Tears of Love

     With no classes on Fridays I chose to sleep in until 10 and have a quiet morning with God praying at the kitchen table. Having an open schedule I decided to turn on the television and see what’s on in the morning. I am not much of a t.v. watcher, but there are some pretty odd shows over here, so I thought I would experiment with their morning programming. Anyway after a few minutes of watching the telephone rang. This is a rare occurrence; in fact it only happens when Aurelie’s parents call from France. Expecting to face a large language barrier I hesitantly answered the phone and was surprised to hear an Irish gentleman tell me I have a package and that he’d meet me at the reception desk. Mom and dad were sending a few much needed supplies, but they sent their package yesterday afternoon, this couldn’t possibly be theirs. I didn’t know of anyone sending me a package. I thought it must be an oversized envelope or something from the university that didn’t fit in my mailbox, so they’re calling it a package. The delivery man heard me open the door from the third floor and began to sing. “Ohhhh Abby! You’ve got a package, oh you Abby Jamison, you have a package just for yoouuuu!” In a sweet old man Irish accent he sang to me all the way down the stairs. When I got to the bottom he nearly tossed me the package, but decided against it not knowing it’s contents. 

             Ms. Anna Burchett sent me a package. Shocked and delighted I received my gift and began my way back up the stairs. Then came the tears, the overwhelming feeling of love and appreciation hit as I walked back to my apartment. I composed myself and excitedly showed Abby C my new delivery. Opening it in the living room I found two square shapes neatly wrapped in white tissue paper tied with a yellow ribbon, my favorite color. The tears were now steady and not stopping anytime soon. Beginning with the smaller of the two I unwrapped a small leather book titled “Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace In His Presence” by Sarah Young. Each day there is a devotional message written from Jesus’ point of view to the reader. Jordyn owns this devotional and has been sending a few of them through e-mail. Each have been powerful and really spoken to my heart. I was tempted to ask her to type out each days and send them to me, but I knew this would be a burden. Besides the fact I have my Bible and other books to do devotions with. I was so excited to see Anna had purchased the book for me. I look forward to going through the devotional with both Anna and Jordyn as we share what’s on our hearts and see how God is using the book in different ways to reach us.

            The second box was quite a bit larger than the first, as I unwrapped it I found a beautifully painted wooden box. Maroon in color adorned with gold-stenciled words of encouragement.  Inside I found headbands, I had contemplated bringing along my own from home, but was afraid they would be crushed in my suitcase. Problem solved! Beneath the headbands I found letters from both Anna and her mother “Mama Caron.” Of course both made me sob even harder. Next I came across two CD’s Anna created compiling a variety of fun, inspirational, nostalgic and just plain good music. Each song has it’s own significance and great memories attached. I cannot wait to listen to them on my long walks to school. Folded in half, the next present was a picture Anna colored for me. I’m not sure she even knows how much I love Winnie the Pooh. A colored picture + Winnie the Pooh = fantastic. Not to mention the caption is “Best friends hold hands” of course I miss my strolls around campus holding Anna’s hand especially as we would walk to and from Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) in the frigid cold. Up next was a variety of pictures of great memories. Most of which came from our fun weekend at the farm. Anna included pictures of grandpa and grandpa so I now have even more pictures of family to decorate my room with.  Lastly were beautifully decorated scrapbook paper with uplifting words on each. Thank you Anna.

             What a feeling of love and blessing. I am so thankful and spoiled by my friends and family both here and back in the states. Thank you for all of the encouragement, love and support.  

     Besides Anna's package my day was pretty low key. Aurelie did not come home from the club until 6 am so she stayed in all day lounging and catching up on sleep. She greeted us in this morning telling us about the fight that broke out in the club, as if it was everyday news. Not quite the norm for Abby C. and I. We spent most of the day around the apartment with the exception of a trip to the post office to mail a letter for Aurelie and a trip to Villy's (a leader of CU) house this evening. CU-Christian Union holds a movie night every other Friday. A dinner is made and a movie and tea to follow. Unfortunately the projector didn't work, but I was glad. Those who know me well know that I don't particularly enjoy watching movies, but I did enjoy our night of playing games and getting to know one another.

    At the movie night several different countries were represented, Adamine & Francois are from France, Villy from South Africa, Lukas from Germany and Josh & Joy from Canada. During our games we learned a few quirks about each country. For example rock paper scissors in South Africa is called Ching Chow Chung. So I asked Villy "What do ching chow & chung stand for?" "Well they stand for rock, paper, scissors...hmmm I don't know why we don't just call it rock, paper, scissors" we all had a good laugh. Villy also explained to us that traffic lights in South Africa are called Robots...why? he is not sure, but he agrees it's quite odd.

     Aurelie, Abby C. and I are taking a trip to Clifden in the morning so I better get to bed!

With Love from Galway

His Plans In Queue Chaos

     Wonderful Wednesdays = No class for me! It's nice to have a day off in the middle of the week, because I do so much studying here...ha okay maybe not. Today I was thinking about how I've been here for 16 days and attended 3 classes. I'd be okay if this pace keeps up throughout the semester.
    Today was class registration for English Seminars. Three out of my four classes will transfer back to UW-L for specific courses and satisfy  my requirements. The fourth class will take care of 2 left over general education credits I have yet to fulfill. Essentially my fourth class doesn't have to be very specific in a certain area. It was nice to have a little wiggle room when picking out courses after all of the chaos during the selection of the first 3. Last night at The Crane I met Maeve, from Spain, who's studying at NUIG for a full year. She explained to me that English Seminars are very competitive and only 1/3 of the seats in the class are reserved for Visiting Students. Maeve went on to explain that people begin queuing (standing in line) at 5 or 6 in the morning for a class that will open at noon! Previously, I had been told about the 1/3 of the seats being reserved, however I did not know English Seminars were so competitive.
    Deciding to take Maeve's advice I woke up early on my day off and headed off to campus to stand in the queue. Arriving at 9:50 I had a good 2 hours of waiting time, with plenty of students who had come before I had. The very first in line had come at 6:30am....oh I forgot to mention the queue was outside! All other registration queues have been inside, so I was surprised and saddened to see everyone lined up in the cold. Although the weather has been absolutely brilliant the last few days, it doesn't become comfortably warm out until about noon. Needless to say we were all quite cold waiting for the doors to open. After about an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting they moved us to the other side of the building due to the noise level because there were interviews conducted near our original location. We spent another 5-10 minutes in our new location before a man came out with numbered tickets saying we were to line up, take a ticket and return at noon when the doors would open. Thank goodness! I was able to secure my ticket and head off to the library to thaw.
    Returning at noon I again waited in line for another 10-15 minutes before the doors finally opened! My time at had come, I entered the building walked to my registration sheet as the lady pulled it off the table in front of me and said "I'm sorry the girl in front of you took the last spot"...devastation. This didn't really happen right? It's all a bad dream?! I didn't truly wake up early on my day off to walk 30 minutes in the cold and sit outside for 2 hours just to be told the girl in front of me had filled the seat.
     Unfortunately it was not a dream and yes it actually happened. I was given the option to sign up for other seminars, but I didn't truly want or need them. Taking a few minutes to contemplate whether or not I would chose an alternate seminar I decided against it. There were many people behind me in the queue that truly needed and wanted these seminars. My taking a seat just for the heck of it, could really throw off someones entire schedule. So now what? Do I laugh? Cry? I could curse and let negative comment rambunctiously fly out of my mouth like I had heard for the last 2 hours from those around me. This wasn't my best option. I decided to pray about it, God's plans are always bigger and better than my own. Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
     God gave me a peace of mind and clear thought process. I wasn't stressed or angry I just needed to come up with a new plan. Opening my backpack I found a sheet of paper with the Gaeilge course registration times. Registration began at 1:00pm and it was only 12:30, why not walk over and see what's going on there. With a short queue and nice lady to answer questions I had concerning the course I decided to register for Gaeilge: The Irish Language for Beginners. She explained the department was large enough to accommodate the visiting students and no one would be turned away. Feeling a bit more optimistic I decided to wait in the Gaeilge building to register.
     Everything was pretty low key until the doors opened. There was an absolute stampede of students, yelling, grabbing papers, cursing, each one wanting to get their course, many had just come from the English Seminar registration, making tensions high. The Gaeilge building had just turned to chaos. Having been assured a seat by the lady I had met a few minutes beforehand, I sat back and watched the chaos ensue. It was nuts, so I began to pray for people, especially those who had let stress get the better of them and looked as though may explode. The poor faculty aiding in the registration process were swamped with questions and pushy students. Knowing I would not appreciate students bombarding me from all sides I waited until all other students had cleared and then submitted my registration form. Since this decision to take Gaeilge was quite sudden I had yet to receive confirmation from my advisor back at UW-L concerning the transferability of the course. Not wanting to pay €30 for a class that would not transfer I explained my situation to the professor. He allowed me to either pay for the class and use my receipt as a possible refund slip or wait to hear from my advisor. As he continued to fill out the slip he explained that if I needed a refund and wasn't given one by the university he would personally refund my money from his own pocket. I feel as though it's going to be a good semester with him :  )

    Taking this photo near the end of registration the room looks almost empty compared to earlier in the hour

Gaeilge Registration Chaos

     Last night a group of us walked down to The Crane for student trad music. Sunday through Wednesday The Crane features trad music, with Tuesday being student musicians. While there I was able to meet Maeve from Spain, Anja from Germany, as well Pepette & Clemence both from France. Here is a little taste of student night at The Crane. I realize it's not great quality, but I'd thought I'd give you a quick clip so you have an idea of what my favorite pub is like

Dunkle Wäsche

What a beautiful day! I cannot quite get it through my head that it is indeed January. These 40 & 50 degree temps are throwing me off, but I can't complain. Yesterday walking to the university I was too warm in a jacket, leaving me to walk in a thin long sleeved shirt. No jacket for today either. With the sun out it feels like May.

For the first time since arriving in Ireland Abby C and I decided to do laundry. Ouch! €5 euro to do a very small load. At least we weren't here first semester when it was even worse, costing €6! We made our way down the stairs with laundry in hand only to find a washer with German settings. Dunkle Wäsche? Frottierwasche? Gardinen? What in the world do these settings mean!? The only word on the dial we recognized was "jeans" so naturally we chose it. Thankfully our dark load of laundry came out just fine. By the way, just incase you were wondering we should have selected Dunkle Wäsche, meaning Dark Wash. While racking my brain trying to figure out what the settings meant I wished Mike were there with his German language skills. At least our laundry is finally clean. Oh by the way tur means door. I didn't know this and just about wet my pants when I pushed it and the door came flying open.

German Washing Machine

     The washing machines here are tiny! Abby C and I were quite disappointed to pay €5  for such a small load. Aurelie explained to us that in France they are even smaller and her mothers washing machine at home is even smaller than most in France! I imagine she only washes 2-3 shirts at a time. Abby C and I explained this was certainly not the case in the states. Amazed at the size of our washing machines Aurelie told us she has never seen one so large.

Tiny Washing Machine

     On my walk to school each morning I pass this sign and decided to share it with you. In the U.S. you wouldn't want to park somewhere illegally in fear of being towed, but apparently in Ireland you would be clamped. Sounds much more violent then towed, I would be afraid to find my car crushed or with a hole in it, if someone told me it had been clamped. Not to mention the hefty €200 fee along with it.

      One of the hardest adjustments has been my craft withdrawals. I love to create things and make crafts, however Ireland is not very crafty. A missionary, from the states, at Galway City Baptist told me they are slowly getting into crafts, but supplies are hard to find and when you are able to they are quite expensive. I have definitely found this to be true. Today I was finally able to find a set of Crayola colored pencils, but I can't quite get myself to spend money on colored pencils when I could be spending it on traveling. I'm sure my father is having a heart attack reading this, because he has banned me from ever buying colored pencils again....let's just say we have a few laying around our house. I love you daddy :  ) I did however find a set of some of my favorite pens. Jordyn I thought you would appreciate this

     Here's a picture from my walk I took the other day. Expecting the road to wind back through the countryside I was disappointed to find it leading to residential homes and a few businesses. Oh well maybe another adventure another day I'll find more of the countryside.

     Lastly, I'll end today's post with a little trip down memory lane. One year ago today was the first time Kayla told Michael and I about one another. I must admit I never thought we would be dating. God works in funny ways

Michael came for New Years to send me off.

With Love from Galway

A Lightbulb in Galway

     Early yesterday morning Gretta & Larry, the older couple from church I met last Sunday, gave me a lift to church. We arrived around 10:15, so Joanie (another student) and I helped prepare the food table for after the service while Gretta and Larry attended the prayer meeting upstairs. Earlier in the week I was questioning if I wanted to attend such a tiny church and if it was a good fit, but it's absolutely perfect because I'm not just a number lost in the crowd. In fact yesterday I helped set up and take down and it was only my 2nd time attending. It's nice to feel valued and of use.  I was able to meet another student Sinead who is also a director for CU-Christian Union on campus. She asked if I had ever done street evangelism and if I would like to here. Whoa! I did not expect to be challenged like this. It's really neat though and I am excited for the opportunity. I am not upset here, but I had wanted to live with a host family and I really desired to be in the countryside. Instead God put me in an apartment in a business park....couldn't be more opposite than my original desire. So I was trying to figure out why he did this?


    Jason a missionary from Texas spoke from Genesis 18. His sermon was based upon the fact that There Are No Coincidences With God. It was exactly what I needed to hear. God strategically places us exactly where He wants us. Even in the darkest of places. He preached out of Genesis 18 using the story of God moving Abraham to put him right next door to Sodom a place of darkness, perversion, cruelty and incredible sin. He did this so Abraham would raise his family to be different than those of his neighbors living in Sodom. In this way people would see the contrast in lifestyles and Abraham and his family would be reflections of Jesus and lights to the people of Sodom. I loved how Jason said reflection of Jesus. This makes me think of a big Antique mirror with a wooden frame that swivels (hope I described that well enough so you understand what I mean) and that mirror represents us. When we are living OUR lives on OUR time people see us, fully in human form. When we choose to surrender each day and give it over to God and allow Him to work in and THROUGH us then we turn into that mirror and when people see us it's not us in our human form they look into the mirror and see Christ in us. We are a reflection of God.
     I like thinking of it as a big mirror because it is not simply our face or our heart that is to be a reflection of Christ rather it is all of our being, our bodies are a temple of God.  This reminds me of Acts 17:28 "For in him we live and move and have our being.."  So with that said, God knowing that I desire a host family, the countryside, that I love sunshine and lights and that I hate to be wet and cold and that I don't like staying up late and going to clubs despite all of this He has placed me in the rainiest city in Europe. It is often dark and cold and I am to live in an apatrtment in a business park. Why? To be a light for Him. I will be His reflection. I will express how much I hate the rain and cold to the other girls and then I will cease to complain about it so they know I find my joy and contentment in the Lord not tangible and worldly circumstances. I will seek out ways to be a source of light to Abby C. and Aurelie. I will ask the Lord for strength and energy to go out to the pubs and enjoy a good time with friends to show them what a good night without the abuse of alcohol can look like, rather than staying in all of the time and having the stereo type of the Christian who doesn't drink and never goes out for craic.  God doesn't owe me a detailed explanation of why He has placed me here, He already gave me the reason in Genesis 18, so that I may live differently and people would notice and come to Him so that He may bless all of the nations.

My apartment complex

      With the icky weather on Saturday I decided that it would be a good time to clean. You didn't actually think I was gong to leave behind my love for cleaning! I was delighted when Abby C. came home from Dunnes with cleaning supplies.

Cleaning supplies!

    I must finish this post quickly so I can get all of my documents in order to register with the Garda (police). As students we are required to register with them within the first 30 days of our stay. Unfortunately, my registration time happens to overlap with my only class today.  Bummer, I really enjoy my castles course. Oh well, I found a small road leading back towards the countryside, I shall go explore today and see where it takes me. This fence runs along the road I am going to explore, maybe more pictures like this will result from todays  adventure 

With Love from Galway

Pajama Day

It is almost 10:30 pm and I still have my pajamas on...I would call it a successful day. Waking up to pouring rain and the sound of wind hammering against the apartment complex made up my mind quite quickly...it was going to be a pajama day. No leaving the apartment for me. Many stores are having after Holiday sales and I want to go out and get a nice rain jacket for cheap. However,  no matter how badly I want that jacket, I wasn't about to go outside in this weather. It has been brought to my attention that I have caused a little confusion using phrases like "Abby and I" for those who don't know, my roommates name is also Abby.  I will use Abby C to designate my roommate Abby Coleman. Now that we have that straightened out, Abby C and I didn't change out of our pajamas all day and I think Aurelie thought we were a little strange. Apparently they don't have pajama days in France. Sad, maybe by the end of the semester Abby C and I can teach Aurelie was a true pajama day is :  )
     So if I didn't leave the apartment, what exactly did I do with my rainy day inside. I spent time reading the book Michael and I are going through together and answering the discussion questions. The time indoors also gave me an opportunity to journal, pray and spend time in the word. While cleaning my room I thought of an analogy. Upon first arriving in Ireland Brian, my program director, told us that we needed to have good rain gear. He meant jacket and pants. Dorky? Yes, I thought this was absurd and I wouldn't walk around Ireland in a full rain suit. There has been a change of plans...full rain suit here I come! After only a week and a half I have discovered it is impossible to live here and walk places without a complete rain suit. Without it you will either 1) Live indoors at all times    2) be completely soaking wet all the time. Personally I don't like either option, so I'll go for the rain suit. No worries I'll post pictures so everyone can have a good laugh. Anyway you need to be fully equipped head to toe in order to get around Galway and function well. I realized that the same is true for living as a Christian. Here in Galway everyday I make sure I don't leave the apartment without the proper rain gear. The same holds true for my Christian walk. I try to read my bible every morning so whatever storms of life or temptation I face that day I am prepared. There is nothing wrong with reading in the evening, but I feel prepared and equipped when it's done in the morning. Just as I equip myself with my rain gear I will also equip myself with God's word.
     Abby C and I had potatoes and meat that needed to be used so I googled recipes including both ingredients and found one that seemed relatively easy. With a little improv we decided to throw in a few extra ingredients and see what happened. Delicious! It turned out to be very tasty and a recipe well worth repeating. Aurelie even enjoyed it!  Here's a look at our scrumptious meal

     I have yet to post pictures of my room or apartment, so I'll put up a few from my room and will include kitchen and living room photos later seeing as though it's getting late and I have church in the morning.

With Love from Galway

Hello Sunshine

     What a beautiful day filled with sunshine and adventures. Last night I was up quite late meaning I slept in until 9:30 this morning. Lately, I've made either scrambled or fried eggs for breakfast, but as I was about to scramble my eggs this morning I realized I had the ingredients for an omelet. It was a nice change to the morning menu and I very much enjoyed it. Neither Abby nor I had received our student I.D. cards nor had we made a trip to Salthill. So we decided to take the walk into town together. With a clear sky and no time limit Abby and I decided to play the part of the true American tourist: taking pictures. Such cloudy rainy days have prevented any desire to get out and take pictures of the beautiful city we live in. Often times I find myself complaining about the rain, but it's usually when I see the beautiful scenery of the castle ruins and Coiribe River that I realize how spoiled I am and have no reason to complain. Each morning on my walk to and from school I walk past this castle, how cool is that?!

     At the university we picked up our cards...mine is a tad distorted, looks like I was subjected to some sort of stretching torture device. Anyway we weren't completely sure how to get to Salthill, but we new we would go past Shop street so I took Abby to the Griffin's Bakery. Starting in 1876 Griffin's Bakery has been a staple in Galway as a gem of a bakery. One of the bakery mottos is "'Is fearr leath builin na bheith gan aran" meaning, half a loaf is better than being without bread. For those of you who don't know, I happen to have a slight love affair with bread. I am considering adopting this as my new motto. Both Abby and I ordered apple danishes and a warm drink. The Irish certainly know how to make delicious chocolate. Hershey's may seem good in the states, but it's nothing compared to Cadbury chocolate over here. Their expertise in chocolate also extends to hot drinks like hot chocolate. Absolutely rich and delicious! My apple danish and baby hot chocolate hit the spot. Mom and Dad, I am excited to take you to Griffins!

        After finishing our delightful treats at Griffins we weren't exactly sure how to make our way to Salthill, so we asked for directions. Fortunately, Abby happened to pick the nicest lady in Galway. She had been walking past looking at a sign on the wall when I walked over to ask her directions. Startled by my presence she apologized for not seeing me and proceeded to walk us down to the corner holding my arm the entire way explaining all about Salthill. She spoke about the temperature, atmosphere, beauty of the scenery and explained if we ran into Boston we've gone too far west. For a few minutes I thought she was going to join us on our journey. I wouldn't have minded, she was quite fun to be around. Now that we had directions we began our 45 minute walk, however with only about a block in, we decided we'd try another day. It was already mid afternoon and the temperature had begun to drop. Knowing the temperature would be even lower and the wind much higher out at Salthill we may not enjoy the scenic walk quite as much as another warmer day. Instead we decided to stay in Eyre Square and explore the Galway City Centre. We found many cute little boutiques and great cafes. One of my favorite discoveries was Pippablue. A small craft shop filled with polka dotted ribbons, brightly printed fabrics, multi-colored buttons and best of all beautiful skeins of yarn! Had I not been a poor college students I'm quite positive I would have purchased the entire store.

      Galway is also home to several beautiful cathedrals, of course I do not remember the name of this particular one, however I do know it's interior is lovely.

     While out exploring Abby and I received a text from our roommate, Aurelie, saying she was preparing lasagna and crepes and we were welcome to join her. A free french meal? Why not! Aurelie invited her friend Elise who is also french to join us for dinner. A million times I've heard bon appetit! but when you have a french meal prepared for you and a french roommate who has a grand accent to truly say bon appetit, it's just so much better! After dinner Aurelie made crepes topped with our choice of jam, nutella or peanut butter. Wow...talk about appetizing. Although I walk everywhere in Galway I feel as though I am going to need to keep walking A LOT if I make a habit out of eating nutella & peanut butter crepes.  Cheers to the evening, we all enjoyed getting to know one another over a wonderful meal. During the meal we discussed traveling this semester. Each of us would like to see the Irish countryside, but agreed it's difficult without a car. Taking a bus to a major city is not hard, but we all expressed seeing the small towns and villages is what we truly desire and a bus would not allow us to do this. However, renting a car and splitting the cost between the 4 of us would work just grand. The idea of this is very exciting to me and I think we'd have a great time together.
     I think I will most certainly enjoy not having classes on Friday. Today was a lot of fun, exploring the city, marveling at the sunshine and all that was illuminated by it as well as making a new friend and traveling companion. I'd call it a success :  )

With Love from Galway

Thursdays and such

    Today I had my second class, rough I know. Two classes in four days...somehow, some way I'll make it through the semester. Okay before you start scoffing at me, I will have more classes, it's just that they haven't all started. As I say that I am reminded that I have no classes tomorrow haha I do enjoy that. Anyway todays course was Applied Organisational Psychology. Yes they do spell it with an 's' rather than a 'z' weird. I enjoyed the class so much partly due to the lecture hall it's held in; it felt like a chapel. Stained glass windows lined both walls with beautiful blue and yellow coloring. The hall was painted a wonderful soft yellow with light colored curved wooden tables. At the front of the room was a large white arch and platform with a podium. The first word that comes to mind when describing the hall would be cozy. My professor Dr. Padraig MacNeela did a very nice job. He was both entertaining and informative. He kindly pointed out to us that we were a lucky Thursday class. Yes this means our 10th week of class falls on St. Patricks Day, a national holiday, in which case we won't have class! Needless to say I'm okay with that. Dr. MacNeela's hair is a little wild; I think it'll be the first and last afro I'll see in Ireland.
     One of the more humorous differences between home and Ireland is not knowing my phone number. When exchanging cell numbers in the states you rattle off your number like you have a million times before, however none of us know our numbers here. When we are out with friends and we have to exchange numbers we often times have to ask one another "what's my number" as they proceed to look it up in their phone. It sounds so foolish, but everything is so different that we haven't memorized our id numbers for the university or our cellphone numbers. No worries I think I have mine down...finally. Back in the day when I was a little tot I remember snuggling in mom and dad's bed and them asking us what our address was and quizzing us on our contact information incase we were to ever get lost. I feel like I'm 3 again trying to memorize everything incase I get lost. Like a true toddler I can't even pronounce my street name correctly.
     Katie had warned me about the difference in paper size, but somehow in all my packing it had slipped my mind. The folders I brought along are of no use, because the paper they use over here is longer and more narrow. None of them fit in the folders I packed...whoops.
     I forgot to mention this in a much earlier post. On my very last flight over here there was a man two rows ahead of me on my right side who looked all too familiar. With a couple people between us I wasn't able to see the entirety of his profile, but from what I could see, he looked quite familiar. Let me describe him to you: Tall, bald, rounded glasses with a mustache. Some of you are thinking...didn't you just describe your father?! Yes, exactly what I thought when I first saw him! Obviously I knew it was not practical that my father would be on a plane to Shannon, Ireland. However, this man looked so very similar to my father. When he turned his head further I was able to see that he had was indeed not my dad. Even though this man was a complete stranger it was a comforting feeling just to have him sit there looking like my dad as I flew over the ocean for the very first time :  )
     NUIG is very fortunate to have a beautiful sports complex called the Kingfisher. Unfortunately, it is privately owned and very costly. To obtain a 5 month membership for my semester here I would have to fork over 195 euro ($257), no thank you! I enjoy working out, but yikes I can't afford that. Today sign-ups for clubs was held in the Kingfisher, so I was able to have a look around. It was most definitely a beautiful facility, but sadly it will probably have been both my first and last visit. While there I checked out the locker room and found the craziest "flush button" for a toilet I've ever seen. Yes I know what you're thinking...why do you have a new obsession with Irish bathroom facilities and why are you taking pictures of them? It's as if I've never seen a neat looking bathroom in the U.S. I really can't explain it, but I guess I'm just slightly enamored by the bathrooms over here. Take a look at the fancy silver button to flush the toilet

     What a relief it was to see my name on the list of students approved to the 3rd year Sociology Options course. So what this means is that I sorted through many course timetables, syllabi and descriptions as well as waited in line for a couple hours in order to secure these spots. I can't say it was a fun process, but it was great to see my name on the list of few students admitted to these highly sought after classes

     Lastly I thought I would take a picture of my travel companions. I rarely go anywhere without my backpack (many thanks to Katie) and my cute warm mittens.

    I have more stories and adventures to share, but it's almost 3:00 am. I don't know why I'm up! Off to bed. Goodnight :  )

With Love from Galway