departing dublin depression

((don't let my cutesy alliteration fool you. ))


Happier days (in Derry)

I'll write a reflective blog when I'm home. This one is just to make note of the fact that today is my last day here. DEPRESSING. It's only noon and I have wanted to cry since about 10 this morning (I was busy sleeping before that) and it shows no sign of letting up. It's going to be such a hard day no matter how fun our last night in Dublin is. I absolutely despise goodbyes and after today I will have had to do at least 20 of them (I already went and said goodbye to Don so one down...woop. woop.).

I am in the process of trying to write an essay reflecting on my time here (for my CIEE class) but I can't even focus on that cos it makes me too depressed.

wa wa waaaaaaaa.....

ps/ yes, I would like some cheese with my whine.

sláinte....(depression even seeps from my punctuation. that's how bad it is)

My final trip from the city

The group: Connor, Me, Pat, Katie, Nora, Rob

We made it to the top!

About half way up

Before starting the real hike (you can see this lake in the picture from the top)

Thursday night, we had a Christmas party for our CIEE group (and friends). Everyone dressed in red and green and we decorated cookies, ate candy and everyone brought a gift for our 'yankee swap.' We listened to Christmas music and eventually turned the gathering in to a nice dance party. Later in the evening, some friends came all dressed in Santa suits and really added to the Christmas cheer! It was such a fun night and really reinforced how much I will miss everyone here when I leave.

Friday, my friend Katie and I met for lunch and she mentioned that a group of people were going to go hiking through the wicklow mountains the following day. I was so down. We met at 5 and took a bus an hour and a half outside Dublin to the town of Glendalough. We didn't know where we were going to stay but figured we'd find a place and then wake up early saturday to hike. We got off when the bus driver told us it was the last stop and were let off in the middle of nowhere in pitch black. We looked around at each other and laughed, knowing that finding our way was bound to be an adventure. When we asked the driver which direction the city center was he smirked and asked us where we were staying. We told him we didn't know yet and after his response of 'jesus christ,' he told us there was a hostel a little ways down the road. At this point it was raining and as we set off to find somewhere to sleep, our need for a flash light or night vision became more and more apparent. No street lights anywhere.

We got to a hotel first and asked if they had any vacancies. nope. great, this could be a cold, wet night. Finally we found the hostel and were pleased to find there were vacancies. It was a really cute little place and the 6 of us all got a room together. Starving, we decided to head back to the pub to try and get something to eat. By this point it was about 8:00. No food. A guy in the pub told us that there was a restaurant a little ways up the road that would still be open. He estimated it was about a mile but it was the only option we had in the little town of glendalough consisting of one hotel, one pub, one hostel and one restaurant. Walking in the rain and dark for what seemed like forever we eventually got there. The place looked pretty fancy and here we were looking like soaked rats. oh well, it's Ireland, I'm sure they are used to it. The place was amazing. Katie, Nora and I got the best salad ever and the service was outstanding.

When we got there they immediately took our soaked jackets from us to hang up and when we told them we had come from the hostel they offered to give us a ride back when we were finished with our meal. We were completely amazed but by the way they offered we got the impression that they do this a lot. Something we have all noticed about Ireland is the fact that in restaurants and other places, customer service isn't very high on their priorities. Probably greatly due to the fact that you don't tip here, but it is kind of strange to have to wave down a waiter to ask for more water all the time. At this restaurant, however, we were helped the entire time and they kept coming to make sure everything was ok. To top it off as we were getting ready to ask for the bill they asked if we all wanted a shot of Baileys on the house. Yeah, the service was that good. Needless to say, we left them a hefty tip.

We finished our night at the pub playing music on the juke box, playing cards and just enjoying each other's company ("aww how cute," I know)

The next morning we got up early to have breakfast and be on our way. We totally lucked out with the weather (like i've told you, I seem to have been doing this my whole trip). The sun was out and there were only a few clouds in the sky. The perfect day for a hike. It took us about 3 and a half hours and was absolutely stunning! It was a good hike too, at first it was pretty flat but then we did quite a good climb to the top. From there you could see clear out past Dublin to the Ocean which was really cool. The views were all breath taking and I couldn't imagine a better way to bring my time in Ireland to a close.

A couple of weeks ago I was completely ready and excited to go home, but now as it gets closer, I am having a harder and harder time with leaving. Ireland has been incredible and the people I have met here have made it that much better. I can't imagine not being with them when I go home and I think that's what's going to be the worst part. I truly have had the time of my life over here!

Sláinte!

Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia

Inside La Sagrada Familia

Back side of La Sagrada Familia

View of City from Park Guell

more Gaudi at Park Guell

I have hit a writers block on my finals...if it's possible to do so before having written anything.

Last Friday about 10 other people from my group and I headed off to Barcelona for the weekend. I really didn't know anything about what I was going to do or see there except that Natasha and I would be splitting off to stay in a hostel with Melinda (my friend from home). Melinda has been over traveling around Europe by herself for the past two months so I was super excited to get to meet up!

Traveling in a group of 11 people--who, lets be honest, really have no idea what they're doing--turned out to be quite the ordeal. It took us forever to figure out how to buy the right ticket for the metro and in the mean time--while one of the security guys was trying to help us--I guess someone tried to get in to my bag. The man started telling someone to leave and then looked at me and told me to be careful and someone was trying to rob me, "can't you tell?" well no sir, actually I couldn't. I'm standing in a huge group trying to understand your directions at how to use this machine and plus I'm an American tourist, I thought our vulnerability was quite well known by now. Anyways, after that little ordeal I knew traveling in a large group was a bad idea, especially carrying bags and turning around in circles trying to figure out where to go and what to do.

Natasha and I got off the metro and headed down Las Ramblas--one of the main streets in barcelona--towards our hostel. As we were walking down the road, two guys started talking to me and pointing at my bag/jacket. I immediately thought someone had sliced my bag open or something like that but when I stopped to take a look I found this, fortunately, to be not the case. However, someone had sprayed some kind of yellow goop all over my backpack and jacket. Before you get all giddy thinking I got pooped on by some Spanish bird, let me add in there that the smell of honey mustard accompanied this goop making me feel a little better about my fate. Now, not only did I look like I didn't know what the hell I was doing but I looked like a chicken nugget. awesome. The guys handed me a napkin and I did my best to wipe myself clean of the condiment. sick. I still don't know how this happened and I was unsuccessful in finding the little punk who apparently was carrying a super soaker filled with mustard.

It took us about two hours to get from the airport to our hostel (the bus to the metro station in the city took an hour alone) so needless to say we were way late for meeting Melinda and I just kept hoping that they had let her check in even though the reservations were under my name(which they did). Our hostel was called Kabul Hostel and I totally recommend it if you find yourself in Barcelona. It was right off of Las ramblas in this cute little square with plenty of things going on at all time. The place was the most stereotypical hostel I could imagine. Perhaps a little overwhelming if you had to stay there forever, but I was looking for that experience since the other times I have been more secluded. There was a bar in the lobby where people were always in there drinking and listening to music. Continental breakfast was served every morning, along with free dinner (which was first come first serve) and to top it off, from 6:30-7:30 pm there was a happy hour that served 2 liter beers for only 3 euros! It only cost us 19 euro a night and with all that included, it was the best deal I have found yet.

Considering we didn't get there until about 12:30 and spent the first half hour or so just catching up, we weren't sure if we were up for a big night. Instead we went to the hostel bar for a pint then hit the streets just to wander around. Spanish culture is a very late one where places stay open very late and clubs don't even open until around 2:30 am so we potentially had the whole night still ahead of us. We were tired though and decided after some falafel (if you go to continental Europe--they don't have them in Ireland--go to MAOZ and be prepared for the most amazing falafel) and unsuccessful free entry to a club we would just go back and go out the next night.

The first night we were there all of the beds in our room were full but by our last day it was just Melinda, Natasha and I and 2 Spanish girls, a guy from London (but spent most of his time in France) and a creepy Italian. One of the coolest things about being in a hostel is getting to meet the different people staying there and we talked with the French/British guy and Spanish girls a lot. A lot of the talking was of course about our creepy Italian roommate. The fact that he didn't speak any English (or really Spanish) left room for a lot of miscommunication but let me assure you, that was the least creepy part about him. The first night we were there he kept peering over his bed (he was on the top bunk and Natasha was on the bottom) and looking at Natasha. Finally, after about the third time she looked at him and asked him to stop doing that...to which he replied "you stop." He tried to communicate to her the fact that she was moving around which was funny because clearly, he had been the one all night moving around and making a lot of noise. His locker was right next to my head (I was on another top bunk) and so in the morning he was going through his stuff and when I opened my eyes he was looking at me so I just uncomfortably turned over. Nobody wanted to be in the room alone with him and It actually became the joke of our room.

<>

During the day we walked around and saw some of the most amazing Architecture ever! I wasn't really familiar with the artist Gaudi before, but his work is all over the city and is truly beautiful. His architecture combines nature and almost fluid shapes together. It is really unique and quite easy to distinguish. We went and saw, probably Barcelona's most famous building, La Sagrada Familia. It is a huge cathedral designed by Gaudi that started being built in 1882 and is still pretty far from being finished. The building is incredible and the detail takes your breath away. I hope, so bad, to see it finished in my life time!

Outside la sagrada familia there were little holiday booths set up and christmas music being played. One of the booths were selling churros, which were almost as amazing as the church...calm down, I said almost.

Las ramblas is lined with street performers and so we spent some time just watching all of them. These aren't people juggling and swallowing swords, no...this is a whole street lined with those people who get dressed up and act like statues. weird. way weirder than you can imagine. some of them are seriously pathetic, others are actually really cool. One guy has accumulated a little fame even. He is dressed up as Edward Scissor Hands and then will occasionally move like him when someone gives him money. He looks exactly like Johnny Depp though, so much so that we were convinced it was actually Johnny himself just getting a little extra cash. These people stand here day in day out and some how find a way to earn a living. I can't imagine how much money that means people give them. I also can't imagine finding any dignity in painting my face gold and standing still for 8 hours a day but that's just me being critical and picky.

Along Las Ramblas there is this huge outdoor market called La Boqueria. There was any kind of fresh food you could imagine as well as meats galore. It was packed full and really cool to walk through.

Saturday night we were convinced to do a pub crawl. I have decided that not only are they good ways to meet people but they are a cheap way to go out at night! It cost us 10 euro and with that we got an hour with unlimited sangria and beer, a free shot at the four bars we went to and free club admission at the end of the night. Walking around from pub to pub was also a cool way to see parts of the city we would otherwise miss. This crawl, while a better deal than the one in Paris, had waaaayyy fewer people on it. When we got to the first place--for our "power hour"--there were only a couple other people there. Two guys were from Atlanta and worked for Delta and were just in Barcelona for about 24 hours. I think everyone else was from America too, but we didn't talk to them much.


Sunday we did more exploring and went to the Picasso Museum. It was sooooo cool to see so much of his work and the progression of his style. I really hadn't seen a lot of his earlier work and it was cool to see stuff outside of his classic "picasso" style. That evening we decided to just stay in our hostel. It was really nice and relaxing and I laid and listened to music while Melinda painted and Natasha drew. Some of the people in our room came in to hang out with us for the night and we just sat around talking.

Monday was our last day there and we went to Park Guell to see more of Gaudi's work. Amazing again. The park was really cool and had gorgeous views of the city. It was a really good way to end our trip.

Barcelona was very different from Paris. But I have noticed that all of the places that I have been during my time here have been very different. Barcelona has a much more funky and bohemian feel to it and I could really see myself actually living there. Paris is filled with all of these huge sites to see which is incredible but Barcelona was more of a realistic place to live. I'm sure spending your evenings lounging on the grass beneath the Eiffel tower drinking wine and eating a baguette would get ridiculous and tiring after a while. There was a really nice feeling to the city and everyone just seemed down to earth and down to have a good time. Considering I have only taken a couple months worth of Spanish (in the sixth grade) I didn't think i knew anything about the language apart from little words and phrases you pick up around here and there--being in a Spanish speaking country for 3 days made me realize that I seriously don't know any Spanish. Luckily Melinda and Natasha were able to get us by. I was able to just stand there with a confused look on my face and laugh whenever people tried to talk to me until one of them were able to come rescue me. Some day I'll learn Spanish and come back. And go to central and south America. Oh great, I think that was some foreshadowing for a future blog.

I only have 4 more days in Dublin. AHHHH. There is still so much I want to see and do and am not going to be able to. I have 4 essays I wanted to finish (only one that is actually due before I come home) but am leaving Thursday and Friday purely for Dublin. The city I have called home for the past 3 months deserves at least two solid days uninterrupted by school. Looks like I will have homework to do when I get home but I will survive. I have weeks left for homework but only days left for Dublin.

Sláinte

mom's visit and Paris

just another day

Le Tour Eiffel

Arc De Triomphe

Mom's thanksgiving

Cliffs of Moher

sorry it's been so long since my last post. I would say I have been busy but the truth is...I'm lazy.

dang, it's been longer than I thought actually...3 weeks ago now, Mom came to visit. She got here in the morning and later that afternoon we hopped on a train to Galway (in western Ireland). I had been over to that area before but hadn't actually spent time in the town of Galway so it was really nice to see and experience. The town has a completely different feel to it than Dublin. It almost feels like a college town (there's a university there so that description is not too far off) which I really enjoyed. People there seemed more laid back and there weren't a bunch of crazy Dublin kids running around (I can't remember if I've gone in to detail about these obnoxious kids but if not, I'm sure I'll tell more when i get home). Another friend of mine, Katie, from my program was there with her parents so Mom and I met them after dinner at this cute pub for some live music and pints.

The next day we just hung around town and did some exploring and the following day we headed out for a tour of county Galway and out to the Cliffs of Moher. The weather was crap (well, actually, it could have been worse--it wasn't really rainy it was just windy, cloudy, and 'misty') which kind of sucked. Considering what I had been expecting of Ireland, the weather has actually been pretty amazing. I was telling Mom that there has only been really one day (other than that weekend) where it hadn't been blue skies on a day of sight seeing since I've been here. The tour was really nice and it was good to see more of the country. It is truly beautiful--even in bad weather. The cliffs of Moher were cool to see but personally--god, I'm becoming so pretentious--I found them to be a little over rated. Before people start protesting--blah blah blah ya they are pretty and huge and cool and whatever--I would just like to point you to the pictures of the other cliffs that I saw in County Mayo (my first CIEE excursion). Go ahead and blame it on the weather but If you ask me, even in pictures where the weather is nice they still aren't as pretty as the ones in Mayo. Another reason I may have been a little unimpressed was the fact that the whole 'park' it had been turned in to seemed so commercialized and over done. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was thankful for the paths--even though at times it was so windy Mom and I could literally not walk--but there was something cooler about getting to peek over amazing cliffs without a caution sign posted right in front of you. While all of this bitching about one of the world's wonders may have put you off a little, I would still recommend you going and seeing them if you ever find yourself in the west of Ireland. I mean, it's kind of like the Mona Lisa when you're in Paris right (but that's getting ahead of myself)? It's not Ireland unless you see the cliffs of Moher.


We took the train back on Sunday and the rest of the week we hung around Dublin. Showed Mom all the hot spots, drank lots of Guinness and tried to get as much in in the few days we had (while still going to SOME of my classes). One of the nights Mom treated a few of my friends and I to a lovely thanksgiving dinner. She went all out (as any of you who know her could already guess) and brought some of the stuff from home and the rest we scrounged up at a couple different grocery stores around town. It was a lot of fun and the food tasted really great (don't get too excited mom, I only get to say 'really great' cos I helped make it). The next morning she left at the crack of dawn and it was back to real Dublin life where I had to pay for things on my own, (and was no longer graced with my mother's lovely presence and 'puh-puhing' every day).

Later that same afternoon, my friend Natasha and I headed for Pair-ee. The airport that Ryanair flies to takes an hour--by shuttle--to get in to the city so we didn't get to our hotel until about midnight. When booking reservations for the hotel I had misread the flight itinerary and had thought we wouldn't get in until Friday night but actually it was Thursday night. After some in depth--or so I thought--back and fourth confirmation emails with the hotel I had thought that I had added Thursday night on to the reservation. The look on the manager's face when we arrived and said our names proved this to be wrong though. He said that he had been waiting for a final confirmation from me or something like that (although all this time I had thought that's what I had been doing in the 4 emails I sent telling him to add Thursday night on). Never fear though, he said he had a place for us to sleep for the night. There would be no bathroom in the room (but there was one in the lobby we could use--5 flights down) and in the morning he would give us a room to shower in, but hey, it was a place to sleep. I seriously had to cough when I saw the room just to keep from laughing. Have you ever seen 'The Little Princess?' I kept joking to Natasha that we were put in the slave den like the little black girl in that movie. I could just about reach my arms from one side to the other (ME, with midget arms!) and there was a single bed in there and a sink. The man who showed me the room (Natasha was still downstairs using the computer) was like 'there is only one bed' to which I had to try my hardest not to reply 'no shit.' 'Is your friend not going to sleep in here?' I paused, still trying not to laugh, 'umm....maybe one of us will sleep on the ground? can we get some blankets and a pillow or something?' with that he said he would ask the manager and a couple minutes later he brought up a blanket, sheets and pillow. I still thought we were going to have to sleep on the floor until a knock later and the guy had a single mattress to try and squeeze next to the bed. That was seriously all there was room for, 2 single mattresses. No window, but above my bed there was a nice Parisian piece of art. I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it and think that it was a perfect way to start our trip (no joke). When we came back the next evening (after exploring all day) we were given our new normal sized room with a fully equipped bathroom and windows and a tv. But you know, there was something fun about the slaves den...it made us feel like we had actually moved to Paris and this was all we could afford. And besides, I always did like the little black girl the best in 'The little Princess,' she was way more tough and you could tell she could hang...a night in the slaves den made me think maybe I too could hang.

Paris. What to say about Paris. Love. Magic. Obsessed. Beautiful. Freezing. Our first night out we saw the most beautiful sun set. The Eiffel Tower set against a pink and purple sun set...sickening, I know. I was almost a little disgusted with myself. It was all so perfect. It was cold. Very cold. But oh so perfect. The Louvre does free admission for anyone under the age of 26 Friday nights from 6-10 so we hit that up and walked around for a few hours looking at art and being cultured and artsy (fake) Parisians for the night. Even though I had been to these places before It was a much different experience. Probably because I am older now and also because we saw most of it at night (which was not the case when I came in high school), but everything seemed so different.

Our hotel was located on the edge of the Montmartre district and so one of the days we explored that area and walked up to the Sacre Coeur. The area is all very artsy, full of adorable little shops and cafes. I think it's actually my favorite part of Paris. When we were near the Sacre Coeur (this huge church that is on the highest hill over looking the city) there was a block filled with artists. Natasha got her portrait drawn and then we headed up the hill. Towards the top--it's almost sickening how close we were!--a man came up to me and started drawing my picture, insisting it was a sample, even when i said 'no, no.' For some reason I didn't just walk away (for some reason I didn't grab that clip board, hit him over the head and tell him to screw off). And as he scribbled away at my picture making small talk I kept thinking, I hope he doesn't expect me to pay him for this. Natasha, while waiting for me, was then approached by another clipboard 'artist' who proceeded to do the same. After they were finished he hands me the picture--Jesus, I can't wait for you to see it--which looks, well....absolutely nothing like me, and tells me that usually the student price is 50 euro. I'll spare you from the list of curse words that went through my mind, but I flashed him a look that basically said, 'you have got to be kidding me.' The amazing picture Natasha had just gotten drawn for her (before we were portrait raped) had only cost her 40 euro and that was a nice piece of art that someone spent time on. I argued with the guy, telling him he had just come up to me and started drawing and that I wasn't going to pay for that and I got it down to 25 euro. Still WAY too much and I was pissed when I walked away. I think I just settled for 25 because I was sick of looking at his face and was to angry to deal with him. Natasha and I tried to justify it as our gift to charity for the day. You know it's like volunteering at the soup kitchen for the day or 'adopting' a child in Africa....but instead we gave our money to scam artists. Did I say scam? I meant starving. ((Travel tip: next time you go to Paris bring a clip board and pen and start drawing people's pictures and charge them 50 euro. Drawing ability not required.))

We went to the top of the Eiffel tower one evening. I thought I was going to die of hypothermia and we ended up running around the top taking pictures of every angle and then standing inside looking out at the view, teeth a-chattering and dreaming of being in a cafe with a warm cup of coffee. The view is absolutely amazing though and it is the Eiffel tower, so warmth is a small sacrifice.

That evening we decided to go on a pub crawl. Some others from our CIEE group had gone on one when they were in Rome and had the time of their lives so we decided to check it out. It was a lot of fun and a great way to meet people. Of course, none of the people were French but we met people from Australia, Finland, Canada and I forget where else (hey now...not because of the booze but because of my memory). We went to like 4 different pubs, 2 French bars, a Scottish bar and an Irish pub (it's impossible to get away from them...which isn't a bad thing) where there were drink specials at each. I tried absynthe for the first time making me feel like a true Paris bohemian, although I didn't see the green ferries or get driven in to madness like all the great absynthe users of the past. oh well. It was super intense and if there was a candle near me I'm sure I could have lit the place on fire with one breath. At the end of the night we went to some club. We stayed there until about 2:30 and then decided to head back to the hotel. The metro was all shut for the night so we had to walk. luckily I had my map with me and enough French speaking ability to ask a police officer if we were headed in the right direction (although my understanding in French was limited to the word 'church' and the hand motion for 'go around').

The last day we were there the weather was awful. I'm talking hard core rain--worse than Ireland for sure. It was the first time I have had to use my umbrella actually. I really wanted to go to Père Lachaise cemetery--which is where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde (and tons of other people) are buried--since I didn't get to go there the last time I was in Paris so we popped the tags off our umbrellas and headed out. The Cemetery was HUGE. The biggest I have ever seen. Someone could definitely get lost and not find there way out for days. All of the plots were stacked in there so tight and most of them were more of a tomb style. Many were there representing families and there were little alters inside out house type structures (although that sounds way less pretty and cool than they were. and is also probably demeaning to the dead or something). We couldn't find Oscar Wilde or Jim Morrison's grave right away and ended up having to take pictures of the map (cos there were only maps at the entrances) to try and help us find our way around. Oscar Wilde's is covered with lip stick kisses. As tradition calls, Natasha and I both slathered our lips in gloss and planted a big one on the grave. Jim Morrison's grave was a lot smaller and less conspicuous than I had imagined--the cement head that used to be on it was stolen years back. It was blocked off so you couldn't get right up to it but it was cool because people had put a whole bunch of flowers there around it as well as beer cans and bottles of whiskey. We left the cemetery sufficiently soaked and glad to be out by dark (it really was kind of creepy to be there around sun set and not a place we wanted to be stuck in after closing).


So, Paris. What to say about Paris. A weekend really wasn't long enough but I was sooooo glad to have been able to go again. The strangest part for me I think was that when I left 4 years ago I knew I wanted and was going to come back someday but I didn't know when that day would be. It was strange for it to be 'that day' and it came a lot sooner than I had realistically thought. I already want to go back. I love it there. The people are great (aside from mr. portrait raper). The food is great. The sights are great. The life is great.

I hope you guys all had a good thanksgiving. My first time away from home and I think I beat you all by getting 3 dinners! Mom made one when she was here and then on Wednesday my program directors took us to this nice restaurant for a 3 course meal + wine. Thursday (actual thanksgiving) my friend Kevin and his girlfriend who was visiting, made dinner for his roommates and Natasha and I went over there to partake. The food was all great and the company was the best I could imagine away from home.


I'm home in less than three weeks now. Ah! No matter how many times I say it, it doesn't get less strange. The time has absolutely flown by. I have been living the past 2+ months like I'm on vacation and now the time has come for me to actually do some work. I have like 5 essays to try and get the motivation to write in the next 2 weeks. I guess the good news is you guys will probably be seeing more new blogs (procrastination, baby). I'm excited to see all of you but it's going to be so strange to try and get back in to the real world. After all, there are no weekend trips to Paris when you're in the real world.

Sláinte!