Saturday Night: When the Freaks Come Out

Weekends here in Galway are very, very long. The fact that I have no classes on Friday contributes to this, but even so, the weekends here drag on. They're fun, that's for sure, but they never seem to end; come Sunday night, I am actually ready for Monday to come (how twisted is that?!?!).

This weekend has been good. Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday night were spent at a pub called The King's Head...our favorite spot. It's a two-floor pub with a stage for live music, lots of room to talk and dance, and good deals on bottles of Corona. But last night's outing really floored me (and no, I wasn't passed out...I was actually sober haha). Let's see...there were the two 40-something year old Irish dudes trying to pick us up and constantly blowing in my ear...and then there was the verrry drunk man wearing a cowbow hat, who danced for my friends and I and then proceeded to unzip his pants and show-off his "lucky" boxer briefs...and then, of course, there was the old man sitting on a stool, in a corner, completely passed-out asleep. In a pub! Asleep! Who does that? He was probably my favorite character there.

Of course this morning, after a night of actually not drinking, I woke up feeling like crap...explain that one to me. So instead of being productive, I spent the day whining about my throat, eating soup, and watching DVDs on my computer. I finally dragged my ass out to Mass, which helped me gain some human interaction, but boy, that 15 minute walk took a LOT out of me. PATHETIC!!

Anyway, I'll end it here...this typing is far too exhausting. But goodnight, goodluck, and stay away from the dude in the cowboy hat at The King's Head.

Blue screen of death...

I finally have a functioning computer.

I always knew I was attached to my (very crappy) Dell laptop, but I think being in a foreign country, with a computer being my only real means of communication back to the States...having it die (again) on me really made me realize how attatched to it I really was. It was sad, actually. At night, before bed, I would gaze longingly at my desk, purely out of the habit of checking my email every 15 seconds. Did anyone IM me while I was at class? No...because you don't have a computer. I started planning my days around when I would go to the computer labs on campus to work on an assignment, check email, or print things out. THE HORROR.

But, I finally caved. I told myself I wouldn't get a new computer until graduation. But, I had to do it. I had to. And now I have a computer that (God willing) will not fail me. At least not for a while.

I finally feel like I have really settled-in here in Galway. It was pretty touch-and-go the first few weeks...I would have waves of homesickness, where all I wanted to see was a CVS or go hang out with my parents. Everything is so different over here. I told myself that I wouldn't get homesick; I was looking forward to this for so long. But it really does hit you, no matter how hard you try to resist it.

I have finally (sort-of) found my niche here. My roommate and housemates are awesome; we get along great, and I don't dread staying in on a Friday night, because chances are someone will be around to talk with or have tea with. And the traveling! So great. Last weekend I ventured over to Paris to visit a GW friend who is studying there. Who would have thought I would just go over to Paris...at a reasonable price? One hour and thirty minutes after stepping on the Ryanair plane, I was across the English Channel in the land of croissants and cafes. It was so wild that I was all the way over in Paris...thousands of miles away from home, yet I was hanging out with a friend that I hang out with back in the States...that might not really make sense, but it was all just kind of crazy to really think about. Who knows what London, Scottland, Spain, and who knows where else will bring...

So, I finally kind of feel settled here in this wild country. I still have moments where I just want to walk over to J-Street and get some Starbucks, walk to DuPont, go to HelWel, or even (gasp!) go to Gelman to study (24-hour reading rooms don't exist over here!). But, for the most part, I'm glad I can travel around Europe, and yet still feel (sort-of) at home once I return to Gort na Coiribe #3...