To LONDON!

Gosh it feels like ages since I've updated this blog-it's becoming quite the chore! I'm just too busy galavanting around haha

Last weekend, I went with my program to London, England. Even though I was only there for 3 days, it felt like I was there for an entire week-there is SO much to do!

Friday: woke up at 4am and caught the bus with my fellow study abroad

ers to the Shannon airport. Our flight didnt leave until 7:30, so while we were waiting around we saw a mass influx of American soldiers, and isn't it funny? We ALL instantly felt safer, even though we had nothing to feel unsafe about. We struck up a conversation with one of the soldiers and found out that they were all returning from their two week leave in the states-imagine, two weeks with your family and then the REST of the year fighting in a foreign country? I definitely felt guilty about taking a weekend trip to London

after he told us that...Anyways we had a very enlightening conversation with him, and then headed to our gate to board.

We arrived in the Heathrow airport around 9am and took a bus to South Kensington, where we stayed for the weekend. Apparently, S. Kensington is the ritzy side of town-I figured that one out when the front desk workers at the hotel gave us masked scowls while checking us in. After dropping our luggage off, we went to a little Italian cafe down the street and had a DELICIOUS lunch. I love Ireland, don't get me wrong, but the food here is...boring, for lack of a better word.

After devouring our Italian meal, we set out to explore the streets of London and hit up some of the famous fashion shops. We explored Harrods for a while (if you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up-it's pretty incredible). After some shopping--more like after looking at the prices of everything and NOT shopping--I went back to the hotel to take a short nap before dinner. Let's just say that that nap was the most restful sleep I got all weekend..

When I woke up, I went to Rachel and Mo's room, and we all decided (Rachel, Mo, Kate, Julia, and I) that we wanted to have a chill night, so we walked down to the fancy hotel restaurant clad in our best PJ's and ordered some dinner. They were having a cocktail special (buy 2 get 1 free), and since we were only going to be in London once, we decided to go for it. What started out as a chill night ended up being a night of shenanigans in the hotel, ridiculously expensive taxi rides into the heart of London, a club, and more ridiculous taxi cabs. AND, there is full visual documentation. Too many pictures from that night haha

Saturday: I woke up bright and early to the sound of bustling London stree

t-life and got ready for a morning bus tour. We all piled into a grand tour bus and trekked around the city, seeing famous sites like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, the famous London bridge, and lots of other exciting things. London is wonderful, however, to me it is just another

big city. While I appreciated the history and the sites, I honestly was more excited to go back to the hotel, have a bubble bath, and watch TV. Crazy, I know.

Saturday evening was by far my favorite part of the weekend. It started out by blaring the UK top 40 music mix and getting dolled up to go to the theatre. GREASE: is the word. Mo, Rachel, Ciera, Becky, Julia, Ryan, and I all went out for a nice dinner near Picadilly circus before heading to Picadilly theatre to see Grease the musical. We had a blast! The musical was great and our seats were fantastic. After the show we headed back to South Kensington and Mo, Rachel, Julia, Catherine, and I had a fun girls night complete with junk foo

d, cheesy music videos, and massages. SO fun.

Sunday: I ended up sleeping in Mo and Rachel's room Saturday night (Rachel hijacked my bed from the other room and dragged it down the hall...), so Mo and I woke up and got ready for the day while Rachel headed to Buckingham Palace. Mo, Catherine, Kate, Ryan, and I walked to the Natural History Museum (pictured bottom right) and had a BLAST exploring the dino exhibit, the ecology exhibit, and my personal favorite: the biology exhibit!! (total nerd alert) Catherine and I split from the group and walked around London, hopping in and out of store fronts and taking loads of pictures along the way. We went to an accessories shop where I proceeded to make EVERYTHING difficult: I wanted this purse that happened to be basically on the ceiling of the store front window, and it was the last purse in stock, and I made this poor lady get up there and get the purse for me. And to top it all off, the purse was made in India--the one item that I'm most excited to get in London, the fashion capital of the world, is a purse made in INDIA. Oh well :) After shopping, Catherine and I ate sushi and a really hip sushi bar, then popped into the Victoria and Albert museum to kill time before our flight back to Ireland. We shamelessly took pictures of everything, even the jewelry in the ONE exhibit that doesn't allow picture-taking. We both got in trouble, but it was so worth it :)

We got back to Ireland around 9:30 Sunday night, and before we could even get our suitcases in the door, our Irish friends swagger over and try to persuade us to have a night on the town with them. The Irish never stop partying. NEVER. I politely declined, and left them standing at our door haha. Sunday night we all had girl talk in my room (unrestrained gossip sessions that occur basically every night in House 6), then went to sleep.

This week is pretty low-key for me--just trying to stay on top of schoolwork and plan some trips. Tonight I'm going on a night cycle either in the forest or on a mountain with the mountain biking club. I'm slightly scared, but definitely excited.

This weekend I'm going on a Ring of Kerry tour, which includes a Ceili Dancing Class, tour of Valentia Island, hilltop walking, St. Finian's Bay, Skellig experience center, Ballinskelligs beach and castle, walking tour of Cahersiveen and stone forts, among other things. I'll post some pictures of my adventures next week! Until then:

May good luck be your friend

in whatever you do,

And may trouble be always

a stranger to you.

Lindsey

An American Weekend

I've had a chill last few days--

Last Friday I only had one class-Spanish-which is probably my favorite class. The lecturer is hysterical, and it's such a chill class-we sit back, talk about Spanish culture, and laugh. Anyways, before my class, I met a few Americans who play for the USA select basketball team that travels around Europe. They were playing at UL that night, so I told them we'd come out to watch the game and then go to a pub afterwards. It was honestly so refreshing to be able to just sit in the bleachers and watch a good basketball game (although the game really wasn't that good). After the game we went to this really wonderful pizza place, and then out to the Stables for a few drinks. All in all it was a good, chill night... ;)

Saturday, I woke up late (I swear time goes by much faster over here than it does in the states) and had a family lunch with my housemates-our friend Ryan made the most delicious homemade pizza--he made the dough and everything! Then we all got ready and went into the city for the Munster rugby match against Wales. It was pretty spectacular. Thomond park, home of Munster rugby, is an incredible stadium (pictured above), and the atmosphere was great. Rugby is such a funny sport-it's sort of like football, except without pads, and they don't ever stop. No timeouts. No commercial breaks. Even when people get injured, they play around that person. And boy, do people get injured. The first minute hadn't expired before at least 2 people required medics to help them off the field. And get this: the only time the stadium gets quiet is NOT for the injured, but for when somebody kicks a field goal. And when I say quiet, I mean you can literally hear a pin drop. Rugby fans take their field goals very, very seriously. The best part, though, was the freedom to order a cider and watch a sports game with guiltless pleasure. It was great fun.

I spent the better half of Sunday sleeping and studying for my first biochemistry exam. Sunday night we all went out to the movies, which reminded me of home. We saw The Other Guys, with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlburg (did you know he took some guy's eye out when he was little? True story). It was nice to sit in a dark theatre and enjoy mindless entertainment for a few hours-I don't really watch any TV here (we have like 9 channels that are bent on playing The Simpsons and Friends reruns EVERY day), mostly because I'm too busy doing other things.

This week is going to be pretty laid-back--I've been sick, so I'm taking it easy and focusing more on school (and sleep). Things to come:

Biochemistry lab/study-fest-Tuesday

Kayaking on the Shannon River-Wednesday

Guinness's birthday--Thursday

5am flight to London for the weekend-Friday

More to come! As always, here's an Irish blessing to keep you going:

May your day be touched

by a bit of Irish luck,

brightened by a song in your heart

and warmed by the smiles

of the people you love.

Lindsey

Cliffs of Moher, and more!

It feels like ages since I've posted on here, while in reality it's been a week. Time really does fly when you're busy exploring the Clifs of Moher, drinking cider in the Scholar's club, and capsizing a kayak in an olympic-sized pool. Let me start from the beginning..

After classes ended on Friday, House 6 had family dinner and I made mac & cheese and strawberry muffins (strange combination, I know, but it was delicious!) The mac & cheese was a hit, especially because it had Toy Story characters in them (thanks mom!) After dinner, we trekked to the cinema to see Going the Distance--I'll admit, I had more fun watching Bea try to figure out what was going on then actually watching the movie. Bea is my Spanish friend who provides most of my comic relief here in Ireland.

Saturday was by far the best day I've had in Ireland so far (and trust me, I've had MANY good days). Why, you ask? Because I went to the Cliffs of Moher (see picture above-I took that myself, btw!). The Cliffs are absolutely stunning. Let me back up-the whole trip from Limerick to the Cliffs was stunning. It was raining the minute we got on the bus, and the first cool thing I saw was a little cottage outside of Limerick centered under the most captivating rainbow I'd ever seen. This is where the pots of gold and rainbows MUST have come from--rainbows are as common here as a pint of guinness. We made a pit-stop at the Burren in County Clare and marveled at the stone structures that are still erect even after centuries of humanly and weatherly abuse. (PS, I'm going ROCK CLIMBING at the Burren this weekend--pictures WILL be taken..) After the Burren, we ate lunch in a pub and continued on our way to the Cliffs. I should now mention that riding in a giant tour bus on roads that look like they are bicycle trails is a bit unsettling, especially when there is a drop-off that leads to the Atlantic Ocean should you go off the road....

Anyways, the Cliffs are impressive, and that might be the understatement of the century. The wind alone was enough to literally knock you off your feet. I don't want to go into too much detail about the Cliffs, because I truly believe they are something that needs to be experienced first-hand.

So that was last weekend. This week has been quite eventful as well. School is school-nothing too exciting there, although I love my Spanish lecturer and I’m slightly terrified by my Irish poetry lecturer (they take poetry VERY seriously here-I wouldn’t advise making fun of the name Limerick, haha). Monday night I had my first mountain biking (MBUL) meeting, and I got to know the hardcore bikers in the group over a few pints of Bulmers and probably the most delicious pizza I have ever had the opportunity of consuming. Tuesday, I kayaked in an Olympic-sized pool with the scores of other kayaking club members. Wednesday, I went on my first outing with the MBUL club, and I have only word one to describe my experience: AWESOME. I’ve always enjoyed biking, but I never realized how much I actually LOVE it. I haven’t played any basketball since I’ve been in Ireland, which is a total shame, but I can honestly say that MB has filled this void in a tremendous way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not very good at MB yet, and I was petrified on more than one occasion last night. I’m pretty sure I left my comfort zone somewhere between biking down a steep incline with tree roots entangled in the dirt, and riding down a set of concrete steps (I felt like a BMX biker, no joke). I can’t WAIT for next week’s excursion: night riding in the forest!

I guess you could say I’m having an alright time here on the Emerald Isle ;) I have a busy schedule planned for the next few days as well:

Friday night-basketball tournament at the UL arena

Saturday-Munster rugby match

Sunday-rock climbing at The Burren

I'll post again soon-until then:

May the blessing of the rain be on you,

the soft sweet rain.

May it fall upon your spirit

so that all the little flowers may spring up

and shed their sweetness on the air.

May the blessing of the great rains be on you,

may they beat upon your spirit

and wash it fair and clean,

and leave there many a shining pool

where the blue of heaven shines,

and sometimes a star.

Lindsey

If you don't like the weather...

I've been here a little over a week and a half now, and I've fallen head over heels in love with Ireland. Although a bit rainy, I generally love the weather. It's cool out, (perfect scarf & leggings weather), and as the saying goes, if you don't like the Irish weather, all you have to do is wait 5 minutes and it'll change. SO true!

I've been to two biochem lectures, and I have a feeling this will be my toughest course. Organic has somewhat prepared me, so I'm definitely up for the challenge. I went to my first psychology course, and our main textbook is entitled The Physiology of Human Behavior. I already like this class (except I had to pay for the book..) The professor seems like he'll be great craic (fun), and he already canceled class for next week (we only meet once a week for two hours), AND we got out of class today an hour early. I have two main assessments for this course: two 8-page papers, each worth 50% of my grade. Kinda scary, kinda refreshing. I'm actually excited to read my text book tonight-I can read it for the interesting context since I don't have to stress about memorizing minute facts for an exam.

I finished class around 1pm today, then headed to the library to find some books---although I LOVE the university here, I must say that the Rhodes College library is WAY better than this one (maybe I'm a little biased since I work at the Rhodes library, haha). Anyways, later this afternoon I tried to go buy hiking boots because I joined the outdoor pursuits club and I'm gonna need boots for the serious hiking that they do. I'll also be doing some caving and rock climbing near the sea (much to my mother's chagrin...sorry mom!) In addition to the OP club, I joined the kayaking club and the mountain biking club. I'm super excited. The MB club goes on night rides through the forests, and the kayaking club does all sorts of cool stuff as well.

Tonight I'm taking it easy--the Irish definitely know how to party, and I'm already feeling the after-effects of staying up late every night hanging out with friends. Tomorrow night I'm making dinner for my roommates (I have several European roommates)--I'm making mac & cheese and strawberry muffins (thanks for the care package mom!) sounds like a strange combo, but they are excited!

Things to come:

Spanish culture class

Mac & cheese/movie night

Cliffs of Moher

Galway trip

An Old Irish blessing:

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons bring

the best to you and yours.

Lindsey

Biochem, Berry Bulmers, and Biological Basis for Human Behavior!

Today officially marked the beginning of the fall term here in Limerick. I only had one class to attend today: biochemistry. Did I mention that it started at noon, and we got out at 12:30? Yep. I love Ireland. Don't get me wrong, though; you can't really fool around with biochem. It's a tough course no matter which way you slice it. I'm up for the challenge though-after organic chemistry this summer, I feel as though I can conquer anything (unless we're talking about Irish dancing-now THAT looks tough..)

The grading scale and tools for which our academic performances are assessed are VERY different from the states. For starters, my final exam in biochem is worth 60% of my overall grade, and there is a section on the final with 20 MC questions, with each question worth 1 PERCENTAGE point of my FINAL grade. Talk about stressful! Also, the lowest A that you can achieve is around an 80% (which is considered a low B in the states), but I'm not sure how difficult the grading scale will be. Mostly, I'm going into the whole experience blind. It's definitely not what I'm accustomed to, but I'm not complaining. I could get used to one class a day beginning at noon, no problem!

After much thought, I've decided against taking microbiology and replace it with a psychology course entitled "The biological basis for human behavior." I have several reasons for doing this:

I've already had microbiology (thank you ASMSA)

Psychology only meets once a week for two hours, as opposed to 4 hours a week of micro.

The psych class sounds more interesting,

and it sounds easier. (I'm not one to take the easy route by any means, BUT, I am in Ireland, and I want to be able to enjoy my time here and not be stuck in a dingy lab all day)

I won't get any useful transfer credit from taking this class, but I like that. Not everything has to have an exact utilitarian purpose.

Tomorrow I have 20th century Irish lit for 3 hours, and I'm REALLY excited about it :) I don't have class till 3pm, so I have the whole afternoon to explore the campus and enjoy my city. Wednesday I have no classes (rough life I know), so the possibilities are endless as far as finding something to do! One thing is for certain: I'll never be bored here in Ireland. There's always something to do, pictures to take, and life to live.

On another note, Berry Bulmers may be one of the most delicious drinks ever. It's a berry-flavored cider made in Tipperary County, Ireland. If you've never tasted this sweet nectar, I truly feel sorry for you.

That's it for now--here's an old celtic blessing to keep you company:

May the blessing of light be on you,

light without and light within.

May the blessed sunlight shine on you

and warm your heart till it glows like a great peat fire.

Lindsey

That's some brilliant crack!

CRACK MEANS FUN. I've had a TON of fun the last few days here. Yesterday, we had uni orientation, and I soon discovered what "Irish time" really means. As Americans, if we are told to be somewhere at noon, we will be there at noon or at least a few minutes beforehand. However, if you tell the Irish to meet youat noon, you'd be lucky if they meet you around 12:30. Needless to say, EVERYTHING is super laid-back here. It even seems that classes are pretty laid-back.

I got a tour of the campus yesterday, and it is a GORGEOUS campus. Just look at the bridge I get to cross to go to some of my classes! (pictured above) AND the gym/sports center is really impressive. The University houses an Olympic-sized pool, the largest in the entire country! The Munster rugby team practices at our sports center, too. How cool!

After the tour I came back to my townhouse to relax with the housemates before we all went out to the university pub. The social scene here is one to be rivaled. The Irish definitely know how to hold their liquor and have a good time, and they love playing American music, especially 90s rap music and Bon Jovi covers...

Today I went on a bus tour of Limerick city-it wasn't the most exciting thing I've done here, but the bus driver was pretty comical. I ate lunch with the housemates afterwards. I haven't introduced my housemates yet! There's Maureen (Mo) from Michigan, Tara from New York, Flo and Cindi from France, Steph from Germany, and Becky and Julia! They are pretty wonderful people, and they'll be mentioned frequently.

I figured out my class schedule today! (and by figured out I mean I have two weeks to try these classes out, and if I don't like them, and I can take something else--basically the first two weeks of class don't even count!) I'll be taking:

Biochemistry (with lab)

Microbiology (with lab)

20th century Irish literature

Introduction to Spanish culture

I'm happy with the way things turned out. I don't have class on Wednesday, and on Mondays Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't have class till noon, which means I'll be going out with the Irish every Sunday and Tuesday night. (Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are big nights for going out). Friday I have class at 9am so I won't be going out much on Thursdays.

I plan to do a lot of traveling while I'm here. I figure I won't be back on this side of the world until after medical school (IF i get into med school), so I might as well take advantage of the time I have here.

Tomorrow I'm going into the city with some friends to see King John's Castle and the Hunt museum. I'll post pictures soon!

May God give you...

For every storm, a rainbow

For every tear, a smile

For ever care, a promise

And a blessing in each trial.

For every problem life sends,

A faithful friend to share,

For every sigh, a sweet song,

And an answer for each prayer.

Lindsey

We don't have a microwave?

Today is my second full day in Ireland, and I have officially fallen in love with this place. I feel like that awkward freshman who feels AND looks so out of place, it's pathetic. But I don't care. My mantra is to step out of my comfort zone, and I'm definitely sticking to it. I haven't done anything super exciting yet, but each thing I do is an adventure over here. I'll clue you in on what I mean:

1.) For starters, I live in a 2 story townhouse where you can literally hear everything. I hear every door-slam, drawer-close, toilet-flush, leaf-crunch, skype-convo, etc. etc. etc. In fact, right now my 3 housemates (I have 3 housemates on the first floor, and 4 more upstairs) are on skype and I'm hearing a crazy mash-up of stories. It's weirdly fantastic.

2.) I tried to heat up my leftovers from last night's dinner, and when I walked to the kitchen, I realized that there is no microwave in sight. Seriously? No microwave? How am I supposed to function? For those of you who don't know, I'm not a good cook (mostly because I've never put in a real effort to learn), and usually 1 out of 3 times that I use the stove for ANYTHING, whatever it was that I tried to make gets burnt in some way or another. SO, I was a bit distressed, to say the least. The good thing is, I have 2 French and 1 German housemate, and they seem to know how to cook, so I'll get lots of practice and good food.

3.) I went grocery shopping today. My program allocates 230 Euro per student to buy groceries each month. First of all, staying on that budget might be hard, since I'm not a seasoned grocery shopper. It's actually quite difficult to find items for a good price that I can make stretch out over several meals (I should take tips from the RAT--they seem to be really good at making last week's chicken stretch on into this week's chicken&tortilla soup...just kidding)..

ANYWAYS, like I said I went grocery shopping. This entails walking several "blocks" to the grocery store. The walk there is actually quite nice. The walk back, not as enjoyable..

When we get to the grocery store, we walk in, and discover that the carts are all outside and we have to walk to the exit (like clueless Americans) and get carts. Then we discover that you must insert 2 euro in a lock to release the carts. Don't worry though; you get the 2 euro back once you return the cart. What a genius way to make sure that carts are returned to their proper homes!

The grocery shopping was a success, I'd say. When I finished paying, I loaded my goodies into a cloth bag and trekked back to the townhouse. My shoulders now have knots the size of miniature golf balls, but I don't mind. I had fun shopping with my housemates and fellow university students; it was a great bonding experience.

4.) Family dinner-can you say Best Idea Ever?? One of my American housemates cooked pasta with veggies and chicken, and it was delicious! One of our French housemates got lost in translation and thought she had asked for her to cook dinner, so we ended up with two heaping bowls of pasta AND a pizza. Classic. The dinner conversation started out slow, but soon picked up and before you knew it we were talking about everything from French cuisine to types of camping to halloween. My French housemates got lost many times as the conversation jumped from topic to topic, but we had fun trying to explain what we meant by smores and bon-fires and campsites. Our plan is to have a family dinner once a week or so, with different cuisines being featured. What am I going to cook? (since I don't really cook)? Well, my foreign mates have NEVER had good ole mac n cheese and they've NEVER heard of smores, so I'll be making blue box mac and smores. :)

Tomorrow I start my first day of orientation. I'm more excited for Friday's orientation, mostly because we get to make our schedules and choose our classes. Oh, I forgot to mention that the campus is only about a 5-10 minute walk from my townhouse. It's a wonderful little walk. I'm very excited about it (ask me if I like it in four months and I might have a different opinion since I'm used to my tiny campus in Memphis).

That's all for now--here's an Irish wish to keep you company:

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through!