This is my last day here with friends. We're all going to meet in about an hour and a half to go to the Roost for our last drink. It's depressing. Tomorrow is my packing (I have started now.) and general depressing/doing nothing day, then the cab comes at half six Monday morning and I get very depressed and cry. (Not that I won't cry tonight when we all say goodbye.) Jackie and I are going to watch movies later. Why do I have to leave?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! *insert temper tantrum*

Well, I'm going to go now. *sigh* I don't want to leave Ireland.

Drama Soc Christmas Ball is tonight. We're all dressing up, so it should be a blast. I just wish I felt a little bit better and not so...congested and coughy. This week is depressing enough without being sick. Mum, can you email me all my flight info? I won't necessarily have access to a computer after Friday or Saturday, so the sooner the better. I have to arrange with the cab people when to pick me up, etc.

Also, Lauren got an email from Res Life saying that I've been assigned to be her roomie for spring. I haven't gotten anything yet, which is strange, but we're excited. This means I'll be finding a better paying job when I gets back. I'm thinking waitressing, at least for a while. Tips are a good thing, and from what I hear from Jackie and Michelle, even though I may hate it, I'll at least be able to pay for the things I need. I hate money. Why does it exsist? Also, why does Ireland have to be so expensive?

Anyways, I'll see you people soon. Love you all, but not wanting to leave here!

Daddy: SO not cool. Mocking me by describing all the Christmas cookies? Evil. Pure evil. At least I've made spiced cider and have that. And the Roost has a Christmas tree and smells pretty.

Shopping in Dublin with Michelle today. I have almost all my Christmas presents now, with the exception of one or two friends and (maybe) something more for Daddy. Anyways, Nic is here for this evening and part of tomorrow, so we're off to the Roost for a drink.

See you people soon...okay, sorry, can't be excited. I don't want to leave.

Essay progress:
Two written, but in need of an edit and (much) better conclusions.
Outlines for two more.
Sources for another two.
Two about which I have no clue.

Okay, so not as far along as I could be, but I'm hoping to have another one written tonight and then to get my history one mostly done tomorrow. Oh, how I wish I had internet in my room.

I have seven essays to write. Seven. One of them is due on the 14th and the rest are due on the 19th. I'm going to die. At least they're only 1000-2000 words each and I know that at least one of them won't take me more than an hour to write. Ugh. Being an international student sucks.

Drama Society hoodies came in today, so I'm going to pick mine up tonight, write for a while, and then head to the SU because Michael insists. His band is playing tonight, so he stopped me after class and told me to come. I haven't actually heard them play yet, so it should be fun.

Anyways, off to write now.

I'm home, safe, sound, and tired. The weekend was really fun, but cost me a bit more than I had hoped. (Why do they have to charge for everything?)

My French was good enough to get around, order food, talk to the hotel guy, and such. It's not spectacular, but I wasn't forced to point, look confused, and say "English?" constantly like in Venice. Mostly, I just looked confused and then asked them to repeat it slower and then understood.

I was worried on the flight on the way home. There was a little boy sitting behind me who got scared and then his hysterical crying turned slightly temper-tantrumish and I thought it was going to never stop. (It did after about 15 minutes.)

I saw two of the Blood Wedding guys last night, and they both demand that I have a going away party and invite all my Irish friends. (Apparently, it's a requirement.) I just have to find someone willing to host it since security sort of has a watch on our place thanks to Johnny's first few weeks here. I also got invited to Mark and Michael's joint 21st the last week of school, so that should be a blast.

Im going to go make dinner now so I can eat before we all head to the pub quiz.

Heading out.

I'm in the Dublin Airport right now. It's half one in the morning, and I haven't slept yet, and there's not much sleep in sight. Maybe I'll nap on the plane. My flight leaves at half six, which is when the first train leaves from Maynooth, so I had to come in tonight. That involved catching the last train out of Maynooth at 11:15 and then waiting until 1ish to catch a bus to the airport, where I now have to wait until I fly out. At least I'm only in this area for 3 hours. Then I get to wander the other part of the airport for 2 hours. /sarcasm

I'm excited! In less than 24 hours, I'll be in Paris. Huzzah, c'est bien, and woohoo!

I feel like I've failed you all. I haven't been updating this, but then again, it's not my fault the crappy NUIM server decided it just doesn't like my computer. I'm going back to the IT guy tomorrow night now that Blood Wedding is over and I actually have a little time on my hands.

Thanksgiving should be fun. There's about 7 Americans and some of our Irish friends who are going to celebrate. I get to dash away later to spend the night in the Dublin airport to catch a 6:50am flight to Paris, where I'm going to spend the weekend exploring with Nic and a girl who's on the same program as him. I'm excited, but sad I won't be able to go out with the girls after dinner like we originally planned. Oh well, we'll just make it next Thursday.

Love to all, and I'll be home soon. (Okay, so I can't actually think about that or I'm going to cry. I miss you guys, I really do. I just can't stand the thought of leaving Ireland for God only knows how long.

Grr. Argh.

No internet still. IT guy is working on it. Could be something with my computer, not the server. Late for rehearsal. Yuck.

Internet and Venice

I'm just posting a quick email before I give Anung her computer back. The internet is still down in my room (it'll be a week tomorrow) and I stole hers for a bit to update this and finalize some bookings. I'll be leaving for Venice tomorrow afternoon and returning Thursday night. I probably won't be able to contact anyone until then, so if you don't hear from me, don't worry. I'll post about it as soon as I get back. Love you all!

Butler is taking all of us on a Delphi adventure weekend. We're leaving in about two hours, and I won't have internet again until Sunday night unless there's some there, which I don't think there is. On a completely unrelated note:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll find you a cool present while I'm here. I'm lame and forgot to send a card. But I do love you!

One Step Closer

I've just gotten a text that Shane is calling me back for Blood Wedding. Callbacks are tomorrow night at 6. Even if I don't get in, it's nice to know that I'm not going to be immediately excluded because I'm American. They've asked that we actually prepare about one minute of a song to sing, as several characters apparently do sing a bit. I have to decide on something...I'm terrible at that.

Today, my campus smelled of cows.

And there were no cows in sight.

Life at NUIM.

So, I figured it's time for an update on how I'm living here. I'm in a flat with four other students, all Irish. We each have our own room with en-suite, and we share a kitchen/common area. There's pretty much everything we need dishes-wise in the kitchen, even if they don't all match. Our toaster seems to have died on us, but everything else is working. There's a table and then little couch thingys with a small tv in one corner. It's not much, and I'm dying for more counter space and a bigger sink, but it's liveable, provided the floor isn't so sticky one thinks they're taking tile with them when they walk.

And, now for my flatmates:
First off, there's Hannah. She's from Mayo, and she's really sweet and quiet-unless you get her alone, then she talks a lot. She's signed up for Drama Society, so we'll probably be doing a lot of stuff together. She's the one I've talked to the most so far.

Sarah is instantly friendly and outgoing, and I can't remember where she's from. It starts with a W. She's not around a lot, but I always like talking to her when she is. She sometimes brings a friend or two over, which is cool, because her friends are all really nice.

Johnny is...interesting. He really is a nice guy, and I like him, but he also irritates me a lot. He kind of thinks he's God's gift to women, and he's definately gunning to hook up with an American girl. He can be hard to understand sometimes, but if you actually make the effort, a decent conversation can happen. The one bad thing is that he's overly fond of having parties that involve a load of people, alcohol, and tend to end in security coming to have a few words with him. Also, he tries to clean, but he has no idea how to clean properly, so it really just has to be done again.

Our final flatmate actually just got here a few days ago. He's the third person to be assigned the room after the first two never showed. His name is Robbie, and we all really like him. He's polite, cleans, and is actually really nice to talk to. We had a great conversation the other night while I made and ate dinner. He does smoke, but he only does it in his room or asks before he smokes in the common area, so it's not a problem. He dumps his ashes and airs the room out when he's done. Apparently, he's already annoyed with Johnny and is going to talk to him about the parties.

Laundry is ridiculously expensive, and I wish I could just go home for the weekend and do mine then like all the Irish students. Alas, I am stuck spending 3 euro for every wash and 3 more for every dry.

My room isn't quite as comfy as I'd like it to be yet, but it's getting there. I've got a fleece blanket now, and there was a poster sale on campus, so I do have some decorations. I could use a few more things, and pictures. I was stupid and completely forgot to bring any pictures with me. I think there's a printing kiosk thing at the nearby shopping centre, so I may take a cd there and print some off. My window shade is broken, but if I want it up, I just fold the end over. Also, I have drawers under my bed, which is very cool.

I'm getting tired of typing now, so I'll do a post about classes and such later. Love to all!

Oh, what a beautiful mooooorrrnnniiinnnngggg!!!

I'm ecstatic right now. Fairs day finally happened, and I'm signed up for several different clubs and societies. I'll have things to do, and to make it all absolutely wonderful, I've met some of the theatre people!!! There's a meeting tonight at 6:30, and it can't come fast enough for me. Seriously, just the two members I talked to very briefly had that "theatre person" vibe and it's infectious. That on top of the fact that my Modern Drama course sounds like it's going to be fantastic have put me on a bit of a theatre high. (We're studying Strindberg, Shaw, Pinter, Brecht, and Mamet in my course, and the lecturere is funny to boot.) I'm going to go make lunch before heading off to the world of 18th Century Literature and Culture.

Finally.

I went down this morning and played the only slightly bitchy American and explained that yes, I had tried swiping my keycard many different ways and no, my door still wouldn't lock and that I needed it to by 4:30 today. The lady was actually understanding and listened this time, and they came and fixed it while I was in class. My door locks, and now I'm on my way to register before we take off for homestay.
Love to all!

By the way, dear readers who are rather silent...I love it when you comment. Feel free to do so more often because I love you and want to hear from you. Emails are also acceptable.

Grr. Argh.

Apparently, whatever people have been saying about Skype "only needing an administrative code" to work was pure crap. Nothing but crap. The IT guy has just informed me that he can't do anything about it. It sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. He told me to try AIM, MSN and/or Google Talk, all in a very smug way. Jerk.
In short, those of you reading this, I shall endeavor to find a way of communication, but if not, then we shall have to resort to facebook and emails. Curse the crappy network at NUIM. I'm going to go have chocolate. Hopefully the new housemate we're supposed to get tomorrow is nice...

Happy, happy day!

I am literally doing little happy dances around my room. I have clean clothes. I have a closet (half) full and a drawer (half) full of clean, nice smelling, fresh-from-the-dryer clothes! Nothing has been pulled out of a suitcase and nothing has already been worn YYYYYYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aside from my unreasonable excitement over the laundry, I'm on my way to get ready for a girls night out, since Gabby and several of us feel like we've been spending way too much time around just the guys. It should be a fun evening.

Holy shit is the only phrase strong enough at the moment.

Johnny, my lovely freshman flatmate, has decided to have a party in my flat. There are now 6 people in my room that are not me, only two of which were invited in by me. There are a least thirty people in here. I am so angry at him. I don't mind a party, but it would be nice if he at least asked/warned us. Grr. Ugh. Ick. I'm never going to get to sleep.

Edit: Two hours later, security came and broke it up. Sarah and I explained that we had nothing to do with it, and the guards seemed relatively understanding. The male one obviously isn't fond of people from Carrick, which Johnny is. Johnny still has a girl here, and they're talking rather loudly in the kitchen, but at least it's not thirty people anymore.

Maynooth at Last

I'm mostly settled into my flat now. I just have a few random things here and there that I'd like to get, as well as some more food. I have internet in my room now, though I'm having serious issues with Skype. I can't get it to work for the life of me, so I'm not exactly happy about that. I'm skipping a meeting right now because it's just the economics and biology departments talking about classes, so I thought I'd use this time for lunch and to figure out my time table for my classes. I'm also going to try and figure out Skype. Oh yeah, and I can't get my door to relock. We have keycards, and if you swipe them a certain way, it leaves it open, which I did last night when I was going in and out a lot, but the swipe to relock it won't work. I can use the deadbolt when I'm in here, but I want to be able to lock it when I leave. I have to figure it out soon. Maybe Anung will help me.

I've met three of my four flatmates, and we're waiting on the fifth. I'm really hungry, so I'm going to go make lunch and figure out my door, but I'll write more about them later.

I'm sitting in the little alcove of a pub right now, having an incredibly amusing conversation with three very precocious Irish children whose parents are in the main pub, watching the rugby game. I really want to buy a rugby shirt. They're actually kind of cute, and it would be fun to have. I should. These kids are very amusing. They're hams. There's a brother and sister and their cousin. 12, 10, and 9. At the moment, they're guessing my dad's age. Oh right, there's a 5 1/2 year old that's busy drinking his Sprite and not talking. I think he's shy. They're making me giggle a lot. Aww, there's a little black haired one with thick glasses. Apparently, she's developmentally disabled. She's absolutely precious, and very, very shy. Anyways, Daddy is bugging me because even after taking 25 minutes to type one email, it wouldn't send, and he wants to try it again. The children just ran away. I suppose I'll give him the computer again, despite the fact that he takes forever to get anything done.

It was so neat getting to see the McGowan house today. I mean, my great great great grandpa touched those stones and built that house over 100 years ago. SO COOL!!!!! The owners weren't at home, but we walked around the outside, took pictures, and made their dogs bark. Cute dogs.

We're in Portrush now, at another B&B. The man that runs it is uberfriendly, and I really like him. We've decided that tonight is a lazy night. We're just watching tv and I'm chatting with people on Skype. We'll get up early tomorrow and visit the Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle. It should be fun.

Clean and rested.

(This is from yesterday, but the B&B wouldn't let me use blogger there.)
I'm in a tiny little B&B in Trim, Ireland now, jus north of Dublin. It's a nice place, and we're jus getting ready to leave to go see the local castle We're then going to head up to Belfast to do family stuff. It's been fun so far. We met a couple of reall nice guys last night and chatted with them for a fe minutes after dinner. When we came back, I got to chat with Gina for a fe minutes on Skype, which was fun. I'd better go see what my dad is up to He's trying to find a B&B for us to stay in tonight and tomorrow night. Talk to you all later! (This keyboard is different. It's weird.)


And today, we're at a B&B about 300 yards away from Newgrange and Knowth. (Rhymes with south.) We had dinner at a pub last night, and I had my very first Guinness. Not too bad. He won't admit it, but I think Daddy finds it a little wierd to see me drinking. Oh yeah, and we didn't make it to Belfast. We spent so long at the castle that we decided to come see Newgrange and Knowth this morning and drive to Belfast this afternoon. I should actually go so I can take my shower before we take off. It's a bit chilly outside here where I'm stealing someone's wireless. I have no idea whose.

Finally.

I'm sitting in the Dublin airport right now, feeling completely disgusting and wanting nothing more than a shower, a change of clothes, and a cup of very hot, strong tea. (And suddenly, my jetlagged no-sleep brain is singing "A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love." Wow.) Daddy is checking and getting us a car and then I'm going to persuade him to find us somewhere to clean up. I refuse to go a whole nother day like this. Icky.

The flights went well. I slept a little on the one from Newark to Dublin, but it was hard. For some reason, Daddy and I didn't get seated next to each other, so I couldn't even drape myself over him to get more comfy. I was between two really fun, nice ladies though, so it wasn't terrible. I just don't want to be on a plane again for a good, long while. And did I mention, I really, really, really, really want a shower?

Off to see if we have a car!

We leave for the airport in...5 hours or so, and none of us have slept yet. This is going to be a fuuuuuuun day...

Testing, Testing!

At the prompting of my aunt, I started this blog so that family and friends can (sort of) keep track of me while I'm in Ireland. If you're already a friend of mine on LJ, I'll probably just cross post these entries there, so don't worry. You won't have to jump all around and try to keep track of all the different stuff.

And with that introduction, I'm off to pack!