Hello, it's me!

Hi all!

It has been over 2 weeks since I have posted last and that is for a variety of reasons, but now I so many rambles I want to share. As most of you may have guessed, by my lack of photos from Barcelona and Switzerland, I did not end up going to either. Yes, this was an extremely hard decision to make but I am still content with my choice. I had many friends here who continued to travel to the exact places I was planning on going and did their whole trips absolutely fine and still, I am content. I know myself and know that I can get very anxious when I do not feel safe. Personally, though I wanted to be fine and listen to my confident self in my previous post, I was scared. I knew that the entire time I was traveling I would have been on edge. I simply would not have been able to enjoy these new places in the way that I wanted to... it felt more of a waste of money for me to go and not truly relax and take in the new trip as I should. On the days that my friends were visiting new countries or the days that I was supposed to be boarding a plane I did a lot of thinking. First, I complained to Sarah, and she did the same, about how much we wanted to be traveling and exploring instead of sitting in our rooms. But then we snapped each other out of it. We are in IRELAND, what are we saying? It is such a shame that I had allowed walking the streets of Cork to become mundane. I love this city and this country. The first month here I could not shut up about the flowers growing out of stone walls that lined the streets and colorful shop fronts and now I was here hiding in my room complaining that my life is crap because I haven't seen enough.

I am 20 years old.
If there is one big thing that I have learned from this experience, it is that I am young. I have so much left to do and learn and see. Yes, I would have liked to have traveled a little more while I was here, but would I truly be a 21st century American if I did not want more than I have? I don't resent that part about me. The yearn to travel and strive for more is what keeps me motivated towards my future goals and I keep those thoughts in the back of my mind as motivation every day. I know that I am going to visit all of the places on my list because I refuse not to. I will not let life get away from me. I will live in the moment and be present and accomplish things that I set out to do. There is no reason, at any stage of your life, for someone to stop dreaming or setting big goals for themselves. Have you always wanted to see Greece? Work hard and do it! Sky dive? Why not! I have met so many amazing people abroad who say YES to life and have inspired me to do the same.

I had made a plan.
Before coming here I thought that I had it all figured out. I knew where I would be in 2, 5, 10 years and was fine with that. Now? I am SO SICK of living life in a routine that doesn't excite me. I thrive off experiences that challenge and terrify me. I reach for things that are way out of my reach because they force me to question if I am able and then make myself proud. I have learned to never stop being there for myself, to take time to listen to my own feelings and mind. To understand what I really want in that moment, but never lose sight of the big picture. I appreciate my hometown and my state and my country in a way that I never have before. I am learning that  "home" doesn't always mean where you grew up, but it is somewhere that makes you feel loved, warm and welcome. Cork has become my home these last few months and I know that a piece of my heart will always remain here. With that said, I am extremely eager to be home with my family and friends for Christmas and snuggle with my dog in my comfy bed.

Tomorrow night my friends and I are doing the 12 Pubs of Christmas, an Ireland holiday tradition, which we very excited for. Then, Sarah and I are taking off to Belfast in Northern Ireland for the rest of the weekend! Before this trip, I made a pledge to myself that I would see every part of Ireland and really take the time to cherish the country that I have come to love and I am proud to say that with this last trip I will have kept true to that promise.

Bye for now!

Friday the 13th.

         I was unaware of what had occurred until receiving a message from my close friend Catherine around 11 pm. She said, "Blessed you aren't in Paris, I love you." I was confused and quickly replied asking what was in Paris, then turned to the friends around me asking the same thing. They informed me that people had been killed and injured and that numerous hostages had been taken. Remembering that my friend Nicole, who had just visited a week before, was in Paris I immediately reached out to make sure she was alright. She assured me that she and the other Bryant students were safe and together. We soon turned on the television to watch the scene unfold live and gain more of an understanding since we had countless questions and what felt like zero answers. I could not fathom what my friends in Paris at the time must have been going through, but I tried to remain strong and positive for them and pray that they would remain safe. During the night, our Bryant Study Abroad director posted on our Facebook wall asking all abroad students to comment and say where they were and that we were safe. My phone continued to go off as the hours went by allowing me to exhale as all my classmates and friends checked in, it did not feel real.

         I can honestly say that I had never felt fear like this, well never **have. I was only in first grade when 9/11 took place. Therefore I do not have many memories of the actual event.. only the war, hostility and fear in years following. The feeling of uncertainty for the future, inability to do anything, anger and terror were all overwhelming and new. The actual threat of danger, paired with the realization that no one around me could say it was all going to be okay or that I was safe ached me to my core. Not knowing what this means for my country back home, my country abroad or the world as a whole is terrifying. However, there is one thing for which I am sure, I will not stop living my life. They, whoever they truly are, want us to be scared. They want us to stop traveling and stop smiling and stop trusting our neighbors and I refuse to do that. I most certainly will remain alert when going to new areas and question my surroundings as I always have. But I will not expect the worst from everyone nor fear what is waiting around every corner. We are stronger than the terrorists and must show them that by continuing to live a life filled with happiness. If they can not scare us, they have no power. I understand that I am young and I do not know what it is like to have my own child living in this unpredictable world. I can see that look in my mother's eyes when I cross a street without looking both ways or stay out an hour later than I had previously promised.. and for that look, I will continue to keep myself safe by making decisions that I believe will protect me. But life is filled with uncertainty and I plan to embrace my future without fear. 

         For those of you who are wondering, I will be going to Barcelona from 1-3 December as planned and flying out of London to come home on December 19th, as well. This experience has taught me to see the beauty in different cultures, the knowledge that is to be gained from seeing new places and that time will pass no matter how I am spending it. These last two months have flown by and I have done all that I can to hold on to every moment, but they do slip away. I will not spend my last few weeks terrified, I will remain smiling at strangers on the street and attempting to savor every last minute that I have on this adventure. I hope that everyone back home will do the same because as this horrible event shows us, lives can be gone in the blink of an eye. Please do not waste yours while you are still lucky enough to have it. 

My prayers are with Paris & everyone whose lives have been affected by this terrible tragedy.

It's going down like London, London, London (Nov 6-8)

       Our weekend in London was wonderful. Though it rained the entire first day for our walking tour, we were able to see all of the sights on our list in the morning. The largest shock that I had during this excurison was how many statues I recognized from my history classes that I am taking here and the amount of information I already knew about London that our tour guide was telling me. It is a great feeling to see monuments/statues and actually understand the importance and meaning behind them.. especially since the last time I visited London i was fairly clueless. The fun fact that I took from the tour was that London used to use coal for everything that involved heat and in 1950 there was less wind than usual and all of the buildings and city became covered in soot. Everything turned grey and 3000 people died from the heavy soot in the air. In 1990 (so recent!), the city powerwashed everything and that is why the buildings are no longer grey. I am not sure why I found the thought of people power washing a city so amusing or if you will as well, but there you go!
       I had never heard of Borough Market before this trip, but I am so happy that we were able to explore and try all that it had to offer. Basically, it was a giant market with countless stands selling food items. From cheeses to falafel and granola to cannolis, there was something for everyone. Almost every stand had samples, which we took full advantage off and had delicious greek food for lunch. After, we wandered the city and then went to see the Crown Jewels, which were more beautiful in person than I can even explain. There were dozens of signs and guards to stop people from taking any photos so I do not have many to show you all how unreal the items were, but if you are ever in London it is certainly worth the trip to see the sparkles for yourself! It quickly brought me back to my childhood dream of being a princess and the realization that it is still 100% a life goal of mine.
       At night we explored Camden Market in a different area of town which was completely different from Borough. This was mostly crafts stands. Jewelry, scarves, home decor, paintings, etc. These items were all very unique and beautifully made. We spent a while admiring all of the pieces and amazing craftsmanship and then grabbed dinner at a closeby, questionable Mexican restaurant. However, where the food lacked.. the beer, tequila and lime margaritas made up. Following a few cocktails and odd looking meals we hopped back on the tube (this was actually very easy to figure out and we used it several times without issues through the weekend) and returned to our hotel. That second night we went out to a nightclub in the Camden area called Propaganda which my friend Bryan from high school, who is currently studying in London, told us would be a good time. This was easily the largest club that we had been to since being abroad, but it felt like a must-do while we were here since London is so known for it's nightlife.
     We woke up and visited Buckingham Palace and then spent almost the entire day at afternoon tea or "High Tea". Let me just say here that the exchange rate is BLOODY AWFUL.!! 1.6 US dollars is equal to 1 pound.. therefore, this was not a cheap afternoon. However, it was one of the most memorable experiences that I have had yet while abroad. I don't know if it was the hour and a half of bottomless champagne, countless varieties of tea, delicious tiny pastries or modern harp player, but I was smiling ear to ear the whole day. Pat, Sarah and I arrived in the late morning to Conrad St. James Hotel for our reserved tea time. The waiter was easy to talk to and explained how the day would go and then popped the first bottle. Next, he showed us the menu for finger food and tea. Once selecting our teas, he filled our glasses and we cheered to a soon to be delightful afternoon. The harp player showed up a few minutes later and sat down playing an extremely familiar tune.. Hello by Adele. We loved him all ready! He continued to play modern hits from artists like Britney Spears, Beyonce and Ed Sheeran and older ones like Hey Jude and American Pie.
     As the day went on, we chatted about all of our favorite memories since being abroad, coming to a sudden realization of how close of friends we have all truly become during this experience (which seems to happen after a few glasses of any alcoholic substance lol).. but this was different. When people say that the friends you make while studying abroad will be some of the closest friends you ever make, they are not kidding. I am not sure if it is our love for our home at Bryant, our new home at Cork, or simply being thrown into this adventure and having to rely on one another from the start.. but my friends here I hope to have for a lifetime.
     We ended the day in a mad dash to the hotel just in time to grab our suitcases and board the plane to Dublin with our API group. Sarah then misplaced her passport before we went through security.. LOL she was so distraught and as you can imagine after free flowing champagne (and a random round of Bloody Mary's .. *cough *cough,Pat's fault) we found this hilarious at the time and were not the most helpful. I eventually found the passport somehow, thank god, and we are able to laugh at the situation now.

Overall, it was a splendid weekend in London and I will surely be an avid appreciator of High Tea for as long as I live (as long as it involves endless champagne).

Bye for now!

Uisge Beatha: Water of Life (Nov 4.)

1.
I had forgotten to mention that we passed Dolores O'Riordan's house (Cranberries' singer) on our Ring of Kerry trip and I did not want to forget because I thought mom would appreciate that. I listen to the Cranberries and Shania Twain when I am missing her.. oh and NSYNC Christmas as of last week. I couldn't help myself.

-#TBT to broken ornaments Christmas 2015

2.
Franciscan Well Brewery tour:
1. I love these beers and the environment of the Well, we come here probably once a week. There is always delicious beer, usually live music and there is also an outdoor beer garden (which is kept warm by heat lamps). In addition, they have pizza which is a close second to my Italy pizza (for real!), it is cooked in a huge stone oven inside the beer garden and made directly in front of you when you order.
2. We learned that after they strain the barley through the vessel, the leftover "mash" can be used to feed cattle, as biofuel, as rich protein for cereal bars and more. I am learning loads about how beer and whisky are made here and have developed a pretty big appreciation for the art! Doesn't mean that I will choose beer or whisky over other alcohol forever.. but I am beginning to be able to distinguish a cheap/low quality beer from a nice one and that's something!

3.
Uisge Beatha
Irish pronounciation: Ishka Baha
Meaning: Water of life; Whisky
1. Tasted like hell to me, like fiery death when I tried it at the Jameson Distillery tour
2.On the tour we were shown the barrels that the whisky sits in, during the maturation process, at different stages and how much truly evaporates during this period. Our guide told us that they call this evaporated whisky the "angel's share" and that at the distillery the angels get 29k bottles worth of Jameson EVERY DAY!

4.
Nicole came last weekend and we had so much fun exploring Cork together during Halloween. I showed her the city, took her to Blarney to kiss the stone and we went on a Paddy Wagon trip to the Cliffs of Moher. These were unbelieveable and I am so grateful that I was able to experience these sights for the first time with her. She was able to see the Ireland that I have fallen in love with and understand why I can not get enough. The busride to the cliffs was a bit rough (to say the least) after our Thursday night escapades, but I made it through and we were able to get back in Cork with enough time to go to the Triskel for a film. This was my first time going to a viewing here (this is the desanctified church turned art/performance center) and it was a blast! We watch The Thing and enjoyed a bottle of wine while relaxing in our pew.. which was odd, but the church atmosphere totally added to the creepiness of the movie. Overall, we had an awesome weekend together and she got up for her very early flight (5:15 wakeup )the morning after Halloween. I can not wait to be back at school next semester with her, but it is comforting knowing that she is just "across the pond".

5.
My next trip is a few days away! We are going to London from Friday-Sunday through API and I am eager to go back. I did not love London the last time that I went, however I am hoping that I have a great experience this time. We leave Cork around 1 Friday and arrive in London by 5:30, then we have the night off. The following day we have a 4 hour walking tour of the city, ending at the Tower of London. After, we have the rest of the day to explore and we plan to ride the London Eye. That night we have signed up for London Pub Crawl with some of the Bryant students who are studying in London which should be fun and we are prepared to show our English friends all that us Irish students have learned the last few months LOL. The last day we are able to do whatever we would like until we depart from Heathrow at 10 pm. We obviously need find activities to do during these three days, so I plan to ask Nicole (who is studying here) to give me a list of the big ones that we will need to see.

6.
In other news, Sarah and I have officially booked BARCELONA for 1-3 December which I am so excited for! Anddd... I am spending the next week accomplishing as many papers as possible so I feel comfortable also booking SWITZERLAND with Nicole for 7-9 December. Ahhh, so pumped. But I NEED to accomplish lots now so that I am able to turn the assignments in ahead of time, since I may be gone the week that all of the papers are do.


LASTLY, my parents will be here in 10 days! AHHHH, I can not wait to see squeeze them. Bob, Sandy and Kirsty take Ireland. Oh my! It will certainly be an adventure. Let the countdown begin.


Bye for now!

Pesto is the best though... (October 3) Italy pt. 2

We woke up the next day ready to explore Florence! Since Briana and Delaney had been there for over a month they knew everywhere that we should see, which is awesome when traveling to new places (like in Munich we did not know anyone, so we felt that we missed out on some of the must-sees of the area). Anyway... we started the day by climbing the tower in the Basilica of Saint Mary the Flowers--The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore--which is next to the Duomo. Some people climb the Duomo instead because the top is higher, however the girls told us that we would want to see the Duomo + Florence from above (like climbing the Empire State Building and not being able to actually see the state building..) so this was the better choice. Hundreds of steps later we understood what they meant. The view from the top of Florence was amazing, I don't even think amazing explains it. The city looked like a painting and the mountains in the distance only added to the beauty. We walked around every side of the lookout area and could see for miles and miles.. I had now seen Cork, Munich and Florence from the top and was able to compare. They are all SO different, but the way that green blankets Ireland-- this shade of peach does to Italy. Both are stunning in their owns way.
Following the climb we grabbed breakfast at an American diner (in Italy lol, but it was nice to have some traditional States food) and then had a quick photoshoot on the terrace of their apartment. We next went into town where Sarah and I decided that we wanted to try fish pedicures... We sat down with our feet hovering over the water for an extremely long amount of time and then with racing hearts and loads of anxiety lowered our feet in (I made Sarah go first..) Once we found out that the fish did not actually have teeth it became a tad less horrid, but it was not really enjoyable. They all swarmed and it felt as if an electric current was running through my feet, like when I get that treatment done at the chiropractor. We then shopped our way through Florence, where I found a nice leather shop. Upon walking in and meeting the designer/owner, him picking out a jacket for me and placing it on my body I of course had to make a delightful purchase ("treat-yo-self ). He rubbed a lighter off the sleeve to prove to us that it was true Italian leather and then proceeded to give us discounts and then his card with an email if anything went wrong. Great salesman, but the smell and feel could have sold the jacket by themselves. Once we worked up an appetite, the girls brought us to one of their favorite food spots and I tried my first pasta in Italy. WOW. Sarah and I split a vegetarian ravioli dish and (this deserves its own line)

PESTO PENNE. ** drops the mic **

GAME* CHANGE * ER * (insert clapping hands emojis in between each word for extra emphasis)

The pasta was perfectly cooked, slightly chewy or al dente (as dad would correct me). The sauce was light, buttery and had just the right amount of pesto. I do not think that I refuse to order this meal anywhere  until I return to Italy or find somewhere with an amazing Italian reputation (maybe Federal Hill in Prov, MAYBE). It was that good. It was that pasta dish that you always dream of being heavenly in Italy. It made the trip that much more memorable. The pizza may have been a 9.9, but baby this was a 10. I can't even talk about it without getting teary eyed. I wonder if it thinks about me as often as I think about it.... I am losing it. PESTO will forever more be my favorite type of pasta sauce (I used to be a die hard alfredo girl growing up. Ask the fam. This is a big step.) We all enjoyed our meals in silence, savoring every single bite and sipping some afternoon wine.

The day continued beautifully. 4 of us girls decided to go get a couple bottles of wine and spend the sunny day people watching and relaxing on the Arno, with a fabulous view of Ponte Vecchio. We talked and laughed and drank for hours..while tourists walked by staring at us since we had open alcohol bottles in public (I swear it is legal there! Dumb tourists, you are obviously doing Italy wrong lol). We stayed here for most of the day, then met up with the rest of the group to go up to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset and take part in the GELATO FESTIVAL, which just happened to fall on the weekend we were visiting (thank you Jesus). We only caught the end of the sunset because the walk took longer than expected, but trust me.. the gelato made up for it. There were over a dozen stands each with their own three types of homemade gelatos for us to sample. The event was almost overwhelming. Every flavor was more rich and delicious than the one before. Dark chocolate, mocha, raspberry, nutella, peanut butter, salted caramel, coffee. You name it, they had it. We tried little spoonfuls of each and then bought a card which allowed us to get 5 mini cups as well, those were extremely hard to decide upon because they were all SO good!! After an hour of so we couldn't eat any more/were going to be sick, #NORAGRETS. Certainly the most enjoyably earned stomach ache of my life. We grabbed something small for dinner, for those who could even look at food at this point, and then went back to the apartment.
Side note, I was having such an amazing time in Italy that I had my mom and I both trying to call the airport all day and night to attempt to switch my flight to a later time the following day. My Monday class was canceled and I did not want to leave!! Unfortunately, we were unable to make any switches.
We went out for one last time, left the bar early to grab some late night pizza (Had to. Last pizza in Italy maybe EVER) and then said our goodbyes before our early wake up. The alarms went off before dawn the next morning, we took a train back to Pisa and then were on our way back to Dublin. This was certainly the first time that we had traveled away and I wasn't dying to get back to Ireland.

I fell in love with Italy, hard. I am still so happy with my choice to study in Cork. I don't think that I could live in a busy busy city like Florence for an entire semester (I know my jeans say I can't lol) but it was a lovely visit to say the least. I will find a way to come back one day.. Here's to hoping that our coin in the drain counted for something! Italy you will be missed <3

Bye for now!

You can't soar until you learn to fly..

                                                      F.L.Y= FIRST LOVE YOUSELF

You need to love yourself first. Sure, it is nice to have a family member, friend or significant other who will be there to lift your spirits or complement when you get a bad hair cut, fail an exam or gain a few pounds. BUT at the end of the day, you need to learn to be there for yourself. When you are alone, when you look in the mirror, when you make a tough decision -- you are in control of your own thoughts. No one else. So you must see the best in yourself and stop looking for others to do so. Until you fully love yourself despite every single one of your faults, you can't truly love others or let others really love you. With a full face of makeup and heels or last night's makeup and a frizzy bun... love it all. The gap between your teeth, the curve of your hips, the way your hair always curls when it's humid.. love those too! Confidence comes from within and once you're able to see your beauty even on your worst days, then all will begin to fall into place. See the opportunity to grow from hard experiences, the change to make yourself proud when you're terrified. See the strength in your muscles to lift your body out of bed in the morning and your power within to smile even when you feel sad. You are only given one change at this life and you will spend every second for the rest of it with one person, yourself. So love the one you're with.  

This DOES NOT always come easy, trust me. BUT if you try every single day to just accept all of yourself ..one day you won't have to try. Just quit listening to others, good or bad, and allow yourself to find comfort in being there and comforting yourself even when it is the hardest to do so. 

That is all.. back to midterms.

Bye for now!

..A big pizza pie, that's amore.. (Oct 1-2) Italy pt. 1

We hoped on the 5 am bus from Cork to Dublin on November 1st, beginning our trip to Italy. I could not have been more excited! My sophomore year of college I had wanted to participate in the 2 week, SIE, trip through Bryant to Italy and had not been accepted.. Instead of choosing another SIE program, I saved the money that I would have spent on that trip and promised myself that I would go to Italy when I was abroad in Europe and here I was keeping that promise. We took a flight from extremely sunny Dublin to rainy Pisa (switch it change it rearrange it) and arrived in the early afternoon. We fairly easily figured out the train to Florence with the help of a few Airport employees and a call to Brianna once we realized that we have NO IDEA what their address was in Florence or any clue how close they lived to the train station LOL. I suppose we thought we would just figure it out on the way. Since our phones only work with WIFI connection outside of Ireland we would have been in some trouble, except Brendan luckily has a pay-as-you-go phone that can be used all over Europe that allowed us to call DaRin for help. We did not go to see the leaning tower in Pisa because it was a fair distance from the airport and were eager to get to Florence and see our friends. We got on the almost 2 hour train ride to Florence and were greeted outside the station by smiling Brianna, oh what a SIGHTTT!!! (cue that song, you know the one)..Gosh, it had only been two weeks since Oktoberfest, but it was great to see her friendly face again. Big hugs were exchanged, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then she led us to their apartment. I was immediately mesmerized by Italy.. The architecture, romantic streets and quaint cafes looked exactly as I had imagined. Once at the apartment Delaney ran into my arms like a long lost lover and they showed us what they were working with. The apartment is very new and in great condition! There are two double rooms, so they are in one and then two other girls live in the other.  They have a gorgeous view off their balcony that you can see the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella from and is level with dozens of classic italian roofs. Though roofs back home are nothing to admire, these are worth noting. They are burnt orange and remind me exactly of what I pictured Italy to look like from above. Little did I know, that this aerial view of Italy did not compare to the one I would be seeing the next morning. We caught up on what we had both done the last two weeks, us having gone to The Ring of Kerry and them Cinque Terre. Next, we met up with Alaina, Becca (also studying in Florence) and Lilly (visiting, studying in Barcelona) who are all fellow Bryant students that are studying abroad. They took us to a restaurant called Rubaconte for dinner which was delicious and dangeroussss. For 15 euro we got antipasto appetizers for the table, 3 different large bowls of pasta (my first Italian food experience!) and UNLIMITED wine. We took full advantage of this deal (they may never be able to return...) and celebrated Bryant taking on Italy with 11 bottles of wine. WHOOPS! While laughing, eating and drinking we planned our next day’s trip. We decided that we would go to Rome.. not an easy trip 20/40 minutes away, but a city 3 hours away that would involve us waking up VERY early, buying train tickets, getting on the correct trains and then finding any item of historical significance from the station. We decided that this was a GREAT plan and all promised to meet outside the station at 8.. 
We then went to a few of the girls’ favorite bars/clubs around Florence until the sun came up. 

7 a.m. came WAY TOO QUICKLY, the thought of skipping Rome that day may have actually (embarrassingly) crossed my mind, but we got each other up and seized the day (after bagels, water and coffee and then more coffee)!! We missed the first and second train that we had planned to take the night before, but finally got onto the third and quicker (but more expensive) train which would get us to Rome in an hour and forty minutes. That ride was not much short of miserable, but ROME was at the end of the journey so I put a smile on my face and got ready to explore. Upon arrival we looked around, attempted to type known landmarks in our GPS’s and then all blindly agreed on a direction. Thanks to luck (our Irish luck most likely) we ended up at the Colosseum, yes.. we wandered and ended up at the Colosseum- I love when that happens! Walking up to the enormous ruins was unreal. We walked around the inside of the Colosseum for over an hour. Standing in silence at the enormous display surrounding us on all sides, listening to Becca read the history of the Colosseum from her touring Italy book and discussing what we thought different areas used to be used for. It’s an incredible experience to stand where so much history took place and gain a deeper understanding of the past. Once outside, we walked to the Arch of Constantino which is very close and again read up on the history of the monument. When walking around Rome, there were ruins everywhere that you walked and/or looked. I felt a bit ungrateful/unprepared for not knowing the meaning or names for most of the areas, however I did my best to ask around and simply appreciate how long the items had been there. Next, we grabbed lunch locally (where I got a delicious salad and no wine- still not feeling 100% since the night before and I had been promised life changing pizza for dinner). Following food we set out to find the Trevi Fountain.

I had spent all morning trying to think of my wish.. Most of my wishes either felt too selfish or not personal enough. How can I wish for my family's health when there are people dying of disease every day? How can I wish for me to find true happiness when there are children without food to eat? I knew that this wish was not going to decide the fate of the world.. but it suddenly felt like a lot of pressure. If I could change one thing about my own life what would it be? Or if I could change one thing about the world, what would it be? WOW, those questions carry a lot of weight and I could not get myself to answer either. I rolled this wish over in my head for hours, struggling to decide what I really, really wanted. I found out that I would be promised to return to Italy if I threw the coin so I could thankfully take one wish off my list of possibilities, but that still left so many good ones! The worst part? I couldn’t even ask anyone’s opinion, which I had been doing A LOT recently regarding many aspects of my life, because of course if I said it out loud then it wouldn’t come true.. and heaven forbid if I got a damn good wish I wasn’t going to risk ruining it LOL. But that’s when it hit me. I didn't actually need anyone else’s opinion on what mattered to me. No one knows how I feel in my heart or stomach or head. They don’t know what deep down is most important to me. They may be trying to help me make a decision that is what they believe to be best for me, which I truly appreciate.. but it also allows me to blame them if I make the wrong choice. I needed to make that decision (and many others) for myself. To really dig down and think about what I believed to be most important, so I did. 

I finally got it just as we walked up to the fountain.. well what resembled the fountain. It was under construction! In fact, when our GPS went off and said we had reached it I turned to the man next to me and asked where the fountain was, he smiled and pointed at the yards of metal scaffolding and fencing directly in front of us. What a disappointment :( So we found comfort for our sadness at a nearby authentic bakery, where Sarah and I split a homemade Cannoli! SO MUCH YUM! We then walked back to the fountain, with new spirits, and all took out coins. We found a grate in the ground near the fencing and all closed our eyes, dropped the coins and made our wishes.. with hope that the water tunnel may connect to those of the fountain below ground. We continues to aimlessly explore Rome for a few more hours and take photos of countless ruins in which we knew no names, but were still breathtaking and extremely interesting to admire. In these couple hours we lost Lily for a solid 40 minutes, well misplaced her.. we got caught up in admiring and left for a new location while talking to each other and forgot to fully gather the crew. No worries though! Less than a mile away we realized that she had not joined our new spot and then two of us ran back to search and rescue. She was a good child and stayed in the same spot, so they found here fairly quickly. Though she was left alone in a strange country for almost she remained cool, calm and collected as only Lily could do in this situation.. LOL. She then informed us that she had figured out to plan to get back on the train and return to Florence on her own if we hadn't come soon enough, HA HA HA thank god she didn't do that! 
We went into a closeby church before calling it a day, which was simply stunning. Through the day I kept tossing around in my head which I thought was more beautiful, the natural landscapes of Ireland or the man made artistic architecture in Italy. Sarah reminded me that I did not actually have to choose, which is good because I truly can't. Both left me speechless and in awe. The intricate details and attention to detail given to all aspects of every single building, especially the churches, in Italy was unbelievable. 

I could write pages about the pizza that we ate that night. Not exaggerating at all. Cue ALLLL OF MEEEE, LOVES ALLLL OF YOUUUU. I am telling you that it was, as promised, life changing. I will never look at another pizza the same. No other pizza will ever make me feel the way that did. It was an experience, one that I will never forget. Becca and I split two personal pizzas, one Margherita with added Spinach and the second was similar but with spicy salami (DO NOT knock it until you try it.. tasted like pepperoni’s sexier brother). We sat in almost complete silence, besides odd noises of joy every few minutes and the clank of wine glasses being lifted so that they could join the parties in our mouths.

My heart was Kerry-ed away.. (Sept 25-27)

Day 1:

We got on a bus around 2 pm leaving from UCC's campus and settled in for a two hour bus ride to someone called the Craig Caves on Castleisland. The drive had gorgeous views of the Ireland countryside which, little did I know, were nothing compared to what I was going to be seeing that weekend. I have never had the opportunity to explore caves before, so this was a pretty cool experience. We learned a lot about how it came to be found and created, which I do not remember, while we took a guided tour underground. The guide told us myths that go along with the cave, I made a few innapropriate remarks regarding the rock statues and we went on our way (couldn't help myself.. she didn't laugh though). After leaving, we stopped at our first sightseeing spot to take photos which was at the top of a sheep covered hill overlooking the water. Next, we finished our drive to the hotel in Cahersiveen and had a nice dinner. We started talking to other students who weren't in our API group and found out that almost everyone was studying at UCC. We exchanged stories from Ireland so far, talked about home and enjoyed delicious mousse-like cheesecake. After dinner, we all went into a big room where to local "Gaelic football" players spoke about the sport and then allowed students to try playing a bit. This was followed by hours of swinging each other around at Ceili dancing class while a live band played traditional music (so much fun!).

Day 2:

We were up fairly early and got dinner as a group before hopping back on the bus. Our first item on the itinerary was the Skellig Ring Tour which included Valenta Island, Geokaun Mountain, Fogher Cliffs and the Skellig Experience Center. The island had a view of a little town with colorful buildings and an even more exciting view of the, newly fascinating, Skellig Michael Rocks. At the experience center we watched a documentary about the rocks which are 12 miles off this coast. We learned that it's history traces back to 500 AD and that men went there to pray and commit their lives to God. Centuries of men built a monastery and 650 stairs by hand out of rock! They said that people go out to the rock to visit and you become speechless when you realize the amount of work that the men put in and the sanctity +devotion they must have felt when they were secluded miles from land without any protection from the elements. The trip is probably so breathtaking because its 650 steps to the top as well lol. Scenes from Star Wars 6 and 7 were actually filmed here, which is pretty cool even though I've never seen a single Star Wars movie.. (We are considering trying to make it back to this area to make the climb in the near future.) You can see the rocks in the distance of our photos! Next, we walked up a never ending mountain/hill to the best view I have seen yet. It was one of those moments where you are so in awe of your surroundings that you have no thoughts or words (which does not happen often for me). I was completely surrounded by untouched nature and overwhelmed by the scene. We sat and stood for a while without speaking, just taking it all in as best as we could. I couldn't help but fall deeper in love with Ireland and really appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to have this experience. I will always remember that moment and that view. After my life was changed forever and I became one with nature.. we went back to the hotel and ate some lunch.

Following food we visited Cahergall Stone Fort, which was a giant circle of stone walls- one on the inside and one on the out. We were able to climb to the top using the different levels that still remained on the inside of the fort and got a pretty cool view from the edge.. I am telling you, the green is just greener here! My mother will LOVE the grass when she comes to visit me soon. It never really gets hot enough for the grass to burn, so dad could never cut it too short! Woot woot, solution-- we move to Ireland LOL. Our API guide, Shane, is a history professor at UCC and is an awesome resource especially on these trips. We can ask him almost anything regarding the places we go and he knows loads of information! Forts and castles are sweet, but hearing their history and stories that go along with them in Irish culture is what I really enjoy. After the fort we went to Ballycarbery Castle.. where I proceeded to step in a giant pile of cow poop :) :) :) and spent most of my time at this locations washing one of my Tom sneakers in the stream #MEMORIES.. maybe I will laugh one day. We had free time for a bit so we went to O'Connell Memorial Church, found a local pub to watch Rugby and then ate dinner with everyone back at the hotel. Following dinner we had my favorite activity on the trip, a "Life in South Kerry" and sing along with a local singer. He handed out sheets with the lyrics to class Irish songs and we all learned the words as he played the guitar and told the history of Kerry and about his own life there today. This was a lot of fun! My favorite part was that he performed the song Galway Girl, which is from my favorite movie P.S. I Love You (the first time I realized I wanted to visit Ireland was after watching this-- that's why I was so set on my England, Ireland, Wales, France trip after Senior year). He was no Gerard Butler, but I enjoyed every second of it and sang my heart out.

Day 3:

The last day we went to Derrynane House, home of late Daniel O'Connell which was pretty interesting. We learned that O'Connell (one of Brendan's ancestors) is very important in Irish history for leading the campaign for Catholic Emancipation and is often called "The Liberator". My favorite part about this was the "sleigh-looking" carriage that was GIANT and had a velvet, purple chair attached to the very top (cropped out of my photo.. but the same chair is shown on the ground). He used to go through town sitting atop the carriage in the chair! LIFE GOALS. We then walked through the woods, which had "fairy houses" scattered throughout. These were adorable, Ireland has strong myths and legends that many still believe to this day, I tried to get into a class about it at UCC but it did not work :( I opened one of the fairy doors, obviously, and a kind student on my tour informed me that I upset the fairy and now would be cursed. COOL! I gave them a odd smile and then whispered "sorry" as I walked away, ya know just in case. We walked down to the beach nearby (Derrynane Bay) with a stunning view of the mountains, but for some reason my favorite part of this location were the nearby ruins of a monastery grave. Not only were the scenic spots from this higher area, but I felt really at ease and calm in this area. I am not sure why, but I spent 30 minutes or so simply walking around the graves, admiring the views and reading the inscriptions.. It was extremely relaxing and also was able to feel very in touch with the history of the area when doing this. 

Overall, we had a great weekend. I learned a lot about the area and also was able to see numerous historical landmarks and scenic, stunning views. I completely recommend going to the Ring of Kerry if you ever plan to visit Ireland. The sights are exactly what you picture when you think of the mountains and rolling hills. So grateful that our program planned this entire weekend for us and can not wait to see more of Ireland soon! Our next trip within this country is to Fota Island Safari Park in Cork...  but next weekend we go to FLORENCE ITALY!! Ahh I am so excited to see Italy for the first time and also see my Bryant friends again :) I am hoping that Italy is as incredible as I am imagining.

Traveling so much and not sleeping full nights is getting tiring, but every time I start to complain I stop myself. I have NOTHING to complain about. I will sleep when I am back home in the states or dead, for now I will keep exploring every second that I can!

Bye for now!

Be a liter, not a follower (Sept. 20-21)

The next morning we rolled out of bed eager to put on our outfits and have a good laugh. We looked absolutely ridiculous.. and loved it! Luckily, we went downstairs to get breakfast and saw dozens of other 20 year olds dressed in Dirndl and Lederhosen and we were immediately happy that we had gotten them as well. We left for the festival around 7:15 am, which was the time that was recommended by the head of our tour group, (the day before we had asked around and heard times ranging from 4 am to 10 am so we hoped for the best). We walked a couple blocks and easily found the festival by following the hundreds of "amish-looking zombies" crowding the streets. Locals were legitimately hanging out of their windows and standing on their porches walking us walk and laughing. On arrival, we saw the huge Oktoberfest grounds. Numerous rides, food booths and giant buildings, ("tents" with signs showing their names) lined both sides as we walked through. The fest was already busy for 8 am, especially since the tents didn't open until 9:30/10:00 and beer wasn't served until 12. We found our way to the Hauffbrahaus sponsored tent, which we heard was THE ten t to be at. Once we were in line, we waited a few hours standing outside and were directed in a large crowd (which felt like we walked about the perimeter of the tent 5 times) led  by the guards who motioned and used whistles. We may have felt like cattle and were closer to strangers than we have ever wanted to be, but we knew there would be beer at the end of the misery. After what felt like an eternity of being pushed around we were finally in the tent. We ran around like crazy trying to find empty seats, but there were none (either they had been taken by those who had gotten there at 5 am or had been reserved a year + in advance).. that's what we get for choosing the most popular tent on opening day. Anywayyy, we found our way to the end of a standing table, there were 50+ in the middle of the building, and stood/sat there very impatiently for the next couple hours. You were not allowed to get served unless you were very close to a table, therefore dozens of people crowded around each one in hopes of getting a beer. The kegs are not tapped until noon on opening day, so we ordered our drinks and then eagerly awaited the music to start and drinks to be poured. We tried to make friends with the people around us, but everyone had been standing for far too long, with far too little to eat or drink, to want to be overly friendly. Our waitress was a treat however and let us order drinks hours ahead of time and, since we tipped well, promised to bring ours out as soon as she was able. She did not disappoint and by 12:30 we all had our own liters, which went down like water since we had been looking forward to them and standing up for hours! (Sorry Mem) When the kegs were tapped, on the balcony where everyone could watch, the owners of of Hauffbrahaus all toasted and then proceeded to fill liters and pass them down over the edge to people near the balcony. People began to climb on one another to get higher and have the chance of getting one of these first beers LOL. Once the first beers were delivered everyone became much more friendly and we got to know a lot of the people around us. ALSO, one by one people started jumping up on the tables and finishing their full liters in one gulp for everyone's amusement as we all cheered. This was quite impressive, I am not going to lie! However, if they spilled too much or went too slow everyone proceeded to boo them, which was equally as entertaining. I considered jumping up just to get the photo, but was too afraid of public embarrassment when I refused to chug my liter. Sweet Caroline and a few other classic Oktoberfest songs were on repeat most of the day and everyone joined in and swung our glasses even though none of us knew any words to these other songs ( I have no clue why Sweet Caroline is one of the songs.. so random! But it was good to hear something familiar). We were surrounded by hundreds of people dressed up in the traditional outfits, from all over the world and everyone's goal was simply to enjoy themselves which was nice. We stayed here for a few hours and then decided to go into the fair and check out other tents. We walked around sampling different foods and going into a few of the other tents to see how different they were from our first choice. By then, 3 o'clock, almost all were completely filled.. but we were still enjoying ourselves exploring the festival. After another hour or so of wandering we decided to leave Oktoberfest and go get dinner back at  Ratskeller again ,since it was quiet and familiar, we were a tad overwhelmed with the loud environment that we had been in all day (believe it or not). I got a delicious goat cheese salad and,much needed, water.. which was a perfect end to the day. The waiter was super rude and gave us crap for not tipping him since we were from America (???? we haven't tipped ANYWHERE in Europe, it is considered rude), but we brushed him off and concluded that we were ready to get back to Ireland where they loved us and didn't love sausage at every meal. We went back to the hostel soon after dinner, woke early the next day to say our goodbyes and then took a plane back to Dublin and bus to Cork.

The new sights, lively festival, sunny weather and Bryant friends all made this a great experience in Germany.. but in the end I could have hugged the taxi driver when he opened my door with a smile back in Cork. This city, the rainy weather and Bandon Road are starting to feel more like home every time that I leave and I am so glad to be back safe in my bed.

In closing...

The more I travel, the more I am learning about my own country. By speaking with other I see how the US is viewed as a whole, how us as Americans are perceived in varying cultures and I am even developing my personal feelings as well. Furthur more.. When meeting new people I ask where they are from.. where they have been.. what they think about everything that crosses my mind.. what I should see.. and in my head I try to see their why. Why they feel the way that they do, unfiltered and honest. I am becoming more inquisitive, like a toddler, I just want to ask why to everthing!  I am teaching myself to see that there are different people, with different thoughts because once I am able to completely accept that, I will be able to open my mind to so much more. Therefore, I  try my best to push past my personal biases and understand how their past and experiences have shaped how they view my life, without any judgements. By exploring their minds and sharing my own, I am able to open myself to new possibilities for my future and understand more deeply my own viewpoints and aspiration. By speaking to a man on the plane, a 26 year old who travels to and from Africa on business every 4 weeks.. I began to question if my future needed to be as concrete as I have made it. My generation is told that education (esp. college), then a job that pays well will lead to a happy, family oriented, life. Though I do have particular dreams for my future, I can't help but question how much of that has to be set in stone right now. Do I want to travel more before I settle down? Do I want to work for a company that is based in New England or overseas? Have I found my passion in life? All of these questions suddently came to mind as he spoke about his "jet-setter" life. Then I realized that I did not want to answer a single one. Yet I am now feeling more prepared to accept the unknown and trust that my heart with direct me where I should go...

The day after arriving home, I decided to take a right instead of going straight on my way to the gym. I did not know if this would be shorter or not, but I trusted my gut. During my walk, I began to question why I did not hesitate to take a new path and decided this.. I am learning to question what I know to be best, what is comfortable. I am seeing that new paths may be frightening sometimes, but they are there to try if I allow myself to take the chance.. who knows, I may be shocked at what I find. That day, I found a much longer walk to the gym... LOL


Bye for now!

These pretzels are making me thirsty.. (Sept. 18-19)

We boarded the 1 am bus to Dublin on Friday at the Cork bus station extremely eager for the adventure that awaited. We had booked our trip to Oktoberfest earlier this summer and had been looking forward to it for months. 3 hours later we arrived at the Dublin airport, a few hours before our flight. We decided to find somewhere to eat breakfast around 5 am. Upon sitting down, we quickly realized that we were standing out. Not because we were American, for once, but because we were not drinking beers. No joke, at 5 in the morning at the airport breakfast restaurant every single person had a beer with their eggs. We held strong and drank our water and then met up with our Holy Cross friends from Cork who were taking the same flight to Munich. Once aboard, I fell asleep easily and woke up right before landing. We got tickets and then right on the subway once we arrived in Germany. The subway is actually super easy to figure out, even though it is almost completely in German. I'd be lying if I didn't say that the culture shock hit me quick. This last month, I have been surrounded by ridiculously nice, English speaking, American loving Irish people.. and I was NOT in Kansas anymore. The signs, instructions and subway announcements were in German and no one on the subway returned a smile or spoke a word. Luckily, Brendan and Sarah had been in Germany for SIE a few months back and had warned me of this, but still it took some getting used to. They also remembered enough from their trip to get us to the area near our hostel with ease, which was a huge help.

Once we got to the hostel, we just dropped our bags and freshened up a bit. Then we took the subway again (conveniently located directly across the street from our Hostel- named Jäger, like the alcohol) to Marienplatz City Center and they showed me some sights. As soon as we walked up onto the street from the subway I was amazed. The Neues Rataus (New town hall) was directly in front of me and I have truly never seen a more intricate or beautifully built building. They informed me that it has moving parts called the Rathaus- Glockenspiel which has life-sized moving parts at various times throughout the day, I got to see this later that night. We then walked to an outdoor market/beer garden with countless shops selling fruit, sausages, sandwiches, raw meats, fresh cheese and, of course, beer. In the middle of all the stands were rows of dozens of long tables filled with people drinking and socializing. We grabbed some food and (.5 liter) beers and then joined the end of a table. We relaxed here for a while and explored the market area and then went to Sankt Peter's Church, which was very close. After walking up LOTS of stairs (we have to balance out the beers) we were able to see most of Munich from above. Despite the hot and sunny weather at grown level (which was a pleasant change to wet season in Ireland currently), it was windy up top. However, Brendan informed us that when he has climbed last time he was able to see some of the Swiss Alps! We took great photos and then continued our day. Though we were tired (had not gone to bed at all besides the nap on the plane since Thursday), we made the decision to get coffee, go to the Hostel to check in, change and see our rooms and then continue to explore Munich. The hostel room was clean.. two bunk beds and our own bathroom. However, there were only 3 of us in this 4 bed room and were informed that we may be joined by another at some point.. TBA.

We then took the subway back to Marienplatz and went to dinner below the Neues Rataus, called The Ratskeller. The menu was available in English and the waiter was very nice, so we were happy. After avoiding everything sausage-looking on the menu, I decided on a pork loin dish and hoped for the best (it was actually pretty good, just VERY salty). Next we went to the Hauffbrahaus, which was a blast!! The inside was gorgeous and extremely lively. The building was huge, with two floors and many rooms of long bench sided wooden tables (think Harry Potter). Everyone was laughing and drinking beer by the liter (Steins). After a bit of searching, we found an open table and continued our night. We were soon joined by a few Australian women, who were also attending Oktoberfest, and bonded over our hatred for our RUDE waitress and love for Thumper (a drinking game). All three of us (Brendan, Sarah, and I) are very social and make friends easily, so we have amazing stories and experiences getting to know so many new people and hear about their lives and views while traveling. After hours at the Hauffbrahaus we wanted a change of scenery so we decided to explore the city a bit more with our new friends. We ended up at ___________ around 8 where we had a great time. A very friendly bartender and too much money later we were dancing the night away. We got back safely (thank you Brendan) and woke up the next morning to two surprises. One, a tall Russian man who had joined our slumber party on the top bunk of Sarah's bed while we slept (thank god for lockers and padlocks in the rooms). The second was, Delaney and Brianna had arrived!!

They seem to be liking Italy, but having a much different experience abroad then I am. Florence is a very large city and they are living with roommates who mostly keep to themselves. Unlike my small city of Cork and roommates that I am sharing meals and nights out with. There are other Bryant students also in Florence, however they have not been placed in the same areas of the city, nor been made aware that they had fellow students abroad in the same city. I find that odd, since us 4 Bryant students all ended up in the same apartment, on the same floor, without any requests. They spoke about having to hold their bags close when they walk the streets, not being able to use credit cards or ATMSs because of theft and the difficulty of the language barrier. Asking for simple items like sandwich bags is even a large issue in grocery stores and they have had a more difficult time finding day to day products that they are used to having at home. I am very excited to visit them in 2 weeks, but am still happy with my choice of Cork. They seem to be equally looking forward to seeing Ireland, meet the friendly people and be surrounded by more familiar culture for a weekend. I am so glad that we are all fortunate enough to have these abroad experiences, have experiences together while here and also share our abroad areas with each other. Speaking of time spent together.. OKTOBERFEST!

So we cracked and bought the traditional Dirndl dresses because we were told it would really help us get more into the experience and so 40 euros later we looked like Dorothy, Little Bo Peep and Little Red Riding Hood.. LOL. We took the girls to the beer garden/outdoor market, that we were at the day prior, and relaxed there for a while swapping stories from our experiences abroad so far and catching up. We actually bumped into other Bryant kids while sitting here! How small the world really is! We see Bryant students who are also abroad and attending Oktoberfest who we did not even know were there. After a couple Steins, we went back to the hostel to let them rest, they had traveled through the night. A little later we grabbed dinner at a Brewery, where I tried boiled veil which was actually delicious. I never ate sausage while in Germany, which is probably a sin, but it freaks me out! After, we went back to the Hauffsbrahaus and met some New Zealanders who were not our biggest fans. However, they did tell us the history of the Hauff. and gave us various tips for Oktoberfest, since they had been four times. We went back fairly early that night because we ere getting up at 6 am the next day for the festival.

To be continued...

Weathering the storm.. (Sept 13-15)

Due to recent, unfortunate personal events, this horrible (never ending) cold and daily down pouring rain I have had a lot of time to think these last few days. I've thought a lot about my motivation for coming on this trip and have tried to self-reflect on how I am truly doing. So here are my rambling thoughts..

Over these last few years, months, days I have developed quite a bit. I seek to constantly challenge myself become a better version every day. This allows me to embrace my flaws and mistakes because I know that I am learning and growing into the person I am meant to be. I have become very focused on self growth and becoming fully in control of my life. I find it very important to be present in every moment and have a positive impact on other's lives daily. I believe that all thoughts and actions begin within my own mind and I can make the conscious decision every single day to be in a positive place. I have learned that I truly cannot control what others choose to do, however I can completely choose how I react. I have seen how quickly lives and plans can change without any warning and have become more adaptable, which has always been a weakness of mine. With this skill of adaptivity, I have also become more aware of the simple, previously unnoticed wonders in life that I was missing with my head in an agenda book or list. 

By allowing myself to take the long way home and follow the music that takes me from my predetermined destination I have found beauty in the simplicity of flowers growing through brick walls or the uneven cobble stone streets. I have found happiness in places that I did not expect and allowed myself to try new things without knowing the outcome. This trip was a leap of faith. I did not know what I was going to get out of it, but I knew that it was something that my heart truly wanted and for that reason I leapt. I am doing my best to remind myself to consciously take in this experience and open my eyes to all that my surrounds have to offer me. Though I have recently been a little under the weather and lost my focus..I refuse to further allow the rain to stop me from exploring or dampening my mood. I will see all that is possible and spend every moment I have left traveling. I will make this a trip that changes me into the person that I have always wanted to be. Someone who reaches for goals that terrify her.. who doesn't say no to a new experiences.. who smiles at strangers on the street.. who carries her own sunshine and positivity.. and who loves herself unconditionally.

Bye for now!

Why is there caffeine in this..? (Sept 8-13)

This first week at school was called "Fresher's Week" because it is the first week of first semester and all of the new students are moving in. The first semester of college is an even larger deal here because the freshman are also turning the legal age to drink (can you imagine if we started college at 21?! TROUBLE, exactly) Therefore, not only are they entering a new unfamiliar environment where partying is more accepted, but they are actually legally allowed to do so around the city. We have stayed away from the younger bars this week to avoid the Freshman who have been released into the town for the first time.. wow I am starting to feel old. But they are just babies (many even have braces) and are shocking to see beside me at the bar.. when I am not even legal in the States. This first week of classes went well overall. I had to make a few changes to my schedule, but I liked the lectures that I had and am excited for this new style of learning. I think that it is going to challenge me to think in a way that neither high school nor Bryant have and it will make me a better student when I return. The professors here truly believe that we should be doing our own learning and they are there to simply provide the tools to help us with that. It is not about memorization or copying notes word for word, but taking the concepts that they discuss and researching the details on our own time to develop our understanding. None of my classes have quizzes, assigned homework or periodical tests... We have final exams and one paper for most. Though that excited me at first, it is actually A LOT of pressure. These lecture style rooms do not make it as easy to ask questions, so I will have to make sure that I am truly trying to grasp the material when they present and visiting them in their office hours if I need further assistance (I LOVE to ask questions in class as soon as they pop into my head.. if not I usually can only focus on that point until I find the answer AHH). One test and one paper to show everything that I learn in an entire semester is a little daunting, but I am up for it! The classes I am taking this semester are:


Introduction to Irish History for Visiting Students
The Irish Literary Revival and Irish Modernism
Irish Film History
Exploring Irish Traditional Music
Historical Debate
The United States and the Vietnam Wars, 1945-1975



.. These are mostly history and english courses because Bryant does not allow us to take Major specific courses at UCC (I am double majoring in Management and Marketing back home). However, I am actually super excited about that. I already am enjoying hearing our school books referred to as "American textbooks" and hearing how our history and current affairs are seen from the European (and my roommate's) points of view. We discussed, in my Historical Debate class, understanding historical awareness and how "history" can be represented differently by different people in different times and places. For example, the Germans commenting on WW2 in 1950 compared to now, or the American's discussing the same topic then and now. The mentality (values, fears, hopes) and situation can greatly impact what is focused on and what is left out in specific records of historical events, therefore it is very important to be aware of these intentional and unintentional biases when researching. I found this to be extremely interesting and plan to use this historical awareness approach when asking my peers and learning from my professors about American events to try to understand how and why they view my Nation as they do (good or bad).

The last few days I have come down with an awful cold which has put me in bed this whole weekend. It is going from Dry to Wet Season here (awesome..), they don't have four distinct seasons like we do.. crying because I LOVE every single season in Maine. I have noticed the lack of sun is already getting to me a bit and making it hard to get out of bed in the morning, plus my window faces away from the light even when it is nice out so my room is always dark.. BUT I don't believe in letting the weather affect my mood SO I'll just have to make my own sunshine :)
I had to miss the trip to Cobh (but it is only 30 minutes by train and Sarah said she would go back with me) and sleep. I have been drinking lots of tea and bought cold medicine here. BUT I did not realized that there is 65 mg of caffeine in the meds and have been having the worst time trying to sleep (DUH KIRSTY READ THE PACKAGING). So now I am wide awake with a sore throat questioning why anyone who had a fever, headache, sore throat or body aches would want caffeine?!? UGH.. oh and does anyone know if they sell Acetaminophen in Ireland/UK?? I am not supposed to have other types of pain meds with my kidney issue.

I am going to rest up this week because next weekend is OKTOBERFEST and I get to travel to Germany for the first time + see Delaney and Brianna who are coming from Italy. SO EXCITED, but I must feel better since it will be a very long weekend. Sarah, Brendan and I are flying from Dublin this Thursday and staying in Munich til Sunday. I hear that wearing a Dirndl is a must to make the experience so I will try to find one online today.. I'll take lots of photos, I promise!

** side note: I love to cook at home! BUT here, in real life, the realization that if you don't cook you do not have a meal.. therefore you starve is not cool and it totally taking away my love for cooking. I NEED to meal prep better because I will run out of Kind bars and meal replacement shakes one day.

Bye for now!

The young lady + priest's room.. (Sept 5-7)

We visited Blarney Castle and kissed the stone the other day and it was just as great as I had remembered. Being able to go up into the old rooms of the castle and see Blarney from the very top is a cool experience.. even if the process to get to the top is extreme. We're talking hundreds of steep steps in an extremely narrow corridor waiting in line for almost an hour and slowly moving upwards without being able to see the top.. but it is worth it. At the top there is something called the Blarney Stone that has a strong historical palace in Ireland. I added a photo with the saying explaining the "powers" of the stone. The story is that by kissing it you should give you the gift of eloquence and persuasiveness or a "silver tongue".. To kiss the stone you lie down on your back and a person tips you back so that only your butt is on the edge and the rest of you hangs over! The stone is fairly far down and most people actually accidentally kiss the rock above the actual stone because they are hesitant to go far enough or didn't know which it was. There are bars a foot below your head in case, but honestly trusting a stranger to dip you off the edge of a caste is still frightening even the second time..There are also beautiful gardens in the area that we walked through and a delicious little chocolate/gelato shop that we visited for samples after. We finished up the day with some tea at a nearby cafe, because it felt like the European thing to do.

Today is our first day of classes. I had nutrition at noon and then went to the gym. I found my way to school, the gym and home all by myself-- no map or gps! This is big for me, (I was safe mom) I can barely do this in my own areas around home or school. I am super proud of this achievement and trusting myself to try to go alone. I bought a phone plan here so I am able to have unlimited wifi and texting all the time, everywhere. Which is AWESOME. I am not able to Facetime from campus or around the city to show my friends/fam back home the sights in real time. I also found an app called Couple today.. I find this to be super exciting as well. As many of you may know, I am currently in a long-distance relationship with my boyfriend Mitch. If you are in one as well, I completely suggest this app! He may not think that it is as adorable as I, but he entertains me by using it which is what matters. Basically you "pair" with someone and then you can message, draw on the screen at the same time, send little videos or even touch one another's thumbs.. I know that last one sounds odd, but you put your thumb against the screen and it pops up on theirs. When they touch their thumb to yours, both of your screen vibrate and light up red. For two people that are this far apart, being able to have a connection like that even if it is through a phone still means a lot.. well at least for me!

I have had time to sit down and write out my finances, classes and trips. This is super important because I know these four months are going to fly by and I don't want to miss out on any experience, but also don't want to return home thousands of dollars in debt. As I mentioned, I have many trips already planned.. but Spain seems to be fairly inexpensive to visit (50 euro flight and 15 euro a night hostel) so that may be added in! Being able to travel around Europe was one of the main reasons that I chose to study here, so I am going to take advantage. Since this is basically "syllabus week" I have not been able to get a good feel of the difficulty level for my classes, but from what I have heard previously about Cork they should not be too challenging. There are some large differences between here and home in regards to school though. Well for one, I have classes in a bunch of different buildings (some even down the street) which is very much unlike Bryant. Also, some classes are in different buildings depending on the day and at different times (ex: Monday in building A at 8 and Wednesday in building B at 2).. that totally screws with me.

I was able to Facetime mom and dad and show them the campus yesterday which was nice, modern technology is truly amazing and making this trip so much easier for me. It was great to see their faces and chat with them about my day and plans. I wouldnt say that I am anymore homesick here than i would usually be a week back from summer break at Bryant. I think that has a lot to do with the ease of communication, having Bryant/US students all around me, Ireland/UCC being so study abroad friendly (everyone is so eager to help with directions or answer questions always) and that everyone speaks English. Some heavier accents are a tad more difficult to understand or terms/sayings that are from here which I don't immediately recognize, but I am enjoying trying to figure out what they meant and they are always willing to repeat or explain further. We've been told by our tour guide that it is almost impossible to insult an Irishman so that is GREAT for me.. since I tend to come acrossed a little insulting without meaning to and would not want to get in some sort of cultural miscommunication scene which leads to a brawl. I am hoping that I come back home having picked up a few terms myself and using them naturally without realizing it, its not exactly like learning another language but it'll still be neat!
Cork itself is adorable and reminds me of Portland, ME. Everyone marches to their own beat/ does not try to fit in. Music and art are huge and the style versatility reminds me of NYC. I hope my style evolves to reflect this European experience while living here.

Cork quirks 
--They call the freshman "fresher"
--They refer to their freshman year of college as first year,.. so I am a "third year"

Bye for now!

Spain, Belgium, Australia OH MY... (Sept 2 -4)

I suppose one of the greatest aspects of Cork so far is how much everyone walks. When you ask for directions, someone will say "Oh yes, that is just a few miles straight and then another mile to the left" without hesitation.. At first, I would reply "Um, how many miles did you say!?" but I actually love it. Sarah has an app that shows how many miles we are walking and one some days we have walked 20 + miles! No wonder these people can drink heavy beer like it is a food group and still stay small! I honestly have not seen one obese individual while I've been here, which is odd compared to to the US. People do overall seem to be shorter and their accents are a joy to listen to. I have actually received a great deal of compliments on my voice from locals, which may seem strange to mention, but people at home are not as fond of it lol. I have always been under the impression that Europeans don't really like American's very much and within the last week I have experienced the complete opposite. The locals and European exchange students are extremely friendly and eager to make American friends, which is awesome! They want to show us around to the great Cork spots, teach us common phrases and how to navigate social situations correctly, so far they have all been a big help. 

I am learning so much about different cultures, besides Irish, from my suitemates. I have one from Belgium, Spain, Australia and Sweden. My Belgium and Spain friends have shared lots about the differences in regards to drinking. For example, I learned that having a beer in Belgium when you are thirsty at any time of the day is just as common as grabbing a juice or soda. Also, having a beer in the middle of the day when you are on break from work is socially acceptable. In both countries, they do not begin to drink when going out for the night until 12 and are usually returning home around 6/7 in the morning! That blew my mind. Going out here is similar to the U.S. where bars close at 2, however they do have some differences. For example, alcohol is taxed heavily so the prices at the bars are steeper than in the U.S., also they are allowed to make certain spots have different age limits on various nights. For example, even though the drinking age is 18, on Thursday nights you must be 21 to get into a night club called Voodoo and 23 on other nights.. Odd, imagine if one night a bar told you that you had to be 30 to get in? My spanish friend also was telling my that they usually eat lunch around 2 pm and dinner between 9-10, however they still get up at usual early hours. They also explained the "siesta" in Spain, where every day a couple hour nap or rest is expected after lunch (they get time off from work to do this). Then they return to work until 7ish.. I actually think this sounds that a productive idea and would be willing to try that in the U.S. (#morenapsplease). 

I am starting to become more familiar with the city center area and campus, which is a nice feeling. My friend from Sweden is currently training for a half marathon which will take place in Dublin in a few weeks, which is super exciting for me! She also lifts 6 days a week!! I could not contain my excitement to find another fitness enthusiast and am so ready to get back into a schedule. This still feels very much like a vacation and not yet like I live here, which is to be expected. I find comfort in daily agendas that I can follow and planning, so this has been a bit of a challenge for me. But I am doing OK and I am proud of how well I have been adapting to being alright with uncertainty and going with the flow. 

Another culture shock happened yesterday when we attended a freshman orientation event. All of the speakers (student and staff) made alcohol and sexual references extremely freely. They spoke of binge drinking and sleeping around as usual/accepted occurrences. I know those things also happen in U.S. colleges, however they are not spoken of as they are here. I suppose the lack of filter around alcohol discussion is directly connected to the fact that all freshman in college are legal to drink. Therefore, the university knows they will be drinking and simply tries to teach them how to be responsible when doing so. It's crazy to think that in these European countries kids are starting to drink as young as 14! I mean let's say an average U.S. kid starts to drink at 17 when the drinking age is 21.. 14 makes sense for them but still! Just so different from what I am used to, The clubs are filled with 18 year olds going crazy to the point where I almost feel too old lol. Which is why (as I mentioned above) bars raise the entry age to prohibit newly legal teens from coming into the bars and being a mess, One of our UCC orientation events was actually a freshman pub crawl! Beginning at one of the 2 bars on campus and then leading us to popular spots in town. 

I am loving meeting local Cork people and the friends I am making from other countries who are also exchange. I am able to learn about so many cultures all at once! This is going to be such an incredible experience in self growth and I am diving in fully. We have 6 pre-planned trips through API throughout our time here (Blarney, Cobh, Kinsale, Ring of Kerry, Dublin and London) which are included in our study abroad package. I am very excited for those, the first is tomorrow to Blarney. I have visited Blarney and the stone with my trip after Senior year, however I am eager to return. In addition to those.. Brendan, Sarah and I will going to Oktoberfest in September with other Bryant students who are studying  in Italy (Queen D and DaRin daily!! Woot woot) and I plan to visit Italy to see my girls at some point as well. I plan to travel as much as I am able while still spending lots of time in Cork to get the full experience of living here (I hope). 

Bye for now!

A wise philosopher once said..(Aug 31-Sept 1)

So these last two days have somewhat mushed together into one since we haven't actually slept.. After a rushed goodbye at the airport Sunday afternoon I boarded the plane. I got there just as the last few people were boarding (New York traffic is the WORST) and barely slept the entire flight. The first cultural difference that stood out was a few hours into the flight when dinner was served. When I was served my dinner it was assumed that I would then chose which type of wine I’d like to accompany it. I obviously did not hesitate and the small bottle of red helped me relax for the rest of the trip. We arrived at Heathrow around 2 am US time and grabbed some breakfast (note to self, porridge is delicious and fun to say but when made with milk it hurts your stomach). We then had a quick flight to Cork, which I was able to sleep through. However, I woke up just in time to see the green hills from above which are just as breathtaking as I remembered. On arrival, we met our tour guide Shane and the other American API students, they seem nice. 

Needless to say we were exhausted, however we were placed in cabs and told we had two hours to drop our bags and freshen up before our first orientation. The cab ride was fun, especially riding on the other side of the road. I asked the man if I could try driving and I THINK he almost let me.. but didn’t. However, I told him that I would eventually and he said he believed me. We had an interesting talk about my views on American gun control which he had a lot of opinions about, surprising me a bit. I did not expect Irish citizens to care so much about our government and policies. We also discussed the differences in our drinking laws.. He then quoted “a wise philosopher” who said “Alcohol is the cause and solution to all of life’s problems.” Homer J. Simpson, HAHA, felt good to hear a reference from home so soon.

The apartment is nice and it seems like there will eventually be 5 of us living here total. The other girls are from all different areas (Belgium, Connecticut and Australia so far). I have my own room with my own bathroom, which is AWESOME. It is great to have my own personal space to think, I am hoping that it doesn’t get lonely though. ...........

After a long half-listen (too sleepy) to a presentation from Shane while we toured parts of downtown Cork and UCC, we were allowed to go explore on our own. We chose a lunch spot called CocBull (very fun to say LOL, but it stands for Chicken and Beef). I had a delicious salad with quinoa, roasted chicken and asparagus (**Take more photos of your food). I was elated with this option because I think that means eating the way I’d like will be an option! (3 cheers for veggies and quinoa!!). Sarah told us that her uncle actually died from eating red meat in Ireland, so I am hesitant to try anything.. however, proceeding the story everyone else continued to order burgers “well-done” just to be safe HAHA.

Us girls then went to Penny’s (inexpensive department store) to get bed linen (do I sound European yet?). I have zero idea of how much items should cost over here... I do the rough conversion to American money in my head, but it is just SO DIFFERENT. I would like to know if I am getting a deal or very ripped off, so hopefully I get the hang of it soon. I got a comforter which is very Boy in the Stripped Pajamas-esk, but it’ll do (lots of light blue stripes/ that comparison is probably inappropriate). The shower water is warm, the pressure is good as well. The mattress sucks and the pillow is thin, but I am in my OWN ROOM and officially LIVING IN IRELAND.. so no true complaints!

We did a little grocery shopping as well, where I found out that cartons of eggs here are not refrigerated and all nutrition labels are done by 100 grams.. UGH. I was stunned when my peanut butter read 600+ calories (kcals?) and 1 gram of salt (AHH), but then realized it was for 100g of pb... which is like 6 tablespoons. WHY is it like that? I seem to be very hungry here, but I suppose that is because my body has no idea what time it is (neither does my head). Mitch helped me figure out all of the math so I knew the macros, sugar and salt for my new items (xo), but the peanut butter is still not great. I am a pb feign and would LOVE some Nuts n More (hint hint, LOL). 

We decided since it was our official first night in Cork we should go celebrate. So the girls went to the local “off license” (package store) and all got wine. When we came back, all of the students on our floor met up and socialized. We compared difference in popular music by country and got to know a little bit about one another. Next we wandered downtown and found a small pub called the Washington Inn. We struck up conversation with a young man at the bar who told us that he was a professional Hurling player, he even pulled up a newspaper with his name in the write up (bragging), which I had never even heard of. He showed us videos and explained that it was as popular as American football is for us and a sort of mixture between baseball + lacrosse. (Note to self, research popular sports before you meet any more famous athletes). We continued on to a larger bar after where we danced and made friends with some locals. We returned to our apartment around 2:30 after the bar closed and thanks to the Red Bull (Jagger bombs.. remember for the future that you think these + Sambuca shots are gross) I was wide awake. So I FaceTimed Mitch for a couple hours and drunkenly unpacked my entire two suitcases. I woke up the next morning slightly dehydrated, but completely organized #winning.

Bye for now!

Why?

As most of you may already know, this upcoming Fall semester I will be studying abroad in Cork, Ireland. I have decided to create this blog to share my experiences with my friends/family and to keep track of all of the adventures and small details that I will want to look back and remember in the future. Whether it be travels, food or little stories that stick in my mind, I will be posting them on this site. These posts might be quick check-ins or long, detailed explanations, BUT most will probably be rambles about my day's events. Who knows how often I will be blogging or exactly what I will be writing about, I suppose that will all come natural (or I hope so) once I begin my experience abroad. So far, I have been accepted into the University of College Cork and have roughly chosen my courses. As of now, my biggest fears are 

1) that I will not be able to fit all of the clothes for an entire semester in one or two suitcases (I brought a UHAUL first semester this year..) 

& 

2) that I will not have enough time to visit all of the places on my (ever-growing) list while in Europe and also spend enough time actually in Ireland allowing myself to get accustomed to the culture and ways of the area

Lastly, I have named this blog UnCORKed for a very specific reason. I would not define myself, currently, as someone who is able to go with the flow. I find peace in order and deadlines, but never truly take time to myself to breath and enjoy the moments that I am in. I also, regretfully, do not really listen to others or allow them to share their stories since I am always in a rush to get out what is in my own mind and hurry to my next destination. While abroad, I hope to learn how to relax and also be spontaneous (not dangerously Mom), to uncork if you will. I want to explore and see as much as possible. I want to ask questions and befriend locals. To try new foods and force myself out of my comfort zone. My goal is to find myself, as corny as that may be. To take time alone to really question who I want to become and allow the fact that I will be living in an unfamiliar area, where no one knows me, to be seen as an opportunity and not a fear. This is my chance to begin to take my life into my own hands and I plan to take advantage of every excuse that is made available to become immersed in all of the sights, smells, tastes and sounds of the new lands that I am going to be traveling to. I hope that you will follow my adventure.

Bye for now,

Kirsty