dublin shenanigans

Yo, this post goes out to ma gurl Sammie, I luh you!

I’m currently sitting on my bed, listening to country music (sorry I’m not sorry), trying my best to find ways to not work on my group paper. Nothing much has changed since I last posted…I went to Barcelona a few weeks ago and it was a great trip. I was able to see a lot of the cool places, especially the Gaudi sites which was especially exciting since I learned about him in my SBHS architecture classes. Only bummer was I was deathly ill. I had a fever for a couple of days, and my throat was sore like a mofo. Every time I swallowed, even if it was my own saliva, it felt like I was swallowing a cactus. This made eating, my favorite hobby, really painful. Barcelona is an amazing city, but I was tired and somewhat miserable at times so I couldn’t appreciate it as much as I could have. 

Okay I need bitch more about this sickness—eventually sores on my gums formed so that it hurt to even chew. Sorry for the gruesome details but I need to get this off my chest. Eating became absolute torture. After Barca I finally went to the doctor. When she peeked inside my mouth, a disgusted look formed on her face. You know it’s bad when even the doc looks like she’s never seen it before. I got antibiotics, thank the Lord, and after a few days I was able to eat normally again. It no longer takes me half an hour to eat a slice of pizza. I swear I have a new appreciation for food. Brings new meaning to the saying “you don’t know what you have til it’s gone.” 

——- (I can’t think of any way to transition from that) ———

This past weekend I was in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. My brother (Rafael) studied there for two semesters, and I didn’t realize until then why he had returned, besides the whole trans-atlantic romance drama. Edinburgh is a really old city, and it has been preserved very well. The architecture makes you feel like you’re in the 1500s, the streets are cobblestone, and there are awesome secret alleyways all over town. It’s very hilly, too, which I feel makes any city all the more charming for some reason. For you Harry Potter nerds (basically everyone reading this), JK Rowling wrote the HP books in Edinburgh. Her favorite spot was a place called the Elephant Cafe, which overlooks an orphan school and the Edinburgh Castle, which is supposedly where she got the idea of Harry Potter and Hogwarts. There are other things throughout town such as a restaurant named Dobby’s and a gravestone for a Thomas Riddle, all suggesting where some of the inspiration in her books came from. Even though I don’t really care about HP I thought that was pretty neat.

I only spent two full days in Edinburgh but I was able to do and see so much: a 3 hour walking tour of the city, a hike up Arthur’s Seat, a pub crawl, a 12 hour tour through the West Highlands and to Loch Ness, and a ghost tour. My friends who I went with are tons of fun, so there were lots of lolz all around. Overall a wonderful trip!

——Transition——-

This week kinda sucks since I have a philosophy test and a group paper due. BUT, there is light at the end of the tunnel—SPRING BREAK! On Friday, I leave for Bratislava, Slovakia. Kinda random but I’m excited. I will also be hitting up Vienna, Prague, and Krakow. The second week of break the ND program is taking us to West Ireland, where I hear we will be staying at a castle which is pretty sweet. Then comes St. Patty’s (which I may or may not be celebrating with Kaileigh? At this point probably not since I haven’t heard from you, LET ME KNOW lol). So that’s the lineup! 

Sorry for the long post. I will now leave you with a classic sleeping pic of me (plus 2 amigos) taken on the ND group trip to Northern Ireland. 

And this is why my tagged pictures are private.

Just a few observations:

1. Toilets here never have the right amount of water pressure. Either you flush and the water barely moves, or you flush and you’re getting splashed in the face. After I flush I literally run as fast as I can away from toilet since I never know what I’m going to get.
2. Irish people don’t really know the term “making out.” They call it “shifting.” I couldn’t take the word seriously before, but now it’s a part of my every day language. So every time I hear the word “shift” in other contexts I giggle…just like how I laugh every time I hear the word “penis.”
3. This country is practically five to ten years behind America when it comes to many things…technology, music, clothing…just to name a few. I’m using a flip phone provided by Notre Dame and I was embarrassed to use it in public, until I noticed that EVERYONE ELSE uses mobile phones from 2001. The clubs take me back to the 4th grade whenever they play Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, DMX, and Nelly. Lastly, all the college kids wear Abercrombie and Hollister to look cool, or American. Which brings me to my next point:
4. Being American = being awesome. Irish people love Americans. They are fascinated with us for some reason which I’m still trying to figure out.
5. Irish people fucking love their potatoes. Also their beer, cows, and butter (which is orgasmically good by the way, I don’t know how they make butter so good that I dream about it sometimes).

I’m off for my first inter-Europe trip, to Brussels! It was kind of a last minute thing booked three nights ago, so I’ve had little time to really process what I’m getting myself into…All I know is that I’m looking forward to indulging my phat ass with some waffles, chocolate, and beer. I also can’t wait to see this masterpiece in real life:

(Google image “Manneken Pis” to see various clothed versions of this statue)

hey loyal followers,

i’m alive and well (as evident through facebook, too) and ireland has been hella cool. i’ve been here for a week and a half and i’ve already done so much, i don’t even know where to start! yesterday i saw two castles, kissed the blarney stone, planned my spring break trip to bratislava, and enjoyed a night at a pub drinking and dancing with some old irish people.

This blog is a product of peer pressure. My friends (you know who you are) have somehow convinced me to create a tumblr and post at least once a day while I am in the land of Ire. Due to these circumstances, who knows if I will ever actually post anything once I escape their nagging. However, I am motivated by the idea of documenting my shenanigans abroad because:

1) There will be many of them.

2) There is no guarantee that I will remember the majority of them (thanks mostly to my poor long-term memory and partly to liquid amnesia).

3) When I’m an old lola I need hard evidence to show my grandchildren that I was once young and kind of fun.

Hopefully these reasons will be enough to keep this thang going :)