rough week!

I know I'm a little behind on the writing, but last week was so stressful!
The week started off great! My one and only girl roommate asked me if I wanted to go into the city with her. Thinking she just wanted some company I said I would tag along! Turns out she brought me into the city so I could get some more things to get settled (bedding, more towels, etc) and then she showed me the cool places to shop. Which in hindsight could've been a bad thing haha! They have this really cool store here called River Island. I loved almost everything in it and wanted to buy the whole store. Unfortunately, they are a little pricey so I made the wise choice to just poke around! She also took me to a store called Penneys. It kinda reminds me of a Forever 21 at home. They have a ton of stuff and its reasonably priced! She also took me to a store called Brown Thomas because she had to get some new makeup. This store kinda reminded me a Macy's. We walked in and when Mare was trying out different make ups, I wandered to take a look around. I was trying out all the products, and smelling the perfumes. By this point Mare had made her purchase and as a reward for buying the product she got her eyebrows threaded for free! Mare sat down in the chair to get it done. I walked over to the booth and started trying out all the lotions around it. She was deep into conversation with the sales associate when I suddenly broke into laughter and got both of their attention. I noticed I had just tried a brand of lotion entitled: "Fat Girl Scrub" (Fat Girl Scrub) I could not contain myself! Who on earth would buy a product with that name!! After I had their attention, the sales woman started a conversation with me. She asked me where I was from, and made some more small talk. After she finished threading mare's eyebrows she asked if I had ever had mine done. I said no, and she told me she would do them for free because she was bored. I sat down and she started to give me a facial. She proceeded to tell me my face was horribly broken out and what I needed to do to clear it up. (basically she insulted me into buying one of her products, I got suckered in. Dad I'm not as clever as you, I wasn't able to get a free blue ray dvd player out of her!) As she was about to thread my eyebrows she came really close to my face to look at them. She was right up close, when she backed up with a shocked look on her face and exclaimed, "are you half Chinese?!?" .... me and mare locked eyes and started dying. I had just explained to her on the bus ride there that I get mistaken for being Asian all the time, and It's
an ongoing joke with my friends at home! I responded with "No, but I see how you could think that..." After the laughter wore off I thought about what she had said. Who asks if someone if they are half of something?? Seemed like such a strange question to me! Like being half Chinese didn't count under the Chinese category. She started to thread my eyebrows, and MAN did that hurt. At one point she asked me if I missed home and my family. I said yes and that it has been pretty hard some days here. As I was explaining this she tugged tightly with the rope and ripped a patch of hair out, which made my eyes water. So I brought my hand up to catch the tear. She looked at me and said "Aw, it brings tears to your eyes to talk about??"... no lady, you're just ripping patches of hair out of the fine skin under my eyebrow! It hurts! I was standing, and practically running out of the store the second she told me I was all set.
We got back from our shopping experience, and Mare decided she would cook me dinner! My roommates make fun of me for diet. Which alternates from grilled cheese, the Irish equivalent to ramen, salad, nutella (no, not with bread, straight from the jar!) a turkey sandwich, honey nut cherrios, the occasional frozen pizza and the most biggest staple in my diet here, pasta. Now this might shock some of you, but keep in mind, I alternate the sauce choice for the pasta. (pesto one night, garlic and butter the next, regular red sauce, and sometimes I even throw some garlic in the red sauce.... BAM! move over Emeril!) Mare made me a delicious chicken Marsala dish! It was so good, and definitely a welcomed change to my usual dinner!
If only the rest of the week could have gone as well! Friday we had to register for classes here so I had to get in contact with people from Bridgewater. This was a real struggle, and there was a great lack in communication, not on my part. It became this huge overwhelming frustration of a thing. I couldn't get in touch with anyone from Bridgewater, and they wouldn't register me here until I did! Also I came down with the equivalent of the black plague in this process. My throat was so sore, my nose was clogged, I was having terrible constant headaches and my entire body ached. I got to the point where I was so stressed I figured I would head to the international department here and tell them my situation. They were so helpful when I told them what was happening at home, and they even booked me a Dr.'s appointment! I was so relieved someone was actually helping me that I began to cry in their office haha. Apparently I left an impression because one of the women Sinead, still emails me to ask me how I am doing. I want to email her back explaining that I'm really not that emotionally unstable, I was just having a tough week! I went to the Dr's the following day and they gave me some antibiotics for a sinus infection. Mal came with me to pick up the prescription. The pharmacist asked me if I had an allergies to medication. I responded with, "Yes, Penacillin." Her face had a look of concern on it and she proceeded to tell me that the antibiotic she was giving me was a relative of penacillin. She said I had pretty good odds of having an allergic reaction. Great I thought, instead of feeling better I'm going to die. Mal said she would stay with me for the night, just incase I died. Those Canadians sure do have a way with words... The good news is I'm on my 7th pill, and still no allergic reaction! (knock on wood.)
Right when I thought things were getting back on track, we decided to plan a day trip for this past weekend! A lot of the girls had their immigration appointments Friday evening so we couldn't plan a whole weekend trip. Mallory and I met to plan a short day trip to Cashel. We wanted to go see the Rock of Cashel. We soon found out this short little day trip was a lot harder to plan than we had imagined. For starters, we couldn't find a bus stop anywhere near Cashel. We didn't originally think not having a car here would be a big deal until we started planning these little side trips. Mal finally found a bus that would take us there and we were ecstatic. We realized seconds later that the trip would take 6 hours,took us to Dublin first, and then down to Cashel. I could not wrap my mind around this. We have to travel 5 hours north to go 20 minutes east?? Their had to be a flaw in our logic! I was so frustrated and slap happy at this point, that I began to laugh so hard I actually started crying again. (twice in two days, butter me up I'm on a roll.) We decided to give up planning a trip to Cashel, and picked a new trip to Adare.
We had just begun planning that trip when I got a phone call from Danielle from home via Skype. She asked me if I had heard the news, and then told me two of my friends from home had been in a bad car accident. The news hit me pretty hard. It's hard to be so far away when something like this happens. (wishing and hoping for the best, Cal! Stay Strong<3) My friends at home have been doing a really good job of keeping me updated! Mal and Lauren have also been so good to me. They've been an amazing support system to have here, regardless of the situation. That night they invited me over to watch movies, and I ended up sleeping at Mal's.
The next day we decided our day trip would be a trip into the city instead of planning to go elsewhere. I took them to all the shops that Mare brought me too! Although shopping in the city on the weekend is quite the experience! It's totally packed! I did find a cute store called paper dolls! (Sarah I thought of you, I'll have to take a picture next time I go in!) We shopped around a little, and then met up with one of Lauren's friends for lunch. It was a really fun and relaxing day. After shopping I headed back to my dorm and basically crashed instantly. I was so exhausted, and emotionally drained!
The next afternoon when I woke up, Mare knocked on my door. She came in and asked me what was wrong because she said I looked upset! I told her the week I had been having, and that I was just really stressed out. She told me she was going to the grocery store and asked if I needed anything. I declined. She came back about an hour or so later and burst into my door. She said, in the most excited voice,"Kel, how does FAJITAS sound?!" I told her she didn't have to make me dinner again, but she insisted. She also exclaimed as she walked downstairs to start cooking, "and I bought you an American brand of Ice cream to cheer you up for dessert, Ben & Jerry's Phish Food!" I started laughing, decided to stop moping and get out of bed. She made some of the best fajitas I've ever had, and then we watched the Kerry vs Cork Gaelic football game. Kerry won! That's not who Mare was rooting for, so she too ate away her sorrows with some American ice cream! I'm so lucky to have her as a roommate! She has been so sweet, and has really gone out of her way to make me feel comfortable here.
Sunday night I hung out with Lauren and Mal in Lauren's apartment. We had some drinks with her roommates, and cooked up some grilled cheeses! We made her Irish roommate try a bite because he had never had one. He took the smallest little nibble of it and then tried to spit it out with the most disgusted look on his face. He started to flip out because the cheese was so melty it got stuck to the roof of his mouth and he couldn't get it out. It was quite the sight to see, and It made for a good laugh!
Also please don't hold it against me if I come home saying the words: "That's dear" "That's grand" "That's brilliant" "That's class"(all meaning it's good. and phrases I think the Irish say 9 billion times a day.).. or "What's the craic?" (meaning whats up..) "pissed" (means someone's drunk) "pissed off his head" ( someones REALLY drunk) or Mallory's Canadian:"eh?" "Pardon?" and "smokin-okin"
Today starts a new week, and hopefully a better one! We're headed back to Galway this weekend to Celebrate Erin's birthday. We took so many tours the last time we were there that we didn't really get to spend that much time in Galway! It should be a good time and I'm looking forward to it!