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.

Galway, round 2

So I took a fairly spur of the moment trip to Galway to visit my friend Liz. She's leaving in a week and wanted a chance to show me Galway. She's been to Dublin to visit me twice and I chose the weekend she wasn't there to visit Galway the last time. Where our story last let off, my camera was out of batteries so I didn't have any pictures. While the camera is still out of batteries, I realized that we live in the internet age, so I present to you: "Marianna and Liz's Adventures in Galway, as seen though Google images"

Liz and I in front of Galway Bay
Liz feeding the Galway swans
They haven't gotten around to taking down the Christmas decorations yet. As you can see, Liz and I are judging them on this.
We did a little jig in front of Long Walk
I had some quality time with Oscar Wilde
Liz enjoyed the beautiful day
We found some friends, yay, look how happy we are, ahahhaahha. Good times.
We took a bus tour, I was less than pleased.
So we ended the night in a pub with some new friends.
Now I have to study for my two final exams. ick.

Had a great time visiting Liz. We checked out the aquarium...which was really more of a tank with fish in it that they charged 7 euro to see. I say pass if you're in the area. After a stroll along the bay we went back to her apartment for dinner. For nighttime entertainment she took me to her favorite pub for traditional music. We met a nice young German couple and the fiddlers grandson and his friends, including one that looked eerily identical to Ryan from The Office. I considered paying him money to yell "THIS GUY GROWS HIS OWN BEETS!", but passed. So we enjoyed the stereotypical Irish pub experience, throwing back a pint while singing pub songs. Very fun. Today we walked around town a little before I had to catch the bus back. It's GORGEOUS here today, so the bus ride through the Irish farmland was fantastic. Lots of baby sheep, horses and cows. On to studying.

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.