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