Location: Dublin, Ireland

I apologize to everyone for taking so long to post another blog! If you thought my life was busy before, think twice! Honestly though, you have all not missed much. The highlight of the last 3 weeks for me has been St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Dublin which I will explain in detail. Since returning home from Dublin, I have worked to complete 3 final papers! With the last day of classes being March 27^th, I had to get straight to work in order to complete my assignments before Spring Break…. Which is tomorrow!! I am going to Paris, Barcelona, Seville, and Lagos, Portugal. It is also my 21^st birthday on Tuesday… Happy Birthday to me!!! There is a lot on my mind to blog about, so I am going to go week by week.

The last time I blogged, I was very sad because Reilly was just leaving me after an awesome week we had together. There was no time to spare after his departure because my friend from my home town, Katherine, was coming to visit 2 days after Reilly left. I felt like a hotel service, cleaning and washing all the sheets to turn them over for my next guest! Katherine arrived in Galway on Tuesday, March 12^th. She was amazed by Galway’s beauty and pleasant atmosphere, but who wouldn’t be?! We had a fun ‘girls week’ eating lots of food and catching all the good ‘craic’ in Galway. Katherine repeatedly said coming to Ireland made her appreciate her father more who is very Irish. She and I wished Mr. Stewart was with us to experience the same fun we had. Our few days in Galway were fun and fast, but the real fun was yet to come. On Friday, we set off for Dublin to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day weekend! This was definitely a once in a life time opportunity. We were also very lucky because we got to meet our other high school friend, Lizzie, who is studying abroad in London this summer. She flew to Dublin for the weekend.

On Friday night, we began our weekend with Temple Bar: The most famous (and touristy) row of bars in Ireland! The Temple Bar area was crazy this weekend, everyone was dressed in crazy green outfits. It was so crowded it was hard to walk. Sometimes this isn’t fun, so we walked all throughout the city to find a place to eat because it was so crowded. However, we still got our shot at the pubs that night. Lizzie arrived late, so we went back to the hotel after waiting up for her in order to get a good night of sleep for a busy, long day the next day.

On Saturday March 16^th, it was a beautiful sunny day and we were on a mission to get our green outfits for the weekend! By Saturday, Dublin was crowded with tourists and action, live street performances on every corner! We had a lot of fun dressing in our green accessories and we enjoyed the entertainment. Saturday we spent most of the day at THE actual Temple Bar. I told the girls that if they wanted to Temple Bar experience, we would have to go during the day because it gets so crowded at night. We were very lucky to get a table at Temple Bar where we stayed most of the day. It was fun as well because there was a big rugby game in town, Ireland v. Italy, so there was a lot of camaraderie.  

After having too much fun on Saturday, we were good about getting to bed early so we could get up and look cute for the parade on Sunday! The Parade was very crowded and very green, what a surprise. It was a little cool in the morning, but we lined up on O’Connell Street to get a good spot. After the parade there were millions of people so it took a long time to walk from point A to point B. We finally found a pub to get a bite to eat at and celebrate the holiday for the rest of the night.

On Monday morning, I said goodbye to Katherine as she flew out of Dublin back to the states. It was a long and sad ride back to Galway because I was entering the final stretch of school. Monday morning was a ‘bank holiday’ in Ireland. What a coincidence…..

School ended on March 27^th because we had off for Holy Thursday and Good Friday. I was extremely busy during the final days of classes because I had to write 3 final papers before my spring break trip. My schedule is very nicely split up because of my 6 classes, I had 3 final papers due by today, April 5^th, and I have 3 final exams: April 25^th, 29^th, and May 2^nd. Today I handed my papers in with a smile on my face because it is the best feeling in the world to get things done!!!

Tomorrow starts a 21^st birthday week excursion for me… I am SO EXCITED!!! This time tomorrow I will be in Paris. My trip is set up from April 6^th to April 15^th; these two weeks now is our spring break before the final exam period. My good friend on the trip, Katie, is traveling with me. Tomorrow morning we are leaving at 3 am for the bus to get to Dublin airport and will be arriving in Paris at 12 noon. Paris is one more hour ahead of Ireland, so now I will be 6 hours ahead of the United States.

In Paris, we are staying with Katie’s sorority sister. I am very excited to be staying with someone in Paris who goes to school there because she is going to show us the ropes! Monday night is my 21^st birthday, so we are very excited to celebrate. Thank you to all my family who has been sending me birthday cards! It is so fun to receive cards even when you are so far away. Missing you back at home!!

We are going to be in Paris from Saturday until Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, Katie and I are getting up early and then flying to Barcelona to stay for 2 nights. The two of us chose Barcelona because that is a place we both really wanted to go. We are also looking forward to the warm weather!!! It has been a little nicer in Ireland, mid to high 40s in the last few days. However, the projected highs for Spain this week are mid 60s!! I only packed cool clothes, so it better be warm! After spending two days in Barcelona, Katie and I are flying to Seville. From Seville, we are going on a “Discover Lagos Portugal” Excursion, a group spring break getaway for the weekend. A bus is picking up the group of students who signed up from Seville and is taking us to a resort in Lagos, Portugal for the weekend. This is an all inclusive trip that got good reviews so we figured, what the heck! We are excited to stay in a hotel and check out all the beautiful beaches and cliffs of Portugal. I will put up a picture to show you how beautiful it is going to be!!! Plus we will be with a lot of college students, so we cannot wait.

After a final weekend in Portugal, it will be a sad ride home from Seville on Monday, April 15^th. Ireland will greet us with final exams to study for…. These are two weeks that I am not looking forward too! However, I am lucky to have such a fabulous week starting tomorrow. My dad has recently informed me that he and his brother, Uncle Tom are coming to Ireland for a golf trip on May 22^nd. After a week with them, I will be coming home on May 29^th.

March was definitely the quickest month since I have been here and I cannot believe that there is an end point of this experience in the future! However, I still have 2 months with a lot of action. I look forward to blogging next week about all the fun I had on my trip!!! Hopefully the weather will be nice and the RyanAir flights will go smoothly.

Belated “Happy Easter” to everyone at home! I had a quiet Easter at the Galway cathedral and went out to brunch with friends afterwards. However, I did miss my family the most on Easter Sunday. I am going to bed because I am getting up at 3 am tomorrow, but I am happy to catch everyone up with my last three weeks. What do they say in France?? AU VOIRE!!!!!!!!!

PS: Next time you hear from me I will be 21!!!

I am going to post a separate blog with all my pictures.

Location: Galway, Ireland

I am very lucky to have a boyfriend who would come visit me in Ireland after leaving him for his last semester at school! He is very supportive however and now he sees why I am so in love with Ireland.

Last Saturday, March 2^nd, I left my apartment in Galway at 6 am to meet Reilly at the airport when he landed at 9. The timing was perfect and we took a cab to the Temple Bar District in downtown Dublin where we stayed for the night to allow Reilly to “catch up” on the time difference. He said he loved the international flight (it was his first time to Europe) and his trip went smoothly. Knowing me, I did not let him go to sleep the first day because he had to get on my time schedule! We enjoyed walking around Grafton Street which has a lot of shops and street entertainment. We had a nice lunch at O’Neil’s pub which allowed Reilly and I to have our first “legal” drinks together and his first Irish pint.

On Saturday night we went out for an Italian dinner at a place called Carluccio’s in Dublin. I did not think to make a reservation, so it took us awhile to find a place. However, we were able to sit right down and enjoy homemade pasta. Our meal wasn’t really “Irish” but it was delicious! After dinner we had fun the Temple Bar district at “Gogarty’s” pub and we enjoyed two live bands and Irish dancing! The Irish dancing was my favorite part because I had not yet seen it since being here. Now I feel obligated to see RiverDance while I am here.

On Sunday, after a much needed night of sleep, we did a repeat of the tour I did back in December with my Dad to show Reilly the Guinness Factory and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This was very special to him and we got some good pictures together. We had lunch at the Guinness Factory and the same pub band was playing during our lunch that was playing at the pub the night before! How funny, and they remembered me for requesting “Galway Girl” so many times. Sunday night we took a bus back to Galway because I had to go to school on Monday.

Monday-Friday in Galway we did a range of sightseeing, shopping, and hanging out! Reilly was very impressed and in awe of Shop Street, the main district with pubs and tourist stores. Half of the nights we cooked at home and the other half we went out to dinner and tried different foods. We had Italian, Irish cuisine, and even French! Each night out was then followed by some good craic at the pub which all had live Irish music.

Tuesday, Reilly and I enjoyed watching the “football” game on TV in the pub “The Kings Head.” There was a lot of good craic! Just imagine a lot of people sitting around the TV for an American football game. The atmosphere was the same only a different sport and different country! “Real Madrid” defeated Westchester and therefore the crowd was unhappy because a lot of Irish players are on the Westchester team, which Reilly explained to me. He is already used to explaining to me what is going on. I still think it is so hard to watch soccer in that is it boring!

Wednesday, we did a trip to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher which he loved as well, especially his cabbage and bacon dish for lunch! I have done the Cliffs of Moher tour so many times now I think I have it memorized. Galway Tour Company should hire me!

Reilly was a good sport while I did go to some classes this week. He was a teasing distraction to not think about anything else! Friday, our final day together we went to a movie to see Arbitrage with Richard Gere, it was great! Go see it! And we had a nice pub dinner at the “Skeff” Hotel followed by a nice time at the pub “The Front Door” which had the PGA golf on TV from Miami, Florida. He could not get over how friendly the people were here and how lucky we were to meet so many nice travelers. Just about every day we had a nice conversation with total strangers whether on a tour or at the pub. We were even very lucky to have conversed with a priest from Boston in St. Patrick’s Cathedral who gave us a special blessing.

I am very sad to see Reilly leave today. We did a lot of celebrating while we were here for our birthdays coming up (His is April 1^st, mine is April 9^th) and his graduation from Penn State in just about 7 weeks! With a “See ya later” and a hug goodbye, I know I will see him again soon this summer. It is not just Reilly, I miss all of my friends and family. These past 3 weeks between Mom/Yiayia coming and Reilly were a great break for me from being on my own.

In the upcoming week, it is time to get ready for St Patrick’s day! I am again hosting this week, this time my friends Katherine and Lizzie from high school who are coming for the craic this weekend. We are going to stay in Dublin for the parade festivities. I am so excited! Katherine is getting in on Monday, I feel like a hotel, cleaning and turning over the apartment from Reilly to prepare for her stay! Lizzie is coming later in the week.

I have been productive today because I have been up since 6am to say goodbye to Reilly, so now that my cleaning is done and blog to be next, I plan on grocery shopping and doing homework this weekend. However, I am extremely tired and will probably be passing out shortly for a much needed nap. Thanks so much Reilly for coming to visit and for spending your spring break with me! This will be a week that both of us will never forget. Wish we me luck as I strive to do my best in school these next 7 weeks. Cheers!

Location: Galway, Ireland

Hello blog community! It has been awhile since I have blogged. Reilly just left me this morning and we had an AMAZING week together since we last saw each other in December!

Last week, February 24-March 1, I spent all day everyday in the library getting caught up on work. Amazingly, there are only 2.5 weeks left of school now because we end classes on March 27^th, before Holy Thursday and Good Friday. I have about 3 papers to write and other exams to prepare for which I will take April 24-May 2^nd. Then I am done with school! Unbelievable!

To top that all off, I have declared March as my “month of not worrying about school.” All I can do is the best I can, I think I over-did things last week by trying to accomplish so much at once before Reilly came. However, you have to prioritize so you can have fun. Again, all I can do is try my best! That goes for everyone out there! No sense stressing out about everything because it will get done.

The weather is starting to get warmer slowly but surely. Yesterday (3/8) was probably the warmest day I have experienced, about 55 and sunny! I will have to get the golf clubs out when I am not so busy with school. My big deadline now for final projects is April 8^th.

That is all to say about the end of February! I cannot even put in words how excited I was for Reilly to visit. I am going to do a separate blog for our time spent together!

Location: Galway, Ireland

I am sitting in my room on this quiet Friday evening reflecting upon my productive week. Since I last blogged about my visit with mom and Yiayia, I have gone to County Kerry, Killarney Village for the weekend with my program. This week, I made a schedule all of the school work I needed to accomplish and have been extremely strict with myself, no partying and no fun when there is work to be done! Don’t feel sorry for me, I have had more fun than I should be having during normal school nights when I would usually be doing school work back at Penn State. This week I am successfully catching up with it feels like to be 8 weeks of school work…. So this is a challenge I am accepting graciously.

My weekend trip to County Kerry was pleasant and short, despite some bad weather and rather disgusting accommodations (1 hostel: 150 students). I enjoyed the country side of County Kerry. County Kerry and specifically Killarney Village is a very popular summer destination spot in Ireland. The town is small, but full of fancy hotels which must indicate it becomes quite popular when the weather is nice.

On Friday, our tour bus picked up the students living in my complex in Galway (American study abroad students) and we traveled to Limerick to pick up other study abroad students. The weekend trip was organized by our study abroad program provider and was therefore open to any students studying throughout Ireland. When we arrived in Killarney, we toured the “Muckross House”, an old mansion that once hosted a visit of Queen Victoria. After the tour, we were provided dinner for the night and I enjoyed a different and new night life to explore in the town with my friends.

Saturday morning we woke up early and went on a nature tour of the County Kerry Mountains which are privately own by a family who “exclusively” took us around the mountains by horse and buggy and boat. The weather was FREEZING!!!!! Rain blowing in your face the whole time, it would have been so much better if it were the summer months. Regardless we did get to see the good scenery, it’s just very hard to type enthusiastically about the experience because my toes have never been so cold in my life, even with my LL Bean boots. To top it all off, we had an outdoor picnic lunch afterward… who planned this trip??? I guess I am not allowed to complain because I still got to go and am still in Ireland. The pictures do not do the scenery justice however because it was extremely beautiful. It’s always nice to get out to new areas.

I came home from the weekend trip with an overwhelming sensation of how Galway is really home to me. Galway now provides me that feeling of security and comfort after being here for 7 weeks. I was anxious to get back to Galway because I have been so busy between going to Rome, Mom and Yiayia, and the trip, I have not had a weekend to myself… at all! Now this weekend, Friday night, I am so happy to be home in bed relaxing and typing my blog and getting my school work done. Every single day this past week I went to the library for about 5 hours or more…when I need to be serious I am good at it. Tomorrow I am planning on going back to the library and same for Sunday…maybe I will squeeze in some shopping sometime. I just skyped my mom and dad for a few hours, they are getting ready to go to my brother’s quarterfinal basketball game. My mom wishes she was back in Ireland with me.

Next weekend, the countdown finally ends as Reilly will make his way to Ireland by Saturday morning. I am SO EXCITED to see him! I have not seen him since before Christmas. We are going to have so much fun, and we were also just skyping about what golf courses we are thinking about playing while he is here. He said he is willing to play as long as it is warmer than 40 degrees… he is braver than I am! But we will manage. I look forward to blogging about everything we do together. This is why I am working so hard to get caught up on my school work this week. Reilly, thanks for being my academic motivation.

Galway is quiet as all the Irish students have gone home and all Americans are in bed catching up on what has been another quick and eventful week. The time flies as always. Next weekend is March….

I hope February has brought all study abroad students fun adventures and moments of tranquility as we have all developed a sense of what we call home during this experience. Let us now hope for warmer weather, good grades, and experiences of a lifetime to come in the remaining 3 months. Cheers.

Location: County Kerry, Ireland

Mom texted me this morning, February 13, to assure me that she and Yiayia had found their way back to the Galway Train Station. They are now traveling back to Dublin to conclude their week extravaganza in Ireland! Thanks to them, we had perfect weather for the 5 days they were in Galway. They brought the sunshine and kept out the winds of Galway; I told them many times that they could not believe how “nice” the weather was compared to how it has been! Thank you for that.

On Thursday, February 7th, Yiayia and Mom landed in Dublin early in the morning and were on a mission to stay awake in order to create a regular sleep schedule. In a daze, they navigated the new land and settled into the hotel. I was proud of them for keeping themselves busy all day. You can always count on the two of them to find the mall to spend some time at. Thanks to dad, I know how lovely the Shelbourne Hotel is, and I was happy to hear they ate lunch in the hotel and were directed to a theater at night to see a play. Whether they stayed awake in it remains questionable, however I trust them. We have Yiayia to thank for spending time in Dublin because when she went to exchange her money, they made an error in counting their money and she “hit the jackpot.” Mom and Yiayia wouldn’t realize this until later, and overall it was a sign for a good week to follow.

Friday, Mom and Yiayia were very excited to take the train to Galway where they would finally see me! I met them at the Galway train station at 12pm, and the sun was shining! They each had 1 suitcase, so I had known they packed well. The Meyrick Hotel was located right around the corner from the train station, so I walked them to their hotel and to the heart of Galway in “Eyre Square.” This was a perfect location and easy for me to get back and forth from my apartment and campus.

Friday afternoon I introduced the girls to “Shop Street,” Galway’s signature area of shopping and restaurants. We had a Panini at “Elle’s Cafe” and they were immediately captivated by the quaintness and character of the town. Because the weather was so nice, I told them we had to take pictures by the Galway pier with the water and sunshine in the background. After, I led them to my campus where they sat at Starbuck’s during my only afternoon class.

Friday night, we found a restaurant “Maxwell’s Bistro” on Shop Street and cheered to a fun week ahead of us. A busy weekend waited. Saturday, we took a 6 hour bus tour throughout the national park of “Connemara” which is north of Galway and very famous for its western rural atmosphere and home to the heart of the potato famine. This land is extremely hilly and marginal. Yiayia held her breath as the large tour bus barely navigated the small, winding roads. When you turn the sharp corners, you say a prayer thinking you are going to go over the cliff. The Connemara tour takes you through the town of “Cong” where the film “Quiet Man” was filmed, Yiayia had seen it. On our tour, we were all graced by 2 wild Connemara ponies along the road. They looked like unicorns! The final destination of the Connemara tour is at the Kylemore Abbey, built more than 100 years ago, originally a castle, now turned into an Abbey and former girls’ school. This was Yiayia’s favorite part of the trip and she made many comparisons to “Downton Abbey”, her new favorite show. We envisioned the servants preparing the house and ladies sitting in the sitting room, just as they do on the show or would have in the 1800s. Again, the rain stayed away! Just a few clouds. The tour arrived back in Galway at 6 and we proceeded to a fabulous dinner at the original Spanish Arch on Galway Bay.

Sunday came quickly as we all got up and met at the tour station once more to go on another 6 hour bus trip, this time to the Burren and Cliffs of Moher, south of Galway on the ocean. Another sunny day! The land of the Burren and cliffs is extremely different from the lands of Connemara. Instead of a mountainous, boggy region, the Burren is all limestone. We observed the ancient burial grounds of the Burren and enjoyed a nice lunch in the small town of Doolin, outside the cliffs. Yiayia and Mom especially like the manmade stone walls and cottage imagery. By now, they were really figuring out the history of the famine and the culture. Our tour guides/bus drivers provided great commentary each day. For lunch at the pub, Yiayia had her new found favorite soup, Potato and Leak. Soup was the highlight of the weekend, and the two of them are going home in search of Irish soup recipes accompanied with brown bread. Don’t worry, Yiayia and I still ordered chocolate cake for dessert, even in the pub.

The weather was barely holding on at the Cliffs of Moher. When the wind picked up, Yiayia found the gift shop while mom and I looked over the edge and out onto the Atlantic. After some quick pictures and a lot of shopping, we were happy to head back to Galway once again after a long day of being tourists. Tired and hungry, we ate in the hotel bar and enjoyed another wonderful meal after a long day of exploring the country side. I was depressed that I had to wake up and go to classes on Monday, so I said goodnight to them and remained thankful that we still had 2 full days together.

(Yes, I took that picture!)

Monday was finally our chance to spend a day in Galway. However, we were on a mission! I had bought a ticket to go to the “Art’s Ball” on Wednesday, and waited until Mom and Yiayia came to shop for a dress and shoes. Of course, because we were having the perfect week, we found a dress in no time in the Eyre Square Shopping Center which gave us lots to choose from. How fun, shopping with your mom and Yiayia in Ireland! Yiayia and mom were continuously mesmerized by the resources and shopping available. My mom also bought me a special “claddaugh” ring for my birthday which is the traditional Irish Love, Friendship, and Loyalty ring. This is very special to me because it is from Galway! We had a nice lunch at “Griffin’s Bakery” which had all homemade bread products and desserts. After I left them for class, we met once again at night for dinner in the hotel dining room.

At this point in their stay, I told my mom she HAD to go to an Irish Pub…. It would not have been right if she did not. So, waiting until 9:30 at night like all the rest of the town, we set out for the pub. Mom had her first Guinness and I had my usual Smithwick’s and we listened to the live Irish music, which plays daily! This was the day the pope resigned, so we could at least watch those highlights on TV. In the pubs, they show constant soccer or “football” and Gaelic sports. None of us have ever missed watching American football or basketball so badly. Mom enjoyed her true Irish pub life experience before going back to bed.

Our last day, Tuesday, was different than the other days because I had a class in the morning. Instead of meeting them for breakfast, I went to class and met the girls after at 1:00. Mom and Yiayia once again, having the perfect trip they did, signed themselves up for half off spa treatments on Monday and Tuesday! I think their bodies needed it after all the things I had them doing…

We had lunch at a pub so this time Yiayia could get her Galway-Pub experience, although we were sad knowing it would be our last time together. Little did we know, the best part of the trip was right around the corner. While walking up and down Shop Street, I reminded Yiayia that I wanted to take her for a gelato or ice cream. Forgetting that Yiayia had never experienced Italian gelato before, bringing her into the gelato shop was like watching a kid on Christmas morning. Yiayia was in awe of the display, texture, variety of flavors, and of course the delicious taste. The big joke was that we brought Yiayia all the way to Ireland and the ice cream was her favorite part. Another great afternoon full with laughs and memories!

 After a nice dinner down the street from the hotel, I said goodbye or see ya later to Yiayia and Mom after a wonderful visit. I cannot believe I have been here for almost 2 months already, the time is flying. I assured them that I am more than settled here in Galway and do NOT want to come home! My mom said that she was going home to tell everyone that in the future, when my kids study abroad, they are going to be studying abroad in America, because we will be living in Ireland! God only knows. In the mean time, I had a lot of fun at the Arts Ball last night which was at a hotel in Galway. See the pictures of my fun dress! All the pictures were from the pre-party before the ball.

Tomorrow, Friday, I am going on a group field trip weekend to Kerry County, southern Ireland which is supposed to be beautiful! I am excited, but have barely had time for anything! When will I ever do my homework????? Next week I am going into lock down mode. Thanks again to Mom, Yiayia, and my family for the time of my life! Glad to hear you made it back safely. Come back soon. Love you all! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Location: Galway, Ireland

Ciao! It is Monday at 2 pm in Galway; I am back from my extravaganza in Rome for the weekend! What a fun trip, I did more in 48 hours than I could have possibly imagined.

The Details: We (I, and 4 other girls) left Friday from Galway at 1:45 am on a bus to Dublin (3 hours) and left at 7am from Dublin airport direct to Rome, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport. The weather this past weekend was 60 degrees on Friday and 55 degrees on Saturday. What a treat from the monsoon weather we have been having in Ireland! Flying AerLingus, the flight was smooth and even though the night seems like it would have been long, I slept on the bus and plane and we got to Rome in no time.

I was extremely excited to see my friends, Luis, Gianni, and Will from Penn State which was my motivation for the trip. Luis, Gianni, and Will are architecture students and living in Rome for a semester is a required part of their program. The timing was perfect for me to come and visit, they are great guys and I would not have traveled for anyone else. We were all excited to see each other as a “breath of fresh air” from being away from home for 5 weeks now. Their apartment is in Trastevere, Rome, right on the south side of the city. Living in what is a half retirement home, they have a beautiful spacious apartment (or I thought so) that seemed very accommodating. I was expecting to stay in the very worst…comparing it to a fraternity house in my mind. But I was wrong! And it was a nice surprise. The entire Penn State program is staying in their complex. There were Penn State faces everywhere!

Friday we took a bus from the airport to the Termini main train station where I found Luis. He was a great help, originally born in the Dominican Republic Luis is fluent in Spanish and currently taking Italian. My girlfriends who have never been to Italy realized quickly how much they appreciated Ireland when it was difficult to communicate with the local people with where to go in the train station. Having someone with you who is fluent is a huge luxury and therefore enhanced my reasons for traveling to Rome.

My group of girlfriends seemed to split up for the weekend seeing that everyone had different interests and different friends they were staying at. Katie, my really good friend if you have not noticed from all my facebook pictures, stayed with me which was perfect because they had 2 extra couches in the apartment. Friday we began our trip with homemade panini sandwiches and GELATO! The rule is, whenever you are in Italy you have to eat gelato every time you pass by a shop. We walked EVERYWHERE that afternoon with our map. It felt like we walked 8 miles just the first day, but that is what you do in Europe! Katie had never been to Rome, so we walked from Trastevere to the pantheon, trevi fountain, Spanish steps, and coliseum.

Friday night the two of us returned to the boys’ apartment, changed and went to a cute restaurant for nice cocktail and free appetizers on weekends. I had forgotten how late everyone eats in Italy, so we waited until 9 to order some margarita pizzas from the local restaurant in Trastevere. Finally after getting our food, we went back to the apartment to begin a fun night out in Rome, Penn State style!

After a long night on Friday, Saturday we slept in and woke up to plan the day. Katie and I went off to see the Vatican and museum because she had never seen it before. It was a 35 minute walk, so we put our sneakers on and stopped for lunch on the way. Our caf�, “Mirror” served us DELICIOUS brochette and calzones, which were also HUGE! The food is so fresh in Italy, my calzone was stuffed with cheese mushrooms and broccoli, and the bread in which it was filled was so fresh and light that I was able to eat the whole thing! We needed our energy for all the walking.

Bridge that connects the City of Travestere

Calzone!!!

Katie, Gianni, Stephanie, Luis, Will

Around 4, Katie went to the museum and I walked about 20 minutes back to find Luis to do some shopping and to buy some food to cook a good dinner. Luis and I walked around the area of the Spanish steps which had a lot of shopping. I bought a new teal scarf, nothing crazy! Luis is always an excellent chef at Penn State and in Italy he is in heaven surrounded by all the fresh food. He in a sweetheart and insisted on cooking for me and Katie, which also showed me a new recipe to make with the pasta and pesto I brought back to my apartment in Galway. He cooked us fresh pasta with pesto, olive oil, garlic and butter, topped with a sausage, bacon and tomato sauce with fresh spices. Simple, delicious, Italian! I bought some fresh bread and olive oil for the table. How fun to sit around and talk about Penn State and how much we miss our friends. We even skyped back home to say hello to all of Luis’s roommates which are Reilly’s friends. They could not believe we were all together!

After another fun and long night out in Rome, we woke up tired on Sunday morning and headed back to Ireland. Our flight was a 12 and we got back to Galway around 7 a night. Long day, but fun and busy weekend.

After sleeping for 13 hours last night, today I am typing my blog now so I can focus on studying later. Tomorrow I have an “assessment” or one hour writing exam for my Buddhism class, which will be like no other exam I have ever taken. The class is 2 hours and for the first hour, the class has to collectively agree on a question in which will be our exam. After we decide on a question, then we have the second hour to write as much as we can, answering that question the class has chosen out of nothing. How unique! This makes me think that answering this question about Buddhism will be more of a “reflection”, or I am just telling myself that because I am procrastinating and do not want to prepare! I have until 11 tomorrow. I will catch up on some reading at some point.

I just have one class today from 4-6, so now I am relaxing and reading Buddhism until then. I am getting back my first paper and presentation grade which I gave last week in class, I hope I did well! Once again, I constantly say I have no idea how to gage any type of progress yet as far as my studies. Just now, I have purchased a ticket to see Ellie Goulding (British pop star) in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 10^th. 220,000 DDK is 39.99 US dollars! Cheap tickets. It looks like for Spring break I will be traveling from April 5^th-April 12^th, which will include Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris. Happy 21^st Birthday to me!!!

Before Spring break though, as you can tell from my last blog, I have many plans coming up. Now it is time for me to work hard the next three days before my Mom and Yiayia come on Friday! I cannot believe the time is here already for them to come. We are going to take trips to Connemara, Cong, and hopefully the Aran Islands this weekend, followed by dinners at restaurants I have been collecting recommendations for. We also have to go shopping because I need a dress for the Arts Ball on February 13^th! They are the right people for that job. I am very excited to see them.

Congratulations (or who cares) to the Ravens for winning the Super Bowl. 11:30 kick off in Ireland was too late for me to care about, especially after a long weekend. I did miss all of the pizza and chicken wing dip that was being consumed back at home for it though! Another NFL season bites the dust, now it is time for basketball. Not that I am in the sports loop….

I hope I can focus to be productive these next week days; it has been hard to contain my excitement. Every day I walk around glowing with all these 5 months has offered and will continue to offer me. Can’t wait to see mom and Yiayia just as I was so excited to see my friends from Penn State. The world can’t even separate best friends or family.

I forgot to mention that when we landed from Rome in Dublin on the plan yesterday, all of the people started clapping and cheering. The lady next to me said it only happens in Ireland, because everyone is Catholic and is afraid they are going to die on the airplane. HAVE NO FEAR THOUGH! She let me know there was a priest on the plane with us…. I told her that was a good thing; there must have been a lot of prayers on that plane yesterday. Only in Ireland!

Location: Rome, Italy

I will write a short blog this week, even though nothing really “eventful” has happened, my life is Galway is continuing to settle and pick up in speed. This week was very fast. Since last Wednesday, I have written a paper and given a presentation. I continue to immerse myself in my studies, as always, as it is what motivates me and keeps me busy. This weekend I spent my last relaxing weekend in my apartment doing nothing, MANY adventures are coming up! Here is a taste of my schedule for…the rest of my stay? Perhaps…

Tomorrow I have classes from 2-8pm and then myself, as well as many others are taking an “overnight” (3 hour) bus to Dublin. We all have trips planned for the weekend! Some groups are going to Paris, some London, some Spain, myself and 4 others are traveling to Rome. Ciao Roma!

Even though I am lucky enough to have already been to Rome, I am most excited to visit my friend Luis Marcelino, an architect major from Penn State. He is living is Travestere, Rome, and I am excited to spend some time with him and see a familiar face from home. It’s Rome; I would go there 100 times! I am hoping to do some sightseeing, eat some pasta, gelato, drink some wine, and enjoy the nice weather. It’s suppose to be high 50s and low 60s, AWESOME!

I must mention that this week, I experienced REAL Irish weather….. 60-75 mph winds, or should I say 100-120 km ph winds. Today I walked to class and physically could not thrust forward the wind was blowing so hard, not to mention the rain! We were blessed the first couple weeks to have calmer weather, now I certainly appreciate it. The wind is so loud it wakes you up at night. When you think your roommates are once again coming home in the middle of the night, have no fear! It’s just the wind. This is quite an adjustment.

Back to my schedule, after my Rome excursion, next Friday my mom and Yiayia are coming! I am so excited to see them; we are going to have a blast! I have many plans for them, including multiple day tours, multiple restaurants and pubs, a music festival, and so much WALKING! I will make sure they see Galway. Good thing they both were fitted with new sneakers from my fitness walking class in Penn State last semester!

On February 13^th, the day my mom and Yiayia leave, I will be attending the Arts Ball 2013. The Arts Ball is a function of the Arts Society and is a huge, must go to event that everyone looks forward too. It is being held at the Salthill Hotel in Galway, and includes a night of food and multiple bands and late night entertainment. Every society has a ball during this time, so we, the international students are pretending to be a part of various organizations in order to attend them! For the Irish, this is their “prom” except they do not bring dates, which I found interesting. I am excited to attend with my other girlfriends and take lots of pictures! We are all in sororities, so this is our “spring formal.”

The next weekend, February 15-17, I am attending a trip through my study abroad provider to Killarney and County Kerry for the weekend! This area is in southwestern Ireland and is suppose to be beautiful. The group is staying in a hostel and they have tours and events planned for us, so it will be nice to go on an organized trip.

The weekend of February 22-25, myself and my friend Katie and hoping to go to London to visit my friend studying abroad there, Lizzie, and her friends as well from University of Kentucky. We have not made reservations yet, however we thought this would be a good time to go to London because of its convenient location and cheap flights.

The next weekend, March 1^st, Reilly is coming! I am so excited for him to come and experience what I tell him about all the time. I count down the days and try not to drive him crazy!

The next weekend, March 9^th, my girlfriends Lizzie and Katherine are coming to see me, mainly as the end of the week which brings me to my next weekend, St. Patrick’s Day (March 15-17) in Dublin. I am expecting Dublin to be a hectic weekend, it is already nearly impossible to get reservations for a hotel room. So this way, I am thinking I should take a trip down to Limerick on Saturday and perhaps take the train back and forth for the day to Dublin on Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day. I have already heard from almost all of my friends studying abroad in various countries that they are going to be in Dublin that weekend.

The remainder of March will be dedicated to doing SCHOOL WORK! I know, can you believe that still exists? I am very good at staying on top of school. Monday-Thursday I have a lot of free time during the day and have made good use of the library and various resources. Thank God I have my own room! For half of my classes, I have papers due in the first two weeks of April, our spring break (April 1-15^th). Because I am hoping to travel for those two weeks, it’s really important I finish my final papers before I leave the country…which I plan to chip away at as February gets rolling. My final exam schedule (April 15-May 15) will not be released until Match 8^th. I will only have 3 days in which I will have to take exams and it can be anytime over this period, so I am hoping to get them done early so then I can play some golf and travel…some more!

Spring break is starting to formulate as follows: Barcelona or Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris! Finally after exams, I am hoping to go to Munich for Spring Festival and then take the train to see Prague, followed by Switzerland. Is this real life?

For weekend trips, there is a 3 day Portugal Cruise that my Irish roommates are interested in. We are really becoming good friends. I know a girl that did the cruise last year as well and said it was awesome…maybe we can pencil that in somewhere?

Finally, it is still really important to me to golf while I am here and I am hoping to travel to Scotland.

Of course, this is all hypothetical and coming from an ambitious girl who is constantly surrounded by thoughts of, “what should we do for Spring Break?” Every day it changes hundreds of times. However, tonight I am taking the advice of my mom this weekend and “remaining still.” Ireland is full of necessary energy I need at this point in my life and it is up to me to control that intake.

I suppose this short blog became long, it is hard to sleep when such an exciting weekend awaits. I hope everyone feels more up to date with my travel plans now. I look forward to posting pictures from Rome and blogging about my experience next week. Ciao!

Location: Galway, Ireland

This blog is overdue, I have been so busy! Happy Birthday to my brother Johnny from last week and Happy Birthday this week to my Yiayia and Mom! I have had a good week since my last blog. The time is really starting to go fast as I knew it would.

This past weekend I stayed with the O’Sullivan family in County Mayo, specifically in Castlebar, Ireland. Castlebar is about an hour north of Galway. As a part of my program, it was required that we participate in a family homestay weekend, organized by families who volunteer to have study abroad students spend the weekend with and sleep in their home. For the most part, I was very excited to spend some quality time with an Irish family and it made me appreciate the Irish and how they live much more than before.

Here was my location for the weekend

On Friday January 18^th, a coach bus picked all the Americans up outside of our apartment village around 6 pm and we set off as a group for Castlebar. We met our families at a gas station and from there they drove us back to their home. The area of Castlebar is very rural, much different than Galway. What was fun for me is that in my classes, I have been learning about the “rundale villages” of before the potato famine and how they are identified by the stone walls that separate them. When you see endless manmade stone walls in Ireland, they were actually territorial markers as to which farmer owned what farm land. Castlebar has many of these old farm lands and beautiful sites of the mountains and country side.

The O’Sullivan family lives on a country road, much similar to Route 5 in Le Roy. Their house is lovely, see picture below. It looks smaller than it is; the inside is very modern and just as you would expect a modern American home to look like. There is a fire place in every room because there is no heat inside the house. At first, I did not feel that cold, but during the night, I was the coldest I have ever been in my life! (No fireplaces in the bedrooms) It was my fault for not thinking it through and bringing warm pajamas with me; I assumed my everyday t shirt and shorts would be fine. To keep warm the first night, I put all my pillows on top of my body to keep the heat in. Thankfully, it was only two nights and Mrs. O’Sullivan gave me extra blankets for Saturday night. That was my only complaint of the weekend.

Kathleen and Eddie O’Sullivan have 5 children, 4 boys and 1 girl, who are all grown up and moved out of the house. I only met 2 of their sons briefly that weekend. Eddie O’Sullivan works in construction and Kathleen works part time and enjoys walking, knitting, and cooking. On Friday night when we arrived, she made me frozen pizzas and French fries, accompanied with ENDLESS, and I mean ENDLESS cups of tea. It is very important to the Irish to invite their guest in for tea, so it was a good thing I like tea in general.

They are a very casual, welcoming family. On Saturday, Kathleen took us into the town of Castlebar which did not lack for its small size. My friends and I enjoyed the day shopping and eating at the pubs. The host families do this frequently so they probably figure that everyone likes to get out of the cold house and shop with their friends. On Saturday night, Kathleen made us chicken stew and mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was delicious and so nice to have a home cooked meal. Throughout the night, we sat by the fireplace and enjoyed talking about America and the children of their family. Eddie was very quiet and did not come out and socialize much. Kathleen mentioned that before they came to pick us up on Friday, they received a phone call as a reminder and had thought the homestay weekend was a week in April. So we (I keep saying “we” because there was another girl with me) caught them off guard, but luckily did not disturb their weekend.

Town of Castlebar

Kathleen’s friend Jean lives down the road and has two kids, Cleo (9) and Jack (5). Jean also had girls staying in her house, so she picked us all up from shopping on Saturday and brought us back for some tea and to meet her children. Cleo and Jack were a lot of fun and very well behaved. Jack was crying when all the girls said goodbye and told us that he was going to miss us.

Sunday was a relaxing day spent watching TV with Derek O’Sullivan, their 26 year old son. He is out of college now for 5 years and just lost his job, so he is currently organizing a new direction in life. He has never been to America, and does not know if he would like to go. He gave me his contact information in case we are back in Castlebar and need to know of a few good pubs.

Overall, the weekend was very relaxing and humbling. Kathleen keeps a lovely home and fed us well. Anyone in my family would do the same I know if a foreigner came to stay with them for the weekend. The cultural differences continue to be subtle. This week I am diving into my school work which has exploded with a bang, a presentation Monday about the Rundale Village and Potato famine and a paper due. Next weekend, February 1-3 I am going to ROME! My two friends from Penn State are there studying for the semester and I am really excited to see them. Even though I have already been to Rome, my other girlfriends coming with me who have not been and I would rather travel to places with friends and to see friends then to go somewhere by myself. It is only a short weekend anyway, and I cannot wait for some gelato and Italian dinners. After I come back from Rome, I have an exam on February 4^th, and then Mom and Yiayia will be here Thursday! They will be here before I know it and I can’t believe January is coming to an end. Next week I register with the Garda Immigration office, it will be good thing to be legal while I am here. Currently I have chicken in the oven; I am trying really hard to find some new things to cook. Pasta and grilled cheese all the time is going to catch up to me. Last night I went out with my friends so I am a little “tired” today….

I will blog next week about my presentation and my Rome trip! Looking forward to the next few weekends traveling and seeing my family. Sorry I do not have pictures of the family, Kathleen would not let me take her picture!

Let us finally not forget that today marks the 1 year anniversary of Joe Paterno’s passing. We are Penn State.

Location: Castlebar, Ireland

It’s been one week of classes! Or should I say, of no classes. I am very excited to be home tonight (Saturday) doing nothing because I have had such a busy week having fun in Ireland. It is amazing what a difference a week makes. By now I feel much more settled and comfortable in my apartment. I have cooked a few times, and shopped a few more times. My daily routine this week has consisted of sleeping in, waking up and making breakfast, going on campus to register for classes or check out my new lectures, walk over the bridge into town to eat lunch, shop until the stores close, return home to cook dinner, and then get ready to go out to the pubs! I still do not have a sound sleep schedule. My average bed time has been after 2 am this week, and my average alarm has been set for 11 am. Yes, I realize this is not exactly healthy, but I have had a lot of free time as a part of the adjustment. Keeping myself busy and having fun at night have been the best ways to make new friends and explore the town with which I now feel more familiar.

First of all, was anyone going to tell me the unwritten rule that neither professors nor students show up for class the first week? I soon found out that not actually going to class is pretty normal the first week of the semester at NUI: Galway. The sense of urgency is a lot different here. With our “two-week trial period” to try out different classes, there is no worrying about homework assignments and exams. My current class schedule includes: “Sociology of the Environment, Imagining Modern Ireland (a class for American students about the culture of Ireland), Buddhism Politics and Practices, Law of the Sea, Criminal Justice, and A Field of Gods and Men: Ancient Celtic Myths.” I have only been able to go to Law of the Sea, Criminal Justice, and Celtic Myths successfully, and they were all very good. The atmosphere of the classroom is the same as it is at home, except much smaller so far. In orientation, they kept warning us about the “large” classes of 100 students we would have in Ireland. I sat there and laughed thinking about my 700+ lectures I have at Penn State. But less is more when it comes to interacting with professors and getting the most out of the class.

 Shopping!

My Ancient Celtic Myths class is AWESOME! So far we have read Caesar’s essays and have analyzed the ancient civilizations he hints at. We are specifically talking about “Gallia,” the ancient people and their sacrificial practices to the gods. I particularly like learning about which planets represented which gods to which people. What is amazing is how powerful empires convinced the smaller empires to abandon their beliefs because they, for example the “Christians,” convinced the smaller empires that their gods were not real. I love learning about all these worldly, spiritually connected topics.

The weather has been great this week! We had a record of 4 DAYS WITHOUT RAIN! My roommates were the most excited about this. My three Irish roommates are named Katie, Denise, and Alice. They are nice, but messy! My American roommate and I enjoyed cleaning the entire kitchen today while the Irish are home for the weekend. Irish students regularly go home on weekends to work part-time jobs. This week was honestly “party central” for all of the Irish students back at school. The big nights of the week to go out in Ireland are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is such a change from the states where the weekends are the most fun. Last night, we went out to pubs that promote “American night” because only the American students are left in town!

On Tuesday night, I went to my first “silent disco,” a pub where you get a set of headphones when you enter and this is how you listen to music from the DJ all night. What is funny is when you take your headphones off on the dance floor, you observe people dancing to what appears to be silence and singing in off-pitch voices! We had a lot of fun.

I recently registered for the remainder of my classes, which means I should have a fuller schedule next week. I need structure to force me to get out of bed in the morning! This week I attended the clubs and societies fair and signed up for the golf club, international student society, Italian society, law society, and marine society. The reason I signed up for the Italian and marine society is because the Italian society has a school trip to Venice, and the marine society is hosting a snorkeling trip to NORTHERN AFRICA! How fun does that sound? No prior snorkeling needed to apply. Both groups had welcoming parties at pubs this past week, so we had fun meeting other students in the university.

Next weekend is the family home stay experience and I will be staying with O’Sullivan family in Galway City. Interestingly enough, my original family has reported that, due to an illness, they could not host me for the weekend. Hopefully they didn’t read my biography and decide they didn’t like me! We are being picked up by bus this Friday at 6pm and we are returning Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow (Sunday) I am planning on waking up and going to church in the catholic cathedral right off campus then hopefully going out to breakfast afterwards. I am not ready for a full “Irish breakfast” yet, which contains blood sausage or “pudding” as they call it! (How do you get pudding from blood sausage?) Recently many friends in my program have made friends (or been hit on) by the guys of the university rugby team. They are hoping we will be their “cheerleaders” tomorrow, maybe if they are lucky.  

Galway University and Cathedral

Location: Galway, Ireland