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