I'm terrible at this blogging thing!

So picking up where my last entry left off... Tuesday. That night a bunch of the girls went out with a few of the law students we met in our dorm. We went to a club called Dicey's. And it was ridiculously fun.

Me, the Rachels, and David!

David goes to Dayton Law and is from the Bronx! We miss you David!

Me, Rachel Q and our friend Gerard!

Gerard also goes to Dayton Law and is from Hotlanta! We miss you!

Then my Irish friend Brian and a few of his friends met up with us because it was his 21st! Yay!

Me and the birthday boy!

On Wednesday after class, a few of us took the DART to Dalkey with B. Love, his wife and her mother. It's a cute little town on the Southern coast. We did a guided tour of Dalkey castle, which was way more fun than I had expected. There were 3 different tour guides that were dressed in medieval attire and played characters. The first guide was a Queen who had been murdered, and throughout the tour we were supposed to guess which of the other guides had killed her. She showed us around the garden/cemetery of the castle. Then, her "brother" showed us the Murder Room. Then his squire showed us the top of the castle and what/where they ate. It was actually really neat!

The Queen explaining the "T," and a very curious girl on our tour!

B. Love's wife, Meiling, demonstrating the barracks! Ha!

The squire on the roof of the castle.

He was constantly picking his nose and "eating" his boogers and sneezing and licking his hands. I think he got WAY too into character! Ha!

Krysten, Me, Rachel Q, and Ana at the harbor in Dalkey

Rock climbing in my 3 euro shoes! Needless to say, I had to throw those bad boys away after :(

This is also right before a boat full of guys drove by us yelling, "HELP US!" and then made some crude signals. European men have no filters. We found this out early on!

We planned on getting back on the DART around 8:30, and we did. BUT, there was an "incident" at one of the stops, so we had to get off and take the city bus. Which would not have been an issue, if we had gotten on the 7 in the right direction! We were stuck in Dun Laoghaire for a few minutes trying to figure out where we were, and we eventually got on the right bus heading in the right direction. We recognized where we were and tried to get off to catch the 17 which would take us straight to campus. We waited for 45 freaking minutes... and it never came! Luckily, there was a McDonald's near. Ha! It took us 2 hours to get home, when it should've only taken 30 minutes at most. Awesome. But, we definitely have a better feel for the terrible public transportation here.

On Thursday, Rachel Q and I FINALLY went to the Guinness factory! We were the last two in our group who hadn't been. Everyone said they liked Jameson better, but RQ and I had a ton of fun at Guinness! We had the option to either get our free pint in the Sky Bar, which has a 360 degree view of Dublin, or "Pour the perfect pint." We both chose to pour the perfect pint! And I'm glad we did, because the sky bar was ridiculously crowded!

We finally made it!

RQ and I by the water wall inside the factory!

Pouring the perfect pint!

My certificate makes it official.

After Guinness, we came back and napped. Then we went out to see our favorite local musician play at The Purty Kitchen. We saw Andrew Mann play there about 2 weeks ago, and we saw him on Monday at Porterhouse. He's so good! After he and his band finished his set, he took us to a bar/pub called Lillie's Bordello off Grafton. Apparently it's where all the celebrities hang out. He's even seen Bono there a few times! Unfortunately, we didn't see any on Thursday, but it was definitely a swanky place which we will be visiting again to scope for celebrities!

Me and Christy!

Tracie's friend, Christy, also goes to UT and she's here in Dublin doing an internship with Dell. So fun!

That's it for now! I can only handle updating so much at a time! It's hard to remember everything we've done! But, a little teaser for my next entry -- we definitely saw a hurling game!

Goodnight all!

Hillary

"Oh, that's what the sun looks like? I almost forgot!"

Today is a beautiful, sunny day! Quite rare. But let me begin with yesterday.

Monday, June 14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! :) And happy flag day America! Yesterday was long. We visited Edelman at 10:30 am. It was NOT interesting. It was just an awkward vibe and a very dull presentation, but there were definitely some interesting parts. After the visit, we had class from 1:30 until 2:30. Then Rachel and I did laundry, yet again. I'm telling y'all, I do laundry more than anything here!

After that, we came home and had dinner and got ready for the night. We headed to our favorite bar/pub called Porterhouse. We ALWAYS start our night out there regardless of our plans for the evening. And it just so happened that a singer we saw at Purty Kitchen the week before was playing with his band that night! We ended up staying for the 2-hour set and sang every word to every song they sang! After the set, he came up to us because he remembered us from his last show! Now, we have plans to see him on Thursday and go out with the whole band afterward! Random, right? Haha! It should definitely be interesting!

Band at Porterhouse! Front row, as always! :)

Please appreciate Kelsey's face. HA!

Today, Tuesday, June 15

Today was all about getting that Vitamin D! I swear, there has been barely any sun this entire week, so today was just what we all needed. After class this morning, I headed out to St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful park in city centre, to meet up with my Irish friend, Brian. We just hung out and talked in the park for most of the afternoon and before I knew it, I was sunburned! You definitely don't think about wearing sunscreen in this country, and man, I wish I had!

After the green, I met up with Rachel Q for some shopping! And then I practically passed out on the bus ride home. Sunburns always drain me. We were all planning on going out tonight, but I'm definitely having to pass, seeing as how I look like a lobster and am ridiculously tired.

Well, I'm off to aloe up and pass out. Goodnight all!

Galway Girl :)

Sorry it's been a week! Blog fail. Honestly, Monday through Thursday of this week were rather uneventful. Except that on Tuesday, we visited Carr Communications and got to hear what they're all about. It was actually really interesting to see how far behind Ireland is compared to the U.S. Their PR tactics and communication models are about 5 years behind ours. Very interesting. Also, we watched a few commercials from one of their clients, Road Safety Authority, which were graphic, to say the least. Here's a link to the least graphic of the two. I couldn't find the more graphic one, which was actually shown during the USA v. England match last night. It was horrific.

Road Safety Authority Ireland ad

Seriously, just be prepared for what you're about to watch!

After our site visit on Tuesday, Rachel and I did laundry for the rest of the day. No joke. It took like 4 hours because we picked the bad dryers. Awesome. Then we went out to Q bar that night and had a blast as always! Wednesday and Thursday were pretty lowkey and I honestly don't think we did much. I remember sleeping for the majority of Wednesday, and maybe watching an episode or two of True Blood somewhere in there! :)

Friday. Now, Friday was a big day! My roommates plus Krysten and I woke up at 5 a.m. so we could catch our 7 a.m. bus to Galway! Needless to say, we slept the majority of the 3 hour ride there. We arrived in Galway around 10 a.m. and immediately boarded our tour bus for the Cliffs of Moher. Oh. My. Lord. I can't even describe how beautiful the cliffs were, so here are some pictures! :)

Breathtaking.

Oops! We did.

...and the view was worth it!

Our group, minus Cindy! The water was so blue. Beautiful!

Warning!

Unfortunately, these were the only pictures I was able to take all weekend because my camera died! BUT, I will be stealing everyone else's pictures soon. The rest of the weekend consisted of much walking and a little shopping here and there. We had planned to go to the Aran Islands today (Sunday) but the weather was NOT ideal. So we just went into town and hung around because we had to check out of the Holiday Hotel at 11 a.m.

Oh man. The Holiday Hotel was adorable. The owners were Australian and SO helpful. It wasn't actually in Galway, but it was in an area called Salthill, which was about a 20-minute walk outside of the city. At one point, we visited St. Nichols church, which is the church where Christopher Columbus and his men went to pray before beginning their voyage to the new world. That was pretty neat!

Saturday night we went out to a pub to watch the USA v. England match! We stumbled into a pub called Richardson's where a bunch of Irish guys were singing a ton of different songs along to a guitar, which they brought. It was hilarious because they tried singing "Sweet Home Alabama" and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and completely messed up the lyrics. The Irish should probably give up trying to sing those correctly! After that we met up with 3 other people from our class who were also in Galway. Definitely fun!

I wish I had more pictures, but I'll try and steal some other ones soon. I'm exhausted and we have another site visit tomorrow morning. We'll be visiting the Edelman group, a huge international PR firm. It should definitely be exciting!

Goodnight,

Hillary

Days 10, 11 and 12: "More like frosted FAKES."

It's definitely getting harder and harder to update everyday, so I'll do my best to do it every couple of days! The title of this blog is definitely referring to how different everything tastes here. Even my Frosted Flakes taste funny. And it's increasingly difficult to find skim milk here. I've had to start drinking low fat milk, and even THAT tastes funny. And I cannot find GRAPE jelly ANYWHERE! Apparently the Irish only like jam, and strawberry jam for that matter. It's the little things I miss, like my Frosted Flakes... and Chipotle. But don't get me wrong, the food at restaurants are ridiculously delicious. Enough of that, on to the past few days!

Day 10: June 5, 2010

Saturday was SO much fun! My suite-mates and I (all six of us) went to the Docklands festival that afternoon. We weren't entirely sure what to expect, but it was definitely fun! There were probably a hundred or so vendors in tents along both sides of the Liffey river, which runs straight through Dublin. I ate a piece of ham, spinach and onion quiche, and Rachel got an Irish sausage hot dog. So delicious!

Me and the dutch vendor! Haha! Such good quiche.

Rachel and me enjoying Krombacher beer;

a German beer, which we have yet to find in any pubs.

And it's hands down the best beer I've ever consumed.

View of the carnival part of the festival

After the Docklands Festival, the roomies and I headed back to our room and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon before heading out to Temple Bar in the evening. It's definitely expensive to go out here.

Day 11: June 6, 2010

Sunday was definitely a lazy day. It started raining pretty early, and it has continued raining since then. So I woke up rather early and decided to start watching Season 2 of True Blood since I haven't yet! But it took me like 2 hours to watch one episode because these foreign TV show web sites only allow a certain number of minutes at a time or something strange like that!

Then around 1 or so me, Rachel Q, Tracie, Cindy, Krysten and Ana went to Eddie Rockets for lunch. Yes, Eddie Rockets! It's exactly like Johnny Rockets back home. Pretty much identical, except our waitresses were Polish and hard to understand. We were definitely just craving some good old fashion American food at that point. Then after that, we went shopping yet again at Penneys and Dunnes. But this time, I actually had success! I spent 58 euro total for a blazer, a pair of jeans, a going-out top, package of socks, and a linen skirt. AMAZING!

Then we came home and napped again before heading out, since Monday was a bank holiday here and class was cancelled since all the buildings on campus were closed. So we unexpectedly had a 3-day weekend! Woohoo!

Day 12: June 7, 2010

Monday was even lazier. Rachel and I decided to do laundry (which I desperately needed to do by then!) in the afternoon. It took us close to 3 hours since we chose a bad dryer that didn't work. I probably spent 12 euro doing laundry today, ridiculous. Even doing laundry's expensive. After laundry we hung out with a few law students we met who also live in our dorm. It was raining ALL day so we were perfectly content with staying inside and on campus all day.

I'm getting increasingly worse at taking pictures, too. I'm really trying to work on that! Well, it's 8:30 in the morning and we have another site visit this morning at Carr Communications, so I must get ready!

Love and miss you all,

Hillary

Days 7, 8 and 9: "I'm American, not retarded."

Man. I really wish I kept up with blogging! We've done SO much in the past 3 days. Here goes my best attempt at remembering everything! And for my own personal use/help with remembering, I'll be dating each day. :)

Day 7: June 2, 2010

Wednesday. Wednesday was definitely a busy day. We had class from 10 til 12 again. And if I remember correctly, we broke up into small groups to begin our secondary research/continued that from Tuesday. After class, Rachel Q and I haaaad to do laundry so we went to the launderett. Yes, the launderett. Adorbs. Except it's not exactly clean or adorable. So we did a few loads and laundry and watched GLEE while we waited! I finally found a web site that would work over here! Yess! Thanks yidio.com!

After laundry, we got ready for our meeting with the HSE or Health Services Executive. We met with two representatives in charge of the plan for disseminating cervical cancer vaccine. Since Ireland has universal healthcare, the government/HSE is giving out the vaccine for free to girls ages 12-13. I found it ironic that the HSE is also responsible for issuing marriage licenses... apparently they offer a very wide variety of services!

The meeting went well. The HSE reps had already done a lot with their campaign and told us not to change anything, but just to add more, which I wasn't expecting. They're way more ahead of the game than we thought. But we definitely received some useful information!

After the meeting, Rachel Q, Kelsey, Cindy and I were craving Chinese food, so we went to some place called Charlie's (ironic, I know!) and got some Chinese take away. We found a cute little plaza and ate there. Let me tell you, it was not very good Chinese food, but I love how they give out half rice/half "chips" with the sweet and sour pork. So weird.

On our way back to the bus, we had to walk through Temple Bar, so of course we stopped and grabbed a pint at The Auld Dubliners. I got the Berry Bulmers... SO delicious. I've got to find the Bulmers equivalent when I get home! When we got home, we decided to check out one of the student pubs on campus. It's actually located right by the building we have class everyday. But our UCD liaison said it would be pretty slow since most students are home or on holiday, and man, she was right. It was pretty much just 5 of us jamming to the UK's Top 40 music video countdown. And you better BELIEBE that J. Bieber came on. Bieber fever is out of control over here! Then we pretty much called it a night. I got a wonderful 9 hours of sleep, for the first time since I've been here!

Day 8: June 3, 2010

Thursday. Thursday was awesome! After class, Rachel Q and I went to the National Gallery of Ireland. It. Was. Amazing. There were something like 50 rooms of paintings ranging from European to Flemish to Irish. Breathtaking. And it just so happened that while we're here, the Taking Stock: Acquisition exhibit is also here. We saw a few pieces of work from Van Gogh and Monet, which were my favorites.

Outside National Gallery

After the gallery, we headed to Merrion Square to relax and enjoy the unusually beautiful weather. While we were resting, an old Irish man named Tom and his cocker spaniel, Scotty, approached us and we chatted for a bit. He was too nice. And Scotty was adorbs. It definitely made me miss my little Leo, and Tiger, too! Also, we saw a class of elementary aged kids playing. They were dressed just like the kids in Madeline... definitely didn't know kids had to dress like that here! They were freaking cute.

Aren't they adorable?!

After Merrion Square, Rachel and I met up with one of our roommates Cindy and began our excursion for Indian food. I've never had Indian food in my life. But man, I actually really liked it! We went to a restaurant called Mantraa, and it was definitely gourmet. Luckily, we were just in time for the Early Bird Special and each got a 3-course meal for 12.50 euro!

My vegetable samosa! YUM!

After dinner, we made a quick stop at Tesco to grab a few groceries, then made our way to the bus stop, only to discover that a protest was taking place and the buses couldn't get through. So we started walking toward campus, until the protest caught up with us. So we took a side street to avoid it and we FINALLY got on a bus. It took us over an hour to get from the grocery store to campus! Ridic.

Later that night we went out to Temple Bar and a few other places around Dublin. And we finally found a karaoke bar! Ashley sang "Living On a Prayer" and Jenna and Stephanie sang "Brown Eyed Girl." It was hilarious!

Day 9: June 4, 2010

On Friday, instead of having class at 10, each group met with B.Love at a little coffee shop inside of this HUGE shopping center that used to be someone's mansion. Crazy. So we met with him and discussed our research. After that, a few of us went shopping in search of something to wear for Irish dancing tonight! Alas, I found nothing and had to make due with what I brought.

At 5 p.m., we met the group at the bus stop to go to dinner at a restaurant called Valparaiso. It. Was. Delicious. We had to sit at two separate tables so there were about 9 at each table (since B.Love's wife got here today!) Everyone at out table ordered the grilled sirloin. And oh my dang, it was amazing. SO good. Even better with a Tiger beer. No joke. Tiger beer. Imported from Asia. Delicious.

Tiger beer. Straight from Asia. Holla!

After dinner the group walked to Black Rock beach (the same coast my tour bus stopped at on the way to Glendalough on Sunday) to just look around and kill time before Irish dancing at 9 p.m.!

All of us girls!

Then it was finally time for Irish dancing! Rather than try and describe EVERYTHING in words, I'll just let the video do the explaining. BUT, I will add that we learned about 5 different dances and our instructor took it VERY seriously... haha! Our instructor, Kathy, is the woman in the green with the microphone. What a haus.

The other people in the video were part of a wedding party. Yes, an Irish wedding party! They were all such good dancers. At the very end of the night, everyone joined in a circle around them and "mushed" while they danced in the middle and then we made an arch leading out the door and they ran under it and out the door! It was so cute and exciting!

We were EXHAUSTED after dancing! So we headed home in taxis (courtesy of UT, thanks for paying!) and passed out almost immediately. And today was quite adventurous, but I'll have to save that for tomorrow. I'm exhausted and this post has taken me over an hour! Nap time!

Until next time,

Hillary

Days 7, 8 and 9 to come soon!

Oh man! I've been so busy lately that I've barely had time to get online for personal use. The past 3 days have been epic. I can't upload pictures from my camera right now because I need to borrow Tracie's USB cord, so I'll have to upload/update tomorrow. But just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and well in Dublin!

We just spent the past 3 hours learning and participating in Irish dancing at Culturlann na Herieann. My feet are mutilated. No doubt. But I got some awesome videos to post! I'll have to expand when I have time to update. I'm DEFINITELY going to pass out now (right after Rachel Q and I plan out our weekend activities and next weekend's trip to Gallway!).

But for now, here's a video of Groove Machine, whom we saw on Tuesday night at Porterhouse.

Goodnight and goodbye,
Hillary

Day 6: If I could walk 500 miles...

...THEN I WOULD WALK 500 MORE!

Today definitely started off on the wrong foot. I woke up at 7:30 for our first day of class, and I decided to shower like I do every morning. Only this morning, we were in the dorms. Our bathrooms are essentially our showers. There's only a curtain covering a corner of the bathroom with a tiny drain in the middle of the floor. So, I take like maybe a 10 minutes shower, get out and open the bathroom door, only to find that half of my (carpeted) room is flooded. AWESOME. My entire suitcase got soaked, aaaand there was 2 inches of standing water in my bathroom. Needless to say, the day did not start off as planned. I later discovered that the drain was clogged and it was in no way my fault (which definitely relieved me!). And it's funny, because the receptionist was infinitely nicer to me once maintenance discovered the clog... hm, interesting!

After Rachel went down and told reception about my shower incident, we headed to our first day of class. Starting today, we have class every day from 10 a.m. to noon. We were introduced to our topic, which is HPV prevention in Ireland among teenage Irish girls. This week, we're supposed to conduct secondary research and gather as much information as possible dealing with either HPV prevention in the US, HPV prevention in Ireland, and the current picture of young Irish girls today. My group is assigned to prior HPV prevention in the US. I'm actually really excited to delve into this project!

After class, I went shopping with 2 of the 3 Rachel's (both of whom I'm rooming with in the dorms!). We went to Penneys, Dunnes, and Arnott's! I got a few clothing items I needed, like a scarf (for only 3 euro!!) and some leggings, and another pair of shoes, and I got a Longchamp bag at Arnott's. I was definitely most excited for this! It'll definitely come in handy, and it's adorable!

After shopping, we came home and napped for bit. Then we got ready to go out to Temple Bar again! Tonight, we went to Purty Kitchen and Porterhouse. Both of which had live bands that were very entertaining (and free!), which is definitely different than Austin. I like not having to pay to see awesome bands! We definitely go out earlier here, but only so we can catch the bus back to campus and not have to pay for a cab. We're all about being economical here!

Tonight, I tried strawberry beer called Fruli, a Belgium beer! It was definitely delicious. The band at Porterhouse was called Groove Machine, and they definitely played every 70s and 80s song I know and love.

Cindy, Rachel and Me at Purty Kitchen!

Rachel, Me and Tracie enjoying our yummy strawberry beer!



Today was definitely a chill day. Always fun! Tomorrow after class, we're going to visit the HSE (Health Science Executive) to discuss our project. I'm very excited! That's all for now! Goodnight

From Ireland with love,
Hillary

Day 5: Move-in day! and Temple bar?!

Today was rather eventful. We moved out of Ariel House and into the dorms on University College Dublin campus! It's actually like an apartment. There are six people to an apartment, and we each have our own room and bathroom. Our front door opens to a hallway, with 3 rooms on each side and another door to the right leading to the kitchen/living area. Unfortunately, there are no TVs. BUT, it's about time I learn to live without it! ;)

After we got to our rooms, we had a brief orientation and tour of the campus. It is GORGEOUS! It was another beautiful day, so that really impacted it for sure. But there are about 22,000 undergrads at UCD, which is the largest university in all of Ireland. Unfortunately, practically every student goes home for the summer, so we won't get to meet too many local students.

After unpacking and getting situated, we went grocery shopping in the city centre. Then everybody went to William & Searsons for linner (yes, linner! lunch + dinner!) and a pint.

Later this evening, we went to Temple bar! Temple bar is not just one bar. It's actually 2 large squares of pure pubs, which equals about 5 or 6 blocks, maybe more. Tonight, however, we went to the original Temple Bar, which is a single bar located in Temple bar area. I had my first Guinness tonight! And I actually liked it! I also had Bulmers cider, which is also amazingly tasty. Big fan. A local Irish band played and we met people from all over the world. It was definitely fun!

Tomorrow is our first day of class. Eek! We will officially find out our topic that we will be working on with the HSE (Health Services Executive). Class is going to be from 10 a.m. to noon every weekday. So we will have the afternoons and evenings to study, travel, and further explore Dublin.

I realized I didn't take any pictures today about an hour ago. So, I'm sorry for the lack of photographs! But I'll be sure to take some tomorrow! Goodnight!

From Ireland with love,
Hillary