Finally, RAIN!

Today was kind of low-key. We went to see a presentation on Celtic spirituality by Father John Joe at a hostel down the street. I was so exhausted, because we had some roomie bonding time last night...until 2:30 am. And then were out the door of the hostel by 9:20. Sleep deprivation and a lecture in a warm room are bad news when you're trying to stay awake, as it turns out. Good news though, I stayed awake!

After the lecture, a couple of us went out for lunch at this adorable little cafe called The Pantry and I had shepherd's pie and some AWESOME hot chocolate (Made out of Aero bar chocolate!) WITH MARSHMALLOWS! Win! At lunch, it was me, 3 other students (Mindy, Bryce and Neil) and one of the professors (Christian). We had a good long conversation about theology stuff where I basically smiled and nodded, and then had a little bit of politics talk - it's pretty fun when people disagree with you, but you're not worried about getting beat up or having your car keyed (Lookin' at you, St. Kate's!).

When lunch was over, we went back to the hostel and did some presentations on different chapters of one of our books. Luckily, I got the chapter with all the statistics and random facts (I LOVE random facts!). Our chapter was "Land and People". Apparently they couldn't narrow that down at all, because our one chapter was like a quarter of the book (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating A LITTLE BIT, but not by much!). It was pretty fun listening to all the presentations, I love picking up little tidbits of information.

Then after the presentations, about 15 of us went to a rugby game! It was Leinster (the good guys) versus the Ospreys (from Wales). I learned 2 things: 1) Peacoats are not waterproof, and 2) Neither are Pumas. Holy cannoli, that was cold. About 20 minutes in we got ponchos, but not before we were all soaked to the bone. 2 pairs of socks, jeans, 1 tank top, 2 long sleeved shirts, 1 sweatshirt, 1 coat, and shoes...not enough. I couldn't feel my toes the entire bus ride and walk home. But we won 15-10! Ha..."we". I keep referring to the Irish like I'm one of them. Man, I wish. Kind of. I can't imagine living here though, I love the USA and my family too much.

So then, dinner. We went to some kebab place right near the hostel and had...hamburgers. Haha, they were the cheapest thing on the menu! Budgeting is getting interesting. They were good burgers though!

I think I'm really going to enjoy being with these people for the rest of the month. This class has kind of been a shock to my system - it's so laid back, I don't know what to do! I kind of miss the structure of poli sci classes because I kind of thrive on structure, but at the same time it's kind of a refreshing experience to just be learning with a group of people who love what they do and seem to love each other. Everyone is so close! It's like a family here, and I can tell they're going out of their way to include me. It's really nice to know that people like that exist.

Love,
Amanda