Ok so, sorry this is a MONTH into my adventures, but you're all just gonna have to get over that because now it is finally here! Here I will keep you as up to date as possible on adventures and anecdotes from Ireland. :) So far I have more international friends than Irish friends, but no worries folks, I am immersing myself in the culture as much as possible and loving every moment!
Here goes the speed course to catch you all up:
Week One: Sleeping through things because I contracted what I call the "plague" just days before traveling to Ireland. Yes, it has been over a month that I have had this illness, but week one was definitely the worst. "Plague"+ jet lag= awful delirium! However, I was still super excited to be where I was and pushed my tired, hacking-up-a-lung-self to sight see on a hop-on, hop-off bus tour, walk into the city for a day to visit Dublin castle and eat at the Queen of Tarts with three lovely American girlfriends of mine, and meet a good handful of wonderful internationals at orientation whom I am still friends with! Hey, you would do it too if you were finally in the one country you were totally in love with since childhood! Never mind the fact I thought I was dying from the lungs out. Then classes started, but that wasn't very interesting because I only had two at the time. Only at week two did I have acting lessons, and week four! for singing. But I went to a couple bars of course, even though I don't remember if that really started in week one...
Week Two: The Team America, K-Dubs trip to Trim! That was a lot of fun and the most sun we had seen since arriving in Dublin! We simply walked around ruins and sheep and took great pictures of Trim Castle, which was used in the filming of Braveheart! Even though that is a Scottish movie, movie-makers are cheap skates and filmed 90% of the movie in Ireland because Ireland doesn't tax musicians and movie-makers...cool :) for me! I knew there was a reason I liked Ireland. That week I had my first acting lesson and I absolutely adore my professor! I have to have three monologues ready for my exam: one after 1950 (modern), one before 1950 (classical), and one Irish play after 1950. I also will be tested on the time periods the plays take place in and the histories of their playwrights! I am excited for all of this work! I don't remember the rest of week two off the top of my head...
Week Three: This weekend I went to Kilkenny with 8 of my international friends, now otherwise known as my "international family" :). We had a really amazing time in a town whose biggest attraction was a castle and a slew of churches, and a few good bars. Welcome to Ireland!! We tried to save as much money as possible by buying ingredients for spaghetti at a grocery store in town and we had our official "cock...i mean cook" take the reins and do what he as an original Italian does best: cook fabulous spaghetti!!! It was a meal fit for a king, and an army. Sure we had 9 people, but with 2.5 kilos of noodles we had WAY too much and had to dole some out to hungry hostel occupants. Thank goodness they were hungry! Then we downed some beer and went to a pub, discovered many new Italian hand gestures and German hand games...then a club! Oh I need to mention that this was also Valentine's Day! haha Meaning, we were not dressed up or accompanied by any significant others, so the club felt awkward. After the "Crazy Italian", as I shall call him in this blog, stole a few drinks from innocent Irish folk, we returned to our lovely hostel which smelled a bit but had all the comforts of home. Finally, after a very funny row over the lights and water in the Crazy Italian's face, we slept. Next day was Kilkenny Castle and a bus ride home. :) That week nothing exciting happened except I got my visa!! woot.
Week Four: Ok finally. It started with a weekend trip to Killarney and Dingle in County Kerry with 95 of Griffith College's most intrigueing international students. To make a long story short(I know none of you will really get this, I shall expand if you insist but only if you insist-my attention span is wavering-surprise!) : 6 hr long bus ride one way-wanted to hurl, got a rockin irish history lesson from Paul, hostel was nice, drank, went to a bar/club, great band, lots of fog, Blonde C - Oh girl haha, sleep, Dingle, Fungi and boat, coffee/bookstore, Crazy Italian carbonarra, drank, club, free bud light WTF awesome!, drank some more and danced, met cute rugby boy from Limerick, drank on his dime, ate fast food on his dime, did it really rain Meg?, sleep, check out of hotel, wait, Hangover Heidi, waterfall, return 6hr long bus ride OMG, the end. Then that week I got my first singing lesson and my parents came on Thursday YAY!!
Present Week: Whirlwind weekend with my parents involving many Guinness, shopping, and great food and company! Oh and some old Irishman at a pub last night thought I looked like Scarlett Johansen- reason number TWO why I love Ireland. The End I am tired...who would have thunk I had the attention span to write all that?
