to grandmothers house we go!
oh wait...
ok not quite to grandmothers. not yet anywho.
so our adventure around ireland is coming to a close. im too lazy to upload pictures right now, but will do soon. now about the trip.
so the fam missed their connecting flight at JFK airport in new york, so were put on a later flight. (lucky for me b/c i was up all night. got an hour of sleep after cleaning and such)
ok so they got in about 9am dublin time
went to the apartment
they bought ucd stuff
ya know
over to trinity for the book of kells. bought a book in the giftshop. (anyone who knows me knows im pretty obssessed with books. haha) then back to the apartment for tea with friends. it was grand.
but super sad
i cried of course. wow. big surprise there. lol
anywho
we set off back to the airport to get our rental car and headed out towards kilkenny.
not much we did there b/c we got in so late. the next day just toured the castle and headed off towards waterford.
we stayed in waterford castle. hands down nicest place ive stayed in EVER. had a super nice bath and did some reading. it was like heaven :)
we got all dressed up fancy and had a nice dinner in the castle dining room or whatever. mom and dad gave us early Christmas presents of digital cameras. theyre so ridiculous. they are too nice of parents. as if living in ireland for a year wasnt enough!!! haha.
the we went to kinsale. cute little fishing village. it was way fun. we drank at a lot of pubs. got mom hooked on bulmers and kopperburg ciders. lol.
so that was good times. did a bit of shopping there. then off to killarney. that was a fun one. did LOADS of shopping there. breakin the bank a little. haha. dad did a bit of golfing so that was good.
then yesterday we came to galway. super cute here. love it. did even more shopping today. (not that i needed to) but atleast i got some more gifts taken care of for friends back home. had a little picnic dinner in the parents' room...fell asleep on their extra bed (cuz they have two...weird) while watching some movie or smthg. got up to come over here. so thats it so far!
tomorrow we go home to dublin.
cant wait :)
it'll be nice to be back to familiarity. then over to scotland for two days. back to dublin so i can grab all my stuff to take home. then to the US!!! hopefully we wont be delayed or stuck anywhere because of all the snow!
last i heard it was over a foot high. craziness.
then up to bham. either by car or train. GOING to see my best friend!!! snow cant stop me :) haha. so that should be good.
then back for second semester. cant wait for that! cept its going to be waaay different withough mal and the girls. but atleast mal and i have our plan of coming back, marrying irish men, living close to e/o and going on family vacations together to look forward to. always a plus. haha.
well thats about it for the update. pics soon.
love and hugs.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
city lights
well i woke up with a cold. no fun. but i guess its a small price to pay for an amazing weekend in paris! (sarah was sick and spending the weekend together, naturally i got sick too.)
wednesday we had kings and crowns night
so the girls got together, got all dressed up, and played a couple rounds of kings
then out dancing
then to bk for some crowns.
it was grand
BUT
i had to leave for paris at 4am
SO that means no sleep.
when we landed in paris it was SNOWING!!! well, we were in beauvais b/c ryanair doesnt fly directly into paris, but it was snowing all the same :) it was gorgeous
and of course, me getting easily excited, i was acting like a little kid on Christmas; paris AND snow all in one day!!! lol
(anyone who has traveled with me can agree with that; i get ridiculously excited when i go somewhere new)
anywho
we boarded the bus for paris, thinking it would be like 40 mins or so..an hour and a half later we were in paris! but we had no idea how to get anywhere or even where the metro was. luckily the guy selling tickets at the bus station googled it for us; so nice! we quickly found the metro station and were on our way
we found our hotel and dropped off our bags
grabbed a starbucks (of course) and decided what to do for the day
first things first; lunch. AMAZING. we had an amazing salad at this little cafe. it was so good.
anyways
we decided to walk around a bit then go on the boat tour. that was gorgeous. it lasted a good while and we took so many pictures. by the time we were done we decided to go in the eiffel tower...at night! it was so beautiful!!! and it sparkles! that was way cool.
after that we went for some dinner. once again; amazing
then some shopping
then we met some algerian guys (this is where it gets interesting)...more like algerian creepers. lol
but they took sarah and i to a piano bar and bought us wine which was pretty cool. cept the one named mustafa (kinda like mufasa from the lion king. lol) was darn near ready to propose so sarah and i hurried on out of there and back the hotel and our nice warm beds.
the next day we went to notre dame and some modern art thing and the LOUVRE!!! it was gorgeous. we took pics next to the mona lisa, but sarah has them on her camera since my batteries had died by then. there we met another guy, this time from lebanon. something about sarah and i attracts creepers apparently, who just invite themselves along on our trips. kinda annoying really. hahaha. it was a very fun day overall.
the last day was a pretty short one. we went to l'arc de triomphe and to the champs elysees, where i bought a new purse/wallet set, thanks to my lovely grandma karen who insists on putting monies in my account. :) we ended up going back to the first cafe for that salad again (it was just THAT good) and narrowly made our bus back to beauvais airport. but we made it, and thats the important thing. over all, an amazing weekend.
that night a bunch of us went over to mallori's because her roommate's friends were having a case race (pretty amusing really) and the rest of us just chilled and had some drink. (though not nearly as much as those doing the case race!)
yesterday mallori, john, and i went over to greystones/bray to visit flopsy. it was a really great day; got to see the beach and anyone who knows me at all knows that constitutes a good day in my book!!! we had tea twice, climbed a hill to find an amazing view, and got to meet the super sweet mrs. walsh. it was a fun day with a very....exciting..ending. lol mal and i decided that we'd get off the dart line a bit early and just walk home instead of going all the way into town and taking the bus. save a bit of money, even if it is just 1.70euro. yah. prbly not doing that again. it was so cold. and we got lost...a couple times. but we had a laugh which is all that matters.
once i finally got home i got to talk to the fam a bit. see the new dog on skype. (SO CUTE!!!) and my wonderful family will be here in a week!!! i cant wait to show them around... i really hope they love it here as much as i do. actually, idk if ive written this out here yet but im thinking of doing a masters here just so i can come back. theres just something about ireland...i have to come back. i love it too much not to.
but anyway. that was my excitement of late. now its just studying till saturday when i have 2 exams. then cleaning all day sunday for the fam to get here on monday. oh and thursday is kate's bday so we're having a little get together. should be fun.
well its freezing. time for more tea.
:)
wednesday we had kings and crowns night
so the girls got together, got all dressed up, and played a couple rounds of kings
then out dancing
then to bk for some crowns.
it was grand
BUT
i had to leave for paris at 4am
SO that means no sleep.
when we landed in paris it was SNOWING!!! well, we were in beauvais b/c ryanair doesnt fly directly into paris, but it was snowing all the same :) it was gorgeous
and of course, me getting easily excited, i was acting like a little kid on Christmas; paris AND snow all in one day!!! lol(anyone who has traveled with me can agree with that; i get ridiculously excited when i go somewhere new)
anywho
we boarded the bus for paris, thinking it would be like 40 mins or so..an hour and a half later we were in paris! but we had no idea how to get anywhere or even where the metro was. luckily the guy selling tickets at the bus station googled it for us; so nice! we quickly found the metro station and were on our way
we found our hotel and dropped off our bags
grabbed a starbucks (of course) and decided what to do for the day
first things first; lunch. AMAZING. we had an amazing salad at this little cafe. it was so good.
anyways
we decided to walk around a bit then go on the boat tour. that was gorgeous. it lasted a good while and we took so many pictures. by the time we were done we decided to go in the eiffel tower...at night! it was so beautiful!!! and it sparkles! that was way cool.
after that we went for some dinner. once again; amazing
then some shopping
then we met some algerian guys (this is where it gets interesting)...more like algerian creepers. lol
but they took sarah and i to a piano bar and bought us wine which was pretty cool. cept the one named mustafa (kinda like mufasa from the lion king. lol) was darn near ready to propose so sarah and i hurried on out of there and back the hotel and our nice warm beds.
the next day we went to notre dame and some modern art thing and the LOUVRE!!! it was gorgeous. we took pics next to the mona lisa, but sarah has them on her camera since my batteries had died by then. there we met another guy, this time from lebanon. something about sarah and i attracts creepers apparently, who just invite themselves along on our trips. kinda annoying really. hahaha. it was a very fun day overall.
the last day was a pretty short one. we went to l'arc de triomphe and to the champs elysees, where i bought a new purse/wallet set, thanks to my lovely grandma karen who insists on putting monies in my account. :) we ended up going back to the first cafe for that salad again (it was just THAT good) and narrowly made our bus back to beauvais airport. but we made it, and thats the important thing. over all, an amazing weekend.
that night a bunch of us went over to mallori's because her roommate's friends were having a case race (pretty amusing really) and the rest of us just chilled and had some drink. (though not nearly as much as those doing the case race!)
yesterday mallori, john, and i went over to greystones/bray to visit flopsy. it was a really great day; got to see the beach and anyone who knows me at all knows that constitutes a good day in my book!!! we had tea twice, climbed a hill to find an amazing view, and got to meet the super sweet mrs. walsh. it was a fun day with a very....exciting..ending. lol mal and i decided that we'd get off the dart line a bit early and just walk home instead of going all the way into town and taking the bus. save a bit of money, even if it is just 1.70euro. yah. prbly not doing that again. it was so cold. and we got lost...a couple times. but we had a laugh which is all that matters.
once i finally got home i got to talk to the fam a bit. see the new dog on skype. (SO CUTE!!!) and my wonderful family will be here in a week!!! i cant wait to show them around... i really hope they love it here as much as i do. actually, idk if ive written this out here yet but im thinking of doing a masters here just so i can come back. theres just something about ireland...i have to come back. i love it too much not to.
but anyway. that was my excitement of late. now its just studying till saturday when i have 2 exams. then cleaning all day sunday for the fam to get here on monday. oh and thursday is kate's bday so we're having a little get together. should be fun.
well its freezing. time for more tea.
:)
Monday, November 24, 2008
belfast&&thanksgiving
MORE PICTURES!!!
so my friend sarah and i went up to belfast last weekend
here are some pictures...
like the one in london...only in belfast ;)
this is the titanic's drydock. it was pretty sweet.
so there's a bit of a photo update. now for the actual update.
school is fine i guess. i mean, its school so its not that exciting. just found out one my papers thats due next tuesday is not 2,000 words like i thought, but 4,000. so thats exciting i guess. not the good kind of excitement, but ya know. excitement nonetheless.
we ordered sweats for lacrosse and they come in this week.
also, our last lacrosse game of the semester is on friday.
THANKSGIVING ON THURSDAY!!!
is going to be hard
but good
we're celebrating on wednesday so im not going to my wednesday class b/c i'll be cooking a turkey!
we're getting 2 because there are so many of us
mallori and i are more or less in charge of the menu so ive got to go grocery shopping again to get more ingredients for home made biscuits and such
should be fun
who knows that the weekend holds in store
maybe a trip to the zoo with some girls from lacrosse
or maybe a trip to the pier
anything could happen! hahaha
in other news, the fam comes in exactly three weeks
i absolutely cannot wait. it'll be so nice to finally see them. this semester has gone by so fast, but when i think of the last time i saw my family, it seems like it's been dragging on for ages
and of course, next week i'm going to paris!!!
i cant wait
its going to be so fun
im going with sarah and our hotel is right across from the notre dame
so thats pretty exciting
ok i gotta go get ready for lacrosse...well, hanging out with the girls beforehand, but ya know
im sure i'll have loads more actually exciting things next time
:)
love and hugs!!!!
love,
elyse
so my friend sarah and i went up to belfast last weekend
here are some pictures...
like the one in london...only in belfast ;)
this is the titanic's drydock. it was pretty sweet.
so there's a bit of a photo update. now for the actual update.
school is fine i guess. i mean, its school so its not that exciting. just found out one my papers thats due next tuesday is not 2,000 words like i thought, but 4,000. so thats exciting i guess. not the good kind of excitement, but ya know. excitement nonetheless.
we ordered sweats for lacrosse and they come in this week.
also, our last lacrosse game of the semester is on friday.
THANKSGIVING ON THURSDAY!!!
is going to be hard
but good
we're celebrating on wednesday so im not going to my wednesday class b/c i'll be cooking a turkey!
we're getting 2 because there are so many of us
mallori and i are more or less in charge of the menu so ive got to go grocery shopping again to get more ingredients for home made biscuits and such
should be fun
who knows that the weekend holds in store
maybe a trip to the zoo with some girls from lacrosse
or maybe a trip to the pier
anything could happen! hahaha
in other news, the fam comes in exactly three weeks
i absolutely cannot wait. it'll be so nice to finally see them. this semester has gone by so fast, but when i think of the last time i saw my family, it seems like it's been dragging on for ages
and of course, next week i'm going to paris!!!
i cant wait
its going to be so fun
im going with sarah and our hotel is right across from the notre dame
so thats pretty exciting
ok i gotta go get ready for lacrosse...well, hanging out with the girls beforehand, but ya know
im sure i'll have loads more actually exciting things next time
:)
love and hugs!!!!
love,
elyse
Friday, November 14, 2008
irlanda en fotos
so i havent exactly put loads of pics up yet, so i thought i would do just that...
this is just after kissing the blarney stone; the first time visiting adam in cork
flying into heathrow; london from the air :)
the girls i went with; sarah and leslie
tower bridge. fav pic of the trip
changing of the guards
more changing of the guards
london at night. we went in the london eye that night (the green thing)
lacrosse in germany!
this is just after kissing the blarney stone; the first time visiting adam in cork
flying into heathrow; london from the air :)
the girls i went with; sarah and leslie
tower bridge. fav pic of the trip
changing of the guards
more changing of the guards
london at night. we went in the london eye that night (the green thing)
lacrosse in germany!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
4 weeks and (technically) 5 days
im counting down till i get to see the fam.
its pretty exciting, really
i have a countdown going on my calendario :)
(just a bit of the good ol' espanol for ya there)
i absolutely CANNOT wait!!!
they leave the u.s. on the 14th of december and arrive in dublin on the 15th
my crazy mother assumed that i wouldn't want to get up early to meet them at the airport, and was thinking that instead, they would just take a taxi and meet me at my apartment
like i said; CRAZY
i quickly corrected her
i WILL be there waiting when my family arrives in dublin :)
...and that means i'll have to clean my room...darn. well thats not such a bad price to pay to be able to see my family after MONTHS of being halfway across the world (^_^)
(switching it up with the smiley faces there)
so, really that was the point of this blog
but, true to character, i'll just ramble on a bit more about my life
in ireland
did i mention that part? ;)
it still amazes me that im ACTUALLY here
thanks to the parents for supplying both the encouragement and funds for this extraordinary opportunity!!!
alright
update numero uno:
im writing again
after a *brief* dry spell, more commonly referred to as 'writer's block,' im finally writing again
this weekend was som prime writing time
for those of you who dont know; ive a bit of a pet project
it began about midway through freshman year of college and ive been working on it off and on since then
the characters have changed a bit
as has the plot (though to tell you truthfully, i sincerely dont know where this story is going...how it will end...ya know; minor details)
but the message thus far is the same
...what that is, you'll have to wait and find out if and when it ever gets published...thats a huge IF, by the way
anyway,
this weekend i took on the very daunting task of taking my two sets of characters and melding them into one cohesive cast
VERY daunting
ive written about six chapters, so that's atleast some progress
and, in the midst of the overwhelming assignment i'd set for myself, i made a mock-up cover
nothing real amazing
just something to do i guess
anywho, thats about it for the novel update
more to come, im sure
update numero dos:
i still love lacrosse
im still terrible at lacrosse
ain't life grand :)
in other lacrosse news; we've ordered sweatshirts and sweatpants
im pretty psyched
because, DUH, i love comfy clothes :)
update numero tres:
i should freetranslation.com 'update' and find out how to say it in spanish...hold on one sec.....
actualización numero cuatro:
who knows if thats the real translation or if freetranslation.com messed it up again and that means something like...well idk. but something different
obviously my spanish speaking skills (alliteration) are lacking, seeing as im not actually taking a language course while abroad; only spanish lit.
okay, for the REAL update number four;
IM GOING TO PARIS.
yep.
i'll be an american in paris :)
yay.
when, may you ask? december 4th through 6th. Christmas light time!
oookaaaaay.
welp, i dont know about any more updates, but if i have 'em, i'll be sure to post 'em.
i hope you're all doing well at home!
i love and miss you!!!
OH! i have one more update.
nilley (my very large half-chow dog) is getting HUGE
okay so when we got her the day before Easter, she was something like 87 pounds. pretty big, eh?
well, not compared to know. she's a whopping 97.6 pounds!!!!!!!
yep. its true. my dog weighs more than nicole ritchie.
not that thats hard or anything ;)
lol
OK i really think thats it for now
talk soon!
well, i'll write to you and you'll read it soon! :)
love and hugs!
love,
elyse
its pretty exciting, really
i have a countdown going on my calendario :)
(just a bit of the good ol' espanol for ya there)
i absolutely CANNOT wait!!!
they leave the u.s. on the 14th of december and arrive in dublin on the 15th
my crazy mother assumed that i wouldn't want to get up early to meet them at the airport, and was thinking that instead, they would just take a taxi and meet me at my apartment
like i said; CRAZY
i quickly corrected her
i WILL be there waiting when my family arrives in dublin :)
...and that means i'll have to clean my room...darn. well thats not such a bad price to pay to be able to see my family after MONTHS of being halfway across the world (^_^)
(switching it up with the smiley faces there)
so, really that was the point of this blog
but, true to character, i'll just ramble on a bit more about my life
in ireland
did i mention that part? ;)
it still amazes me that im ACTUALLY here
thanks to the parents for supplying both the encouragement and funds for this extraordinary opportunity!!!
alright
update numero uno:
im writing again
after a *brief* dry spell, more commonly referred to as 'writer's block,' im finally writing again
this weekend was som prime writing time
for those of you who dont know; ive a bit of a pet project
it began about midway through freshman year of college and ive been working on it off and on since then
the characters have changed a bit
as has the plot (though to tell you truthfully, i sincerely dont know where this story is going...how it will end...ya know; minor details)
but the message thus far is the same
...what that is, you'll have to wait and find out if and when it ever gets published...thats a huge IF, by the way
anyway,
this weekend i took on the very daunting task of taking my two sets of characters and melding them into one cohesive cast
VERY daunting
ive written about six chapters, so that's atleast some progress
and, in the midst of the overwhelming assignment i'd set for myself, i made a mock-up cover
nothing real amazing
just something to do i guess
anywho, thats about it for the novel update
more to come, im sure
update numero dos:
i still love lacrosse
im still terrible at lacrosse
ain't life grand :)
in other lacrosse news; we've ordered sweatshirts and sweatpants
im pretty psyched
because, DUH, i love comfy clothes :)
update numero tres:
i should freetranslation.com 'update' and find out how to say it in spanish...hold on one sec.....
actualización numero cuatro:
who knows if thats the real translation or if freetranslation.com messed it up again and that means something like...well idk. but something different
obviously my spanish speaking skills (alliteration) are lacking, seeing as im not actually taking a language course while abroad; only spanish lit.
okay, for the REAL update number four;
IM GOING TO PARIS.
yep.
i'll be an american in paris :)
yay.
when, may you ask? december 4th through 6th. Christmas light time!
oookaaaaay.
welp, i dont know about any more updates, but if i have 'em, i'll be sure to post 'em.
i hope you're all doing well at home!
i love and miss you!!!
OH! i have one more update.
nilley (my very large half-chow dog) is getting HUGE
okay so when we got her the day before Easter, she was something like 87 pounds. pretty big, eh?
well, not compared to know. she's a whopping 97.6 pounds!!!!!!!
yep. its true. my dog weighs more than nicole ritchie.
not that thats hard or anything ;)
lol
OK i really think thats it for now
talk soon!
well, i'll write to you and you'll read it soon! :)
love and hugs!
love,
elyse
Sunday, November 2, 2008
that's class
quite possibly one of my favourite irish sayings
along with anything being 'grand,' 'lovely,' or 'terrible'
ok terrible is pretty universal, but maybe its just the accent that does it for me :)
okay...
where to begin....
well i guess last time i wrote (which seems like AGES ago!) i was getting ready to go to london
right
okay!
so my two friends and i went to london a couple weekends ago. we got up at about 330am to get a taxi at 4am (we had to make pb&j's first!) and caught a super early flight to london!
it was amazing
the flight itself was not bad and im finding myself actually beginning to like flying! we got into london in the early morning, but then had to figure out the tube just to get out of heathrow airport! luckily, some really nice people with really nice accents helped us out and we were on our way in no time. we ended up having to ride the thing for an hour, but when we finally got off it was completely worth it!
as we quickly ascended the stairs towards the welcoming daylight, from the stuffy tunnels of the tube, it hit us; WE WERE IN LONDON!!! it felt like a movie. amid exclamations of joy and disbelief that we were actually here, we snapped our first photos of the city itself.
turns out the tube stop we got off at was trafalgar square; apparently where our tour bus headquarters were...so we thought someone would know where it was (it was in a visitor's centre) and we quickly set off with smiles on our faces to find someone to point us in the right direction.
an HOUR later, we were still in trafalgar square, having walked all througout it, talking to countless londoners, yet still not at our visitor's centre.
we
were
frustrated.
luckily we found some random person who happened to know where it was and we set off to find it. we did. :) so we boarded a bus and took off on our LONDON BUS TOUR. it was great :) i know people sometimes say not to do bus tours because they're a waste of money, but this was really good. our first tour guide was pretty good, but our second was...well, sketchy to say the least. when one of my friends asked what a particular building was, he quickly snapped at her, "i just covered that! PAY ATTENTION!" like it was school or something! we didn't like him. lol
all in all we were ridiculously busy and spent only 48 hours in the city, but saw sooo many things! i had to make a list to keep track of everything (come to think of it, im not so sure where that is!)
we saw the house of parliament, big ben, the london eye (and went on it at night!), took a tour of westminster abbey, toured the tower of london, did a boat tour, saw the tower bridge and got to ride over it in the tour bus, had fish and chips :) and so many other things!
looking back it's hard to believe we did everything that we did!!!
our first night there we stayed in this cute little hotel and our doorman was so nice
that night we had drinks at a little mexican restaurant; strawberry margaritas and tequila shots!
the second night we went back to the mexican restaurant, this time for food!!! :)
we didn't have a hotel or hostel for the second night because we figured we'd just stay out all night and get to the airport in the early morning since our flight was so early again.
HOWEVER
the tube closes down at midnight.
lame.
so we had to take the tube at midnight, putting us back at heathrow at about 1am
no one was there
there were about two people working some random coffee shop that i dont think was even open. there were a few other people there just lounging about and sleeping in the chairs and we were quick to join!
we slept until 4am then moved downstairs to wait for security to open (we thought they opened at 4)
buuuut they open at 5.
being dead tired, we couldnt bring ourselves to walk back to the elevator and go back to the comfy chairs in the cafe, so we layed on the ground in front of security waiting for it to open (im sure we looked ridiculous, but at at 4 in the morning, who cares?)
FINALLY we got through security and onto even COMFIER couches at the nicer cafe :)
back to dublin around 9am, we each headed straight for our respective beds and im pretty sure i slept until 330pm that day!
a much needed nap
:)
so that's london
four days later, i was on my way to karlsruhe, germany; about an hour north of france.
it
was
amazing!!!
i went with the lacrosse team for a weekend of fun- both on and off the field!
our first full day in germany we more or less toured the small town of karlsruhe
after seeing the "palace," we were just about all toured-out. (there really wasnt much to see!)
the real fun happened on saturday when we played two games against some german teams; there was germania and ...frankfurt was it? i cant be sure if it was frankfurt or karlsruhe. it was a tiring weekend!!! lol nevertheless we won both and are currently undefeated!!! :)
the next day we had a training session with the germania team and watched our lacrosse guys win a gold goat trophy! we all made fun of it, but coach is pretty proud :)
the night time was when the real fun began though.
the guys from the karlsruhe team knew all the good places to go; aka bars with 1euro shots and 2euro pints
lets just say good fun was shared by all ;)
the trip was a trip of a lifetime
good times
good lacrosse
good people.
im so glad i got into this sport!!!
now, just about a week after getting back from germany, im still exhausted!
buuuut that could have something to do with the fact that we had another lacrosse game on thursday then the guys had one on friday (yes, on halloween) and there was an AMAZING house party afterwards.
yesterday we all slept in super late...we were, eh...tired. lol
then my friends came over and we made some home made salsa and cooked up some tortillas to make tortilla chips...set off the smoke alarm for a good two minutes! lol
good times :)
today was good too
gabbie and sarah and i went to the gym for about an hour and a half and decided to start going every morning at about 8am
HOWEVER
tomorrow we're going at 7am
what was i thinking when i agreed to that?!?
i dont have class till 1pm though so i'll be able to take a nap if i need it
its going on midnight here in the emerald isle so i should be off to bed
i cant believe halloween is over
thanksgiving is just around the corner
thats definitely one of the things im going to miss the most about home.
thanksgiving.
there's no way it will even compare to thanksgivings back home
mom making the HUGE 20-25lb turkey...it is ALWAYS done early
the kunish's coming over for the day (mrs. kunish bringing my favourite part; the green bean casserole!!!)
walking to the creek to watch the salmon run
coming in from the brisk outdoors into a warm house that just smells like the holidays
then out for a movie after dinner.
gotta love it
pie afterwards
the strohs come over
such good times.
i'm going to miss that.
a lot.
buuuut im trying not to get too homesick. this is a once in a lifetime opportunity
luckily traveling helps with the homesickness... it distracts me AND it's fun!!! :)
well, i should go to bed
i feel like this just might be the longest blog yet!!!
so props to you if you make it through the whole thing!!! lol
i love and miss you all more than i can possibly express
i'll be home on the 31st of december so you'd better be ready for some good quality hangout time!!! ;)
love and hugs from ireland
goodnight and sweet dreams
ta-ta for now <3
along with anything being 'grand,' 'lovely,' or 'terrible'
ok terrible is pretty universal, but maybe its just the accent that does it for me :)
okay...
where to begin....
well i guess last time i wrote (which seems like AGES ago!) i was getting ready to go to london
right
okay!
so my two friends and i went to london a couple weekends ago. we got up at about 330am to get a taxi at 4am (we had to make pb&j's first!) and caught a super early flight to london!
it was amazing
the flight itself was not bad and im finding myself actually beginning to like flying! we got into london in the early morning, but then had to figure out the tube just to get out of heathrow airport! luckily, some really nice people with really nice accents helped us out and we were on our way in no time. we ended up having to ride the thing for an hour, but when we finally got off it was completely worth it!
as we quickly ascended the stairs towards the welcoming daylight, from the stuffy tunnels of the tube, it hit us; WE WERE IN LONDON!!! it felt like a movie. amid exclamations of joy and disbelief that we were actually here, we snapped our first photos of the city itself.
turns out the tube stop we got off at was trafalgar square; apparently where our tour bus headquarters were...so we thought someone would know where it was (it was in a visitor's centre) and we quickly set off with smiles on our faces to find someone to point us in the right direction.
an HOUR later, we were still in trafalgar square, having walked all througout it, talking to countless londoners, yet still not at our visitor's centre.
we
were
frustrated.
luckily we found some random person who happened to know where it was and we set off to find it. we did. :) so we boarded a bus and took off on our LONDON BUS TOUR. it was great :) i know people sometimes say not to do bus tours because they're a waste of money, but this was really good. our first tour guide was pretty good, but our second was...well, sketchy to say the least. when one of my friends asked what a particular building was, he quickly snapped at her, "i just covered that! PAY ATTENTION!" like it was school or something! we didn't like him. lol
all in all we were ridiculously busy and spent only 48 hours in the city, but saw sooo many things! i had to make a list to keep track of everything (come to think of it, im not so sure where that is!)
we saw the house of parliament, big ben, the london eye (and went on it at night!), took a tour of westminster abbey, toured the tower of london, did a boat tour, saw the tower bridge and got to ride over it in the tour bus, had fish and chips :) and so many other things!
looking back it's hard to believe we did everything that we did!!!
our first night there we stayed in this cute little hotel and our doorman was so nice
that night we had drinks at a little mexican restaurant; strawberry margaritas and tequila shots!
the second night we went back to the mexican restaurant, this time for food!!! :)
we didn't have a hotel or hostel for the second night because we figured we'd just stay out all night and get to the airport in the early morning since our flight was so early again.
HOWEVER
the tube closes down at midnight.
lame.
so we had to take the tube at midnight, putting us back at heathrow at about 1am
no one was there
there were about two people working some random coffee shop that i dont think was even open. there were a few other people there just lounging about and sleeping in the chairs and we were quick to join!
we slept until 4am then moved downstairs to wait for security to open (we thought they opened at 4)
buuuut they open at 5.
being dead tired, we couldnt bring ourselves to walk back to the elevator and go back to the comfy chairs in the cafe, so we layed on the ground in front of security waiting for it to open (im sure we looked ridiculous, but at at 4 in the morning, who cares?)
FINALLY we got through security and onto even COMFIER couches at the nicer cafe :)
back to dublin around 9am, we each headed straight for our respective beds and im pretty sure i slept until 330pm that day!
a much needed nap
:)
so that's london
four days later, i was on my way to karlsruhe, germany; about an hour north of france.
it
was
amazing!!!
i went with the lacrosse team for a weekend of fun- both on and off the field!
our first full day in germany we more or less toured the small town of karlsruhe
after seeing the "palace," we were just about all toured-out. (there really wasnt much to see!)
the real fun happened on saturday when we played two games against some german teams; there was germania and ...frankfurt was it? i cant be sure if it was frankfurt or karlsruhe. it was a tiring weekend!!! lol nevertheless we won both and are currently undefeated!!! :)
the next day we had a training session with the germania team and watched our lacrosse guys win a gold goat trophy! we all made fun of it, but coach is pretty proud :)
the night time was when the real fun began though.
the guys from the karlsruhe team knew all the good places to go; aka bars with 1euro shots and 2euro pints
lets just say good fun was shared by all ;)
the trip was a trip of a lifetime
good times
good lacrosse
good people.
im so glad i got into this sport!!!
now, just about a week after getting back from germany, im still exhausted!
buuuut that could have something to do with the fact that we had another lacrosse game on thursday then the guys had one on friday (yes, on halloween) and there was an AMAZING house party afterwards.
yesterday we all slept in super late...we were, eh...tired. lol
then my friends came over and we made some home made salsa and cooked up some tortillas to make tortilla chips...set off the smoke alarm for a good two minutes! lol
good times :)
today was good too
gabbie and sarah and i went to the gym for about an hour and a half and decided to start going every morning at about 8am
HOWEVER
tomorrow we're going at 7am
what was i thinking when i agreed to that?!?
i dont have class till 1pm though so i'll be able to take a nap if i need it
its going on midnight here in the emerald isle so i should be off to bed
i cant believe halloween is over
thanksgiving is just around the corner
thats definitely one of the things im going to miss the most about home.
thanksgiving.
there's no way it will even compare to thanksgivings back home
mom making the HUGE 20-25lb turkey...it is ALWAYS done early
the kunish's coming over for the day (mrs. kunish bringing my favourite part; the green bean casserole!!!)
walking to the creek to watch the salmon run
coming in from the brisk outdoors into a warm house that just smells like the holidays
then out for a movie after dinner.
gotta love it
pie afterwards
the strohs come over
such good times.
i'm going to miss that.
a lot.
buuuut im trying not to get too homesick. this is a once in a lifetime opportunity
luckily traveling helps with the homesickness... it distracts me AND it's fun!!! :)
well, i should go to bed
i feel like this just might be the longest blog yet!!!
so props to you if you make it through the whole thing!!! lol
i love and miss you all more than i can possibly express
i'll be home on the 31st of december so you'd better be ready for some good quality hangout time!!! ;)
love and hugs from ireland
goodnight and sweet dreams
ta-ta for now <3
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
get excited!!!
so, highlights from the day:
i turned in my medieval literature analytical paper on the nun's priest's tale by chaucer
GOT A PACKAGE FROM HOME!!! :)
had easy mac for dinner and watched sweeney todd
then watched grey's anatomy
PLUS i dont have class till 4 tomorrow!
yay.
okay. so, friday at 6:40am i am FLYING TO LONDON FOR THE WEEKEND!!!
my friends leslie and sarah and i are going for the weekend to do a bit of sight-seeing
im psyched :)
then we'll be in dublin for four days, then a bunch of us fly to KARLSRUHE, GERMANY FOR LAX!!! im so stoked!!!
it'll be grand =)
im so tired. but that could be that it's 2:22am here
BUT im getting that itching feeling that i need to do some writing
SO ive decided, after a rather long haitus, to get back to working on my project; my novel
see how it goes
ive got to find some practice rooms for the music department around here... i feel deprived of being able to play my piano!
well i think that's about it. im sure there will be loads more to write when i get back from london on sunday morning.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
elyse
i turned in my medieval literature analytical paper on the nun's priest's tale by chaucer
GOT A PACKAGE FROM HOME!!! :)
had easy mac for dinner and watched sweeney todd
then watched grey's anatomy
PLUS i dont have class till 4 tomorrow!
yay.
okay. so, friday at 6:40am i am FLYING TO LONDON FOR THE WEEKEND!!!
my friends leslie and sarah and i are going for the weekend to do a bit of sight-seeing
im psyched :)
then we'll be in dublin for four days, then a bunch of us fly to KARLSRUHE, GERMANY FOR LAX!!! im so stoked!!!
it'll be grand =)
im so tired. but that could be that it's 2:22am here
BUT im getting that itching feeling that i need to do some writing
SO ive decided, after a rather long haitus, to get back to working on my project; my novel
see how it goes
ive got to find some practice rooms for the music department around here... i feel deprived of being able to play my piano!
well i think that's about it. im sure there will be loads more to write when i get back from london on sunday morning.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
elyse
Thursday, October 2, 2008
tomorrow's the big day!!!
heyHEYhey!!!
just wanted to remind everyone back home that tomorrow is the big day!!!
the women's lacrosse season opener!!!
we're playing against dublin lacrosse
and in a couple weeks we're headed to germany to have a go there! :)
here's the link to the ucd lax website if you're interested...it has the roster on there too so you can see; im totally legit! lol
LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!
http://www.ucdlacrosse.com/
just wanted to remind everyone back home that tomorrow is the big day!!!
the women's lacrosse season opener!!!
we're playing against dublin lacrosse
and in a couple weeks we're headed to germany to have a go there! :)
here's the link to the ucd lax website if you're interested...it has the roster on there too so you can see; im totally legit! lol
LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!!
http://www.ucdlacrosse.com/
Sunday, September 28, 2008
cork, gardai registration, LACROSSE!!!
first things first; CORK WAS AMAZING!!!
it's a beautiful part of the country and it was made even better by the friend whose house we stayed in
we (me and four other girls) stayed with our friend adam whom we met during our stay in tuam in county galway
he's just a really nice guy and his roommate was super fun and hilarious!
by the way, "houses," atleast in cork, are kind of like apartments in the sense that they're many in one building. however, they all have street-side entrances and are about four stories tall, with each floor being very long and narrow to fit into the building complex.
it was a really fun weekend and we met a ton of other irish people who all came over to adam and chris' house on saturday night. at one point we had 17 people in their teeny tiny living room which is about six feet by nine feet, with wall-to-wall furniture! it was so hot in that small room, but it was great fun and i met a really nice guy from cobh :)
this past week has gone by so fast! ive practiced lacrosse monday through thursday, trying to better my ability and hopefully be able to play in our first game of the season this coming friday!!!
(did i mention before that i've started lacrosse?)
it's really fun and i have my own stick and ball to practice with! we have official practices on monday and thursday and then we have space in the gym to practice on tuesdays and wednesdays, but two of my friends, who are also on the team, and i like to go to the field on the track to practice.
so i've got that going. it's really fun and i'm so excited for our game on friday!!! the following monday we have our first mixer for the team...apparently we're renting out one of the rooms in the student center and there will be free drinks...they're calling it "team bonding" lol
it's pretty funny the way they do things over here. ive already heard stories about how the coach even parties with the team! he's an american from long island, new york, and he's a really good coach. he gives good pointers without talking down to those of us who are new to the sport (over half of the women's team and a good portion of the men's team) and he's pretty funny to boot.
friday i went and registered with the gardai. it actually took a lot less time than i thought it would. gabbie and i took the 8:10am bus into city centre and when we got to the headquarters, the line to get numbers was around three of the four sides of the building!!! however, i got nuber 102 and gabbie got number 113. BUT here's the thing; i think they either hand out numbers at random or backwards because our friends who were there before gabbie and i were got numbers in the 200s. anyways, after we got our numbers we went and got some breakfast and the first decent cup of coffee i've had since i got here and then went for a bit of shopping.
the woman handing out numbers said to come back around 10:30 to wait for our turn, but that there wasn't any seating at the moment, which is why we'd have to come back. we got back to the GNIB station at about 10:37 and my number had already passed!!! i was freaking out. gabbie called our friend mallori who had already registered and asked what we should do. she said to just ask someone there...(why didn't we think of that? oh yeah, probably because we were so freaked out i had missed my number!!!) so i went up to the counter where the lady was handing out numbers. she looked kind of doubtful that i'd get in same-day but sent me down to window 1 to ask to talk to the supervisor. so i went down there and explained the situation to the man there and he left for about a minute or so (a long time when you're freaking out) and came back to tell me to go to window six.
let me just interject to explain these "windows." it's basically this mini, circular room with a stool in front of a wall of glass. there are no holes so it's really hard to hear. there is this one little slot to transfer papers through to the person on the other side, but they can shut their end for security reasons. they dont even have a microphone or anything, so it's SUPER hard to understand what they're saying. PLUS there's this little camera to your left so they can both monitor you while you're there and take your picture for your GNIB card.
okay, so i went down to window six and the guy was just sitting there looking rather bored. i explained i had been sent down here and he was just like, "okay." so i asked him if that meant i was going to be able to do the process and he said yes, so i sat down and took out all of my paperwork. (there's certainly a lot, let me tell you!!!) after about five minutes of just sitting there, him looking at the computer and doing a bit of clicking the mouse here and there, he asks for my paperwork. i slide the papers and my two forms of i.d. through the little slot. basically, he just does a bit of imputing, but then comes the kicker. he asks where i'll be living while i'm in ireland. crap. i forgot my housing sheet with my official address. trying to play it off like i totally know what i'm doing, i casually say, "oh, on campus at belgrove residences." then he asks for the address. by then the caffeine had kicked in and i was jittery, plus the nerves of possibly being told i have to come back the next day because i don't have my offical housing form, made me start shaking. not noticeably, but i could feel my hands get that annoying buzzing, jittery feeling, telling me to start freaking out. lol so, in an effort to preserve the intentions for the day; getting my GNIB government card, i say, "well i can just tell it to you." YES! it works! relief spread throughout my body as he inputs everything i say. (thank goodness i have it memorized!)
long story short (though i'm starting to think i really CAN'T make a long story short, with the length of these blogs!) i got my card and the guy helping me was really nice, funny, and goodness was he cute!!! it took an hour after giving all my information to the guy till i got my card, but i got it and i can legally live and work in ireland until the 2nd of june 2009!!!
afterwards, gabbie and mallori (mallori met us in the city) did a bit more shopping then headed home. it was a really good day, despite actually having to register with the garda!!! lol
saturday we did the bus tour of dublin and got to tour the guiness factory and get a tour of an old jail. it was so fun! then we came back to campus and got ready for celebrating gabbie's birthday since she was turning 21 on sunday. we went out to mexican food (which tasted nothing like mexican food) and then out to some bars, then back home for some bailey's and some dancing. it was really fun!!!
so i think that about catches us up to right now! it's 2:28am on sunday night...well, technically monday morning. i got to talk to my parents (while my sister was still in bed! lol) and my grandma and nana. it was a good day :) OH! plus i got some skittles at the centra (a market on campus which is super expensive, but a lot more convenient than takinga 30-minute bus into the city!) so those were the highlights of my day :)
plus gabbie and mallori and i watched 27 dresses and had tea with "biscuits" (cookies) tonight.
this weekend we're going to cork again, though the girls who i'm going with didn't go last time. i have to get more batteries so i can take more pictures!!! i absolutely LOVE cork and have to figure out how to get some pictures up on here!!!
well i'm tired and even though i dont have class until 1pm tomorrow, i should get to bed.
i love you all and trust me; i miss you like crazy!!! (i kind of had a mini-breakdown of homesickness on thursday night. not fun. lol)
so i hope i'm providing some entertainment whilst writing of my travels and adventures!!!
i'll let you all know how the lacrosse game goes!
love and hugs from ireland!!!!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
love,
elyse
it's a beautiful part of the country and it was made even better by the friend whose house we stayed in
we (me and four other girls) stayed with our friend adam whom we met during our stay in tuam in county galway
he's just a really nice guy and his roommate was super fun and hilarious!
by the way, "houses," atleast in cork, are kind of like apartments in the sense that they're many in one building. however, they all have street-side entrances and are about four stories tall, with each floor being very long and narrow to fit into the building complex.
it was a really fun weekend and we met a ton of other irish people who all came over to adam and chris' house on saturday night. at one point we had 17 people in their teeny tiny living room which is about six feet by nine feet, with wall-to-wall furniture! it was so hot in that small room, but it was great fun and i met a really nice guy from cobh :)
this past week has gone by so fast! ive practiced lacrosse monday through thursday, trying to better my ability and hopefully be able to play in our first game of the season this coming friday!!!
(did i mention before that i've started lacrosse?)
it's really fun and i have my own stick and ball to practice with! we have official practices on monday and thursday and then we have space in the gym to practice on tuesdays and wednesdays, but two of my friends, who are also on the team, and i like to go to the field on the track to practice.
so i've got that going. it's really fun and i'm so excited for our game on friday!!! the following monday we have our first mixer for the team...apparently we're renting out one of the rooms in the student center and there will be free drinks...they're calling it "team bonding" lol
it's pretty funny the way they do things over here. ive already heard stories about how the coach even parties with the team! he's an american from long island, new york, and he's a really good coach. he gives good pointers without talking down to those of us who are new to the sport (over half of the women's team and a good portion of the men's team) and he's pretty funny to boot.
friday i went and registered with the gardai. it actually took a lot less time than i thought it would. gabbie and i took the 8:10am bus into city centre and when we got to the headquarters, the line to get numbers was around three of the four sides of the building!!! however, i got nuber 102 and gabbie got number 113. BUT here's the thing; i think they either hand out numbers at random or backwards because our friends who were there before gabbie and i were got numbers in the 200s. anyways, after we got our numbers we went and got some breakfast and the first decent cup of coffee i've had since i got here and then went for a bit of shopping.
the woman handing out numbers said to come back around 10:30 to wait for our turn, but that there wasn't any seating at the moment, which is why we'd have to come back. we got back to the GNIB station at about 10:37 and my number had already passed!!! i was freaking out. gabbie called our friend mallori who had already registered and asked what we should do. she said to just ask someone there...(why didn't we think of that? oh yeah, probably because we were so freaked out i had missed my number!!!) so i went up to the counter where the lady was handing out numbers. she looked kind of doubtful that i'd get in same-day but sent me down to window 1 to ask to talk to the supervisor. so i went down there and explained the situation to the man there and he left for about a minute or so (a long time when you're freaking out) and came back to tell me to go to window six.
let me just interject to explain these "windows." it's basically this mini, circular room with a stool in front of a wall of glass. there are no holes so it's really hard to hear. there is this one little slot to transfer papers through to the person on the other side, but they can shut their end for security reasons. they dont even have a microphone or anything, so it's SUPER hard to understand what they're saying. PLUS there's this little camera to your left so they can both monitor you while you're there and take your picture for your GNIB card.
okay, so i went down to window six and the guy was just sitting there looking rather bored. i explained i had been sent down here and he was just like, "okay." so i asked him if that meant i was going to be able to do the process and he said yes, so i sat down and took out all of my paperwork. (there's certainly a lot, let me tell you!!!) after about five minutes of just sitting there, him looking at the computer and doing a bit of clicking the mouse here and there, he asks for my paperwork. i slide the papers and my two forms of i.d. through the little slot. basically, he just does a bit of imputing, but then comes the kicker. he asks where i'll be living while i'm in ireland. crap. i forgot my housing sheet with my official address. trying to play it off like i totally know what i'm doing, i casually say, "oh, on campus at belgrove residences." then he asks for the address. by then the caffeine had kicked in and i was jittery, plus the nerves of possibly being told i have to come back the next day because i don't have my offical housing form, made me start shaking. not noticeably, but i could feel my hands get that annoying buzzing, jittery feeling, telling me to start freaking out. lol so, in an effort to preserve the intentions for the day; getting my GNIB government card, i say, "well i can just tell it to you." YES! it works! relief spread throughout my body as he inputs everything i say. (thank goodness i have it memorized!)
long story short (though i'm starting to think i really CAN'T make a long story short, with the length of these blogs!) i got my card and the guy helping me was really nice, funny, and goodness was he cute!!! it took an hour after giving all my information to the guy till i got my card, but i got it and i can legally live and work in ireland until the 2nd of june 2009!!!
afterwards, gabbie and mallori (mallori met us in the city) did a bit more shopping then headed home. it was a really good day, despite actually having to register with the garda!!! lol
saturday we did the bus tour of dublin and got to tour the guiness factory and get a tour of an old jail. it was so fun! then we came back to campus and got ready for celebrating gabbie's birthday since she was turning 21 on sunday. we went out to mexican food (which tasted nothing like mexican food) and then out to some bars, then back home for some bailey's and some dancing. it was really fun!!!
so i think that about catches us up to right now! it's 2:28am on sunday night...well, technically monday morning. i got to talk to my parents (while my sister was still in bed! lol) and my grandma and nana. it was a good day :) OH! plus i got some skittles at the centra (a market on campus which is super expensive, but a lot more convenient than takinga 30-minute bus into the city!) so those were the highlights of my day :)
plus gabbie and mallori and i watched 27 dresses and had tea with "biscuits" (cookies) tonight.
this weekend we're going to cork again, though the girls who i'm going with didn't go last time. i have to get more batteries so i can take more pictures!!! i absolutely LOVE cork and have to figure out how to get some pictures up on here!!!
well i'm tired and even though i dont have class until 1pm tomorrow, i should get to bed.
i love you all and trust me; i miss you like crazy!!! (i kind of had a mini-breakdown of homesickness on thursday night. not fun. lol)
so i hope i'm providing some entertainment whilst writing of my travels and adventures!!!
i'll let you all know how the lacrosse game goes!
love and hugs from ireland!!!!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
love,
elyse
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
love from ireland
the second week of classes has begun!
well, it's halfway through, but ya know
classes are going pretty well
tomorrow ive one that i haven't been to yet; hispanic studies
should be interesting
to highlight the fact that irish students are known for not attending class on a regular basis, i'll tell you about my canadian fiction class yesterday
so the professor (well, lecturer or leader is what they call them) was taking attendance. then he said something to the affect of, "well we have eight today. eight out of sixteen. fifty percent! not bad!"
and i truly do not know if he was being sincere or sarcastic
(im kind of hoping he wasn't serious, but i have a feeling he was!)
so that's that
im feeling a bit under the weather, so to speak
mainly it's just a bit of a head cold, im guessing caused by allergies, since my sinuses are killing today!
friday will be a busy day for me, even though i haven't any classes
i have to get up early to catch the 10 bus into city centre then go to the garda headquarters to register
ive heard to expect three hours for the process on a regular day, though since it will be friday, im guessing it will be more like four hours
lucky me
AND i will have to pay the €150 to register. thank you ireland.
THEN i'll probably do a bit of shopping then head back to campus to drop off whatever i end up buying and picking up my bags for...CORK!
my friends and i are headed to cork this weekend.
my friends mallori and sophie stayed with this really nice guy adam during their homestay and he goes to school in cork
so about 5 or so of us girls are going to visit him for the weekend
should be loads of fun
we're catching at 4 o'clock bus out of dublin city centre (so i'll have to pay the €1.70 bus fare three times that day), and the bus takes about four and a half hours or so i'm told.
so it will be a long weekend
but i'm really excited about it!
i've yet to get my school books yet, so i'll do that tomorrow most likely
i have so much to read!
in my medieval class they're expecting us to reference books that the irish students have read during their first and second years studying medieval lit., but these are books which i have never read, so i've a lot of catching up to do
the other day my friend and i booked a flight to LONDON!
im so excited to finally see england!
we're going the weekend of the 17th through 19th of october
and a bunch of us may be going to barcelona. it was supposed to be rome, but i think it may be changed
which is fine
i'll just do rome next semester if i have to
take some pointers from "roman holiday" lol
well, i supposed i should be off.
i am truly beginning to miss america
not necessarily the country, i guess
more like the people in it
it's very hard not to be able to just call up my family or my best friends
the time difference is killer there
but, nonetheless, im happy here
of course there are days like today where i just dont feel well, it's cold and drizzly outside, and i just want to have some GOOD COFFEE :)
but it's all worth it
there is no way that i could ever have dreamt how amazing this place is
ive been given such a wonderful opportunity to not only see and experience ireland, but so much of the world as well
i have to figure out how to put pictures up on here so you all can see how great this place is.
i love it.
simple as that.
so goodbye for now
i'll have more to say soon, im sure!
love, sweet dreams, and goodnight;
elyse
p.s.
I'M PLAYING LACROSSE TOMORROW!
im nervous!
but i guess the lacrosse team needs players and they'll take anyone, no matter that they're inexperienced like me!
well, it's halfway through, but ya know
classes are going pretty well
tomorrow ive one that i haven't been to yet; hispanic studies
should be interesting
to highlight the fact that irish students are known for not attending class on a regular basis, i'll tell you about my canadian fiction class yesterday
so the professor (well, lecturer or leader is what they call them) was taking attendance. then he said something to the affect of, "well we have eight today. eight out of sixteen. fifty percent! not bad!"
and i truly do not know if he was being sincere or sarcastic
(im kind of hoping he wasn't serious, but i have a feeling he was!)
so that's that
im feeling a bit under the weather, so to speak
mainly it's just a bit of a head cold, im guessing caused by allergies, since my sinuses are killing today!
friday will be a busy day for me, even though i haven't any classes
i have to get up early to catch the 10 bus into city centre then go to the garda headquarters to register
ive heard to expect three hours for the process on a regular day, though since it will be friday, im guessing it will be more like four hours
lucky me
AND i will have to pay the €150 to register. thank you ireland.
THEN i'll probably do a bit of shopping then head back to campus to drop off whatever i end up buying and picking up my bags for...CORK!
my friends and i are headed to cork this weekend.
my friends mallori and sophie stayed with this really nice guy adam during their homestay and he goes to school in cork
so about 5 or so of us girls are going to visit him for the weekend
should be loads of fun
we're catching at 4 o'clock bus out of dublin city centre (so i'll have to pay the €1.70 bus fare three times that day), and the bus takes about four and a half hours or so i'm told.
so it will be a long weekend
but i'm really excited about it!
i've yet to get my school books yet, so i'll do that tomorrow most likely
i have so much to read!
in my medieval class they're expecting us to reference books that the irish students have read during their first and second years studying medieval lit., but these are books which i have never read, so i've a lot of catching up to do
the other day my friend and i booked a flight to LONDON!
im so excited to finally see england!
we're going the weekend of the 17th through 19th of october
and a bunch of us may be going to barcelona. it was supposed to be rome, but i think it may be changed
which is fine
i'll just do rome next semester if i have to
take some pointers from "roman holiday" lol
well, i supposed i should be off.
i am truly beginning to miss america
not necessarily the country, i guess
more like the people in it
it's very hard not to be able to just call up my family or my best friends
the time difference is killer there
but, nonetheless, im happy here
of course there are days like today where i just dont feel well, it's cold and drizzly outside, and i just want to have some GOOD COFFEE :)
but it's all worth it
there is no way that i could ever have dreamt how amazing this place is
ive been given such a wonderful opportunity to not only see and experience ireland, but so much of the world as well
i have to figure out how to put pictures up on here so you all can see how great this place is.
i love it.
simple as that.
so goodbye for now
i'll have more to say soon, im sure!
love, sweet dreams, and goodnight;
elyse
p.s.
I'M PLAYING LACROSSE TOMORROW!
im nervous!
but i guess the lacrosse team needs players and they'll take anyone, no matter that they're inexperienced like me!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
another update!
second day of classes
last night was CRAZY!!!
people went absolutely insane for the 1st day of classes! there was a line outside the student bar as early as about four o'clock when a bunch of us were headed to the bus stop to go into town
my friend said that there was a guy in her class that was drinking whiskey DURING the class!!! lol the irish are crazy! :)
okay; flashback to this weekend
friday we left for county galway, to a little town called tuam (pronounched tchoom). the bus ride was about three hours long down very narrow roads, going about 100 km/hr. it was insane!!!
we got there an hour early (big surprise; the bus driver was speeding the whole time!) so we had to just go chill in the reception area of this pool nearby while we waited for our host families to pick us up
in my group, it was me, leslie, and a girl called maura staying with some "sisters." hmm...well they weren't really sisters, but whatever floats their boat i guess.
the long and the short of it is that it wasn't quite what any of us were expecting from our weekend; we were ignored for a good majority of the time that we were there. the fun part was saturday night when nearly all of the americans went out to a local pub. it was so much fun! the pubs in dublin are fun, but it was great in galway b/c tuam is so small that everyone more or less knows everyone else. one my friend's host brother came along and he just added even more to the fun!
so sunday when we got back we went to a pub called the "wool shed" in downtown dublin with some guys from the lacrosse team. it was TONS of fun! apparently it was brazil (i think) independence day so it was filled with people celebrating...we had gone for the american football game, but it was all good!
afterwards we got 2 taxis back (there were quite a few of us) and hung out in my friend's apartment until about three in the morning
the next day was classes...ugh. lol
they really arent that bad
and its not even finalized until two weeks from now, i dont even know if the classes im in are going to be what i do for the semester...maybe thats why the irish kids dont go; b/c it may not even do any good if they have to change in two weeks
oh well
so last night we went to the student bar. one word; INSANE! i know i use that word a lot to describe my experiences here, but this was honest to goodness, certifiably insane! it was absolutely packed full of people. there were beer cups (plastic, thankfully) thrown all around on the floors and there was about two centimeters of beer just chillin' on the floor!!! WHAT THE HECK?!? lol some jerk stomped on my toe whilst he was jumping all around, being drunk and made me bleed...it hurt so bad i couldnt sleep! but leslie and i had tons of fun just dancing...i think we were the only sober ones there since we didnt drink before that
we met some other guys from america and headed back towards belgrove (our apartment complex). we went to our friend sarah's apartment again where we met up with MORE of the lacrosse team and talked till about three again. they brought absinthe, which you can apparently buy in eastern germany, and a couple of them had a tiny sip; apparently its so strong you need only a sip! i smelled it and it smelled terrible so i didnt want to give it a go.
today we went into city centre for shopping.
i finally have groceries and pots/pans for cooking! and a laundry hamper! and a straightener which actually works!!! lol
in about half an hour a few of us are heading to the gym for a workout, then back here for prbly either pasta and veggies or chicken and potatoes.
I LOVE IT HERE!
people are crazy, but amazing.
i think we're going to try to go to france or england soon, esp. since my roommate is from france. paris to be exact. her name is ophelie. we dont know the 3rd roommate or if she even exists! the room remains empty, so i think we'll try to check in reception and see if she's coming.
and i have to figure out skype so i can video chat with y'all! :)
and i know some of you were asking about my address, so here it is;
8.6.1 Belgrove
UCD
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
OH! AND GOOD NEWS!!! I FOUND PEANUT BUTTER TODAY!!!!! im psyched :)
well im off to see what the deal is as far as when we're headed to the gym.
i hope to hear from you soon
love you
and talk later!
-elyse
last night was CRAZY!!!
people went absolutely insane for the 1st day of classes! there was a line outside the student bar as early as about four o'clock when a bunch of us were headed to the bus stop to go into town
my friend said that there was a guy in her class that was drinking whiskey DURING the class!!! lol the irish are crazy! :)
okay; flashback to this weekend
friday we left for county galway, to a little town called tuam (pronounched tchoom). the bus ride was about three hours long down very narrow roads, going about 100 km/hr. it was insane!!!
we got there an hour early (big surprise; the bus driver was speeding the whole time!) so we had to just go chill in the reception area of this pool nearby while we waited for our host families to pick us up
in my group, it was me, leslie, and a girl called maura staying with some "sisters." hmm...well they weren't really sisters, but whatever floats their boat i guess.
the long and the short of it is that it wasn't quite what any of us were expecting from our weekend; we were ignored for a good majority of the time that we were there. the fun part was saturday night when nearly all of the americans went out to a local pub. it was so much fun! the pubs in dublin are fun, but it was great in galway b/c tuam is so small that everyone more or less knows everyone else. one my friend's host brother came along and he just added even more to the fun!
so sunday when we got back we went to a pub called the "wool shed" in downtown dublin with some guys from the lacrosse team. it was TONS of fun! apparently it was brazil (i think) independence day so it was filled with people celebrating...we had gone for the american football game, but it was all good!
afterwards we got 2 taxis back (there were quite a few of us) and hung out in my friend's apartment until about three in the morning
the next day was classes...ugh. lol
they really arent that bad
and its not even finalized until two weeks from now, i dont even know if the classes im in are going to be what i do for the semester...maybe thats why the irish kids dont go; b/c it may not even do any good if they have to change in two weeks
oh well
so last night we went to the student bar. one word; INSANE! i know i use that word a lot to describe my experiences here, but this was honest to goodness, certifiably insane! it was absolutely packed full of people. there were beer cups (plastic, thankfully) thrown all around on the floors and there was about two centimeters of beer just chillin' on the floor!!! WHAT THE HECK?!? lol some jerk stomped on my toe whilst he was jumping all around, being drunk and made me bleed...it hurt so bad i couldnt sleep! but leslie and i had tons of fun just dancing...i think we were the only sober ones there since we didnt drink before that
we met some other guys from america and headed back towards belgrove (our apartment complex). we went to our friend sarah's apartment again where we met up with MORE of the lacrosse team and talked till about three again. they brought absinthe, which you can apparently buy in eastern germany, and a couple of them had a tiny sip; apparently its so strong you need only a sip! i smelled it and it smelled terrible so i didnt want to give it a go.
today we went into city centre for shopping.
i finally have groceries and pots/pans for cooking! and a laundry hamper! and a straightener which actually works!!! lol
in about half an hour a few of us are heading to the gym for a workout, then back here for prbly either pasta and veggies or chicken and potatoes.
I LOVE IT HERE!
people are crazy, but amazing.
i think we're going to try to go to france or england soon, esp. since my roommate is from france. paris to be exact. her name is ophelie. we dont know the 3rd roommate or if she even exists! the room remains empty, so i think we'll try to check in reception and see if she's coming.
and i have to figure out skype so i can video chat with y'all! :)
and i know some of you were asking about my address, so here it is;
8.6.1 Belgrove
UCD
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
OH! AND GOOD NEWS!!! I FOUND PEANUT BUTTER TODAY!!!!! im psyched :)
well im off to see what the deal is as far as when we're headed to the gym.
i hope to hear from you soon
love you
and talk later!
-elyse
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
IM FINALLY HERE!!!
HELLO HELLO ALL WHO ARE READING THIS BLOG!!!
im told that several family members and close friends are anxiously awaiting some new info from me! :)
well, im in my apartment!!!
its kind of small but mostly cute. it smells like smoke though, like many places in ireland do. they recently made it law that you cant smoke inside a public building, but they have no restrictions on how far outside you can smoke...at the pub last night the bouncer was smoking literally AT the door!
dublin is amazing.
for the three days i lived in the heart of the city, i saw some amazing things. the first day i found a CASTLE!!! or, atleast me and leslie (a friend and roommate at the hostel) thought it was! we were later informed that it was a church, but it was beautiful just the same!
there is a river which flows directly through dublin, called the liffey. there are several elaborate bridges which intersect the river; some for cars and buses and others for foot passengers. they also have these strange looking boats which travel down the river...they kind of remind me of centipedes because they are so long and short...and kind of look like they have thick legs coming out of them.
dublin at night is something everyone should experience atleast once in their life. and im not just talking about the pubs!!! (which are of course great in their own right)
the city lights up and the river reflects the light beautifully. our hostel was right across from a heineken building which lit up in orange and green at night...i never thought something associated with heineken could be so beautiful! lol
yesterday i saw my first (and hopefully last) streetfight. yes, streetfight. some homeless man was attacking a rather large woman (whom i was later told looked like a swedish weight lifter or something of the sort) who had arm crutches...like the kind people use who are affected by cerebal palsy. it was pretty scary, but the woman turned out to be alright (and had pretty good ninja skills too i might add) and our bus just kept going, but it was something we all talked about for the rest of the day, and which made us thankful that our american moms had taught us the buddy system. and our group; we're pro at being buddies, since we go out in a group of five! lol
aside from the rather startling display of homelessness, dublin is really quite beautiful, lively, and friendly. the assumption that all europeans despise americans just does not work here. everyone gets so excited when they talk to us, and they find it more interesting that we're all from different parts of the country. in our hostel room, there were six of us, but five who went out on a regular basis. gabbie is from texas, leslie from san jose, california, but goes to school at gonzaga in washington, sarah is from illinois, and mallori is from minnesota. of course when i declare that im from washington, i must always specify that it is the STATE to which i am referring.
last night we went to see "an ideal husband" by oscar wilde at the abbey theatre. the first half was rather drab and very oscar wilde-esque, but the second was pretty funny! aside from going to the theatre, we have been in meetings nearly every day since we got here. learning about differences in culture, currency, and of course accent, i am realizing that there is so much that i do not know about this country, and so much that i will probably never fully understand, for the simple fact that i was not born and raised here.
apparently this is a culture where one does not express gratitude, as leslie and i found out by saying thank you to people serving us on the airplane! (we didnt fly over together, but compared experiences once we were here). currency. and the dollar. the dollar is NOTHING compared to the euro!!! although there are a number of places where we can find affordable things, the simple fact is that the euro is significantly stronger than the dollar. i have to remind myself that even though it seems like a good deal, i have to translate it into dollars, and the good deal vanishes before my eyes.
now the accent. i love it. the simple statement says it all! ;) one of our directors, hayden, had to remind us that WE are in fact the ones with the accent, not they. although the particular accent varies county to county and is apparently especially variant in limerick. i have noticed that although i can usually understand what someone is saying to me on the first, maybe second try, i have no idea what people are saying around me as i walk down the street. when i am with the americans i sometimes for get that i am in a foreign country, not just seattle. then an irish person speaks and it's like a jolt back to reality that i am in fact in IRELAND!!! no matter how many times i say it, i still can't believe it! i have wanted this for so long and now that it's actually here it still feels so surreal!
nevertheless, now onto what im sure everyone REALLY wants to know about. THE PUBS. they are grand. fantastic. tons of fun. there is no exaggeration there, i assure you! the bartenders are all so nice and willing to let you try whichever beer you want. and, i have to admit it, i do in fact LOVE guiness!!! i didn't think i would ever say that about a beer! last night was a really fun night. after the play we went back to the hostel and freshened up a bit. leslie and i were only planning on staying until about midnight, then we were going to head back since we had to leave at 10am this morning and breakfast ended at 9:30 and we had wanted to shower in the morning. THAT SURE DIDN'T HAPPEN!!! we got in at about a quarter to four! we started out at our favorite pub; porterhouse pub over in the temple bar area. this pub is about four floors, plus basement for bathrooms. (or toilet as they call it) on the third and one half floor there is a stage for the live entertainment, which is so fun! they sing so many old american songs; they sure love classic rock!!! so we started there, but after we got our beers we found out that they were closing in about ten to fifteen minutes. so we had to hurry on our beers. another group of americans were in there and on THEIR way out they told us that they were headed to something they had heard of called "the mez" and would we please join them. of course we said yes; it was only 11:30pm and we were just starting on the fun! the mez is the complete opposite of porterhouse. except in its fun. it is one floor of very stuffy (or as the irish say it; stoofy), very sweaty people. there is a live band until about one am...and there is a bouncer! he was so funny! so we hung out there until about 3:00 when we decided that we'd better eat something since we'd all had about three pints or so and either no dinner or light dinner. so we headed to the only thing open; burger king of course. we met some interesting characters, that's for sure! long story short, it was a great night and only a sample of some of the entertaining people and fun that dublin has in store for anyone.
tonight a few of us are getting together for a movie and some pizza in gabbie's apartment, i think. i am having so much fun here, but i cannot help but to miss those back home. it doesnt hit me until i have some quiet time to myself. then i realize that this isnt just some spring break trip. this is my life for nine months and id better get used to it. i have to get used to the accent, the currency, and the fact that THEY DONT HAVE PEANUT BUTTER!!! i mean, what's up with that?!? ;) but in all honesty, as unsure as i was just before i left and as homesick as i can feel at those rare times where i am not surrounded by distractions, i truly love this place and all it has to offer. i know this was the right decision for me. because this isn't just for fun. this isn't just because i felt like it. coming to dublin, feeling the tips of the wheels of the aer lingus airplane touch down on the runway, i felt like a certain part of me that had been missing since i can remember, was finally put back in place. i truly feel that this is where i should be right here, right now.
thank you to all of you who have supported me throughout all of this and throughout my life in general. and thanks if you made it all the way through to the end of the blog; i know it was a long one!!!
more soon.
love and goodnight,
elyse
im told that several family members and close friends are anxiously awaiting some new info from me! :)
well, im in my apartment!!!
its kind of small but mostly cute. it smells like smoke though, like many places in ireland do. they recently made it law that you cant smoke inside a public building, but they have no restrictions on how far outside you can smoke...at the pub last night the bouncer was smoking literally AT the door!
dublin is amazing.
for the three days i lived in the heart of the city, i saw some amazing things. the first day i found a CASTLE!!! or, atleast me and leslie (a friend and roommate at the hostel) thought it was! we were later informed that it was a church, but it was beautiful just the same!
there is a river which flows directly through dublin, called the liffey. there are several elaborate bridges which intersect the river; some for cars and buses and others for foot passengers. they also have these strange looking boats which travel down the river...they kind of remind me of centipedes because they are so long and short...and kind of look like they have thick legs coming out of them.
dublin at night is something everyone should experience atleast once in their life. and im not just talking about the pubs!!! (which are of course great in their own right)
the city lights up and the river reflects the light beautifully. our hostel was right across from a heineken building which lit up in orange and green at night...i never thought something associated with heineken could be so beautiful! lol
yesterday i saw my first (and hopefully last) streetfight. yes, streetfight. some homeless man was attacking a rather large woman (whom i was later told looked like a swedish weight lifter or something of the sort) who had arm crutches...like the kind people use who are affected by cerebal palsy. it was pretty scary, but the woman turned out to be alright (and had pretty good ninja skills too i might add) and our bus just kept going, but it was something we all talked about for the rest of the day, and which made us thankful that our american moms had taught us the buddy system. and our group; we're pro at being buddies, since we go out in a group of five! lol
aside from the rather startling display of homelessness, dublin is really quite beautiful, lively, and friendly. the assumption that all europeans despise americans just does not work here. everyone gets so excited when they talk to us, and they find it more interesting that we're all from different parts of the country. in our hostel room, there were six of us, but five who went out on a regular basis. gabbie is from texas, leslie from san jose, california, but goes to school at gonzaga in washington, sarah is from illinois, and mallori is from minnesota. of course when i declare that im from washington, i must always specify that it is the STATE to which i am referring.
last night we went to see "an ideal husband" by oscar wilde at the abbey theatre. the first half was rather drab and very oscar wilde-esque, but the second was pretty funny! aside from going to the theatre, we have been in meetings nearly every day since we got here. learning about differences in culture, currency, and of course accent, i am realizing that there is so much that i do not know about this country, and so much that i will probably never fully understand, for the simple fact that i was not born and raised here.
apparently this is a culture where one does not express gratitude, as leslie and i found out by saying thank you to people serving us on the airplane! (we didnt fly over together, but compared experiences once we were here). currency. and the dollar. the dollar is NOTHING compared to the euro!!! although there are a number of places where we can find affordable things, the simple fact is that the euro is significantly stronger than the dollar. i have to remind myself that even though it seems like a good deal, i have to translate it into dollars, and the good deal vanishes before my eyes.
now the accent. i love it. the simple statement says it all! ;) one of our directors, hayden, had to remind us that WE are in fact the ones with the accent, not they. although the particular accent varies county to county and is apparently especially variant in limerick. i have noticed that although i can usually understand what someone is saying to me on the first, maybe second try, i have no idea what people are saying around me as i walk down the street. when i am with the americans i sometimes for get that i am in a foreign country, not just seattle. then an irish person speaks and it's like a jolt back to reality that i am in fact in IRELAND!!! no matter how many times i say it, i still can't believe it! i have wanted this for so long and now that it's actually here it still feels so surreal!
nevertheless, now onto what im sure everyone REALLY wants to know about. THE PUBS. they are grand. fantastic. tons of fun. there is no exaggeration there, i assure you! the bartenders are all so nice and willing to let you try whichever beer you want. and, i have to admit it, i do in fact LOVE guiness!!! i didn't think i would ever say that about a beer! last night was a really fun night. after the play we went back to the hostel and freshened up a bit. leslie and i were only planning on staying until about midnight, then we were going to head back since we had to leave at 10am this morning and breakfast ended at 9:30 and we had wanted to shower in the morning. THAT SURE DIDN'T HAPPEN!!! we got in at about a quarter to four! we started out at our favorite pub; porterhouse pub over in the temple bar area. this pub is about four floors, plus basement for bathrooms. (or toilet as they call it) on the third and one half floor there is a stage for the live entertainment, which is so fun! they sing so many old american songs; they sure love classic rock!!! so we started there, but after we got our beers we found out that they were closing in about ten to fifteen minutes. so we had to hurry on our beers. another group of americans were in there and on THEIR way out they told us that they were headed to something they had heard of called "the mez" and would we please join them. of course we said yes; it was only 11:30pm and we were just starting on the fun! the mez is the complete opposite of porterhouse. except in its fun. it is one floor of very stuffy (or as the irish say it; stoofy), very sweaty people. there is a live band until about one am...and there is a bouncer! he was so funny! so we hung out there until about 3:00 when we decided that we'd better eat something since we'd all had about three pints or so and either no dinner or light dinner. so we headed to the only thing open; burger king of course. we met some interesting characters, that's for sure! long story short, it was a great night and only a sample of some of the entertaining people and fun that dublin has in store for anyone.
tonight a few of us are getting together for a movie and some pizza in gabbie's apartment, i think. i am having so much fun here, but i cannot help but to miss those back home. it doesnt hit me until i have some quiet time to myself. then i realize that this isnt just some spring break trip. this is my life for nine months and id better get used to it. i have to get used to the accent, the currency, and the fact that THEY DONT HAVE PEANUT BUTTER!!! i mean, what's up with that?!? ;) but in all honesty, as unsure as i was just before i left and as homesick as i can feel at those rare times where i am not surrounded by distractions, i truly love this place and all it has to offer. i know this was the right decision for me. because this isn't just for fun. this isn't just because i felt like it. coming to dublin, feeling the tips of the wheels of the aer lingus airplane touch down on the runway, i felt like a certain part of me that had been missing since i can remember, was finally put back in place. i truly feel that this is where i should be right here, right now.
thank you to all of you who have supported me throughout all of this and throughout my life in general. and thanks if you made it all the way through to the end of the blog; i know it was a long one!!!
more soon.
love and goodnight,
elyse
Thursday, August 28, 2008
two days and counting
I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT!!!
ireland on saturday
and dave matthews band with o.a.r at the gorge tomorrow!!!
im so excited
ive never been to the gorge!
i love that it's in george, WA :)
so, it'll be a long couple of days
from the gorge we're going straight to seattle for a hotel
then up early for my flight
layover in new york
then to dublin
BUT the sucky thing is that im getting in at 9:10 and the group is getting picked up between 6:30 and 8:30, so i have to get myself to the hostel.
tight.
but whatev.
no worries that ive never even hailed a taxi before
...we dont usually use them in bellingham...we usually walk or ride bikes. thats what you get in a hippie town! lol :)
MMKAY
off to bed
im exhausted, even though its just after ten
...next time i post, it'll be from IRELAND!!! :)
lots of love and sweet dreams!
elyse
ireland on saturday
and dave matthews band with o.a.r at the gorge tomorrow!!!
im so excited
ive never been to the gorge!
i love that it's in george, WA :)
so, it'll be a long couple of days
from the gorge we're going straight to seattle for a hotel
then up early for my flight
layover in new york
then to dublin
BUT the sucky thing is that im getting in at 9:10 and the group is getting picked up between 6:30 and 8:30, so i have to get myself to the hostel.
tight.
but whatev.
no worries that ive never even hailed a taxi before
...we dont usually use them in bellingham...we usually walk or ride bikes. thats what you get in a hippie town! lol :)
MMKAY
off to bed
im exhausted, even though its just after ten
...next time i post, it'll be from IRELAND!!! :)
lots of love and sweet dreams!
elyse
Saturday, August 16, 2008
two weeks notice
well, not like quitting a job i guess... more like quitting america
...in exchange for ireland :)
lol
so, now that its technically saturday, the 16th, i can officially say; two weeks till Ireland!!!
my going away party is only a short time away (by several hours) and i get to see my best friends!!!
im so excited. and ive missed them all SO SO SO much!
i got an email from arcadia today, which is the program i'm going through, saying where im living and where im staying for my homestay of all of TWO DAYS :(
but it will be in galway and im excited
BEYOND excited.
im ecstatic!
i cant believe the summer has gone by so fast and that ireland, IRELAND, is only two weeks away! two weeks till i get to experience life like never before! (sorry to be dramatic; im excited!)
and...i just realized how very many exclamation marks there are in this blog! *and another one
BUT tomorrow (technically today) i get to see friends from all over the state as well as some of my family
so it should be great fun
bbq, watermelon, firepit, s'mores, and making memories <3
im psyched
BUT im super tired
so i think im off to bed
hopefully next post will have something more interesting, i just wanted to share how completely and utterly excited i am!
peace and love
sweet dreams,
elyse
...in exchange for ireland :)
lol
so, now that its technically saturday, the 16th, i can officially say; two weeks till Ireland!!!
my going away party is only a short time away (by several hours) and i get to see my best friends!!!
im so excited. and ive missed them all SO SO SO much!
i got an email from arcadia today, which is the program i'm going through, saying where im living and where im staying for my homestay of all of TWO DAYS :(
but it will be in galway and im excited
BEYOND excited.
im ecstatic!
i cant believe the summer has gone by so fast and that ireland, IRELAND, is only two weeks away! two weeks till i get to experience life like never before! (sorry to be dramatic; im excited!)
and...i just realized how very many exclamation marks there are in this blog! *and another one
BUT tomorrow (technically today) i get to see friends from all over the state as well as some of my family
so it should be great fun
bbq, watermelon, firepit, s'mores, and making memories <3
im psyched
BUT im super tired
so i think im off to bed
hopefully next post will have something more interesting, i just wanted to share how completely and utterly excited i am!
peace and love
sweet dreams,
elyse
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
...
that was supposed to say "one month until i LIVE my dreams..." not leave my dreams
guess i was too excited to notice!
lol
guess i was too excited to notice!
lol
ONE MONTH TILL I LEAVE MY DREAMS.
in case you were wondering
:)
turning "scared" into "nervous" and turning "nervous" into "SUPER EXCITED!!!"
i can't wait
i know that i need this to be a complete version of who i am now
i need to travel the world
it's as simple as that
so from here on out, i'm not allowed to be scared. only excited
and those butterflies in my stomach aren't telling me to be nervous, they're telling me that this is a turning point; the time of my life
I'M SO EXCITED!!!
no matter how many times i say it, that seems to be all i can say about going to ireland. no other words can describe how i feel!!! :)
buuut, first things first; before i can go to ireland i have to finish my stupid online courses. ...my sociology professor is seriously stupid. infuriating is another word for him.
but- two or so more weeks that i have to endure it
and...ONE MONTH TILL IRELAND!!!
so, i'd better get busy...homework due tomorrow!
sweet dreams :)
love,
elyse
in case you were wondering
:)
turning "scared" into "nervous" and turning "nervous" into "SUPER EXCITED!!!"
i can't wait
i know that i need this to be a complete version of who i am now
i need to travel the world
it's as simple as that
so from here on out, i'm not allowed to be scared. only excited
and those butterflies in my stomach aren't telling me to be nervous, they're telling me that this is a turning point; the time of my life
I'M SO EXCITED!!!
no matter how many times i say it, that seems to be all i can say about going to ireland. no other words can describe how i feel!!! :)
buuut, first things first; before i can go to ireland i have to finish my stupid online courses. ...my sociology professor is seriously stupid. infuriating is another word for him.
but- two or so more weeks that i have to endure it
and...ONE MONTH TILL IRELAND!!!
so, i'd better get busy...homework due tomorrow!
sweet dreams :)
love,
elyse
Saturday, July 26, 2008
beforehand
I'm going to Ireland. I, Elyse, am going to Ireland. For a year. Well, 9 months, but close. And it's coming up fast. Each day I get closer and closer to living my dreams. So why am I scared? I should be over the moon about this. And the truth is that I am, but I'm also petrified.
I realized today in a sort of random epiphany (well, aren't all epiphanies rather random?) that I feel exactly how I did before going to college freshman year. I'm so excited. Really. But truth be told, I really don't know what's going to happen. And that scares me. The fact that I'll be in a foreign country with absolutely none of my friends nor anyone I know in the least, for that matter, is pretty scary. But, as my old boss told me, if you're uncomfortable (or scared out of your mind, in this case) then you're learning. So I'm learning how to travel I guess. It's kind of funny how I try to describe myself; I'm a homebody, but I have to see the world. It isn't a matter of wanting to see the world; I have to. Something within me is compelling me to do so. Ever since I was about seven or so. ...I was clearing through some very old papers the other day (the other day being last month or so) and I found a project I did in first or second grade. It was a book on Ireland, complete with little crayon drawings of supposed Irish people with some random statistics I must have googled. And I couldn't help but smile. All this time I had said that I had wanted this, to be able to go to Ireland, for as long as I could remember. And here it was; living proof that I have always had this fascination, or rather fixation, with Ireland. I guess it's because Mom and Dad always taught my sister and I of our heritage and how it was important to know where you came from. For some reason, out of all the "mut" in me, (I swear I'm just about every kind of European you can find... plus Guatemalan.) Ireland stuck.
So this huge rambling goes on and on, as it always does, with seemingly no point right? Nope. Here's the point: I need to focus my nerves and reaffirm the fact that I love this country. Somehow, I love this place I've never been. Somehow. And I get to live my dreams. How many people get to do that? I'm so very, very lucky.
SO this blog is to track my travels, to pour out those thoughts I have at, oh, 12:14 pm, and to share my very lucky experiences with... the internet :). With no worries about grammar... and I would say spelling, but everyone knows thats inevitable. Except for the occasional slip-up. :) So excuse the lol, idk, and :) cuz this will be be... uncensored.
Goodnight and sweet dreams.
Elyse
I realized today in a sort of random epiphany (well, aren't all epiphanies rather random?) that I feel exactly how I did before going to college freshman year. I'm so excited. Really. But truth be told, I really don't know what's going to happen. And that scares me. The fact that I'll be in a foreign country with absolutely none of my friends nor anyone I know in the least, for that matter, is pretty scary. But, as my old boss told me, if you're uncomfortable (or scared out of your mind, in this case) then you're learning. So I'm learning how to travel I guess. It's kind of funny how I try to describe myself; I'm a homebody, but I have to see the world. It isn't a matter of wanting to see the world; I have to. Something within me is compelling me to do so. Ever since I was about seven or so. ...I was clearing through some very old papers the other day (the other day being last month or so) and I found a project I did in first or second grade. It was a book on Ireland, complete with little crayon drawings of supposed Irish people with some random statistics I must have googled. And I couldn't help but smile. All this time I had said that I had wanted this, to be able to go to Ireland, for as long as I could remember. And here it was; living proof that I have always had this fascination, or rather fixation, with Ireland. I guess it's because Mom and Dad always taught my sister and I of our heritage and how it was important to know where you came from. For some reason, out of all the "mut" in me, (I swear I'm just about every kind of European you can find... plus Guatemalan.) Ireland stuck.
So this huge rambling goes on and on, as it always does, with seemingly no point right? Nope. Here's the point: I need to focus my nerves and reaffirm the fact that I love this country. Somehow, I love this place I've never been. Somehow. And I get to live my dreams. How many people get to do that? I'm so very, very lucky.
SO this blog is to track my travels, to pour out those thoughts I have at, oh, 12:14 pm, and to share my very lucky experiences with... the internet :). With no worries about grammar... and I would say spelling, but everyone knows thats inevitable. Except for the occasional slip-up. :) So excuse the lol, idk, and :) cuz this will be be... uncensored.
Goodnight and sweet dreams.
Elyse
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