Rain is a good thing?

So despite my attempts to pretend the rain does not exist over here, it is unfortunately starting to get to me. The past few days have been rainy, windy, and overall dreary which puts a damper on the mood. In between classes or in the early evening when I have free time I would like to just walk around and explore or go into the various shops in the city center, but with all the rain I just want to curl into bed rather than walk around and get soaked everywhere. I'm trying my hardest to push myself to go out in it but it's not fun constantly being soggy or laying clothes all over the apartment so they can dry. I don't mind the days when it lightly rains for like 10-15 minutes every few hours, but the past 3 days have been pretty miserable. The locals say the rain has been more than usual so I'm keeping my head up. Friday and Saturday are both supposed to be warm sunny days so hopefully the weather forecasts are right. For the rest of my time in Ireland, I will be adopting the attitude of Luke Bryan:

Until next time... Steph<3

Galway Girl

So I’m in Ireland. This place is absolutely incredible. My flight was good etc, no delays or troubles thankfully. On the ride in from the airport there were millions of sheep and cows on the sides of the road casually grazing in the green hills, it’s crazy. (Mikey -- Invest in a cow if you never want to mow the lawn again, it seems to work over here!) Also they really throw me off with the driving on the opposite side of the road thing, I definitely need to get used to looking to the right first before crossing the street.

My apartment is wonderful! It’s nothing big, but we don’t need much anyway. Donegan Court (the apartment complex) runs right along a canal that leads into the Galway Bay, and is also less than 5 minute walk from campus. The weather here is extremely unpredictable, but I’m getting used to it. The rain comes unexpectedly and will vary from being a light passing shower to heavier rain, but we’ve been keeping our rain jackets handy at all times. We had beautiful sunny days this weekend so I went exploring the city with Julie and Nicole (my housemates). The Galway Bay is absolutely beautiful, so we walked along the shore for a couple hours and then decided to take a different route back to “get ourselves lost” and try to explore more of the city. We walked in whatever direction we felt like but somehow made it right back to the street our apartment is on. I don’t know if we’ve just been lucky or the city is that small, but of all the exploring we do we always find our way back with ease.

The nightlife here is quite the experience. Since the drinking age here is 18, I can freely go out to the pubs and clubs unlike back home. I don’t know how the Irish do it. Maybe it’s the jetlag speaking, maybe it’s my wallet, but they go out every night all hours of the night. I’ve been out 3 of the 4 nights we’ve been here and it is a good time, but 4.50euro drinks everywhere we go is putting a dent in my shrinking budget for the semester. Also, I’m friggin tired. I’ve been squeezing in naps when it’s raining or we have down time, but I’m exhausted still so I’ve got to get myself on a schedule. My drink of choice since arriving here is Bulmer’s Irish Cider (which practically tastes like apple juice), it is delicious! I’ve had the Guinness which is better than back home, but still a bit heavy for my liking. Things I’ve learned from going out: DO seat yourself at restaurants/pubs, DON’T tip bartenders (this seemed strange at first, but after looking at the prices of drinks it is reasonable). I’ve come to prefer the pubs with the live bands; they’re more fun than the standard DJs.

Today is the first day of classes. This is an odd concept because I don’t even have a schedule, however NUI Galway has a “shopping around” period for classes and we finalize our schedules on September 19^th. I went to my first archeology class today and it seems a bit dry, but we’ll be taking a field trip to visit castles in a few weeks so it seems like it could be interesting. Because of the way credits transfer back to Fairfield, I’ll be taking 6 classes this semester (2 Marketing, English, History, Archeology (art history), and Media Law (a communication class)). For the first six weeks of the semester, I have class 5 days a week, but after October 14^th I will have Thursdays and Fridays off (hello 4-day weekend!). This all sounds very confusing because it is. I’ve learned to adopt the Irish lifestyle of just relaxing. While I am concerned about my academics and want to get the classes I need, I know everything will work itself out in the long run so I don’t want to bother stressing myself out over it.

Tomorrow night I have a dinner sponsored by Fairfield at KC Blakes with the other 11 Fairfield students. The food over here is a bit of a struggle for me since I’m such a picky eater, but we’ve been cooking our own meals at the apartment so I’ve been surviving. I’ve got to go to class in a bit, but will attempt to regularly update this with all the happenings here in Galway. If the rest of the semester is like these first few days, I may never come home!

I'll leave you with some pictures:

Julie, Nicole, and me at JFK before our flight

Our first pints of Guinness at Fibber Magees

The Quadrangle, a building on campus at NUI Galway

Me in front of the Galway Cathedral

 Me down at the Galway Bay

The courtyard of our apartment complex

Mine and Nicole's room



Until next time, <3 Steph