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