It is Friday afternoon here in Galway and we have finished our first full week of classes. I took advantage of being able to "shop" for your classes and have gone to quite a few this week. I still don't have my final schedule figured out, I still need to make some decisions about which ones I will choose. It seems like I am going to be taking a lot of Irish art classes and Irish studies classes. All of the Irish students are back in Galway so the University is now crowded with students which is exciting. Many of the classes I tried this week are lecture style which means they are mostly held in theatre classrooms and have up to about 100 people or so attend. This is much different from what I am used to at Linfield but I will get used to it as the semester goes on. I will give you all the scoop on my classes when I finally decide on the 5 classes I will have for the 5 months I am here. I received exciting news today that my Irish Art from the Early Iron Age to the 8th Century A.D. class is going on a field trip to central London where we will visit the British Museum and British Library for the weekend and be given time to explore the city! The trip is early March and I am so excited! I have always wanted to go to London! This way, I will have a place to stay and be shown the attractions I would be interested in anyways, European art! Plus, Emily, Cate and Arielle are taking this class so I will get to take the trip with them as well as all of the other students in the class. It should be a great craic! I love that going to London for the weekend is an option for a field trip! Just one more reason I love Ireland. Classes are very different here than the States. Professors never start their lecture on time but actually delay it ten minutes to give people time to show up. This concept was even explained to us in orientation. They really do operate on Ireland time. It is so fitting to their personalities of being laid back and relaxed. My school NUI (National University of Ireland) is so great! Most of the people I have ran into are so friendly and helpful, and I have figured out the lay of the land pretty well. Dad and Ry, you would be so proud of my direction skills with finding buildings! I have even pointed some other American students in the right direction. They have a lot of cafe's and eating places on campus and they even have the College Bar (which is a full bar stocked with all types of beer and liquor that you would find at the pubs) with study areas and couches. Only in Ireland! :)
On Tuesday, Emily, Anders and I went exploring around Galway and discovered some cool new places. We picked up some information about taking a group trip to the Aran Islands. Depending on the weather we hope to do that soon. We saw the bay for the first time saw the Spanish Arch! Downtown Galway on Shop Street was alive as always. Their is always a man on the street playing some instrument and singing very loud! I feel like there is always so much to see that I walk to fast to catch it all. All the different people, whether Americans, Irish, or other students from around the world all engaging in this beautiful city! The vibrant colors and designs of the shops, the clicking of our shoes on the cobblestone, the windy chilled air from the sea! Yup, I am starting to fall in love with Galway. My absolute favorite part about exploring the town is discovering all of the different types of shops! Whether it is a modern European clothing store or a traditional Irish shop full of little treasures and trinkets of the land, they are all worth visiting!
Something definitely worth talking about is the enjoyment I have had this past week in my apartment. We have all made it a habit to all prepare and eat our dinners together and then sit at the table and talk for awhile. I have been testing out my cooking skills here and have been trying to prepare a home cooked meal every night! It is just so expensive to eat out here and with the help of the Saturday market, I have access to fairly cheap produce. All of us are having our go at cooking! I must say that the boys, Quinn and Anders, have been preparing the most appealing meals so far! But it's almost week one, I still have time to catch them. We have all been enjoying a nice cup of wine with our dinner! I am still on the hunt to find an Irish wine, but the Australian Cab I picked up for my first wine was pretty good. Dinner usually ends with the six of us around the table, dishes piled up, talking and getting to know each other better. I must say that I have a great group of people to surround myself with for these next five months. Of course I already knew all of them except for Quinn (who is from Colorado but is attending school at USC), but I am discovering more and more about these amazing people! They all make me laugh...and we do A LOT of laughing when we are all together. I love to keep them all around after dinner by making up a game or I will ask them random questions. Like I'll ask, "if you got the chance to meet anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be?" or "If you could have one super power, what would it be?" Then we go around and answer the questions and why. I love facilitating these simple games because I feel it makes for great conversation and you get to know people better. I chose my Grandpa on my dad's side, who I unfortunately never got the chance to meet but my dad tells me that he would've loved meeting me! My second, of course, was Audrey Hepburn :) And I would definitely fly, you can thank my childhood obsession for Peter Pan for that one! The game I made up, was that I would whistle a song and they had to guess the title, first one to answer gets a point and first to five wins! This became an instant apartment favorite! I made them all laugh pretty hard when I shut my eyes, puckered my lips and air guitar-ed my best "Hotel California." In the end, Emily swooped in from behind and won! I better work on my whistling skills because I am expected to play this game at many dinners to come. We are always singing and dancing and having a good ol' time in our apartment. These people are awesome and I can't wait to live with them for the next 5 months.
Cate, Emily and I have made Irish girl friends! Emily met one in her class and she lived directly above us so on Wed. night we went up there to meet her and her roommates. We were surprised to see that they were getting ready for a night on the town. Many of the Irish students go out on weekdays and then go home for the weekends to get home cooked meals and be with their families. It was so entertaining sitting and chatting with them! They are so hilarious! I thought I was pretty loud and talked fast but not even close compared to them. They loved asking us questions and we exchanged stories and different slang words popular to our generation in our home country. We all hit it off and plan to go out with them soon! Here are some things we learned from them:
1. Irish girls love to drink vodka, and A LOT of it. It's no joke that the Irish drink a lot.
2. They think it is hilarious when Americans ask them about the stereotypical things about Ireland. They like to mess with people. As Sharon (who swore like a sailor and wasn't afraid to tell it like it was) put it, "All Americans think us Irish all have red hair, drink too much and we have leprechauns. Whenever they ask me about it, I simply say, 'Yes I'm a ginger, yes I'm drunk right now and yes, there is a leprechaun over in the corner.'" Sharon was hilarious!
3. They have never heard of an Irish Car Bomb (the alcoholic drink that is primarily associated with Ireland in America). But they did warn us, "Do NOT ask for one of those at the pubs in the North, you'll get shot!"
4. They really do enjoy America and many of them travel there to work over the summer. They mostly go to California and mentioned how they loved In-and-Out Burger...Oh don't we all!
Today was an absolute beautful day in Galway! The sun was actually out so Cate, Emily, Anders and I decided to take a walk to a place called Salthill we had heard about. On our way we stopped by this adorable little cafe that had a fireplace, lots of seating, free WiFi internet access, and great coffee and food choices! I got a white chocolate mocha and a homemade chocolate chip cookie. I believe I have found my new study spot! I forget the name but it is conveniently right across from one of our favorite pub hangouts. The walk to Salthill was gorgeous! It was windy with the strong salt smell of the ocean water! The sun was just setting and the light it was shining on the ocean was like out of a calender. It was perfect! I have included pictures below of our walk today. Although the pictures don't give it's beauty justice at all. We stopped at a few of the shops when we got to Salthill in a part of Galway we hadn't seen before. One was a liquor store that had all of these cool objects in the window. We went in to price the wine and spirits to compare to those in the store. There was a sign outside that said "Off License" and we were curious what that meant. The Irish lad inside was very nice, he actually had family in Portland so we could say Oregon and he actually knew what state we were talking about. A lot of Irish students are only familiar with East Coast states and California so we have to clarify that it is on the west coast, right above California. Off licensing simply meant that the alcohol could not be consumed in the shop (unlike a pub) so it was basically a liquor store. We just looked around and moved on to Mortons, which was like a gourmet shop with everything from a seafood area to homemade deserts and breads. I got a loaf of fresh pesto and tomato focaccia bread. SOO good with the fresh seafood chowder I picked up on the way home from the fisherman's market. I had a great dinner that night! Walking back home we even found a few streets in downtown Galway that we had never seen before. Like a great book store and a lot of adorable restaurants. We even found another church called St. Augustine's, which of course was beautiful. I didn't get any pictures because I didn't want to interrupt those praying inside. I am falling in love with Galway! Even though it is a very large college town, the numerous quaint little shops and the ocean air reminds me of a small coastal town but it's filled with modern and traditional rich culture of Ireland. I wish I could have all of you come visit so you knew what I was talking about! On our way home we stopped at the local grocery store and little mall and we all found a great deal on hiking boots. I signed up for the Sailing Club and the Mountaineering Club! The Sailing club travels around Ireland and does races but they said they have beginner courses! I am actually going to check it out on Sunday (my birthday!!) and meet the club at the dock. They all seemed very nice and fun! Hopefully I will get to sail for my first time on my birthday!! The Mountaineering Club reeled me in because it sounds like the perfect way to see the country. They go on outings every Sunday for a small fee and hike or mountain climb. I'm thinking I will stick to just hiking, all I need is to mess up this perfect trip by being hospitalized by falling down a mountain. The Club said they were strict on only letting people go that had proper hiking shoes because they don't use trails and hiking boots are necessary. Sounds a little intense but I have been wanting to get into hiking forever, so I figured why not! We found a killer deal and I found mine for only 15 Euro! They are also going on a hike to The Burren this Sunday so it's either a hike up a mountain or sailing! Like my brother said, depends on how I feel after I celebrate my 21st! Sailing could be little bit of an issue, can you say sea sick? lol. Anyways, I am really excited about my new kicks and can't wait to hike up my first Irish mountain!!! I will let you all know how it goes!
Tomorrow is Saturday, The 15th and first thing I plan to do is go and get my donut and fruit from the Saturday market! So excited! I may go on a run depending on the weather. My friends and I are celebrating my 21st tomorrow. Our group is coming over to our apt to hang out then we are going to dinner at Finnegan's, which is a traditional Irish food restaurant we heard was really good and decently priced. It sounds amazing, we checked out the menu today on our walk! Then we will go out to the pubs and our favorite hang out spots. At first it didn't really feel like my birthday, let alone my 21st, because here you can drink at age 18 so it's not as big of a deal when you turn 21 like it is in America. And also due to the fact that I don't get to spend it with my family and closest friends. Although I hear they do make a big deal out of it here too and turning 21 is almost like a celebration of growing up in Ireland. And my roommates have been a little sneaky all week and I am looking forward to spending it with my new friends I have made here! I am lucky I went on this trip with such great people. I am sure I will have birthday photos to post soon!
I will close with a little list I have compiled about the things I have learned and experienced about Ireland so far:
- Cars do not yield to pedestrians! They are crazy drivers and some have even speed up if we become brave to cross a little early.
- There a lot of roundabouts here which make crossing the road with the crazy drivers very scary! You always feel like you are going to get hit by a car! It's an adventure every time we have to cross the roundabouts, it's almost like a video game, but it's real life.
- Irish students love Abercrombie and Hollister clothing because they don't have it here so if an Irish student has an item of clothing from there it is almost like a sign of their wealth because they spent the money to ship it here. So weird!!
- It has been hard to get used to the fact that they drive on the left side of the road here. Although I expected it so I got used to it pretty quick. What I haven't gotten used to yet is that it's the same concept when you walk. When you are doing down the sidewalk or in a mall, they all walk on the left hand side instead of the right. You can always tell an American if you don't have to adjust what side you are walking on down the sidewalk!
- Irish girls don't drink pints of beer here. They stick to vodka drinks or half pints. We were told by the Irish that it is very easy to spot American girls because they order pints at the pubs. (who would've thought!)
- Irish girls wear UGG boots more than American girls wear them. And they all wear tights, with like every outfit. Even shorts. They must be used to the cold if they can go a day without wearing pants.
- Irish girls also are always dressed up and wear heels and dresses when they go out! There are also a ton of blondes here and a lot are tan!! (apparently it is very popular to tan from a bottle here) And here I was thinking I would fit in a little better in Ireland with my pale skin! The term that previous Americans have given Irish girls who wear little dresses and heals when they go out at night is Baby Deer. Because when they walk on the cobblestone there heels get stuck and they trip/stumble a little bit, just like a baby deer! We sure got a good laugh out of that one when Sara (the girl from Oregon who has been here a semester already) explained it to us.
- There are dogs everyone and no one has leashes for them when they walk them. They just wander a little bit but always follow their owner. I love all the dogs! It makes me miss my puppies from home!
- There are hair salons EVERYWHERE! I am not sure why, but you see multiple walking around Galway!
- They call it "Toilets" not bathrooms.
- How shall I explain walking across bridges in a coastal town like Galway? I cross a bridge every time I get to school. It is no use even trying to use an umbrella if it's raining, the strong wind gusts make it go inside out (true account, I must've looked absolutely ridiculous, didn't help me trying to blend in with the locals). The water that gets spouted up every time a semi or large truck drives by sure is nice! I literally feel like I am going to be blown away sometimes, the wind currents are so strong. And not to mention having to remember to walk on the correct side of the sidewalk. Let's just say that by the time I get to my class, I am a little frazzled!
- The town of Galway is split with their language of English and Irish (Gaelic) so many signs are in both or only Irish so I am picking up a few Irish words!
That's about all so far! Looking forward to the weekend and celebrating my birthday! I will end with an Irish Blessing that was on a card given to me by my roommates back in the states when I left. I feel as if it is very fitting for the feel I have experienced thus far in Ireland...
May you always be blessed with walls for the wind,
A roof for the rain,
A warm cup of tea by the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all that your hear desire.
