Most Beautiful Country Ever!

The Castle

The tomb.

My first time seeing the ocean <3

Cliffs of Moher

WOW, I knew this country was beautiful but today I found out just how far that beauty goes. We took a tour of the Burren country and the Cliffs of Moher today. We started out from Limerick at 9:30 this morning and made our way toward the Cliffs. On the way we stopped at Leamenagh Castle. This was the home of a Lord and Lady of Clare County. The Lady supposedly got upset with her second husband for some remarks he made of her late husband and pushed him out the third story window to his death. After the Castle we headed to Galway Bay where we stopped for lunch. We ate at this nice little place called Monk's. They are famous for their Seafood Chowder so I figured I better try some and it was delicious! We walked by the bay and found some seashells. Along the drive we eventually hit the coast where I got to see the ocean for the first time in my life. I know I flew over it to get here, but it was dark so I technically didn't get to see it. Let me tell you the coast here is beautiful!! Just gorgeous, I could have stood at the edge of the ledge we stopped at all day just watching the waves crash against the stone. We stopped at some famous tomb where over 70 bodies were put to rest. It was really cool to see. The area of the country we drove through today had a lot of limestone rock and if the ground wasn't covered in rock it was covered in green pasture. Either way it was beautiful. Honestly you look out the bus window and all you see is mountainside covered in green pastures. Seen a lot of sheep and beef on the way to the Cliffs, but no dairy yet :(  I did get a peak at some dairy steers in a barn but they definitely weren't cows. We made it to the Cliffs around 3 and got to spend over an hour there. The view was breathtaking, the pictures don't do it justice. Although honestly pictures and me describing it doesn't do it justice. A couple of us were feeling extra adventurous and went out onto a mud path to take us further up the Cliffs. It was funny watching the guys come back down the mud covered hill, they were a little frightened of falling and getting covered in mud. Meanwhile I'm way ahead of them walking no problem, it must be all that practice I have walking through the manure at the farm :) It really wouldn't be fair for me to sit here and try to describe what I saw today that's why I posted the pictures! After the Cliffs we headed home, everyone was pretty beat and all fell asleep on the way home. Our bus driver was extremely nice, liked to talk a lot, we learned a lot of history can't say I remember it all but it was interesting listening to it. Overall it was a great day, even if the weather was crummy all day it was so worth it!

Satisfied In My Decision

Well mom you will be glad to know I didn't torture any of my new friends with my singing. We went over to my neighbors place before heading out and by the time they left for the bar it was already late and I had class at 9 the next morning so I just called it a night. I still had a lot of fun over at their house though. They are a great group of people. We are all taking a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher tomorrow, which I'm really excited about. I ready to get out of Limerick and see more of this beautiful country. And we are actually taking the bus tour that Brittany's cousin/uncle (I forget which it is) runs. So hopefully I'll get to meet him personally and introduce myself.
I started my Agriculture class yesterday and today. I think that is going to by far be my favorite class. We even get to take field trips to some farms, which I'm really excited about. This is exactly why I choose to study abroad because I knew I would never have the opportunity to take classes like this one and the Equine science one while I was at St. Norbert. So I am sooooo glad that I took this opportunity to study here in Ireland so that I can take these classes that I am actually interested in and classes that I think will really help me prepare for vet school. And not only do I get to take these awesome classes but I also get to take in this breathtaking country. I am rather satisfied with my decision to come to Ireland. Even though I miss you all at home I know I made the choice.
I haven't been up to much besides classes. It has been crummy weather here the last couple days. It has rained the majority of the day and it is the actual downpour type rain rather then just the drizzle they occasionally get throughout the normal day. My shins are still killing me from my run last Sunday so I haven't gotten back out on the trail to run again. I'm hoping they'll be better soon so that I can try again and maybe just not go as far this time. I have to make sure I stay in shape so that I can fit into my bridesmaid dress for Emily and Andy's wedding!
Well that's all I've got for now. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the Cliffs on Sunday probably.

Boring Days

The past two days have been pretty boring. Yesterday I went to two different horse classes, one a nutrition class that other a health and disease class. The nutrition class doesn't sound that great but I think I will enjoy the Health and Disease one so that's the one I'll most likely end up registering for at the end of the week. In that class we jumped right into lab as well. Me and Marlo had to go down to The Spar (little convenient store on campus) to buy white lab coats because everyone in the labs is required to wear one. So we went off to lab in our lab coats, had to ask people where exactly to find the lab as it was very confusing to get to the room. You had to go outside into a little courtyard, cross the courtyard and go back into the building on that side, apparently there is no way to get to the room from inside the building, you have to go through this courtyard. I'm glad there were people around to tell us because there is no way we would have found it otherwise. In lab me and Marlo felt like the smart Americans, no joke. There were some kids in that class that I have no clue what they were doing in a science lab. Some girls had no clue how to use the instruments and there were guys that just sat and joked around the whole time and didn't seem to care. I believe the professor said this was a third year class so I guess I figured the students would be more knowledgeable in the science part but I think I'm wrong.  I have a feeling that most of the students in these horse classes are more focused on the training and management side of things then the health science part, they are simply forced to take the science aspect and therefore aren't very good at it. And I could be completely wrong and they could all be really smart in the class but that's definitely not the initial vibe me or Marlo got from them. I however am excited about the class. Other than that class my day was boring, I did have a nice talk with my Irish roommate. He comes from a dairy farm here in Ireland where they milk 60 cows. So we were discussing how things are done on my farm and he was just amazed that we could milk close to 500 cows three times a day every day all year long. Here they only milk twice a day and they only milk from March to around December. He couldn't believe that we freshened cows in all year long because here every one freshens their cows in all in one month, normally March or April. It was nice being able to talk with him about farming. I definitely miss the farm and all my cows. I really hope that I can find some farms here that I can go and visit, I'd love to see how they do things here. At orientation they told us that our goal this semester should be to try and get invited home with an Irish student for a weekend. Maybe I can get Emmit to invite me to his farm. Marlo's roommate also has a friend that said he would take him out to his farm, but I haven't met him yet so I better get on making friends with him so that I can get out to a farm!
I didn't have any classes today so I got to sleep in and be lazy all day. If all works out this is how every Wednesday will be for me, except the being lazy part.  Today it was raining all day so I had an excuse to sit inside all day, but any other time I will probably be outside taking pictures that sort of thing. But as I said today I spent my entire day inside reading my books that I brought with me and pinning things to Pinterest (Michelle now has to addicted to that site whenever I'm bored).  Today was the first day that it rained all day long and it was more of a actual rain rather then the mist they normally have. We are going out tonight for Karaoke down at the pub on campus, they have some sort of thing going on down there every night of the week. I really don't know how the Irish students can afford to go out as much as they do. I plan to go out for the occasional drink with my new friends and on the weekends, but that is plenty for me.
Sorry this post is so boring, but like I said in the title it's been a boring last two days.

Pictures from my running path

A bridge I cross on my run.

Joey Valentine :)

The cute beagle that I seen on my run. He is evidence of dogs without leashes. His owner ran past me about 5 minutes before he did and then he finally caught up to her like 5 minutes later.

Some of the pretty scenery I get to run alongside.

Part of the Shannon River outside my apartment.

A little of everything

Well I've had an eventful last two days. Sunday was sort of my chill day. When I woke up I decided to go for a run on a dirt trial that runs along the Shannon River. It was beautiful and felt so good to run again. (Although my shins are hating me for it today) After I was all showered and had lunch I decided to go back out on the trail with my camera to take some pictures. I ended up walking even further than I had ran that morning and spent two hours out there. There were a lot of fishermen out, I stopped and asked one what they fish for in the river and he told me they were fishing for Pike and there was some tournament going on, which would explain why there were so many guys out there. I had a nice chat with a Irish man. He seen me taking pictures and told me I could take some of his dog if I wanted. He had a little terrier, Joey Valentine, he was very cute. The man told me about his family history and how some of his relatives had immigrated to New York and had become some great detective for the NYPD.  He was a very nice man and I got a very cute picture of Joey :) 
We all went out to a Irish club last night. I know you are thinking, but it was a Sunday night! Apparently the Irish don't care what day of the week they get drunk on. Since it was the night that all the Irish students were returning from their holiday off everyone was out. The place we went was packed! You could hardly even dance out on the dance floor, you simply got pushed around. And I'll say this dancing here is very different from dancing back at home. All in all it was an interesting night!
Today was the first day of classes, although it's more of a trial week so the first class is just sort of an overview to give you an idea of what the class will be like so you can decide if you want to take it. I sat in on Irish Folklore and a Irish history class.  I think I will take the folklore class but not that history one, it was too focused on the politics and I didn't care for that.  After classes me and Marlo went to go get our visas, everything went smoothly with that thank goodness. On the bus ride home we experienced something quite different then what we are use to in America. There were these young boys, I'd say 10 or 11, that got on the bus. They went to the back and all of a sudden all you hear coming from their conversation is a bunch of swear words, and one of their mothers was right there and didn't say a thing!  Now I know where we were raised it was not ok to swear like that, especially at such a young age, but here that's part of normal life.  Aside from the swearing it was very funny and interesting listening to the boys talk, but I just couldn't believe they were swearing like they were and no one here thinks anything of it.
It rained an actual rain today, instead of just an annoying mist like it normally is. It only lasted like 15 minutes, maybe. But it was the first time that it was even close to the rain we get at home. I told Marlo I don't think I would ever want to live here because of the weather. It will be raining one minute and sunny the next and then an hour later raining again. You never know when it's going to rain, it rains just about every day, and when its not raining it is most often cloudy. Maybe this is just what it's like this time of the year, but if it's like this all year long I wouldn't like it at all. So everyone at home who is worried that I am going to end up loving it so much here that I'll move here, rest assured I will not be doing any such thing!

Some sites in town

The Shannon River

King John's Castle

ST. Mary's Cathedral

The old entrance to the cathedral. I love all the old buildings here!

A shot of downtown shops.

Here's some pictures

This is the view from my window.

My living room.

The Kitchen

Pretty bridge and stream on campus.

So far I've found a few things in Ireland to be quite different then what we're use to at home.
1. Dogs without leashes.  People here walk everywhere with their dogs and don't even worry about putting a leash on them. And it's no problem because the dogs are so well behaved they just walk alongside or a little ahead of the owner. And when I say they go everywhere with their dogs I mean it. We were in a nicer shopping mall the other day and in walks some people with their dogs, not on a leash or anything. I think it's awesome, and of course every time I see someone walking with a dog I want to stop and pet it but I haven't gotten up the nerve to actually stop and ask to do so yet. 
2.  Cars do NOT stop for pedestrians. Me and Marlo figured this one out pretty quick. See at St. Norbert we are use to just walking across the streets near school and making the cars stop for us. Well if you were to do that you would most likely get hit!  Marlo had a close call, thank goodness I was there to warn her the car was coming, I don't know what she would do without me ;) So if you are ever in Ireland make sure you look both ways before crossing the street and if there is a car coming don't expect it to slow down or stop for you.
3. Birds are awake at 2:30 in the morning. There have been a couple nights where when I get home from hanging out with our new friends that I decide to skype mom since my really late at night here is the only time she can skype at home. Well it was because of this that I have discovered Irish birds are very early risers, like 2am risers. It is pitch dark out and all you hear are these birds just chirping away. I don't know what type of birds they are, all I know is they are pretty excited to start their days early.

For those of you who want to hear more about what I've been up to here ya go.  Yesterday was another day of orientation. We got a tour of campus from one of the students that go here, so that was nice to kinda figure out where everything is. We also got our campus ID cards so I had to smile pretty for the camera :) After that was finished I tried to figure out my classes. At the moment I think I've got them picked now I just have to see if I can get into all of them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We went out last night with some of our new friends. They had a meet and greet sorta things down at the campus pub, it was a fun time. Today we got to take some buses into town for free to go to the milk market, which is sorta like a farmer's market. So that's what my morning was filled with, didn't buy anything from the market just some odds and ends things that I needed for the apartment. We might go out with friends tonight to watch the Rugby game. If we do I'll let you know in my next post how it was. I don't know anything about Rugby so it should be interesting.

Settling In

Well yesterday was a day for firsts here in Ireland. It started with our first trip into town on the city bus. It cost 1.70 Euros for a ticket that takes you from the University of the City Center. Once downtown we had fun trying to find the best stores for everything we needed. We found a Penny's which is basically like our JCPennys at home and they had really decent prices.  Then we needed to find a grocery store, that took a little longer to find but we finally did. It was here we discovered that they charge you for plastic bags at the store, not sure if they do it to try and get people to go green or what, but yeah .20 Euros a bag. So not to self next time bring a backpack. On the bus ride home we ended up sitting next to another study abroad Student from Australia. On the ride home Josh (Australian) told us about his experience for the day which consisted of an 80 year old man collapsing in front of him. Here this old guy passed out right in front of him and Josh though he had had a heart attack. The guy was trying to say something to Josh so he was listening really close, thinking these may be the guys last words. When he finally understood what he was saying this is what he heard, "I think I've had one too many pints".  Here this 80 yeas old guy passed out drunk on the sidewalk at 2:30 in the afternoon. Welcome to Ireland!!  We then found out Josh is actually my next door neighbor, so he invited us out with some friends that he had made already, which actually were the neighbors on the other side of me :) So not only was it our first trip into town it was also our first night out with some new friends in Ireland. And during this first night out I partook in my very first Guinness, only fitting that my first was in Ireland! I will say it wasn't bad, but it's not something that I'll be drinking all the time.

Today was a day filled with boring orientation. Nothing exciting there, except maybe the fact that the Irish students that talked to us about clubs seemed to be more interested in getting drunk then the actual club activities. I knew Ireland was a big drinking country but I thought they were more of social drinkers, apparently not they like to get drunk, a lot. Don't worry to all the moms, aunties, and grandmas reading this I cannot afford to go out and get drunk that often and therefore will not be. I will simply go out and laugh at all the drunk people, who says you need to be drunk to have fun?  After orientation we got to go on a tour of Limerick city. A bus took us all around the city and the driver told us the history behind all the buildings. It was really neat. Then we had our first meal out in Ireland although I don't think their food is all that different from ours at least not what they served tonight. I had a burger and Marlo had haddock. Pretty standard. We hung out with our new friends for a little while, Marlo taught them all how to Dougie :)  Although they were all too amazed at her dance skills to really try it themselves. 

Well that's all I've got for now. Love and miss you all <3

Goodbye Wisconsin, Hello Ireland!

Well the day started with driving to my friend Marlo's house to meet to drive to the airport. Our first flight left Milwaukee at 1:11pm on Monday January 16th. We then arrived in Newark, NY and from there flew into Shannon Ireland. We arrived in Ireland around 6:20am Tuesday January 17th.  Both our flights went smoothly, we had no problems in the airports or on the planes. We even got our own TVs on the flight to Ireland, that was nice to help pass the time. I did sleep a little but not a lot, did you know it is very difficult to get comfy and sleep on a plane?
A shuttle bus from the school picked us up from the airport and brought us to campus. I would say about half our flight was study abroad students all coming to Limerick. Me and Marlo are within the same apartment village but not the same apartment, although our places are very close, just across the courtyard from one another. It is very nice having her with, I don't think I could do this all by myself.
After getting checked in and meeting two of my housemates, one a girl from France and the other a boy from Ireland, I was ready to take a nap. I know everyone says don't nap it will make it worse, but in all honestly I couldn't have made it any further without some sleep. I only slept for about 2 hours then got up and checked out a little bit of the campus with Marlo. Now I am all unpacked and officially ready for bed, and considering it is 10pm here right now I see nothing wrong with going to bed since that is when I go to bed most often at home.
I will end by saying that I can already tell this is a beautiful country. Just from the short drive from the airport to campus I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the lush green pastures. And it is still considered winter here, they say it gets even more green in the spring. I can't even imagine what it will be like then, it is going to be beautiful!  I am very anxious to start this trip, to make so many great memories, meet new people, and grow as an individual.