I'm sorry I haven't blogged sooner. This week has been SO insane. Today has been the most chill day I've had since being here. I slept in, made some tea, uploaded pictures, cleaned, and now I'm blogging!
It's SO easy being in Ireland. I think partly because the town I'm in is so small that it reminds me of Hartsville. It isn't overwhelming and the people here are so wonderful and friendly and helpful. Just like back home. Everyone wants to know where I'm from and why I'm here and they're all so willing to help and give me tips and advice on where to go and when. I love it!
The weather is sort of harsh... Today it's been super rainy and windy. But the wind only got really bad yesterday and so hopefully that will only be a side effect of the rain we've had today and yesterday. Mostly it's just cold. It doesn't rain every day like I had heard but it is pretty much always overcast. There are rare glimpses of sunlight and I soak it up!
Random fact, the electrical outlets are different. And no, not just because the plugs are but you plug something in and then you have to turn on that electrical outlet. Also, the light switches are backwards. Instead of turning it on by switching it up, that turns it off. Just random information for ya!
There are so many things I could say and I want to have some sort of flow to this so I'll just try and keep it smooth but should I not, just remember how many new things I'm seeing and how random my mind works! Here it goes!
When I got here it was snowing but I got moved into my room and even got to go into town (which is only one parking lot away).
The closest department store is Dunne's which reminds me of Target. Maynooth is a college town so there are a lot of little shops that cater to this demographic. They have a lot of EuroSavers which are the European version of the Dollar Stores. I found a great little college store run by a nice man named Des who has been to South Carolina AND has met Darius Rucker! He told me a GREAT story about that but because the Irish use curse words almost every other word I'll have to refrain. Just trust me, it was funny!
That night I went to my first pub called the Roost which is in the center of town and the closest pub to the school. It is the big hang out for students. While there I had my first Guinness and it was ok. Not really my style but that's ok! I had the traditional one which is all that matters!
That was Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday were very similar. I shopped for basics, got all unpacked, explored the college and the town. I met one awesome girl in the pub who came here with a group instead of her school (which is what I did) and there are two other girls with that group, then there's Colleen who came from FMU with me, and one of my roommates Rachel so the six of us have been spending time together exploring, shopping, and everything else.
I've signed up for my classes and I'll end up leaving Maynooth with a certificate in Irish Studies which fits in PERFECTLY with the classes I need to take for FMU! I still need a few general education courses which is why studying abroad would luckily fit in with where I am degree wise. They do their classes over here differently but I think I'm really liking that fact!
As far as my housing goes, all they have here are apartments and I'm in the oldest ones. But it isn't that bad. The only negative is the water which is on a timer and is rarely hot when I actually want to shower. Other than that it isn't bad at all! My next door neighbor is Rachel from Arizona. Then there's Hanwei from China, Shere from North Carolina (who spent a year at USC!!!) and Brad from Louisiana. We have two open rooms and we aren't sure if we'll have two new roommates or if those rooms will stay empty. Our apartment is pretty much a hallway with lots of doors. It isn't open at all. You walk in the main door and to your right there are three more doors (one room is Shere's, one is Brad's and the other is empty). To your left the first door goes into the kitchen/den, the second and third doors are the two bathrooms, the next door is Hanwei's room, then there's an empty room, then mine, and then Rachel's. I posted a picture of my room earlier. It's nice and homey now with all my stuff unpacked and my USC poster up! I don't want to buy too many things because I'll only be here for five months so I'm trying to get creative. AKA, tonight I will spend some time on Pinterest seeing if I can make anything with all the bags and containers I've been saving! I already used a kitchen knife (because I had no scissors at the time) to hack off the top of a water bottle and turn it into a toothbrush/toothpaste holder. Worked out well!
The food here is AWESOME. It's all super fresh! At the grocery stores they have bread they make just all sitting out on shelves. So you just walk up and grab the loaf you want and put it in a bag. The fish is the same way, they have it just sitting out on ice and you tell the man what you want and he grabs it and puts it in a bag for you. It's awesome!
Yesterday, I went with the girls to Dublin. We take a bus into town which is only 2.5 euro (which is actually $3.37). The ride takes about 40 minutes because it stops all along the way but it drops you off at the very center of town! And, on the way, you see all sorts of cute little villages. It was a cute and fun ride! Oh, and I really liked it because I rode on my first double decker bus:) Once we were in Dublin we took a tour bus all around the city and saw all the major sites. We walked around for a while, grabbed some lunch, explored some more and then we headed to the Christ Church Cathedral where they were having a sort of outdoor festival with animals, food, and music. It was fun! The picture below has Christ Church (to the right of my head) and Dublinia (to the left of my head) in the background.
We heard some cool bands and saw some awesome dancing! Below is Perfect Friction which was an AWESOME band!!!
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