Happy Ending & A Tribute To The Wasters

[This is the hardest story that I have ever told]- the last blog about being in Ireland.


We arrived back in Dublin from Barcelona around four on Wednesday and I had to say more good-byes. :(  Dόnal was there to drive Iain and me back to my place.  We were spending our last few days together at my house with a trip to Wexford in the mix.

Dόnal had booked a dinner for us at The Church Bar.  I had mentioned earlier in the year that I wanted to go there sometime, so he had made reservations. It is such a nice restaurant that used to be a church.  We sat upstairs overlooking the bar area.  There are still stain glass windows and there was a musician playing while we were eating.  The food was delicious; I got a stuffed pepper with artichoke salad for starter and gnocchi for main.  I did try a bite of  Dόnal's haddock and cod from his starter and main, respectively.  I'm still not convinced on fish, but it isn't awful.  Then for dessert we split a berry crumble and chocolate fondant.  I was so full after all this, plus we had two glasses of white wine.  The date was like [A little bit of Heaven] (multiple puns intended).

We then walked a few calories off back home to Iain, where we attempted to watch a movie, but all fell asleep within the first half hour.

Thursday was our trip to Wexford!  Lucy accompanied us too, which made it even better.  Iain's house is so nice and his family was lovely!! They all got on so well and are extremely smart.  His younger brother and sister were both doing exams at the time but were so chill about everything.  They also have a bear, Tyson, as a pet.  When we first got there we played Just Dance 2 on the Wii and  Dόnal made Miis for all of us. Then we decided to head in to town.  We had no plans and all of us are very indecisive, but somehow we made it to the forest/beach.  In the forest there were some rope swings we played on for a bit.  Then we walked on and decided upon the tree  that we played 'tip the can' with for a good hour. It is kind of like hide and go seek, but has some different rules (which took a half hour to figure out the right ones...we played about half a dozen different ways first- wasters at their finest).  I miss being a kid, [I'm not pretending] ....the amount of games I played in a span of a couple weeks between the car rides and Wexford....

After we got tired and winded we headed to the beach beach and drew in the sand and watched the tide.  We had to start making our way back to the car because it was almost time for dinner.  Of course, typical wasters, we got distracted from our goal a few times.   Dόnal taught us how to drive and we all took turns (Lucy was already a pro).  I drove a manual on the other side of the road....but not really because we were basically just in a parking lot.  No one crashed or died = success.  Then one last stop off in Tesco before din din.  While we ate, Iain told his family the story about us getting stuck in the parking garage in Barcelona. They all appreciated it, and more fully when he included all the details.

We stayed in an played Wii Fit for a while before they introduced me to Father Ted, a tv series about priests, which once again we all fell asleep during the episodes.

The next morning we finished up our visit with some P.A. on the Wii Fit and rushed back to Dublin.  Lucy left us for about 24 hours and  Dόnal left us for a shorter time while he went to work in Cavan.

Saturday was cleaning, baking, and wasting before our last night out.  Billy was nice enough to pick Mooney up from the aiport AKA bring pictures of Mooney, so we could take pictures with her all night.  We went to Messrs, which always results in a good night.

Sunday was a skype date with Mooney and a trip to Blanchardstown, where there is a shopping center.  We had planned on making there at two, which means four or five, but we were good with our time and were only an hour later than planned.  We stopped in Pheonix park on the way back to get ice cream and walk around a bit. We couldn't stay too long because we were to meet Ellie, Jack, and Siobhan for dinner at seven.  We were just a bit late, still in the socially acceptable time frame.

We watched Ireland in the Euros at a pub (after we left one pub because they didn't except age cards and demanded a passport), unfortunately they lost, which is why everyone was depressed, not because I was leaving. [No hope, no love, no glory].  On our way home we picked up two pints of ice cream and sulked until we went to bed.

Our plan was to wake up at 5am, get everything together and leave at 5:30am so we would be at the airport a little after 6am.  I was planning ahead and giving myself a half hour to say good-byes, so then I would still have about three hours before my flight.  Definition of wasters- apparently I turned my alarm clock off and Lucy's didn't go off at all.  I [wake up at in the morning] at 6:30am....that was the quickest I've seen us move.  We made it out of the house in, I'd say 5 minutes flat.  Needless to say, I was freaking out.  Luckily the check-in line wasn't bad and neither was the security line.  I said quick and depressing good-byes.  We had our last group hug (until next summer when  Dόnal, Iain, and Lucy come to America for a J-1:) ) and I headed to the security check.  It was so sad to look back and see the three of them standing there and me leaving [This is the way you left me].  I think people were wondering what my problem was because I was crying throughout the line [No happy ending]. I composed myself a bit and then broke down after again after customs.  During the second security check the man working asked me if I was okay. ha. I made it to my flight in plenty of time.  I just didn't get to send in my VAT form or go to duty free to pick some stuff up for people.  It all worked out okay.  I called  Dόnal, Iain, and Lucy and talked to them right up until I was handing over my boarding pass.  I had to say my final good-byes so we could [Then live rest of our life, but not together].


The flight was fine I watched three movies and three tv shows during the seven hour and forty-five minute flight.  My second flight was delayed a bit, but not by too much.  Then it was just two more hours for a drive to Loogootee.  It was so weird coming in town because I hadn't been here in so long.

I'm not quite on Central Time yet. I woke up at [Two o'clock in the morning] and decided I would just blog instead of sleep.  Losing five hours was much easier than gaining five hours and in a few more days I'll gain three more hours. [Can't get no rest].
I may try and blog about my summer, but because confidentiality and what not it won't be that detailed.


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What I'll miss about Ireland (just a few)

•  THE PEOPLE
•   Being a waster
• The trips to people's to visit people's families
• Morning runs around the Liffey/Pheonix park
• THE PEOPLE
• A small class
• Class events (Mystery tour, horse races, dinners etcs)
• The Irish accent
• THE PEOPLE
• Scones
• The amount of ice cream/chocolate I ate
• The lax attitude
• THE PEOPLE
• K street mart
• K street library
• The libo-cop
• THE PEOPLE
• Coppers/Messrs
• Having my own house
• Being foreign
• THE PEOPLE
• Penney's
• Trinity library during exams
• Extended study breaks (after extended study breaks)
• THE PEOPLE
• Living in the city
• Grafton Street
• The country side
• THE PEOPLE
• Willy bum bum
• Mika
• Nights out
• THE PEOPLE
• The Younga
• Frank
• Domestics
• THE PEOPLE
• Going into the gym for the chats
• Wasting
• ETC

What I won't miss about Ireland

• The too lax attitude about certain things (grade returns)
• Having my own house
• The exchange rate
• The weather
• The exam system

I just want to thank all the people I've met throughout the semester.  All the Humnuts (and biomeds) had an impact on my life and I will miss you dearly.  (Add my friend Geoffrey Keating on Facebook ;) so we can all chat 'while I'm away')  You have all made my experience fantastic.  These blogs only do a small part of depicting the amount of fun I've had throughout the semester and how wonderful you all are.  I will come back to Ireland some day, but it won't be for a few years when I can afford it.  I couldn't imagine making such great friends and not seeing them again.  I have made such great memories with all of you and this experience was definitely something I will remember for a lifetime.  As sad it was to leave, I'm more than happy that it happened; I would do it ten times over. I love you all.  [Can't get no love without sacrifice]. Good luck in placement this summer!  Skype me!

And a special shout out to the wasters for destressing me a bit and making me a waster as well.  Keep calm and waste on.  

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Part II

Barca Barca Barca!

The weather in Barcelona was more of the summer weather I’m used to with a plus side, low humidity.  We didn’t arrive until Tuesday night, so we went right out to eat dinner and look for pubs and clubs.  It was a bit of a failed night in that area, but still a good time. 

Wednesday we went to, Barceloneta, the main touristy beach for the whole day.  It reminded me of a relaxing segment of spring break.  We got a volleyball, racquets, and a tube…and of course ice cream.  (Actually I think that day we had ice cream as pre-breakfast as well).  I may have my days mixed up, but after the beach I think we walked along the boardwalk and then around the city a bit.  We found a park with a version of teeter totters, a tire swing and ‘balancing’ balance beams.  

Wednesday night Ciara, Síobhan and I were the only ones that ended up out at the clubs.  We got in free and received two free drinks- woot!

Thursday we all went on cable cars that overlooked the city and went up to a castle.  We hopped off at the castle and looked around for a bit, ate lunch, took some fun pictures, and went back down the cable cars.  The plan was for us to split up, which we did, but half of us were to go to Las Ramblas and walk around and half go to a water park in Barcelona.  I was in the water park group, but it turned out it wasn’t going to be open for another couple of days.  Síobhan wanted to make the most of her trip and wanted to do something adventurous, so we talked to the nice information man and we went on a train to a non-touristy beach.  It was so nice; it was pretty small and secluded.  Our plan was to rent paddle boats, but we ended up mainly just sleeping.   

After we finally got our stuff together and headed back in, we ate dinner and got ready for a night out.  Everyone went out that night except Megan, because the poor thing was burnt to a crisp.  We found this row of about 20 different clubs that were all free in, so we just went down the line and went into each one.  Some of the clubs were quite interesting, nonetheless a good time. 

Friday was Dόnal and Síobhan’s last day, so they didn’t really have time to anything before hand.  Our plan was to go to the secluded beach, Garraf (or Giraffe as we called it).  The train ride was about a half hour- about the same as the Barceloneta beach.  Dόnal and Síobhan left before us so they could get something to eat and leisurely walk to the train station.  We ended up seeing them and saying good bye about four different times.  At the grocery shop, the train station, the ticket area, and the platform, we just didn’t want them to leave.

Our days at the beach were really just the same, go to the beach, sleep on the beach, get in the water a couple times, head home make dinner, and maybe go out.  Friday we stayed in though because we were all wrecked.  Saturday we went to Camp Nou, Parc Güell, and Las Ramblas.  Saturday night we went out to the clubs and before we knew it, it was almost 6am, so we decided we would just go home for breakfast and head straight to the beach.  I slept in quite a few different places in the span of a few hours that day:  on the metro home, in the sitting room for a few minutes, at the train station, on the train, at the beach, and on the platform between the train tracks.  The last one was because we beat the sun to the beach and it started raining while we were sleeping.  We debated a bit before getting up, but then headed to the train.  As we were waiting for the train, it started to get sunnier, so we delayed our train ride back. (I was asleep during the majority of these conversations- only waking up when a train zoomed past me and scared me half to death, along with Breda’s screams).  We ended up deciding it’d be worth it to stay, yet still proceeded to lay on the platform for a half hour.  It was cloudy but we all got a bit burnt that day, except Iain.  He was the only one the whole trip to not get burnt at all.   After our eventful previous night we  decided to stay in Sunday night and rest up before our journey to Port Aventura Monday.

Shona and Megan sat out for Port Aventura, so there was five of us going to the theme park.  We went on all the roller coasters, some not quite as thrilling as the others.  The park had Europe’s largest roller coaster, which we went on about four or five times.  It was our favorite by far.  The highlight of the park was getting stuck on the log ride.  I don’t think any of us are sure who’s idea it was to go on the ride because during it we all hated and wanted it to end because we were getting wet.  All five of us went in the same log.  There were about four hills to go down and when we got to the last one, the largest, we got stuck right before our downhill expedition. When we realized we were actually stuck, we were thrilled.  We were hoping we would get escorted down, so that we wouldn’t have to endure the massive splash.  However, when they did come up, we didn’t get escorted down by foot, just sent down in our log.  There were about seven logs behind us when our log started to move again.  It was actually hilarious.

Tuesday was our last day and another typical day at the beach.  We ended up never using the paddle boats even though we had intended to from day 1.

All right, the last eventful story of the trip, and maybe the best.  However, I think those that weren’t there will not appreciate it fully.  Our last night we wanted to be memorable, so we decided to go out to the clubs.  Breda, Iain, Lorraine, Shona, and I were the victims (Ciara had left for her next destination in Portugal).  We wanted to head out in time to get the metro to the clubs and make it in free before midnight. We set out a little after eleven, but did not make it too far.  We had climbed into the lift and intended to arrive on the first floor.  However, there was a lady that had called the lift down to the parking garage with a key.  She was giving us dirties, so we thought oh we’ll just get out here.  Bad idea (arguably a good idea, though)….we couldn’t get back into the elevator because we didn’t have the right kind of key. We were stuck in the parking garage.  We thought okay we’ll just call up to Megan and ask her to send the lift down to us (this was actually after about twenty minutes of skipping around and taking pictures on motorcycles) …BUT there was no button to the parking garage.  She tried them all and failed, so was forced to ask the neighbors to help (we were in a big apartment complex).  One man apparently said that he would go get us, but never did.  So were walking around trying to find an exit, but there is NO exit.  We tried to lift unscrew the garage door and lift it, but that wasn’t really working out for us.  Iain and I were having the bants, while Breda, Lorraine, and Shona were a bit nervous.  Quote of the evening by Breda, “Megan, we don’t know what to do.  We are running out of oxygen.”  This was completely false. We could actually go outside, but it was enclosed by walls and apartments.  It was quite stuffy down there though, so Iain had to take his shirt off to cool down.  Iain also used what little resources we had, maybe 100mls/~.5 cups of water.  He was doing pull ups and his hands got greasy, so he needed to wash them. 

Our escape was due Iain and his half-nakedness craziness.  After over an hour of being down there we had no escape and thought we would actually be sleeping there all night.  So Iain went to the outside segment and climbed up on this thin roof.  To make matters better Iain wasn’t wearing any pants because his jeans were too restricting to climb up the wall.  So due to all the ruckus, this Spanish man came out seeing Iain on top of a roof in only boxers and shoes and started yelling at him to get back.  After a while we managed to communicate with him that we were stuck with no way out, so the man came down and rescued us.  (Side note: at the start we had all brought down bags of rubbish and recyclables to put in the bins.  I don’t think very many actually made it to the bin, but the man saw the bottles of alcohol and thought we had been drinking down there.)

The only down side of Barcelona-I acquired food poisoning at some point in the trip, but luckily it didn’t really hit me until Wednesday, the day we were leaving.

It was the best trip abroad from being abroad.  Fun was had by all!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Part I

After exams were finally finished, Dόnal, Lorraine, and I traveled to Clare for the half marathon the next day. Lorraine lives in Clare, so we stayed at her house, which was right by the sea and across the way from the Cliffs of Moher.  It was so nice and would have been better if we could have stayed longer, but in the morning we were up early to head to the start of the half marathon.  It was my first one, for those who don't know, and quite tough.  We ran up two mountains; after the first one I told Dόnal, "Thank God that was at the beginning!" and then maybe two miles later he warned me, "I don't want to scare you, but look over there."  There was a second mountain we had to go up! Somehow I survived the second one and the full 13.1 miles.  It was very hard but had wonderful scenery and definitely worth it.

Next it was on to Caaaaaavan for a couple nights where I met everyone's parents. all their mom's are so cute and their fathers are complete babes. I stayed at Lucy's place and herself and Niamh showed me a night out on the town Saturday. It was good, but I was half out of it from the lack of sleep from studying (or attempting) and the half marathon. Sunday was a scorcher (relatively speaking: a scorcher here is anything above 70) so we went to a forest park where there was a beach and lay out for a bit. That evening we went to the Olde Post Inn, where Dόnal works, for a meal.  They pulled out all the stops.  It was amazing there was appetizers, starters, middle course, main course, dessert, tea, coffee & petit fours, and then two rounds of shots on the house! it was so good I got asparagus for starters and celeriac lasagna for mains. I'm getting lazy so i'm not putting up pictures. You can find them on facebook. Then we got our very own taxi to town by the chefs who were on their way home from work. It was great but I was stuffed, yet the night was still young. 

Two pubs and a nightclub later and we were all back at  Dόnal's, where I proceeded to show off my only talent, which is backflips on a trampoline. Also I fed Spud (the dog) a whole loaf of brown bread, and told him he was my best friend, before telling him he was only using me for the food.

Monday unfortunately we had to leave Cavan. Sad face. So we went on a roadtrip back to Dublin. In true waster style, it took us about six hours to leave but we had great fun in the car. 'is it a lake or a pond'. When we eventually got back to Dublin we went for food and I had to say some goodbyes to Mooney. it was terrible but I got a really cool poster signed by all of the class. It was totes emosh.

Off to the beach beach in Barcelona baby.

(co-wrote by  Dόnal  McGoldrick)