Moving on...

My newest travels are in the making:

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Re-entry and Reflection

Merry Christmas (a day late)! I've been home for... five days now? I haven't really done much of anything since I got back and I'm not really sure what to do with myself! Being back home is nice even though I miss my Irish and study abroad friends. The weather here sucks. I don't like snow much, or the cold.

Now the next chapter of my life consists of finishing college... and finding a job (P.S. if you have any ideas or prospects, hit me up)! And then I guess I'll be a grown up. It was nice to have such an adventure before I go into the world of labor. Hopefully I'll make the best of it. Maybe I'll make another blog for the next chapter of my life! Anyway I just want to thank everyone who followed along as I shared my adventures in Ireland and Europe. It's been a great trip!

I'll close with a quote, something that keeps my spirits up!

"You never really leave a place or person you love, part of them you take with you, leaving a part of yourself behind."

Exams and Winding Down

The past few weeks have been a sandstorm of events. First I take another visit to England and from the second day (Thanksgiving) and on I feel not quite right. For some reason I feel like I definitely have a fever and a headache. I started feeling sluggish at the halfway mark of each day, and I had to call it a night early a couple of nights. I haven't been sick enough to see a doctor since probably Junior High School, so I didn't really know if I was sick or what to do with myself.

My housemate, one of the NCC girls from Canterbury, and myself, went to England the afternoon before our departure. We saw a comedy play called "39 steps" in a very nice theater. The tickets were in the top row, but the view of the stage was great! They only cost 15 pounds and we showed up on a whim. This was definitely one of the better ways I've spent my money when visiting cities, and I have a sudden interest in seeing live shows more often.

Finally, on the morning I woke up in London I could tell I was in for some bad news. I could barely swallow my own spit, and my body ached. When I got home I was bed ridden for an entire day. My Irish housemate offered to pick me up some tylenol, which was a lifesaver no doubt. The following day I saw the campus doctor.

The doctor was quite an ordeal, especially in my condition. I had to make the trek to the main building, which was a 15 minute walk in the blasting wind. I arrive to discover that all of the doctors appointments are booked and I'll need to schedule a nurse's appointment instead. So I settle for the nurse's appointment (for 3 hours later). I make the trek again when it's time for my appointment only to sit in the waiting room for 45 minutes. Finally I get sick of seeing other people go in to see the doctor and I go back to the reception desk and ask if it's normal to wait 45 minutes. They seemed astonished!

Upon further inspection, they had somehow spelled my FIRST NAME incorrectly. They came out and asked for "Jeduostryoras" or however ridiculous way they butchered my simple 5 letter alias, and of course I had no idea they were calling for me. So they finally sort things out and I wait ANOTHER 45 minutes with the chills and the sorest throat I've ever had. Finally I get to see the nurse.

When I go into the nurse's office she asks your standard questions, and I tell her about the screaming pain in my throat. I already know what it looks like, and it's not good, but I think she might get a kick out of it if I leave the details for her to discover. I had my mouth open for milliseconds and she immediately sent me to doctor.

The doctor had a similar reaction, and my antibiotics were prescribed (at the lovely cost of 30 euros). By the time this whole ordeal was finished I was way too exhausted to walk all the way to the pharmacy down the road (another 20 minute walk). The next day I walk and buy my damn medication and stuff it down my throat as quickly as possible.

Things started looking up from there, and after a week of wasting away in my bedroom my severe case of strep throat had subsided.

The weeks that followed were filled with this cycle:

1) Waste lots of time.

2) Waste more time.

3) Night before an exam arrives.

4) Plan to study but just waste time until 3 am.

5) Decide sleeping is a good idea.

6) Wake up at 7 and cram for a few hours before the exam starts.

7) Ace exam.

8) Repeat.

Today the cycle ended and nearly has my Irish journey. A lot of people are leaving, going off to their Irish homes or their American homes. I say goodbye taking for granted that I may never see their faces again. I can't regret a single memory I've made, or forget a single person I've met.

This initial state of "in-between" feels like the twilight zone. I feel incredibly anxious about going home and there's an underlying feeling of sadness and loss. I know these feelings will pass, and I may very well have a chance to see a lot of my abroad friends again, but that doesn't change how lost I feel right now! All I can say is, the sooner I leave this empty dorm house, the better.

Football

A couple of weekends ago I had, quite likely, my last organized American Football event. However, getting to play at all was a true blessing because all of the forces in the world were against it. First, Ireland has had more rain this year than they've had in a long time. There's flooding everywhere, and the pitch where we planned to have our games was no exception. 3 teams came from Dublin: Trinity, UCD, and DCU. The plan was to have a four man tournament, where we would play Trinity and the other two teams would play each other. Then the losers would play each other for third place, and the winners would play for the championship.

From Ireland and Europe

The games were to take place on the 20th and 21st of November. On the 19th I received a text message saying that the weather had caused a change of plans, and that the 20th would be a flag football tournament. Now most people might say "Hey, it's still football", but I was livid. Understand that when you've got all this tension built up about playing full contact, bone crunching, adrenaline fueling tackle football, flag football just doesn't cut it. Apparently the administration didn't want us to use the field AT ALL, but we managed to compromise and get the field for the length of "ONE FULL GAME".

The twist was, the first games would be played with NCAA overtime rules (basically whoever scores first and holds the other team wins). If we both scored (or didn't score) after two rounds, the game would be decided by a COIN TOSS.

Needless to say, I was once again, livid. I was expecting two full games, and now I was only getting a whack at one. Or so I thought...

The first 'game' we won no problem (or team is good, the best in fact). Now it was a waiting game. The second round of overtime matches went quickly, and then the third place qualifier. Trinity played UCD for third, and Trinity won. Finally, the moment I'd been waiting for arrives.

I'm on the kickoff team, and we're kicking first. I get to run down field and lay someone out right off the bat. One thing though, the field is like a slip-n-slide. Seriously, when you run water splashes everywhere, and when you try to stop it's like stopping on ice. So I run down field full boar, only to break down and go gliding on my ass full force just a hair past the ball carrier. Luckily, I popped right back up as someone else had him held up. It was too much to pass up and I leveled the guy while he was pinned up.

Well that felt good.

I played starting Wide Receiver, but there were a lot of us and they did a lot of rotating. It goes without saying we weren't doing a lot of passing either, so most of my enjoyment came in the form of blocking. My favorite play was the sweep to my side, in which I pulled off the corner in to the linebacker. If you don't know much about football, the linebacker is largely responsible for filling gaps and making tackles. When he sees the sweep coming he starts breaking off from the center of the field to line up an angle tackle. The greatest thing about this is that he's usually got his eyes on the runner... completely oblivious to the trap that's being set in his honor. When I pull off of the corner and come running directly at him, he's not looking at me until the last second. By this time I've built up enough speed to butt heads with a freight train and he's got nowhere to run. As he turns in grim realization of what's about to happen his eyes widen with terror. I can feel a grin forming on my face as I throw all of my weight into a colossal shove that sends him skidding across the ground wondering what just happened.

Obviously I take some satisfaction in football. So when the coach walks over at halftime I have a sinking feeling inside. At the half it's 22 - 0 Limerick (that's us), and so far we've injured 3 DCU players. The coach says he's sorry, that he knows we want to play but his team simply isn't ready. DCU forfeits at half.

It's nice to win, but I'd been looking forward to this day for 10 weeks, and somehow ONE HALF of a game just wasn't enough for me.

Unfortunately, I can't stay for the rest of the season either because: 1. I'm a senior and I need to be thinking about job searching and graduation, and 2. I have no money to stay here.

So I'm left with the memory of half a game, which I guess is better than nothing. I thoroughly enjoyed training too, so I guess I can't complain MUCH.

Welcome to Valhalla, Where the Brave Live Forever

Been some time since my last posting... As the term draws to an end things are getting busier and busier. Trying to arrange some last minute travel and motivate myself to study. Needless to say, I haven't been very successful with the latter.

On the bright side, the NCC girls staying in Canterbury came to visit last weekend. The girls, a bunch of friends from around here, and Joe and I went to Galway for a night of fun. The hostel we stayed in was called Snoozles, and it was SUPER nice. We had 18 people and only 14 beds, so the sleeping arrangements were loosely assembled. Some people ended up heading home and we only had a few bodies without a bed. The night itself was great. Galway is a great city to party, and we took advantage of the excitement.

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

The next morning was a bit hazy, but things cleared up pretty quick when we got a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher. Most of the group went their own way, and it was just Joe, the Canterbury girls, and myself. The Cliffs are probably one of the most amazing sites the Ireland or even the world has to offer.

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

As I've said before, it would be hard to purchase a camera that does the amazing view any captured justice but I hope you'll let your imagination fill in the gaps. The winds were really strong, and falling off is a definite possibility! But I live life on the edge!!!!

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

Or maybe all of us do!

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

More pictures!

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

We also went to the Aillwee Cave and toured its depths. Being underground is fun. And dark.

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

Our bus tour also took us to different locations around the Burren, which is an enormous spanse of hills that appear to be made out of cracked rock. It's quite a site to see and we got to walk on some of it by the ocean.

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

All in all I'd say this was my favorite trip, I'd say in my lifetime thus far. We're going to visit the girls in Canterbury again in a couple of days. We hope to see more of London and Canterbury on this trip. I'd like to see Scotland as well. We'll see if we can make it! Check out the albums below for more breathtaking scenery and the rest of our time spent with the girls!

Galway - NCC Girls Visit

Limerick - NCC Girls Visit

Until next time! Sláinte!

From Galway - NCC Girls Visit

Is this real???

I couldn't have had a more diverse experience in Northern Ireland. Never before have I felt such a combination of visual ecstasy, weather related misery, sleep deprivation, and excitement. I can certainly say that the good far outweighed the bad. Wait until you see the pictures and the videos!

From Northern Ireland

After a weekend like this I'm often left wondering, is this real? Last year I never could have seen myself here, and yet here I am. This is real. I've met a lot of great people and I've made a lot of memories that I'll never forget. Ireland has made me realize that there's so much in the world that I haven't experienced. I need to get out there and embrace it!

From Northern Ireland

From Northern Ireland

I only wish you could all share in my euphoria! Take my advice, get out and see the world while you still can! Put aside the routine acceptance generated by the nine to five lifestyle and open your eyes. The world is waiting!

From Northern Ireland

This trip consisted of one night in Belfast and one in Derry. We got a bus tour of Belfast and stayed in a hostel with 30-something beds all in one room. The room was gigantic, and a mixture of Erasmus, Irish, and Study Abroad students came together for a truly great social experience. That night we went out but we soon discovered that it was going to be difficult to get in to any clubs because of the discriminatory nature of the city.

From Northern Ireland

Overall, aside from some confusion that led us unsuspectingly to a gay club, the night was a success. I met a lot of great people and I enjoyed our stay.

The next day was incredible. We crossed the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge in Antrim, and visited the Giant's Causeway. Words can't describe how amazing the view is, and the pictures may not either.

From Northern Ireland

From Northern Ireland

From Northern Ireland

From Northern Ireland

See the full album and some videos!!!

Northern Ireland

Next Journey

I'll be taking one night in Galway tomorrow and a weekend in either Belfast or Kilkenny after that. Stay posted for stories and pictures!