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