Hello! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write an update! We've been really busy these last few days, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to sit and write everything down. School starts today, but I don't have class on Mondays, so I have the house to myself this morning. Let me just say, I love it here! I haven't even been here a week and I've already seen so much! I'll try to remember as much as I can and give you a recap.
The flight went well, though I have to say, the jet lag really got to me. We're only five hours ahead here, but it took me so long to adjust to that! I think yesterday was really the first normal day in that regard. We got a taxi from the airport to our house. The taxi driver was really friendly and showed us a lot of places along the way to kind of help us get our bearings. I sort of forgot how they drive on the wrong side of the road. So weird. We're still getting used to looking to the right when we cross a street. Anyway, we got to the house. That's when the culture shock they're always talking about first set in. For some reason, I kind of assumed that since everyone here speaks English and Europe is pretty advanced, there wouldn't be a whole lot to adjust to. I was very wrong. I mentioned before I left that the area we were living in was supposed to be pretty nice, so we were all expecting a pretty modern place to live. Not so much. The area is very nice, but our house is quite old and hasn't been updated since who knows when. The original email said that it was recently redone. Apparently "redone" only means a new coat of paint. The appliances seem ancient, I've never seen carpet like this in my life, there are still skeleton keys for all of the doors, and we have a water heater we have to turn on thirty minutes before we want to shower or all we will get is freezing water. This also means that the water in the house is cold all the time unless the heater is on. The house is heated by radiators and those only come on twice a day, so we have to wear lots of layers usually to stay warm. The only thing cool about the house was the backyard which is small but has roses and apple trees. Very pretty. In fact, all the yards, front and back, in this area are gorgeous. Anyway, we were all a little shocked at our first impression, to say the least, and were all thinking "I just want to go home." Instead, we got our stuff into our rooms and decided to go grocery shopping. This was another major adjustment. At home, I'm used to my Walmart that I'm familiar with. I know where everything is, what everything is, and have a routine that I follow. There is nothing even resembling Walmart here. Instead of have a couple of large super-stores around the city, they have lot of smaller market-type places everywhere. We use a place called Tesco which is right around the corner from our house. We were already exhausted and a little frustrated, so the grocery store just made us that much more disoriented. We didn't know where anything was and we constantly had to convert the euros to dollars, trying to figure out how much we were spending. It's expensive! Apparently, Dublin is the like the third most expensive place in the world to live or something like that. I believe it. After grocery shopping, we walked around our end of the city looking for cell phone stores and whatever else we could fine. We walked into a home store that reminded us of a department store in America. I know it sounds so ridiculous, but we loved just being in a place that seemed familiar for once! Before going shopping, we decided that we needed to give our new house a little makeover, so at this home store, my roommate and I got some new sheets, matching duvet covers, and some candles for our room. In fact, we got candles for the rest of the house too to try to get rid of that musty "old" smell. All of that helped a lot. Needless to say, the first couple of days were a little difficult. Adjusting to the house, unfamiliar EVERYTHING, and just general differences in the way of life here was a challenge. Luckily, we all felt the same way together. The study abroad office always told us to have a sense of humor going into a trip like this. I now see why. Though it was hard at first, it hasn't taken long at all to get used to everything. We actually really like our house now. It helped to get our stuff moved in and make it "ours." After we got used to the little quirks here and there, it wasn't bad at all. The location couldn't be more perfect, it's fairly big, and we've all decided that this living situation is a much better representation of how the people here really live. What Americans consider "nice" and what people here consider "nice" is just very different and something we weren't used to. So, my roommates and I have all decided that this was much better than being put up in a ritzy, modern apartment. We like it a lot. :)
We spent the second day at the school figuring out our schedules and what classes we're going to be taking. This is, by far, the best schedule I've ever had. Like I said, no Monday classes for me! That means extended vacation times on the weekends. :) I haven't gone to any classes yet, obviously, but I don't think they're going to be that bad. From the impression I've gotten, their course work is much more relaxed than it is at Purdue. That was one thing I was really worried about. Anyone in Dietetics knows how strenuous the classes are at Purdue and how much time outside of class they require. Their classes are longer here and the normal students are in class from 9-5 every day, so I'm pretty sure they do a lot of their work in class and not so much on their own. I'm not taking all of the classes here, so my day won't be nearly that full. It's a pretty nice arrangement for me. Also, on Fridays I think I'll be done by noon, which was also be very nice. I'll be able to take off early for weekend trips instead of having to wait until Saturday. The school is about a thirty minute walk from our house, but it's a nice area to walk through, so I don't mind it. It's been nice to have these last few days to do whatever we want, but I'm very ready to start classes tomorrow. It'll be nice to get into a routine finally.
We've seen some things around Dublin, but we took our first day-trip this weekend. My roommate, Kayleen's, boyfriend is here on a study abroad trip too, so the four of us and he and his roommates all took a trip to Howth, which is a coastal town just east of Dublin. We took the DART which is pretty much their version of the metro; only about a thirty minute ride. If you know me well, you know I LOVE the coast, so I really enjoyed this. It was incredible. Blue skies (very rare here), gorgeous water, seagulls, and sail boats everywhere. We walked around the harbor for a while then had lunch in a little pub where everyone had fish and chips and watched some golf. Afterwards, we hiked up around the hills along the coastline. I've never seen anything like that before. It honestly looked just the pictures in magazines and on tv. I really wanted to see those cliffs that you always here about in Ireland and we definitely did! It was a long hike, probably over two hours. We were all pretty exhausted by the end, but everyone had a really good time.
Yesterday, the four of us girls went to Dundrum to go shopping. We took the Luas, which something like a smaller version of the DART. The Dundrum Shopping Center is massive! I think it was four stories high and had every imaginable kind of store and restaurant plus a really neat outside plaza that connected the mall to more restaurants and a movie theater. Very cool and so much fun. The city center in Dublin has a lot of shopping too, but it's all very expensive, so this is a much more practical option if you actually want to get something.
Dublin is, by far, the coolest city I've ever been to. It's a big city, but it's so different than Chicago or New York. It just feels different. People here are so friendly and always willing to help with directions or whatever. It just has a warm feeling to, I think. We see kids running around all the time, which is nice to see. It seems so much more safe here than at home, where you really don't see kids out by themselves very much. Oh, and there are dogs everywhere, too! I love that!! :) In fact, we have this really sweet golden lab that lives by us that always comes to say hi whenever we're outside. His name is Zac and I want to bring him home when I come. I don't know where he lives but he's always around. He follows us up the stairs to our house but never tries to come inside, although I'm sure he would if we let him.
I can't really think of anything else right now. I know this is really long! I just had so much to catch up on! I'm hoping to post a few pictures tonight when I get home. I'm going for a jog right now then I'm heading out for the afternoon. I need to stop by the school and then run some errands. It'll be the first time I've walked around by myself. Should be fun. :)
Here's my address in case you want to send me a letter.... :)
2 Garville Road 1st floor Apartment
Rathgar
Dublin 6
Ireland
out to be good sight-seeing days in that all four of us are done with classes by either noon or one. Two weeks ago, because no major trips were planned for the weekend, we decided to get several items crossed off of our "to do" list. First, we went to the Guinness Storehouse for the afternoon after classes that Friday. It definitely exceeded my expectations. I half expected just to walk through a factory of some sort, but it's actually set up more like a museum. The building itself is really neat, with a open-window rotunda called the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor that looks out over all of Dublin. What a view! We could even see the streets by our house, over three miles away!
We enjoyed seeing the castle, but I think several of us enjoyed the playground even more. Not far from the castle is the most magnificent playground I'v ever seen; a dream come true for any kid. I think we were having as much fun as the kids! Jeanine happened to meet an American family that just moved here the previous week. Ironically, they had just bought a house about half a mile from where we live and fortunately for us, they are in need of babysitters! They were pretty excited (as were we) that they had found four very eager girls wanting to make some extra cash! Jeanine and I are going to babysit this Saturday for a few hours! Yay for more spending money!
had gotten us tickets, so we were pretty excited. Apparently, DIT has one of the best music programs in country, and I could definitely tell! The president of Ireland had actually gone to the Friday night production! They did an amazing job. It was fun to dress up and feel cultured for an evening. :) The weather, however, was not on our side, and we had to walk the two miles home in the POURING rain in high heels. Sweat pants have never sounded so good to me before...
