I'm really not good at titles...

I am absolutely exhausted. I'm not sure if I can keep up with the Irish students drinking schedule. I asked my roommate what the big drinking days are. She answered, "Well Sunday, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are pretty big. And then Some people go out on Mondays and Wednesdays... and the kids who stay the weekend will go out on Fridays." I don't think she realized she had listed everyday...

(some of the girls: Mal, Lauren & Christy!)

Sunday night we went out to a club called the Trinity Rooms. (sas, I used a hyperlink... be proud!) It was really nice. Most of us wore a pair of jeans and a nice top. I felt like I had dressed very casual and conservative compared to the Irish girls. Most of them were dressed in short dresses with high heels, or leggings with a really fancy top. How they go out in just that blows my mind because it's way too cold!! All their hair was straightened, they even have hair straighteners in the bathrooms that you can pay a certain amount to use for a few minutes! (something I think we should get in the states haha) Another thing I notice is that the girls seemed to be wearing a lot more make up then us. So overall we kinda stuck out like plain jane thumbs. We had fun nonetheless and even got to flirt with a few good looking Irish guys :)

(Lauren and I busting some moves...)

The dancing here was alot different then at home. I usually hate going because I just feel sleezy. The guys dance here, but they dance in big groups with their friends. It kind of reminded me of a middle school dance with the seperation. And when one of them did break into our all girl circle, it was more to get a laugh out of us than anything else. It was just really fun.

Outside of the dance floor, not all the Irish guys were as well mannered. We've all noticed in our short week of being here that Irish guys are VERY forward.I was discussing this with my male Irish roommate, Conlin, and he asked what the difference between an American and an Irish guy was. I said they don't approach us like an Irish guy would, they don't get that close to your face, or touch you right away. He repsonded with "thats because they're scared of rejection, we're usually drunk.. so there's not really any fear." He makes a good point. We also discussed P.S I Love you today over lunch. He said that movie was "Rubbish" and "False advertising"... Thanks Conlin, You just killed millions of American girls hopes and dreams. Couldn't even play it up a little...

Monday night I had some of my American/ 1 Canadian friends come over for a pasta dinner! We all sat around the kitchen table, shared a meal, stories from home, and a lot of laughs! It gave a very homey feel, and I think it's something were going to continue once a week while we are here. We've all seemed to click really fast, and I definetly feel like I've known them for way longer than a week. I guess in this environment bonding happens a little faster!

Tuesday we ended up going out again. We hung out at Lauren's apartment before we went out and drank with her Irish roommmates. One of them could honestly drink like a fish, and still fully function. I have never seen anything like it. He tosses back bottle after bottle like its juice! We discussed Boston and New York (even a little bit of ABOOT Canadian eh MAL?) accents with them."pahk the cah in havahd yahd." & "coowwwfeee" It was hysterical to hear them attempt to say this in their Irish accents! They were heartbroken to find out that neither one of us is actually from our cities and that no one really talks like that around us! Going out was really fun except for the whole I didn't bring any I.D on my other than my student. Not very smart when you're in a foreign country! (you live you learn!) I couldn't get into the first pub we tried, Molly's, with just my student ID and the other club we tried after that was packed. We ended up back at Trinity. It's not a bad place, but I would've like to go somewhere else! Next time!

Classes started this week. I am only taking 4 while I'm here. They do this really interesting thing for exchange and study abroad kids where they let you "window shop". We are allowed to go to whatever modules (aka classes) we want for the first 2 weeks. Basically just to try them out and see what works best for you. Then at the end of the two weeks we register. I was going to take Gaelic, but the course load is pretty extreme. *Dad if you're reading this disregard the following sentence.* Even though its something that would be really cool to learn, I don't want to have my head in the books the entire time I'm here. I've chosen a lot of European history courses to take instead. We mainly focused on U.S history in school so it's something I should definitely know more about. Lauren and Mal are in about every one of my classes. We are absolutely convinced that on of our teachers is Stewie from Family Guy. We even started quoting Stewie on notes back and fourth, which caused that awkard try-to-stop-laughing-because-its-dead-silent- moment. The picture below is one of our classroom buildings!

We've also planned our first trip for this weekend! We're headed to Galway! My friend Lauren did some researching online, and emailed back and forth with a tour guide who's actually going to give us a pretty good deal. We're leaving Friday afternoon and spending the night in a hostel. Saturday morning we're doing a day tour of the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, etc etc. Then we'll do a night tour that evening, stay a the hostel again and head for the Arann Islands on Sunday! I'm feeling a little under the weather right now (which is probably due to the weather...) Hopefully it's just a head cold and I'll be fine for our little adventure this weekend! :)