Ready, Set, ROW!

Today I had no class, but instead 3 hours of rowing practice! Today was my first time getting to go out on the water in my own boat by myself. Before I was in a boat but it was attached to a string and so I would take 3 strokes and they would pull me back in. So today was really fun and I am getting the hang of it. It's hard to get all the technique down because there's so much to it. It's a whole body movement- like dancing or something- that has to be perfected in order for you to be good at it and not hurt yourself. It's very graceful when you see someone experienced do it. There are only about 8 people in the club, but not everyone is at every practice. It's pretty relaxed about attending practices because most people are just doing it recreationally, which I find odd because I am used to having strict practices. For instance, if you get there late you get in trouble and you can only miss a certain number of practies. The weekend of Halloween all 4 rowing clubs at the Ulster campuses are getting together to row and hang out, just for some good craic. I am hopefully going to be able to go! My hands are getting blisters on them, and my muscles aren't very sore except for my back. We have conditioning in the gym twice a week and that is the really hard part. Rowing for 15 minutes while keeping up a ceratin pace, running for 15 minutes, and biking for 15 minutes. Then we all do abs and stretches together. I really like it. And my coach Charlie said we should make sweatshirts, I was ALL about that! I volunteered to design them and get the process started.

Tomorrow afternoon 4 friends and I are going to fly to Bercelona for 4 nights. I am SO excited about this trip! I will tell you all about it when I get back. Hope all is well in the states :)

Dublin

This weekend was very busy! 7 of us took a bus and train (about a 5 hour trip) down to Dublin and stayed in a hostel for 2 nights. The hostel was nice but in order to save money we decided to stay in a 16 person bedroom. It was HUGE and way too many people, I didn't like it. The first day we got there (Friday) my friend Siri came to my room and said she had a surprise for me. Then one of my friends from high school peeked her head around the doorway!! My friend Becky was staying in the same hostel on the same weekend, how random is that?? So that was nice to see her for a while. She is studying in London so I will eventually go visit her as well.

The first day we walked into town and grabbed some take-away fish and chips, then headed towards the pub crawl meeting spot. There were about 70 people on the pub crawl! We went to 3 different bars and ended at a dancing club. I didn't really enjoy any of the bars or clubs except one who had a live band that played Bob Marley songs :) The next morning we pulled ourselves out of bed and went to enjoy our free breakfast downtairs in the hostel. It was a lovely plate of 2 peices of bread, butter, jam, tea, coffee, and orange juice. I could have probably had 8 peices of toast but I held myself back. Then we all went on a free walking tour of downtown Dublin. We saw the GPO, General Post Office, which was the big meeting place of the Catholic Rebellions. It was attacked by the British and you can still see bullet holes in the columns. We walked through the courtyard of the castle that housed all the British Parliament, saw the museum of the 'Bogside People' (bodies dated from the 1800's that were preserved in the bogs throughout Ireland), and walked through the St. Stephen's Green Park. It is so peaceful and magical inside the park, that was my favorite part of the trip. One night we also went to the famous Temple Bar, super crowded but the live music was fun.

Other than that nothing is new. I wish I had more classes though! I only have 9 hours of schduled class a week, which is a lot less that at home. Some days I don't know what to do with myself (besides read, I know Dad). This week one of my classes got cancelled so now I only have 6 hours of class, and 2 of them I won't be able to attend because I am leaving to go to Spain on Thursday!!! Hooray! I am so excited to see Spain and be in the warm weather and sun. My 'host family' emailed me today and asked to meet sometime soon. That should be fun! I don't know anything about them yet, but when I do I will let everyone know. I am trying to get over a chest cold I had this weekend. Last night I slept for 16 hours straight. I woke up at 4:15 pm and was shocked!

I also want to say HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to Carsten!! I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you cuz :) Hope the Connolly's are doing well, and everyone else too. Love you guys!

Pictures:

1. The view of St. Stephen's Green park. There is a lake in the middle with ducks and seagulls and swans all swimming in it. Kids were feeding the pidgeons and it was very peaceful.

2. I thought this was ironic :) I saw it on our way to the park.

3. The fresh pint of Guiness at the end of the tour. I was in the very top, glass room that overlooked the whole city!

4. Infront of the castle on our walking tour. There are 3 kinds of architecture here built at different times. I wish I could remember the names of them. The middle is medieval, I know that :)

5. This is the GPO that has the bullet holes in it.

Glens of Antrim

It's been a while, I'm sorry!

First of all, before I forget, thank you to Tom and Paula for your card! I love the artwork, what an incredible background of the artist. For everyone else, the card was drawn by an Autistic 40 year old man who has been drawing all his life. It is of a castle on a hill and looks very much like Ireland :) And you're right Paula, I love getting mail! So thank you again.

The Glens of Antrim trip on Saturday was nice. The views were great but I would have rather gone to the coast. We ended up hiking 7 miles to see a waterfall and the highest look-out spot. That was rough, and I'm still debating if it was worth it. It probably was haha. I posted some pictures of the trip up above.

Tonight my friends and I went to see a movie, The Town. It was really great! And it was fun to go to a movie theater, especially since Tuesdays are only 3 pounds to get in and students get free popcorn and a drink! Woo! After the movie was over I forgot where I was and had to remind myself that I wasn't going to go out, get in my car, drive home and see Mom. That was a little strange. School is going well so far. I read the second book for my Irish Lit. class called Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth. Short but classic, I enjoyed it. Tomorrow I have rowing in the afternoon (I'm officially part of the club) and it's my roommate Elaine's birthday. We are baking cupcakes and having a little party before we go out on the town to celebrate. The cab driver who drove us home tonight was telling us about bars that we should stay clear of and ones that are okay for students and tourists. This was helpful and interesting because most of the bars we should stay away from are either very Protestant or very Catholic depending on which side of the river you are on. It is strange to have to think about where you should and should not go in the little tiny city of Coleraine.

Today there was a car-bombing in Londonderry. No one was killed but a few were hurt. Don't worry about me please! Coleraine is safe and sound. Even though it is a terrible thing that happened, I find it intriguing to learn about. Well, I hope there are no car-bombings in Seattle, Granbury, D.C., etc! Ha, ok sorry to make light of things, but it is all fine and dandy here. I miss everyone. And remember, you should comment on the blogs because I like hearing what you have to say!

BOX :)

I got it Dad!! Thank you so much, it was so fun to open up and see everything. Like Christmas! Haha. Emily was with me when I picked it up from the Accommodation Building so we went back to my room and opened it. I was throwing candy in her face because I had so much of it. And THANK YOU especially for the dill pickles, godess salad dressing, sugary cereal, and gold fish. They don't have any of those things over here. Plus Emily is in love with dill pickles so I made her eat some, she was very very happy. I told her I would be able to feed us for a few months now. And the Halloween lights are really cute too, my rooms is feeling more homey every day now. The honey leaked a little on a few things, I had to rinse the granola bars off haha. Emily took these 2 pictures to show her mom so she'll send a package too :)

My friends and I are organizing a Glee night. For those of you who don't know, Glee is a tv show about a highschool musical club. It is amazing and we all love it! I opened a bank account here with the Bank of Ireland so I can deposit my food stipen checks. Tonight some friends and I are going to Portstewert for dinner and maybe a bar afterwards. Then tomorrow morning we are heading to the Antrim Coast and it should be gorgeous. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

Granny, your friend Ann Walters send me a letter! It was very nice, but she didn't write a return address on the envelope so I can't write her back. I also need your address, Dad would you write it in a comment please? Thank you. Dad also included fruit Mentos which always remind me of you because you always had them with you when I visited!

Mom, the first picture is of my friends Maureen (middle) and Ericka who are both from Pennsylvania. Maureen is the one I was telling you about, she has a great sense of humor. I hope everyone is doing well! More tomorrow!

Self Inflicted Tummy Ache

I ate too much Nutella. I need to throw it away and never buy it again.

Yesterday I tried rowing for the first time! It was a lot of fun and I think I will be good at it. The coach said I caught on really fast and that I had 'muscular legs' :) The people on the team (technically its a club) are really friendly, too. First I practiced technique on the machines and then I got in a one man boat and practiced. It's tricky, but encouraging when you get a really good stroke! Some of my friends went surfing yesterday when it was beautiful and sunny. I would have loved to go, but it was at the same time as rowing. And I feel like rowing is more realistic for me than surfing...

Class today was interesting. I need to catch up on some reading and European history so I can participate in the seminars. I got posters and hung them up on my wall despite the 'no hanging or taping things to walls' rule. It tears the paint off, as I learned first hand today. Woops...

BB, I really want to come home for Christmas. And I knowwww you think I should spend as much time over here as possible, and I agree, but its Christmas!! I want to see my family and a Christmas tree and turkey dinner! So just start getting excited to see me if I show up in December :)

Thank you

Thank you for my letters Sally, Mom, and BB!! I just checked my mail for the first time today and it was a fun surprise to see I had 3 things in there. Sally, I'm really glad you sent me a Seattle postcard because now I can show people where I am from. And Mom your card made me laugh out loud with the fish haha :) I hope your cold is gone by now. Wish I could have brought you tea and tucked you in like you do for me. BB, what you wrote was very touching indeed. Thank you for sending me inspiration and happy thoughts, I need those every now and then over here. You were right, I did need that lonely advice about a week ago :) I will surely read it over and over when I feel like that again. I love you sister, and family!
Dad I'm so excited to get your box!!! I will let you know when it arrives.

Today I had class and I think I finally know my complete schedule (minus one seminar time during the week). I'm taking:
Laying the Foundations, an Irish history class from the 1500's to 1800's
Irish Story Telling, a course about famous legends, myths, and their history (fun!)
Irish Author Studies, focusing on W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett

I don't have classes on Mondays or Wednesdays. It's nice because that gives me a day to read and study during the week and an extra day to travel on the weekends. Speaking of weekends, this weekend we are going to the Antrim Coast on Saturday and the Bushmills Distillery on Sunday. We get a tour of the distillery and afterwards get to go to a tasting room and have a bit of famous whiskey. Should be fun! Tomorrow I have decided to go to the school's rowing team meeting and see what its about. It is an all year round sport here and I've heard great things about it. Plus BB liked rowing, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm feeling like I need to be physically active or else I am going to become a balloon. I also joined the gym on campus today. Its about 30 pounds extra, but all my friends are members so we will be inspiration to each other to actually go and work out!

Tonight my friends and I are getting together to plan our trip to Spain in 3 weeks. Sally I would love to talk to you about that! Then we are going to a men's Gaelic football game :) Emily has become part of the women's team and says it is an extreme sport, but she loves it. No new pictures today...

Granny, BB told me that you read my blog every day! I'm so glad, now you will just need to learn how to comment on it :)

That's all for today folks!

Derry/Londonderry

Yesterday a few of us took a train to Derry which is about a 40 minute ride. We met an Irish guy who was sitting across from us and he said that this train ride is the most beautiful in all of Ireland because it takes you right along the beach, rolling hills, and huge gorgeous cliffs! I took lots of pictures :) We eventually found out that the same guy we were talking to, Ross, was going to surprise his girlfriend of 5 years because it was her birthday. He also told us he was going to PURPOSE!!! Then of course all the girls around him started 'awing' and getting excited. We probably asked him 20 questions about his plans haha. Then we found out he was only 19! We got off the train once we arrived in Derry and Ross showed us where to go to get some delicious crepes. We wished him luck and chowed down on some banana, nutella, and cinnamon crepes! Then we shopped around a bit. Derry is a bigger and busier city than Coleraine. It has lots of bigger and cheaper stores that are similar to Sears or Forever 21.

It was freezing and windy and I was on the verge of getting a little head cold, but we all sucked it up and went on an hour walking tour with a very informative and quirky tour guide. We walked along the walls of Derry, which were origanally built to protect the invading Protestants from the Catholics. The Catholics didn't want the Protestants to be in Ireland and therefore tried to kick them out and have them surrender. To save themselves, the Protestant King decided to build a wall around the city to provide protection. It took about 5 years to build and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, which was a ridiculously large amount of money in those days. It worked though! The walls have never been breached and they still stand to this day. It was very impressive to see. Just a few years ago, the Union Jacks left Ireland and destroyed their watch towers that were located throughout the ciy. The Nationalists were very happy about this and it is now a much safer place to live. There is, however, a block of Protestant housing located smack dab in the middle of Derry that is surrounded by Catholic neighborhoods. It has tall green fences around the entire neighborhood for security purposes. We saw murals that artists had painted on the sides of buildings. They all represent the history of Irelend in some way. One is a dove to represent the peace and equality that Ireland has been wanting and working towards for years. There is so much to learn! I love it!

After the tour we walked to the University of Ulster Magee Campus. The main building is a huge castle, it was the first campus built out of the 4 that exist today. We met one of Siri's friends who goes to school there and went out to dinner with them. It was a restaurant that Rick Steve's suggested called Flaming Jack's :) It took SO long that right when we got our food we put it in take-away boxes and ran out the door to catch the last train back to Coleraine! There were 6 of us that were chowing down on our dinners on the train! It was a delightful, and almost not successful trip if we had missed our train. I would love to go back there when family comes and visits!

Pictures:

1- Warming up with a cup of coffee after the tour :)

2- This is the view from on top of the wall. The wall has holes in it that allowed cannons or guns to be shot through them.

3- This is one of the murals. It is the dove of peace. The squares behind it represent equality. The colors go from dark to light which represents the process of gaining peace in Ireland. Something like the 'dark' ages to the 'light and peaceful' ages.

4- This is a picture of a Catholic neighborhood right outside the wall. The beautiful green grassy area used to be filled with Irish slums and very poor, jobless, hopeless Catholic families. It used to be an extremely dangerous area to live in. Ovbiously, lots has changed and it is now a beautiful, peaceful place where dogs chase balls and children play under the grey sky.

5- This is the Protestant neighborhood I mentioned before with the green fencing around the entire area. There is only one enterance.