you sound like you're from LONDON

My trip to London started off less than enjoyable. I decided to stay out and celebrate Arthur Guinness day instead of stay home and go to bed earlier since I had to be outside waiting for the bus to the airport at 5am. I was still feeling the drinks, and the hangover at the same time. Then to top it all off, once we got to the hotel around 10am we couldn't even check in for another 5 hours. Instead of going to sleep like I had planned, I went shopping. I didn't buy anything but it was fun to window shop. Not only does 1 pound equal about 2 dollars, the clothes are mostly high fashion and expensive anyway. We went into Harrod's. That was pretty crazy. It is the biggest most expensive store I have ever been in. The word massive doesn't do it justice. It was 4 or 5 floors, with escalators. Maybe about the size of Providence Place but it's just 1 store. Once the clock hit 3 I went back to the hotel and took the most glorious shower of my life. I just stayed in bed and watched the tele for the rest of the night until I fell asleep.

Saturday morning we had to be downstairs in the hotel lobby for our sightseeing tour. We went to all famous things in London. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, London Towers, the Eye of London, Coveant Gardens and the Millenium Bride (from the newest Harry Potter). It was interesting to see all these things I've always seen on TV or in the moves in person. Everything had a story, and it was lovely to see. After the guided tour was over we got to go out on our own. We all bought oyster cards for the subway and explored. We went to King's Cross station and found Platform 9 and 3/4. This was seroiusly probably the highlight of London. I was so excited! We then made our way over to the St. John Wood station and found Abbey Road. It looks exactly what I imagined. The crosswalk is on a normal road, and the locals don't exactly enjoy the load of people that were stopping in the crosswalk to re-enact the famous Beatles picture. There was lots of beeping, and flailing arms.

Saturday night was for Broadway! Everyone else went to go see Grease (which I've already seen :D) but Kendra, Kara and I went to go see the Lion King. I can not reccomend this play enough. I was blown away. The way that they portray the animals is so creative. The voices on the actors are also amazing. The woman who plays Rafiki had the strongest most powerful singing voice I have ever heard. It was well worth the money and I'll definitely go see it again if I ever have the chance. We found a bar and grille afterwards to go have dinner. I had a jalapeno and chili burger. Not an American burger but it was still yummy. We decided to be responsible and not go out so we just went back to our hotels. Kara and Kendra were staying in a hostel kind of far away so I took the subway by myself most of the way home, and then walked from the subway to the hotel alone. Being the paranoid person I am I put my camera, vera bradley, and money in my jacket figuring if I got mugged they could have my bag :). When I got back to the hotel the rest of the girls were already back from Grease. We just stayed in and had a girls night. We decided to walk to the 24 hour store down the street around 1am to get some ice cream and snacks and I got laughed at for my pajamas...a few times. I guess not many people walk around in boxer shorts and mocassins in London.

Sunday we had to check out and got to do whatever we wanted. We decided to take advantage of the free museums near by. We went to the natural history, and an art museum. They were so huge and the architecture of the building was incredible. I'm not sure what the building was before a museum but the gargoyles and all the fixtures were beautiful. Lindsey and I then went to do a little shopping and found a sushi restaraunt (the 1st in Europe). It was then time to go back to the hotel and then to the airport. It was very warm without a cloud in the sky when we left that morning, so we didn't bring umbreallas. We got stuck in a very heavy rain storm. Completely soaked by the time we got to the hotel. Although not my favorite place, London was sure pretty sweet. Oh! We also saw that lady I think from India who is famous for having so many piercings in the subway station. She was quite the sight!

10 more days until Italy and I just booked my flight to Poland for Thanksgiving weekend. LIFE IS GOOD!

Happy Birthday Arthur Guiness!

Today is Arthur Guiness' birthday. Pretty much a nationaly holiday here. A lot of the pubs are giving out free Guiness, and the others are offering it at 1/2 the price. It's definitely gonna be a good time. The Irish have been drinking all day to celebrate. What a lucky man Mr. Guiness is! A whole country, and perhaps others around the world celebrate his birthday every year.

I'm also packing for LONDON. I can't wait. Spice World, and dancing with Rosa to their music when we were little keeps popping into my head. I'm looking forward to a normal sized shower in the hotel, and being able to shave my legs with them outstretched, instead of crunched up like a flamingo. I'm also hopefully going to see Lion King!!! I can't wait.

As I'm sure I've said before, I'm so unbelievably thankful for the life I have. I never thought I could be this happy. I also think about Poppa a lot lately. Even though he hasn't been around for a while I think about him with almost all the choices I make in my life. With marching band high school, to college, and now here. I've always known how lucky I've been to have had him in my life. I can't help but wonder where I would be if he hadn't been the man that he was. I'm going to have to have a Jim Beam for him while I'm here :)

Pinch me, I must be dreaming

I feel like I keep waking up into a dream every day. It sounds so lame to say but I can't believe the life I'm living right now. I have met so many amazing people, and made so many great friends. I haven't even been here for 3 weeks. They've been such a blur. It feels like I've known most of these people my entire life. We've already made so many memories together, and still have 3 months to go!

I booked a trip to Italy! We're flying into Rome, making our way up to Florence, and then flying out of Pisa. We're still trying to figure out transportation, and where we will stay. It's definitely gonna be an adventure! I'm gonna have to find myself and Italian-English dictionary :)

Yesterday we ran into a few guys who didn't look like they quite fit in on our way to class. Turns out they were on an american basketball team here to play at our school. We of course went to the game, and then met up with them afterwards. We went out to pizza and then met back up with them at the pub on campus. They were getting stared at like "artifacts" (their words). I guess the Irish aren't used to big dark skinned guys, or even white guys who are above 6'5. We all ended up coming back here and hanging out. It was nice to meet some new americans. Watching basketball, and hearing some nice southern accents made me a little homesick.

Tonight I'm going to a Munster Rugby match. It's the national team in Ireland...I think. I'm not quite sure, but I know it will be fun. I think about 15 of us are going, and the game starts at 8. I have no idea what Irish sports games are like, or how long they last. I'm pretty excited to see some rugby.

Tomorrow I have to start doing actual school work, and not just play. But it's okay. I'm in IRELAND doing school work. Next weekend.....London :)

Cliffs of Moher

So I just got home from a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. We drove all through the countryside and stopped at different castles, and a fort, and then drove down the coast to the cliffs. Ireland is so amazingly beautiful. I take so many photos, but none of them can capture what I'm seeing. The colors are so vibrant, and beautiful. It's hard for me to even put into words. The weather is nuts. We say it's bipolar or schizophrenic. It can be sunny out, but downpouring. Or clear one second, then dark and dreary the next. Today an umbrella wouldn't even help much, and I was soaked. I saw a full rainbow!!! It was so freaking incredible. Not just a line in the sky like at home, but I could see it from start on one end, to finish on the other. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. Before we got to the cliffs we stopped in the seaside town called Doolin. We ate lunch at the pub. I had something like stuffed chicken bodies, mashed potatoes (with guiness gravy of course) and some veggies. We shopped in some stores and I got my mom a little present I'm sure she'll love. The cliffs were pretty breathtaking. The weather was so bad though. We were on the edge looking out into the ocean and saw the rain storm just about it hit us. We tried to take cover as best we could. Thankfully it cleared up pretty quickly and I got some good pictures. I am now off to take a nap, and then go out later with some friends to a pub on campus. LIFE IS GOOD.

I wish I was just abroad. Without the studying :(

I started classes on Monday. They are much different than at home. The professors are referred to as lecturers and we call them by their first names. Much more laid back. Irish students are on set tracks according to what they choose to study, so it's harder for us non-irish to find classes that fit into our "timetables" (schedules). I think I've finally found 5 classes that I like and that will all fit within each other. I'm taking Social Psych., Psych. of Personality, Psych. of Work, Biology of Human Behavior, and Irish Folklore. All the lecturers seem to love their jobs, and all the classes seem like they will be very good.

Unfortunately I've caught a cold, and am having a hard time making myself stay in instead of going out with my friends. I feel like i'm only here for a semester so I should go out every chance I get but I think last night and tonight in will do me good. I also need to start going to be before 3am. It's hard because the irish love to party! School nights don't mean much to them, and having a lecture at 9am the next morning does not usually slow them down :)

Saturday I'm going to see the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. It's supposed to rain, and be foggy, but I suppose the sunny days of last week were of the few I will be seeing while i'm here. It has rained all day today, very hard. I had to walk to campus in it! Thank goodness for my rainboots, or wellies as they call them. I'm sure I'll be getting used to the rain.

I will be appreciating consistantly hot showers, and being able to drive to the grocery store and back so much more when back in Rhode Island. I've learned how to fully shower in ice cold water in under 5 minutes. A skill I would rather not have :)

I'M HERE

So I figured I'd start this so you can read it if you'd like and find out what I've been up to since it's hard to tell everyone everything since I'm phoneless.

I sat next to the nicest older Irish man on the plane. He's lived in Limerick his entire life. I had trouble understanding him most of the time because of his accent and he spoke so quickly. He come from a family 0f 10! 7 girls and 3 boys. He gave me a list of a bunch of different places around Ireland that he recommended to me to visit. The sun was just rising as we began our decent into Shannon airport. It was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen! Everything is so green!

We took a coach bus from Shannon into Limerick. It was so weird that we drove on the left side of the road. Every time the driver took a left on red I got nervous. I'm still not used to it. It's also a challenge to cross the road because of the cars driving on the opposite side. Even though I know that's how it is here, I still look left to right, and have even almost stepped into the road.

My apartment is cute. I live with 7 other people. I have 5 american roomates, 1 german, 1 finnish, and 1 irish. We all share 2 bathrooms which is perfectly fine except there is only usually enough hot water for 1 person to shower every couple of hours. It's also coed which is less weird than I thought that it would be. I definitely think America should follow suit.

So far I've had orientation and taken a bus tour of Limerick city. Orientation was boring as usual but the bus tour was interesting. Limerick city is beautiful. The river Shannon runs right through it. Last night we walked the multiple miles into town for dinner, and ended up talking to the irish woman sitting next to us. She recommended this bar called Smyth's that has live music and she said was the place to be. Some of us from dinner walked over and it was just as good as she said it would be. The band was amazing, the bar was packed, and we had SO much fun. It's weird to be able to walk up to the bar and just order a drink. The irish guys are dancing fools! They were enough entertainment themselves.

It's true the irish are the nicest people around. I haven't met many girls my age...it doesn't seem that they are very fond of us american girls. The guys, as young as they are seem to be gentlemen. Much different from the ones back home :) Listening to them talk is fun. They speak so quickly, use different words, and pronounce things differently. Having a "good craic" is having a good time. They say "brilliant" a lot, a "dinger" is a good looking person, and three is "tree" It is also true that they can drink...A LOT. It is unbelievable how much they can drink, how they can mix between beer, liquor, and wine, and how well (some of them, and some of the time) can hold themselves after a night out. My roomate Kendra and I made the guys smores the other night. They don't have graham crackers, or hershey chocolate here so they've never had them. We bought tea biscuits with a coat of chocolate and heat up the marshmallows in the oven (we have no microwave). They loved them, and next we're going to make them mac & cheese. The guys here also love friends, the oc, and glee which we thought was kind of funny.

I can't really thing of anything else to write, and I promise my other posts won't be so long. I just had to catch up with everything that has happened in the past 4 days. It feels like i've been here forever, and have already made some really great friends. American and international. I put all my pictures up, and have yet to get homesick. I'm not really sure if I even will. I truely am already having the time of my life. Ireland is AMAZING