I Am Not a Trained Monkey!

That's a lie.

I've been yelled at to update my blog. Let me explain something. In order to update, I have to do things. If I come back to the US and re-read my blog and find that it's filled with live updates from the library I'm going to be sorely disappointed. So I'm sorry that it has been almost a week since my last update but I've been busy having that so called "time of my life". 

We do have numerous things to cover, however, so lets get to that.

1. My Mom and Peggy's visit. 

I believe the sole reason my mom came to visit me was so that I would blog about it. I'm embarrassed that it's taken me this long to get to it. Anyway, we've covered the bag of goodies. The week was fairly low key as I was in the beginning stages of one of the most stressful work weeks of my college career (see previous three entries for evidence). Most nights consisted of us going out to eat, and then me collapsing and staring at my old best friend television for a few hours. I would then take a 30 minute shower before heading back to my apartment. What a great child I am. I was so grateful that I even managed to get her sick. On Saturday we were supposed to go on a tour to the Wicklow Mountains. I show up at their hotel and find that my mom is horribly ill with food poisoning. Whoops..apparently the oysters at dinner the previous night were not ok. So I'm given the task of showing Peggy where to pick up the tour bus before heading back to UCD to write my papers. I managed to put her on the completely wrong tour. Whoops. It was a banner day for all. I went back later to take my nightly shower though...I wasn't letting that one slip through the cracks. I also discovered my new favorite show "I'd Do Anything", a reality show where they pick the next Oliver for Oliver!. On Sunday Mom was feeling better enough to go to Tara with Peggy while I continued to write (wow, writing about their visit makes me feel like a horrible child), returning in time for dinner and a shower of course. Then on Monday our friend Rachel came down from Scotland to visit for the day. I met up with the crew in Bray and had a fantastic afternoon. The weather was absolutely beautiful and Bray was gorgeous as always. Afterwards I showed mom and Peggy around UCD and the area a little before they went back to the hotel. No final shower, unfortunately. While the visit might not have turned out as planned, it's always great to see friends and family. It's also always great to have a nice, hot, hotel shower where the water never runs out. 

Second: Where have you been for the past week?

Well on Friday I handed in all of my papers and promptly collapsed onto the sofa in relief. Then hell broke loose. I'm not really sure what happened, but I enjoyed it. I went up to the convenience store with my roommate to buy some beer for an afternoon celebration of success (lies). On our way back to campus someone stopped us and told us that public safety was guarding all of the gates and wasn't letting alcohol in. Apparently they have been preparing all semester for this day or something. So we freak out and decide to "find an alternate entrance". To our surprise, they are guarding every way in. Wow. So we buy a tube of Pringles and a bag of chips so that we can get a bag. I, in a display of paper induced ridiculousness, empty the Pringles into the chips and put a beer in the Pringles tube. Alex, my roommate, just shakes her head at me. I feel cool. We then put the other beers in the bag. We begin to walk in the gates, worried that they'll take our drinks. Long story short they didn't care that we had beer but they were only letting UCD students onto the property so they were just checking ID cards. Ironically, after all that, Alex had forgotten hers and we had to argue our way in. We then enjoyed a lovely day and night of leisure, forgetting any stress that we may have had.

The next day I woke up with a headache and an inexplicable craving for peanut butter. Also a message from my friend in Galway saying that she would be coming that night with another one of our friends. I starred at my messy room and decided that I would just watch some movies until she arrived, love me, love my mess. 

Liz and Lea arrived and for the next two days we marched around Dublin. Wow, they managed to run through my "things to see before leaving Dublin" list in about a day and a half. What should I do now?  We went to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery, which was at the top of my list. Our guide was good, but American, which really added a surreal aspect to the tour. Especially when she'd say things like "well for us Americans" and you'd look around and realize that everyone on the tour is from America...or Canada...so North America. My favorite part of the tour?

in front of diarama of model workers and cats

Tour guide: The distillery had many cats, including Sam* who was the most loved. 

Everyone stares at cat and has the same awkward though

Tour guide: In fact they loved him sooo much....

Tour: No...no....don't say it...

Tour guide: thaaaaat they had him stuffed, there he is!

Tour: ahhhhh.....dammit.

*I was too creeped out by the models to remember the cats real name. I think it was Sam, don't hold me to that.

Then yesterday Lea left for Amsterdam and Liz and I took a short trip to Belfast. I was just about to fall asleep on the bus when we stopped on the highway in the middle of a field. Nothing for miles, just stopped. Hmm, I wonder what's going on. Then a Guarda boarded the bus. Ohhh dear, this might not be good. He then politely demanded to see all of our passports, we were on the Northern Ireland boarder. Luckily I had mine, but I distinctly remembered talking with Liz about whether or not we needed one. We decided better safe than sorry. Always bring your passport, otherwise you're going to be left in the middle of a field on the Northern Ireland boarder. Thats a lie, on the way back I discovered that they just need to see some form of ID, not necessarily a passport. One guy got away with simply saying "I'm Paul, I'm from Holland". 

Belfast was nice. The area around the university was gorgeous with a fantastic botanical garden. I'm not going to lie, there isn't much to do there. We were able to see some of the murals, but you really need to take a taxi or bus tour into the neighborhoods to see the famous ones. Since we were there for such a short time we weren't able to do that. Belfast also had some great architecture, so while a lot of it was really modern and new, occasionally we would run into a fantastic building. I think I need to go back for a second look. I don't have any pictures, however, because my camera ran out of batteries and I was too cheap to pay for more in pounds. I'll steal Liz's pictures at some point.

Bray, always beautiful
Rainbow outside my window, I thought it was nice
I called this game deathball. Basically people stood on opposite sides of the quad and kicked a soccer ball at each other as hard as they could. It got ugly
Jeremy made the mistake of posing for a picture and took a stray deathball to the chest. I honestly thought he had died and was amazed he escaped unharmed
Mary, Alex and Hannah

Marcus and Mmoloki

Mom and me in St Stephen's Green

I should also add that after all of that discussion on where I should go for vacation...I've decided to stay in Ireland. Hahahahahah, I fooled you all into thinking you had a say into my life. Seriously though, I realized I'm going to go home and say "yea, I spent a semester in Ireland" when what I really mean is "I spent a semester in Dublin, the crazy multi-cultural holding cell for the rest of Europe". I want to experience this place, so I'm going to take a week or so and hit up the West Coast. 

Paper Daze: 3

I wasn't going to blog about today, but within the past 2 hours two of the funniest things have happened, so I had to share.

1. I was in the library when I decided to take a break and stretch my legs. Since OMP was bragging about how the library has 7 copies of his book, I figured I would go check it out. I find the call number and head over to the stacks. Standing where his 7 books should be, was a bright pink thick book with the title "SOCIOLOGY OF SEX!!!" in big cartoon letters. I think I might have pulled a muscle trying to contain my laughter. Laughing is not allowed in the library during finals, it's punishable by firing squad. It's on the same plane as putting your card in your mouth

2. Remember how UCD banned fun this week? My friend Jeremy came over with an even greater story than the one I told yesterday. He was outside with some friends playing soccer, technically he wasn't even playing, just watching, when one of those Fun Police came out. Instead of taking their ball, this FP took all of their names and told them that she was going to call their parents. For the record, Jeremy is 21.

Working on my final paper. Nothing puts you to sleep faster than looking in a book and seeing that it starts with the phrase "first we must understand the potato"....ohhh it's going to be a long night.

UPDATE:

God is talkative tonight, and she's calling people out by name. Dan Sheridan needs to come to the front desk IMMEDIATELY. Balls. Someone was also called out for not returning a laptop on time. I want to commit an offense and get called out over the intercom.

Day Long Blog!

After blogging about the library yesterday, I realized that blogging makes studying fun! So today I kept a diary of my effort to write my paper. Here's the first part of the day, I'm on nap/tea time break right now

7:15 am-Alarm goes off....apparently I turn it off
8:15-Alright, lets get going, shower time...so I slept in a little, sue me
8:30-Choosing the right outfit for a day of studying. I choose jeans for their comfort and durability, plus my light blue polo shirt for comfort and breezyness. I will also bring a sweater. I braid my hair and look in the mirror. Ugh, I look like I'm ready to go teach arts and crafts at summer camp.
9:10-Hey, weren't you supposed to be in the library 45 minutes ago? Yea...I pack my bag up. I feel like I'm heading on a weekend trip. 3 thick books, a computer and cords to go with it, granola bars, gum, notebook, pens, wallet, phone...and I throw in my camera for Gina.
9:15-Walk to the library, I think I see someone stealing a bike. He's going at a lock with one of those giant lock cutters. In elementary school they always taught us that if you were going to steal a bike, those were the best tool to use. I think I missed the point of those bike safety lessons. First stop, print and fill out a background check form for work this summer. I'm wondering why all of a sudden the office decided to check us out. Seems shady. I wonder if I had anything to do with it. Probably. I wonder if anyone is going to get caught for anything. I can't wait.
9:30-The fax office is taking forever. PS. I expect to be reimbursed in Frist points for the 1.96 euros that I spent. Thats roughly 78 American dollars...the exchange rate is THAT bad. I know you guys read this.
9:35-I arrive at the library. There's a new sign above the circulation desk: "Please have your ID card ready. For hygiene reasons, do not put it in your mouth".
10:30-I have a paragraph. This is going to be a long day. The girl next to me is on some website that looks like it was made by an ADD stricken 7 year old on a sugar high. Flashing lights and florescent colors. I imagine if she had her sound on it would be beeping and chirping as well. Clearly I can't help but stare at it.
10:45-Thers a cute guy sitting across from me. I noticed him yesterday as well. This could be a distraction.
11:45-I wonder what's happening back in NJ *checks Trenton Times* Gang fight at Princeton!?!?!?!?! Suddenly those background checks are making sense. It was at Wilcox?!?! Wow, something must have been in the Vegetarian Vegetable soup.
12:00-Thinking about the chicken breast in my fridge. Google: How long does it take to cook chicken. Thats something I should know. 30 minutes at 375 apparently. Moving on to talking about the Eucharistic Congress in my paper. I look down at my class notes for that. All I've written is Eucharistic Congress....but I wrote it three times, maybe I meant something by that. I have never been more aware of the fact that I have ADD than I am here.
12:30- I just used the phrase "shining example" Thats a shining example of stupid word choice. Best part about my MacBook? The thesaurus. Thesaurus suggests I use hunky-dory or splendiferous. Well, if you insist. Hold on, I'm going to go thesaurus the word thesaurus...it suggests wordbook. Anyone want to airmail me some Ritilin? I've decided to just use "great example". Thesaurus suggested I use "killer". Maybe this isn't the best feature. I'm starting to refer to the thesaurus as if he were a person. Hey, this is my buddy Thesaurus!
12:50- I should note that I've never seen a more beautiful day in Dublin. Too bad I'm enjoying it through a window
1:20-I've been here for four hours and God hasn't asked me to mind my belongings once. Are you there God? It's me, Marianna.
1:21-I was scolded on my last paper for using "American" spellings, ie the letter Z (organization instead of organisation). My computer is not pleased about having to spell this way. Good boy, computer, you good little patriot you. U-S-A, U-S-A. If i hadn't disabled the little paper clip guy he'd probably be having a stroke by now.
1:50-That "Shining example" (now great example) is still bothering me. I changed it to "prime example". Check back in an hour for the next word choice. and yes, I have written more since that sentence.
2:50-Anyone want a computer? People just leave them lying around here so that people don't take their desks. I'd rather someone take my desk after I've left it for an hour than someone take my computer. Just a thought. I'm tempted to grab the one next to me and sell it for lunch money
3:40-It's almost dinner time...all I can think about is vegetarian vegetable soup. I'm going to be sorely disappointed when I return home and there's none there. It's also not almost dinner time, but thats another story. I can now see a few clouds in the otherwise crystal clear blue sky....that...sort of...makes..me..feel...better? ARGH
4:00-Words I now know the meaning of: Amagam, modicum

4:15: eh, tea-time. As I walked back through my dorm complex I saw a couple kids playing rugby. Out of no where the head of the complex, the Angie Sheets of UCD if you will, grabs the ball and walks away with it laughing. You see they've banned fun here during finals week, no ball playing etc (it's true, we got a note under our door and everything). As they plead with her to give the ball back she chuckles and says "HA! You'll get it back in May. Next time, I pop the ball" and struts away chuckling. I felt like applauding. No one found it nearly as funny as I did though.

Evening in the James Joyce Library

6:30-Well, tea/nap time turned into tea and nap time. What a nap. Hopefully I'll be good to go until midnight tonight. Library not quite as full as it was yesterday, not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing.
7:45-I have a headache. A kid just ran down the aisle in a panic. Now he's walking back looking content. I don't get this place at all...

7:50-Talking to Chizzle on the new Facebook IM thing (our generation is doomed by the way). We make as many gang fight at Wilcox jokes as we can in 5 minutes before she abandons me to go watch Ellen
8:25-It amazes me that in one month I'll never hear the name de Valera again. Well, I probably will, but not with the frequency that I do here. Eamon de Valera being a major figure in modern Irish history.
8:35-I'm going to go ahead and declare the past two hours the most useless I've ever been. On the plus side....nope, no plus side. Not even some good celebrity gossip. I've literally just sat and starred at a white divider on the desk. Still no word from God. I'm a bit worried, has God given up on me and my belongings? 

8:50-Headline on CNN.com "One word to describe your mom". 200 your mom jokes immediately come to mind.
9:30-GOD! How nice to hear from you! She (God is female in the UCD library, lets avoid a debate here please) informs us that the service desk is closing in 15 minutes. Good to know! Still doesn't care about my belongings.
10:03-heh, the page in one of my books that talks about divorce is 666 (yes, this is a long book)...secret agenda Ireland? I think so.
10:20-We've reached that point...I'm trying to thesaurus curse words. It won't let me. I can dictionary them, but not thesaurus them. I fail to see the logic there. I already know the word, I just want to be more original. Maybe using a longer, more foreign sounding word in order to make the person I'm insulting feel stupid as well. A double winner if you will. But i don't feel like learning another language just for the sake of telling someone to F*** off, so I would prefer to thesaurus it. Why is my life so hard?
11:00-I just got really excited about using the word subsequent...almost proud. Not sure where this fascination with words is coming from. It's looking like I might be closing the library down, no end in sight though. The French girl that is currently colonizing my sofa is going to have to deal, because i haven't had dinner yet so when they kick me out of here I'm turning on the common area lights and making myself some chicken.
12:00-Back at the apartment. I am FEASTING. I went into the kitchen, French girl was already asleep but I grabbed anything I could think of for my midnight paper writing dinner fiesta. Current Meal: Yummy cheese on a crispy baguette, carrots and hummus, hazlenut yogurt and a cup of tea (and a little bowl of strawberry crisp for the rest of the night). DELICIOUS! The end is in sight for this paper. One more to go. That will be done tomorrow though, it should be easier to write.

Update from the library!

It's the last week of classes here at UCD, so all written work is due on Friday. If you thought Bryn Mawr during the final weeks of term was intense, you should be in the library right now. It's almost 9pm and it's packed! Usually all students who don't live on campus (which is about 90%of  them) go home no later than 5. Nope, right now they're all here, frantically typing away, looking terrified. They've done nothing all semester and now must cram everything they can into 2000 words for 90% of their grade. I would laugh at them, if I wasn't doing the same thing.

The UCD library is fairly creepy. It's huge, for one thing, and made entirely of cement. The books are laid out in no particular order (well, I'm sure there is an order, but not one that helps me) and it's lit with bright florescent lights. I sort of feel like I'm in a science fiction movie. It doesn't help that other than the typing of keys it's dead silent in here. No one talks, not even a little muttering to a friend. Every now and then a creepy voice comes on over an intercom and reminds us to "mind our belongings". When that happens everyone, and I mean everyone, stops what they're doing, comes out of their haze and looks around as if God is speaking to us. I'm a little frightened. 

I'll update later with full stories of Mom and Peggy's visit to Ireland! Back to my essays

More Visitors!

My mom and her friend Peggy are visiting this week. That's right, Caroline's gone for 2 days and MORE visitors come! Going abroad is a great way to boost your ego. People write messages to you saying how much they miss you, and everyone tries to come visit. It's great. If you're ever feeling like you're not loved enough, just leave the country for awhile. This could backfire as it could also confirm your biggest fears that you're not actually loved, and then you're stuck in a foreign country. And if people didn't like you back in America...they're probably not going to like you in your new country either...you'll probably need to take a long hard look at yourself and change something. 

Anyway, lets talk more about how I am in fact loved. I got to their hotel yesterday and found them in a quasi-coma. After sitting in the hotel lobby while I waited for them to wake up (ok, so it was for about 5 minutes, but still...), I was presented with a gigantic bag of loot. I had asked my mom to bring over Peanut M&M's and clean socks. What I got was a bunch of M&M's (plain and peanut), peanut butter cups, peanut butter, peanuts (until I saw all of this I didn't realize how much I loved peanuts!), twizzlers, magazines, granola bars, and gum. Wow. But it wasn't done. After going through my bag my mom says "oh right, and we stopped at duty free on the way over, we thought you'd like this" and hands me a bottle of vodka. Just try and tell me you have a cooler mom than me. Come on, I dare you. There is NO way you can top that. Is it sad that when she handed it to me, my first thought was not "PARTY!!!" but rather "Wow, think of how much money I'll save by not having to buy this myself!". Ireland has turned me into a grown up, and I hate it for that. 

We had a low key day yesterday because I have papers to write and they were tired. But I'm sure more shenanigans will soon happen. Look forward to reading about those over the next week!

Today was the last day of classes for the history department (apparently I'm a history major over here...). I'm bothered by the fact that on the last day of classes I wore long sleeves and a jacket and promptly turned the heat on when I returned to my apartment. It definitely doesn't feel like the last day of classes. I now have a week of intense paper writing to do.

It's looking like Croatia is the favorite amongst the fans (and definitely my favorite too), but my mom has thrown the idea of Holland into the mix. Thoughts? Also using a week to travel around Ireland, seeing as I did come to study abroad in Ireland, it might be good if I saw a bit of the rest of the country. Let me know if you're still for Croatia or if you have thoughts on the new options.

Choose Marianna's Next Adventure!

Time for a little audience participation. I got my exam schedule and it appears that I will be finished my exams by May 10th. My trip home isn't until May 23rd, so I'm thinking some more soul searching funtastic traveling needs to be done. So loyal readers, I want some input. Where should I go?

Option 1. Budapest

Pros: My friend, Nadia, from high school, is studying in Germany and says she'll meet me there for a few days. It's supposed to be gorgeous. It's supposed to be cheap. 

Cons: Our schedules make it so that we would only be there together for a day. On a top ten list of things to do in Budapest, going to the Tesco (supermarket) is listed as number 6. 

Option 2. Croatia

Pros: GORGEOUS. Major cocktail party points when I can drop the phrase "well when I was in Croatia...". 

Cons: Flights are a bit more pricey than I would like to pay. This could be a sweeping generalization but I'm not sure how great of an idea it is for to travel alone there. It could be a great idea! But it could also be a bad idea. I don't know...I need to find out more about Croatia. Currently all I know is that Dr. Kovac is from there and 10 years ago this probably wouldn't even be on my options list. 

Option 3. Iceland

Pros: See Croatia

Cons: Not happening. It costs almost as much as a ticket back to America. But I REALLY WANT TO GO!

Option 4. Scandinavia....somewhere

Pros: Pretty. Most people speak English. Gives me a few countries to choose from (I would only choose one) OMP really loves Sweden, I should probably check it out. Volvos. 

Cons: A Google image search of "Helsinki, Spring" brings up not one, but four pictures of a snow covered city. I hear it's pretty expensive

Option 5. Paris

Pros: Paris in the spring..ooo lala. Crepes.

Cons: Well...it's in France. I have a history with France...and it's not a good one. Also I've been there and I was really hoping to go someplace new. 

Option 6. Other-leave suggestions in the comments

Pros: Pretty, fun, safe,
cheap

Cons: Ryanair/Aer Lingus might not fly there...

I've added a poll to the side of this page. Choose your answer. If I pick your answer I'll send you a postca.....no, no I won't. Thats a lie. 

If thats not enough fun for you, leave a comment telling me why you chose the destination that you did. We're not going on popular vote alone. If that was the case someone like Meagan could screw me over and vote "Other" 31 times and end up sending me to St Petersburg. (see, when you comment on my blog you might just get a shoutout as well!)

It's just like a choose your own adventure novel, so have fun! And don't choose wrong or you might end up falling into an endless pit or something.

The Return of Caroline

8:00 PM-Some friends and I decide that starring out the window at the rain, while fascinating, was getting old. Time for cards!

9:00-After a few rounds of spoons and other lame card games, a feisty round of slap jack gets everyone fired up.

9:45-We are in full on competition mode, starring each other down, slapping the jacks with such force that I know someone is going to get hurt.

10:00-I realize my sister was supposed to return tonight, wonder aloud about that while starring down a friend...maybe it will distract him and I can sneak in on the next jack. My friend calls me a horrible person for not knowing where my sister is...neither of us win that round. I get my phone out of my bedroom in case she calls.

10:15-We switch to kent. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, you pair up and work out a secret signal with your partner. Once one of you gets four of a kind you do your signal and your partner yells "WE WIN!" (actually they're supposed to call kent apparently, we liked WE WIN better). My signal? "Hey, I wonder where the hell my sister is". If the other team catches you on your signal then they call you out on it and they win.

10:30-Screaming match has ensued over whether or not my partner yelled WE WIN before my friend called her out on it. My adrenaline level is reaching new highs.

11:00-The game reaches a level of competition only seem amongst world class athletes. Caroline calls to say she had reached Dublin and was on the bus. Our conversation

Marianna: *far too excited from game* HELLO!  WHATS THE DEAL!

Caroline: I'm on the bus

Marianna: Great, gotta go

Caroline: *bad connection mumbling*

Marianna: What?

Caroline: *bad connection*

Marianna: I can't hear a word your saying but don't worry I'll be around, gotta go.

Kent was calling

11:45-Caroline's not back yet....a bit worried by that. Unfortunately we've just been called cheaters and thats a personal offense so I have to defend my honor.

12:00-I see Caroline walk by our window. In the middle of a heated match so I'll wait for her to knock on the door. She knocks, still in the middle of a match, this is one of those situations I'm going to regret later. Luckily the other team snags a Cinderella victory and I can run to the door. She's tired and cranky. I make her toast and tell her she can use my bed. The concessions I make in order to quickly return to my card game.

12:05-The card game has been put on temporary hold, so I catch up with Caroline about London. Sounds like a good trip, she saw lots of people. 

12:30-A few more hands pass, but the intensity just isn't there anymore, I'm falling asleep, time to close up shop.

1:00-I make myself a little bed on my floor using my duvet and a sheet. Its the same bed Caroline used all last week, she always made it look comfortable. Eh.

2:30-I finally get to sleep, I enter a crazy dream in which Melinda from American Idol, Nancy Reagan and I all appear on the Maury show to discuss the dangers of Facebook. 

3:30-I wake up panicked that Caroline missed her plane. 

3:45-6-More crazy dreams, unaware of how many involve Nancy Reagan. 

6-Wake up panicked again. Discover that Caroline is making funny noises in her sleep. Have a good giggle about that. Included in them "oooo" "grrrr" "ugh...well then". 

6:44-Jump up completely convinced that this time we've overslept, just in time for the 6:45 alarm to go off. Caroline springs into action, I spring into my bed the minute she gets up.

6:55-Caroline leaves, I head back to bed. Crazy dreams begin again in which I am a guest at the Grammy's and am apparently a big deal but no one will tell me why and they won't let me sit down until I figure out why I'm supposed to be there. 

11:40-Decide it's time to get up and get my day going. Hope Caroline made it to her plane on time. 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It has rained ALL DAY. 

I shouldn't be too surprised. Very few days go by here that it doesn't rain, but usually it's a sporadic thing. Take yesterday for example. I woke up at around 7 and it was snowing. Hard. Lots of snow falling. It hasn't snowed here at all. From what I hear it rarely snows. The snow wasn't sticking, but big thick flakes were tumbling down. I went back to bed, as I didn't have class and couldn't think of any good reason to be awake so early when it was so cold. When I woke up again 2 hours later there was bright sunshine. Crystal clear blue skies, sun shining. When I went outside it was a nice temperature that only required a sweatshirt. Hahaha...ohhh Ireland. I e-mailed my mom and told her that it would probably be hailing by lunch. It was. Lunch time exactly, skies opened up, heavy rain, hail. Followed by a sudden stop, return to bright skies. It blew my mind, and it was only lunchtime. A few hours later I witnessed a phenomenon that I have waited my entire life to see. I was able to locate the exact start of a rain cloud. As I walked back from the park it was raining on one side of the road, crystal clear on the other. This of course means RAINBOW, which is always exciting. 

So this is why I am so fascinated by the fact that it has been raining, heavily, all day. We didn't have any periods of slight rain or dreariness. Instead heavy rain, constantly falling. 

Is this a boring entry? Probably. But I assure you, it's been blowing my mind all day. To the point where I haven't been able to research and write my papers. 

Living With Caroline: Part II

I'm trying to convince Caroline to do a guest entry. One of my biggest regrets when Old Man Pete came to visit was that I didn't have him do a guest entry, so I'm not letting the opportunity get away this time. Until I crack her, here's a quick update.

Saturday night brought the Caroline in Dublin reunion tour. Caroline had spent a year in Dublin five years ago, and was anxious to return to some of her favorite haunts. She listed off names of her favorite clubs, pubs and bars and I secretly Googled them to make sure they were still around. Hey, I wasn't going on a pub crawl and finding that  O'Whatevers had turned into a Centra (the Wawa-esque convenience store that I mentioned earlier). They were, so we set off. Our first stop was The Barge, which Caroline described as a great place to dance. Well it would be...if they had music. Apparently Thursday is dancing night. Oh well, they still had beverages. It was still a very nice hang out bar. We continued on to Portobellos, which she warned would have a "knacker" crowd as she described them.  Lets just say I saw a woman with a mullet...and her hair was down to her waist. Think about it. Plus side, alcohol here got cheaper as the night went on. I didn't question it, all I know is that by the end of the night I was paying 4.50 for vodka and lemonade, when anywhere else in the city I would be paying at least 7. I made a mental note to return. This bar also brought my favorite interaction with a Dublin guy

Dublin Guy: So you guys are friends?

Caroline: Sisters

Dublin Guy: *pause* Biological?

heh. 

After our interaction with Dublin Guy, Caroline turned to me and said "lets go get some food". I'm game! So we went across the street to her favorite late night food joint. Which used to be called something else, but was now a kebab place. This didn't faze her. We looked at a menu and she decided that we HAD to have the garlic cheese fries. Those are three things that I'm pretty sure my sister hates. Whatever. So we get them, and it's garlic mayonnaise and shredded cheese on top of fries. Disgusting enough. Then Caroline comes over with packets of vinegar, ketchup and salt to pour over them. Wow. My stomach is in pain just thinking about it. In Caroline's defense I was rooting her on. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We scarfed those down in record time and decreed that they were "Perfect" even though we both knew full well that they were not. 

Sunday continued the eating adventure with a trip to O'Neils for a carvery lunch. A carvery lunch is basically a base of meat, and then tons of sides that you can pick. It led to this humorous exchange while waiting in line for food. 

Me: Hey, what are those

Caroline: Where

Me: Between the potatoes and the mashed potatoes

Caroline: More potatoes

ohhhh Ireland.

We watched a soccer match while eating our delicious grub, and planned to leave at halftime. Halftime came, however, and it was snowing. Well, as much as it can snow in Dublin, which isn't much. But the fact that it was cold enough for snow to form led to us deciding to stay and watch the second half. Plus it was snowing in the game as well, and that was just hysterical. While it was just raining once the match ended, we still wern't in the mood to stick around so we went back to my apartment and watched movies. nice.

On Monday, Caroline walked 11 miles. Here's how that happened

I went to class like a good person. When I came back the two of us walked into the city together. This is the first 2 or 3 miles of Carolines 11 miles. We stopped by her old apartment which really just made me hate her. See, my apartment is student housing on campus. It's.....crap. Caroline's former apartment is in a gated community of row homes. There are freshly mowed lawns and flowers everywhere. I felt nothing but anger the minute we stepped onto the grounds. I hate her. Did I mention she walked 11 miles, because she did...she'll probably tell you next time you see her.

We continued into the city for some exploration. I just asked Caroline what exactly we did because I couldn't remember, and truthfully I was bored just listening to her recap our day. Basically we walked. It was nice. We stopped for some lunch, it was good. We bonded. But then I had to get back to school for my second class. I took the bus because I'm not crazy like Caroline...who walked 11 miles. I'm not exactly sure what Caroline did in the city after I left, but when she came back she had food! So I let her in. She then collapsed on my bed...you get tired when you walk 11 miles. 

On Tuesday Caroline went down to Bray and Dun Laoghaire. I went to class. Everyone else gets to skip class when friends and family come, but my sister makes me go to each one. If Caroline would write a guest entry, then you would be able to hear about how great Bray and Dun Laoghaire were. Unfortunately all I can tell you about are classes. Which were good. We discussed "A Love Divided" a hokey drama that we had to watch about Catholic and Protestant intermarriage. When we both got back from our days, we headed out to town for happy hour and dinner. Caroline took me to her favorite happy hour joint which offered 2 for 1 drinks from 5-10. It was 4:50 when we got there. I made Caroline walk to the end of the street and back because "It's never good to be the first at happy hour". While we were still the first, much to my dismay, at least we didn't sit there awkwardly refusing to order until 5, like she planned to do. After drinks we went to Wagamama, which is a noodle house chain. If you're in the UK/Ireland area (or Boston apparently) I highly suggest hitting one of these up. Massive amounts of delicious food. After dinner we had a fight about where the nearest bus stop was. Turns out we were both thinking of the same stop, but using different terminology. I said it was at the bottom of Grafton St. She said it was at the top of Grafton St. Turns out we have different definitions of "top". Hers is at the bottom of a hill, whereas mine is at the TOP of a hill. 

The night ended with us hanging out at school at a birthday party for one of my friends. 

Today she made me go to class again. She mysteriously disappeared into the city and did stuff. She has not yet officially calculated the amount of miles she walked, so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait for the final number. She came back just in time to make me and my roommates dinner! Perfect timing. She's getting packed up for her trip to London tomorrow. She'll be making a brief reappearance Saturday night before heading back to the states on Sunday. 

Official number is in. Caroline walked over 8 miles today. Making her total 24+ miles. Make sure you congratulate her next time you see her, this is sure to be one of her talking points for the next month. It should be noted, however, that she is currently standing next to my heater desperately trying to aid her stiff legs. What a weakling. I'm going to go eat some cookies now in celebration. 

Living With Caroline: An Ongoing Series

It doesn't matter whether she's in Philadelphia or Dublin, my sister is ridiculous. Within the first 24 hours of being here she 

1) Made me clean my room "Look, I'll help! It will be fun and go quickly!"

2) Tried to hail a bus like a taxi "Oh look, there's the 10! Hey! Hey! Why didn't it stop?" "You need to be at a bus stop..."

3) Broke into my apartment with a mop. 

Wait...what was that last one again?

We had returned from a shopping trip to Dundrum, which is a mall nearby. We had started to make chili when I realized we didn't have any milk. Not that we needed milk for the chili, but it's one of those things that I think should always be in the fridge, just in case my bones start to feel a little weak. 

So I tell C-dawg that I'm going to run to the small Wa-Wa-esque store on campus to grab some milk. C-dawg ponders staying behind and decides to come with me at the last minute. As I'm paying for the milk it hits me...I didn't bring my keys...my roommates aren't home...it's Saturday. I turn to Caroline, "I FORGOT MY KEYS" I exclaim. She smiles, "whoops" and giggles. I stare at her "No...I forgot them, they're inside, we CANNOT get in". She seems unfazed. I don't think she realizes that this is not an American university. You can't just call public safety to let you in. "I'll climb through the window" she tells me. We walk back up to the apartment, yea...not even she could fit through the opening in my window. To make matters worse I can see my coat on the sofa next to the window. My keys are in my pocket. The window on the opposite side of the room is open! But I can't reach the jacket. "Oh well" Caroline says "We'll just wait in the hallway". Who is this person and what did she do with my sister. Oh well is not usually in Caroline's vocabulary. I run down the walk to find my friend Will who is enjoying an illegal BBQ. Will tries to call my roommates, none of them pick up. I announce that I'm going to go try and find an RA, everyone immediately packs up the BBQ and heads inside. I'm a total fun killer. I failed to find an RA and instead return to my apartment. Caroline and I stand outside my window starring in. "On the plus side" Caroline says "You've proven it's fairly impossible to break in to your ground floor apartment". Thanks C-dawg. Will comes by to inspect the situation. In a moment of brilliance Caroline asks if he has a mop and a large hook. Well...half brilliance. Will says that he can help with the mop part and runs to grab one. Together the three of us then shimmy the mop in through the open window and use the head to tap open the other window. Will and Caroline then take over as I anxiously look around, convinced that the Guarda is going to come out of no where and take away my residency for breaking and entering. A voice calls out of a window "Hey! What are you doing!" I whirl around ready to defend myself with my life. Luckily it's my friend Becca laughing rather than some concerned citizen. Eventually Caroline, proving to have a disturbingly rational idea of how to handle the situation, has Will  flip the jacket off the sofa, and sticks her hand through the window to grab it mid-air. She pulls it out, grabs the keys and says "Right then, that went well". After a few moments of standing there muttering "wow....wow.." Will heads back to his apartment and we head back to make our DELICIOUS chili. 

This is what happens when Caroline is around. 

Commenting

My sister is here, hooray. Tonight at the pub we were discussing our favorite topic, my blog and how funny we both think it is. She revealed that she had sent the link to numerous friends of hers, which I was happy to hear. My mom has also said that she has passed along the blog to friends, and friends at UCD have told me that they have told their friends. So I put my readership count somewhere higher than Perez Hilton but not quite as high as Stuff White People Like (if the world were fair this would be true). Yet on average I get about 2 comments per entry. 

This does not compute.

I am not getting paid to write this blog, my payment comes in form of feedback. I'm not lying when I say I check this blog multiple times a day to see if anyones commented. 

Even if I don't really know you, say hi! I now present "Marianna's Guide to Acceptable Commenting"

1. Positive vs. Negative

It's ok if your comment isn't positive. Think this was a subpar entry? Let me know! Think my fashion choices for that day were silly? Let me know (also let me know if you liked what I was wearing, a la Ch'nel)! Somewhat offended by my actions? Let me know! 

On the flip side, positive comments are AWESOME!

2. Name

Its ok if you don't want to put your name on the internet. Come up with a nickname that you and I would understand. My dog apparently keeps commenting and, unless my mom's lost so much control over him that he now has full computer access, it's pretty safe to assume he's not actually the one writing. 

3. Content

The comment doesn't even have to pertain to the entry, maybe just a little note saying hi, catching me up on the local gossip. I know I'm usually pretty self centered and don't like to hear about anything that isn't praising me...but I kinda miss you guys and would like to hear what's up. 

I can EASILY withhold the last month and a half of blogging from you if you don't start leaving comments.

Thats a lie. 

Finishing the Italian Adventure

Daily Update: Went out to the movies last night with my friends Griffin and Olivia. The movie theater a couple of towns over was having student night which meant 4 euro tickets. Even by American standards thats cheap. This is the second time I have gone to the movies in Ireland and I've noticed that they have very nice movie theaters. Both theaters had areas for you to sit and hang out with friends, ample seating and were immaculately clean. We saw 27 Dresses, which was cute, recommend it to anyone looking for a nice chick flick. 

Unfortunately we've reached the end of our Italian adventure. This will be the last entry about Italy *tear*. Never fear, my sister Caroline arrives on Friday, so I'm SURE hilarity will ensue, most likely at her expense. Look forward to reading about that next week!

Thursday

We've been bombed. That's the only possible explanation for the hostel shaking boom that just woke me up at 1 am. Nick, Steve and I jump up screaming expletives. Liz continues to sleep. Another crashing boom. Across town my friend Pinky is convinced the Vatican is being nuked. The room is pitch dark, the booms continue every thirty seconds or so. Liz is sound asleep. After a minute of silence I hear Niagra Falls outside my window. I lie back down...wow. Now THAT was a thunderstorm. 

Our friend Sarah was going to be touring churches in our neighborhood that morning with her class. She invited us to join her and we eagerly agreed. An excellent decision as we were led to some fascinating hidden gems right in our area that we never would have thought to visit. We also stopped for a coffee break and I discovered Italian hot chocolate. Now I despise hot chocolate...but this was gooooood. 

Sarah had to get back to her school for another class, so Liz and I decided to go inside the Colosseum. For days we had explored the exterior, but it was time to take the plunge and go inside. After standing in line for about 45 minutes we reached the front. I tried to get a student discount but they would only give that to EU citizens. Note, when I open a national monument to myself, only American citizens get student discounts. I then gave the ticket teller a 20 for an 11 euro ticket. He asked me for another euro so that he could give me a clean 10 back. Everyone wanted to do this in Italy. They HATED making change unless they could give it to you in bills. I did not have a euro on me so I said "sorry, I don't have a euro". The man starred at me and said "Everyone says that, you're lying". I hate the Colosseum. After getting change we walked in. It was raining and I was bitter so my first thought was "eh". After the sun came out and my mood brightened with it, I could fully appreciate the Colosseum. It is quite awesome. 

We went over to Sarah's after that to make dinner and hang out. We stopped at the supermarket and picked up a Roma soccer easter egg. In Europe they have these giant chocolate eggs around Easter. These eggs usually have toys of some kind in them. We were extremely excited to get a Roma one. After cooking dinner we cracked it open to discover it came with a paper model of the team. Too cool. Pinky and Julia joined us and we had a nice evening catching up and watching America's Next Top Model. 

Liz and I returned to the hostel. I havn't seen (or heard) hostel guy around lately...I hope he's alright. 

Friday

It was a beautiful day when we woke up. Absolutely gorgeous. "Let's go to the beach!" we cried! So we gathered the troops, packed a picnic lunch and set off on the subway....which took us to another subway...which took us to a tram....which took us to the beach! By the time we reached the beach the sky was a murky gray. The wind was whipping everywhere and it was beginning to rain. We were dead set on reaching the beach, however, and we were going to have a picnic if it killed us. We hunkered down on the beach as the sand covered our food and whipped into our faces. Failure. 

After declaring the picnic over we ran back to the tram. Once safely back in the city we grabbed some gelato before heading back to our friends apartments. Another delicious meal was cooked and we reflected on our time in Italy. 

Liz and I returned to the hostel and found Nick and Steve packing up, they would be leaving tomorrow as well. After talking for awhile Nick dropped this bomb on us "hey, did you hear? Hostel guy was taken to the hospital the other night! Didn't you hear him running up and down the halls cursing, appendicitis or something like that". He's ok, to our knowledge. Sounds like it was quite a scene though...my inner horrible person is sorry I missed it. My outer (and inner) good person asks everyone to hold him in the light for a quick recovery. 

Saturday

Time to pack up and leave Sandy's. Hostel guy has been replaced by a member of his multi-cultural posse. I never explained, HG was Polish, ran the place with his sister (I think), and had this multi-cultural posse of people who did random jobs around the place, I'm assuming in exchange for free room. I think it adds to the character of the place.

Anyway, the new guy checked us out and told us we could keep our bags in our lockers until it was time for us to leave. Liz and I went to walk around a little bit before our train left for the airport, but it was raining, hard. I'm pretty sure it always rains in Europe, thats what this whole abroad experience has taught me. After becoming fully soaked we decided maybe we should go back to the hostel and head out. Great...this will be a fun trip home.

The trip home went off almost without a hitch. Liz bought too much stuff in Italy and had to check her bag because it was overweight. She told me to go ahead through security and "hold up the plane" if she was late. As the boarding time got closer and closer I began to worry. I'm clearly capable of hold up a plane....but how to do it without losing my flying privileges forever? I was already on thin ice thanks to Dublin Airport security incident. Luckily she made it. I still havn't mastered the art of flying Ryanair and ended up being the last person on the plane. Which meant I got the last available seat, which actually wasn't bad at all. I sat in the aisle seat of the front row, which was definitely an experience. I've never sat that close to the front before....lots of leg room! If I knew Italian I would also be able to have gotten all of the flight attendant gossip, but alas, I don't. 

As the bus back to UCD drove through Dublin I was happy to be back, but I couldn't help but pine for Italy. An amazing two weeks I won't soon forget.

It looks photoshopped.....but its real
The sun is deceiving you...it was sooo not there the whole time
It was impressive
These guys were EVERYWHERE
ROMA ROMA ROMA!
My loves 
The Beach
That bag was being held on by the wind
Good times were had by all in Italy!