Irish Imports : Brazilian Tour Guides

I've been busy with orientation events the past few days, but now there is nothing else mandatory on the schedule. I had some meetings with just Americans and I honestly felt out of place. People from other countries seem to want to meet new people more and it's easier to start up a conversation with them. So far, I have come across very few Americans here who aren't spending a lot of time with people they came with from their home university.

I went out with my roommate and some of her friends the past two nights with a girl from California who goes to school in Michigan, Hayden. When you're studying abroad somewhere where it's easy to go to other countries you make friends quickly. It's intimidating to travel somewhere new completely alone and it can be dangerous. It seems like as soon as you find someone who wants to go to the same place, you talk about planning a trip together. It sounds dumb, but it's safer to travel with strangers than to do it alone. I met Hayden on Wednesday and we are thinking about taking a trip to Scotland in a few weeks.

The Brazilians are great tour guides. They have been here since June so they know when to get off the bus and what pubs will be good on what days. Adriana said that if you wait for good weather in Ireland to go out, you'll never leave. On Wednesday we went to the Temple Bar, a main tourist attraction. I thought it would be good to get it out of the way while I still feel like a tourist. Apparently it was really empty compared to how it usually was. We actually got a seat and listened to the music. They do rip you off on your drink prices though. I got a Bulmers cider for 6.50 euros. We made up for the expensive drink at the Temple Bar when we went to a club after called Howl at the Moon. There was a special that night where all drinks were 2.50 euros, but you had to pay a 5 euro cover fee at the door. There was much more dancing and no Irish music at the club. I prefer pubs, but the problem is finding one right now with people our age at them. Most of the Irish students are still on break from school and not out at the pubs, so they are empty. There is a surplus of old creepy British guys though.

Today was sunny...finally. I explored the campus with Hayden and my other French friend, Marine. This campus is GIANT. I went to the Student Center and got a "Leap Card". You load money onto it for a discount on bus tickets and you can just swipe it rather than waiting for a ticket to print or counting change. The bus rides are expensive and its inconvenient to worry about keeping change on you. If you over pay you have to go somewhere in Dublin to pick up the change.

I'm staying in tonight to save some money and to get something in me besides liquid calories, as Hayden put it. Here are some pictures of the campus:

Student Center, Olympic sized pool to the right