this week has FLOWN.

Ok so I realized this is the longest I've gone without blogging... perhaps because literally every day FLIES past. It makes me sad. I can't handle this I just want it to slow down. I'm constantly fighting with myself because one half is like holy shit this is going so fast I only have a few months left and the other half is telling me to calm the eff down and just enjoy every day. Either way, I'm having an amazing time.

So this week has been a bit of a shit show, won't lie. Molly's friends are here for the week and so we've been showing them a good time =). Monday night we decided to try a club. Apparently thats a big night. We first started at The Hole in the Wall obvi for the cheap bottles. I tripped and fell flat on my face on the walk there. Flat on my face. Really cute. And of course we ran into Ainsley's husband. It was fun pregaming and getting dressed up, but the club was WEIRD. They played all this European techno crap. I mean, okay, I guess that would be appropriate since we are in Europe, at a techno club, but the place we went Friday played all American music which we would have appreciated more. So we left and went to The Front Door where we once again ran into Ainsley's husband. She danced with him while I got some random sophomore to buy me drinks. Our Marquette friends were there back from Germany and they said Munich was awesome, so that might be our next trip. But that was the night, nothing wild.

Tuesday night we went to Irish dancing, of course. It is absolutely HYSTERICAL because Ainsley is literally a member of the group now. There is the one guy, Patrick, he's like in his 60's and has literally taken her under his wing. She now dances entire sets as we sit there and die laughing. She's very good, as a result to some extent from Patrick's tutelage. We will for sure be going there every Tuesday. THEN, when I got home, I was watching TV and realized that CASTLE is on TV here. I seriously freaked the eff out when I changed the channel and saw it. I'm sure most of you haven't heard of the show but it's AWESOME and I love it.

Wednesday night we went to a different club, the one that Liz, Eileen and I went to last Friday. Nothing notable happened. It was so packed. And they played "Your Song" by Elton John. What?

This really isn't an incredibly exciting post - I'm leaving out little details that make it awesome. Some things I can't blog about, some things wouldn't make sense in a blog but I hope you all are enjoying the basic gist of what I'm doing. I love it here is what I'm trying to say. The SJU girls are amazing, and the aforementioned really freakin cute Irish boy has still hung around. He must not know me like all of you because he hasn't run in the opposite direction from my shenanigans ;).

On the same coin, I miss the hell out of all of you. Please keep bbming/facebooking/emailing me the drama. I wish I could be at the basketball games and at 5630 having a jam sesh or watching Sports Center every morning. You guys are my family.

66 days until Opening Day. Just so yah know.

Love you ;)

sundays are great

LAST NIGHT WAS SO FUN.

I’ve gone out three Sundays in a row for the pure purpose of watching football and have ended up having an awesome night watching football followed by a ton more fun. We started out at Hole in the Wall because that’s where a lot of Americans watch football aaaand they have 2 euro bottles of Stella and Bud. We hung out with out friend from Providence and met some kids from Chicago and one Irish kid. Naturally, wearing Hollister. Anyway, the guys were really nice so when the game was over we decided to move to a late bar to watch the Jets/Steelers game. Well for whatever reason around here, Sundays are a bangin night. We went to The Front Door and got pretty decent seats in front of the TV to watch the game. Turns out we were sitting behind the entire Connacht hurling team and they had just won some big tournament. Thaaat meant free drinks for Kelly and Ainsley all night. These guys were great. It sucks because they’re older, so they won’t be out every night like the students are. I’m not even sure we’ll see them out much at all. But they were the nicest guys and a lot of them were rather good looking and so we hung out, drank and danced for a few hours all while teaching them football and explaining the intricacies of football rivalries. They also fended off lots of creepy dudes trying to dance with us. Pretty much these guys made us laugh all night. I guess they’re not used to girls drinking beer either because they were a little bit more than impressed with my ability to chug a pint. We left around 3 am and wandered into the Charcoal Grill with Paddy and Rob, ate curry fries (which are fries with some spicy gravy on them… I’m not really a fan) and then finally ended up back home around 4 am. I then proceeded to engage in my very first drunk skype with my mother. I was glad I was drunk because I had to tell her that I got a ring in my right cartilage. She took it well. I promised to have it out when I got home so it’s not a big deal.

Today I may or may not have missed my first class, but made the other two. Had soup and homemade soda bread for lunch. I gotta tell you, I’m going to miss the shit out the soda bread here. There is nothing better. It’s SO YUMMY. I also allowed myself to buy a little bag of peanut MnM’s that I miss so much because I was able to find a 22 euro bottle of vodka on sale for 15 euro. SCORE. Tonight we’re going to Hole in the Wall for the second pregame, then headed to a CLUB. Very excited about this. I loved the club Friday night and I’m looking forward to dancing like an idiot to American music.

That’s about all for now. I heard SJU announced their new president. If the internet would work well here I would be googling him like crazy but oh well. Miss ya’ll bunches =)

update!

Helloooo all,

Ok so I haven't updated in awhile because nothing terribly earth shattering has occurred but I will do my best to come up with something interesting to say.

I think it's safe to say that at this point we all know the city pretty well. At least our area of it. We walk pretty much everywhere which will hopefully abate the beer weight to some extent. I'm starting to get into a running schedule finally. I never used to run outside but I like it a lot. There's a lot to look at here obviously so it makes the run go by pretty quick.

On Tuesday I had to make myself legit in the country of Ireland. I walked like 30 minutes to the Garda office to register myself with immigration. I didn't need to buy a visa because I'm staying less than six months, but I did need to pay some bullshit 150 euro fee. It was much like an experience with the DMV, except a little bit more pleasant because the Irish are generally always more pleasant. In that vein - today Ainsley and I went to have lunch at this place we've gone to a few times so the owner has started to recognize us. He looks like guy Victor Lang from Desperate Housewives/whatever his name is in Mad Men - pretty good looking for an old dude. I ordered soup which was a little different from what I thought it was going to be so I didn't finish it so when I paid he said "You didn't like the soup, did you? I'm only going to charge you half the price because I feel bad. If you ever don't like something, bring it back no questions asked we'll give you something else." Could you imagine that happening at home? Me either. Hot older dude and nice, pretty sweet. But the soup was served with Irish soda bread, which is bangin no matter what the quality of the soup it accompanies.

Anyway, Wednesday has started to become my favorite night of the week. We all don't have class until four on Thursday so we go extra hard. We wanted to try out the College Bar. Thats right, a bar, on campus, supported by the university. Blows my mind. We had lunch in there the other day and there was some cat just drinkin' a beer, on campus in the middle of the day. It's so different here. Anywho, it was a little bit quiet, even though we heard that it was bumpin on a Wednesday so after a few cheap pints we left to go back to town. Where we live is about a 25 minute walk from campus so Eileen, Ainsley and I decided, in a fairly shitfaced state, to make the trip more interested by belting out Katie Perry's "Firework". Good times. Until Ainsley tripped and literally dragged us down like dominoes on the slippery path that hugs the river. It was hysterical. They love Katie Perry. And Rhianna, Kings of Leon and The Killers. It's comical. We went to Monroes and ended up at Quays as usual. I lost a little sweater which I'm fairly disappointed about, but whatever. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but alcohol in Ireland doesn't have preservatives - so I NEVER FEEL HUNGOVER. Like literally never. I'm getting spoiled here.

Other than that, I'm settling into classes and getting into the grove of a life that doesn't include 12 hours of school work a day. It's nice to have lots of free time, but a control freak like me sort of needs to be doing something all the time. I'm working on being able to actually relax.

I can't imagine leaving here. I'm forcing myself to just focus on every day at a time because looking into the future just terrifies me. It's a new thing I'm trying, I'll let you know how it goes.

We booked our first trip! We're headed to Brussels and Amsterdam February 3-6th. First of many trips, I hope.

Love and miss you all quite a lot. Please anyone who is even sort of thinking of maybe visiting, let me know. I can't imagine how happy I would be if all of you were here =).

Good luck to the Hawks this week in all the Big 5 games. I'm following from thousands of miles away. Git at it Boosters, miss you!

Love,
Kel

finally getting the hang of this place

Everyone,

Ok so it wasn't until a few days ago that I could finally say that I'm 100% comfortable here, and I have to tell you it's a huge relief. I'm falling more and more in love with this place every day and I'm beginning to understand why it's harder to leave here than to come here. So I haven't written since Friday afternoon, so I will give you an account of the weekend as it stands so far.

Friday night we went to Monroe's to see the band Key West. Their a cover band, but they're really good. We all got a little crazier than usual before leaving so we were all ready for some good music. We got a table and were laughing and having a great time. Met a new friend from Providence which is always fun, and also hung out with our friend from Germany! We ended the night at Quays. Now that I'm writing this I feel stupid because nothing remarkable happened, but I'm not just writing this for your entertainment, but also for my memory after five months haha.

Saturday we did our first excursion! Of course it was pouring rain and windy. Welcome to Ireland. We had breakfast at this place on Shop St. and then headed to the Galway tourist center. We thought we were going to Connemara, this town near Galway which is apparently really beautiful, but it's mostly a walking tour and with the weather the way it was the driver suggested that we do the Cliffs of Moher instead. I had already seen the Cliffs when I was here with my family in June of '09, but it was nice to see the different places along the way there and also to spend time with the other SJU girls. We had lots of laughs as usual and took some great pictures. The day sort of wore us out so we took last night off. We went to Supermax around 9, it's the Irish version of McDonalds, got fries and watched I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and hung out some more. It really was rather uneventful, but always a lot of fun with the group we have here. I'm so lucky to be with girls that are as fun and easy going as these girls!

This morning Ainsley and I went to 11:15 mass and then got lunch. We then wanted to figure out where the Garda was so we walked there. All visiting students have to register with the Garda instead of buying a visa. We have to pay some fee, show proof that were not terrorists and then we get some ID card. It's quite the trek but it has to be done and now I know where to get it done. Right now I'm blogging, will soon go for a run and then eventually end up at Garvey's to watch more playoff football. May or may not be teaching the aforementioned really freakin cute Irish boy some American football in exchange for rugby lessons. Now I actually have to learn it rather than just chugging Franzia with Meg and belligerently cheering for Rob and Hickey at their "matches" bahaha.

Miss ya'll and I'll post again soon. Hopefully it's not as boring as this post, but like I said, I don't want to forget anything!

Looove you,

Kel

=)

Helllooo,

So the first week of classes are done. I'm definitely starting to get the hang of it here. Classes are really different - no structure AT ALL, so I'm a little lost and confused without PowerPoints, but I think we'll be okay. I haven't written in two days, so I'll fill you in on the details...

Wednesday night we went to this placed called the Roisin Dubh. It's not pronounced that way at all and I absolutely hate saying the name because I know it's wrong. At home with all of you, I'm considered really Irish - not so much here, I'm a complete poser. But we all don't have class until 4 on Thursdays, so Wednesday nights are going to be a bit of shit show. Ok wait I lied, we started at the Quays (you can see how hard I pregamed). There, we ran into that semi-creepy Canadian guy named Steven. Now those of you who know me well know that when I'm really drunk, I get quiet. So I was sitting in my seat observing, but as soon as I saw Steven I immediately turned my head, leaving poor Ainsley to deal with him. Which I suppose at first she did not mind because he has information on her soon to be Irish lover. His name is Gabriel, but we call him Declan because thats what the Irish mens names are in all of our fantasies. What does he do, you ask? He's in advertising. Okay okay, back story: in Galway a very popular form of advertising is to stand along the road with these huge signs pointing the pedestrians to their place of business. Most times it's a restaurant or a clothing store. Shop Street in Galway is for pedestrians only, so these sign holders are pretty visible. So one of the first days we were here we passed an incredibly sexy guy holding a sign for a Chinese place. It was love at first sign for Ainsley. The we continued to walk past him about 5 or 6 times, blatantly staring and laughing, causing him to stare and laugh - without any words being exchanged. Turns out Steven knows the dude, because he was an actor in Canada...? Seriously I don't want to know about him, but it would be nice to know about Declan with the sign. But anyway Steven left soon enough and THEN we went to the bar whose name I cannot pronounce. That was a blast and we ran into a bunch of different groups of Irish kids who we've met so far. There was lots of dancing and of course we all freaked out every time the band played an American song. It's funny, I always identified myself at home as being Irish and while taking pride in my American nationality, never really thought much about it since I was among Americans all the time. Here, I'm reppin the U.S.A (when appropriate) as much as possible. Being away from home, as much as I'm freakin in love with his place, as made me realize how much I do love where I come from. But it was such a fun night with everyone dancing and drinking and just completely letting loose. Definitely one of my favorite nights here so far.

Thursday we went to an international students society meeting. It's gonna be awesome because the society plans trips for us around Ireland, so we don't have to plan them ourselves. I also think that we get relatively discounted prices as the school has an account for the society. They also plan parties and nights out for us - pretty sweet. So after that we had to wait until four for our class, so we sat around in the cafe drinking Starbucks. Then Molly got a text. Okay, I don't know if it's just this kid, or all Irish people, but they text HYSTERICALLY. Like crazy words and phrases. Things like "hold her tight and keep her steady!" and "so what's the craic skin?" and my personal favorite "until then I'm (insert name here) and you've been...fantastic!". For those of you, probably all of you, who don't know what "craic" means, it's like a reeeaally good time in Gaelic. We laughed so hard for like an hour, then went to class. After that I may or may not have hung out with the aforementioned really freakin cute Irish boy, walking around Galway and getting to know a pretty cool person =). He had never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Aaand since it's all I actually eat in my apartment, I quickly rectified that situation. I'm starting to miss random American foods that they don't have like graham crackers, pretzels, marshmallow fluff and 5 gum. Well worth missing out on them though =).

Anywho, I am now lying on the couch, praying to the sweet infant baby Jesus that my wash turns out okay and defrosting the fifth of vodka I bought yesterday (apparently Irish vodka freezes? Who knew). I think we're going to Connemara tomorrow. It's a touristy spot I think but sure to be beautiful. I'm excited to see more of the area around here, since last time I was here I saw mainly the south east and west. But anyway, I'm finally settling in and so happy to be here. Miss you all and wish you were here!

Love you,
Kel

81 days until opening day

The title of this blog really has absolutely nothing with what I will write about henceforth in this entry, but as all of you know, the game of baseball is almost always on my mind. Being thousands of miles away from home does not make me forget that we now have the greatest rotation to ever play the game. I've already begun working on what is the best way to stream the games here. 1:05 games will be where it's at for me, nothing livens up the monotony of peanut butter sandwich and cereal dinners like the greatest game in the world. Can't wait.

Anywho, it's raining. Huge shock. I'm still staying out to late and almost fell asleep in my 9 am Celtic Mythology, Religion and Folklore class. But last night was a ton of fun. We went to this place called Monroe's because they have Irish set dancing. It's like square dancing, but cooler because it's Irish and not redneck. At first it's just some older Irish people performing the dance for us, but after an hour or so they start to bring in other people, predominately drunk American girls. They don't even really ask if you want to dance, they sort of just grab you and show you the moves. I'll legit die if I ever am brought up there. Those of you who know me best know I only dance when unforgivably intoxicated, trying to embarrass my sister, or when the Phillies sign Cliff Lee. But Ainsley got in there and held her own with these dance pros. There are tons of hysterical pictures which I'll put up soon. We stayed until pretty much close, hanging out with this really cool German girl we met, aaaand the aforementioned really freakin cute Irish boy, and his friend ;). We went to the Quays after and listened to a guy playing mostly American music, and we finally heard Galway Girl! I'd have to imagine it's incredibly annoying for locals to hear, but we gotta do the tourist thing every now and again. I attempt to lay low and not be such an "ugly American", but my dear friends you know laying low and keeping quiet are not things I'm particularly good at. I gotta say, we are better at not being obnoxious than most American girls here - SJU girls keep it classy wasssuppp? It was a pretty low key night so nothing wild happened, but I had a really great time =)

Anywho, had class today. Going back to campus soon to sign up for different "societies", as they call clubs here. Intramural sports are called "clubs" here and that sign up is tomorrow - potentially tryin'a ball it up here in Ireland, show 'em how we do it in the States. I say this then I'm going to show up and find a bunch of Irish girls with ankle breaking crossovers draining threes in my face. I guess we'll have to see.

Miss you all so much,

Kel

classes have begun!

So putting together class schedules here at NUI is a PAIN. Like when I tell you I've had about 6 panic attacks since I've started to put this list together, I mean it. But I think I'm finally good with the classes that I've chosen. The professors seem okay, a little tougher than I expected. So far I've had Coastal Environments and Weather and Climate. I went to another class, but decided not to take it. It seemed like waaay more work than I wanted to do... whatever.

So yesterday was pretty nerve wracking as it was the very first day of class. I was already kind of in a gloomy mood after the Eagles loss which I of course got to watch in a pub with a bunch of screaming Packers fans from Marquette who are also studying here. I have to be honest I totally got homesick again. The stress of getting to the right classes and not knowing what the professor was going to be like made me really miss SJU. Of course once classes begin and I get in the groove of classes, things will be amazing as they already are. It's just all made me realize how much I love my family and friends and how much you mean to me now that I'm so far away. Anyway, I just wish you could all be here experiencing this with me!

So last night I went out to Taaffes. They started playing music at 9:30 so we got there a little after. As soon as we walked in, we got a drink bought for us by this INCREDIBLY drunk dude named Tony. Like he was so drunk he gave Ainsley the money to buy ourselves drinks because the bartender and stopped serving him. It was very nice of him but then I was of course obliged to sit there and hear his ramblings for a bit. He smelled awful but was nice enough anyway and eventually wandered off to someone else. Then we started talking to this guy Stephen from Canada. He had moved to Galway for a girl who he is no longer dating but he says there still good friends and he has no intentions of leaving Galway. He was really a nice guy, but then he started drinking more and more and got a little creepier. So we started talking to these Irish guys who had just gotten back from a long stay in the U.S. It was cool to hear their opinions and most agreed that they liked the west coast better, which has a much more laid back attitude similar to Ireland. Oh and they can smoked weed there, that was another reason. They told me I looked like I was 24 so they were great. I asked one to do his best American accent and he somehow took that as an invitation to kiss me, but I dodged that one pretty quick. Then I heard Stephen behind me grumbling to someone that Ainsley and I had left him for better looking guys so I turned around and he happened to be talking to some really cute guys who must have gotten roped into that conversation trying to buy a drink. Turns out these kids are juniors, or third year as they call it here, at NUIG. They were a ton of fun so we started talking to them about school and how it's different here than in America and how the professors just try to scare you but really don't give a shit. We had a few more drinks and then went to a different bar whose name I won't try to type here because it's really Irish and I didn't understand it. We sat out on the deck and talked and drank. Met a pretty freakin cute boy but those of you who want more info on that will have to inquire further ;) I love meeting all these Irish people. It's so fun to learn about what they call things, what they think of Americans and so on. They don't understand the concept of having a major or a minor, they call elementary school primary school and high school secondary school. They make fun of us for saying things like "say whaat?" and "helllll yeah" and we learned some new words of our own. "Slagging" means to playfully tease I think and "thats so class" is like saying "oh thats so great". Ended up home really late again, only perpetuating my jet lag and I think I may still be on Eastern time, but whatever.

Today I went for a run and then got ready for class. It's called Weather and Climate and is just like the Earth Science I took freshman year of high school. Now I'm blogging and I'm about to skype with my sister. I think we're going to a place with Irish dancing tonight =) wahoo! Post again soon!

Love you all

Kel

irish people are great

Last night was insane.

Let me just get one thing clear: Irish people are the greatest people in the entire world. Like, no question. We decided it was a good idea to go out earlier as I mentioned in my last blog, so we headed to Taaffes Pub around 8:45 for some Irish music. Turns out there was none. Or at least not that early. But of course I started talking to an Irish guy. Him and his friends looked like they were getting up from their booth, and we wanted one so as I started walking over they immediately said "Ohhh, Americans, yeah?" which I don't understand because literally all we did was walk over, but apparently we did it in an American way. When I asked how he knew he saved himself by saying it was because we were prettier than all the other girls in the bar. So this guy, Ivan, who was Irish despite his Russian name, mentioned that he had lived in the States before, in Missouri. He laughed and admitted that while he was there he worked in a McDonalds and THEN made the tragic mistake of sharing his opinion that baseball is the most boring sport in the world. Now, I assume everyone reading this blog knows me pretty well and should know my all-consuming affinity for the game of baseball. And for those of you who don't know, it was a goal of mine to teach an Irish person baseball. So I stood there in the bar and taught Ivan the school teacher the basics of the game of baseball. Whether or not he cared is really outside of the realm of my concern but regardless he stood there very patiently and if anything looked attentive. However, this was not nearly the most exciting part of the night.

Around 9:30 we left Taaffes to go to this place we'd heard of, Dail Bar. We could tell almost immediately that it was an older scene, but it was really nice and so we decided to stay for a drink. We sat down at the bar and an AAAADORABLE bar tender, named Jack, served us overpriced beer and cocktails. He was only nineteen but that did not stop us from literally hitting on him without shame for about an hour. He's a business student at NUIG and so I'm hoping to run into him at school when I'm in the business building. Anywho, the other bartender, Allen, was kind of a jerk but he told me a good place to watch football on Sundays. Turns out homeboys actually an Eagles fan. I don't remember why he said he was but then he told me that he didn't understand the Donovan McNabb trade and how the big 5 would have taken us to a Super Bowl. I kindly but emphatically pointed out that McNabb, who God bless him will always have a special place in my heart for what he's done, has been benched for the incompetent Red Grossman and that Michael Vick is the a top candidate for the MVP. Homeboy was not having it.

So after spending most of the evening arguing and teaching American sports, Ainsley and I somehow started talking to this guy who told us that him and his friends were at the bar for their Christmas party. Now, I should point out to you that Christmas is not over here. There are decorations everywhere and I've heard more than one person greet another person with "Merry Christmas Happy New Year to yah". I mean I'm not complaining but whatever. So this guy, whose name I cannot remember because I'm horrible with names drunk or sober, ends up buying us drink after drink like the shot "Baby Guinness" which consists of a dark liquor called Tia Maria and is then topped off with Baileys, so it actually looks like a baby Guinness in a shot glass. I end up having an incredibly long conversation about American and Irish politics and the relationship between England and Ireland. I've gotten the consensus from most people that the Irish are all Democrats and that they jokingly hate the English on the surface, but might actually really still dislike them on the inside. We then started talking about our families and he asked my name and deduced right away that I was American Irish. I always immediately tell Irish people I meet that I don't claim to be a real Irish, I feel like it makes them laugh and they know you're not an asshole American and are therefore more liable to be nice (and buy you awesome drinks). So we started talking about where we came from and he asked why I chose to come back to Ireland and I explained that I wanted to see where I originally came from and that it makes me feel closer to my Granddaddy to be here because he loved it so much. So then this guy buys a round for us in Granddaddys name, which is exactly what he would want me to do. Irish people are awesome.

So then we left to go to the Kings Head again for some music. We ran into a really weird dude who was dancing all up on Ainsley so we left to go to The Front Door. Lo and behold, we meet up with our friends who are having their party! At this point we are successfully hammered and are dancing like crazy people with two Irish men and two women who are all SO cool. There are insane pictures to follow on facebook. After an hour or so we walked to the Quays with our new Irish girl friends from the work party (I don't know where the guys went). As soon as we walk in there are two really cute Irish guys so Ainsley and I walked up to them and started talking. The guy Ainsley was talking to apparently hated America and was yelling at her for being American, but my guy was perfectly friendly as almost all Irish people are. He was adorable and also did not know baseball and so I gave him a quick tutorial. He then broke my heart by telling me that he had a girlfriend, and I moved on with my night. I then ran into some American friends and talked about the football game tonight, which will be at 9:30 pm Ireland time. The owners of the Quays kick you out at two so we left then and scoped out a place that we know will show football tonight and then walked home. I found out that a website someone gave me to stream sports works great and watched the end of the Jets Colts game and then passed out.

This morning we went to the cathedral by campus called Notre Dame de Lordes. It is honestly the most beautiful church I've ever been in. Apparently Christopher Columbus prayed there before making the journey to America. Pretty cool, eh? The Mass is exactly the same here except that they sing the Kyrie in Gaelic and Communion is kind of a free for all. Whenever you're ready you just go up to the altar and kneel and the priest will get to you when he gets to you. Liz, Eileen, Ainsley and I were pretty confused but we figured it out. After that we got some lunch and then shopped a little in Dunnes. I got the CUTEST satchel bag for 5 euro which I was pretty psyched about and then on the walk home listened to this AWESOME street band who was really funny and a majority of them were good looking. I think they party in Galway so hopefully we'll be seeing them around. The lead singer had such a good voice. They LOVE Kings of Leon here. Literally everywhere we go they're playing them. Then we came home and figured out our classes. I was so relieved that my classes all worked out and now I just have to find where they are on campus. First day of classes tomorrow!

I miss all of you so much and love blogging, I hope you enjoy reading it! It's a great way for me to keep everything written down and I know I'm going to have a lot of fun reading through it when this crazy ride is over. I love it so much here. Galway is the perfect mixture of modern city and Irish charm. I wish you could all be here to experience it with me!!!

Love you,

Kel

first weekend!

Hellooo!

Ok so Galway is finally starting to come to life as more students are moving back in. There were soo many more kids at the pubs last night than any other night. Nothing terribly remarkable happened but we definitely got to talk to more locals who, as a guy put it to Ainsley, we "don't just scream American... we ROAR American". Its totally fine though because after the initial few minutes where they make fun of our North Faces and picture taking, they are mad friendly and eager to learn about life in the U.S. I keep getting made fun of because even though the name Kelly is considered a very Irish first name in the states, its only a last name in Ireland. So every Irish boy I meet gives me a weird look when I tell them my name. No good. We ended up a Supermax last night, its a lot like McDonalds just with more selection and higher prices. For the second night in a row I didn't get in until 4 am so my clock is a little thrown off...

This morning we woke up really late and headed out to explore the other side of Galway which we had not seen. There's an ice rink and an aquarium that might be fun to check out. Then we went around town and shopped for a few things. Something about the euro that really has begun to irritate me is the usage of coins. Their smallest bill is a 5. Then they have 2 euro, 1 euro, 50 cents, 20 cents, 10 cents, 2 cents and 1 cent coins. SO ANNOYING. We'd been paying with our cash and then realized that we had wallets that weighed 7 pounds from change. So every purchase I made today was made with change that I had to step out of line to count out.

Tonight we're going out a little earlier than usual so that we can get a booth at this place where they play Irish music. We're still not exactly sure what the correct time is to go out so we're experimenting a little tonight. The Irish definitely go out earlier than Americans do.

I got a little homesick today. It was kind of dreary out and I'm getting nervous about signing up for classes. It is so incredibly messy at NUIG to sign up for classes its unbelievable. There are two different kinds of courses, modules and seminars. The seminars are caped at like 3 international students because they want to make sure that the Irish kids get in if they want it. Fair, but annoying. I feel like as soon as this process is over I will relax and really get started here!

Miss everyone!

theres no way I can keep up this pace

Dearest friends,

There is no way in the world that I can keep up this blogging pace because come Monday classes will start and I'll actually have things to do. But for now I hope you're enjoying my constant updates.

So last night was a BLAST. We saw this band play at The Kings Head. Guess what their name was? F.Y.C. Standing for? Fuck. Yo. Couch. bahahaha. I then proceeded to explain why I thought the name was so funny, and everyone called me "Kelleh Murphaay" the rest of the night. Great. We ended the night at Quays and then some burger joint. We hung out more with the kids from Marquette so hopefully we've found a good group of guys to protect us from the creepers at clubs...

Anywho, I was out until about 4 am and knew waking up for orientation was going to be tough. Funny story. My alarm did not go off. I woke up at 10:33 for my 9:30 orientation. Great. After a few screamed expletives I dragged Ainsley out of bed and booked it to campus which is about a mileish away from our apartment. Turns out we didn't miss much but we stayed on campus until about 3:00 finding our respective departments and then we got a tour. We headed back to the town and ate at McDonalds. Ok, don't laugh but the McDonalds here are LEGIT. They're SO clean and honestly almost posh. It blew my mind a little. I had a "euro saver menu" sundae. Just as good as in the states.

Ok for those of you reading who are thinking about coming to Galway - understand that it has EVERYTHING you need. I was freaking out like bringing all kinds of things and honestly thinking Galway was like a third world country. When I tell you it has everything you need and more, I mean it has EVERYTHING you need and more.

I went for my first run today. It was so awesome and I didn't even think about the distance because I was just staring in awe at how pretty the river is and how much I love it here. Bought liquor today in the grocery store, which was super weird but whatever. Not sure where we're going tonight but we have figured it out so far and will do it again.

I miss all of you so much! I've started to miss random things like Dunkin Donuts and cars that honk at you. The Irish people are so nice they will stop at any point on the road to let you cross. The streets are my favorite here because their flagstone and have no cars on them at all so its just people filling the whole walk way. There's often little bands playing music and the atmosphere is just SO energetic. I wish all of you could be here with me.

Love you!

ok, breathing...

Hellooo friends,

Ok so I'm realizing that that last blog was a little dire and a touch morose. I won't lie to you, it was tough. For those of you reading who are studying abroad, just know that the first day or so is absolutely terrifying. BUT after that first day, it's AMAZING. I'm so much more comfortable and relaxed and it's really a great time. I still miss all of you more than you know, but I know this is going to be the greatest semester.

Since my last blog, we went out FOR REAL this time. It. was. a. blast. We started at the Spanish Arch which is a pub named after a famous old archway on the water in Galway. There was great Irish music and  we were all feelin pretty good by the time we got there. An a pint of Carlsberg or two later, we were feelin REALLY good. Lots of pictures, songs and hugs later we headed over to Quays, which I would say was the most talked about pub from the Galway vets as I will continue to call them. Now, Quays is pronounced like "kees" which was a little difficult to get used to, but I don't wanna sound like the American idiot so I learned it. This place was awesome. We met some kids from the U.S because most of the Irish kids aren't here yet as the semester doesn't begin until Monday. Pints and pints later, I found myself walking the streets of Galway a little lost and drunk but eventually found my way home.

I realized around the 5th pint that we had orientation this morning at 9:30 am. That was a little rough. I have never been so confused in my life as when my alarm went off at 8:30. But I pulled myself together and made it there. A little late because we got lost on our way to campus, but we have it down now. Orientation was rather boring as you'd imagine. Nothing like what our wonderful red shirts put on. Lots of speeches from people with cool accents who are incredibly laid back and so eager to help. Turns out, there's another Kelly Murphy in the program. Lame.

After that we headed home. We were all a tired and still a little hung over so we wanted to get Subway. We ended up running into the guy who owns our building who then proceeded to give us a tour around our neighborhood. It was awesome, despite the fact that my stomach was literally eating itself. We met this bar tender who will for sure give us cheap drinks and who actually worked in Upper Darby for a time. We met all sorts of people who own establishments and offered to give us cheap stuff. The Irish are great. I also naturally inquired about the local Catholic Church. The first one Oliver pointed out was Augustinian, to which I pointed out that Augustinian masses do not count. He laughed and said there was a Jesuit church also, St. Ignatius. I got a little too excited, shouted out a few "The Hawk Will Never Die"'s and moved on with life. But seriously on a side note, my friends here are all going to kill me because I will be the girl who walks around Galway singing "...Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Hawk...". I'm obsessed with my school, whatever.

Anywho, I uploaded a bunch of pics on facebook that you all should check out. Today was so pretty so I got a few good shots of the campus and the cathedral by campus. We're going out pretty soon and hopefully will meet other kids from the program. We met some Marquette kids who were very nice so hopefully we'll make more friends tonight!!

Love and miss you all

HERE!

Hey all,

Ok so I've been in Galway not yet 24 hours and I can already tell it's going to be a blast. The city is so cool, completely unlike an American city. There are flagstone streets and so much outdoor eating. However, the outdoor eating is completely useless as it is about 43 degrees, windy and very often rainy. We haven't really met anyone outside of the SJU kids, because I think everyone is still a little too jet lagged and nervous to really branch out.

The first day was stressful, I won't lie. We got on our 9:40 pm Eastern time flight at JFK and landed at 9:05 am Dublin/London time at Shannon airport. We went through customs and got our bags and walked out to the bus station. Of course there were like 40 students in line for the bus to Galway so we didn't fit on the first one and had to stand in line in the freezing cold for over an hour waiting for the next bus. But it was fine and we were in Ireland so no one really cared. We finally got on the bus around 11:00 am and took an awesome bus ride through the Irish countryside. I, however, could not stay awake as sleeping on the plane was just not happening. We all sort of nodded off but arrived in Galway just after 1:00 pm. We got off the bus and took the short walk to Niland House where deciding where to live was another nerve wracking and stressful event. It all ended up working out and I'm rooming with Ainsley Keating across the hall from four other SJU girls that we've been getting close with.

It was about this time, as I was unpacking and feeling incredibly jet lagged, that I started to freak out. Like really freak out. There was a good hour where I contemplated putting everything back and buying a ticket to the bus, back to Shannon, and on a plane back to JFK to take a train back to Hartford and a cab back to Avon. Seriously. I did NOT anticipate the intense anxiety. I won't lie I'm still feeling it a little now. It's so hard being away from home. I know this will be the best experience ever, but for the first few days I can't help but feel utterly terrified. Having my blackberry has really helped and everyone has been really supportive. I just wonder how many times I'll have to skype with my parents without crying...

Later in the night though, we all got showered and decided to walk around Galway. We were finally starving after not eating for 12 hours. The time difference totally throws your eating off. It's almost 1 pm here and I've eaten yet don't feel hungry. But we wanted to see all the spots we've heard of from all the other Galway vets and so we found the super market and lots of pubs that they'd mentioned. We also found a Subway, Papa Johns and a Dominos. Maybe we'll be okay after all... haha. But really, Galway is a small city but it has all the stuff we need. We then decided it was time to eat and saw a place called "Paddy's". Advertised live sports and food 7 days a week. Had to be good, right? Wrong. We walked in and it was for sure a bar where everyone knew your name. They didn't know ours. So after a few awkward stares we decided to book it outta there and head somewhere else. We ended up at a place called "The Front Door" which had pretty good food. When we finished dinner it was only 7:00 pm and we couldn't go home because we'd just all fall asleep and mess up our clocks even more, so we went to The King's Head Pub and all had our first pint. We talked and drank but also just sat there listening to the accents haha. I also looked, because there are some CUTE irish boys. We're going out for real tonight, so hopefully we can do some interacting.

Today we woke up really late. I didn't get out of bed until noon. I skyped with Mom and Dad, didn't cry while we were talking, but sobbed when I hung up haha. It will all be normal in no time, I'm sure. We're going to go grocery shopping soon, as we have no food, and then find our way to campus which is about a mile walk away.

Love you all and can't write here how much I miss you, because it'll only make me REALLY cry. Talk to you soon!

Oh, P.S: turns out skype mobile does not work when you're out of the US, so for those of you without smart phones, I will skype you when I'm actually at my computer!

Two Days!

I figured this will be the best way to share all my adventures with the people I love the most. Stay tuned for all the ridiculousness that will ensue starting January 4th =)

Love you!