Oh O'Conor

     No more walking for me. Maybe occasionally, but from now on I am able to take my bike. This morning marked my first attempt navigating Galway's crazy roads. In only 15 minutes I arrived at the University ready for class!
     Could it be? Is it true? Are those oranges sitting out waiting to be eaten?!? Yesterday I failed to mention another first; my very first orange since arriving. With fruit being so expensive Abby C. and I rarely buy it, however after church they set out big juicy oranges for the taking. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed them sitting out just waiting to be eaten. Tempted to take multiple oranges and shove them in my coat pocket, I reconsidered, knowing it would be a bit greedy, not to mention awkward. I may have only had one, but I enjoyed it. Mmmmm was it delicious!

It doesn't take much to get me excited.

     David Sweetman gave our castles lecture today on the topic of Hall Houses. Up until this castles course I hadn't ever heard of him. However, today I found out he is incredibly influential in the world of archaeology and has excavated major castles. As always the lecture started quite interesting, faded to the point oh head bobbing and eyelid drooping and finished out alright with no central focus. These scatter brain castle lectures have been pretty interesting, but not all that helpful when it comes to writing a 3,000 word essay on them. Seeing as though the paper is not due until April 29th, it's nice to know I have some time. Most Irish students will party away the semester, start the essay the second week of April, live in the library, cram like mad and whip out a paper. This is all well and good, quite a bit of fun, but won't work so well for me. Writing + time crunch = no good. Some write very well under pressure, unfortunately I do not. With this is mind I attempted to start my essay yesterday.

     Logging on to blackboard I found our assigned readings for each topic and dug in. Our syllabus gives little information only explaining we are to write a 3,000 word essay on 1 of the 4 topics listed. I don't know about you, but that seems quite broad, leaving me with little direction. Trying not to get worked up about it I continued my readings. Feeling as though I was floundering I wrote to Dr. O'Conor asking for clarification. Thinking he would be no different than the rest of the Irish, who are slower than molasses when it comes to responding to e-mails, I figured it would be awhile until I received a reply. To my surprise, early this morning he responded inviting me to stop in at 4pm. It was nice to hear back from him so quickly, but my problems weren't exactly solved. Dr. O'Conor is a very nice man, however he isn't very clear with his words, using choppy sentences and scattered thoughts. Even with the opportunity to see him I wasn't too hopeful his attempt to clarify would go over well. Boy was I wrong! I'm not sure if I've ever been so happy to have been incorrect. Warmly welcoming me into his office he started right in asking which topic I selected. Explaining there would be an easy topic for me he detailed an outline of my paper. Providing me with the names of specific case studies and perspective on how he would write the paper I wanted to cry. Seeing as though this essay accounts for 90% of my grade I was getting anxious knowing I had no choice, but to write an excellent paper. My problems are not completely solved, I'll have to put in a great deal of work, but I feel much more at ease. Oh Dr. O'Conor now I understand why you were lecture of the year.

My treasured outline

     Aras Mac Leinn, student center in Irish, hosts many different events.  Home to art exhibits, dances, poetry sessions and fundraisers there is always something happening in Aras Mac Leinn. This week happens to be SHAG Week (Sexual Health Awareness & Guidance) ....great. While eating my lunch in Aras Mac Leinn I received a sex packet, complete with a condom and all...classy I know. Naively, I deciding not to promote SHAG week I would instead take a look at the art exhibit. Oh my goodness. Not thinking clearly, I wandered over to very graphic pieces of art, displaying things I didn't need to see. Duh Abby! of course the art exhibit for the week is going to match the theme for the week. My critique for the exhibit: I have no appreciation for SHAG art, as I quickly walked away blushing.

     Although SHAG art didn't go over well with me, I did enjoy the exhibit upstairs. A senior art student used donated socks and white rags strewn over the balcony to create the piece of art. Each rag was written on by different students with stories about socks, poverty, growing up etc...all creating a bigger picture of where the students of NUIG have come from. 

     Tonight the girls and I are headed out for Chinese to celebrate Valentine's Day together. :   )

Happy Valentine's Day!

With Love from Galway