Ain't No Mountain High Enough to climb on my 21st Birthday!

"Tráthnóna maith" (TRAH-noh-nuh my) Good Afternoon in Irish! 
I have been keeping busy lately and haven't even had the time to post the entry from my birthday weekend! I only had one class today, Studies in Ancient Imagination, (great class that studies Roman art and architecture and the ways they were used as propaganda to reflect their triumph and power. One of my favorite classes! That's visual culture nerd in me, good thing that is my minor!). The class was over at 1:00 or 13:00...they use military time for almost everything. I am starting to pick up on it better but it took me some time and counting on my fingers to figure it out! I decided that I would walk along the canal and find the cafe, An Tobar Nua, that has great food and hot drinks and offers free Wi-Fi internet. It was not very cold at all, but there was a slight drizzle as I walked along the canal admiring the birds, the calm flowing river and the people of Galway walking along the streets on a Tuesday afternoon. This cafe is so quaint and perfect to sit and get some work done. The Irish are so nice, as soon as I walked in from the rain I struck up a conversation with two lads asking me about the weather. One of them who obviously worked here asked me where I was from. When I told him Oregon he told me that a girl from Oregon used to work here for the semester a while ago. He asked me if I was hungry and that I should try the Tommy sandwich. Come to find out he was Tommy and he had invented it! I wasn't very hungry so I ordered the Chai Latte and found a quiet spot by the window that looked out onto the canal and the Galway streets. Enough about the day in the life of Brenna. On to the previous two weekends.

My birthday (January 16th) fell on a Sunday this year but we decided to begin the festivities on Saturday night because many of us have classes on Monday. Saturday morning we all woke up and took a trip to the market as we did the week before to get our produce and I was very excited to visit the donut man and start off my birthday weekend with a warm fresh donut. The whether was absolute rubbish! It was so bad that the wind bent my umbrella and it got jammed open. Anders tried to fix it, but warned me that it was broken and may not pop up anymore! Not all of the shops were up, and to my despair, the donut man did not want to rough the bad weather this morning. Good thing the produce men were still there. They joked that the weather wasn't bad at all, and a silly thing like rain and heavy wind wasn't going to stop them from bringing the fruit to the market. I filled my entire Dunnes bag and went to pay the man. He skimmed the bag and asked for a ridiculously cheap price for the amount of fruits and vegetable I had gotten. As I was getting out my money, he was filling up my bag with oranges I hadn't paid for. I just love the Irish! He wished me a great day and thanked me millions ( I have noticed that when the Irish say thank you, they usually add to the phrase, "Thanks a million!" Just a nice Irish touch at the end!) The rest of the day we just relaxed and I got some things done that I needed for classes. 

Emily told me that I needed to be dressed and ready at 6:00pm. I took my time getting ready and decided that I would wear my green dress out! Of the only two dresses I brought, I thought my green one was more "Irish" appropriate and it is one of my favorites! My cream Audrey dress will have to wait for another occasion to be worn. At 6:00pm my friends started coming over and Emily said that I was allowed to come into the kitchen now. My roommates had surprised me with a pink 21 birthday badge and a variety of different alcohols to make some yummy 21 year old drinks. A favorite drink that the Irish told us about was the Baby Guinness. It is a shot of Kahlua and you carefully pour Bailey's to fill the top layer so it looks like a Baby Guinness, and it takes just like Nesquik, the chocolate milk drink. They got all of the things to make that and we all cheers and had a birthday shot together. Our whole Linfield group (plus Quinn, our honorary Linfielder) was there to celebrate at the apartment before dinner. Some of our other friends we had met were going to meet up with us after dinner. We went to a restaurant we were recommended called Finnegan's. It served traditional Irish food and was situated in the heart of Galway. Emily had called to make reservations and we were seated in a room all to ourselves upstairs! The ambiance in the restaurant was very traditional Irish and it was the perfect place to have my birthday dinner. Their prices were just right as well, dinner specials for only 6 euro. I asked the waitress what her favorite dinner dish was and without hesitation she told me the Crispy Chicken Goujonsboyfreinds advice and went with it. I smiled as I ordered, thinking that Daniel would be proud of my brave order! I am always so indecisive when ordering, looks like Ireland's laid back attitude is rubbing off on me! The goujons was served with golden chips (giant french fries, they call fries chips in Europe) and a garlic ranch dip. They were basically the equivalent to fancy chicken strips but way better than American style strips! (which are my absolute favorite food by the way!) Thank you to Danny for the tip...it proved to be very true!! After dinner we met up with  some of our other friends at my apt and chatted for awhile then we went out to the pubs. We decided to try and new pub called The Quays. It was in the Latin Quarter of Galway. It was a great pub! Good music and it was huge. It was three stories hight with all different sections. At midnight, when it was officially my 21st, Emily bought me a shot of power whiskey. I asked for Paddy's whiskey but they didn't have it at this pub. Everyone took a shot with me and sang me happy brithday. I kept my badge on and I felt like I was in America celebrating. Many of the Irish congratulated me and realized what a big deal it was to turn 21 in the States. We decided to end our night at Roisin Dubh (The Black Rose).  This pub is three stories and on weekends in the middle section they play old funk pop music, I guess that's how you would describe. This Saturday night was a little more electronic oldies but still the perfect music to just let yourself go and dance silly with your friends. I busted out some fun dance moves, the robot and sprinkler may have made an appearance! Emily even laughed on our way back and said "wow Brenna, you have some wicked dance moves!" I laughed so hard and had the best time, even the DJ hugged me and wished me a happy birthday! We headed back to our apartment fairly early for the night, but it was perfect time for me! I had danced the night away and enjoyed turning 21 in my homeland! When I got back to my apartment I was able to skype my family and Meghan and Jake (they were at my parent's house enjoying a nice home-cooked meal from the best cook in the world, Mama Kel!) It was so great to see all of them! My mom had made me cupcakes and they lit candles on them and sang me happy birthday! It was sooo sweet I could have cired. It made me so happy to get to see them on my birthday! We skyped for about an hour then it was off to bed!

My 21 Birthday badge I rocked all night!

Baby Guinness shots with the girls!

Cheers! I sat this one out

The Birthday wave!

Apparently I turned 12 this year :)

At Finnegan's Traditional Irish Food & Drink

The Group

The chocolate birthday cake Cate made me!

The drinks my roommates bought me that I gladly shared with the group!

January 16th- In the morning I got up at about 7:30 because all of us had planned to go on the hiking trip with the mountaineering club to The Burren in Co. Clare. I woke up fairly easy, only had a slight headache, but started drinking water, and I had been really looking forward to this hike so I was determined to get up and make it! I didn't just want to sit around on my birthday, I wanted to see Ireland and do something out of the ordinary for me. A hike to the top of the Burren sounded like the perfect way to spend my 21st. The bus ride to Co. Clare was VERY curvy, bumpy and windy along the coast line. It was horrible, everyone began feeling car sick. Even Anders even moved to the front of the bus because he was getting car sick. I began feeling very warm and Emily looked over and my face was ghost white. I was praying I wouldn't get sick and just closed my eyes to try and pass the hour trip. I was doing okay until i had to talk with our tour guide about which hike Emily and I wanted to do. I had to look at a map and follow the squiggly lines on the bumpy bus. Minutes after he moved on to the next couple rows, I conspicuously took my lunch out of the giant zip lock bag and proceeded to yak inside the bag. I don't want to get into detail here, but I had to ask Emily for another one very quickly as I noticed that my bag had a small hole in the bottom. SO I double bagged it and let it go. Happy Birthday to Brenna from Ireland ha ha! Some say that if you don't puke on your 21st it wasn't celebrated like it should. I really thought I had avoided that whole scheme for your 21st birthday. Whether it was the alcohol from the celebrations of the night before or the car sickness from the horrible windy road, I will never know. I am going to go with a little bit of both. When we got off the bus everyone told me that I wasn't the only one feeling really car sick. I guess the 21 year was the only one who yaked though lol. Looks like in the end, my 21st began with little emptying of the stomach. Well I rallied like a champ and felt 100% better as soon as I got off the bus! I felt refreshed and was ready for this hike! We chose the short hike. It was supposed to be 6 kilometers, but ended up being about 10 kilometers (about 6 miles or so). At the time of deciding, I thought I may throw up in the kind lads face so Emily and I signed up for the short one. We were told this one had great views and they would stop for photo taking and such. Many of us, all of the girls signed up for this one and our group consisted of about 20 international students and and older couple. The man was full of great information about the hike and facts and myths about the area. The woman was very kind hearted and had great conversation as well. Our other leader was an Irish student who was in the Mountaineering club. He was a hiking freak! (in a good way) If we ever got off track he would run to the front and find the correct trail and run right back to us!


The Burren. We couldn't have chosen a better day for this day hike. The sun was out shining on the tall hills, the wind was fairly mild at the start and their wan't a drop of rain in the sky. Our hike was absolutely incredible! I wished I had the vocabulary of a professional writer to give this breathtaking scenery justice. Explaining it is so difficult without actually experiencing it. It is a very unique type of terrain that extends 50 square miles. There were no signs, no paths, just open surface to walk on and hills to climb up. Most of the terrain was just miles of limestone pavement. Before we began our trek, the guides told us that we had to look at each step we took because the ground can fall from under you and it was easy to get your ankle stuck between two slabs of limestone and if you trip your ankle will most likely brake. They were exactly right. Different levels of the hike had different sizes of limestone. But they were all broken up into pieces. In between them were grassy and muddy sections (these were the areas that would sink down sometimes when you walked across them). Some levels were more grassy some more filled with stones. It almost felt like a strategic video game on the hike on where to step and the best way to climb the mountains. Not to mention the wind speeds that we would run into when we got higher up the hike. My ankle would get stuck every now and then and tweaked but nothing too major. The higher and higher we would climb the more breathtaking it would become. It almost didn't feel like Ireland anymore. It almost looked like a land far away, something like you would see out of a scene from Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. I remember just thinking that it felt incredible to get the opportunity to see this treasure in Ireland. The walk almost felt spiritual to me. Lots of time to think and enjoy the Irish air. The spaces that we would overlook were incredible. I felt like I was in awe the whole time. We would look up on a hill, climb that one, and find another one to trek up. I never thought we would reach the top peak. At one point, Hiker pro Irish guy, walked by me and said ,"Is it bad that I always want to be the first to the top?" and then he sped off. Now after explaining the terrain, you are probably wondering, like I was,  how he was running across these treacherous rocks. So there I was just trying to keep the snot from not shooting out my nose from the cold fast wind and making sure my foot placement was correct so I wouldn't break a limb and there he goes galloping like a gazelle across the dangerous terrain. These mountaineering people are crazy! We ate lunch at 1:00 behind these small hills to block the wind and it we were off again after we had finally reached a top peak. The view looked out on the ocean and in the distance we could see Galway and even caught a glimpse of the Aran Islands. From up there, Ireland looked like a dream land from a movie. Filled with green fields and the ocean air was crisp and the water was  a deep blue. They decided that instead of back tracking to continue on to see more and we would find a trail back down to the main road. This was my favorite part of the trek. We got to a point where we were trying to get down to the road but it was blocked. Crazy mountaineering man, ran ahead through the forest to try and find a simple path. It led into someones back yard so we couldn't take that one. As the women described to me "It is very rude to go into someones back yard without permission, so we couldn't possibly take that path." The Irish also have great manners! The only other option we found was deep in the forest part that was right out of a forested area in Oregon. It reminded me of the woods at my old house in Battle Ground just with an Irish taste to it. There were a lot of pricker bushes that we had to bypass and this off-roading experience was very fun!!! After exploring the woods of the Burren later, it dumped us out to the road! After our hike we met up with the other groups at a local pub their called Monks. I had the best seafood chowder I have ever had and enjoyed watching a game of rugby. I had no idea how to play or even the rules so an Irish guy walked Emily and I through the simple rules of the game. It really didn't look like they were playing by any rules. It is an intense game!!! We packed up and headed home after everyone was done with drinks and soup. That night Cate went to the store and made me a chocolate cake and my roommates and I enjoyed a nice piece (or two :)) sitting around the couch discussing our day! In the end I had a fabulous birthday in Ireland! Even though I missed celebrating it with my closest friends and family, the new friends I have made here made it special for me. And I will never forget that I hiked my first Irish mountain on my 21st birthday! Thank you all for the birthday wishes and cards I received in the mail. I wish I could tell you much it means to me to hear from all of you! My next entry will be about my weekend trip to Dublin and I will add all of the pictures soon. I have just finished my Tommy sandwich and the cafe is closing soon. It is starting to get dark out so I will head back to my apartment. Cheers!


"Today you stand at a milestone in your life.
Behind you are your struggles and challenges and 
you've conquered along the way. Before you lies
a new horizon filled with thrilling possibilities.
Today you choose the direction of your life.
Go for it!" 


This quote was in a little book my family gave me for my 21st birthday. I think it sums up the feeling I had on top of the mountain that day. Ireland has opened my eyes to the possibilities I have in my life. I am so very blessed to have the opportunity to see the world. I am learning to let go of the little things that I cannot control and just live free knowing that each day comes with a whole abundance of opportunities for me to take advantage of. I really am growing as a person and pushing my limits! Ireland is simply a dream come true! Thank you mom and dad for the inspirational book and thanks again to all who wished me happy thoughts on my birthday and are so supportive of my journey!!

Walking along the road to get up to the Burren...the road was so beautiful!

The limestone slabs that were dangerous but so amazing!

It was very windy at the top! I thought I would be blown away!

At the beginning of the hike. The guy to the right of me is the crazy hiker who ran up the rocks!

One part of the hike where it just overlooked green fields!

These were the only trees we saw near the end of our hike, totally reminded me of a scene out of Lord of the Rings!

Emily and I repping the Breakfast Club fist pump in the air!

Our group we hiked with! Didn't mean to shove my arm in the guys face ha ha

Falling in love with Galway...

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.

The Girls on Salthill

Ocean view from Salthill

Cate 

One of the Sunny days, so beautiful!

I think of Ry every time I walk by this place. There is a Paddy's pub and restaurant too!

Discovering what a good craic Ireland is!

Today is the first week of classes! This week is all about trying different classes out and we actually register for them on January 20th. I have some pretty interesting classes in mind and will post my final schedule when I decide which ones will be the most interesting. I can't believe we have been here for five days already! They have gone by so fast and I must say we had a pretty good first weekend in Galway! The days go by fast and we have done a lot in these five days so I will try and catch everybody up!

Our first night in Galway we went out to a restaurant called McSwiggins and ordered ourselves our first pint of Guinness (for only 3 euro). We met our new roommate Quinn who goes to school at USC. He is really great and gets along with our group really well! It was a early night because we had orientation the next morning.

Orientation was a really great way to start out our trip! Everyone was so welcoming and they all had so much personality. They really emphasized the importance of experiencing the rich social life that Galway has to offer. I am now in the proccess of choosing classes and I also plan to do volunteer work in the community to get to know the locals better. They offer many sports clubs here as well and I am between sailing, fencing or archery! They also have a lot of cool societies to join as well. It was at orientation when we learned what it meant when the Irish used the word "craic" in their sentences. It was always used like "have a good craic." One Irish student translated it as "the best possible Irish fun you can ever have, but you can only experience it in Ireland, particularly Galway." I would say that's a pretty good description! My school is really pretty as well. Some really old buildings but some really modern looking buildings as well. That Thursday night as a group we decided to walk to downtown Galway to see the night life. Shop Street was really cool and full of lots of great shops to check out. We ended up at a bar called Taffes where we struck up a conversation with two older Irish men that gave us great tips about what to do in Galway and things. There was a fire and traditional Irish music being played by older men. It was a great place to hold conversation and have a pint!

We had orientation again on Friday and that night my roommates and I made a really good dinner! The best part of Friday night was at a pub called Crane. We had heard there was really good live traditional Irish music (trad) that played every night upstairs so we headed there. It was about a 7 person band of older people playing all sorts of instruments and it sounded like the Irish music you hear in movies. The other pubs we checked out were good but the live music mostly played American music covers like The Eagles and such and we wanted to hear the Irish music. Crane had some great people and we ran into some other international students from the states we had met at orientation. One of our Linfield students plays the fiddle and actually went over and started playing with them! It was great and they just welcomed her in like it was nothing. When they got done with one of their songs one of the older guys clinked his glass and got the pub to be completely silent (and there was quite a bit of people in the pub) and this random women sitting at a table started singing this Irish song that was breathtakingly beautiful! It sent shivers up my spine it was so pretty. Only in Ireland would that happen!

Saturday was the day that I got to experience the Saturday market for the first time. Down near St. Nicholas church they have a little strip with markets. They sell lots of good food, items but the best of all was the donut man. I had heard these donuts were good so I went up and told the man that I heard his donuts were pretty good. The old Irish man says, "oh dear, you mush be thinking of a different donut shop, because these here donuts are excellent!" The whole time he was cooking up my donut he was asking me questions and chatting with me. I just got the plain sugar one and it was exactly what he had said...Excellent! I told him I would see him next Saturday. I also got great deals on produce at the produce tent and the man simply looked in my bag and said "that will be 7.25 euro but then smiles and said, just give me 7 euro dear." The hot dog man even gave me a special flower napkin since it was my first sausage dog from him. I have come to absolutely love the old Irish men, they are so friendly and take the time to ask you how are you and are truly interested in showing kindness towards you! I haven't made friends yet with an Irish girl. I hear they don't take to American girls so much because they are convinces they are there to steal their boyfriends. Well good thing I've got one back home so it has become my roommates and I's mission to become friends with an Irish girl! Funny thing about the girls here, a lot of them are blonde! And many of them are tan, from a bottle apparently. I was thinking I would come here and fit in with my super light skin and they are faking it over here in Ireland too! The Saturday market was great and I am looking forward to it next Saturday! 

Emily, Cate and I started Sunday off by attending church service at the Galway Cathedral. This was the most beautiful church I have ever attended service in. I was blown away by the old architecture and the engravings and sculptures and drawings on the walls and ceilings. They had a choir in the back that was raised on the second story that sounded like they were playing a CD it was so good and there was an organ for the music. There were four sets of pews surrounding the middle in a cross-like formation and the middle part was on a raised marble section. The service was really good and I really enjoyed the message. I plan to make attend service here every Sunday. I may go check out some other churches but I have a hard time believing anything will be better than this one. I have included some pictures below. But they definitely do not give its beauty justice. 

I have done some walking around Galway a bit and taken some pictures of the town. There is so much life and culture every where you go and I feel like there is so much more I can see. My 21st birthday is this Sunday so my Linfield group (+Quinn) are trying to figure out something fun to do. I have met a girl named Sara who I met through my doctor actually that has already attended Galway for a semester. We met up with her and her friends on Saturday and both of our groups have become pretty good friends. She told me that they make a big deal out of people turning 21 here and she asked if she could throw me a party! I don't really know if we are going to do that. I was thinking more going out to dinner then heading out to some pubs for the night but who knows what my roommates have up their sleeves. We are also trying to plan a day trip on Saturday to go something in Ireland. Maybe the Cliffs of Moher. It does't really feel like my 21st or my birthday since I won't be with my friends and family to celebrate it but I do have a feeling that this birthday is Ireland will be one that I will never forget!

We will continue to "shop" for classes this week to see which ones we like and I will have my final schedule after this week. I will post my classes when I have figured them out. I will post some more pictures as I take them. So far, Galway has proven to be a great craic!

The Quadrangle at our school 

Sports Complex 

First Guinness at McSwiggins

River Corrib on our walk to School

Old castle on our walk to campus

The Chapel on campus

So beautiful

Apartment 27: Quinn, Emily, Brenna, Cate, Arielle, and Anders

Inside the Galway Cathedral

Outside of the Cathedral

downtown Galway

The Spanish Arch

Kelly's Pub

Galway Shop Street