sarcastic in their speech or if they're lying. It's hard to tell yet because all I can focus on is hearing the words right. The accent in Dublin is just one accent. I guess since it's a metropolis, there are people from all over. There are many accents to be heard.
AH! one more thing: my camera is not functioning consistently BOOOO, and I'm sick. I didn't sleep at all last night. Took some Mucinex, but it didn't help!!

Alright, till later, LOVE