Following My Bliss

Gosh I’m behind on updating. Whoopsies? Just haven’t been motivated. No one has been really as of late. I think we’re hitting the mid-point lull. I’m only going to highlight important stuff instead of going on about stuff that is trivial at best.

Kirsten & Kerri Visit, March 5-12, 2010:

Fabulouusssss!!! They got in early Saturday morning and after a nap, we made tacos for dinner. Went to Doolan’s that night to listen to the Irish band. Gotta say, I’m beginning to learn the words to songs and can sing along. Pretty fun. Left there and tried to go meet up with everyone else at Ruby’s. Went in and it was PACKED. The worst I have ever seen it. Literally body to body crushed together packed. Took us ages to get across the bar and to Woodman’s, which was equally packed. What the hell?? So we left there and decided to go to Mason’s for the first time. Compared to Ruby’s, the place was empty. Had a drink or two, talked with some guys, and danced to ‘Sweet Home Alabama’. I’d say it was a good night. :D

On Sunday we went to Tramore beach. It was really, really cold out but sunny and well hell, we were on a beach so can I really complain?? We even made lunch to sit and eat while looking out over the water. Awwww. Tried to walk and find a castle but no dice. Ended the day sitting in the diner drinking tea and talking. Good times. Stayed in that night and Kerri made us chicken parm & spaghetti. DELICIOUS. Way to go on the cooking thing Kerri, way to go.

The girls spent Monday in Cork/Blarney/Midleton while I spent it at work. They enjoyed their outing, kissed the stone, drank some whiskey, and had fun (or so they told me).

Tuesday we spent all around Waterford. First we headed down to the Waterford Crystal building only to find it CLOSED. WHAT? I swear to God when we got here the visitor center was still open! (Later on I went on the website and it quite literally just closed a week prior, and a new center is opening in June just after I leave. Of course it is!) We went on a crazy shopping spree in Penny’s, picking up tons of stuff from dresses to jewelry for really cheap. I’m talking like 14 pieces for like €75. I could NEVER do that back home, ever. The girls loved it, which was probably the most important. Headed over to Doolan’s for pub lunch. Good stuff. Shopped around a bit more, finally finding a place to buy Waterford Crystal. I got mom a shamrock and Kerri got her sister a wedding present. Did some more walking around a shopping at Dunne’s (three more items for like €25, holla!). Finally went to meet Diane (my social work advisor from Brockport that was over on vacation/’visiting’). Met her and her daughters at the Granville Hotel and shared a drink and a chat. Afterwards, headed back to the apartment.

Wednesday & Thursday I worked while the girls spent one day in Dublin and another in the room catching up on schoolwork. Good deal. We spent one night sitting in my room reminiscing about high school and sharing current gossip on people from high school. We realized that we can name like 7 guys who turned out to be gay from our class (not saying that in a bad way, just an odd realization). Also waaaay too many people getting married or having babies (rarely do they do both). We decided by still being in college, without babies and without husbands, we are the normal ones.

Friday the girls went off to Kilkenny while I went off to work. Unfort their bus would get back while I was at work, keeping them locked out of the apartment. So when I got back at 10, I figured maybe they’d be waiting, but they weren’t. I kept going downstairs and outside every 15-20 minutes until about 1AM with no sign of them. Finally I decided to go to back, and just hope for the best.

Not fifteen minutes later do they come stumbling in. And I mean stumbling. They were TRASHED. Apparently they decided to have a couple drinks while waiting for me, which turned in to meeting some Texans, and having people buy them lots of drinks (beer to shots). Any attempts at telling me things (including stuff about buses?) was against their better judgment because neither of them made any sense. I did get out of them that Kerri “puked all over Waterford” and Kirsten “spoke Spanish for a while”. Kerri pretty much just passed out on the floor. Kirsten got changed and attempted to write an email on my computer, all the while falling every which way all over the room. At the time I was more upset because I had been so worried about them, but now it’s effin’ hilarious the state they were in. Holy sweet baby cheese & rice were they drunk!!!

Next day the girls weren’t as in rough shape as I thought they’d be. However they did (finally) manage to explain to me that because they were flying out of Shannon and buses don’t run frequently on the weekends, they’d have to leave today and stay the night up there because there wasn’t an early enough bus on Sunday. Pretty bummed out we weren’t able to go horseback riding then (which we had booked for 2PM and their bus to go to Shannon was at 4PM). Instead we went out to Sumatra cafe for breakfast (soooo good and cheap and I can’t wait to go back) and then came back to pack up everyone’s stuff. My souvenir suitcase was full :)!

On the way down to the bus station, Kerri and I went in to McDonald’s to get our first Shamrock shakes of the year. While in Ireland. It was yet another one of those moments that made me go ‘Yea, coming here was in fact a great idea Dana, good call’. Elizabeth & I saw them off, and I was definitely sad to see my little slices of Americana go (as I took to calling them).

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2010:

Got up and ready. Decided to wear my Ireland ‘Pub Crawl’ t-shirt I bought in Galway (been dying for an excuse and today seemed like a good one). Went up to Jen’s room and opened my bottle of wine at 10:30AM.

Garrett showed up and the drinking games started a bit. Learned and played Asshole and King’s Cup. Pretty fun/funny. By about noon/noon-thirty Marlee and Chris finally arrived. Eventually headed off to the parade with a decent buzz going on (I didn’t finish the bottle of wine, but came pretty damn close, and had a Bud to cap it off).

The parade sucked. My coworkers told me it would, but I still wanted to go cause, oh yea, we’re in Ireland and it’s St. Patrick’s Day and I’m going to take part in the festivities!! But seriously, it sucked. It was pretty much just every children’s sports team or organization marching along. A couple bands. Like two floats. Some cars that were supposed to be vintage but definitely weren’t. And did I mention no one was throwing candy to us??? I wanted a tootsie roll, dammit!

After standing there for a bit, we started to walk down a ways towards the quay. When the parade finally finished we decided to go get lunch at a pub. And apparently so did everyone else. After checking out three separate places, all which were packed, we went to (surprise) Doolan’s! And of course we got a table right away. Hanne met us here and we got lunch. I got bacon and cabbage (though it was more like ham & potatoes), and it was awesomeeee. Not Grandma’s corned beef & cabbage, but I’ll take it because it was made in Ireland and it was St. Paddy’s Day.

We left and headed over to Wacky Apple’s, picking up cards on the way. Did a shot of Baby Guinness before going upstairs. Ended up sitting in Wacky’s for at least two hours playing drinking games and acting like fools. After a bit decided to head back to the Manor hoping to make it to a party in Manor Two, but missing it by a bit. Instead went back to Jen’s room and continued drinking & playing card games with her roommates. I played DJ with iTunes (and I'll brag, I was great at it).

I decided to go to back to my room at 9:30 or so once some drama started and it became apparent despite what they were saying no one was going out to the bars. Instead changed clothes, put on Boondock Saints, and fell asleep.

St. Patrick’s Day was good by me.

Truly bizarre part of the day though was children in pubs/bars. WTF? At Wacky’s a woman quite literally had a baby in a stroller a mere five feet from the bar. What.The.Hell??? Also while we were upstairs her older child was up there yelling at a group of lads for moving a table saying she was going to tell her mother on them. It was insane!!! Apparently the law is children can be in the bars till 9PM on St. Paddy’s Day but no one really follows it? Or something? I don’t know. It’s really fucking weird all around.

Nothing else major to report. We’re planning a trip at the moment to go away for Easter weekend to Doolan, Cliffs of Mohr, and the Aran Islands. Assuming the ferry is running, we have it all good to go with hostels and the like. Really excited to get out of Waterford for a few days and just relax in one of the most gorgeous areas of Ireland. Though to be fair I haven’t really found a part of Ireland I haven’t found gorgeous just yet. Probably because it’s all new to me.

Traveling so much here, and talking to coworkers, has actually given me a better appreciation for America. A lot of the places we visit here in Ireland the people who have lived here for decades haven’t been too. They talk about visiting this and that in Europe or in America. And I realize through this that there are a TON of places in America that I’d like to see and appreciate. I’ve been to a few cities and such, but I want to do more. I want to go to New York City or Down South or to the Mid-West. Chicago? Nashville? Dallas? Seattle? Yes, please, all of the above.

I tried beans on toast today (a “staple” Irish food). Didn’t taste bad, but wasn’t amazing either. However, though my taste buds allowed it my insides are not agreeing with it. Not.Good. In fact, feeling reeeaaaaallllyyyy shitty (double meaning, anyone?). Ugh. The things I do for my kids at work, seriously.

Who am I kidding, I love those little shiests to bits. :D

Love,

Dana

This is going to be really, really long because these stories require as many details as I can remember to make them legit. And also, we just did a load of stuff in Galway.

Friday, February 26, 2010

So ended up having all of the day off (no sense in coming in for just an hour to work). Slept in, took a shower, finished getting packed, and all that jazz. Met up with Garrett and headed off to the city. Had to go to an ATM, hit up the €2 store, and finally got to McDonald’s. Ate a quick lunch, with Elizabeth getting there from work as well, and then went off to the bus station

Bus Éireann was running a discount for students where you sign up online and get a €10 voucher emailed to you. So obviously we all did this. I had trouble printing mine at work so Elizabeth tried at her place. Well she couldn’t get the picture of the voucher to show up so she still printed the email to show I had it. Well the lady at the ticket window refused to accept this. She just HAD to see the picture of the voucher on the paper or no discount. So despite the fact that the email said my name, said ‘here’s a voucher’ with a space for a picture, and was identical to Elizabeth & Garrett’s emails, she wouldn’t give me the discount. This is called being a bitch in my book.

Well despite this we got on our bus almost immediately. It was one of the nicer buses we’d ever been on and off we went. The scenery on the way was absolutely gorgeous; true Irish countryside with hills. Got to watch the sunset on the way which was so cool. Because it’s a really long journey we had to change buses in Limerick. So we went in to the bus/train station to freshen up and grab a snack. Coolest station ever! Just looked awesome and had a vibe about it. After a few minutes, we got on to our second bus and off we went towards Galway.

Both of our bus drivers turned out to be crazy men because they definitely got us to Galway at least a solid hour ahead of schedule. No complaints. Upon arrival, the quest for our bed & breakfast began. We asked where a certain road was, thought we understood the directions, and off we went. Turns out we didn’t understand the directions. Definitely ended up walking around for about a half hour, having to ask again for information, before finally finding our way up to our B&B. Got checked in and LOVED IT. Cute little room with a queen bed & single bed. Nice bathroom with a legit shower. We even had nook!!! It was grand.

Decided to go out and get some food and then explore. Hit up Supermac’s (it’s supermacular afterall!) before venturing off in to Galway. From the start it was pretty clear they had a real night life going on. We walked around a lot in to the city centre, which is the biggest and best of any of the cities thus far. Eventually made a decision and headed in to a bar called Taffe’s. Turns out in the back was an Irish band. It was really crowded but we stuck around. The fife player was also an Irish dancer so in between playing notes, and sometimes while playing notes, there was stepping and high kicks. Pretty freaking awesome.

The band definitely played ‘The Fields of Athenry’ and this is definitely #2 in my life to hearing ‘The Green Fields of France’ live at a pub in Ireland. Irish music, let’s be BFF4L kay?

Eventually the too-cramped atmosphere got to me and I requested we leave. Seeing as Garrett was still wearing his ‘track pants’ (and Ireland actually has dress codes for some bars/clubs) we were denied a few places. None of the places we could get in to actually made us happy either. So we ended up trucking it back to the B&B so he could change in to jeans. And off we went again.

Found our way in to a bar called Coyotes. Guess what kinda bar this was? An American bar. Yea, you read that right. The first part was based on Coyote Ugly (complete with dancing on the bar & a singing bartender), the back part had a Scarface theme (the pool table area as well), the downstairs dance floor was meant to be glammed up Hollywood like, and then in the back was a mechanical bull to ride.

The Americans WOULD find the American themed bar in Ireland. facepalm. Though I will say it was kinda nice in a way to see license plates on the wall from back home and empty cans of Milwaukee’s Best and Colt 45 along the top of the bar.

Well it was nearing 2 or so at this point so we decided to stick around because it was still open and a lot of the other places would be closed. We mingled, walked around, and people watched quite a bit. Talked with some boys and then talked with some others.

Met the owner of the bar. We happened to sit at the table he had left his drink at. Got to talking to him a bit. He bought us a round of shots because they “love Americans”. Apparently on St. Paddy’s day they do an American themed celebration. WTF? In Ireland, they do an American celebration for an Irish holiday? I still find this information really bizarre and not easy to comprehend.

Anyways, one guy at some point was very insistent I dance with him when he came back from a smoke and I gave in. So Elizabeth & I headed to the dance floor. The music they play in Irish clubs KILLS ME. Total 90s flashbacks. Too funny. Definitely recall dancing to Wham, Britney Spears, House of Pain, and other really random old-school and new-school jams. Hilarious each and every time.

Eventually lost my original dance partner only to find a cuter one. Elizabeth went between some boys, and one was rather drunk and weird and stalking her, so it was a game to keep him away. After a good solid half-hour of shaking it and bouncing around (in a hoodie) I was sweaty and tired. My dance buddy asked to buy me a drink so we headed back upstairs.

To this moment, I do not know how the following happened because for the life of me 60% of the time I could not understand what this boy was saying to me. (Side note: The Irish are always saying how different parts have different accents and up until now we didn’t notice it. In Galway, we noticed. And damn were they hard to follow sometimes!) Anyways, said dance partner ended up kissing me. He called it ‘Irish kissing’ and wanted to know if it was better than American, which he said was too aggressive/intense. Oookkk…kinda see where he was going with it and kinda don’t, but I just played along. After some solid kissing for a few minutes finally got that drink (yea, no shame!).

Ended up talking with him for a bit. He was really funny and sweet. Told me I had a good personality and was really pretty. Apparently Americans have a rep for being kinda bitchy, and he was surprised how not that I was. Well gee, I just try oh so gosh darn hard! For the parts of his talking that I understood, he was funny and sweet as well. And cute. Did I mention cute?

This following funny story needs to have a back-story first. Right now in Europe there’s these twins called Jedward that were on some talent show. They sing a mash up of Queen & Vanilla Ice, complete with bad choreography, and even though they’re really not that good, they’re famous. Like, selling out stadiums famous. In their music video, Vanilla Ice makes an appearance. It’s weird, I don’t get it, but hey, that’s Europe.

So anyways while at the bar talking to the cute make-out dance partner boy this Jedward song comes on. Well there are twins at the bar, blonde like the real band, and they decided to get on the bar and put on a show. Like, dancing around, taking off their shirts, and trying to ‘be’ Jedward. It was awkward to say the least because they were cute but not that cute. The guy I was with was all 'Doesn’t bother me if you look’ and I was all ‘I don’t want to look at those weirdos’. It was funny on some levels and just dumb on others.

It became obvious that it was getting late (like past 3AM, which is super weird because places have last call at 2AM usually) and I needed to find Garrett & Elizabeth. Went outside to Garrett who was having a smoke and we decided to call it a night. Went back inside to track down Elizabeth who was back on the dance floor with some cute boy who was wearing her jacket. Really funny. Told her we wanted to head out soon and went back upstairs.

Garrett and I are standing around upstairs waiting for her and suddenly FIIIIIGGGHHHHTTT!!! The owner has some guy in a reverse headlock and is trying to escort him from the bar. A glass in broken in the fray and other security guards are required to get this drunk guy out of there. Intense moment. So we head outside so he can have a final cigg and finally Elizabeth makes an appearance.

As we’re about to leave a fight restarts with the drunk guy. There’s a girl, a friend of the drunk guy or his sister (still don’t know which), trying to get him out of the situation and she ends up getting punched in the side. So Elizabeth and then I rush to check on her while Garrett kinda meanders over to the guys to help out if he can. So we’re talking with her a bit, as she’s really upset over all this, and the drunk guy just can’t leave well enough alone.

He ends up instigating the security guards as well as other people around. Another friend of his tries to get him in a cab, and after a lot of bullshit, does. But within moments the cab stops a few feet away and the drunk guy gets out. Wonderful. The girl, LuLu, is still trying to talk him down and keep some way of peace in the area but it’s just not happening.

The drunk guy starts instigating a HUGE guy across the street. (We eventually nicknamed this guy Sloth, like from the Goonies, and it was for a reason.) So drunk guy goes across the street and is all up in Sloth’s face and swings at him. At first Sloth doesn’t react but then he goes all Hulk and just SNAPS. He’s trying to get to the drunk guy who is now being shoved back by his friend for safety. Garrett and others (including security guards) runs across the street because this is about to get BAD. They’re holding back Sloth and others are shoving drunk guy further away. Sloth is like roaring and grunting and punching the buildings and windows. Next thing Elizabeth & I see is LuLu on the ground against the buildings because she got in the middle of drunk guy and her friend so we run over as well.

We help her get back up and get her shoes on. Drunk guy is now in a fight with his friend (Sloth is being contained by others further down the road). Drunk guy is instigating his friend, trying to get him to throw a punch, and his friend is holding back for the most part because he doesn’t want this shit right now. Garrett is trying to keep them a part a bit and we’re trying to keep LuLu from getting in the middle again. Well this doesn’t work and suddenly the friend is kicking the utter shit out of the drunk guy. He gets him on the ground in the middle of the road and lands legit kicks to his face. We HEARD the kicks connect.

Garrett gets the friend away and Elizabeth & I run to drunk guy because LuLu is FREAKING OUT. We try to get his attention and he finally comes around and snaps at us to ‘stop touching him’. We back up before he gets violent, because we had no doubts he would swing on us (and not only would Elizabeth or I swing back, so would Garrett). So eventually he gets himself up off the road and Garrett & others get him to one side. His friend who he just fought actually listened to us and kept his distance from this point. LuLu uses one of our phones to call someone to come pick up the drunk guy.

Well we get them all walking away from the bar and from the scene and here comes the Garda. Fabulous. The Garda instantly go to the drunk guy and start talking with him. I get LuLu to calm down a bit before going to talk with them because as I explained to her, she doesn’t want to go to jail with him no matter how much she loves him. So she goes over to talk with the Garda and my phone rings for her. I give it to her and it turns out it’s her Dad who’s on his way, within moments. The Garda are good with this and just talk with them till her dad gets there. The drunk guy gets even more pissy and ends up ripping off his shirt and throwing it in the road before getting in the car (still don’t understand why that was necessary). 

Once we see they’re all in the car we head off back to our B&B, officially exhausted, sober, and wishing we didn’t have good hearts to care for people.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Woke up and got a bit ready for the day. Headed out to the dining area for our Irish breakfast. Puuummmpppppeeeddd. There was toast, tea, juice and then the main meal. Sunny-side up egg, pork&beans, 3 types of sausage (black & red pudding (yea, it’s meat with seeds in it) then just regular fat links), and a slice of ham. YUMMY. The black & red pudding were odd for sure, and the black definitely didn’t win the taste test competition but I ate it all anyways because it was a full Irish breakfast for €5 and I was hungry.

After getting fully dressed & ready we headed off in to Galway City. There was a market going on that morning so we went off in search of it. It was more of a farmer’s market with food but there were some crafts & odds/ends for sale. I actually ended up buying my mom a necklace here which is super pretty and handmade by the guy.

We stumbled upon a historical site during this time. It’s a stone wall with a window where some man actually hung his own son out of because his son had committed a crime (I think murder?). It was kinda bizarre to be like ‘I’m standing where a dead man hung’. Also bizarre because it’s in the middle of random buildings & roads. History is legit everywhere in this country.

Seeing as we had minimal real plans for the day we just walked and stumbled upon stuff. Watched a man perform as a living statue (he was really good at it!). Went in to a few stores. Ended up at the waterfront and it was GORGEOUS. We sat with our fair-trade coffee & tea from a cute little cafe and enjoyed the moment. While we were sitting there we realized we were in front of the Spanish Arch. Oh hey, Arch, way to not stand out. We walked down the stairs on to the stones and stood at the water for a bit just taking in it. Such a beautiful day.

Behind us was a museum and Elizabeth was determined to get a picture of a statue in a museum and wanted to see if it was that one. Turns out, it was. The statue was right there. Cool thing about Irish museums: Free Entry. Take note America, you should want everyone and anyone to be able to take part in learning and culture; and not take their money to do so!

Walking around the museum was pretty cool. Learned a bit about Galway and it’s incredible art history. Learned about ‘skin boats’. Went through an art exhibit of graffiti art which was just amazing. I was seriously in awe of the work and how insanely great it looked. I wanted to live in that exhibit. We ended the museum by going through an exhibit on Ireland’s history of wars. Intense, enlightening, and eye-opening. All in all, a great museum.

Decided to head over to the Galway Cathedral. Amazingly gorgeous. High domed ceiling, stained glass, huuuuge inside. Loved it. Felt very at peace inside. Walked around for at least a half hour in it. Unfortunately the church store was closed for lunch at the time. So we headed outside for a bit to walk around the water before going back. Bought some souvenirs for family members before heading out.

Elizabeth wanted to stop in a clothing store to see if she could find a dress to wear out that night. No dice. However I did notice behind us a Spanish restaurant and we decided to go for lunch. Any place that advertises having ‘gringo’ food is a go for me. Turns out, the food was KICK ASS. Not only was it delicious, it was huge. Those Irish ladies knew their Mexican/Spanish.

After stuffing ourselves, decided to walk back through town and then over to Claddagh. Guess what? It’s just a normal residential town. So after not finding anything interesting (or cheap rings) we headed back in to the city centre of Galway. Did some shopping; lots of souvenirs for our friends & family. You’re welcome.

Took a walk down along the river to the area we hadn’t been before. Ending up walking the whole river side, and out on to the walkway which takes you out to some fort or something. IT WAS GORGEOUS. The views were incredible. Water, mountains, sunset… Amazing. Just breathtaking really. Galway definitely wins Most Beautiful Views.

Ended up heading back to the B&B exhausted from our day out. Took a nap before getting up and getting ready to go out.

We killed a bottle of Huzzar by doing shots & also mixing it with orange and pineapple juice. When we finally headed out, we were all feeling pretty good. I was wearing my Drunk Dress as I call it (I have never worn said dress and stayed sober). I deeefinitely kept the tradition going.

So this is the part where if you still want to view me as a good kid you should stop reading because I get sloppy, and it gets ugly.

Anyways, we head out to the bars. Garrett decides he wants to go in to one he had been denied the night before due to his track pants. So we go right in. Order a beer each and a shot of some apple something or another (shots were on special). Continue to drink a bit and somehow meet two guys.

Next thing you know drinks are being bought all around. I somehow end up taking more shots. I pass off the whiskey to Garrett and end up with a beer. The guys we met, Dave and John, turn out to be 20-something and 30-something respectively. They’re apparently fisherman who were supposed to go out on a trip that night but due to weather the trip was postponed. Lucky us.

So at some point we go outside for cigarettes and fresh air. John, Garrett, and myself get back in but Dave and Elizabeth get shut out. WTF? We have no idea either. So the three of us continue on in the bar while the other two head down to Coyotes.

I told Garrett earlier in the night that if we were to finds guys to buy us drinks, we’d make them buy him drinks too out of fairness. And who stuck to it? Me. I totally pulled it off by playing coy & sweet and saying I couldn’t leave my friend out of our talking/drinking. John ended up buying Garrett more Guiness than he knew what to do with. So they chat & drink and I stand around being pretty.

I started to feel the alcohol at this point. I know it’s not good. I excuse myself to go outside. And surely, I begin to spit up a bit. The funny part is there’s some guy out there who in between my mini-vomming decides to start a conversation with me! It’s like “Hi are you ok?"’ [spits on ground] “I’m grand.” “Oh, you’re from America?” [a little vomming] “Yep, New York.” His friend appeared at this point and the first guy tried to take me off with them for food. Now I may have been DRUNK but I’m not dumb. I promptly said no thanks and my friends were coming out.

Things get really, really fuzzy here. I do know John & Garrett appeared moments later. I know I told them I wasn't OK. I know I was hammered beyond comprehension.

And that’s all folks.

Somehow I ended up in an alleyway. Laying on the ground, not really conscious. Elizabeth & David came back (after frantic phone calls from Garrett) to my rescue. I ended up passed out on the sidewalk next. Elizabeth peed in the alleyway before laying down with me. Apparently I couldn’t breath/knew I was in a bad, bad way and requested an ambulance. Elizabeth tried to count 1,2,3 with me to calm me down but no dice. David called for assistance. Apparently I had already been down for the count for about an hour a this point. John kept referring to me as 'sunshine' and even in my trashed & scattered state I hated it (crappy nickname, seriously).

The next thing I actually do remember is my arm being ripped at by the Garda going ‘Get up or I’m arresting you!’. I ripped my arm back from him and yelled ‘Don’t fucking touch me!’. I was told later that David got in said Garda’s face and told him to not touch me like that and such. Everyone hauled me up and decided to get a taxi.

I remember getting in the taxi and the driver going ‘She’s not going to throw up in here!’ and me going ‘I’m not gonna puke in your fucking cab!’. Yea, oops. We got barely up the hill when I felt it coming on. I grabbed at the handle going ‘Stop, stop, I’m gonna puke!’ and the taxi driver slammed the car to a stop just as I got the door open and stumbled out (I literally just missed falling out of moving car). I ran across the road and to the half stone wall thing and proceeded to puke over it.

Elizabeth joined me, kneeling in front of me (WTF?) and even in my state I told her ‘I’m gonna puke on you down there!’ so she moved her legs a bit. Awesome. Finally Garrett guided me back to the B&B with Elizabeth opening the doors before we got there.

I immediately headed to the bathroom and plopped on the floor. It’s a small bathroom, so my legs were in the shower, while I cradled a trash can (why I did that, I don’t know). Garrett came in after a few minutes of being back and puked in the toilet behind me, while I puked in the trash can.

Garrett & I now refer to these moments of simultaneous vomiting as our “bonding experience”. That’s what being in rough shape after a night out in Galway is like. It was only a matter of time, Ireland.

I passed out in the bathroom around this time I’ll assume. Elizabeth assures me it was hilarious, what with me half in the shower and half out. What can I say, I'm a classy broad. I don’t know for how long I was out but at some point I woke up. I changed my clothes, took out my earrings, and crawled in to bed with Elizabeth.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Woke up to the sounds of someone opening & closing our room door.

…whaaa? …where am I…? Who the eff is in bed with me!?!? Oh...hey, Elizabeth. Garrett. What up guys!

Turns out it was past 11. Gonna guess we were supposed to be long gone by then? Also missed breakfast (but still had to pay for it). Our bad.

I felt eh, all right upon waking up. Definitellllyyyy tired. Recounted some of the night’s tales with everyone. Shared quite a few good laughs and ‘I did WHAT’ moments. Shit. I was apparently quite the sight to behold. Ah, well, can’t go back now.

Started to try & get up and get ready. Um, yea, apparently I was worse off than I thought. Literally had to do one task at a time with breaks of laying back down in between. At one point I crawled on the floor across the room because standing wasn’t an option. I also passed back out on the bed, toothbrush & toothpaste in hand.

That’s where shots of apple whatchamuhcallit will get you. Feck you Huzzar!!!

Around this time I realized my wristlet wallet was missing. My camera was in the room, but my wallet wasn’t. This held my IDs, credit cards, cash, and phone. Shit shit shit!!! After tearing the room apart, it’s not there. Then Elizabeth remembers that after the taxi and after I was over the half-wall getting ill, I was given my wristlet. I asked who the fuck gives the drunk girl her wallet! They said I was asking for it! Still, you do NOT give the drunk girl valuable things to carry whilst drunk! Anyways, Garrett took a walk down there and by some miracle (or sheer effin’ Irish luck) he returns with my wallet, everything intact. That’s my pot o’ gold, right there.

Finally, after more sulking and dragging of my entire body, at 1PM we were off. They wanted food so we went to Supermac's. I pretty much passed out there, being barely conscious laying on my bookbag. I felt like I was going to throw up on multiple occasions, prompting me to find bathrooms very quickly, but it never happened. Elizabeth & Garrett needed to pick up some last minute souvenirs so I decided to seek refuge in McD’s and attempt to eat.

It took me (no joke) one hour to eat 6 chicken nuggets, some fries, and drink a Coke. I literally had to choke down every bite, amidst Elizabeth telling me ‘Eating will help’.

David (from the night before) called Elizabeth and ended up coming down to McD’s to say goodbye. Upon seeing me he declared ‘Jesus, you look rough’. Yea, no shit Sherlock. I didn’t say much but they talked a bit. John (who I found out was actually the skipper of the boat and apparently makes him kinda a big deal) ended up calling him and asked to talk with me on the phone. He too came down, even though we only had a few minutes before we had to head out.

Who felt awkward, hungover, and disgusting? This girl right here. Thankfully they held none of the prior night's actions against me, and even still seemed to like my company after the fact. Good guys. They tried to get us to go share a drink with them but we definitely had mere minutes till the bus. So we had to say our goodbyes and head off. They did however promise to take us out fishing if/when we came back to Galway, so that’s a plus.

Headed off to the bus. Took my motion sickness medicine and said a prayer to every higher being I could think of. Got on and settled. And off we went towards Limerick and eventually Waterford.

But no, the story doesn’t end with a ‘And we rode off in to the sunset and made it back safe & sound’ because this is Ireland dammit and I had a hangover!

Instead, the story continues with after about an hour, me getting sick. Really sick. And did I mention there was a hole in the bag I was vomiting in? Who ended up with her own vom on her legs, seat, and floor? Me. I did.

IT SUCKED.

After expelling the McD’s (yea Elizabeth, eating wasn’t such a good idea!) I probably looked really pathetic. Actually I know I looked really pathetic because I felt really pathetic. Garrett graciously offered his white T-shirt for me to clean up a bit with. I asked Elizabeth to hold up my jacket as a curtain while I changed in to my sweat pants. Put the nasty clothes in one of my bags, sat in the other seat, and tried to not think about it.

Finally arrived at Limerick bus station. Thankfully got off the puke bus. Got a chance to go to the bathroom to just wash my mouth out. Got a couple small snacks and liquids at the store before heading out to our other bus.

Had no trouble on the next bus back. Rested a bit actually. My body was pretty much just worn out to the extreme so it couldn’t even get sick again if it wanted to probably. Got back to Waterford. We were standing around outside the bus getting situated when the nice bus driver offered to take us over to our building instead of us walking. Hallelujah small favors!

Back to Manor Village we went. Took a shower, cleaned the clothes a bit in the sink, and went to bed happy I survived.

All in all, Galway, you were an experience, and definitely a story to be told in mixed company. Thanks for playing along.

Love,

Dana

Yes, this is a tad late. My bad. It's been sitting in my drafts and I forgot to publish it.

Friday, 2-5-10:
Hopped a bus to Cork. I really like night bus rides. But what really needs to be said is the following:
Dear Kwells,
You.Are.The.Best. I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOU!!!!
Love,
Me
(Kwells would be the motion sickness medicine that I now won't let out of my sight. Brilliant medicine. Simply amazing).

Anyways, rolled in to the bus station in Cork. Immediately was greeted by a stray dog. Said dog got lots of love and attention from us. (For those of you who ever met the two labs I used to have, this dog was literally Tinker Belle reincarnated. Sweetest personality ever.) This stray actually followed us all the way to our hostel (about a ten minute walk up a hill) and in to said hostel (Shelia's Hostel to be exact) where the lady at reception was like 'Um, yours?' and we were like 'Nope, followed us'. Thankfully this woman was simply grand and promised to call someone to take care of the pup for us.

So we got checked in and went up to our room. Bunk beds!!! The room was just one long, narrow space with two sets of beds on one wall, then the bathroom on that wall, and then two more beds in a back area. Interesting set-up, but it held it's own. We acted silly and got a bit settled in before setting off to explore Cork.

We began to walk along the river towards the city centre. I'm just walking along next to Kate when suddenly she screams and jumps around a bit. I feel something on my foot. I look down and a freaking RAT is running across my feet. I screamed and ran with Kate a few steps a head of me. Everyone else just laughed. Apparently she had felt it and kicked it right in to me. Ew street rat (not the same as Jezebel by any means). Definitely skeeved out by it.

Anyways, walked about the city for a bit seeing what stores they had and such. Lots and lots of stores, be they food, clothing, or anything in-between. There's the main road and tons of side-street/allies along the way with even more places along them. It's truly amazing how many buildings there are. Mostly all were closed being that it was like 11PM on a Friday night. Found an outside restaurant area down one alley that had a WATERFALL. Wicked awesome. We went to McD's for a late night bite before heading over to Shelbourne Bar where we given 15% off drinks through a deal with the hostel we were staying at. Due to the motion sickness meds I couldn't drink and that was totally fine by me.

After they had a round we headed back to the hostel being wiped out and needing to get sleep for the following day.

Saturday, 2-6-10:
Woke up decently early. Everyone got up and around and dressed. Headed down to the bus station only to find out the bus we needed to Blarney wouldn't be there for approximately another hour. (This is where I should probably mention I really should stop being the one looking up buses as I'm not exactly batting 100 on them.)

To kill time we headed back to a bakery we had passed the night before. When they eventually opened we went in. Kate was the most excited for it and got some type of bread. Jenn got this garlic&cheese bap which I said reminded me of the taste of the clam sauce when my grandma makes spaghetti & clam sauce. They did not like this description nor did anyone agree with it. Whatever. It was delicious and I was happy to help her eat it.

So the one guy working in said bakery turned to us after hearing us talk and goes 'So you're all from New York?'. We all literally went 'Uh...whoa...yea'. Turns out his family is from Buffalo, as in his grandmother lives right near Ralph Wilson Stadium. WTF??? How do we keep finding people from back home in these random Irish cities?? He was pretty cool and we enjoyed chatting with him for a bit.

It is truly, without a doubt, a small world.

After we ate we headed back to the bus stop and got on our bus to go to Blarney. Wasn't a long ride until we pulled in to a quaint little town. A few steps away and we were on the Castle grounds.

Instead of going right to the Castle we decided to go see other sights on the grounds. These included Dolmen, Wishing Steps, Witches Kitchen, Druids Circle, Sacrificial Alter, and Fairy Glade. They are all these places where this or that is to be believed happened in the past. All pretty cool. We spent a good time doing this, just enjoying the grounds. It was in fact a gorgeous day and all the greenery and trees was really nice to be around.

Next we headed to the Castle itself. Kate and I ended up split from Garrett and Elizabeth (we had lost Jenn much earlier in the excursion) so her and I began to climb up the 100 stairs to the top.

So I should probably note I'm a bit scared of heights, but I never let myself not do something because of this. I do get a fast heart rate and a bit shaky, but I have never backed out of anything because I'm a tad scared.

That being said, Blarney Castle, you almost got one on me.

The staircase you went up was very, very narrow. It was a spiral, stone staircase the whole way up. It was beyond old looking. And something that should be noted about all these old buildings we've explored; the stairs are ridiculously thin. Like, a few inches thick. I have NO IDEA how they have held up over time.

I eventually made it to the top with Kate. I proceeded to have the most ridiculous grip ever on the metal railing that went along the inside of the Castle, so much so that I actually cut off circulation at one point to my own hand. If you could see the pictures you'd understand why. It was uneven, old, and only a couple foot wide walkway around the very, very open center.

We made our way to the actual Blarney Stone where another group clearly of friends were just doing the kissing thing. Two of the girls were pretty freaked out doing it. You have to lay on your back and a nice man named Dennis holds your midsection while sliding you backwards. You bend backwards over the edge, holding two railings, and you see all the way down to the ground while trying to kiss a stone in front of you.

No thanks.

Kate did in fact brave it and kiss the stone. Hilarious pictures from this as she was a tad freaked hanging over the edge herself. They tried to talk me in to it but I got out of it pretty easily. Thank God. At least some people understand peer pressure isn't cool.

We heard Garrett and Elizabeth beneath us so we opted to wait for them to get to the top. Kate was really enjoying being up so high and the view it provided. I did too, but only looking straight out across. I was not looking down to the ground below. Eventually I got tired of waiting for Garrett and Elizabeth to make their way around (they were stopping to read each info plaque which is good but I was not OK being up so high) so Kate and I went down.

Going down was much better than going up, if only because the staircase didn't seem as deteriorated as the other one.

When we made it back to the lobby we found Jenn. We did a little souvenir shopping before going back out on to the grounds. We walked around a bit more, exploring a cave, a dungeon, and the area around the Castle. Finally after a bit we decided to head out.

We stopped for lunch at a little cafe in town. I got a really good toasted sandwich (ham, cheese, tomatoes, onions) and the others got other really good foods. It was a nice little place and it was good food for cheap. After eating we got back on the bus and headed back to Cork City Centre.

Decided to do a bit of shopping. Kate and Jenn got split from Garrett, Elizabeth, and myself. The three of us ended up exploring the entire city it seemed. We went in to a ton of different stores, walked a farmer's market of sorts, went in to the free Crawford Art Gallery (where an exhibition called 'Terror and the Sublime: Art in an Age of Anxiety' was being put on), and just generally explored the area. It's a really pretty place; gorgeous buildings and no limit on things to go in to. I found a chocolate store and got the most amazing hot chocolate, truffle, and tiramisu EVER. Freaking amazing on all levels. We finished the night by sitting and listening to the best street musicians of the day; a guitar, a violin, and some singing. Beautiful.

My favorite pictures I took are from this night. City views as night falls. I can't wait to share them (hopefully sooner rather than later).

Headed back to the hostel to get ready to go out to dinner and such. Stopped to talk to the receptionist about the pup that followed us back. Turns out she took it home with her. Apparently the pound destroys dogs if they're not claimed in 5 days and this one was just way too sweet to let that happen. Her own dog, a big ol' Sheepdog, was a bit weary of the new dog at first but she said they ended up sleeping together and her dog would bring toys to the new dog trying to engage it in play. Too precious.

When we got back to our room we were informed someone else was staying with us. We had booked a six person room and we figured we wouldn't have anyone staying in the sixth bed. We figured wrong. Apparently a French boy was going to be stuck with us. He apparently came in while Kate was sleeping and an awkward/hilarious situation ensued of 'WTF? Who are you?' and realization a stranger was sleeping with us.

After lounging around a bit and getting pretty we headed out to dinner. Split the group once again with Kate & I going for Chinese and the rest going to a modern restaurant we had found earlier in the day. Kate and I split sweet & sour chicken and I got a side of fried rice as well. It was so good. A big difference between here and home is the lack of grease used in cooking food. It makes the other flavors come out that much more. It was a tad pricey but for a good Chinese meal (my first here) I was willing to spend it.

Ended up finishing before the others so we went over to their restaurant and met them there while they finished up. Sat outside for a bit while they finished their drinks and had a smoke. Took pictures that looked wicked cool due to the glow of the heat lamps (something all bars seem to have on their small outdoor patio areas. How nice of them!). Apparently some people Jenn met had mentioned a couple good bars so off we went.

First stop was Old Oak Bar. It was apparently the place to be. Upon getting our drinks and walking to the back we realized why. The bar is HUGE. As in, there's actually like 3 or 4 actual bars in the entire place. It just keeps going and going. We had a couple drinks (they had a couple, I only had 1) and talked for a bit. It became rather apparent that the bar crowd was more late 20s, early 30s; not exactly our scene. So we left.

Kate and I decided to head back to the hostel and the Jenn, Elizabeth, and Garrett headed off to another bar. Back at the hostel we got ready for bed and eventually fell asleep. I think the others got back like 230AM or so.

Sunday, 2-7-09:
Got up and got ready for the day. Checked out of the hostel and we headed off to the bus station. By asking other drivers we found out what bus we needed to get to the old Cork City Gaol (that's said jail by the way). The actual driver of the bus that went towards the Gaol was wicked, wicked helpful. He at first was a little confused by where we wanted to go but eventually understood and took us on. When it came time for our stop he went on the bus' overhead speaker to tell us (hence the title of this entry). Super hilarious.

We had been told the Cork Gaol would be just up the hill. Um, try like three hills. My legs were unamused. But eventually, a good 20 minute walk later, we reached the old, imposing building.

It wasn't what we thought it would be but was fun all the same. Only one wing was open to us. They gave you a tape player and headphones to listen to a tour explaining the history of the gaol as well as about different people that inhabited it. This went along with the various wax figures they had set-up throughout supposedly being these people. We spent maybe a couple hours at most wandering around and such.

Headed back to the bus terminal in Cork City. There we hopped the bus that was meant to take us back to Waterford. Elizabeth talked with the driver and got him to agree to let us off in Midleton (even though he wasn't supposed to). So Garrett, Elizabeth, and myself got off in Midleton while Kate and Jenn headed back to Waterford.

Upon getting off the bus I discovered a Polish store across the street. Um, yea, I might have gotten a tad too excited. After their cigarette break, they indulged me and let me go over. I found pierogi (pierogi z mięsem pilzneńskie to be exact)!!! Like, legit, real, true Polish pierogi!! Of course I bought some! (I ate those morsels of meaty goodness within three days. I wish I could find good meat pierogis in America.)

Then it was off to the real reason we were in Midleton: The Jameson Distillery. We got to take a tour of the grounds, which is actually the old distillery. They no longer produce any of the liquor there, but instead in a new distillery just beside the old grounds. It was pretty cool though going through the old buildings and having the whiskey process explained to us while looking at real equipment used.

At the end the tour guide asked for volunteers for a taste testing. Originally we believed Elizabeth, myself, and Garrett had all been chosen but someone went up that shouldn't have and thus Garrett got left out. Totally unfair and crappy. But off we went back to the bar.

Everyone was given a ticket for a free Jameson drink so he went and got his while we sat at a table with a few other people. In front of us were three small shots of Scotch, American Whiskey (Jack Daniel's, obviously), and Irish Whiskey (Jameson, obviously). Scotch does in fact have a camp fire taste to it. Did not like, at all. Jack Daniels will always have a little extra 'wha-bam!' on my taste buds (don't ask me why).

I liked the Jameson the best. Yea, I'll say it again: Jameson is better than Jack Daniel's!!! In fact, my Jameson and Coke was so smooth I could have drank them all night. Too bad Jameson is a tad expensive in the USA or it'd become my new favorite drink of all time.

After drinks we headed in to the gift shop. I ended up calling Dave to see what he'd rather get for a birthday present and picked that up, as well as a gift for Al. I also got myself a new hoodie (black and super soft on the inside). I wear it too much already. Probably the best souvenir I've gotten thus far to be honest.

We left the Distillery, sad to say goodbye. However, because it was only 5:30 we went back in to the Polish store so I could get a drink. I got apple juice which actually has a bit of a candy cane taste to it. Garrett and Elizabeth didn't quite know what to make of it, but I chugged it down happily.

Hopped back on the bus and headed home. G & E fell asleep in the back row, all sprawled out while I cat-napped in my seat with my headphones in. Arrived back in Waterford feeling happy and successful over our weekend adventure to Cork.

So I left off on the weekend. So I shall pick back up on Monday Funday.

Monday, 2-1-10:
Went to Jonah knowing it was going to be the end. Niamh came to me and told me to begin writing up my goals seeing as our meeting with Joe was later. I told her actually I wanted to talk to her about all that. So we went in her office and I just told her I wasn't going to continue. We talked about it for about five minutes and she was totally understanding. She agreed it's very school-based and if that's not what I want, that's not what I want. It was really nice and really good how it went. Like Niamh said, social care in Ireland is much, much broader than in America.

So I just sat around for the following hour or so until Joe came. Then we met with Niamh & Miriam and it went really quickly. They wished me the best, I thanked them for letting me be there, and that was that. I left with Joe after that.

Did some shopping on the way home, picked up a couple books, strolled around town. It was nice to just be solo with no real direction for a bit.

Tuesday, 2-2-10:
Absolutely no recollection if anything important happened; I'm gonna go with no. Pretty sure I slept late and read books and did nothing of significance in any shape or form.

Not gonna lie, loved it.

Wednesday, 2-3-10:
Spent the day doing nothing with my life. Awesomeeeee!!!!

Decided to go out that night with everyone. And by everyone I meant my Americans, the other Americans, the Belgians, and an Austrian. Um yea, holla to the world!! I didn't plan on drinking but just going out and not being in this four walled white room any more.

First stop, Wacky Apple where we met up with everyone. Definitely sat on hobbit stools around a long table with everyone. Pretty legit and felt like right out of a movie. Realized pretty quickly to get through the night I was gonna need a drink. So I had a Heineken (my first one mind you). Yea, I'll allow it and keep going with that. Definitely toasted in Jamaican and Irish. We're so eclectic. WA closed down at midnight-ish so off we went.

Right to Ruby Lounge, everyone's favorite club. The same cover band was playing as last week; fuuuuuuuuuuuun!!! Had a couple more drinks. May have been pulled in to a 'walk-off/strut-your-stuff' party with some strangers to the cover of 'Express Yourself' (N.W.A, not Madonna). We all pretty much cat-walked across the floor showing our best Zoolander and ass-shaking moves. The band even applauded us at the end. I love this country!!

Definitely saw and lost a lot of people throughout the night. We're not very good at staying in one spot it seems. Alcohol makes us wander around in various pairings/groups. Hanne is also my new favorite person in the world; constant fun. There's never a dull moment when we're all together, that's for sure.

Side note: why is everyone here a Giants fan (be they American, Irish, or Belgian)? WTF??? Chris and I tried to hold our own for the Bills but no luck. We all did rally however when one of the girls said she was a Patriot's fan. Good to know anyone can get along to hate on Tom Brady. It all came down to the fact that Chris and I were bummed we couldn't be watching the Sabres at that moment. Also we realized we were both at the same Pens game in December; too crazy.

Anyways, I eventually went to the bar next door to see people and ran in to Dean, Paul, and Alex, the boys we met our first night here in Elizabeth's room. I definitely spent the rest of the night sitting and talking with them. Hilarious stuff. Compared notes between America and Ireland. They asked me a lot of questions; kinda ridiculous. Their idea of America is kinda skewed on some levels. Paul (who I was told to not believe a word from anyways) thinks we're racist as well as saying he thinks America is like the movie Van Wilder. Killed those ideas pretty fast, even if he was joking.

They totally call snaps 'clicks'. Like snapping your fingers. They tried all night to get me to do the 3 snap thing all ghetto style and also the whatever hand. WTF is wrong with America that this is how the world see us?? Marlee and I did end up doing the snaps only because they kept doing it wicked wrong. But we kept telling them no respectable person actually does that in a serious manner. It's all jokes. We also really miss Jersey Shore and the fact they don't have it here.

That bar eventually closed down and off I went with four boys.

Apparently their drunk food is kabobs. The fact I had never had one was beyond them. And no, it's not a shiskabob, much to my disappointment. It's like an Indian kabob, which is really a wrap with stuff in it. Also the fact I've never had curry was not OK either. I did try a bite of a kabob but it seemed too spicy for me at the time. Knowing how my body has taken to food here I was not about to make that mistake that late at night. I wanted a garbage plate. I explained to the boys what that was; awesome reactions of disgust ensued.

Met a boy who said he was American in said kabob place. Apparently he was born in South Carolina? However, he definitely had an intense Irish accent and called it 'South Caroline' at first. I called him out on it. He told me some life story about parents moving and a brother still being there or something. I don't remember. I don't think I really cared at that point. Still don't really.

Eventually headed back towards the building with the boys. Alex and Paul live here so we went in while Dean and Joey (I think that's his name anyways) went off to their own place. They like to do this drunken goodbye thing where they say goodbye multiple times, calling out to each other. Kinda weird, definitely hilarious. They thought they were awesome so I went with it.

Came back to my room and decided to drunkenly IM. Um, Carter/Drews/Al: WTF was I even talking about?? I think Carter got the most win in his conversation but Drews got a couple good moments too. Here are some excerpts to show what I mean:

xoxAmIWrongxox (3:53:48 AM): me and my 5 litre of water are PUMPED UP
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:53:55 AM): arnold schwagneger style
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:53:59 AM): i hope i spelled that wrong
d4rksabre (3:54:17 AM): you did..excellently
d4rksabre (3:54:32 AM): in fact, it's even better that way
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:54:55 AM): hahahahaha
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:55:04 AM): holla at ya drunk irish girl and what she can do drunk
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:55:54 AM): shiest
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:55:57 AM): i need to stop laughing
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:55:59 AM): this is loud
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:56:03 AM): emma will not be pleased
d4rksabre (3:56:06 AM): seriously though, im laughing so hard at schwaganeger
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:56:56 AM): at least i didn't spell negro or worse
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:01 AM): also, americans are racist
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:02 AM): btw
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:17 AM): the irish judge us based on the movie 'van wildler'
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:19 AM): wtf man
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:19 AM): wtf
d4rksabre (3:57:26 AM): hahaha
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:27 AM): there was a lot of alcohol involved in that discussion tho
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:30 AM): so it may not be accurate
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:35 AM): they tell me paul's kinda BSer
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:38 AM): he looks like overholt
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:57:40 AM): it's insane
d4rksabre (3:57:50 AM): lol paul?
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:07 AM): WHAT
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:09 AM): HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:18 AM): !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:23 AM): o
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:24 AM): wait
d4rksabre (3:58:25 AM): you just said his name...
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:25 AM): i said it
d4rksabre (3:58:28 AM): lol
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:29 AM): hahahahahahaah
d4rksabre (3:58:35 AM): apparently you = more drunk than me
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:40 AM): haahaha
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:41 AM): that's not good
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:44 AM): my liver hates us
xoxAmIWrongxox (3:58:46 AM): hahahahaah


xoxAmIWrongxox (4:02:16 AM): btw drews laughing at me right now
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:02:21 AM): def showed him my moment about paul just now
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:02:22 AM): lol
d4rksabre (4:02:34 AM): lol i think we're all sort of laughing at you a little bit
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:01 AM): shhhhh
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:09 AM): this is the bes tnight so far in ireland
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:11 AM): lemme indulge ok
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:15 AM): geeeeeezzzz
d4rksabre (4:03:24 AM): i'm the last person that would stop anyone from indugling lol
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:33 AM): lol come here
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:34 AM): seriously
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:36 AM): omg carter
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:39 AM): you'd be a friggenng HIT
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:51 AM): did i mentioned i cat-walked in a bar tonight?
d4rksabre (4:03:55 AM): hahahaha
d4rksabre (4:04:01 AM): no, but now you have lol
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:29 AM): lol
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:32 AM): i totes did
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:39 AM): this guy just grabbed me and various friends
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:42 AM): and shoved us forward
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:47 AM): i def shook my s#!t
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:50 AM): i was applauded
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:53 AM): it was grand
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:58 AM): they say that a lot, 'grand'.
d4rksabre (4:05:02 AM): f#ckin grand
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:05:21 AM): no
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:05:23 AM): just grand
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:05:31 AM): but when they say f#ck
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:05:33 AM): it's hawt
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:05:35 AM): :-)
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:05:37 AM): hahahahaha
d4rksabre (4:05:53 AM): yeah i bet it is ya f#ck
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:06:28 AM): hahahah
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:06:36 AM): i did tell them tho that the accent is lost on me already
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:06:38 AM): they were sad
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:06:44 AM): i told them to go to america to get laid via accent
d4rksabre (4:06:52 AM): it's true
d4rksabre (4:07:05 AM): it works on guys too
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:07:23 AM): you're gay
d4rksabre (4:07:30 AM): gimme a spry irish chick and i'm done
d4rksabre (4:07:35 AM): no homo dana
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:07:40 AM): oooookkkk surrreeee
d4rksabre (4:07:57 AM): i know it's a long shot, but ya gotta trust me here lol
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:08:52 AM): ok


dfdtrumpet (4:03:39 AM): so what time/day is it there?
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:03:55 AM): 4AM
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:03 AM): thursday
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:07 AM): the time i would normally be leaving a bar
dfdtrumpet (4:04:10 AM): ok, so you're like 5 hours ahead
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:13 AM): yep
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:20 AM): tho mat hisn't my forte right now
xoxAmIWrongxox (4:04:23 AM): it's 5
dfdtrumpet (4:04:35 AM): lol
dfdtrumpet (4:05:10 AM): i like how you managed to spell forte right in that sentance


Yea, pretty much I was that ridiculous and it still makes me laugh. (Also Drews, I like how you managed to spell 'sentence' wrong in that sentence. Hahaha!)

Moral of the story: I rock.

Thursday, 2-4-10:
Um, who was woken at 930AM by a fire alarm?

Oh right, this girl.

NOT AMUSED MANOR VILLAGE, NOT AMUSED!! Definitely tried to sleep through it (as many students have advised us to do). I almost did pull it off but after ten minutes I texted Elizabeth and asked what to do. She told me to go outside. So I went in the courtyard, still half asleep and somewhat hung-over and what did I do? Stepped in a HUGE puddle soaking through my slippers. Everyone (i.e. strangers) laughed at me. It was not cool.

Turns out Elizabeth overslept and was out front. Um, she's kinda supposed to be at her internship at 9AM. Wut-woh. Heard from her that she was out there with Marlee who was the last to see me the night before (along with Meghan) and was concerned how I got home. They didn't know that I had actually previously met the boys I was with and they weren't strangers I was just gallivanting around with.

Eventually we were allowed to no longer be standing in the rain and I promptly crawled back in to my bed. Definitely did not awake again till 1PM. How anyone managed to go in to their internships after that night was beyond me. Elizabeth, Jenn, and Hanne all said they were falling asleep throughout the whole day though. So thankful I didn't have anything to do till 5PM.

I did however head out in to the crap weather in the late afternoon to get some shopping done. Picked up Kwells, the motion sickness medicine that shall get tested this weekend. Also new Band-Aids for the awful, awful blisters I have that won't go away. Not fun, new shoes. Why must you be so cute yet so painful?

Definitely started to downpour and there was a lot of wind. AWESOME. I knew this sun and stuff was too good to last. Stereotypical Irish weather finally reared it's ugly, ugly head. I trucked on and headed to the grocery store to pick up meat and taco stuff for dinner that night.

Hung around for a bit till 5PM when I went to campus to meet with Joe for my interview at S.H.Y. Project.

It went sooooooooooo well. The girl who will be my supervisor, Louise, is also 21 years old, finishing up in college, and I'm the first person she's 'supervised'. The other worker, Maggie, has been there for a while and will be my other less-supervisor. They are the only two paid workers; the rest are all volunteers, like 50 or so. Amazing.

Louise is super cool and nice. Basically SHY is a place for kids to come to talk and hang out and be in a safe, fun environment. They cook, play sports, have a 'homework club', watch movies, and all that good stuff. They run various 'groups', depending on age and gender. They don't like to run mixed gender groups and I'm OK with that.

Basically I will never start work before 1PM and I'll spend my days with kids making sure they're in a good place. Sign me up! I got to meet one of the girls' groups. They actually requested to meet me because they've never met an American before. They were rocking aviators as they'd just had a fashion show and were playing Twister when we came in. Too precious. So excited to hug kids and support them. This is what makes me heart happy.

I left the interview with Joe with perma-grin. I told Louise this felt really good and she agreed, meaning she liked me as much as I liked her. Even Joe said he wanted to come back and do my internship (Louise sold it that well essentially).

I start Monday at 4PM, an hour before the first boys' group. Kinda nervous, really excited, and can't wait to dive right in.

Came back to the building and had tacos with the crew. Made tentative plans for this weekend. Blarney and Jameson Distillery on Saturday for sure, the old Gaol probably on Sunday.

Back in my room that night I was just getting comfy in bed when Mom called. Um, are you ready for this??

I GOT ACCEPTED TO UB!!!! I will start my social work Master's on May 17th and in one year I will be done with it. Pardon the language but F#*K YEA!!!!!!!!!!!! So pumped, you have no idea. (Side note: 99 days till graduation from Brockport. Woo!!)

Best. Thursday. Ever.

Today, Friday, 2-5-10:
Finally got the laundry situation sorted out. It sucks.

We had tried to find a laundry place outside of here that would be cheaper to do our own at but no dice. So we have to use the laundry service in this building. It's 9.50euro per 5kg. Because this was our first time and I was clearly unsure of the process the lady was really nice enough to not weigh our loads, though she did tell me we'd be over if she had. We had one of whites and one of darks (Elizabeth and I combined our laundry). So a filled laundry basket, a normal load to me back home, is too big here. It really sucks that each week we'll have to spend 19euro to do laundry basically. Totally bogus.

The hostel we're staying at this weekend in Cork does 5kg loads for 5euro so we saved clothes to do there. Sucks we have to lug a suitcase there but we need to save money where we can. Even if we have to do two loads in Cork, it's still the price of one here.

Why did I come to the dirty country that doesn't understand clean clothes and using deodorant?? (Jokes people, mostly jokes.)

Attempted to make plans to go to the movies to see Avatar today. Chris unfortunately had to go to the health office on campus and the plans got cancelled.

So here I sit.

We leave for Cork at 7:30PM tonight. Super excited. Cannot wait to go exploring this weekend.

Before we go Elizabeth is moving rooms. She cannot spend the next three months in a room of people who have their friends over every night to smoke weed and do nothing but keep her up till 2AM. I refuse to go to her room anymore because of the smell. It's not good when you have to reserve clothes to only be worn in said room so not all your clothes smell. Live and learn, right?

When we return on Sunday we'll be heading over to Paddy's apartment to watch the Superbowl. That is going to be so much fun!! Can't wait for some American sports. Heck, I just miss sports altogether. We keep finding random soccer games but it's never ManU. Ah well, I'll take what I can get!

The next blog will hopefully be full of amazing stories of exploring a city we're told is one of the best.

Peace and Love,
Dana

I don't even know where to begin. Lots to talk about. LOTS. Should have done this sooner but now I will play catch-up. It's going to be really long; you may just want to skim for things that catch your eye. I really need to try and update day by day so my entries stop being pages long. Sorry guys.

Friday Night, 1-29-10:
Decided we wanted pizza & wings for dinner. Scoped out the various pizza joints in town (there are a few) before deciding on Mazonni's (I think that's how it's spelled?). Got their special; pizza with 3 toppings (pepperoni, peppers, and sausage), chicken wings (kind-of), garlic bread (amazing), and a 2 litre. It tasted good and I didn't have any complaints (except for the fact they played 90s rap music the entire time we were in there. That's not a joke. Puff Daddy, LL Cool J, and others. Weird.) Overall, good experience for a good price.

After that we decided to go out to a new bar for us, TH Doolans (Google it, yo). It had a more traditional Irish band playing and we were wicked apt to check it out. Apparently it's the oldest running tavern in Waterford.

Upon arrival, we were immediately preyed upon by male cougars. Within five minutes one declared he was married but this did not stop him from getting all up in Kate's business the entire night. They were entertaining for the most part, definitely had no filters on what they'd say to us. We indulged them to a certain extent, but it's really not my thing so I'd find ways to slip away and hang out with Garrett a lot (which apparently led them to think we were dating, something that is now a common theme amongst strangers but more on that later).

When they were getting ready to leave, one of them pulled me in for a hug and to kiss him on the cheek. Fine, whatever. Well, let's just say homeskillet definitely had other plans and had me in a head-lock sort of move and turned it more in to a full kiss. Um, what?? WTF?? I couldn't get out of it until he released me. Everyone just stood there and watched. (After the fact, Garrett & Kate claimed it happened too fast to jump in and it was kind of like a train wreck, you just had to watch. Thanks guys.)

It was not awesome. I am not pleased. I do not like to talk about it. I'm only documenting it becuase it happened and that is what this blog is for; to chronicle our Irish adventures. And that was an adventure. Ugh. I definitely was not drunk enough for that one.

Also, that same guy his friends kept saying was 'the best dancer' and Kate was definitely pulled in to dancing across the bar with him. Hilarious. He was throwing her around like nobody's business. And at one point, he definitely dropped it like it was hot. Awkward. But so funny.

Sometimes ya just gotta laugh I guess.

Two highlights of the night:
Free drinks via male cougars. Yes, we didn't pay for any of them. No, I don't have any shame either. For the way he kissed me, he OWED me drinks.

Second highlight: The band definitely played 'Green Fields of France'. Definitely got to sing along. That was probably the best moment thus far for me on this excursion. Too cool to sing an Irish song I love in an actual Irish pub played by an actual Irish band. I still get dopey thinking about it.

Elizabeth ended up crashing in my room that night because she's convinced she has a ghost in her room. There are sounds of doors opening when no one's around (this place is virtually empty on the weekends). He did turn on the heater for her so I think he's a sweetheart but she's not amused.

At about 5AM, barely asleep, I woke up pretty much convulsing due to too much acid in my stomach/throat (it sounds scary, and it was, but it wasn't that bad). For those that don't know, I have really bad acid reflux (I take a pill each day, my saving grace). The pizza apparently had not settled well, along with the couple beers (and I do mean only a couple) and thus my body was revolting. I had to down a couple pills immediately. I woke up again at about 9AM feeling anything but awesome and took another pill, along with curling in the fetal position and wanting to cry. By about 1PM I was feeling human again but my stomach was still warning me to not try anything.

Really fed up with my body's apparent decision to revolt against anything Irish I ingest. Not funny, body, not funny.

Saturday, 1-30-10:
Originally we had planned to go to a hurling match at 2PM but it was definitely too far away to get to via walking so that got nixed. Instead, Kate found us an alternative: dog races. To pass the time we until it started we did some light shopping during the day. Got more minutes for our phones. Hit up a couple stores to just look around.

Had lunch at Gino's, a great pizza place. Seeing as I hadn't been feeling so hot from the night before's dinner I was more than hesitant to try it. But in the end, I was so glad I did. I had a vanilla milkshake (which was KILLER), some cheese pizza, and then a Death by Chocolate sundae (omg, my tastebuds did cartwheels). We will definitely be back at that place again. And considering my organs did not pull a coup afterwards, I guess they approve as well.

While shopping we definitely stopped at a butcher's and got some steaks. Garrett has been DYING to cook up some meat, as in every butcher shop we passed the first few days we were in town he'd go in and just gawk. We've been teasing him about it ever since so he finally got his wish. Not a bad price either, 4 euro for a decent cut. He was more than thrilled to carry them home.

Grocery shopping turned in to planning meals. We decided that night we'd just do grilled cheese with soup again and make Sunday our big dinner (homemade mac&cheese, steak, and broccoli).

Came back and made dinner and kicked it before heading out to the dog races. It was a bit of a walk through Tramore to get to the stadium but we eventually found it. Got settled in at a table along the windows and watched. There were six dogs in each race, and we all picked which ones we thought would win. (I kept picking trifectas though. What can I say, my horse racing background shined through.) We each went and watched an actual race from outside too, just to see it in person. We stayed for about six races and it was pretty enjoyable, if only because we all know how to laugh together.

I will now get on my soap box.
I do not condone dog racing. My conscience hated me the moment I agreed to go. I am very much against animal cruelty for entertainment. I know all about Greyhound rescue organizations and what these dogs endure just to be kicked to the curb at a whim. It's not cool at all. That being said, I did pay admission (which did support them) but I did not bet. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am glad I did it but I have no plans to ever do it again.
I am now off my soap box.

After the races, we came back to the rooms to get ready to go out again. Everyone else pregammed a bit. I was pretty tired after not getting solid sleep, and had no plans to drink, but wanted to go out anyways to see everyone. So after who knows how long we finally left the rooms to go back to Doolan's and meet up with our American & Irish friends.

I don't know if I've mentioned it previously, but there are other Americans staying in our building and we met them our first night out. One guy, a few girls. Then there's the Irish guy they knew that we now know. Pretty cool to have people to hang out with from here and there.

Anyways, we go to Doolans and found them quickly. The band was still playing and we got to talk with everyone a bit. A cool thing they do is when the band wraps up, the last song they play is the Irish National Anthem, which is in Gaelic. The night before when they had done that I just thought I was too drunk to understand, but it turns out it definitely is a different language. The whole bar stands up and everyone sings along; it's a really cool moment.

Another cool thing about Doolans is that if you come from another country you can sign a dollar bill and pin it up on the rafters. We had noticed this the night before and even found ones from Rochester and Buffalo. The one from Rochester definitely said 'It's Huge!' a la Billy Fuccillio, and that made us laugh. Anyways, Kate had a dollar on her so we signed it, putting it as Brockport Jan 2010 and pinned it up right above the bar. So cool that it's gonna stay there for other people to see.

So they were closing for the night and we waited for the rest of the group to get together. They had no idea where they were heading so we just walked. I was wicked tired and wicked sober (surrounded by people ready to party) so I decided to head back for the night, just not feeling it. Turns out this may or may not have been the best decision I ever made.

Sunday, 1-31-10:
Had a lazy day in bed. Was really nice to sleep in. I totally back Ireland and their 'Sunday is a day of rest' deal. We can be friends on this one.

Eventually headed up to Kate's room for dinner a bit after 5:30PM. And then story time commenced.

Turns out they got hammered. There may or may not have been peeing on small trains meant for children to play on. Everyone may or may not have gotten randomly separated and went off on their own adventures. People may or may not have gathered in Elizabeth's room (without Elizabeth) and thrown various glass bottles (including a mayonnaise jar) out of the window to shatter on the street below. One of the other girls may or may not have accused Elizabeth of telling her to back off of Garrett because they're sleeping together (this might have made me laugh more than any of the other stories).

All in all, things got bananas on Saturday night. We are now known as 'those crazy Brockport kids'. Kinda happy I didn't lead to the creation of this title. But kinda can't wait to be in that category as well (for far less illegal reasons of course).

Dinner was fantastic. Steaks and mac&cheese. The mac&cheese was good, not fantastic but it satisfied our craving for it. The steaks were phenomenal. I totally love the whole real-butcher-shop deal here.


I think I'll stop here and continue the rest of the weeks' stories in another post.

Love you guys!