That sounds dramatic, but for those of you who know me/have lived with me, you're aware that when it comes to washing dishes I put that mess off as LONG AS POSSIBLE.
Seriously. Dishes are the WORST.
Anyways, now that I live in a house with 14 -- COUNT THEM: FOURTEEN -- other people, I don't really have the option of being the person who doesn't wash their dishes in a timely manner. So pretty much as soon as I'm done eating, I have to head to the sink to wash my shit.
Life is hard, sometimes, man.
In other news, I lived through my first week in Dublin! The first day was a struggle: a friend of Mom's friend met me at the airport. She took me to get on a bus, and then we realized that we had to have exact change to take the bus (they don't take bills). So I went upstairs (YES! DOUBLE-DECKER BUSES!) with all of my luggage while she went to go get change... and then the bus driver STARTED DRIVING AWAY.
So then I ran down the stairs to the bus driver to ask him to wait because my friend hadn't paid for me yet and she was getting change -- to which he told me to get the hell off his bus if I hadn't paid. Cue my frantic falling down the stairs carrying ALL of my luggage, sweatshirt forgotten on the seat behind me.
Basically just another day in my life.
The rest of the week went considerably more smoothly. No broken flip-flops in any main thoroughfares. I did manage to get hopelessly lost and spent ten minutes freaking out about it until I realized that I was OBVIOUSLY still in Dublin and was therefore not that lost.
I'm learning to let things go, guys. Apparently they call this "personal growth." (It's terrible.)
But we didn't have classes last week, so I spent my time wandering around, exploring and embarrassing myself in turns, and just really enjoying not having to do much. I hung out with some friends from the IP in Warsaw, and this past Sunday was the All-Irish final in Gaelic football -- and let me tell you something. I thought that Americans took their football seriously, but I have NEVER seen anything like this.
The bars were PACKED at 9:30 in the morning for a game that was supposed to start at 3:30 pm. And since I live pretty close to the stadium where the game was being played, it was extra insane: I had to walk in the street on the corners with bars because the crowds outside the bars were too thick to walk through.
I went with some friends to a couple of bars in the city center, and we got to watch the Dubs (the Dublin county team) smash Mayo (the Co. Mayo team). Obviously, I was all for the Dubs. And maybe I've just never been to a professional football game in the States, but Ireland does not mess around when it comes to Gaelic football. Grown men were crying in the pub when the Dubs won. (Apparently Dublin and Mayo are HUGE rivals and matches between them only happen every three or more years. So this was a BFD.) And everyone was celebrating (or commiserating) in the streets until around 3 am. I know this because I could hear them from my house.
Well, that's all I've got for now, but more updates will come soon!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
UPDATE: I made it to (and from) Poland!
What's up, home slices?
Just kidding. That's lame.
ANYWAYS. I made it to Poland. (Actually, I've made it to Dublin, but this update is about Warsaw.)
So the beginning of the trip was basically me being so excited I was kind of nauseous. I made all of my flights, everything went fine (as evidenced by my post from Hamburg). And as soon as I got to the hostel I passed out. This is how I met my roommate for the week, Brook (this is actually how I meet most of my roommates, come to think of it. Damn, I know how to make a good first impression).
I'm not going to go into all of the little details of every day because that would take forever and I don't remember all of them. (Side note: Was that really only 9 days?) The first night we kind of all met each other, signed up/registered for the week, and did the basic boring stuff. We also spent like 40 minutes trying to figure out the hostel's obscure WiFi system, which involved getting 2 separate passwords, logging in every time we used it, and sacrificing a goat (no goats were harmed in the making of this blog post). (And the important part of this is that I immediately -- ACCIDENTALLY -- deleted one of the passwords we needed and never saw the light of internet again.)
Other than that, we spent the week kind of in a constant cycle of being shepherded from place to place, sitting and listening, eating, sitting and listening, eating, and being herded somewhere else. Oh, and going out every night and staying up entirely too late. That part was my favorite part.
Warsaw was beautiful. I wish I'd taken more pictures, but we really spent most of the daylight hours indoors, taking notes and listening to lectures. And getting wifi during those lectures. So pictures of the town itself were really not an option until yesterday (when I had the whole day to wander around) and THEN there was this MASSIVE protest in downtown Warsaw and all of the public transportation got shut down for the whole afternoon. So I walked around a little and got some pictures but it was mostly of the protesters.
Basically, I had a blast. I met some awesome people from all over the world, made a bunch of new friends, drank a lot of Polish beer, learned a little about humanitarian action, and learned a lot of interesting phrases in Dutch and German that will DEFINITELY come in handy in the future.
Cool story, right?
Dublin update to come. Don't worry. I've got plenty of mishaps for you -- and it's only Day 1.
Just kidding. That's lame.
ANYWAYS. I made it to Poland. (Actually, I've made it to Dublin, but this update is about Warsaw.)
So the beginning of the trip was basically me being so excited I was kind of nauseous. I made all of my flights, everything went fine (as evidenced by my post from Hamburg). And as soon as I got to the hostel I passed out. This is how I met my roommate for the week, Brook (this is actually how I meet most of my roommates, come to think of it. Damn, I know how to make a good first impression).
I'm not going to go into all of the little details of every day because that would take forever and I don't remember all of them. (Side note: Was that really only 9 days?) The first night we kind of all met each other, signed up/registered for the week, and did the basic boring stuff. We also spent like 40 minutes trying to figure out the hostel's obscure WiFi system, which involved getting 2 separate passwords, logging in every time we used it, and sacrificing a goat (no goats were harmed in the making of this blog post). (And the important part of this is that I immediately -- ACCIDENTALLY -- deleted one of the passwords we needed and never saw the light of internet again.)
Other than that, we spent the week kind of in a constant cycle of being shepherded from place to place, sitting and listening, eating, sitting and listening, eating, and being herded somewhere else. Oh, and going out every night and staying up entirely too late. That part was my favorite part.
Warsaw was beautiful. I wish I'd taken more pictures, but we really spent most of the daylight hours indoors, taking notes and listening to lectures. And getting wifi during those lectures. So pictures of the town itself were really not an option until yesterday (when I had the whole day to wander around) and THEN there was this MASSIVE protest in downtown Warsaw and all of the public transportation got shut down for the whole afternoon. So I walked around a little and got some pictures but it was mostly of the protesters.
Basically, I had a blast. I met some awesome people from all over the world, made a bunch of new friends, drank a lot of Polish beer, learned a little about humanitarian action, and learned a lot of interesting phrases in Dutch and German that will DEFINITELY come in handy in the future.
Cool story, right?
Dublin update to come. Don't worry. I've got plenty of mishaps for you -- and it's only Day 1.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
So I'm currently just hanging out in the Hamburg airport...
It's already tomorrow where I am, y'all. (Well, technically it's tomorrow in the US right now, too, but the sun's not up there so it doesn't count.) I'M UPDATING THIS FROM THE FUTURE. Cool, right?
Thank God for the Germans, man. In American airports, they were all "Pay $812080943 for one hour of WiFi," or "Just give us your firstborn and you can have free WiFi for the next 20 whole minutes." Not so in Germany. These people have me HOOKED UP. (Well, the WiFi's free for an hour. I'M not complaining!)
Also what I can see of Germany looks pretty cool. It actually looks kind of exactly like home. Grass, trees. Tarmac, airplanes. The usual.
So I made it through the first two legs of the journey, much to my relief/exhaustion/etc. I've been awake for like 19 hours right now which doesn't seem like a lot but IT FEELS LIKE A LOT. And the flights were fine. But on the second flight, guess what one of the movie choices was? THAT'S RIGHT, STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS. Which meant I got to see BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH'S FACE ALL OVER THE PLANE. How was I supposed to sleep under those conditions?! (Answer: I wasn't.)
Other than that, nothing super exciting has happened. Yet. I'm waiting for my first crisis to happen. It will probably have something to do with me weeping from exhaustion.
Anyways here's a picture of me on my "first day of school" aka this morning (yesterday morning?) when Mom and Dad shipped me off.
Thank God for the Germans, man. In American airports, they were all "Pay $812080943 for one hour of WiFi," or "Just give us your firstborn and you can have free WiFi for the next 20 whole minutes." Not so in Germany. These people have me HOOKED UP. (Well, the WiFi's free for an hour. I'M not complaining!)
Also what I can see of Germany looks pretty cool. It actually looks kind of exactly like home. Grass, trees. Tarmac, airplanes. The usual.
So I made it through the first two legs of the journey, much to my relief/exhaustion/etc. I've been awake for like 19 hours right now which doesn't seem like a lot but IT FEELS LIKE A LOT. And the flights were fine. But on the second flight, guess what one of the movie choices was? THAT'S RIGHT, STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS. Which meant I got to see BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH'S FACE ALL OVER THE PLANE. How was I supposed to sleep under those conditions?! (Answer: I wasn't.)
Other than that, nothing super exciting has happened. Yet. I'm waiting for my first crisis to happen. It will probably have something to do with me weeping from exhaustion.
Anyways here's a picture of me on my "first day of school" aka this morning (yesterday morning?) when Mom and Dad shipped me off.
That's all for now, y'all. Keep checking in and I'll try to keep updating!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
T-minus 2 days!
Hi friends!
So this is my first official blog post on my new official moving-to-Ireland-and-going-to-grad-school blog! Hell yeah!
I'm excited. Obviously. Because I'm leaving in two days to start on my next super-fun adventure (and by "adventure," Mom and Dad, I obviously mean serious business). But I'm also mostly sick to my stomach... Because I leave in two days. !!!
In case you aren't on the up-and-up, I'm starting graduate school with an international program based in the EU, called the NOHA Mundus Master's program. At the end of a year and a half, I'll have my Master's in Humanitarian Action. My home university is University College - Dublin, so I'll be in Dublin this fall.
The program involves a mobility component, kind of like a study abroad, based on your choice of concentration. I am concentrating on Post-Conflict Rehabilitation with Emphasis on Geopolitics and Public Health; this part of the program is right outside of Brussels, Belgium and is taught ENTIRELY in French. (Terrifying, I know.)
After the mobility part, I have to get an internship/work on a thesis/do research. This could be in pretty much any country, depending on what the focus of my thesis is and/or where I get an internship.
Lots of travel, lots of humanitarian action happening -- which I am looking forward to. But also, hey, moving to a new country without knowing anyone. Which yes, I've done before but is also terrifying. So there's that.
Here is a quick (read: not boring) rundown of what I'm doing/where I'll be in the next few weeks.
Warsaw, Poland: I have orientation -- called the Intensive Programme -- in Warsaw for a week. I'll be phoneless, but not internetless, so expect (possible) updates here and on facebook but no textabilities. (Sorry, Jackie.)
Dublin, Ireland: I'll be attending University College - Dublin as a grad student this fall. I'm taking four classes: Medicine, Social Anthropology, Management, and Geopolitics. And I am SUPER excited about all of these classes.
So yeah. Exciting times! I can't wait.
So this is my first official blog post on my new official moving-to-Ireland-and-going-to-grad-school blog! Hell yeah!
I'm excited. Obviously. Because I'm leaving in two days to start on my next super-fun adventure (and by "adventure," Mom and Dad, I obviously mean serious business). But I'm also mostly sick to my stomach... Because I leave in two days. !!!
In case you aren't on the up-and-up, I'm starting graduate school with an international program based in the EU, called the NOHA Mundus Master's program. At the end of a year and a half, I'll have my Master's in Humanitarian Action. My home university is University College - Dublin, so I'll be in Dublin this fall.
The program involves a mobility component, kind of like a study abroad, based on your choice of concentration. I am concentrating on Post-Conflict Rehabilitation with Emphasis on Geopolitics and Public Health; this part of the program is right outside of Brussels, Belgium and is taught ENTIRELY in French. (Terrifying, I know.)
After the mobility part, I have to get an internship/work on a thesis/do research. This could be in pretty much any country, depending on what the focus of my thesis is and/or where I get an internship.
Lots of travel, lots of humanitarian action happening -- which I am looking forward to. But also, hey, moving to a new country without knowing anyone. Which yes, I've done before but is also terrifying. So there's that.
Here is a quick (read: not boring) rundown of what I'm doing/where I'll be in the next few weeks.
Warsaw, Poland: I have orientation -- called the Intensive Programme -- in Warsaw for a week. I'll be phoneless, but not internetless, so expect (possible) updates here and on facebook but no textabilities. (Sorry, Jackie.)
Dublin, Ireland: I'll be attending University College - Dublin as a grad student this fall. I'm taking four classes: Medicine, Social Anthropology, Management, and Geopolitics. And I am SUPER excited about all of these classes.
So yeah. Exciting times! I can't wait.
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