i'm here. it's a saturday afternoon and it's pouring, according to the news last night, yes dad, i'm watching the news here, there are supposed to be 70 to 80 mph winds!!! i kind of want to go outside just to see if i can stand in it without blowing away. i had plans to go to Cobh today which is a little town nearby. it's actually the port where the titanic left on it's fated maiden voyage. anyway since it's pouring, that's not going to work out. hopefully it won't be so bad tomorrow because i'm planning on going to the Blarney stone. i was supposed to go there last sunday too but the weather got in the way.
now, speaking of the weather. oddly, it seems to only really rain on the weekends. out of the two weeks i've been here, i would say it's probably rained 4 times. not as bad as i thought.
so, on to what i've been doing. well, i got here on saturday january 3rd, that you knew already. my flight left the US at about 6:45pm, it was a little delayed. it was a long flight... 5 hours shouldn't seem bad especially since i had an aisle seat which, given my claustrophobia, was a very good thing. anyway, it was pretty boring because most of the time i was trying to sleep but it wasn't working. there was this weird movie on about people who lived under the ground and never saw the sun. the plane only had like 3 tv's so there was no choice in what i got to watch. the people that flew out of boston had their own tv's on the seats in front of them. oh well, maybe on the way back.
when we finally got in, it took about an hour for us all to get through customs.
then, we piled onto buses and took a 2 hour ride to school. we went mostly through the countryside which was beautiful, it was like a big green patchwork quilt.
two things that struck me immediately: the driving on the opposite side of the road. i'm used to it now, but when we were leaving the airport it looked like everyone was trying to pass us on the wrong side of the road, it was very disorienting. second, EVERY house we passed on the way in was adorable. even if they were small they were tidy and well kept but there were a lot of really nice houses that wouldn't be out of place in America.
when we got here, all 56 of us had to get our suitcases out from under the bus and across a busy cork city street. it was quite a sight, all the quinnipiac girls trying to lug their 100 pound suitcases across before the cars came. we all made it safely at least. my room is on the 4th floor, thank God there's an elevator because there was NO way i was getting 80 pounds worth of stuff up that many stairs. Some of my friends were not so lucky.
my room is set up really weird. i opened the front door to apt. 70 and immediately said out loud, "Whoa this is weird!!!" i still don't know if that's the first impression i gave any of my irish roommates, i hope not. you open the front door and it opens to a mini hallway with 6 doors. 5 bedrooms and a common room -- that's another story in itself!
my room is number 1, right behind the front door. i have my own bedroom and bathroom which is nice. here's what they look like.
i literally have one tile of walking space in my bathroom which is kind of crazy but since it's just me, it's manageable.
now, on to the common room.
there's a kitchen and a sitting area in the common room. last monday, the day after i arrived, the sink somehow clogged and no one could wash their dishes FOR A WEEK. the guy came to fix the sink this monday. so, needless to say, i've been using other people's kitchens and avoiding my own as much as possible because the smell was awful. this is what it looked like.
it still smells but i think it's because of the things other people are cooking in there. i've made some good friends who let me use their kitchens which is great! because mom and dad would not be happy if i just sat in my room and ate popcorn all day ;) -- only sometimes! i promise!
as for the real reason i'm here--class-- hahahha! no, really, it's good. i have 4 classes and i go to class 6 times a week. i don't have class on wednesday and friday which is actually really good because the biggest nights to go out here are tuesday and thursday. weird, i know but all the irish college kids go home on the weekends so their moms will cook for them and do their laundry. they actually told me that. so here's the schedule,
monday: i have introduction to irish traditional music at 5pm. good because i could stay somewhere a little longer if i was traveling for the weekend
tuesday: aspects of irish folklore and intro to irish history for visiting students. both of these classes are really big, especially for international students.
wednesday: sleep
thursday: marriage, women and society in early ireland. then folklore again, then marriage women society again. my teacher of m,w,s in early ireland is an american guy and his fingernails are longer than mine - weird! plus he has a lot of nervous energy, his hand are always shaking and it makes me nervous as a result
friday: sleep again
not too shabby
well i have to run for now, it's time to go to the movies! but i will definitely add more soon! xo!
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