Relaxing weekend in Dublin

A bit behind, I haven't posted one in a while. Short update: this last weekend I was in Barcelona, tonight we are making Irish stew, I just saw Inception (AMAZING movie), and Thursday is wine and cheese night... lab is going well, should be finishing up experiments today so I can start writing my paper and working on my presentation. Yipee!! Brian (with an i, not y Brian says because y is Protestant... what?!?) wants a shout out in my blog. He's a post grad who has long hair that he accidentally cut short and wears it in a pony tail. When his hair is at his shoulders he looks to be a bit of a girl.

Back to two weekends ago...

This last weekend I decided to take a nice and relaxing stay in Dublin. Several exciting things were happening. One was Jussi's girlfriend was coming to visit. I was very curious to meet her as I wasn't sure what kind of girl Jussi would date. She ended up being lovely. Beautiful and very, very nice. Also, I was invited to the DLWCC... the David Lydon wine and cheese club!

After and exhausting night Thursday, David had invited me to go to wine and cheese at his house. I'm always giving him a hard time, because whenever we ask him to do stuff with the international students (still think it's weird calling myself that... like I'm foreign or something. And I am, but.. still) he says he is drinking wine with his friends. So finally I said that I was his friend too, so guess what? I was invited. He lives on the opposite side of Dublin from me, about a 45 minute bus ride. So I headed off.

May I say now that buses here make me nervous. There are no clear signs about what stop you are at. David told me what stop, but I would have no idea knowing where that was. So I asked the bus driver to tell me when we arrived. It all worked out, and I arrived at David's teeny apartment. It was very cute. I had brought my own bottle of wine, and so let the festivities begin.

I am no wino. I can't drink at home, and have virtually no idea about wine and the different kinds. So when I went to buy a bottle I bought the cheapest stuff possible. Might as well start at the bottom, and work my way up right? It tasted fine, I think it was a red wine, but couldn't tell you what kind from there.

It was great conversation, and I really enjoyed getting to know David's friends. I found out some interesting stuff about him (yess!!) and he has now inspired us to host our own wine and cheese night.

The next morning, I woke up and headed to a multicutural festival in Don Laghore (a suburb of Dublin) with Luke and some of his friends from Trinity college (another university in Dublin). Turns out there are about 4 UCSB students that have an internship there. Marieke also joined us, and the time we had was very enjoyable. We saw an irish-folk band, an Indian band, dances, and various other performances.

Jussi and his girlfriend met up with us later, and I ate some Indian food. It was quite a pleasant day. I also ate my first bite of watermelon for the summer. Madness I know. At home, I know I would have had some for the fourth of July. It was a nice taste of the warm, sunny, summer that is currently non existant in Ireland.

After a nice day at the festival, we headed home to get ready to go out. A few pre drinks (I had to drink a Bulmers by myself because James was in Switzerland... booo), we went to take the bus as we always do to the city center. This time, Luke managed to fall flat on his bag as we drove off. On the bus. Laughing the whole time. I saw it all. And the bus driver was laughing as well. After only 2 beers...(Luke, not the bus driver) oh Luke, thanks for the laugh. We headed to some bars that Olivier had visited before, and I really like the first one called the Celtic. It was smaller, not as large, drinks weren't too expensive, and it had live music. Automatically like it. Plus, they played some songs I could sing along to. Even better, as most of you know :)

After a great night once again in Dublin, we headed back home.

The next day, we had agreed to wake up at 11, head off to Howth again at 12. Of course, by 12, no one else was up. (James would've been... just sayin'). So we waited until everyone was ready, around 2, and headed off to Howth. Jussi and his girlfriend went to the beach (if you can call it that) and collected sea shells for a good 30 minutes. Made me laugh anyways. We then went off on a hike up and around Howth after buying some sea food at the local market. I wasn't sure I could stomach the octupus (eating things with tentacles is... weird. But I'm getting used to it after Spain!) so I bought a pork sandwich. We set off on a hike. It was gorgeous, and had a great time exploring around the cliffs and rocks. The tide pools reminded me of Santa Barbara (I know Dana would've loved it). At the top of the hill, we stopped for lunch. Olivier made me try the tentacle of an octupus and I think Jussi thought it was hilarious watching my face as I put it to my mouth. Conclusion: could be worse, but would never crave it.


Headed home, made some dinner, and relaxed. Another great weekend.

Hope home is ok. Still miss everyone...

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Nope not weed. Yes work. Been getting tons of results, and my week has pretty much been like the last few weeks. Soccer one night, dinner together, etc. I did make another huge cookie (pizookie style, love those things) and this time it actually turned out like a REAL cookie. We also went to see Toy Story 3 because when I get back it won't be in theaters anymore. It was ok, not as good as I would have hoped, and I REALLY wanted the movie to make me cry. It didn't, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Trip planning is coming along slowly. I tried to change my flight for an extra day in Ireland but it costs a fortune so I'm looking for other ways to store my suitcase for a week in London while I travel around. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

Last night was a biology BBQ but chemistry took it upon themselves to be there as well. We played some mafia which was quite enjoyable and I managed to win myself a game or two when I didn't start busting up laughing (my poker face is AWFUL). After being at the pub since 4, I headed out with some of the other chemsitry people to a bar. It was a late night, and I had to change the DNA when I got home, but I didn't have to be in until 12 today. Elaine had agreed :) So here I am, typing away with the CV going behind me. Soon I'll have to switch electrodes and make some more solution for the next electrode. And the process continues.

This weekend: relaxing in Dublin, getting ready for Barcelona the weekend after.

Miss you all at home, sending my love.

The Cliffs of Moher

Rough morning number 3. By this point, I'm getting pretty used to waking up EXHAUSTED and going off for a full day of exploring. And I'm getting really good at sleeping on buses. Unfortunately this trip would not follow suit. James and I decided to go to the Cliffs while everyone else went to Conomera. I wanted to see the cliffs because of pictures I have seen before and because the are double the height of Dun Aengus. I could not believe that and wanted to see it with my own eyes. Our tour left at 9:45 am; we found that it didn't take as much time to get ready so we bought some cereal and ate at the hostel. As soon as we got on the bus I could tell it was going to be a loooong bus ride. This was mainly because our driver was probably the most annoying bus driver anyone could have. He talked on the bus ride for 85% of the time with usually useless information. Everything he said was repeated at least twice, repeated at least twice, but sometimes more, but sometimes more. And we probably stopped every 10 minutes to see something else, yep every 10 minutes. And if you didn't know every 10 minutes. (If you think the past repetition is annoying try sitting on a bus and hearing that when you just want to SLEEP). I also wanted to get to the Cliffs. This is why I went on the tour bus. The other sights were alright, but in hindsight I would have loved to have another hour or two at the cliffs. First stop, first stop, yes that's right folks our first stop. (Ok I'll stop). It was a beautiful castle that reflected in the perfectly smooth lake right next to it. All I could think about was how great it would be to water ski on the lake. We then stopped again after 5 minutes on the bus to see a fairy circle and hear about how a leprechaun would crawl up my leg or something like that (our bus driver was telling a story but I chose to tune him out so I didn't quite get the full story). We walked up and all it was was a tree surrounded by a circle of trees. At this point I was trying to figure out why the heck we stopped. Then our bus driver comes running up to me and says,"Do you see it? The fairy, the fairy!!" I have no idea what's going on and follow him to a tree. He then points at a wooden figurine and I start busting up laughing. Like uncontrallably. And all of the other people on the tour run up and start taking pictures. Of a wooden figure. It was sooo funny. I had to take a picture of everyone taking a picture of nothing. Next up was an old stone tomb from the stone age. It reminded me of the pictures of stone henge. A picture: Next stop was a coffee break. A bus ride. And then lunch. Finally we made it to the Cliffs and had an hour and a half (as I said before, I could've spent much longer there but we were with the tour bus). The Cliffs of Moher are famous. They were featured in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and are currently being considered for one of the natural wonders of the world. All of this is for good reason. They were incredible. Like nothing I have seen before, nor do I think I will ever see again. We first walked on the path, but then hopped off to the place where you technically aren't supposed to go because they are afraid you'll fall off but everyone goes anyways. I got close enough to put my legs over slightly but that's it. It freaked me out when James through a flower over the edge. And when he was edging close to edge I had a slight freak out. But here are pictures to back up what I'm saying: Our feet hanging over (daredevils!!): From the above picture you can see that I broke one of the rules for fashion: jeans with tennis shoes. Aw well.

Another video:


After one more stop, we headed back to Galway. Late. And missed the next bus back home and had to catch the later one. Unfortunatley I still couldn't sleep on the way back even though annoying bus driver was gone. By the time we arrived to Shanowen I could hardly keep my eyes open. I would venture to say this was the best weekend I've had in Ireland so far. Keep em' coming.

Aran Islands- Amoooo

Another rough morning... but I'm living with the motto that I can sleep when I die. We woke up at 8 to catch the 9:30 am bus to where the ferry would take us to the Aran Islands. I had talked to the guy at the hostel the night before and he said it would be fine to buy the tickets the next morning. Got to the front desk, and the SAME GUY told us that in fact there was no space left on the ferry and that we should have bought tickets the night before. Bastard. We explored our options, but opted to wait until the 11:30 am bus for the 1 pm ferry. Less time on the island, but we would still get to see it. Instead, we headed to a park and soaked up the sun hoping for some kind of tan to show our families when we got home (not gonna happen). We also entertained ourselves with grapes. Or James pretending to be a seal.



Finally made it on the bus, and as I said before used it as an opportunity to SLEEP! Then made it on the ferry, and guess what, slept some more. (When Olivier gets the pictures to me I'll post some on here). Once we arrived we rented some handy bikes to bike around the island. This island was unique. There were virtually no trees and tons of rocks all around. Small stone walls formed squares over the grass, and cows and horses grazed while overlooking the ocean. The island was small and we could make it around on bikes in probably under 2 hours. I enjoyed biking (reminded me of UCSB) and loved seeing the beautiful countryside. My favorite part though was an ancient fort (I beleive it was 4000 years old) constructed on top of a sea cliff 93 m high. It's name was Dun Aengus and greatly exceeded my expectations. I think pictures and a video are the best way to see what this was like. I remember walking away thinking I wish my family had been there to see it with me:



This is the actual cliff:

A video:
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We headed back and had a nice bit to eat at the cafe. The reason why this blog is titled Amoo is that cows in Finnland don't go moo; they go amoooo and Jussi doesn't get why that's so funny but the rest of us think it's hilarious. We gave Jussi quite a hard time at the cafe. I think it's one of those things you had to be there for.

Because we got to the island so late, we didn't make it back to Galway until around 9 and then had to transfer hostels because the one we were at was full for the night. The next hostel did not have as high of a rating; when we walked in you could tell right away. No one was at the front desk and when we said we had a reservation, the owner wasn't sure he had enough beds. He then took the next half hour to go look throughout the hostel to find out how many beds he actually had. And he was short by one bed. So I called a bunch of hostels, and all were full. I kinda felt like Mary and the no vacancy thing. It turned out fine, and he only charged us for 5 beds. But still. And the doors didn't lock to the rooms. And there was puke in the shower the next morning. But at least we had a place to sleep.

After relaxing for 2 minutes we headed out and decided to meet up with the Galway people again. Because we hadn't had a predrink, James came up with the bright idea to do 3 minute pints. I don't think I even made the first one honestly. James was always like "Come on woman" haha. But we ended up having enough drinks, and went around to different bars. It was a lot of fun once again, and after some AMAZING munchies compared to the last two nights (a kebab place the Galway people knew about). Once again we didn't make it home until around 4 am. Some highlights of the night include Luke trying to find an ATM outside in the pouring rain when there was one in the bar, and him coming back soaking wet. James couldn't find a place to pee. And Olivier walked into a tree.

James and I and our 3 minute pint:


A hilarious picture on the way home:



What a night. By now, I'm really getting to know all of these people, and loving every second of it. I have such a great time with them. Definitely miss them when I go home.

But I'm missing everyone at home... love you all.

Galway continued... more UREKAs!

The next morning was well rough. 4 hours of sleep, and having to go meet people from the other UREKA program. I think I might have still woken up with a slight buzz, but alas, I got myself up and looking fresh. Most of us looked ok from the night before, though Jussi seemed to be dragging a bit.

We headed to NUIG, the National University of Ireland, Galway:



That morning we met up with other UREKA students participating in the same program as us, but in Galway. The night before we had bet on how nerdy they were going to be. It turned out, they probably party more than we do! We listened to some lectures, trying not to fall asleep, and then participated in a speed "networking" session where everyone had to guess everyone else's interesting fact. (Mine was that I'm a quadruplet... never fails!!) I pretty much failed at guessing everyone else's, and instead tried to get to know the other students better. There were people from America, Poland, Ireland and probably other places I can't quite remember. Lunch, another lecture where I was falling asleep even more (James said at one point he looked over at me and I was out for 2 minutes. Luckily he kicked my leg and I jolted back awake). All of the Irish students then took off (flakes!!!) for Dublin, so it was once again the internationals heading off. After going to the Galway students' BBQ for about an hour, we got some numbers from the Galway students so we could meet up later.

Laetitia wanted something from the city so we (including James) headed in and explored a bit more, while Luke and Jussi napped back at the hostel.

We then went and bought some drank (ie apple cider for James and I) and headed to pre drink with the students from Galway. It was quite intersting finding their place, as it seemed we were going into a bunch of woods by a river, but we finally found it and also got to see a rainbow!!



We had a fun pre drink, including me looking behind me and James crawling through a window, and several plans made for the night. We finished our two bottles of apple cider (4 pints) and headed out.

We went the Quays first where they were playing live music and then headed to Cuba, a night club. Made some great friends with the Galway students and more memories made. The plans failed, but still an amazing night.






This time for our munchies, Supermacs (ew) was not going to happen so we went to guess where?? Yep McDonalds. I had my first McDonalds ever in a foreign country. Not as good, but satisfied my appetite.

To the west... Galway

I'm back in Dublin after spending 4 amazing days in Galway, one of the biggest cities on the west coast of Ireland.

We went there originally with the UREKA program to visit some industrial partners, but all of the international students stayed for a few extra days to travel around a bit. The trip was absolutely AMAZING. I met some new people, and got closer to the great friends I have already made.

This was the general idea of the trip: do something education/touristy during the day, eat dinner, pre game, go out, get back at 3, wake up at 8 and start all over again. 4 days in a row. I usually tried to catch up on sleep while on buses and what not, but every once in a while that didn't quite work out and I was exhausted. It's Tuesday, and I think I'm still catching up on sleep. Olivier managed to catch pictures of us sleeping on multiple buses/boats.

On Thursday, we left DCU at 7:15 am (the sleep is already not looking good) and arrived in Limerick (aka Stab City, I read in my book... Emma (program director) asked where in the world I heard that, but everyone confirmed it was true. In Limerick we went on a tour of Analog Devices, one of BDIs industrial partners, where we found out that almost all of our cell phones contain a chip that is made by this company. The amount and the scale they make it on is insane. I had a harder time understanding that stuff just because I hadn't had classes on it, but Luke who is a computer engineering major, loved it. Everyone who works in the lab wears those white suits like out of the movies.



We then headed to Galway where we would be spending the night. We had a few hours to explore town, and I bought myself a Claddaugh ring which apparently originated in Galway. A picture of all of us near the river:


We had a drink and went to dinner at an Italian restaurant. The food was ok but the conversation was great. Really got to know my friends on a more personal level haha.

Our hostel didn't allow alcohol, but of course we couldn't go out without a pre drink. So we sneaked some in, and let the festivities begin. Marieke goes to school in Galway so she led us to her favorite pub/club. Guess what I drank? Yep how'd you know, apple cider!! Pictures of the night are quite funny, here are some examples (more to come in the future on facebook!!):





The picture above is of Jussi making his eyes move in different directions. At one point, I went to the restroom and came back and all of my apple cider was gone. Jussi had drunk it down while I was gone. He of course agreed to buy me another one which I politely declined. So instead, he bought me a tequila shot (which I'm not fond of at all). I took it, but not too happily. The next morning he says he probably shouldn't have taken that last tequila shot. Haha. Ditto.

After some quality dancing to some interesting music, we went to Supermacs which David claims is better than McDonalds. Ruling: nope, sorry David. McDonalds takes the cake. In bed at 3 am, wake up call at 7 am.



More go come on Galway (Aran Islands/Cliffs of Moher). Miss everyone at home!

Update on workkkkkkkkk

Chemistry... ugh. It's going ok, but some days can be a bit dull. Results are going ok, we should be done with most of the work by early August, just in time for me to write my report. I can now do almost everything by myself and have been trained on multiple machines that will be useful later in my science career. Woo hoo.

Monday I accidentally slept in because my phone that serves as my alarm went dead. But I had a text from Elaine telling me that she would be late and to sleep in... perfect!! By the time I got in, Elaine was still not in, but I had several things to do. I went to lunch came back and she was still not there. I get a phone call at 3:30 pm to hear that she's at the pub... yesss!!!

I head over and find that Zo (shoutout!!! and you even got your own set of brackets) had found out about this lovely blog of mine, and read out loud the post about the chemistry conference last week (you know when you write something it sounds fine, but when someone reads it aloud it sounds so much worse... yep). I drank a pint or two of apple cider in the process. Zo also said that the funniest things I say are always in brackets. (uhhhhh ok....)

Zo wants to be American... I asked him several questions of which most he could answer except for who is the 16th president of the United States. Come onnnn, so obvious... anyways a picture he took especially for my blog:


They all told me that there were several things I forgot to mention including the fact that Keran was running around in his underwear at 4 am because he got locked out of his room. The box thingy ran out of batteries. He walked into reception and the lady just laughed... he then had to go back with the security guard in his boxers... glad it wasn't me, and definitely got a good laugh in the morning. Especially when Elaine couldn't find him until 1 pm the next morning.

Went home, grocery store, soccer, and made taco salad for everyone for dinner. The only problem was that they didn't have the right taco seasoning, I couldn't find pinto or black beans, anddd the kidney beans came in their own chili sauce. Yuck... it tasted alright, but when I get home I'll definitely be making the real stuff.

It is now Tuesday evening, and raining pretty heavily outside my window. This also means I am completely caught up on my blog, yay! On Thursday, I head to western Ireland in the city of Galway which is supposed to be awesome.

Hope the houseboat went well for my family and neighborhood friends, been thinking about it all week especially when it's raining and I know you all are baking in the sun!!

Next post: likely on Monday...

Botanic gardens and a sleepy final

After such a late night the night before, I didn't make it out of bed until around 1 in the afternoon. I've been noticing now that I'm beginning to REALLY like tea with some milk in it. Phil informed me that only people from the U.K. or Ireland do that, but I might just have to bring the trend back to America. English breakfast is excellent, though I had some Earl Grey in Kilkenny and thought that was very good as well.

We all headed to the botanical gardens which were gorgeous. I tried my hand at some photography, and also for the first time saw a venus fly trap actually close! I was surprised by how fast it is, for some reason I thought it would be slower (which makes no sense because then the fly would escape, but come on it's a PLANT!!)







That night we went to watch the final at a local pub called The Comet. While we were sitting there, a man came up who was so far wasted/pissed that he told us three times that we were at the Comet pub (and that he was a regular... you don't say??) He left for a smoke but left his drink... we all secretly hoped he wouldn't come back, and he didn't... he must've forgotten he had come over to sit with us.

The final was AWFUL, almost put me to sleep. So many fouls, it ruined the rhythm of the game. A man looked over at us all at one point and told us to wake up haha. Spain finally found the net, and now we have to wait another four years for the World Cup. Major bummer... I love watching most of the games, and it is sooo much fun rooting for your team. Soccer is a beautiful game.

Phil is here... off to Kilkenny

Phil arrived today for his chance to experience Ireland. He has never been here before, and considering that he would have free accommodation if he stayed with me, he booked his flight. He brought me some bread from Germany, which I loved, and to make it even better it was in the shape of a soccer ball!!



That night we headed into the city center to watch the match of Germany vs. Spain. He of course brought his German flag, and we got several people from Spain saying auf wiedersehen which I found pretty hilarious. We wanted to eat, but couldn’t find a bar which had enough room for us to both eat and watch the match. So we ended up at a pretty open bar where instead we had a few drinks. Germany lost, unfortunately as most of you know, but Phil still seemed in ok spirits. Honestly, if the game was the USA I probably would’ve cried a bit (jk… well maybe).



We then headed to a place to eat, where we got some Irish stew. That’s the 2nd Irish stew I’ve had and loved it. Can’t wait to make some of my own. After some good craic, we headed home.

Thursday, Phil explored Dublin on his own and came back for dinner with the rest of us just like we usually do.

Friday we headed to Kilkenny, recommended to us by David. There was no problem getting there on bus. When we arrived, I think I began to realize how small of a town it actually is. No one seemed to be on the streets on a Friday night, and we weren't sure exactly where to get off the bus. But Phil and I being the smart people that we are, figured it out.

Kilkenny is known for its hurling team (hurling is a sport played in Ireland, but I have absolutely no idea about the rules, one day I hope to go watch a game):




At this point in my travels, I've begun to figure out that my sense of direction is not as good as it should be. I get turned around often and think we should turn certain places when in reality we turn the opposite direction. Good thing I'm not traveling alone...

After checking into our hostel, we headed to a pub! Guess what I ordered? That's right, irish stew! And to drink I figured I would give the cider a break and opted instead for some of the local brew call Smithwicks. Phil thought it tasted a bit like German beer. I enjoyed it quite a bit.





We then headed to the place where live music was playing and met up with the two Americans from Michigan that were sharing our room with us back at the hostel. The music was excellent, and Phil really got a taste of some live Irish music and a pub. We also managed to win ourselves some hats. Don't worry, I'll bring the hat home for all of you that are DYING to wear it.



After heading home at 1 am, we woke up early the next morning to begin our tourist duties. Unfortunately it was raining out (and didn't stop the entire day. Phil really got a taste of the real Ireland...). Afer a yummy Irish breakfast with some interesting pudding (it has meat in it... what???? that's not the kind of pudding I have at home...) We headed to some churches and what not, but the most impressive was the Kilkenny castle and the grounds surrounding it. If it were sunny, I would've loved to sit out on the grass and have a picnic. But alas, it wasn't. So we toured around inside the castle, got some pictures on the outside.





We then went for some sandwiches at Blaa Blaa Blaa which is apparently a kind of bread. They were excellent, and later went back for a warm brownie. Because it was a walk in sandwich shop, we decided to eat in this gazebo we had found earlier. It was super cute, and we had a view of this lovely house.



Then we headed back to Dublin. After a long day in the rain, we decided not to go out. Plus we had to watch the Germany Uruguay game, which the Germans won (the octopus got it right!!) We stayed in and drank some beers we had left over. Phil's plane left at 6 am and had to be at the airport at 4 am so we opted to stay up. James came back from oxygen (this huge music festival in Ireland, kinda like Coachella... the stories I heard from people were ridiculous. Like pee flying around, condoms all over, they wear rain boots called Welllies because their feet get so muddy... James' shoes were caked with mud, and he called me at 3 am to come cut some gum out of his hair... but he said it was awesome, I take his word for it.) He made us pancakes, which I was excited for because I missed Canada day... nom nom nom. Phil left sadly. We missed him as we ate more pancakes. By the time we went to bed (4:30 am) it was beginning to be light out again. Sleep time, thank goodness.

Great weekend with Phil, can't wait for more adventures and trips with him...

4th of July in Ireland on the 6th of July... close enough

Since I couldn’t celebrate the fourth of July on Sunday as I was on a bus for most of the day, I decided that we could just celebrate on the sixth of July. Luke would make hamburgers and I would make chili. I have never in my life made chili. I don’t even think my mom has ever really made chili. But I hoped that I could do it. I looked up “easy chili recipe” online and picked the one that sounded decent.

After buying the ingredients (sooo much ground beef, the lady at the checkout asked me why I had so much. I explained, and she became increasingly interested in the fourth of July and began scanning the items slower and slower. I think the other customers were quite annoyed, and by the end of the conversation, James figured I probably should’ve invited her over.) and beer for beer pong later (I bought Budweiser. It was cheap, and American. What more could I ask for…), I began my chili making adventure. The adventure ended up being not much of an adventure. It was extremely easy, and I was finished in 30 minutes. I probably doubled the amount of chili powder, because online it said if the chili had no flavor, that was probably why. And when I tasted it, it was a bit bland, so I added more chili powder.

The hamburgers also looked excellent. Pics of our lovely food and everyone enjoying it:




After the grub, it was time for beer pong. It was great teaching everyone the game I love so much. And while the table was limited (no bouncing, not that I ever make those anyway), it was still a great time. I tried to represent UCSB in this escapade but ended my night with 1 win and 1 loss (Vince, you would’ve owned). Luke managed to make his own cup (hahahaha).





All in all successful fourth of July, though I did miss the sunshine, bbq, and pool parties… next year for sure.

Coming up: Phil visits!!!

Back to lab to do WORK

Back from Belfast and what a weekend… back to the lab.

Today I only worked a half day, because for the 2nd half of the day, I would be giving a presentation to 13-17 year old gifted students at DCU about the work I have been doing, and the work that I will be doing. It only had to be three minutes long. Emma had said the talk and chalk would be just fine and that I wouldn’t need to make any slides or what not for it. After Belfast, I didn’t remember about this presentation until the night before when Luke said he had been worried about it all weekend. Shows you how worried I was. Elaine suggested that I bring down an electrode (I use them EVERDAY, might as well). So I start thinking in my head about what I would say, I figured I would just wing it, and would be fine.

I know you are all expecting me to say I should not have winged it, but I was perfectly fine for the most part. I gave a simple explanation about what I’ve been doing, and while I was more nervous than I thought I would be, I believe that I did a pretty good job of explaining my work. (I put gold on, and take it off. And then I detect DNA. That’s it. Didn’t actually say this but sometimes I feel like I should have.) One question got me: why gold. Well because that’s what they say to use. I answered I didn’t know, but made sure when I got back to lab to ask Elaine. The answer was that it was inexpensive and inert (fairly stable) and likes electrons. As simple as that.

Afterwards we headed to play some more soccer. There is now a group of about 8 of us that play for 2 hours (soooo long and tiring, but I definitely needed it after all of those ciders). Quite a bit of fun, and healthy exercise…

Up to this point, I had been absolutely craving chocolate chip cookies. And those being something I KNOW I can cook well, I decided to make up a batch for everyone. They don’t sell chocolate chips here (crazy right… such a necessity. At home they come in like gallon bags) so instead a crushed up a big chocolate bar. I made them like I usually did with 2 questionable things: the first was that I wasn’t sure if bicarbonate soda was baking soda (I assumed it was) and if the dark brown sugar would taste the same as the light. I went for it… and they looked awful. The outsides would cook really fast and the inside would cook just a little bit. And they were soooo flat, not round at all. How could I screw up chocolate chip cookies honestly. Grrr. I love chocolate chip cookies, and really wanted a nice soft normal cookie. But people ate them, and said they were good even though they looked like shite. By the next day, all of my retarded cookies were gone.

Tomorrow: America day!!!

Giants Causeway with some giant wind

Another touristy day, but this time outside of Belfast. Thank goodness we planned only one day in Belfast, because honestly there was not much else for us to see. This time we headed out with a bright green bus called the Paddywagon at 9:30 am. Talk about no sleep, and another slight headache… but at least we got to sleep on the bus.

Our first destination was a bridge on the Northeast coast of Ireland. It was absolutely gorgeous and I think that pictures describe it better than I could. Yes that little person on the bridge is me!! (Thanks James…)





We then headed to Giant’s Causeway, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland. There are many fairytales surrounding how it actually got there and is considered by some to be the 8th wonder of the world. It is a bunch of hexagonal columns, formed right near the ocean. Despite the fairytales, the truth of the matter is it is a geological phenomenon (gotta love science) and very beautiful. Only one picture, at this point my camera was running out of batteries. (More of course will be posted on Facebook)



While the sight was amazing, I think what was even more incredible was the wind. I have never felt the wind that I felt when I was on the Causeway. The pictures don’t show the wind; this video does:



There was one point that I was too afraid to move on top of the Causeway because I thought I would be blown off. Literally ducking for cover. Who woulda thought… When we were walking back up the path to the buses, little rocks were stinging us from the force of the wind. We had to walk up backwards so the pebbles wouldn’t hit our faces. It was quite and experience.

We then headed to the city of Derry/Londonderry, where James and I took a walking tour. The British/ Protestants/ Northern Irish call it Londonderry, while the rest of Ireland calls it Derry. This city is also significant in Northern Ireland’s past. There is a wall built around the city, where the Protestants live. The Catholics live outside of the wall. The wall is still standing. This is also the location of Bloody Sunday, the event that I described in one of my previous Belfast blogs. As we were leaving the city (we were only there an hour), we noticed more police out on the streets than before. It was because of the marching season, and a march was on its way. We could hear it, but unfortunately couldn’t see it. My camera ran out of batteries, so no pictures. But I know James took tons, so I’ll steal some from him.

After that we took the Paddywagon back to Belfast (2 hours) where we had to run quickly from the bus stop, to the hostel to get our luggage, and back to another bus stop to catch the bus to Dublin. After another 2 hour bus ride, we were back in Dublin and ready for sleep. What a weekend…

I missed the fourth of July because I was coming back from Belfast, but no worries… a post soon to come will describe the wonderful festivities that ensued!!!

Update on "The Troubles"

This happened in Northern Ireland where I am not, nor will be so don't freak out (Mom and Dad). But I told you about the troubles in my earlier post. Still happening...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/10/northern.ireland.explosion/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Bel Bel Belfast... now as a tourist

Note: I'm now about a week behind. I'm working on getting caught up, but just haven't had the time!!! For the record, I celebrated the fourth of July on the sixth of July, Phil arrived Wednesday, and I was in Kilkenny on Friday night... those blogs to come!

Saturday I was more of a tourist in Belfast with the rest of my fellow international UREKAs plus Marieka.

First, a few notes on just Belfast. It is located in Northern Ireland, which is a completely different country than the rest of Ireland (which is also known as the Republic). It runs on different currency, and the taxes on things such as food and drink are less (more alcohol for your buck!!). There are also British flags hung everywhere, since it is technically a part of the U.K. We picked an especially interesting time to go, given that it is the marching season. This means that this is when the Protestants commemorate the Battle of the Boyne, a battle in 1690 that helped ensure the supremacy of the Protestants in Ireland, by marching through the streets of different cities in Northern Ireland.

So now some brief history of Ireland, so that this makes a bit more sense. Catholics (or the Republicans) want Northern Ireland to be a part of the rest of the Republic. The Protestants (or Unionists) don’t. It has been more of a political battle than a religious battle, with the Catholics being the Irish people, and the Protestants being more from the U.K. The marches I described earlier are no longer violent (although a friend told me of a time in Dublin where people were walking around with hoodies on and throwing bricks, so there is still tension). This history, however, is not 100s of years old. In 1973, Bloody Sunday occurred where the British soldiers fired shots into a peaceful Catholic demonstration and killed 13 people. The British at the time took no responsibility. It wasn’t until 2 weeks ago that the British parliament finished their investigation and apologized for their actions.

Sooo… this city of Belfast that I was in was one of the central points of this conflict and it showed. We went to a place where there are murals that were painted that depict the past and present divisions. Here are a few pictures of my favorites, or quotes that I found interesting:





















The following mural is one of the more famous murals. If you notice the gun, it follows you no matter where you are. It was extremely eerie, like the Mona Lisa but with a gun (the Mona Lisa is eerie enough).












We also drove passed a big metal gate (quite daunting if you ask me) that closes at night. It closes in the Catholic neighborhood. I asked the taxi driver why they still need it if there hasn’t been violence in years. His answer was merely just to prevent trouble.

There are also 27 walls like the wall in the following picture that are still up throughout Belfast (almost like the Berlin wall) to separate the Protestants and Catholics. On this one in particular, there are peace messages written from people around the world encouraging the people here to overcome the past. An example:



I was boosted up by James and Oliver and wrote one of our own:



Our tour guide said that right now there are no plans to bring the walls down. It wouldn’t do any good right now, he said. He did say that the day the walls are brought down will be a great day for Ireland and the rest of the country and even world. I asked him when he thought everything will cool down enough for the walls to come down. He didn’t think it would happen in his lifetime, and possibly not even mine.

This was all very shocking for me. In only 20 % of Belfast do the Protestants and Catholics live together. Otherwise, the two communities are still completely separated. Wow. I guess I just don’t understand how people can’t overcome their differences to even live peacefully together, and that a physical wall is needed to prevent violence. I thought we were passed this in most of the world, especially in a country such as Ireland.

After this, we headed to some more touristy things in Belfast (more meaning a church, a clock, a fish statue, and that’s it really). We were done touring Belfast by 2 pm. The city was nothing special (except for the murals that I think people have to see if they head there). So guess what… we went to eat!!! We went somewhere that they serve Irish stew, but of course by the time we got there, they were out of Irish stew. No bueno. The food I did get (beef and Guinness pie) was still excellent. Next, back to the hostel, sleep while watching an AWFUL movie (nice choice Jussi) and then drinking before we headed out. One quote of the night by Luke: “I just figured out I’m a lightweight.” Some dancing and what not at a night club at a place in Belfast called the Odyssey. James and Jussi both commented that the girls in Northern Ireland are hotter than the girls in the Republic (honestly, there’s no difference boys…) Great night with great friends:












and back to bed. ZZZZZ….