And All That Jazz

I believe my last blog left off at Tuesday, which really was not that extensive.  The main event happened during our class.  We had a moc-dietary consultation with a group of elderly people.  Everyone in our class was paired up in twos and each of our groups had one elderly person.  They came in and we had scones and coffee/tea and then sat down in our groups of three and started our 'consultation'  This week only one of the students talked (So Breda my case) and just did half the consultation.  So next week I will do the other half.  Breda and my lady, Anne, was so great!!! I want her to be my Irish grandmother :)

Highlight of the week: Wednesday I got to teach a Turbo Kick class!!! A good portion of the people in our course did it (so like 15 people)  No one here in Ireland has ever heard of Turbo Kick, but they said they enjoyed it (I don't think they lied) and most of them said they were sore the next day (still got it!)

Wednesday night Hannah and I and a few of the girls in our course went to the DIT fashion show.  It's one of the biggest events of the year.  It did turn out really well.  I couldn't really take any good pictures, but Blair was actually photographing for DIT and got some great shots.  It was worth the 15 euro considering we got a goody bag and it included a 10 euro voucher for the phone company I use.

Thursday we finished one of our Communication lectures with a moc-radio interview.  I did mine on vegetarianism.  So now on Tuesdays and Thursdays I only have two hours of class!  I can't believe this semester is starting to wind down....kind of.  We have a practical assessment next week and then two weeks of four our Easter Break. .....which I just completely figured out.  It has changed a few times, but now we have our flights set!
Steve (if you don't know that he is my brother, I don't know why you're reading this) comes over in one week!! We fly to Italy- spend a day/night in Naples, then head over to Rome and spend a couple days there, then travel up to Vienna, Austria.  Unfortunately, Steve has to leave and head back to his big-boy job the morning after we arrive :( but I am meeting Hannah and we are spending a few days in Vienna and then flying over to Amsterdam, Netherlands until we head back to Dublin!!

That's basically been the extent of my week other than Thursday night we had a movie night at one of the girls' place and Friday night was kind of a lazy night as well.  We are preparing ourselves for the two-week long excursion to mainland Europe.

Blog atcha later
-K

Stereotypical Ireland

So it has been a fun- and event-filled week to say the least.  I think we'll start off with Thursday where the St. Paddy's day events began.

Katie Bush and Tyler Alverson came to visit Dublin and I.  I went to pick them up at the airport.  Of course, Katie and I were not very organized and I had next to no information about her flight, we have different country codes for our phones, and Katie had next to no minutes on her phone, so it took a little bit to get things figured out.  However, all that matters is that we found each other!!  It was SO nice to have a good friend from back home visit.  So our Thursday night entailed an hour bus ride back to my place and then what seemed to be a long walk back to my place (which is really only about 12-15 minutes).  We then grabbed a bite to eat and got ready for a night out.  A few of my classmates came over for pre-drinks and then they took us out to Coppers, aka Copper-face Jacks aka you fill in the rest.  Our classmates have been talking about Coppers all semester and we never managed to get there, but it lived up to my expectations.  

∆Z Love!!

So Friday after I was done with classes, Katie, Tyler and I walked all around Dublin.  I took them to the infamous Penney's, which is a really cheap clothing store where you can actually find a lot of cute clothes.  It is the only place that I have bought clothing here in Ireland (well besides my Jameson sweatshirt).  Then I took them to the Guinness Factory.  It was jammers! We didn't really the think of the fact that it was the day before St. Patrick's day.  There was a line around the block to get it, but it actually moved quickly.  We went through the five floors and had our Guinness on the top floor, but you couldn't really move around or see anything because it was so packed. Anyhow, it was a great day at the Guinness Factory and we each came home with a souvenir of a nice glass Guinness cup.

Fun Picture!!

Yay we're almost Irish

So after that was all finished with, we picked up some food to cook, ate dinner, and took a much needed nap.  We had to get a bit of energy to start our St. Paddy's day....at midnight. A bunch of Katie's friends from her school in Lancaster were over for the big weekend, so we met them at none other than, Coppers. Classic.  A Irish football player bought Katie and I drink to begin the St. Paddy's day celebration.  We didn't stay out too late because we wanted to be ready for the morning.

On the morning of St. Paddy's day, Katie and Tyler had to head back to England so that Tyler could catch his flight back to the States on Sunday.  Most of the main roads were closed due to the Parade, so we walked down to the Liffey and got them a cheaper cab there.  After that it was to one of the American's house.  He had breakfast and drinks for us.  After a while we headed over to watch the parade.  It was very theatrical!  There were people everywhere! People had the hats with the red beard, beers, green everything, everywhere.  It was stereotypical Ireland.... Leprechauns....(which apparently the Irish think that Americans pronounce it Lee-pra-seans [i'm not good at phenetics] which I'd never heard it pronounced like that until I came to Ireland)
We also watched the Gaelic Football game, which the first time I'd watched Gaelic football, usually it's rugby.  There was also a rugby game on after that, but we went to get some food before the rest of our night.

 

Monday was a bank holiday here since Paddy's day was on a Saturday, so that was great we did not have class.  So I worked out and went to the Dublin Zoo with Dόnal!  It's the most 'wildlife' I have seen since I've been to Ireland.  Usually I just see dogs, cats, birds, and the deer when I run in Pheonix park (which I forgot to mention that on Thursday Dόnal took me on a twelve mile run.  It went decently well I would say and I recently signed up for the half marathon at the end of May!)  The zoo had a good variety...and lots of turtles!!

Once again I'll have to put more pictures up later.  My computer won't let me upload anymore.  Overall Successful weekend and I'll try to blog again this week because I will have some activities to talk about for this week! How exciting!

Guinness, Newgrange, & Tara Hill

Sorry for the delay in the post.  I guess that's to be expected from me, so just trying to be consistent with that, I suppose.
So I was on spot, when I said we were going to the Guinness Factory.  It was quite fun, not as good as the Jameson Distillery.  The tour was self-guided, which I actually did not like as much.  With our ticket we were to receive a pint of Guinness.  You could either redeem it on the second floor and 'pour your own pint,' or wait until the seventh floor and enjoy it with the view of the whole city.

I decided to pour my own pint, and now I am a pro.  The guys that were working the station even taught us how to make the shamrock in the head.  I also received, yet another certificate.  I am curious to see what my next one will be.

So I will move on to my Saturday, since I did absolutely nothing on Friday except work out.  Saturday Colton and I went to Newgrange and Tara Hill via bus tour.  It was about 45 minutes Northwest of Dublin.  It was a tour full of history, so it was interesting, but I don't know how much I actually retained.  Our tour guide, Molly Gibbins, was like an encyclopedia, ridiculous.

Newgrange is in the Boyne Valley and was constructed over 5,000 years ago, making it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.  Newgrange is best known for the illumination of its passage and chamber by the winter solstice sun.

                       

After this stop it was off to Tara Hill.  Back in the day (like 1100s) Tara hill was the capital of Ireland spiritually and politically.  Many kings used to live on this hill.  From the top of the hill, 3/4 of Ireland can be seen.  This was helpful so they could see for miles if any ones was coming.  Now there are not castles or any remains (besides two monuments), it is just mounds of dirt, but the view is magnificent.

I feel like I can't post the pictures that I took from there because they won't do it any justice.  I will add a few more pictures up of Tara Hill in the near future.

Saturday there was a rugby match, Ireland vs. Scotland.  It was a good match; i liked watching it.  Ireland won!!  We ended up going out that night, and there were a bunch of Scottish people out, in their kilts I might add.  I obtained a nice Ireland vs. Scotland scarf from a nice Scottish man.  

Well that's all for now, I believe..... If I don't blog tomorrow sometime, which is probably unlikely, I won't posting anything until after St. Paddy's day.  This place is going to get wild! *Earmuffs mom* Stocking up on the booze tomorrow.

 

Jameson for Dinner??? Why not?

So first of all I have to talk about last night (Monday) since something fun happened.  I went to work out again, and while I was working out...doing Turbo Kick for the first time since I bruised my knee bone.....one of the fitness instructors, J.B., at the gym was watching.  Anyhow I asked about the stereo and we got to talking about Turbo Kick.  I showed him some sections of Turbo and ends up he is a Zumba instructor.   He showed me a song and then had to go so his supervisor didn't yell at him.  So this instructor is from Spain, and I am not sure what exactly what he is doing in Ireland.....but he was a great Zumba instructor and he came back later and showed me another song.  It was so much fun.....a great/fun workout!!!!

Anyway on to today, Tuesday, (You guys are lucky I am having an exciting week.....and you might even get another blog before this weekend if you're lucky [Guinness Factory Thursday if it is decent weather])....
Two of Hannah's friends are here from America on spring break, so we are doing Dublin-y things this week.  Today we went to the Jameson Distillery, and it was one of the greatest days.
Colton and I arrived there before Hannah and Caitlin and Sarah, so we decided on an Irish coffee and Jameson neat (pure).  It was the best Irish coffee....ever!... and now I know how to make it.  Once they arrived, it was just about time to go on the tour, which was pretty cheap since we are students here.  John Jameson's motto was 'Sine Metu', which means 'without fear.'  It was interesting to hear about the grainstore, malting, milling, mashing, fermentation, distillation, maturation, marrying, and vatting of Jameson.  I was even chosen to be a whiskey tester.  We tasted Jack Daniels(single distilled), Scotch Wiskey(double distilled), and Jameson(triple distilled).  The Jameson is by far the best.  I received a certificate for being a whiskey tester (yet another certificate I have received in Ireland).  Also, everyone received a free drink either Jameson neat, Jameson with ginger ale, Jameson with cranberry juice, or Jameson with Sprite.

So I have been trying to add more photos, but my computer is pretty jacked right now.  

More to come later, I suppose. 

A Little Overdue

So I apologize for such a long delay in a post.  The past week was hectic with tests and having fun.  I just did not get around to it.

I will go back to last weekend when we went to Kerry/Dingle with one of my classmates, Ellie. This is on the very west coast of Ireland.  We went there by train after our classes on Friday.  The train ride was four hours and then it was another hour by car.  Her dad picked us up and took us on some crazy curvy roads around the mountain.  The deeper into the country you go, the more narrow the roads become.  It was basically a one lane road, so if another car was coming, one driver has to pull over on the side and let them pass.  On the way back you just kind of had to guess if a car was coming because it was so foggy.  (No worries, mom, I'm still alive!)

It was the best weekend I have had since I've been in Ireland.  It was so beautiful!!!!  If I was going to move to Ireland to live, I would live somewhere along that penninsula.  Dingle is a small town near Ellie's house. Dingle is one of the few towns left that is Gaeltacht, which is an Irish speaking community.  Ellie lives in Kerry, which is basically back-roads and wonderful scenery.

As soon as we arrived on Friday evening, we had amazing pasta and garlic bread along with a fruit & meringue parfait.  It was delicious.  Ellie's mom made us amazing food all weekend; it was so nice to have good home-cooked food.  I am pretty sure I gained weight over that weekend, but the great food was well worth it.  Friday night was a chill night.  We watched a movie and some Irish TV shows like Tallafornia (the Irish version of Jersey Shore...just as trashy)

From Ellie's house we had an amazing view.  She lives just about a ten minute walk from the beach, so we went on a walk there Saturday morning.  We had beautiful weather; people kept telling us, "Oh this isn't normal weather here.  You guys really lucked out."  Ellie and her boyfriend, Jack, took us around Slea Head and the whole mountain, they took us to see Fungie, the famous dolphin in Dingle.  People travel to Dingle to see this dolphin that has been there for years and years.  Some Irish think that the people of Dingle replace the dolphin time after time, but I'll believe the people of Dingle. We did actually see him too.
Saturday was a jam-packed day; we did more sight-seeing, and Hannah and I both got a hair cut and ice cream.  Saturday evening we went to mass with Ellie, her mom, and sister.  Apparently, they do not have hour long masses like we do in the States.  Around 35-40 minutes is the average length.

On the beach

A view from the beach looking back towards Ellie's house

A view near Ellie's

Ditto

Greenness

Slea Head

Cliffs off of Slea Head

Beauty

Our last event for the day was going to a pub and night club.  It was a good time.  Ellie also informed us that we wreak of American.  We were asking her if she saw us without speaking, would she know we were American.  Her instant answer was YES.  She explained because our complexion, eyes, and teeth mainly.  Not five minutes later this random guy came up to us and was like, "Hey, are you guys from America?"  How ironic, yes we are.  Later in the night we were asking some of Ellie's friends where we look like we're from or whatnot, and apparently I look more American than Hannah.  Bottom line: I WREAK American.

Sunday morning I went on a run on the beach and came back to a homemade Irish breakfast: eggs, toast, beans, tomatoes, and meat (which I obviously did not eat).  The rest of our day was mostly traveling back to Dublin.  It was a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday we had our first exam and that was in Professional Practice.  I thought it was going to be more specific than it was, so hopefully I did okay.  The girls in our course said that we may not ever know what we got on our exam?? weird, I would like to know my progress in the class. One of the lecturers for that class just retired, so we had a surprise fairwell party for her.  She is the sweetest lady!

Tuesday it was Blair's birthday (one of the guys from Purdue), so we celebrated.  Colton, Hannah, and I made him dinner and had a small cake for him, and then we met up with some other people and went to the a pub and club.

Wednesday I had my microbiology lab practical assessment.  I am so glad I am basically done with that class.  I only have a theory test in April for it. The lectures are over because it is half microbiology, half immunology, and I do not have to take the immunology section of it!!! So grateful for that.

One of the two guys in our class, Dόnal, is big into marathons and working out in general.  We went on two morning runs around the city.  It was so nice to see the city at that time, along with the sunrise.  I am wanting to do a half marathon while I am here, but I need to look more into the dates and places and whatnot.  Saturday I went on a run in Pheonix Park.  There are deer that just hang out in the fields, and I ran literally ten feet from some of them.  It was such a great morning to run.  The sun was out and it was decently warm, so perfect...for Ireland.
However, today (Sunday) it was hailing, while it was sunny.  It was kind of comical.

This past weekend we stayed in Dublin and just kind of hung out.  It was nice to have just a weekend here in Dublin.  Today for dinner Colton and I went to get sushi.  We lucked out and it happened to be all you can eat for 20 euro (for two hours).  There were plates just revolving around the bar and you just grab whatever you want.   There is one catch though, if you take a plate, you have to eat it all or you get charged extra. We probably ate about 120 euro worth of sushi; it was kind of ridiculous.  Towards the end Colton grabbed a plate of crayfish and it was awful.  We tried to find ways to get rid of it, like putting some of it a napkin, dropping a few pieces, & hiding a few pieces.  We left and could barely tolerate the walk home because we were so full.  (one of those had-to-be-there kind of stories...much funnier in real life).

Okay I am so tired of typing.  Hopefully I covered everything....I'll add more pictures later.  I can't even handle it right now.

2 weeks until St. Patrick's day!!!