The Trip in Which I Learned...

That I love the country...

That sunshine in Ireland can make your heart warm...

That sometimes an old cottage can bring tears to your eyes..

.

That two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled...

That a simple gravestone in a simple graveyard can mean the world...

That old Irish women are the best craic ever...

That I'm going to be a sheep farmer...

And that family...

is a gift from God.

Cheers!

Belgium Waffles

So, I can't believe I haven't updated in almost a month. Not quite a month, but almost a month. Where has the time flown? Somewhere off the coast of Ireland most likely. I am leaving for Belgium on Monday to spend a week with the Hunts! This will be my first trip outside of Ireland sense of I have been here. I'm thinking it's going to be awesome, as long as I can get on the flight on Monday. Ryan Air is slightly crazy and I have a feeling that the carry on I thought was going to be small enough is not going to be small enough. Supposedly, so says their website, if I get to the gate and they see that it's overweight/too large they can turn me away from boarding. And not give me a refund. We don't want that to happen.

So I'm extremely excited for Belgium, and wherever else the Hunts decide to take me around. Hopefully when I get back I will update with all the info. At a reasonable time. I have three essays due the week I get back...and I'm not looking forward to that. At all.

But I guess I shouldn't look for any sympathy, because as my mom told, I'm in Ireland.

Cheers!

Gaelic Football's New Biggest Fan:

Is me.

It shouldn't really come as a surprise. Or maybe it does, because I'm not really into sports, unless it has something to do with Notre Dame and American football. But that has all changed my friends. I am now a fan of Gaelic football. I've been converted.

How? You may ask. Or Why? You may also wonder.

It's all because of a little trip I took to Belfast last Wednesday to see NUI Maynooth play in the quarterfinals against University of Ulster Jordanstown.

It was glorious! Even if I didn't understand what was going on. That doesn't really matter does it?

(the team playing)

All I know is that it was great to watch...because the game was interesting of course. Just don't ask me how any of it works.

(Go team Go!)

And we won! Isn't that great? I don't know how exactly we won, because like I said, I don't get the sport at all, but we did!

(Goooooooooo Irish! Beeeaaatttttt Jordanstown!)

So now we are on to the semifinals. Here at Maynooth! Guess who will be there? Me, of course. I wouldn't miss it for anything. I am, after all, Gaelic football's new biggest fan.

(Oh hey team.)

You would be too if you where here. I don't see how you couldn't be. Just another reason why I love Ireland.

Cheers!!

Queen of the Cashel

So, as a part of our time here at Maynooth we take six trips with Roberta, our go to person here who was a St.Mary's student. Aside from the fact that they severely cramp the ability for us to travel on the weekends, they have been informative thus far. Last weekend we went to Newgrange, an abbey, a graveyard, and the Hill of Tara. Side note: all the following photos where taken by me.

Newgrange:

Newgrange was a place I was very much interested in seeing. Unfortunately it was also disappointing. Turns out that the lovely white stone exterior, while made with the original rocks, was actually put up in the '60s because the original exterior collapsed on itself a few hundred years after it was built. Oh, and they wont let you take pictures inside. I have problems with places like that. Moving on...

The Hill of Tara:

The Hill of Tara was breathtaking. Just countless green hills as far as the eye could see. You can feel the magic of the area that seems to permeate from the ground. It's easy to see how the ancients would have believed that this place was significant and why St.Patrick would come here as well to convert people.

The best part about today's trip, and the sole reason for writing this entry, was going to see the Rock of Cashel.

The Rock of Cashel was gorgeous and sits, well, on a rock. A rather large rock. It makes for some beautiful views. As you can see below.

This is the place where the High Kings of Ireland would be crowned, and more importantly, because somewhere down my family line I'm related to him, Brian Boru was crowned here. At this stone:

Which had a Roman High Cross on top. But the best part? Trying to hug the stone and fit your arms completely around it. It is said if you can that you will never get a toothache again and never have to go to the dentist. So of course, because I dislike dentists, I had to give it a shot.

I guess I'm going back to the dentist, because there was no way I was getting my arms all the way around that thing. But I was still happy, mainly just to be in Ireland.

Cheers!

Cooking for one.

So I've had success. In the cooking department. Yes, Colleen can cook. Surprise, surprise to some, to me not so much. I've always believed that I can cook it's just that I've never had to cook before. So being on my own, in a country that doesn't use the same measuring system as ours, I decided this would be the ideal time to experiment and see if it would work out for me. It did.

I follow this amazing blog called "The Pioneer Woman" and one component of her site is devoted to recipes that she posts that she loves to make. It's great because you can follow them easily with the step by step photos she puts up. So I decided to take a look and see if there were any that I would be able to do on my own with a limited budget. Turns out, it's possible. On Sunday night I made her "Chicken Scallopine" which was delicious, and also a miracle considering that the light in the kitchen only flashes light every 5-10 seconds, so I was cooking in the dark most of the time. I was so proud of myself! I made an amazing mushroom sauce that goes with it, that tasted so lemony and full of mushroom goodness. It's empowering to know that you can do what you thought you could. If that makes any sense.

So this week I'm on to other dishes: Cajun Chicken Pasta, from the Pioneer Woman's website, and chicken quesadillas.

Oh, and the very nice Irish repairman came today to fix the kitchen light. I almost hugged him I was so happy.

Welcome to Maynooth

So I've made it to Ireland. A full day of traveling, three airports, two airplanes, and bus later I have finally made it to NUI Maynooth. The two flights over were generally uneventful. Get on the plane, attempt to sleep, eat a poor excuse for a 'meal,' give up on trying to sleep, endure sickening turbulence, and get off the plane. Just the average flight. Except when I stepped off the second plane I was in Dublin, Ireland. I still can't get over that. Ireland was just a place I never thought I would get to, let alone get the chance to come to at only 19. To live like a student. With other students. Are you seeing how this can still be a problem for me to try to wrap my brain around?

So lets move on to the actual story. My first two days here. When we got off the plane in Dublin the first person we met was the immigration official. When he asked what I was doing in Ireland I told him I was studying abroad for the semester and he promptly told me, "Well Colleen as you're here I don't think you're abroad anymore." Funny, I didn't think of it that way after not sleeping for close to 24 hours, but thanks, I'm glad that got cleared up. After a few more minutes of me not really understanding what he was saying I was finally allowed through, after being told I only had two weeks to meet with the local Garda to finish my immigration process.

My first meal in Ireland: a toasted bagel with peanut butter and a bottle of water. I know, it sounds amazing. Well...not exactly, but it did fill me up for awhile. We then got on a bus, exciting, I know, and drove to Maynooth. Maynooth is picturesque. It looks very much like a New England fishing town, but it's different because you know that the New England fishing town is really based on what you are actually seeing. The all the houses and buildings are of varying heights and are painted different colors. I like it a lot. I'll have pictures up soon.

NUI Maynooth is undergoing a lot of construction, so it's hard to say if the North Campus (where I live and is the newest part to the university) is pretty or not. Well, actually, it's really not. It's painfully obvious that these buildings were subjected to the 1970's and 1980's idea of nice architecture. On the flip side the South Campus, that also holds St. Pat's College and the seminary, is gorgeous. When we got to were the main part of the South Campus was all I could think of was "This looks exactly like what I picture Ireland and England to look like." I felt like I had stepped into a movie set for Harry Potter or some medieval royal movie. The cathedral that we got to into was just amazing. It's completely Gothic, including a gorgeous rose window and choir loft, and has these carved wooden bench/seats that are amazing. When we were standing in the aisle, a group of three guys were standing in the bench/seats and were practicing a song. Again, it was as if I had been transported into a movie. I half expected a royal court to walk through the doors and into the cathedral.

My room when I first arrived was disgusting. I honestly do not think there is another way to try to describe it in kinder terms. However, that is in the past now, with four hours of cleaning doing the job of making it a place where people can live. This is the view from my apartment though:

It's nice isn't it? Very green. I'm going to leave this post as this, and hopefully in a day you will all hear about my trip to Dublin.

Cheers!

"I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

Ah, Scarlett O'Hara. She's amazing. Not only amazing, but telepathic (which I thought was only something that could be achieved between me and Allison...who knew?). It just so happens that we are feeling the same right now. There are so many things, MOAA forms, copying documents, transcripts, what I'm going to eat for lunch, packing, that I'm starting to think I am about to go crazy. The unfortunate thing: I can't think about it tomorrow. Tomorrow is becoming a smaller and smaller window of time until I make it to Ireland. I have six more 'tomorrows' to try to get everything sorted out. If only I could just go live on a southern plantation. Scarlett O'Hara seemed to have quite a few tomorrows. She should share. It's only fair.

Today I started making piles of things I plan to take to Ireland. That's a good step in the right direction of packing, right? I need to really start organizing the stuff in my room (read: "put away my clothes") because it's starting to bother me unlike anything and my mom gave me the look that all mothers give when they walk into your room and are not exactly thrilled with the way things look. I get it, I get it. Clean thy room.

So while I was making little piles of things, and organizing, I stopped to make sure I had some of the documents I need when I get to Ireland. One of the forms we need to make sure we have is a signed copy of the lease agreement for the flat we are staying in. I like how the Ireland program works because the flat I will be living in will have four other Irish students. Me and four other Irish students. I should have probably spent this entire vacation listening to Irish people speak, because I have the hardest time understanding them. No, but really I do. Mr. O'Neil, who was a cousin of mine, was from Ireland and I distinctly remember feeling very lost whenever he spoke to me. I did a lot of nodding and smiling. It seemed to work then. I have a feeling "pardon?" and "excuse me?" will move to the head of "The Words and Phrases Colleen Uses Most Often" list.

Oh, and when I say flat I mean a room in this:

You know how those Irish love their castles/mansions. Actually I'm not sure of that...I guess I should go look it up. I'm not quite sure how large the rooms are, but I believe it's quite roomy. It actually kind of looks like Tara. Hmmm... coincidence?

Cheers!

Traveler extraordinaire

Eight days.

It's like this mantra that I keep repeating over and over to myself except instead of calming me, or doing whatever mantras should do, it only adds to my nervousness about leaving for Ireland. I'm not overwhelmingly nervous, it's this odd combination of excitement and not knowing what to exactly expect. All I see when I picture the idea of going to Ireland in eight days is a black screen, because I have no idea what I should be picturing. Can you see where that is a little nerve racking?

On a lighter note I have started assembling odds and ends to send to myself. I have sheets, towels, a phone, different food stuffs, and the trusty clown. Clowny comes with me everywhere so I really didn't need to list him under 'odds and ends' but it was a nice transition to being able to talk about Clowny. Hmmm...I'm positive I have a picture. Ah! Yes, here we go:

(Clowny and a random bear)

Clowny is on the left, just in case you couldn't tell. He's a worldwide traveler and should really have a passport, but somehow gets away with not having one. He's been to Australia, Japan, China, Thailand, Korea, Canada, Notre Dame, IN, France, Germany, Italy and Austria. Whew. That's a list. Now we are about to add Ireland, and some other countries, to it. He's pretty cute isn't he?

Everyone should have a Clowny in their life.

Cheers!

The Obligatory First Post

So I'm going to Ireland in 10 days...anyone want to join me?

Sorry, unless you can fit in my suitcase, and inside the little 'go green' bag that I'm taking for groceries, then I'm afraid it's a no go. However, you are more than welcome to pay upwards of a $1,000 if you too want to fly to the Emerald Isle. I didn't pay for the plane ticket so that price doesn't bother me as much as it probably should. The joys of being a college student, right?

So I really am going to Ireland in ten days. I will be spending about four and a half months at 'Uni' in Maynooth, a quaint Irish town outside of Dublin:

(Quaint Irish Town)

See? Rolling hills, sprawling fields of flowers, quaint bookshops and bakeries. Not to mention sheep.

Actually, that's not at all what Maynooth looks like. It is still beautiful, just with less rolling hills, sprawling fields of flowers, sheep...and this Irish music that continues to play in my head when I think of writing "rolling hills, sprawling fields and sheep." Definitely less of the music. And while I have bored you with my musings I have found a picture of Maynooth:

By the way, I will definitely be going to that Indian restaurant. What says Ireland like a great place to eat Indian food?

So you are more than welcome to come with me to Ireland (whoever 'you' may be), but like I said, there is the suitcase restriction. I'm kind of like an airline. Maybe I'll charge a $50 fee as well.

Cheers!