The worlds largest spiders have apparently made the move to Ireland with me. There was another particularly nasty one found by yours truly at Sam's house. This is so much more nature than I bargained for. I move into my house tomorrow night/ Tuesday! So excited! One housemate seems nice enough, very quiet and the other one I get on with really well. I went over for a cup of tea on Wed. and got to have a sit down chat with her. The lease signing went without a glitch. I will have photos coming shorty once I am settled and moved in. The delay is due to my inability to locate my camera technology in my extremely packed suitcases. I am so excited to finally be settled into my new place.
It has been wonderfully sunny here! I have been doing my course reading out by the Spanish Arch looking out at the water and living in fear of being attached by a deranged seagull. Sam and I discovered the joys of Lidl, a German owned discount grocery store. We went this week and saved probably 30% off the normal price of groceries! The monotony of everyday life beings...haha.
For all you Minnesota fans out there. I met a girl through one of Sam's friends who is dating a boy from the Twin Cities! This may not seem that amazing but almost no one in Galway has even heard of the Twin Cities and even fewer have actually been there. It made me miss you all!
Hope all is well!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Bits and Bobs
Hello all,
Not much of anything has happened in the few days since I last updated. I am in limbo about the house until tomorrow. I put the deposit down, but tomorrow I sign the lease. Hopefully it goes smoothly! I discovered that it is very close to being located on the river and our common garden area actually looks out on the Corrib River. I have succeeded in living on the water again! YAY! The housemates seem really nice and I am going over this evening for a bit more of a chat with all of them and to discuss the logistics of fibbing about my student status to the letting agency.
The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous; shorts weather which is extremely unusual for Ireland. This means swimming has been a pleasant experience which is not typical for Ireland. I have however managed to come down with a rather nasty cold...every time I come to Ireland I get a cold!
We are currently battling a fruit fly infestation in Sam's house due to a rather sneaky moldy orange. I've set out wine bottle traps that seem to be doing the trick. I didn't really think fruit flies would be much of an issue in Ireland. Also I saw the largest spider in Ireland yesterday! It rivaled the long legged Florida ones. ICKS! I came to Ireland in part because I thought their wildlife consisted of sheep and hedgehogs.
I've started my law reading and was rather disappointed to discover the book I thought was 1,000 pages is actually 1,500, so I am on a bit of a time crunch to get it finished before classes. Yesterday was spent primarily trying to get a solid start. It's fascinating but not exactly a quick read.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Not much of anything has happened in the few days since I last updated. I am in limbo about the house until tomorrow. I put the deposit down, but tomorrow I sign the lease. Hopefully it goes smoothly! I discovered that it is very close to being located on the river and our common garden area actually looks out on the Corrib River. I have succeeded in living on the water again! YAY! The housemates seem really nice and I am going over this evening for a bit more of a chat with all of them and to discuss the logistics of fibbing about my student status to the letting agency.
The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous; shorts weather which is extremely unusual for Ireland. This means swimming has been a pleasant experience which is not typical for Ireland. I have however managed to come down with a rather nasty cold...every time I come to Ireland I get a cold!
We are currently battling a fruit fly infestation in Sam's house due to a rather sneaky moldy orange. I've set out wine bottle traps that seem to be doing the trick. I didn't really think fruit flies would be much of an issue in Ireland. Also I saw the largest spider in Ireland yesterday! It rivaled the long legged Florida ones. ICKS! I came to Ireland in part because I thought their wildlife consisted of sheep and hedgehogs.
I've started my law reading and was rather disappointed to discover the book I thought was 1,000 pages is actually 1,500, so I am on a bit of a time crunch to get it finished before classes. Yesterday was spent primarily trying to get a solid start. It's fascinating but not exactly a quick read.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Monday, August 23, 2010
A little hiccup, a lot of fun
So I do not in fact have a new place. I have put down the deposit on a really nice house share in City Centre but it involves telling a few fibs to the letting agency. If that all goes grand then I have a new place. The original house that I put the deposit on was beautiful but the people in it were not comfortable with me having friends stay with me when they come to visit from America. This seemed a sign that things were not going to work out. I got my deposit back no problem though and have now learned to make sure to mention that I do in fact have a social life when renting a place. Who knew?
Other than that things have been going swimmingly. Sam and I have been quite the social butterflies. Two birthday parties in the last four days, just as many coffee dates, swimming, hiking everything. I am making sure to take advantage of every opportunity while I am not swamped with school work and the sun is still shinning. I have been seeing a lot of Sam's mom and brothers which has been really nice! They are such lovely people and I really feel like they enjoy having me around.
We went on a bog hike with his mom and brother David. It was beautiful! Sunshine, heather, rolling green hills. Today we went for a swim down by Blackrock and I could not have asked for a better day for it. The water was warm by Irish standards and the sun was out. I hope to have some pictures posted soon because I just can't do the Irish landscape justice in my descriptions.
I just purchased my first textbook for my course and have started reading it. It is absolutely fascinating and gives me great hope for a challenging and interesting academic year.
Hope everyone is well!
Other than that things have been going swimmingly. Sam and I have been quite the social butterflies. Two birthday parties in the last four days, just as many coffee dates, swimming, hiking everything. I am making sure to take advantage of every opportunity while I am not swamped with school work and the sun is still shinning. I have been seeing a lot of Sam's mom and brothers which has been really nice! They are such lovely people and I really feel like they enjoy having me around.
We went on a bog hike with his mom and brother David. It was beautiful! Sunshine, heather, rolling green hills. Today we went for a swim down by Blackrock and I could not have asked for a better day for it. The water was warm by Irish standards and the sun was out. I hope to have some pictures posted soon because I just can't do the Irish landscape justice in my descriptions.
I just purchased my first textbook for my course and have started reading it. It is absolutely fascinating and gives me great hope for a challenging and interesting academic year.
Hope everyone is well!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
My humble abode
I got a house! I went house hunting yesterday and found literally the perfect place within 3 hours of being in Galway. I cannot believe my luck! I move in on Sunday and will post so photos of it some time in the next week. It is a lovely double bedroom in a residential estate. Right now there is a younger professional couple living there. They are absolutely wonderful people, very sweet and we hit it off right away. I am a bit farther from the college than I wanted to be but I am extremely close to the grocery store so it all works out!
I am so tired as the jet lag seems to be catching up with me. I had a good flight and ended up sitting next to a really interesting Danish woman so we chatted for a fair amount of it.
Last night Sam and I went out to one of his friends birthday parties which was quite nice. I got to catch up with a fair amount of his friends.
Everything is working out spectacularly well, lets hope the trend continues!
Hope everyone is well!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Beginning
I thought starting a blog would be an easy way to share my study and travel experiences with you all. I have attempted to start a blog before and epically failed at sticking with it. Better luck this time I hope :)
I leave for Ireland Tuesday afternoon and arrive early in the morning Wed (lucky Sam). It's a direct flight so hopefully I can get some rest on that and not be super jet lagged. As soon as I land it's off to Galway to pick up the Galway Advertiser so I can start looking for apartments. Hopefully I'll find something that meets my check list; central heating, close to groceries, internet and semi- tame house mates. Fingers crossed :)
I leave for Ireland Tuesday afternoon and arrive early in the morning Wed (lucky Sam). It's a direct flight so hopefully I can get some rest on that and not be super jet lagged. As soon as I land it's off to Galway to pick up the Galway Advertiser so I can start looking for apartments. Hopefully I'll find something that meets my check list; central heating, close to groceries, internet and semi- tame house mates. Fingers crossed :)
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