Long Time No Blog!

Sorry it's been so long- I've been hella-busy these past couple of weeks, so you'll have to bear with a long entry... Read with caution.

So since I last wrote I have been to Scotland to visit Colin, he's come to Galway for a few days, both of us went to Sweden for his sister's wedding AND had one of my best friends from home visit. We'll start with Scotland...

So I got to Aberdeen at about midnight on Thursday night, so I just went to Colin's apartment and went to bed. Then on Friday we walked around Aberdeen a little bit, I got to see his campus and everything. Despite being the "granite city," it's actually really gorgeous. His school buildings are all ancient and beautiful, and everything is in stone. Here are a couple pictures of the school:


And the city:



Then after our little walk around we went back to Colin's and he made me dinner for Valentine's Day which was delicious- an Indian feast. We drank some wine and one of Colin's friends Callum came over, and his roommate Sarah hung out with us. Then we went out to a couple bars and clubs, met some more of his friends- it was a great night!

The next day we took it easy, hung around and had a movie marathon to the max. It was really relaxing and I got to see some good movies that I never had.

Then on Sunday we were pretty lazy all day as well, but we went over to the pub across the street from Colin (literally- you open the door of his apartment and all you see is THE BOBBIN. If I had that set up, I don't think I'd ever go to class!) There was a quiz on, and our team ended up winning some pizzas and a few free drinks which was sweet. Plus you know how I feel about trivia games ;) . Then Callum came over again and played some playstation with Colin while Sarah and I hung out. Colin and I ended up deciding to stay up all night because we had to be at the airport at like 7:30 which was a pain. I think I fell asleep for about an hour, and then Callum drove us out to the airport.

We got into Galway at about 5 on Monday night, but we didn't go out. Last week was a huge week on campus. It's called RAG Week, and I guess it started as a week for fundraising for charities, but now it's just turned into a "all-you-can-drink" fest. No one is really clear on the whole charity thing, but the drinking part seems to be well understood. Anyway the students generally don't go to class, start drinking in their apartments in the morning, go to the college bar all day and then out at night. Well apparently Monday is supposed to be the craziest day, and then everyone other than the first years get kinda burned out and only go out one other day or so. Well Colin and I missed Monday so we decided to start the drinking on Tuesday afternoon and we went all night. It was really fun- we hung out with Colin's friends for part of the night then I met up with some of my American friends- all around a good time.

Wednesday we went out for a couple drinks but we weren't really up for it so took it pretty easy, plus we were saving up for the weekend in Sweden! Then Thursday I had class until 7 at night, and took a bus to Dublin that night so I wouldn't have to wake up at 3 am to catch my flight. Also, we flew SAS which was sooooo nice compared to Ryan Air. The seats moved back and everything. Just pure luxury.

Anyway we arrived in Stockholm in the afternoon and I started meeting his entiiiiire family which was pretty overwhelming to say the least. It's hard to know who belongs on which side, and who are whose kids when you don't meet them that way- they're all just thrown at you all at once. Crazy! Anyway, the accommodation was so great. They rented out a whole floor of Apartments for everyone all right next to each other. There was tons of room to all mingle and party together, we had kitchens and everything, plus I stayed with some of Colin's cousins who were all so great- we had a great time together just laughing and hanging out. Plus down at Brian and Mary's (Colin's parents), there was always a party going down with plenty of food and Irish music/dancing for everyone.

Well on Saturday Colin and I got up pretty early and went over to the shopping center so I could get a sweater for my dress, he got a barber to trim up his beard, and then we ate some delicious and extremely fresh sushi. After that we got ready for the wedding, had a little Champagne and we were off the the ceremony.

I don't even think I can describe how beautiful the wedding was. The best way is just to say it was the closest thing to a fairy tale I have ever seen. The ceremony was in a church that used to belong to the king, it's about 1,000 years old and just absolutely gorgeous.

OH! Ray just woke up- I'll finish this later! Hope that will tide you over until tomorrow ;)

Snow Day?

So U of I has a snow day for the first time in I think 30 years. They couldn't have had it last winter? I mean, come on. Although I don't have to deal with walking through feet of snow for the next couple weeks, so I guess it's okay.

Not too much is new in my life over here. Today I got a package from the Momsters with my moccasins and a bunch of Valentine's Day candy, so right now I'm wearing the moccasins while shoveling hershey kisses into my face. I'm pretty content to say the least.

Last week I didn't really do much, kinda hung out with some friends. The balls were on last week, which are the annual dances that each college hosts, so that was the big buzz around my apartment. My Irish roommates all got glammed up prom-style, with their hair and make-up done and everything. It was fun seeing them all going out, and even more fun seeing them come home and then immediately go out again. Going to a ball is pretty much a 24-hour deal, because everyone stays out all night and then goes to the college bar all day the next day still in their formal wear. It was pretty hilarious, and my classes were empty on Thursday haha.

Colin visited over the weekend and it was really fun. On Friday we went to a party that one of his friend's had, and despite our intentions we ended up not going out, just staying there all night. Then on Saturday we hung around my apartment and went out that night to a pub for some good ol' Guinness. Sunday we watched the Ireland-France rugby game at a bar with a bunch of people, and then watched LOST (amaaaazing!) before he had to catch a bus back to Dublin for his flight in the morning. It was a really fun and relaxing weekend. This weekend I'm going to go visit him in Aberdeen, so I'll probably have some more interesting things to say about that.

So you're probably saying to yourself "It doesn't sound like Eileen ever does anything. What is she doing to occupy herself?" Well, there's really a simple answer- Perez Hilton. And this past week has been especially enthralling with the death of Anna Nicole Smith. If you don't know, Perez Hilton is a celebrity gossip website, and the most addicting thing I've ever read. The Superficial is a good one too. But with all the madness going on with ANS, I've had to spend a lot of time keeping up with the latest news. It's been pretty busy. And believe me, I've got my own conspiracy theories. Howard K. Stern is one evil man, that's all I'm going to say.

Well I better go now, I have my first assignment for the semester due tomorrow- pretty crazy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Booo

VERJUICE: n 1. the sour juice of crab apples or unripe fruit *2: acidity of disposition or manner
Eileen was quite verjuice this morning after Da Bears' devastating loss last night.

Ahhh, gotta love the word-a-day calendar. It always knows how I feel.

Well last night I went out to watch the superbowl, and ended up being a very sad panda indeed. But oh well, life goes on.

Other than that the past week has been pretty uneventful. I've just been hanging out with some friends and sleeping a lot. There really isn't much to do here since there isn't any school work, so it can get a bit boring. Not that I'm complaining! I'm just glad that I've made a few friends that I really clicked with and have some people to pass the time with.

This weekend Colin is coming to visit and there is a huge birthday party for one of his friends, so I'm really looking forward to that. Other than that I'll just be hanging out, reading and such. It's funny how slowly this place feels more and more like home. I hope all of you are doing well!

EDIT: I forgot to mention the highlight of the week. My friend Grant and I found our calling in the form of the Centre Bar. It's a pub in the middle of a grocery store parking lot, like 2 seconds from my apartment. We're determined to become regulars, despite that we're pretty sure it's a tinker bar. We actually call it Tinkers anyway. The place is amazing.