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.