Pain and Joy, all within 3 hours

Mawrtyrs, when you take your self scheduled exams this week I want you to get down on your knees and thank a god of your choosing that you have them. If ANY of you cheat or otherwise break the honor code and put them in jeopardy I will personally punch you in the face. I have seen the horror of scheduled exams, it's not pretty. 

My first exam was today at 9am. Thats fine, I'm not exactly a morning person, but 9am is a legitimate exam taking time. Here's the problem, UCD makes you take them at another site, ie not on campus. So I had to get over to the UCD Blackrock campus, a bucolic site a few miles from here that's only purpose appears to be a place for students to take exams. UCD kindly provided a shuttle bus....but wouldn't start the shuttles until 10am. Thats not going to help me, thanks though. I woke up this morning at 6 to try and cram in some more studying. As I stated before, I am not a morning person and this really was not a good plan. I decided to leave myself an hour to find this place and left the apartment at 7:45. My first obstacle came when the front door of our building, usually unlocked, was locked. To a normal minded person, this wouldn't be a big deal, you would simply turn the doorknob and continue on your way. I stood there in a haze wondering how I would ever get to my exam if I couldn't even leave the building. I really wonder how I've gotten this far in life sometimes. 

I'm glad I allotted an hour, because I got lost numerous times. Finally I found my way to the town of Blackrock, which basically made the town of Bryn Mawr look like a shanty town (I'm completely serious) and onto campus. Next I had to find the building, the place was deserted. It was 8:50 now, 10 minutes until my 9 exam, I'm in panic mode. I finally find a building swarmed in sequins and bad tans...I mean UCD students...and rightly assume it's the exam center. After carefully reading each sign to make sure I'm following the rules correctly (and there are a lot of them) I sit down at my assigned desk to await the exam. The first thing I notice is that the exam booklet is in Gaelic. OH BALLS! Luckily english instructions are written in smaller writing below the large bold Gaelic print. Again, a normal person would make this adjustment easily, however simple tasks are hard for me this early in the morning. The cover of the booklet was probably the hardest part of the exam. It took me roughly 15 minutes to figure out exactly what I needed to write on it. It asked for all sorts of numbers and codes. After the exam was done i asked one of the proctors if I had filled it out right, he gave me a look as if I had asked if the sky was blue. 

The exam itself went pretty well. Once i was situated and my mind in the zone I was good to go. I was still stressed, though, from studying the previous day and waking up early to get to the exam, so I decided a post-exam trip was in order. Anyone who knows me should be able to guess where I decided to go. Thats right, the zoo. Well, sort of. I walked down to the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transport) station to catch the train into town, but right next to the station was Dublin Bay/Irish Sea and it was absolutely stunning. So I hopped on the train and went the other direction towards Bray. Best decision I've made.

At Bray I sat on the beach for awhile. Many parents had taken their children down for a lunchtime outing so the beach was really alive. The favorite activity seemed to be to stand on the waters edge and throw rocks into the sea. Everyone was doing it, kids and adults. There must have been about 30 people just chucking rocks into the water. One kid clearly had some anger issues and started yelling "TAKE THAT SEA! YEA! WHAT NOW! I THREW A ROCK AT YOU!". I stayed away from that kid, I didn't want to risk being behind him when his last string of sanity snapped.

This was my third time to Bray, each time I go I find something new and enjoyable. The first time I went up Bray Head, the second time I discovered that the beach is really peaceful and this time I discovered the cliff walk. Wow, walking along the cliffs it's just you, the cliffs and a 50 foot drop to the ocean. 70 degree weather, sun in the sky, a cool breeze off the water, this is heaven. Growing on the rocks was this plant that had a scent that was a mixture of honey and sunscreen. Normally, repulsive, but absolutely perfect in this setting. Looking down the water was turquoise and crystal clear, almost like the water in the Bahamas. Walking along the cliffs gave the feeling of being either someplace tropical, or Cape Cod...I am fine with either. 

An ice cream cone (with sprinkles! Thats amazing, they don't usually have those here) back in town sealed the day as a success. 

During my first visit to Bray I sat on top of Bray Head and said "So this is what study abroad is about". As I walked along the cliffs today I'd occasionally stop, gaze out on the water and mutter "I can't believe I'm leaving this". I have a feeling the next two and a half weeks will include many return visits to Bray.