Good craic.

Finally my internet has kicked up to the year 2004, so I can actually edit this thing.

Ireland is still wonderful. I have finally (sort of) gotten into a routine, which if you know me is essential. It has been really interesting to see how different the school system is here. After two weeks of "shopping around" for classes, I am finally actually registered for them, which I'm sure GW will be happy to hear. Lectures start at 10 minutes past the hour, yet kids still file in around 30 past the hour, if ever at all. Students are expected to be much more independent here. That is definitely one thing I find very interesting. In the majority of the classes, there are no "required" readings; only suggested readings, and it is up to you to locate them and get the reading done. There is no timetable of readings; chapter 10 is not due on Friday, especially since barely any courses have text books here. Strange, but let's be honest...not shelling out $400 on text books is pretty sweet.

My parents were here for a few days visiting, which was awesome. It was fun to show them around where I live, and see how they reacted to the Irish lifestyle. Yesterday I took my dad to The King's Head pub to watch the All-Ireland Gaelic Football Finals. Gaelic Football here is akin to American Football in terms of hype, but it is way more interesting to watch than American Football. It's basically a combination of soccer, rugby, and basketball: you can kick the ball, throw the ball, dribble the ball, and slam people into the ground. Watching co. Kerry versus co. Mayo was really exciting. Because co. Galway is pretty close to Mayo, there is a lot of Mayo loyalty here. People were going CRAZY, and you couldn't move b/c the place was so packed. The streets were empty and the pubs were full; everyone who was breathing was watching the match. So I'm glad my Jewish father got an authentic Irish pub experience.

The rain has finally made up for lost time here. For the past week and a half, it has been humid and sunny, very uncharacteristic of Ireland. Our Human Sexuality professor declared that he thought he was in a Louisiana bayou. But, as of last night, Mother Nature woke up and remembered that this is Ireland, thus, cue the rain, the wind, and the cold.

At least it isn't cold enough for girls to break out the Ugg boots. Not yet, at least.