Longest day of my life

So it's 4 a.m., we're back from our night out and I'm still not adjusted to the time difference. Perfect time to blog.

Today started out with me getting 16 and a half hours of sleep. I went to bed at 7 p.m. and slept until 11:30 a.m. Aside from me waking up at 10 p.m., thinking it was morning and being confused beyond belief as to why it was dark out, I slept like a baby.

A bunch of us got up, I got tea, and we went to the city to get Vodaphone cell phones. We bombarded the store, cleaning them out of all the cheapest pay-as-you-go phones.

Then everyone met at the Irish Writing Center for the start of our scavenger hunt for major monuments around the city. Here's some of my group, trying to figure out the maps.

The first stop was the Garden of Remembrance, which honors fallen Irish soldiers. It was quite breathtaking, but I can imagine that it's even more so in the spring when the plants are blooming.

I think the point of the scavenger hunt was go get us lost, and therefore acquainted, with the city. We certainly did get lost as there are very few street signs and the locals weren't much help with directions. Obviously they all have a heavy accent (which I'm in love with, by the way) and their directions went along the lines of: "Take a left, then a right, then two lefts until you see a red door, then a right, then a left, then it's right there. Pretty easy to get to." Here's a collection of pictures I was able to get along the way. I admit, I don't know the significance behind all of them yet, but we were asked to find them, so I'm assuming they are important.

The entrance to Stephen's Green, a park.

This is a statue of Molly Mallone, who has a song about her selling food on the streets. I'm not sure how that gets someone a bronze statue, but I'm sure I'll find out.

We walked through Temple Bar, which is actually a section of the city. The program director says this is home to many fights as the bars close at night and a decent amount of crime. Except most of the crime is petty, like stealing money and phones. No one is allowed to carry guns here, not even the police, so most of the crime is not as serious as it is back home.

We came upon a row of statues in the city center, and I found my brother's name on one of them.

Again, I'm not really sure who Jim Larkin is (I hope none of these are common knowledge), but I just loved his statue.

And we even had a leprechaun sighting!

Right after this picture was taken, he had to answer his cell phone, which provided for an interesting picture. It just goes to show that even leprechauns aren't immune to modern technology.

After the scavenger hunt, we all went our separate ways for the evening. A bunch of us went to Dunnes Store, which is kind of like a Target, to get some towels and groceries. We also stopped for some delicious hot chocolate.

My friend Colleen and I made whole wheat pasta with red sauce for dinner. She coached me through it, but now I know how to make it. Small victories! Then we went out with I'd say about a fourth of the group to Messrs Maguire, a pub with four floors and a bar on each. I tried my first Guiness, and I don't mean to disappoint anyone, but I wasn't crazy about it. It has this hint of coffee taste, and I can't stand coffee. Maybe it's an acquired taste. We spent the night talking to Irish guys (there were many more men in this pub than women, I don't know if that's the norm) and they made fun of our accents and talked about what to do in Dublin. I may have zoned out listening to what they were actually saying as I was just focused on the accent. Sorry Corey, but unless you can pick up an Irish accent by the time I come home, we may have to reevaluate this whole relationship thing. Haha kidding! Sort of.

Then we headed out to Club Twenty One for some dancing. It was strobe light central, playing all American music (along with the rest of Dublin). It was fun, but definitely not some place I could go all the time. We took a cab home, I sat in the passenger seat, which is our driver's seat, and had mini heart attacks every time the driver took a turn and went to the opposite side of the road. It's so hard to get used to!

That seems to be all for now, and it's about 4:3o a.m. so I should probably get to bed. To end, here are a bunch of pictures I took today of the city.

First, two of the best stores I've seen. My G Superstore--Cosmetics, Afro/Caribbean & Asian Foodstore--Salon/ Braids, Dreads, Weave On-Hair Extensions, Etc.

And Booze 2 Go.

The rest are all various shots of Dublin and the River Liffey. Enjoy!

Day 2!

I've got about 10 minutes before I head out to a pub tonight with the group, so I don't have time for a full update of the scavenger hunt we had around the city today, but tomorrow morning I plan on updating for real.

My address here is:

Meghan Kavanaugh

Room W517A

College Park Apartments,

Campus Residences Ltd.

Ballymun Road

Dublin 9.

Yes, 9 is the zipcode. In Ireland, there are only about 24.

I also have a cell phone now. The number is 0871481998 and I believe it's about 15 cents per minute to call home and per text home. Here, it's free for everyone who got the plan. I'm still only planning to use it for emergencies, as Skype will be the best way to communicate, but maybe it will work out best to text or call each other to say to go on Skype. I don't know yet, but it's nice to know that I can contact the states if I need to.

The biggest adjustment thus far has been the heating system. The heat in our rooms is on from 7 to 10 a.m., 12 to 2 p.m., and 4 to 11 p.m. Meaning, it is completely and totally off the rest of the times. Now, it's not as cold as Boston here, but it definitely gets chilly. It is January. The guides didn't tell us about the heat at first, so we all thought we were getting sick since we were all having shivering fits. Mary, the program leader, said it's quite a luxury to get heat for 12 hours out of the day. She was also jealous that we didn't have to boil our water to take hot showers.

I slept from 7 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. last night, so I feel much more myself. I'm off for the night but I'll be putting up pictures soon from my excursion around the city!

The 28th hour

Hello from Dublin! I've finally made it and currently going on my 28th hour without sleep. Go adrenaline!

The international flight was great, I had a window with an empty seat next to me! The woman the seat over from that did have a bit of a foot odor issue, but it's a small price to pay for getting the elbow rests all to myself. Each person had their own television, too, so I was able to catch up on some movies and shows I had been meaning to see, and not catch up on sleep. I might have fallen asleep for all of 45 minutes, I was so anxious to get to Ireland.

We landed at Dublin in the dark of the morning, around 7 a.m. Just like any other city, you could see the tiny lights from the plane. We got closer and closer and they just seemed off. I finally realized it was because they were all the same height. Dublin's highest points are streetlights!

The anxiety was palpable as I waited for the inevitable loss of my luggage on an international flight once again, but the luck of the Irish must have been with me as both of my bags arrived on time.

Then we took a coach bus to campus, where the bus driver put on the radio so we could hear the Irish music and culture. The song that came next: Kanye West's "Stronger." Fail.

The next part of today was orientation, tours of the campus, figuring out the impossible internet connection, all while functioning with no sleep. The couple hours we got to unpack consisted of just that as everyone assumed we'd be fed at the noontime orientation. Wrong. The poor woman felt terrible.

"Well certainly you've found milk and tea, maybe a loaf of bread by now."

"No, we haven't had a chance."

"You mean you haven't eaten since the flight?!"

[Delirious laughter] "Haha, guess not."

"Oh, Lord."

I honestly can't think right now of how long this part of the day took. A few hours? My brain is a mess with jet lag, but I'm strangely not tired. I just finished a fresh baguette with turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and about half my weight in mayo from a campus convenience store. I even said to go light, I'd hate to see what they usually put on.

I'm off now with some friends to do a little grocery shopping. My goal is to stay up until bedtime tonight. It's currently 3:30, so I've got a ways to go. Wish me luck. Tomorrow is a scavenger hunt through the city, so I've got to be well rested.

I can't wait to write all about it. Until then, here's the view from my room.

Last minute help needed!

Less than a week away from departure and I only have packing on the brain. While the physical labor, like cramming everything I own into a suitcase and sitting on it to zip it shut, still have not been started, I've been ahead of the game when it comes to my flight and layover entertainment. I sought out interesting books with a quick ease about them, because struggling through a book on an overnight flight is not part of my plan.

A week or so ago, I bought Blink and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, as he has been highly recommended to me by several family members. Gladwell, a journalist for publications like The New Yorker, writes about the psychology and logic behind instincts, success and how the subconscious affects us everyday. It's fascinating. The problem now is that I'm almost done with Blink. I only read it while I'm on the commuter rail to and from Boston when I visit Corey, and I cannot control myself enough to save it for the trip overseas. I've already decided to pick up Gladwell's first book, The Tipping Point, but I'm desperately in need of some suggestions for other books as I'm afraid I'll finish these on the short flight from Providence to Newark.

So what are your favorite books to read while traveling? What is the one book you have read that you couldn't put down until the last page had been read? Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated and will help shield me from the insufferable airplane small talk.

Happy New Year!

I'm a fan of fresh starts, of making resolutions and of tricking myself into believing that I will stick to them. Every year for as long as I can remember, I have vowed to stop biting my nails in the new year, and anyone who has seen my stubby fingers can attest to my failure. But this never stops me from wholeheartedly believing that I can stop cold turkey at midnight on January 1. In case you're wondering, not even this new decade could make me keep my resolution.

So instead of resolutions, I'm 10 days away from the greatest fresh start of my life. Preparing for my departure from my friends and family here has been much more difficult than I anticipated. Every time I meet someone for a tea or lunch, the thought runs through my head, Will I see them again before I go or should we say our goodbyes now? A knot of anxiety has been growing steadily over the past few weeks in the pit of my stomach. I'm extremely excited and happy to be going to Ireland, but dreading the airport goodbyes.

But overall, the feeling is a positive one, and the root of a resolution that I will sincerely keep: blogging. I love reading the blogs of students who are studying abroad and I think that I will be just as enthusiastic about maintaining my own. I am going to try to post every day, time permitting, with something about my travels. Already in researching weather and the like on this website, I have discovered that the Irish seemingly have an extensive vocabulary to describe one word: rain. The week that I arrive, it is expected to "sprinkle," "drizzle," be "showery," and experience "light rain." Raise your hand if these all mean exactly the same thing. That's what I thought.

So I'll be coming to you East Coasters from five hours in the future, and I've added a Dublin clock to my blog in case you're curious. I won't have my American cell phone, so the best way to reach me will be commenting on these posts, emailing or Skyping. This may quite possibly be the last post from this side of the Atlantic. I'm only 10 days and a pesky four hour layover in Newark, New Jersey (can't wait!) away from my new adventure.

Spoons and metal pipes

Merry Christmas from my pipe wielding family to yours. Eat your hearts out, Partridge family.

Gingerbread galore

The small army of gingerbread men and women can only mean one thing: it's Christmas and I'm home. More so than eating the cookies, and we all know my penchant for sweets, I enjoy decorating them. I've finally gotten close to my mother's skill level. The poinsettias are among my proudest creations.

And keeping with the season's current fashion trends, I could not help by make a studded stocking.

My mom's girls and boys are perfectly frosted little clones, each one exactly like the next. Literally, they are perfect. It seems an engineering mind is the perfect tool for frosting cookies.

Now that the cookies are done, I'm only a few days away from Christmas Eve, my favorite holiday. I wish everyone a happy holiday and bellies full of good food and delicious desserts!

Two posts in two days brought to you by finals.

This is what I imagine is going on at my house right now, minus the fact that this is not exactly an accurate representation of my mother. Yet, at the same time, it's really so perfect.

Only four more days until I'm home and can say, "Awww, look at the tree!"