Finally...

Pictures!
You thought I was making it all up, didn't you!? Well now I have proof!
Direct to you from facebook. =D

Here's about half of the Arcadia group (yes I CAN remember their names...most of them) in front of a cathedral on the way to the Old Jameson Distillery. The weather was absolutely terrible, and we were having a fantastic time.


This is another group (almost the whole other half, oddly enough) out for a walk along the river on the most beautiful day we had in Dublin. Literally ever person except one (Kate, 3rd from the left in red) slipped on the incredibly icy sidewalks that day. Good times...


Mary Kate, Liz, and Me, obviosuly enjoying our bus tour of Dublin. The bus was packed, so some of us had to stand outside up on the observation deck in the 30 mph wind and 30 degree rain/hail. After the numbness set in, it was a lot of fun and we saw some great stuff.


I wish I'd gotten a better picture here, but oh well. Kate, Marian and me on top of one of the parapets on Bunratty (*snort*) Castle on the way to Galway last weekend. There was this whole medieval/victorian town to walk through, and plenty of gift shops and restaurants. Lots of those here. I love this picture! Me on top of the tower on the highest point above the Cliffs of Moher. You had to pay a flippin' Euro to walk up the last 20 or so steps to the top of the tower, but man was it worth it. Aaaand finally, a good chunk of the group sitting amongst the ruins of Dun Aengus, an ancient fort built by the warrior King Aengus. The whole thing is situated right, and I mean RIGHT on the edge of a cliff over the sea. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen, though I think some of us had anxiety attacks from the height of the cliff and the fact that there wasn't a single bloody guardrail or fence to be seen. Didn't stop some of some us from dangling legs over the edge, though. =D

Whew! That's all I got for now, but I'll upload as I get 'em!

'Cuz I feel like bloggin'!

Yes! Finally a complete eclipse of having something to say and really feeling like saying it! Not to say I haven't wanted to write the other blog posts; it's kind of like when you're just sitting there and it strikes you,"Wow...I really want to do X/Y/Z." And you do it, you know? Well, now I feel like blogging. Unfortunate that it should happen at about 1:00 AM when I have to wake up early tomorrow, but hey, you take what you can get right?

Well, any way, I wanted to write because tonight, I have been to my first European-style Rave. For those of you who don't know what a rave is, it's kind of like a big dance party with lots of flashing, multicolor (Hah! I almost wrote Colour) lights, over-loud music, glow sticks, and UV lights. It makes all kind of weird effects as you look at the room and the people around you, and makes it everyone look like they at least half-way knows how to dance (lucky for me). \\
Take this picture and then pound your head repeatedly against your desk to simulate the bass notes, and you get the basic idea:





















But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

We went on what is called a Pub-Crawl, or a guided tour of several of the pubs in the area. It was originally meant to be geared towards the more tradition Irish pubs, but seeing as more people showed up than the planners originally allowed for (about 80 more than the original 40-ish), we had to fit in at any place that would take us. This meant a lot of long distance walks around Cork, impromptu sprints and runs to be among the first 50 to receive, for example, the drink and crisps discounts, and, eventually, rave parties. Most of the places were pretty nice, and I get the feeling that it would be fun to return to them with a small group of friends IF we could arrange some kind of discount again. Otherwise...yeah. When you can have a handful of change that actually equals 20 or 30$ US, you have to be careful how you spend. I swear, they make 1 and 2€ just to make us Americans spend too much.

But finally, tired and sore, we arrived at our last location, a fancy club called The Classic. There must have been literally 4 people who checked me before I got through the door. This kind of worried me at first, until I realized that this meant that there would be few if any really drunk or belligerent people inside. Security was tight, but once you got in, you had nothing to worry about.

I thought it would be the same as the others, just sitting down and talking, having a good time, until Kate got up and pulled me and the rest of the group around a corner to a...something I couldn't actually see really well. There was too much fog and too many lights and effects to see very well. Despite this, we waded in and, with bass beats pumping and strobe lights flashing, just danced the night away. Others from our group joined us, and we formed a big circle with each of us getting pulled in and out of the middle, jammed against other groups doing the same thing. It was a wonderful time.

So what happened afterword? I'm sitting here writing in my blog and eating a bowl of oatmeal You know, a real Wild and Crrrazy Guy! And tomorrow, I have a long bus ride over to Galway for the weekend that starts waaay too early. But even so, I'm very happy to be where I am.

Studying abroad really is one heck of an experience.