Following My Bliss

Things have been so insanely great lately!!!

Louise told me last Monday that I would be ending my internship on the 30th with her because she has exams the following week and is taking her vacation time then to get that stuff out of the way.
So I emailed Mom telling her this.
Last Wednesday during volunteer night I checked my phone during a break and found a text from her that simply read 'So what do u think if I came to visit the first week of May? Luv Mom'.
Needles to say I FREAKED and immediately called her. And she was totally serious. Everyone at work was sooo excited for me and I'll admit, I got a little teary. That night she sent me her itinerary.

On Friday we were talking and she asked me if I were to go to London how many days would I need? And I said three or four. Her reply? 'Well look in to some hotels & flights and we'll do it'.

ARE.YOU.SERIOUS?!?!?!?!

So I spent the rest of the night researching and organizing and figuring it all out. Mom basically put her week plans in my hands and I went to TOWN.

Our itinerary reads as follows:
She'll arrive the 1st. We will stay in Waterford from then till Tuesday morning in a hotel by the Quay. (Monday is a Bank Holiday and the bus doesn't go to Dublin, which messed up my original plans but I adjusted).
On Tuesday morning we will take the bus up to Dublin and then fly to London. We will stay in London from Tuesday night till Friday early morning. Our hotel is right by Hyde Park and within a couple miles of every major site (Buckingham Palace, Westminister Abbey, ect.). It's also right by the Paddington tube station which makes it easy to get to from Heathrow (there's a 15 minute express train every 15 minutes!).
Friday morning we will hop an early flight back to Dublin. We're going to site see Dublin for the day and stay the night in a hostel before she flies back to NY on Saturday. I will return to Waterford for the weekend (having found out changing my flights is not a financially smart decision) and will myself fly home on Wednesday.

Every time I talk about going to London I shake a bit and can't stop perma-grin. I've dreamed of this since I was a kid. I would buy out of date travel books from used bookstores on London and scour them for hours. I have been fascinated with British culture for just as long. I used to watch the BBC Channel on TV for goodness sake!
This is just...absolutely insane. I won't honestly believe I'm there till we land in Heathrow. Any and all pictures I take will feature the biggest damn smile I can manage, promise.
London, I can't wait to embrace you and love on you for three days. Cannot.WAIT!!!!

Aside from London, I was stoked to just know my mom was coming to visit. I wasn't sure what we were going to do for a week in Waterford (I was planning some crazy Irish travel instead) but just to have her here means a lot. My brother's really upset he can't come out (can't afford it) and I feel bad for him. But he also doesn't know my mom plans on taking us on a cruise for my Grad school present soooo shhhh...his is coming!!! Haha!





On the internship front, I'm sad it'll be ending a week earlier than I thought in a way. I have my hours in, so that's not a problem. I guess I just need to prepare myself to cut ties. Some of these kids I have generally come to really like and become attached to (it was bound to happen!) and to say goodbye will be sad. I know they're in good hands though, and even though I wasn't here long I like to think I made an impact in some way. Maybe something so simple as teaching them something about what it's really like in America; just opening their eyes a bit. I'll take it. I want to come in like four years and see where they're at. Especially some of the boys who are definitely very tough. I'd love to see them as respecful, decent young men with future plans. I'll always hope for them, always.

My coworkers said we need to go out as a goodbye. They want to take me to some place called Jack Mead's (sp?). Apparently it's a kickass restaurant/bar/club out in the middle of no where. It has killer land around it, with like ponds and stuff. We're gonna go the Saturday after my last night, so my mom will be with us too. There will be BBQ for dinner and then a DJ at 9 or so. I plan on having a few drinks and having a lot of laughs. I'm going to miss the coworkers. They've been so nice to me, and so much fun. I always have at least one good laugh at work each day, usually due to Katrina (that woman is pure hilarity I think). Louise has been so sweet and wonderful as my supervisor, and soooo helpful. Same for Maggie, who although not my real supervisor has taught me a lot as well. I really feel I've gained some useful knowledge and skills while at SHY.





On Friday I noticed my leg foot/ankle was swollen twice the size of my right.

This happened once before sophomore year. I ended up in the ER and mom ended up driving up at like midnight to be with me. They did a scan on my leg and found no blood clot and sent me on my way. I went to my ortho not too long after and they put me in this good-awful half-leg walking boot. I only wore it for a couple hours. The swelling went down on it's own. After this, some other stuff happened with my knee and leg and such and it culminated with me having knee surgery Spring Break 2008.
Since then, it's been golden (for the most part). My knee still hurts in cold/rainy weather, which is pretty common. I can run again though and bend and it doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night. My ankles are still looser, and my calf muscles are still too tight at times, but all is much better than it was.

Anyways, on Friday my foot/ankle blew up. I called mom in a bit of a panic because it hadn't happened in a while. She wasn't sure what to do with me, and considering I couldn't find any urgent care clinics online around here we decided to wait until I went the ER route. She said if I was home she would have taken me right away but being a country away I was hesitant to just go (health care isn't like it is back home, trust me). She's convinced I have rheumatoid, if not something else. Her main concern was that this time it was a blood clot which could go to my heart and then it'd be 'Bye Bye Dana'. But because the pain was only in one exact spot in my calf and there wasn't much redness, we decided to give it some time.
So I made a make-shift ice pack (wet towel in a bag in the freezer) and elevated my leg. It didn't really go down too much but I didn't really feel like calling Elizabeth at 11PM for a bonding experience to the ER. So we agreed I'd just say a prayer, go to bed, and hope it was better the next day.

Her phone call woke me up the next day. The swelling had gone down, but my ankle was still big. Throughout the day it blew back up, not as bad as the night before, but still bigger than my right foot. Fabulous. Elevated it some more and just whatever. By Sunday my foot was no longer bad, but my ankle joint is still swollen to this day.

For the past month or so when I walk to work after about 15 minutes my calf/shin start to tighten/hurt. I just assumed it had to do with walking too fast and cramping up. But now with this, I dunno.
Currently there's one spot in my calf that still really f#ckin hurts. Like right in the middlel pure sharp pain as I sit here. It feels like a knot almost, but when I touch it it's not. It don't know what to make of it at this point.

Can't wait to go to the doc when I get home! Gonna be good times, I tell ya!

Also on the schedule for when I get home will be wisdom teeth removal. It will at least be the bottom ones. I've put it off long enough, and now they're starting to come through, and something needs to be done. Sigh. Gonna be great fun on that one too!!




I'm currently working on my papers. I have the WIT portfolio half done. It is sooo easy by comparison to Bport. The sections are 2000 words each, which is like 5/6 pages. That's a JOKE compared to the 20 pages I'm supposed to do for my Comprehensive Case Analysis. Of course I should probably do the Evidence-Based Research paper first, which was due a week and a half ago. It's just hard to be in internship 4 days a week and do papers. When I come back from work at anywhere from 7-10PM the last thing I want to do is write. And I do spend Tuesdays (my off day meant for working on papers) doing them, but one day isn't enough to get all my errands and papers in.
Tonight I'm skipping Roomie TV Night to keep working. Shitty. I feel bad missing Grey's & Desperate Housewives. But I have to get my portfolio to Louise on Monday for review and technically the Comp Case is due then too sooo... Time is certinaly of the essence right now!!

Love & miss you guys!
(I'll try to get stories up from Lehinch/Doolin/Inishmore sometime soon. I know, they happened a couple weeks ago now practically but I've been busy, OK? haha)

Of this I am certain: I have no idea what I’m doing with my life.

This weekend taught me one thing for sure, and that’s that when I come back to the US, I will have less direction than when I left.

Yes, I am going to grad school for my MSW. Yes, I will (hopefully) be able to reapply and re-assume my job at ASI. And yes, I will live with my mom & Bob for at least the next six months.

Other than that, I have nothing to say.

Do I want to work with children with autism? Do I want to go in to America’s version of youth work? What about working with drug abusers and alcoholics? What about people with other developmental disorders? Anorexia? Mental illness? Geriatrics?

I wish I still wanted to work with CPS so at least then I’d have some idea of where I was going with these degrees that I’ll have spent five years and thousands of dollars acquiring.

It’s not even scholastically and professional that I’m floating around with no direction. Personally, spiritually, emotionally… I’m a blank slate all across the board lately it seems.

Being in this country, for some reason I can’t even begin to explain simply because I myself don’t know, I find myself wishing I could bring myself to believe in a higher being. I don’t do religion because I don’t like the idea of being confined. I can’t bring myself to believe that I’m right and others are wrong because they have a different concept and belief of what a god is. I always say I’m agnostic; that I believe there is some force that guides us but I will not put a face or name to it. However, there is no place for agnostics to go and pray or talk or center themselves among others that believe the same. I wish there was. I wish I had a community to be a part of.

I think that’s my biggest problem. I don’t know where I fit in anymore. I have no group of people to turn to; only very, very few select individuals do I find wishing to talk with or that I feel want to talk with me.

Best friends went from multiple to minimal, and even though in most cases it was for the best, I still find myself longing for that acceptance and understanding and friendship. I wish I had more people to lean on. I wish I had more people that wanted to hang out and go shopping or grab coffee and chat whenever possible. I wish I had people that cared for me, and meant it wholeheartedly, and didn’t waver.

I realized far too late in my college career those that I should have gotten closer to, and didn’t, and those that I wasted my time on, and shouldn’t have. I think I made some people mean too much to me, and they didn’t bother making me mean as much to them. I’m sure going an ocean away for four months at the end of senior year didn’t help that situation.

I don’t regret coming to Ireland. This was a once in a lifetime chance, and it would have been stupid of me to not take it. But four months was too much. Two, maybe even three, would have been ideal. I find myself torn now between dying for these last four weeks to fly by and wishing to extend them, but more often then not I want them to fly by.

I’m ready to come home and find a direction for my life. I feel like I’m just biding my time till I go back and start on grad school. I feel stale and complacent and longing for a challenge. I’m too smart and capable for my own good sometimes, or maybe I just sell myself short and take on tasks too easy.

I wish I could travel forever. I wish I had someone waiting for me. I wish I had something to turn to for answers. I wish I had met more people here that meant something. I wish I didn’t guard myself so much. I wish more people back home would miss me. I wish I picked a different career path, or in the very least, even had a career path. I wish when I come back people will notice a change in me, and a positive change at that.

I wish I was more than I am, and I know I have time on my side to make it happen, but sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in this way forever.

The number of wishes I’ve made on stars and at 11:11 should be criminal. Now I just need to do something to make these wishes in to reality. I've looked at job search websites and the Peace Corps. Anything is an option at this point.

My life is up to me. Scary, unpredictable, ever-changing, freeing, thrilling, invigorating, dreaming, amusing, exciting, and NOW. These moments can’t be brought back.

35 days till I come home.

Here’s to the future.

Carve your name in a black stone
Swear to god we won't let go
If you can't love babe, then you can't hurt
We take the good times, with the worst
Take your time honey, take your time

It's the wrong dream, with the wrong man
With a cold gun, in your wrong hand
Get it right this time, get it off your mind
Let the summer rain bring rest and shame and love
Augustana - Rest, Shame, Love




Late nights, won't do me justice
Cause when I drink...I just get so damn depressed,
And its not like, I ain't trying to get over you.
It's just hard to look at all the seasons, pass me over too...

Oh...seems like I'm always on my own,
Seems like I'm never coming home
Seems like I'm always on my own...
All the stars and boulevards ain't close enough for you...

One last phone call from you, it wouldn't hurt much,
Just like to hear your voice and pretend to touch,
Any inch of you that hasn't said it all or read it all or sung
My life away
Augustana - Stars and Boulevards





She said I think I'll go to Boston...
I think I'll start a new life,
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name,
I'll get out of California, I'm tired of the weather,
I think I'll get a lover and fly him out to Spain...
I think I'll go to Boston,
I think that I'm just tired
I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind...
I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset,
I hear it's nice in the Summer, some snow would be nice...
Augustana – Boston

Anywhere you go, anyone you meet,
Remember that your eyes can be your enemies,
I said, hell is so close and heaven's out of reach
But I ain't giving up quite yet,
I've got too much to lose
Augustana - Sweet and Low

New Dana Life Rule: When feeling odd/homesick/PMSy/out-of character, I will not drink and go online to talk with everyone and their brother. I will EITHER drink OR go online. These two things from here on out are mututally exclusive to one another.

Good news is I am out of said weird funk and hindsight is totally 20/20. Mmmm, clarity. I was a dramatic, over-emotional mess. I said uncertain things to waaaaay too many people. I was looking to manifest emotions in the wrong way in the wrong people. Of course, my real friends will know to take everything I said with a grain of salt if it was about a 'serious' topic. Was I sloppy, fall on my face drunk? Negative. But I was just in a happy/emotional/loose place where the filter was broken and my head was all 'Oooo, shiney!!!'. In all honesty, the way I felt Friday night I do not feel whatsoever today. I think about Friday night and go 'Really, Dana? You're an idiot'. I let myself get the better of me, no doubt.

Also, I now know what friends I should take advice from and which ones I should ignore with my fingers in my ears going 'La la la la la la!'.

I just need to grow up. Plain and simple.

That being said, I'm going to pretend Friday night just didn't happpen. You can either do the same or not, your choice, but I'm telling you right now, I pressed the delete button on that shitshow yesterday. It meant nothing and therefore will recieve the nothing treatment of nothingness.

No more country music for Dana for a long time. That stuff brings out the worst in me! LOL ;P

New topics: Only working two days this week. Next week two definitely, maybe three. Friday & Monday are bank holidays (Good Friday, Easter Monday) so my week is automatically shortened.

We moved the groups to the day time because the young people are on Easter break for the next two weeks. Tonight's group wasn't moved (the older girls) so I'm working 5-9. Also with tonight's group we're going to hopefully get the other side of last weeks discussion where the girls that did come told us their group isn't fun anymore and they feel like it's losing it's purpose. It was seemingly out of nowhere and the leaders (who've worked this group for ages) were really hurt by it (understandable). Maybe it was just an off week for them? Maybe it's JUST them? We'll find out.

As for this week, we're leaving Thursday for Doolin/Aran Islands(Inishmore). Going to see the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Also going to watch the sunset and drink beers with Elizabeth and write down my thoughts and read my book and just BE. Cannot wait to just go and see and be and relax. I'm really excited to see these gorgeous places and take too many pictures and just laugh. Hopefully, we'll just laugh that is. Really sick of the drama that doesn't go away for some people.

They're doing kitchen inspections this week as well. Usually our stuff happens on the first day but still they haven't shown. It's spotless out there (I made sure of it and the boys surprisingly cleaned a ton before they left Fridaay. I was impressed for real). I'm giving them another half hour to get here then I'm making my dinner and they can get pissy at me for 'leaving dishes in the strainer', even though that means their clean and isn't that better than them sitting on the table dirty and getting moldy? Somethings just don't make sense in these apartments. Actually, a lot doesn't make sense in these apartments.

Enjoying the 2 weeks to have the apartment to myself though, not gonna lie. I like being able to watch what TV I want to watch whenever I want. It's nice to not feel like I'm intruding on Emma and her boyfriend (who mind as well just be called roommate #4 in apartment 118 at this point).

I need to go dry my hair, prepare for work after the hellacious Friday night DVD-drop in, and make dinner.

Peace, love, and learning ya'll!!

EDIT: Home from work. Was asked/told not to be in group tonight because the other leaders are obviously taking this very seriously and I'm still the new girl and my presence may effect how open the girls/leaders can be with each other. A little sad but totally understandable.
Instead spent an hour and a half with Louise bitching about DVD night from Friday and going through old pictures of those in the SHY. Best part? I'll get to write I spent 8 hours in today for that! Boom baby!
Now I will make spaghetti & sauce and watch Mythbusters, complete with announcer redubbing of a British man.
Passed kitchen inspection. They appreciated the effort. Good deal.

It's been a while.

We didn't have internet from Saturday night to yesterday so I'm going to stick with blaming that and not my own laziness for my lack of entries.

My new internship is stellar. The workers/volunteers are all super fun and amazing. The kids are interesting and fun and keep you on your toes. It's so different from anything I've done before and I think that's why I love it even more. I get to work with girls and boys from ages 8 to 16 (or there abouts). It makes me happy to know I may be able to positively impact them and help them make good decisions in their lives. I have learned the little things truly do matter and anything can be made in to a learning experience.

During my first supervisor meeting on Friday, Louise told me I'm doing really good. She can't believe I've never worked with kids before like this. She praised me for just being like 'Here I am, deal with me' (AKA not being shy and having no shame) and not being afraid to converse with the kids. I take what they throw at me in stride. It's good to know I'm fitting in well and not messing up anything too badly.

This morning I attended a 'training' session with other area youth workers. We learned a bunch of group games we could play with the kids. They are meant to be fun, but there's more to them like learning about one another and instilling trust in each other. It was so, so much fun and I really enjoyed being a part of it. I hope to some day be able to take what I learned here and apply it in America.

Another small world moment: Maggie (the other worker at SHY) and I realized today that her family (I can't remember who specifically) lived in the town near where my brother used to live in Virginia. Absolutely crazy.

Not being able to watch the Olympics is killing me. The coverage is limited here (as the TV stations are even more limited) and online isn't working (NBC said I can't watch because I'm international). This isn't funny anymore.
Dana.Needs.Curling!!!!
Side note: Senior year of high school we had senior study hall which was held in a cafe style room with tables and TVs. During the Winter Olympics, we put on curling on the TVs and I swear mostly everyone ended up watching and getting in to it. 2nd period senior was the best study hall ever. So this whole watching curling thing is a big deal/tradition, if you will.

Tried to go out Saturday night with the crew only to be denied entry to a 'dance club' because I was wearing a hoodie. Are you serious? Seeing as I didn't know this was the place we were going I wasn't wearing a shirt I'd wear in public underneath said hoodie (as in a small white tank top). So I went back to the apartments. Whatever Waterford, the night life in Buffalo is better anyways!!!

I've had a lot of fun lately comparing notes between Ireland and America.

It is cheaper to buy a standard transmission car here than an automatic. As in, it's standard to drive standard. You cannot be licensed to drive both either. You choose what you'll drive and that's the license you have. They also do not have cruise control, hence the title of this post. My 'supervisor' couldn't believe the concept when I explained it to her. Of course, Ireland also doesn't have the highways/thruways like America does so it's a little less usable.

Irish pancakes are not American pancakes. Theirs are thinner, more like a crepe but not that thin. I had my first one on Monday (we're making them all week for Pancake Tuesday). They do not in fact have IHOP here (who knew International didn't actually mean International!) and pancakes are really a once a year deal. I've also begun to understand the love of Nutella. Of all the toppings I tried on their pancakes, it was my favorite.

Mac & cheese really isn't a big deal here at all. When I made Easy Mac in front of Nieve & Louise they about near died (and not in a good way) to see cheese in powdered form. I kept telling them to not judge it because it's the poor college kid version of m&c. Wait till I get some Velveeta or Kraft, they won't be repulsed then (I hope).

They do not have Milk Duds or Twizzlers here. Apparently those that have visited America love them both very, very much. So weird that something so basic to us is a treat for them. Today Maggie got surprised with a pack of Twizzlers. I watched Lindsey (the community drugs worker) and Louise have them for the first time. They kept calling them licorice before eating them (which I wouldn't allow) and understood afterwards that they aren't at all like licorice. They seemed to like them OK enough.

Also on food (what the hell, I must seem so fat with all this food talk!) they do not have graham crackers here like we do. While talking with my one girls' group they asked about smores and if I love Hershey's (something else they don't really sell here because Cadbury is a big deal). They only knew how to make smores because they'd seen it on Hannah Montana!!! That is just NOT acceptable in my view!!
I've asked my mom to ship over some crackers and chocolate so one night with the girls we can make proper smores. Of course, they won't be truly proper because there's not a place to build a fire to roast marshmellows so they'll have to be microwave style. But at least they'll have the real, right crackers and chocolate.

They don't have Pam cooking spray (at least that I've seen). They use something that looks like butter but definitely isn't as cooking grease. Because they don't have Pam, I wonder if the joke in the movie Baby Mama about 'spraying a little Pam down there' isn't as funny to them?
Yes, I think about these things. And I'm a role model for kids! :P Haha!

Topper=pencil sharpener.
Press=cupboard.
Bin=garbage can.
Prom=stroller (for babies).

When you sneeze, no one says 'Bless you'. Ever.

I have my first big paper due to Brockport on Monday. Agency Profile. Thankfully, SHY has folders of info I was able to go through yesterday. They actually have folders called 'Agency Profile' and 'Community Profile'. Of course they weren't nearly as up to date as I would have liked so on Friday I have questions for Lousie to tie up loose ends. Even though it's a longer paper, I can't find it in me to complain because it's technically only one class I'm doing. My internship hardly feels like work 90% of the time but I'm definitely learning.

I am wiped out. Off to reading and bed I go.

Love you all,

Dana

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