Learning the City and First Homemade Dinner

To start off my day I woke up 45 minutes early to turn on the switch to heat the water, and then went back to bed until my shower would not be as cold as the River Liffey. After showering, my body demanded I go back to bed. If it hadn't been for Sarah I would have probably been passed out for a few more hours, but thankfully she woke me and I threw on as many layers as I could in 90 seconds.

We then trekked across the city to meet for our group's bus tour of Dublin, which was a great way to see so many beautiful sights and start familiarizing myself with where I'd be walking on regular basis! I'm excited for this semester because I am walking everywhere (a brisk 25 minute walk to class each day), and I'd like to explore new things whenever I can. Dublin isn't hard to navigate, and I think that in no time I'll be a pro at traversing the city. The bus driver was very friendly and took us by famous places like Phoenix Park (largest enclosed park in Europe and where the President and America Ambassador live), St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Trinity College, etc. He pointed out spots that I wouldn't have known about if I'd simply passed by, such as the hotel owned by Bono and U2.

After the tour a few of us had a sandwiches at a restaurant/pub in a nice area, where I learned the Irish word for ham is gammon! We left lunch on a mission: to buy a blower dryer and straightener to share, but we got sidetracked by meeting our first leprechaun.

We couldn't resist.

Sarah and I, with our new friends Peter and Alex, headed to a mall with this fantastic store named Argo's, where we'd been sent to find good prices on our appliances. Upon entering the store we looked in a catalog that was hundreds of pages long found a model of a blow dryer and straightener that fit our budgets. After writing the product numbers on a slip of paper, we paid, then waited in line and were handed the items within a minute! It was like shopping in a catalog or online but with instant gratification! Score! With beauty aids in hand, we headed to Tesco (a British grocery), where we bought some food to make a home cooked meal! Cooking together is something a lot of students in the program are going to do so we can save money, hone our domestic skills and get to know each other.

We all pitched in with the cooking, but the boys got the MVP awards for the night for being super eager to cook and take over the dish washing duties, which they apparently love. Great news for Sarah and Elise! We had spaghetti, salad and garlic bread, with peppermint chocolate for dessert which Peter brought from home! The meal was great and so was our conversation--we talked about Freud, Irish political parties, our MBTI scores and our upcoming classes--nerd alert, nerd alert! Ah I love good conversation, and we ended up hanging out after the meal for a few hours.

So domestic! And Italian food is close to Irish food...right? Carbs? Starches? Yes.

Tonight I need to finish unpacking and get a full (or close to it) night's rest. Unfortunately the heat in my room is broken, I've decided, and I am a popsicle now. On Monday I'll put in a 'query' to get it fixed, but until then I will grin and bear it. There could be worse things than freezing in a cute room all to myself in Ireland, I must admit. To ward off the cold, four of us bought these great little slipper/booties at Penney's, which I wear nonstop in the apartment. They are possibly the best things that I've ever put on my feet.

Necessary for surviving my freezing room, and of course looking like a total babe.