last day in galway

i can't believe our program is over tomorrow! we're flying to london around 8, so we'll check in to our hostel pretty late.

yesterday we went to the bogs and ended up hiking up 2 mountain things--it was not fun. of course the view was gorgeous, but it was not what we were expecting to do...our professor definitely didn't tell us we were hiking, and all of our shoes are completely ruined.

we all went out later to a few of our favorite places: the skeff, king's head, and kelley's. kelley's played blur (girls and boys) and it was really cool to be around people singing in irish accents.

tonight we're going to dinner at ming garden to say goodbye which will be SO weird. we've all agreed to order the most expensive things possible since the program is paying for it.

nothing else has really happened because we've all been to exhausted to get ourselves into trouble.

i'm going to try and update a lot in london since we're finally done with obnoxious school work.

miss you all

aran islands

yesterday was awesome. even though the weather was absolutely miserable, we still made the trip to the largest of the aran islands--only 800 people! we went to the highest part of the island and were able to walk up to a lookout tower...that was really cool. then we went to dun aengus and looked off of a few cliffs. there were no fences, so we had to lay down on our stomachs and peer over. it was over 300 ft, and i know mom will freak out. but i had to do it!

its been difficult to travel/please everyone in such a big group, but we're still having a blast. there's an ABBA thing at a bar tonight, and i REALLY wanted to go but we have a 6 page paper due on sunday and we're going to be gone all day at connemara tomorrow and trudging through the bogs. we'll see how that goes. (i still hate bill)

also, francis peed on one of my jackets last night. such a gem.

nothing else has really happened, but i'm sure i'll have another update tomorrow.

i miss you all!

almost an ending :(

we're still in galway, but our trip is sadly coming to a screeching halt. we've had an awesome time and we only have 1 more day in the classroom.

monday we moved to our last place for the trip...national university of ireland--galway. i have a swastika carved out on my door, we're a 25 min walk away from the city centre (with one bus running once an hour until 7pm) and there's black mold in the bathroom, so needless to say we could be doing better. you better believe the international center will get a piece of my mind when we get back. i used maureen's toothbrush to scrub the mold off, so we'll see how sick she gets. if it's hospital-worthy, i'm planning on licking the bathroom floor and then suing the international center.

monday night we went out, and a cat started following us home for 20 minutes. i'll skip to the good part...her name is francis and she's living with us until the end of the week.

if she has fleas, i'm suing the international center.

we've met with mary o'malley--a poet we have been reading, and she was awesome.

last night we watched this european dating show called "dating in the dark." aka absolutely fantastic.

sam and i are also in the galway independent! its a local newspaper. we bought it today, but if you go to galway independent on facebook, scroll down on their main page and you'll see us.

fame in ireland has been easy thus far, but it hasnt been too long since we've been published.

more things ive learned:

1) pregnant women smoke here. a lot.

2) i rely entirely too much on my cell phone

3) i straighten my hair too much

4) dogs here are never on leashes!

5) cats here meow in accents

per usual, i miss you all. as matt enthusiastically reminded me tonight: it's only single digits til i come home!

tour guide in belfast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lV4dftcYUo

galway children attempting to break dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3LtGMx70VY

galway

so we got to galway friday afternoon, but we just got internet last night--very frustrating. our hostel is alright...our room is probably the size of my room at home. except there's 8 of us sleeping there. there's absolutely no room for all of our luggage, but it's been surprisingly a lot of fun.

we went on a pub crawl last night which was a really good time. all of us attempted to ride a mechanical bull. it took me, maureen, and sam 2 tries to even get on the bull...sam overestimated and practically jumped over it, and maureen and i completely underestimated.

we each stayed 0n for about 3 seconds, but it was fun while it lasted. videos to come soon.

tonight is our last night here and we've been doing homework all day--we're meeting up with our group tomorrow and moving into the dorms, so we'll see how much we like it.

its kind of hard to believe we've been here for this long, but at the same time it's flying by :(

so far, i've learned quite a few things:

1) i'm a worthy opponent for arm wrestling

2) their traffic lights go from yellow to green so you know when to get ready to speed off. i like it much better

3) irish guys don't know how to dance. although dirk doesn't, either...

4) the food here is not as good. the ketchup tastes weird. i would also like to reiterate that they don't have ranch

5) in derry, boys would walk past us and lift their shirts so we could see their (very pale) "abs." it was horrifying.

6) homework here sucks WAY more than it does in the US

7) i'm convinced people here do not speak english. some people are impossible to understand

8) the history here is incredibly rich; it has made me realize how young the US is

9) i see a ton of dads with their children--parenting seems much more egalitarian

10) pigeons are terrifying

11) seagulls in ireland...surprising yet logical

12) pictures do not do the least bit of justice for what the scenery actually looks like

13) jack russels and westies seem to be the dogs of choice. i even saw a scottie!! ::cries::

14) i always feel under dressed

15) thank god for american dentists

16) per usual, i miss you all.

i'm hoping to upload videos soon, so i will put the links up in a bit!

what do you think sheep talk about?

the title of this post is courtesy of sam hines...she seriously asked this on the bus the other day.

no real news here, except for the fact that maureen's toenail just fell off, i havent shaved my legs because she shower is literally too small for me, and dirk spent an hour attempting to hang the curtains in his room that fell down. we have to be some of the most dysfunctional people on the face of this earth.

after our awesome walking tour of the gates around northern ireland (martin mccrossan for anyone who wants to google or for people who plan on coming to derry soon...) we walked across the peace bridge (terrifying yet amazing) and got ice cream/crepes from this place called "maiden heaven." i got a nutella crepe, and it was SO GOOD. i'm going back tomorrow. and the next day.

afterwards we went out to a pub with live irish music, and it was a lot of fun! someone asked me if i was from argentina and my response was, "no....but do i look that tan?!!" she said no. so i walked away. i'm going to be super jealous of everyone who isn't transparent when i get back home...

we are traveling to belfast for the day--leaving in about 1 hour. we're taking some tours and going to a play later on, so it should be a good time.

on thursday a group of us are traveling to galway early. we're staying at the galway city hostel for 3 nights and meeting back up with our professor monday.

mom: there are 10 of us going, and the 4 guys will be there. we will stay in groups. i will even take someone to the bathroom with me. i will buy pepper spray if need be. don't freak out. if i get pushed into a lake for some reason, i will securely fasten maureen to my body and use her breasts as flotation devices.

miss you all!

this one is not as good of quality, but it shows how green everything is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYzQK37PJpk

"this your land is your land"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9vDph32VV4

i literally can't understand anything they're saying....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23CS06ZEWqM