Friday 22 May 2015

Trips & Tears

The last week and a half have been .... both very cool and very sad.

Everyone is leaving, and these are situations where I can't help but cry buckets. Since I'm practically one of the last three of our core group to leave, I've had to say goodbye to someone practically every second night or so. These people have been like my family for the last five months, and it's hard to accept that I don't know when or if I'll ever see them again. Who knows what the future holds, but in the present moment, it's just sad.

On to lighter stuff:

Me and Julie went on two trips this last week, to fill up the time before I go home, and she continues on to travel Europe for a month! We went to Belfast last weekend, and Killarney during this last week.

Belfast is still a very troubled city with the obvious divide between Catholics and Protestants. We took a black taxi tour our first day there, which goes through the political history of the city and Northern Ireland. With the accent and the rate at which he was talking, it was hard to understand at times, but the main point is that even though the city is functioning at the moment, there's still a lot of unrest and tension. There are two obvious religions, two segments of the city, and even some pubs are part of that divide. Parts of the city are gated, closing at night, and some houses that are near the divide between the two city segments have cages around their backyards. It's sad and kind of disturbing. Long story short, it's not somewhere where I would want to raise kids.

With such an influence from Britain, it also reminded us of a mini Irish London. The buildings were big, old, and the side streets were reminiscent of the white clustered buildings of London as well. We also took a tour to Giant's Causeway from Belfast, and it was really pretty. The actual causeway was smaller then I expected, but it didn't matter too much because everything in Ireland is gorgeous. I could be in a random field of green surrounded by sheep and be happy (as long as the sheep weren't too close hehe).

We came back to Waterford on Sunday night, said more goodbyes, and then left Monday morning for Killarney, which was absolutely brilliant. Within the first ten minutes of walking around the town, I knew I was going to love it. It was quaint and cozy, kind of like Waterford. We were welcomed that day with pouring rain though, so we chilled at the hostel for a bit, before deciding to brave the weather and go for a walk through Killarney National Park anyways. Half the time, Ireland weather changes so much that within ten minutes the rain goes away, ten minutes it's back, and so forth. However, that was not the case this time, so we only walked for about 15 minutes into the park before we turned back around. That was ok though, as we did go back both Tuesday and Wednesday night, exploring with much better weather.

On Tuesday, we took a tour through the Dingle Peninsula, and by far, this was the best tour I've been on. We stopped at a whole bunch of gorgeous places and wandered through the town of Dingle for a bit, stopping for possibly some of the best ice cream I've ever eaten. It might help that it was coffee flavoured infused with Jameson whiskey ;) Later that night, we went out for drinks at a pub that was recommended to us by the hostel. The environment was really snug and cheerful, though they were unfortunately out of the beer I wanted, so I tried a stout beer called Beamish instead, which is produced in Cork. I also sampled a pale ale that's brewed in Dingle, called Creans. Both were actually pretty good. The shock.

Wednesday we went to the Ring of Kerry, which was a day of ups and downs. The first half of the day wasn't anything spectacular, which was disappointing after having such a great day the day before. The second half improved though - we saw a lot of really majestic looking mountains, which you can never go wrong with. When we got back to Killarney, we stopped again for ice cream, and I got the coffee with whiskey again, and rum and raisin..... because when in Ireland ;) After walking through the Park again, we went out to.... wait for it..... The Shire Bar! It's a Lord of the Rings themed pub and it was actually great hahaha. They even had five or six themed beers! - I had a tankard of Barliman's Best, and Julie had Gandalf's Ale. It was cooler then it sounds, ok?

And that was it! Thursday morning we headed back bright and early to home. Which is only home for three more days....

This is Queen's University in Belfast. We didn't get to see a whole lot of the actual city- we were only there for a day and a half, and the weather didn't cooperate for a lot of it - but, we did go for a quick walk, and found the University. We found out that there was a Canada Room somewhere in it as well, so we went and explored and found that too - whether we were supposed to explore or not, who knows....

Giant's Causeway. It rained on and off the whole day, but it wasn't too bad for most of it, luckily. It was a pretty cool place, and I don't have room for it next to this picture, but if you'd bored, the myth as to how the causeway was created is pretty interesting. Or you can just wait until I'm back and then I'll tell you ;)


Also on our tour to the Causeway, we stopped at Carrick-A-Rede, which is this basically just this little rope bridge that you cross, and gets you to a little island. What's on this island, you may ask? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I paid five euro to cross a bridge and see the same thing I could see on the other side hahaha. But, hey, it was a cool experience!

Fast forward a couple days, and this is on the tour to Dingle! We stopped at a place called Inch Beach, which was gorgeous. Being me however, I have decided to not post a picture of the beach, and instead post a picture of words, because I loved this. It was on the wall of the one little shop on the beach.


Doesn't this look photoshopped? Haha, it's not, I swear! I'm not good enough with technology to do that...

Them green hills though <3


This was in Dingle somewhere.... I don't actually remember specifically where - which is kind of sad, seeing as it was only two days ago haha. Anyways, here's a beach for you guys :)


I have a serious obsession with green hills. Is it sad that I sort of love the bus rides here because I can just stare out the window forever and not get bored? I haven't even left yet, and I already miss all the green.
When in Canada, would a random walk through a park lead you to a castle that looks like this?! This was Ross Castle in Killarney National Park, and it was amazing. Everything in Ireland is so pretty, and while I try not to take any of it for granted, it is inevitable that eventually a castle is just another castle. For some reason though, maybe because the end is so near, when we got to this spot, it somehow hit me all over again where we were and the immensity of it all.
What an adventure.



THE PARK.

MORE GREEN STUFF.

AHHHH.

Okay, kind of funny story (this was before everyone started leaving):

So as a group of 20 or so international students, we've had a fair number of birthday's over the last five months. Obviously, quite a few people still have birthday's to come however, so our German friend Chris decided to have a birthday party for all those people in the latter 7 months...

So, here we are, with birthday hats and streamers, celebrating.... no one's birthday in particular hahaha.

Gotta love it.

And, that is it. The last blog I'll be writing in Ireland. I'll write my official last one within the first week that I've been back, summing everything up, and probably getting way too deep haha.

Feelings about coming home are definitely mixed. I'm obviously very excited to see my family and friends again, and to have the comforts of free laundry and hot water. I'm excited to drive, to go to Tim Hortons, and I'm definitely ready for warm weather.

In terms of how I feel about leaving Ireland, I've realized that my experiences here have been greatly influenced by the people I've met, and without them, Ireland isn't quite the same. Of course I'll miss the green hills, the laid back atmosphere, hearing accents everywhere, and random ruins in the middle of the city, but I wouldn't want to stay here by myself. With every person that leaves, I understand that what I've loved about this semester is ending, and it makes me appreciate coming back home :)

See you all soon <3


Monday 11 May 2015

Surfing, Spanish food, & the Start of Goodbyes

The title pretty much says it all this time around haha

To get right to it, we had our last international dinner this week, where our friend Carlos made Spanish food for everyone. It was really, really Spanish hahahaha - so it was later then he originally said, and it was delicious. Spanish ham is weird though - apparently it's this really big thing in Spain, but I wasn't a fan. Also, I like olive oil as much as the next person, but in Spain, it's not just oil - it's a way of life.

Last Monday, the day before my first exam, I took the longest study break of my life, and went surfing in Tramore. By far, that was one of the coolest things I've done here - not only cause it was in Ireland, but also just because I've never gone surfing. My friend Anna orchestrated the whole thing. She had called the place where we could rent wetsuits and boards from, and it sounded legit, so four of us decided to go for it. We got to Tramore, and walked inside this well worn, blue building. The bottom floor was a small cafe, with a couple tables and a small cashier stand. We were a bit confused, since this was supposed to be a surfing place - not a cafe. We saw stairs though, and figured it was on the second floor. Except the stairs led to one unmarked, deserted, locked door, which we obviously couldn't get in, and no one answered when we knocked. So we walked back down the stairs, and looked for someone to talk to. Nobody looked like they worked there though, so we had to wait until we saw a girl who looked like she was taking orders from someone. Turns out she did work there, and we were just supposed to rent boards and wetsuits from the same cashier that takes your coffee order. So, in between a chai latte and a green tea, we bought our stuff for surfing. We were told to wait outside in front of this old weathered, falling apart shed, for some guys to meet us. We waited for a bit, wondered if we were even in the right spot, finally saw the guys, and were given wetsuits that were still damp, and shoes that weren't the same size. But hey, I guess if it keeps you from freezing, right....? They didn't give us any instructions either, even though there out of four of us had never surfed! Consequently, it took us half an hour just to change, both because the wetsuits were the wrong size and still damp, and also because we were trying to convince ourselves we weren't completely crazy. It was a really sketchy experience hahaha.

Once we were in the water though, it was amazing. I mean I sucked, but it was fantastic. I stood up a solid five or six times, but only for a couple seconds each. I was determined to stand up and feel confident for at least five seconds, but by the end of our two hours, my limbs were slowly becoming unmovable from the cold, so I had to recognize that it wasn't going to happen. I'm pretty stoked with the whole experience though - it definitely makes for one of my favourite days here.

Other things this week include writing two exams. Not that exciting. They are strict about the procedure though - they have this whole speech the profs have to read out before we start - about how we can't have our phones, or any written material on us, etc, and that's it a breach of exam regulations and we can get kicked out, blah blah blah. Basically, don't cheat. My last exam is tomorrow, and I am so excited to be done with this school.

Also last week, was the week that people started to leave. I've said goodbye to three friends already, and another one leaves tonight. I don't really have anything to say, except that it sucks. This type of situation, where we all arrive in a foreign country, friendless, missing home, and lost and confused, lends itself to making friends really fast. There's no other option, unless you decide to spend five months in your cold apartment room alone on Skype. In January, five months felt like it was a lifetime, but we all knew there was an expiration date. It's tough to accept that realistically, I'm never going to see most of these people again - I guess that's the price for making friends across the world. But I also suppose that's why I downloaded snapchat ;)

Plans for this week include writing my last exam, maybe going on a day trip or something with everyone one last time, and then me and Julie are leaving on Friday to go to Belfast for a couple days! We'll get back Sunday, and then leave Monday to go to Killarney & Dingle. We're back from that next Friday, and then the following Monday, the 25th, I fly home.

Two weeks, my friends. See you all soon :)



The main exam room. When I saw it, I just sighed. I haven't been in a room like this since high school. They're kind of depressing....






From Spanish night. On the left is Hubert, who's Polish, and Carlos is on the right. It was his birthday that day too actually, so we were all surprised that he wanted to cook for the whole day, but he was quite adamant about it haha.






I've gone running a bunch since the weather finally lightened up a bit. The route I take is really nice. The day I took this wasn't the greatest, but further down the path, the branches on each side of the path sort of curve into each other, and it looks like a magic doorway haha.

I'm surprised I even notice that sort of thing when my main priority is usually just trying to remind myself why I like running....


On Friday afternoon, Evelyn (next to me) had just finished her last exam, and I'd just finished my second, so we went out to celebrate. It was also her last day in Ireland, so even though this isn't a great picture, it's going up to commemorate her last day :)







Surfing! Such a cool experience :)



Saturday 2 May 2015

French toast, Vikings, and Getting Fancy

I'm currently knee-deep in exam study, so writing this blog is my study break. Well, I don't know if knee-deep is an accurate description, but yes, some studying has been taking place....

The last three weeks since I have gotten back from Europe have been good, though not as much stuff to write about has happened. There were the last two weeks of classes, and then this last week has been "study week" before exams start. We don't get a study week at home, so I've studied more in advance then usual, and I'm worried I'm going to forget everything before the exams even start haha. I'm curious/anxious to see what they're like. I haven't had to take any exams here yet, so it'll be interesting to see the layout. Apparently, even though classes here are laid back, exams are super intense - you need to identify yourself, sit in a certain seat, and literally leave your cell phone at home. Who knows if it's actually as scary as they make it sound, or if they're just trying to intimidate us. Probably a bit of both.

Aside from school and exams, the fun stuff that I've been par-taking in is mainly just a lot of hanging out and eating food, which you can never go wrong with. I think I might've mentioned this before, but all us international students here agreed at the beginning of the semester to have a night where they would cook traditional food from their country for everyone. Before the break, we ate Mexican and Brazilian food. Since the break, I've gone to American night, French night, German night, and yes, we put on a Canadian night as well.

I know only the name of one thing I've eaten - not including the American food, because really, we eat most of the same stuff haha. Other then that though, everything from all the other nights is unpronounceable - but delicious.



The one thing I know the name of! It's called: kaiserschmarrn. It's a German dessert that is like shredded pancake, but not as sweet.

So basically, what Canadians eat for breakfast is has more sugar then what Germans eat for dessert.....














Apple pie from French night! My roommate Vivien made this actually. He did a good job too, cause it was delicious.

We didn't have French night at our apartment, but they did make a lot of the food here and needless to say, our apartment smelled amazing for a couple of days!






For Canadian night, myself and Julie were kind of stumped on what we were going to do, but eventually decided to do Breakfast for Dinner - so we made French toast, scrambled eggs, sausages, and fruit salad. This mainly stemmed from the fact that my parents brought over this huge jug of maple syrup when they visited, and there was no way just me and Julie were going to make that many pancakes before coming back home. So, we had over 25 people in our tiny apartment, and made over 50 pieces of French toast. It was absolutely crazy, but I'm pretty proud to say that it was a successful night. So successful in fact, that security had to barge in, and tell us to be quiet. That's the second time our apartment has been bombarded by security ..... I'm going to blame that on the fact that we live right next to reception ;)

Canadian night! Julie had brought a huge Canada flag with her, so we finally had a good reason to hang it up in our apartment. And it's still there hehe.

This is the crew that stayed till the wee hours of the morning - no, not to clean up, but to play card games. Man, we're just the coolest.



This week as a study break, me and Julie finally went to Reginald's tower. It's the third museum in Waterford, and the only one we hadn't gone to yet, so we walked down to city centre and made an afternoon of it. The tower only has three small levels, so it didn't take long. It was all history specifically regarding Waterford, which was really neat, seeing as that's where I'm currently living. Of course, I don't remember much.... only that Waterford used to be populated by vikings, and everyone drank wine because they thought water was contaminated.... you know, the cool stuff. I hadn't been to city centre in a while, so I was reminded again how different & pretty Ireland is. I have three weeks left here, and I'm going to try to not take any of it for granted.




Reginald's tower, is literally a tower. And for how big it is, the door is quite small.













The view of Waterford from one of the windows on the third floor of the tower. It was a grey, sort of nice, sort of rainy day.





On the Thursday just passed, there was a black tie event held in City Hall specially for international students, and everyone looked magnificent. It wasn't quite what we all expected - it was just a whole bunch of speeches, and then appetizers were passed around. Nevertheless, it was kind of cool - the mayor and the president of WIT were there, and even though I only understand about 50% of what they said, what I did get was interesting. After that, there was a slew of pre-parties, the party, and then after-parties. It makes it really obvious to see who came to Ireland just to drink haha. Overall, it wasn't the best night I've had here, but it was the last big international event, so it was definitely worth going to.




From left to right:
Eva, who's from Germany; myself and Julie; and Bruna, who's from Brazil.










Looking forward, the next week and a half is exams, and the last week and a half I'll be hopefully heading up to Belfast, and then Killarney & Dingle. Nothing has been booked yet, but as it's been pointed out multiple times to me here: "Stop stressing and it'll all work out." Not exactly my strong suit, but I'm working on it haha.

I know some exciting stuff is happening at home right now, so good luck to everyone who's traveling, opening up new places, or simply celebrating exams being done :)

And a final thought for you all: I've learnt quite a lot about what the Europeans/Brazilians/Mexicans/everyone for who English is a second language, think about English. And the consensus is that it's strange. Their proof to back that up: this picture hahahaha