Wanderlust

Wanderlust: A strong desire to travel.

My classes are great! The students are actually serious and want to learn. Besides a few group projects, I don't really have homework. The professors say that there is suggested reading, not a bunch of expensive textbooks to buy. For the most part they post articles online for us through Blackboard, similar to Angel for those of you from Oswego. I have an American professor who told us if we email him in the wrong format, he will spam us with pornography. I have two Irish professors, one who's last name is Feeney. He made a Boy Meets World reference and everyone laughed because it's an all American class. He told us that if it was an Irish class, no one would get it. I also have a professor from Bangladesh. I'm only in class for eight hours a week at the most, four days a week. Not being an RA this semester is really weird because I actually have down time. The fact that I even have time to write this amazes me.

Yesterday I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral and it was g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s. There was a lot inside that was dedicated to military forces in several wars. There was also a smaller chapel in the back, behind the alter, that was called the "Lady Chapel". It was originally used to let other denominations practice their religion peacefully.

Leave a note for someone affected by war...

Lady Chapel 

I went shopping at a bargain store and got a pair of jeans, shoes, and 5 stockings for 30 euros, about $36. It was dangerous to be in there because I wanted to buy everything. There were such good deals. Surprisingly, I stuck to what I needed though. I needed new shoes because I can't wear my boots, which are falling apart, with a dress. The bottoms of my shoes are practically detached and sooner or later I would get caught in the rain. I most likely won't wear either of the heels I brought again. I tried, but it was not convenient in the stone streets or on the slippery (or sometimes cover in broken glass) floors of clubs and pubs. That's probably why everyone is wearing big clunky heels here.

Hayden and I somehow found our way back to the right bus stop yesterday. I am starting to realize where I am now, but thankfully I have google maps for back up. I have decided on not getting a phone or international plan here. I have had no issue staying in contact with anyone from home or here and free wifi is so common here. I can download a map to save offline from google maps and the app can almost always find your location, even with no service, wifi, or 4G. I screen shot the directions before I leave the bus (free wifi on the buses as well) and I'm good to go. To talk to people I text through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or iMessage, I call through Facebook Messenger, and I video chat through Skype or FaceTime. Everything is very simple and free!

Even though I have been here for less than two weeks, I feel like I cannot go back home the same at this point. The days that I am not sight seeing, traveling, or getting lost, I am very antsy. I want to get up and go places, go anywhere, really. It's going to be hard to adjust back to living in a much smaller city at home. I do miss driving, and being able to leave whenever I feel like it without looking at a schedule for buses or flights. I feel like when I get back I will be horrible at driving, but hopefully it's like riding a bike.

I am taking a trip with four other girls tomorrow to County Cork, home of the Blarney Castle and Blarney Stone. In two weeks, three of us will fly to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend. I've always wanted to say that- acting so casual about taking a trip to another country for a few days. Honestly though, it's just as surprising to me as anyone else. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to travel, but doing it on my own for the first time feels so surreal. This past semester, my Hall Director, Kevin Speer, said he was buying things on his bucket list and he started to travel a lot. To be honest, I thought it was a little crazy he was buying a bunch of stuff and spending money on traveling too. But now I realize how important it is to live in the now and do what you want rather than wait. There's obviously a time to save, but my advice is to take the time to be impulsive and happy. Thanks Kevin :).