A Very Irish Week (Week 7: Oct. 12 - 18)

Dia duit! That means "hello" in Irish, by the way. This week has been very Irish for me. I've continued to go to my Irish language class, one of the few classes that I attend on a regular basis...oops. I also went to rugby training Wednesday evening and that was a lot of fun! The girls on the team are very welcoming and nice, and we have our first match sometime next week. How exciting. I also had my first fish and chips meal this week at Galway's oldest fish and chips bar. It was delicious. Our friend Mary, the "original Galway Girl" from University of Richmond, was here for the whole week and introduced us to some of her Irish friends who lived in the area and we went to their house a few times. Always good craic to meet some new Irish kids. Remember, "craic" means fun. Not drugs. Also, people have asked for my address abroad. Well here it is, and what better time to give it out than right before a very important day in November, I believe it's November 8th. No, it's not a national holiday in Ireland or Amurrica (though it should be)...it's my birthday! And I'm turning 21 this year, so it's not as special abroad as it would be back home, but no matter! I AM ABROAD. Here it is:

Amelia Vogler

27B Cuirt na Coiribe

Headford Road

Galway

Ireland

Ireland doesn't do postal/ZIP codes...maybe because it is so small or maybe because they are just lazy? The world may never know. Also, Mama Allison has corrected me with some fast facts about the UR vs JMU football game from last week. Here they are:

JMU vs Richmond football games have never had more than a 7 point difference in the final scores.

Since we have been playing each other (started in the 1980s) after last week’s game total points scored UR 876 JMU 874.

Finally, no player on either team last Saturday had ever won a JMU/UR game on their home field so that continues until next season.

I guess since this week was a bit more eventful than last week, I'll revert back to a day-by-day synopsis.

Oct. 12

Well Monday was a pretty scholarly day, in some respects. I went to my Irish language class, of course. I like it and I think I am improving. The teacher is super nice and personable, a change from most of the boring professors during lectures. Then I spent the rest of the day studying for my midterm in Human Sexuality and working on another midterm for my Irish Emigrant history class; luckily, the test wasn't too bad. The Irish Emigrant midterm paper though....WOOF! So boring. Oh well.

Monday was also my friend Liz from the basketball team's birthday; she lives in the neighboring student apartment village of Gort na Coiribe, so we went over there to celebrate. I decided not to go pubs & clubs afterward since I had to wake up early to work more on the Irish Emigrant paper.

Oct. 13

Spent the majority of the day working on the Irish Emigrant paper, so going to basketball training was a much deserved break. Since I've joined the "B" team, they start training at 8 p.m. and I didn't get home until around 9:45 p.m., thus decided to catch up on some much-needed sleep instead of go out.

Oct. 14

Finished up the Irish Emigrant paper and went to two out of three classes...not too bad, considering the one I didn't go to was the Irish Emigrant class. Turned that paper in and headed home to prepare for rugby training. It was quite a hike to get over to the pitches (aka playing fields), so that was a warm-up of sorts. What a fun and interesting sport! We play rugby union, which has 15 players per team. The coaches and Irish girls were impressed at my skills for my first time playing. SCORE! Our first match is against UC-Cork sometime next week. Should be a good match. Got a lift (aka ride) home with some teammates and got ready to go out. Met up with the Fairfield kids and we went "stamp-hunting", which is when club promoters line Shop Street with special "free in til half 12" deals, etc. for each club. We first went to Karma, then to Cuba, though the line for Cuba was too long. We decided to forgo Cuba and go to Bar 903, which is the bar associated with Cuba, but different buildings. Actually, the Irish say "Bar 9 0 Tree" because that's how they pronounce "three". Quite a good joke and a good night.

Oct. 15

Went to both classes AND the tutorial for one of them today. Big day. Then after tutorial I went to work out at the gym. Came home and we hosted a mini Amurrican pre-game with the Solo cups and pong balls Mary brought us from home. We then went out to Hole in the Wall, then "stamp-hunted", ending up at Cuba. Cuba seems to be our go-to club.

Oct. 16

Since I don't have class on Fridays, I decided to go down to Shop Street and peruse, while making a few purchases in preparation for my trip to France next week. Just a few scarves and leggings to look more European. I also mailed some more postcards and got rugby boots and a gum shield (aka cleats and a mouthguard). Well, turns out that my Bank of Ireland account had run dry...my funds were going through a famine (ok, inappropriate reference to the Great Famine, but it was necessary!) So, yes, I am now THAT girl abroad...the one who runs out of money. Frustrating Irish Moment of the Day! No matter though, because my WONDERFUL, LOVING PARENTS (Big Jim and Mama Allison) and I figured out a solution. I'm only abroad once, gotta make the most of it, though it is depleting my funds. When in Rome...

I didn't realize that I had actually run out of money until the next day, but I had a sneaking suspicion. Came home from my afternoon out and Mary's Irish cousin Marian came over for the night from Sligo in northern County Galway. She was so nice! We played flip cup and pong with her, though she admitted that her skills were a little lacking since she only plays those drinking games with other Americans. From our apartment we went to the Cellar bar and then on to Cuba, again.

Oct. 17

Woke up rather late (like almost 12 p.m.) and I REAAALLLY don't like to wake up that late because I feel like such a waste and that the day is gone. No matter, I quickly recovered the day by going to Shop Street with Mary and Bryeanna and we went to McDonagh's for fish and chips. Wow. So. Good. It's on Quay Street, down near the Claddagh and it is one of the oldest fish and chips bars in Galway. It was delicious. I didn't need to eat anything for the rest of the day. Bryeanna and I tagged along with Mary so she could make some souvenir purchases and I scoped out the great touristy shops. So many cool things that I've added to my list. Then we came home to rest some more before Mary's last night out in Galway. We went to Mary's friends' house near city centre to hang out beforehand. It was fun meeting some Irish guys who weren't creepy (normally the ones out in pubs are older and fairly creepy. ew). From there we went to Bar 903 and to the Roisin Dubh, more of a hipster scene but very cool (clearly because the hipsters go there). It was a successful night to end Mary's return to Galway.

Oct. 18

Well Mary left today, and she took the good weather with her. It was a gloomy day, the kind where you just stay home all day and clean and pretend to do work. We went on a cleaning rampage in the apartment and then I began my midterms with much procrastination (hence the blogging). I only have a few paragraphs left of one paper and then one more paper before I head to France! Ooh la la!

Well, that sums up my week. I don't know if I will be able to blog while in France because I am hesitant to take my computer (though I don't want to run out of memory on my camera and would like to upload them onto my computer if needed and I need to register for classes next week, yikes!). But I'm excited to spend 3 days in Paris with my friends Chelsea, Elizabeth and Sloane (who just booked a Thanksgiving trip to Galway, score! No more lonely Thanksgiving!) and then go to western and southern France with my friends Martha and Rachel. Should be a trés bon voyage pour moi. I know my Francais is a little rusty...good thing I'll be surrounded by fluent friends!

Au revoir from Ireland!

Spider Born and Spider Bred, CHOMP CHOMP GO GATORS! (Week 6: Oct. 5 - 11)

Now this is just a lil' somethin' extra for y'all American football fans. I have been following my three teams (Spiders, Gators, and Skins) religiously over here...checking ESPN every time I get back from going out. And this was a grrrreat weekend for college football, pro football not so much. Ugh my poor Redskins, when will y'all take a page out of a college playbook and learn to finish a game when y'all are up?!

The Richmond Spiders, Division IAA's reigning NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, yet again closed a stressful and exciting game against in-state rival, the James Madison Dukes. Woof, woof, JM-WHO?! Choked under pressure when they were about to score on the last-winning drive, fumble, SPIDERS RECOVER! That's why we're called the Spiders...we Spiderman-websling loose balls. Wow. I wish I had been at that game, though if it was giving me heart palpitations over here in Ireland, I can only imagine what sort of cardiac arrest I could have gone into in the game atmosphere! Apparently, the last few games with JMU have been decided by a combined 12 points or less...pretty impressive. We continue our winning streak, and they better keep winning and not lose, especially in post-season play! Chattanooga again, that's all I want for Christmas. That, and an Aran Island sweater and a Claddagh ring...minor details.

And my Florida Gators! Oh, how wonderful it was to hear that the love of my life, Mr. Tim Tebow, #15, was back in the game and doing his same old routine, just a mere two weeks after a concussion! That, my friends, is the sign of a true athlete and champion. He is Superman. Though it was not a big scoring game, a win is a win. His athletic dominance and prowess impresses me so much. And I know what it's like to get a concussion...as many of y'all know, I have had four. Woof. I don't think I could have come back after a concussion like that and power the Gators on to a huge SEC "W". Let's hope that my two favorite college teams keep up the great, record-breaking and setting streaks!

In other football news, the Republic of Ireland's national soccer team is playing Montenegro tomorrow in the World Cup qualifying matches after tying Italy 2-2. Keep in mind, Italy was the reigning world champions, so that's huge for our small island nation. I hope Ireland qualifies for South Africa. That would be epic. I'll be sure to watch that match tomorrow.

That's all for now on my sports updating. Hopefully this added a bit more spice and all that jazz to my regular blog post. And I hope this week's blog entry will be more action-packed than last week's snoozer. Take care!

The Original Galway Girl Visits! (Week 6: Oct. 5 - Oct. 11)

Greetings avid "Amelia's Adventures" readers! See, I'm back on track with this posting on a Sunday night. I bet everyone is relieved. And though I know that everyone is thrilled that I am blogging at my normal, semi-designated time again, I am sad to disappoint with probably my lamest blog post ever. But, alas, the show must go on. Please, when reading, if you happen to be falling asleep, keep the snores to a minimum volume...I don't want to hear snores erupting from every corner of the world because of this boring post. My apologies in advance. In fact, before I begin, my week was so boring that it is not even worth it to break it down day-by-day...it was that boring. Well, perhaps not boring; rather, just sort of "blah"...a chill week, a week to catch up on sleep, etc.

Although to add to the fun of a monotonous week, I had my first assignment due on Monday (an opinion-based reaction paper for my "Human Sexuality" class), so that actually took up a good 2-3 hour window on Monday. Yay for productivity! Also, I was busy filling out forms and such to send back to Richmond for various things, so yet again, that took up another 2-3 hours on I want to say Tuesday? This week was filled with mundane work, writing papers and filling out forms. Boring, boring!

But one exciting thing that happened was that Monday was the first day of my Irish language class. It was a little bit hard to understand since I registered late since they switched me from class to class because of different openings and schedules. Irish at first really does sound like gibberish. The sentence structure is all whacked out. Like they put the verb before the nouns and adjectives. And the alphabet? It's like Hawaiian, but rougher and with a lot more consonants instead of more vowels. I'm just learning, so maybe that's why it seems odd to me, or maybe just because it is a completely crazy language. Nevertheless, I find it very enjoyable and have already picked up on some of the Irish language that is displayed around Galway.

When I went to basketball training on Tuesday though, it was somewhat of a waste. Like I said last week, the coach told me that if I had been here for a year, I would have been on the "A" Varsity team, but alas, I am not and therefore not really a concern for him. So I think I'll just do the Galway league...though I hope they still give out cool gear. I mean let's face it, why go through the trouble of playing sports if you don't get cool gear?! That's always a big factor in my decision-making: will I get a sweet t-shirt or sweatshirt out of this? I'm always looking to add to my t-shirt collection. I've been eyeing a few gems out and about around Galway, and I'm definitely getting a jersey of some kind before I depart.

Bryeanna and my good friend Mary Colleary, the original Galway Girl (as far as we're concerned), has graced our presence for 10 days! We're thrilled to have her hang with us, because she's practically a local. We've joked with her that since she had an Irish boyfriend, that she had the other side of the Galway experience, whereas we've done more touristy things. Regardless, it has been fun catching up with her and hearing about her adventures when she studied abroad here two years ago. We look forward to more castle hunting and adventuring this next week.

I'm sorry but I'm a little scatter-brained at the moment...I am writing this while booking my trains for traveling around France. I plan to add a little extra special post tomorrow about sports in and out of Ireland. Also, check out The Collegian and thecollegianur.com for a column by me about Oktoberfest, hopefully to be out in the next issue!

That's all for now! Stay tuned for my Collegian pieces and my sports update tomorrow! Hopefully I'll also have learned more Irish so I can start incorporating that into my blogging, though y'all will just think I've gone completely mental over here. Not crazy, just crazy in love with Ireland.

Slán go fóill!

(Bye for now, in English)

I Wish My Eyes Were Cameras (Week 5: Sept. 28 - Oct. 4)

Good evening (well technically it is nighttime over here, at a whopping 10:52 p.m.) everyone! I am dreadfully sorry for being so tardy on this update, but for good reason! I had my first, yes, you heard right, FIRST assignment due yesterday so I was working diligently on that....psyche. But I still had to turn it in, so that deterred me from my weekly update. Plus, I had to fill out some forms and stuff for Richmond, so that took a while as well. I don't know about y'all, but I think this Irish time is throwing me off like whoa. I'll try to get back on some semblance of a schedule next week, but here we go again:

Sept. 28

Kind of a waste of a day, not going to lie. It was a lazy day by Irish standards, so by American standards, it was probably nonexistent. I just spent the day being lazy and recovering from the immense lack of sleep (not to mention that little festival in Germany, OKTOBERFEST). And during that pathetic little festival, I somehow lost my mobile (cell phone for Amurricans, see I'm picking up the slang already), so I reluctantly had to purchase a new one. Luckily though, I could keep my same number and the credit transferred over too, so it wasn't nearly as big of an ordeal as I expected. I did manage to make it to my weekly psychology class, which proved to be entertaining and informative as we had guest speakers in our "Human Sexuality" class. It was....interesting....to say the least. Then I came back and updated blog, like it says on the previous post, ha.

Sept. 29

I mistakenly thought I had an early class today....FAIL. Turns out that it's next week that it starts up. Grr. Then....D-Day. My computer started acting funny, and not in a fun way. My poor, precious MacBook Pro was dying because the hard drive was full? How could that be?! Must be all of those pictures I seem to take...

I came home from classes and got ready for basketball training. It's been really fun and I enjoy getting a different form of exercise every once in a while. Unfortunately, the coach said that since I'm only here for one semester, I can't be on the "A" Squad. Boooooooooo. And not to sound cocky or anything, but like I've mentioned before, these Irish girls play like they are Legos or something--very stiff and rigid, not like the fluidity of American ballas. So I decided I'll give the varsities another shot next week (ha. a pun. so clever), and then decide if I still want to play ball over here.

When I got back, I got persuaded to go out to the Cellar bar, sister bar to the Cellar on the Richmond campus (HA. KIDDING), for 5 Euro pitchers with the Fairfield kids. How could you not pass up that golden opportunity, especially when just a pint of Bulmer's Irish Cider (which is quite possibly the most delicious drink I've had over here), is close to 5 Euros?! It turned out to be a nice, fun and relaxing night to take a baby step back into the party zone after that German festival, OKTOBERFEST.

Sept. 30

Got up for class and went to "Gender, Work and Family in Ireland, 1815 - 1922" and then went and bought stamps for some of the postcards I stole/pilfered from OKTOBERFEST. Who knows? MAYBE YOU COULD BE A LUCKY WINNER! CHECK YOUR MAILBOXES FOLKS! But seriously, don't fret if you haven't received a postcard yet...they are expensive! And postage is not cheap either. So, SETTLE DOWN.

After that adventure, I returned home and reluctantly decided that I had to take Ol Reliable to the GalMac Apple retail store. Fortunately, it was close to my apartment, in about the same area as the Garda Immigration station. UNFORTUNATELY, it is cost me 400 Euros! That's like enough 5 Euro pitchers to last me the rest of my time here in Galway! Frustrating Irish Moment of the Day! Ugh, oh well, it was probably worth it in the long run, plus it was about time to upgrade to Snow Leopard (purr, purr) and get a HUUUUUGE external hard drive.

That night, we went over to Gort na Coiribe and hung out with some Irish kids. Then we went to Hole in the Wall, our fave, and tried out Club Cuba. Nice mixture of a pub/club night.

Oct. 1

Rabbit, rabbit! To start October off right, the Irish way, I had my yummy brunch of potato waffles with cheese (mmmmmm cheesy goodness), eggs and peppers. I feel like all I do is eat huge meals over here to eat all of the (expen$ive) groceries since everything has such a short shelf-life.

Then, a beacon of light on a cloudy day: a call from GalMac! Was my computer really fixed in this lightning speed? Nope. Turns out they thought it would be ready, but it wasn't. Waaaaaaah. I realized that it is much more frustrating to know that you can't have your computer when you are bored and know that you should have it back rather than not being able to have one (ie, when you're traveling, it's Not a Big Deal to not have computer access. But when you're in your apartment and the only thing on TV is "Brooke Knows Best" and "MTV Teen Cribs", you want that computer real bad).

Went to my first "tutorial" for one of my history classes today. It was pretty painless, and it made the class more interesting since it was a smaller environment, more similar to what I'm used to at school. It also seemed to be helpful for the midterm...my only real work for any class except for the final. After this semester, I definitely know I would not have liked going to a big state school with 200+ people lectures...I would never go! After that, I worked out and came home to get ready and go out. Turns out the Cellar bar here is much, MUCH better than the one in Richmond, ha ha. 5 Euro cocktails tonight! We met some Holy Cross girls there, and found out that they are here for the entire year! As much as I am loving being abroad right now, it would be so strange to be removed from your home for a whole year. I want to see everyone and go back to campus (notice how I didn't say go back to "school"...I wouldn't mind not having to go to class upon my return. Like THAT will ever happen), but I also want to stay here and travel and experience Ireland. After the Cellar, we went to the Front Door/Sonny's...apparently it has two different names depending on which entrance you use? Only in Ireland...

Oct. 2

I love Fridays. Not only because is it the end of the week, but also because I don't have class! Not that I really go to class all that much anyway, but it just frees up your day so much more. I went over to Ward's Corner Store for lunch with a Fairfield friend, then I got a call from GalMac...MY COMPUTER WAS READY TO BE PICKED UP! O GLORIOUS DAY! After lunch, I trekked over to the store and picked up my precious (not said in a Gollum/Smeagle accent) lil baby computer and immediately began fiddling with it, checking out the new features. Seems nerdy, right? Well, perhaps it is, but it's just soooo nice and beautiful! Never fear, I still have the "No Hovering" sticker and some Keystone stickers. It's a brand new car on the inside with the same paint job on the outside.

Since our apartment was so empty because people were out of town (and partly because we were feeling lazy/wanting alone time), Bryeanna and I decided not to go out in preparation for an early morning traveling with the Fairfield kids to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher.

Oct. 3

Woke up early to book it over to the Fairfield kids apartments since we were tagging along with their program. They live all the way on the other side of campus by the canal, so it was quite the hike. And of course, right as we're about to embark on an adventure, it starts to be misty and windy. Great. Aran Islands trip, part deux. FAIL. Luckily though, once we started traveling southwest, it was clearing up. Woot woot. The Fairfield kids are lucky: they have all of these trips paid for through their program, plus they have a precious older Irish lady, Anne, who is their guide/go-to gal. She was so sweet to Bryeanna, Kelly (from Wisconsin- Madison) and I for tagging along.

We passed a lot of ruins of castles, though some castles are still used for themed dinners, teas, etc. We made our way through the Burren, a limestone-landscape region south of Galway, in County Clare. It was very hilly and rocky, but still gorgeous scenery. Our first stop was the Aillwee Cave, one of Ireland's most famous caves in the Burren. It was really fascinating to go inside of the cave, especially because ancient European Brown Bear fossil bones have been excavated inside of the cave. The European Brown Bear, extinct for many years now, was possibly larger than grizzly bears. Not your cuddly teddy bear. There were a lot of interesting rock formations, like stalagmites, stalactites, etc. One of the highlights was the "Frozen Waterfall", a series of stalagmites and stalactites connected from growing together, looking like a frozen waterfall. Then, there was a real waterfall! That was really cool as well, seeing an underground river/waterfall, since the cave was at one time a much larger underground river, with fossils of sea creatures imprinted on the ceiling of the cave. Another cool part about the cave trip was when the guide turned off the lights. You really couldn't seen anything, not even your own hand in front of you.

After the cave trip, we made our way over to the Cliffs of Moher, seeing more beautiful countryside, ancient ruins and dolmens, ancient stone tombs from the Neolithic period. One of the most famous, the Poulnabrone dolmen, was built before the Egyptian pyramids! Clearly that just shows how the Irish have been leading the way in heavy-stone lifting architecture since the dawn of time...

Then we finally reached the Cliffs of Moher! But we were starving (it was nearly 2 p.m. and no snacks!), so we hit up the cafe first to nourish our cold, wind-blown bodies. Little did we know about how much more windy and blustery it could get out on the cliffs! We made our way over to the edge of County Clare, Ireland. It was absolutely breathtaking. I find it hard articulating and describing the beauty of the cliffs. So much green land falls away to limestone rock which gets swallowed in the sea, the sea being the Atlantic Ocean. Here are a few pictures, though I still think that if my eyes were cameras, then and only then would they do this description justice. As one can see, it is gorgeous. And very windy, clearly by my windswept gingery locks and disheveled appearance. No matter, this was definitely one of the best trips I have ever and probably will ever take. We spent quite a lot of time at the cliffs, exploring the right side (which was more touristy and more safe with big guard rails) which had O'Brien's Tower on that side. It cost 2 Euro to go up to the top, so we decided it was too windy to pay that price. Then we went over to the left side. On the left side of the cliffs, there is a sign saying the typical: "DO NOT GO PAST THIS SIGN"....we went past it. It was so cool to walk along such an ancient path, weather beaten and worn from many rebels taking the road less traveled.

After spending about two hours there, it was time to come back home to Galway. We rested up for a little bit then headed back over to the Fairfield kids apartments to pregame before we went out. And did we go out. We definitely "stamped it up", where the club and pub promoters walk around Eyre Square and Shop Street stamping people and stickering them for free drinks, free admission, etc. I think we hit up every free promotion...and why not? We're poor American college students, we need all the help we can get.

Oct. 4

To add to a full weekend of Irish culture and travels, I went to the Ballinasloe Horse Fair Sunday with a few other Richmond girls. The Ballinasloe Horse Fair is the oldest horse fair in Europe, and it was really interesting to go to one. There were horses....EVERYWHERE. People were riding them on the street alongside cars, and of course, there was poop everywhere. Ew. What was worse though, was what some of the local girls were wearing (or rather, what they weren't wearing). They were very scantily clad, looking like they were ready for their next shift at Paper Moon or some other "exotic dancing" club, or maybe they were trying out for Pretty Woman, working the streets. I don't think either of these were the case, but it didn't make much sense to wear super high-heeled stilettos, booty shorts, and tube tops to a HORSE fair.

From a high vantage point in Ballinasloe, we were able to see the entire green space which was COVERED by horses and their owners, trying to sell them. It was a horsey girl's dream come true. Every kind of horse in all shapes, sizes, colors, etc. was there to be sold. I think I saw the entire cast of Black Beauty: Merry Legs, Ginger and of course, Black Beauty. This whole day reminded me of the horse fairs depicted in Black Beauty, and I was immediately transported back into a little 10-year-old girl, wanting THAT pony and THIS pony...ah wishful thinking.

I'm really glad I braved the crowded, smelly streets of Ballinasloe for the Horse Fair (hey, it was listed as one of the festivals to go to in my Irish tour guide book). And no one got kicked/trampled by a horse (though we did see several stallions rear up and try to escape/kick someone). SUCCESS!

So here ends another eventful week in Ireland, full of adventures. I shall try to get back on my "schedule" of blogging on Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY(said in a crescendoing, booming, resounding way, similar to a sports announcer or a furniture salesman from Haynes saying that "This is the biggest sale of all time and it only happens once" type of thing). Hope all is well, wherever in the world you may be!