Week 8: More Galway fun and Cork City

Hello my dears :)

This past week has been amazing! Sorry for the delay in posts, but I hope to make up for it!

This week began with even more baking success! The roommates are obsessed with cupcakes/muffins so I bought a cupcake tin, ironically when I went out shopping to get away from my testosterone controlled apartment.  Then Nathan and Eric agreed to buy the ingredients if I baked the cupcakes so they got chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes with strawberry frosting.  Quite delicious if I do say so myself.

Our senior design project is chugging right along.  Nathan and I are working on the finite element modelling in ABAQUS, and ran in to a couple bumps in the road with a stolen hard drive and losing all of our papers for our material values.  But we now have 3 (woo!) working models, one overly simplified one that's pretty much a cylinder, one that's a simplified arm, and another that's a simplified lower leg.  Matt and Eric are working hard on the experiments as well, mostly they're just having to wait for things to be shipped however.  We do have a very simplified human arm model, which is a latex glove filled with sand and tied off with one of my hair ties.  It was hanging out in our kitchen for a while and all our friends asked if we were doing Halloween decorations.

Tissue engineering has been an interesting class so far as well. We actually had lab this past week (seems to be doing an every other week sort of thing because it was cancelled again today).  We were in two groups, I was in the 7 person group and Matt in the 8 person group.  We plated our cells and divided them and then put them in hydrogels.  I've never done hydrogels before so I thought it was really interesting.  We also ran in to some problems with counting our cells so we didn't dilute them any when we counted them.  I've never looked at an undiluted sample before, there were so many little cells! It was crazy to count them!

Thursday night was Suit Up night at a club in Galway that was hosted by the Engineering and Law Societies on campus.  So we bought tickets at a reduced price and Thursday night Matt, Nathan, and I went.  It was a lot of fun, and I'm really learning how going out with guys is so very different from going out with girls! Friday night we had an enjoyable evening in the apartment and our friends came over, we started Sweeney Todd, but had to stop when it was 1 am because Nathan and Eric have been staying up to unhealthy hours watching the Cardinals games.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head to Cork City! It was about a 3 hour bus ride down so we got in right around lunch time.  For lunch we went to a Gourmet Burger place, seriously the best burger I have ever had.  It was delicious! I got something called the Italian burger with beef, ham, pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, and lettuce.  We all loved our food!

Figure 1: The best burgers ever.

Then it was time to head to Blarney Castle, about a half hour away by bus.  Blarney Castle is the home to the Blarney stone but it is also so much much more.  The Tower is very old and the grounds around are simply gorgeous!!! I fell in love with the place, I seriously could go back every weekend.  We decided to first go to kiss the Blarney stone and receive our gifts of gab :) Gab in Irish meaning eloquence, so I don't just talk a lot now, but I speak eloquently as well! Climbing up to the tower the steps could get pretty steep, but there were stops in rooms along the way like the main bedroom, a great hall, a room for the daughters of the house, and the servants areas and kitchen.  When we finally reached the top we had a short wait for the stone and then we got to kiss it! It's a little intimidating because you have to lie down and grasp these bars on the wall and bend down, so your back is hanging over open air and then lean down and kiss the bottom stone.  When the guy holding me said to kiss the bottom stone I misunderstood thinking he meant I had to kiss the bottom of the stone, and I thought "There's no way I can reach that!" So I asked him, "Which stone?" and he replies "There's only one bottom." I felt pretty silly.  Highlight was definitely Eric saying he thought the stone fainted after he kissed it though.

Figure 2: Me kissing the stone!

Figure 3: Posing by the castle.

Figure 4: View looking up at the Blarney Stone.

Next we went to the Poison Garden, which was seriously amazing.  The sign was kind of scary going in because it warns you not to touch or smell anything in the garden.  I learned a lot about different plants while in there though and superstitions behind them and what illnesses they cause.  I think I took a picture of every description in the entire garden :) 

Figures 5-11: These will probably be difficult to read, but I found them really interesting.

Next we went to Rock Close, which is a walking path with so many hidden wonders inside! I found it absolutely beautiful :) It had trees and waterfalls and moss, some of my favorite things! I took so many pictures, everyone would walk ahead of me and then have to stop and wait for me to catch up.  There were lots of little stories about the sites through out, but my favorite was the wising steps.  Supposedly if you walk down them and back up with your eyes closed thinking only of your wish within the year it will come true.  So keep your fingers crossed for me!

Figure 12: The greenest clovers ever!

Figure 13: The wishing steps.

We finished up with seeing the Blarney Manor house and some random walking around that took us to a fern garden and around the side of Blarney Castle where there were caves.  By then we were pretty tired and decided to head back into Cork.  We had a lovely dinner at a pub, I'm becoming quite fond of fish and chips and will definitely miss it when I'm back home! Then we went to some pubs and talked for a few hours.  Nathan and I both decided we didn't want to bring our rain jackets because it'd been clear for most of the day, so of course when we leave the first pub it starts to rain.  Thankfully it didn't pour and the night was really fun :) 

In our hostel we stayed in an 8 person room, thinking that since there were 7 of us the last bed would most likely not be filled. We were wrong. It was the most uncomfortable thing in the morning because we didn't meet him the night before and we accidentally woke him up in the morning since we were all getting ready at the same time.  He just laid in the bed though in his boxers without the covers on.  It was rather awkward because I think all of us girls did a double take when we looked over, because I thought he was naked at first.  

Then we wandered around Cork in the rain for awhile.  We caught a bus to Blackrock Castle and observatory.  It was a castle turned space exploration information center.  We took a tour of the areas that were still castle oriented and watched videos about space exploration.  Then we went inside this planetarium that was tiny and watched a video about life on other planets.  The strangest thing was that it was narrated by Rupert Grint, or Ron Weasley!  It was a very different and fun experience.

Figure 14: in Blackrock Castle!

We headed home after that to relax before classes starting again on Monday.  So far this week has been off to a fun and exciting start! But, I am looking forward to the bank holiday next Monday (3 day weekend woo!) and the chance to relax this weekend.  I've been doing quite a few trips lately and want the chance to relax in my jammies and catch up on my Game of Thrones reading :) Also things like planning my last semester of classes (eek!) and grad schools and essays! 

All my love,

Amy Liz

Week 7: Baking Success and Northern Ireland!

Hello darlings!

Alright so this week was pretty awesome! It was very low key, not much happened during the week, but I had an amazing baking success! So the roommates have been pushing the whole "bake for us" thing and I caved, especially when I found a recipe for chocolate chip cookie covered Oreos! They turned out absolutely perfectly, the oreos cream melts and becomes all soft and the dough was perfectly golden and soft...I was pretty proud of myself as you can see.  And all my neighbors and roommates were fans so no complaints here :)

I have also discovered that Irish weather HATES my hair.  And yes, the all caps was quite necessary.  Seriously, like I step outside after I've gone through the whole effort of straightening and doing my bangs and within 10 steps there are flips and my bangs are going all funky. Not ok. And then I get to class and every Irish girl has awesome hair, and I'm over there like why won't it just stay in one place?!

This weekend was really where the magic was, because we went up to Northern Ireland! We caught the 8:30 am bus on Friday morning to Dublin, then on to Belfast and arrived around 3:30 pm. We walked to our hotel which was a short 10 minute walk from the bus station.  The website described the hostel as "Alice in Wonderland shops at IKEA" and it was fabulous! First off-free coffee and tea all day! Also free breakfast, and the people who worked there were all super friendly and helpful.  Austin - I definitely saw some decorations that could've come from the Warehouse.  This hostel was my first time where there were people I didn't know in the room and I wasn't sure how that was going to go but I followed my parents instilled method of complete and utter paranoia and locked up everything all the time, even my flip flops.  Also, the lights in the bathrooms were motioned activated, so in the middle of my shower the lights just go completely dark.  And I had to finish the rest of my shower in the dark until I stepped around and the lights turned back on.  It was really freaky.

Then we decided to take a black taxi cab tour.  They go through the areas of strife in Belfast, where there have been a lot of religious differences.  The beginning was pretty scary because he just told us stories of the Protestants persecuting Catholics punctuating it with "kill them dead".  And then we arrive in the Protestant area and he's just like, I'll stay with the cab and you go and look at the murals and we're like what?! You're leaving us!!! But obviously it was safe and we were fine :) We also saw the Peace Wall, which is the physical barrier dividing where the Catholics and Protestants live.  There were some pretty awesome murals and memorials to the dead in both areas of the city.  You could tell our driver was a little biased though, he had no sympathy for the Protestants and pointed out all the wrongs done to the Catholics.  Some points on the confusion for me were 1. The hunger strike: I don't get why it was an effective form of rebellion, the people didn't like them so why would starving yourselves cause a difference? and 2. Apparently Pres. Obama visited Belfast and informed them that it was time for the walls to come down, and me and Colleen didn't understand why he has any jurisdiction whatsoever over what Northern Ireland does, but who knows.

Figure 1: Black taxi cab :)

Figure 2: One of the murals in the Protestant district, the gun always looks like it's pointing at you!

Figure 3: One view of the Peace Wall.

Figure 4: Big Catholic figure, one who organized the Hunger Strike.

Next we went and got dinner at a yummy fish and chips place and then decided to just wander around the city at night.  We ended up at a mall called Victoria Square and spur of the moment decided to go see We are the Millers at the theater.  It was hilarious! And a student tickets was 4.30 euro, which is about $6...on a Friday night..is this real life? It was so amazing! We decided to call it an early night after that, because we were tired from the travelling.  Apparently in the middle of the night one of our temporary roommates smoked something, and rummaged around in plastic...I am happy a rock is a lighter sleeper than I am because none of that phased me.

Bright and early we woke up to our free breakfast (Nutella on toast yum!) and for our Giant's Causeway tour! The order for the tour went: Carrickfergus Castle, Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, Bushmill's Distillery, Dunlace Castle, and Giant's Causeway.  Carrickfergus Castle is very old and full of history, my favorite story was by far the story of its name though.  Apparently there were three brothers: Irish name, Irish name, and Fergus.  Now, by Irish law the most powerful sibling is the won who rules, so basically the one who offs all of their other siblings.  But these 3 brothers decided "united we stand" and decided to rule together.  They joined forces and conquered some parts of Scotland.  Fergus lived the longest and in his old age got sick.  He heard of a cure back home in Ireland, and decided to take the journey.  On the way back, a storm hit and Fergus died on a rock on the coast of Ireland and then later a castle was built in that location, called Carrick(rock)Fergus(his name).  There's also some history about William of Orange conquering Carrickfergus but the only reason I'm including that is because of his statue outside of the castle, which is life sized. He was 4'10"! Talk about Napoleon syndrome pre-Napoleon!

Figure 5: William of Orange

Figure 6: Some of Carrickfergus Castle! 

The next stop was Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.  Apparently they close it on windy days, but it was pretty windy and the bridge was still open.  It looks a lot more intimidating when you hear about it, but in actuality it's only about 30 feet long.  It had steel supports though added in later helping with stability.  Originally it was built by fishermen to get to the little island, and only had one rope as a support. The area was gorgeous and crossing the bridge, that little bit of tottering on the unknown, was amazing! Apparently people get so scared after crossing the first time that they refuse to cross back over again, which was a little silly because the bridge is stable, it just doesn't feel like it :)

Figure 7: The rope bridge right before we crossed.

Figure 8: Don't look down!

Figure 9: Me sitting on a rock after we crossed.

Figure 10: Gorgeous water!

On the way there we took the Coastal road through 9 different glens, which were stunning! All of my pictures are pretty bad though because they were all through the glass. For lunch we stopped at the Bushmills Distillery, and we had cheesecake with whiskey inside of it, but sadly did not have any time to sample the whiskey.  Next stop was the Dunlace Castle ruins, which were pretty awesome! It was a castle of the McDonnell's I'm pretty sure and may have been the one that never was conquered, but Cromwell came along and blew it up with cannons. 

Figure 11: Zoomed in view of the ruins.

The last stop was the Giant's Causeway! I have been looking forward to seeing this since I found out I was going to Ireland, so needless to say I took over 300 pictures of you guessed it, rocks.  There are three main theories involving their construction: 1) Volcanic lava forming the stones 2) God created it that way so tough and 3) Giants! Obviously option 3 is the logical choice.  It was simply stunning and calming and just gorgeous. 

Figure 12: The wishing chair.

Figure 13: View off into the sea.

Figure 14: Selfie of excitement!

Figure 15: Just lovely :) 

After we got back from the tour we got dinner at this place called Nando's that was this interesting chain type place where there was chicken and you could pick the level of spiciness of the food.  KLS: this would be the perfect restaurant for us! Yummy sandwiches and wraps, decent veggie options for Sasha (including a chickpea patty), decently priced, and drum roll please: FREE REFILLS! I was sold the second I saw that, I drank so much coke in one hour it was entirely unnecessary but so worth it! And they had coloring pages that I got to color, so our living room here now has decoration :) Next we wandered around some different areas of the city at night, like the Queen's College and City Hall, which were lit up and really pretty.

So, for those who don't know, the Titanic was built in Belfast! So obviously they have Titanic Belfast, a museum of the Titanic, and the Pump House where the Titanic was stored before its maiden, and only voyage. The museum was really interesting, my favorite part was probably the violin that was played by a man named Wallace in the orchestra.  He died in the sinking, true to the film in 1997, he played while the life boats were being loaded and went down with the ship.  I definitely teared up reading the radio correspondence between the Titanic and other ships, in the last distress call they didn't even send the last letter.  It was emotional.  Next we walked to the Pump House and stood where the Titanic was docked and learned about the process of how the ship was stored and the machines and pumps to drain the water. 

Figure 16: The violin.

Figure 17: The dock where the Titanic was, just over 100 years ago!

After that it was a long 6 hours back home, just in time for the excitement of this week to begin!

BONUS: So, for all you Game of Thrones fans out there (which should be everyone!)- about 80% of all of GoT is filmed in Northern Ireland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently the tour company we used on Saturday is responsible for the shuttling of all things GoT related, and so they showed us the Wall! And I saw the fake snow on it! It was soo nifty, but sadly I didn't get a picture.  We also learned that our tour guide is going to be an extra in season 4, so I know someone who has been in GoT!!!!! And then when we were walking to the Pump House, we just so happened to walk by one of 2 main indoor filming locations for GoT! We saw the stacks of fake snow and a crew pass on a car!!! It was totally unexpected and awesome and has thus increased my desire to do a GoT themed travel where I visit all the main filming locations (Northern Ireland, Croatia, Iceland) because GoT is awesome! 

Figure 18: The crew pass!

So excited for the week to come! More Tissue engineering labs, and a midterm assignment in Bioethics will sure keep me busy, not to mention senior design! But this weekend we are planning on heading down to Cork to kiss the Blarney Stone, hopefully I receive the gift of gab ;)

All my love,

Amy Liz

Week 6: Senior Design and Inishmore, Aran Islands

Hallo!

This past week has been a lot of fun :)

We had a lot of senior design work to catch up on after we all had been out of town for the weekend.  Thursday was our senior design preliminary presentation, where we had a skype meeting with our mentors back at Purdue.  We all had to dress nicely, so of course it was the worst rain we've experienced while in Galway.  We have about 5 minutes between the apartment and the engineering building, and we were soaked! But the presentation went well and now it's on to the exciting parts of the project-experimentation! Hopefully it will all go smoothly in the coming weeks-ha ha like that's going to happen.

Courses here are so different from back home.  For example, tissue engineering labs started this week for Matt and I, and so now we have lab for one hour once a week and our lectures are postponed for that time.  I really liked the first lab this week, it went over the basics of cell culture, which I've done before but the refresher in a different lab was welcomed.  I think the labs will only get more interesting from here on out and will compliment what we've learned in the lectures up to this point.

This weekend we decided to take a day trip on Sunday, so we got to go out and about in Galway on Friday evening and Saturday we bummed around the apartment.  We all had some homework to finish and then in the evening we watched a movie together.  It was guy's pick, as it always seems to be, so it was This Is the End, a comedy with Seth Rogan and crew.  Needless to say, it was a guys movie.  It was about the end of the world and I think I screamed more times than I laughed, but it was still a lot of fun.

Sunday we woke up bright and early to mist and fog (woo Ireland)! We then had our day trip to the Aran Islands' largest island, Inishmore.  It was a 45 minute bus ride to the dock and then another 45 minute ferry to the island.  Our tour guide played the best Irish music, my favorite being the love ballad where he sings about her fine long neck like a swan.  The ferry was soothing, and when docked we were ready to see the sights!

The first stop was the seal colony.  We got to see the seals lounging about in the distance and there was a Connemara pony fenced in across the road.  Our tour guide said he wouldn't bite, so Nathan goes over to say hello, and of course got bitten.  The tour guide then gave me some grass and I fed the pony (no bites for Amy Liz).  

Figure 1: Pony!

Figure 2: Seals enjoying the day.

Next stop was the famous ruins of an old fort (Dun Aengus) which sit on the edge of a 300 ft section of cliffs.  Sorry Mama, I lied when I said I wouldn't go to the edges of any more cliffs.  These were very different from the Cliffs of Moher because it was so much foggier and windier on Inishmore, so we didn't feel as courageous.  But the view was still amazing! 

Figure 3: The four of us braving the edge.

Figure 4: Looking down!

Figure 5: Aerial view of the fort and cliffs.

This is also where we stopped for lunch at a little cafe that had the best Guinness beef stew topped with mashed potatoes.  It was piping hot and so yummy! We also got to do a little shopping.  Aran islands is known for its hand knit commodities, so I caved and bought a "bow" scarf.  I love scarves, its warm, and its in one of my favorite colors, so I think I justified it enough to myself to give in. :) I also bought a tiny hand crocheted little flower to put in my hair.

Figure 6: Me and the bow scarf.

Next stop was the ruins of the seven churches.  Apparently there are 4 saints buried here, 3 males and 1 female.  They were 'ruined' when Oliver Cromwell was chilling and destroying in Ireland.  He burnt them to the ground and threatened to behead anyone who preached in there again.  No one has preached in there since.  You'll notice with a lot of ruins that the walls of stone, or the shell of the buildings, is still there but all the roofs are gone.  I'm assuming this is because they were all thatch roofs and as such did not respond well to Cromwell's pyromaniac ways.

Figure 7: Beautiful Celtic cross at the ruins.

Next we went to another stop on the coast, where there were more seals! They would pop their heads out of the water and I would snap like crazy trying to get a good picture.  Mostly they ended up looking creepy.  Then we went to the beach!!! Not exactly swimming weather but still my favorite because the sand was so unique (crushed limestone and rocks so the traditional tan mixed with a silvery gray) and there were seashells galore!!! It was definitely my favorite part!!! The guys were not as impressed as I was and refused to take a picture on the beach :(

Figure 8: The awesome sand and seashells.

Our tour guide then took us in to the main village of Inishmore, where the dock is and we had some free time.  Matt and Eric both gave in to the wool temptation and bought sweaters, Nathan was the only one who stayed strong.  We also went to a local pub to sit and talk which was nice.  I've noticed that a lot of pubs here seem to make their little sitting tables out of old old sewing machine type thing.  (Mama-what Grandpa V had in his backyard for the longest time).  We then got ice cream, which is so delicious here, it's just soft serve, but it tastes so different.  We wandered over to the dock to wait for the ferry, and of course I was the only one to spill it all over myself.  

Overall, I had a simply amazing weekend! It was a good combination of relaxation and travel :) I'm super excited for this weekend because I get to put a check mark in the bucket list after going to Giant's Causeway and Belfast!!!

All my love,

Amy Liz

Weeks 4 and 5: What I'm Still in College?? and Westport!

Hey y'all!

Sorry I didn't update you last week, but not that much happened.  I did things like homework, and senior design because apparently I'm supposed to learn more than the drinking culture of Ireland here (crazy I know).  So last weekend all the roomies and I worked on our senior design project on a *gasp* Friday evening.  I know, I know, I totally just ruined their street cred.  But afterwards we watched a movie called Perfume, suggested by Nathan.  I wanted to watch the Hobbit but got shut down, I think solely because I suggested it.  The film is about a boy with the world's best nose and what he does in his life (spoiler alert: it involves killing lots of people, orgies, and cannibalism). Weird movie. Saturday was a lazy bum day and this time two movies were watched! Star Trek into the darkness (sooo good) and Now You See Me (only Matt hadn't seen it and he got uber confused because it kept jumping).  Sunday we ordered a pizza (!) and Nathan introduced me to the second season of American Horror Story which is messed up, scary, and really good.  And as I normally hate anything that goes "boo" you know it's gotta be good for me to keep asking Nathan questions until he gets the hint and takes out his headphones.

I may have not mentioned this yet but my roommates all have a TV fetish.  The three of them will sit on the couch in the dark with their computers on their laps just watching various TV shows.   Eric lives on ER and may self-combust when he finishes the series.  Matt has just recently gotten hooked on ER, via Eric, and who knows what Nathan's watching.  The TV is always a steady stream of BBC, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, and game shows.  I watch so much more TV here, but at least a lot of its the news!

Oh! Last week we also went out as a group (Purdue peeps and SLU friends) to the 90s night at College Bar! There was a live band and the music was awesome, because it was 90s music.  We then decided to head into town.  We went to a pub and then somehow managed to lose Matt, and had no clue where the heck he went.  We looked through the entire pub and around it and had Nathan go into the restroom twice. We then went to this bar/dance place called Stock Exchange which was really nifty because the prices of the drinks change based upon how popular they are so you try and get them for really cheap.

This week was a pretty fun week :) Wednesday evening we had a girls night! So I pretty much went out with my friends I've met here and told my roomies they couldn't come.  There was a Disney trivia at the College Bar, but we nixed that idea when we realized it cost 5 euro each.  Then we went in to town to a pub called KingsHead where I rediscovered my love of vodka-cranberry and we listened to live music (what I love most about pubs) and had girl talk, which ironically consisted mainly of talking about boys.  We went to a second pub called the Front Door for one last drink and then went to a dance club which was fun to just dance around and wear off some energy.

Thursday was Arthur's Day, which is bigger than St. Patrick's Day in Ireland.  It's always on a Thursday in September and you throw Guinness in the air at 17:59 (year Guinness was invented). Sadly I missed that because I was in class :( But I still went to a pub with some friends where we discovered a mysterious third floor that had more live music! The band was AWESOME! There was a bass guitar, violin, old guy who sang and banged a drum, two guitars, bagpipes, more drums, wooden blocks, a flute/clarinet cross, and a woodwind instrument.  Mama - you would have loved them! They were so so so so so so sooooo amazing!

Friday we decided to chill at the apartment.  Bridget really wanted to bake so we made sugar cookies, and they actually turned out how they were supposed to! Yummmm :) We then watched the Emperor's New Groove.  Saturday we took the bus in to Westport.  Since we booked it kind of late we had to stay in a B&B, which ended up being 10 km from city centre. Thank goodness we found a guy to drive us there.  But our B&B was precious!

Figure 1: Our B&B from the road.

We decided to walk in to town...which was around a 3 hour walk.  But the weather was gorgeous and we got to see some interesting things, like the famine ship memorial.

Figures 2 and 3: Memorial!

We also saw horses, cows and sheep! Yay animals :) When we got in to town we walked around a bit, and realized we got there right when all the shops were closing.  So, we got food.  After dinner we went in to a pub for a drink because we thought there was going to be live music.  Since there wasn't we left.  Thankfully we got a ride back from a nice Irish man.

In the morning we got breakfast from the lady who runs our B&B.  She made us a full Irish breakfast consisting of mushrooms, tomatoes, white pudding, a french toast slice, sausages, an egg, and Irish bacon.  She also gave us cereal, toast, pancakes, and the best coffee of my life.  Anna- you will be happy to know that I did try everything on my plate (except tomatoes because ew and mushrooms because they are a FUNGUS) and I still do not like eggs or sausages.  The white pudding was ok, and Irish bacon is like Canadian bacon: it's more ham and not that nasty nasty excuse for edible things that is American bacon.

We then began the ascent of Croagh Patrick.  Eric is a regular hiker so he all but skipped up the mountain, Bridget and I were a little bit timid however.  The first part is a winding uphill section that's kind of steep, but not awful.  When you finish that you think you're about half way, but that's a lie.  You then go on a semi-level walk for a bit and that's when the wind really started to hit because we didn't have anything to stop it.  Then we reached the bottom of the third part, aka the STEEP part.  It was really foggy today, so when we were looking up we couldn't see how far we had to go, which was a good thing otherwise I would've said "um no, not happening". As it was, I was like, well I've already come this far.  Eric and Bridget just went for it, but I took a slower more meandering, I was terrified to fall down route, aka a lot lot lot slower.  I met tons of lovely people who were heading down who were full of the encouragements: "Oh it's not that much farther!" "You're almost there" "Only 10/15 more minutes"...they were all liars.  The fog was so dense you could only see for about 20 ft in front or behind you, so it was strangely peaceful even though my legs were on fire and really made you think about when St. Patrick was doing this journey to fast for 40 days and nights or when people do it barefoot (insane).  When I was almost at the top Eric and Bridget were heading down (they didn't stay long at the top due to wind).  I reached the top and had my moment of woo-hoo accomplishment! Which quickly turned into "Oh my lanta this is freezing and I am going to blow over if I don't take cover!" Which led me to the church.  It was small yet lovely inside.  Also, there is something about being on top of a mountain that makes you feel closer to God.  I felt completely serene in that tiny church on top of a mountain with winds that would make Dorothy jealous.  Then began the descent, and the moment when you realize that while you have climbed to the top, you are in reality only half way done with the journey at that point. Coming down the fog started to lift and I got to take some pretty pictures.

Figure 4: Simply gorgeous!

Going down was not easy, I fell 3 times on the steep part and twice on the casual incline.  But, my goal was to fall under 5 times so I just hit my limit! I was pleased :) At the start of the climb I wasn't so positive that I wanted to do this, but Eric insured me it would be worth it.  And I must say, even though it was so windy and foggy once you reached the top that pictures were pointless and just a mass of gray on gray, I fell and got bumped and bruised, and my legs were so sore they were telling my brain that I could totally just roll down-that it was 100%, not even a doubt in my mind, completely and absolutely worth it.  I know a lot of people can say they've climbed this mountain, but I'm pretty damn pleased to count myself in that number.

Figure 5: On the descent, Croagh Patrick is in the background, shrouded in fog.

I have had an amazing past two weeks! But the whole reason I started blogging tonight was because Eric informed me it was not socially acceptable to go to bed at 8:45 when we got back, but now it is after 10, and I feel that is much more acceptable and quite frankly, past my bedtime.

See you next week!

All my love, 

Amy Liz

P.S. Shout out to the best ladies ever for sending me an awesome Halloween package!!! Lauren, Kelsey, and Sasha are the best and sent me kitkats, graham crackers, chocolate icing, Purdue socks (which I wore to hike!), and a Purdue Hello Kitty!!!!! I loved it all, but not nearly as much as I love and miss you three!!!! <3 

Week 3: Baking Failures and Dublin

Hello all :)

Week 3 marked the arrival of all first year students to classes, meaning my first full week of classes of the semester! Except when classes were cancelled, ha.  I'm really excited about my history class, I think it will be really interesting and different from all the science classes that I'm used to.  Bioethics has been fascinating thus far, the professor is really awesome.  I also like my engineering classes, and we're starting to get in the full swing of senior design as well, which is nifty.  We also had our first sets of homework assignments with lab and senior design.

On Wednesday my tissue engineering class was cancelled, meaning I had an extra two hours of free time.  Thus, I decided to surprise my roomies and give in to their demands for baked goods.  Plus I had a blondie recipe I'd been wanting to try.  I though ahead and made sure my ingredient list was in SI units, and then got started on the baking! Then when they were ready to be put in the oven I realized two things 1) I forgot to preheat it and 2) the images and dials had worn off of it.  So Matt and I guessed on what we should do.  It did not turn out well. At all.  I also think the fact that I put it in a broiler pan was another mistake.  The top of the brownies turned this awful awful burnt black color, and then the bottom of them didn't even bake, after 35 minutes in the oven.  The entire kitchen area steamed up, but thankfully no fire alarms went off.  Nathan tried to tell people it was custard with chocolate on top...they didn't fall for it.  And surprisingly, they still want me to bake for them.

On Friday Eric, Colleen, Bridget, Kristen, Annie, and I went to Dublin! It was awesome! We got there about 2:00 p.m. and checked in to our hostel, which was kind of out of the way but cheap, clean, and the 6 of us all shared one room and bathroom.  So it was nice not having to deal with strangers.  We went to the Guinness Storehouse first off, where we learned the brewing process and some history of Guinness.  Then we learned how to "pour the perfect pint" complete with a certificate (woot woot) and a pint of Guinness.  I enjoyed it, but I could not finish it all! Wayyy too rich for me, someone who's used to Coors light.

Figure 1: Me and the perfect pint in the Gravity Bar.

In the evening we decided to go to the Temple Bar district.  We ate at an amazing pub that had delicious beef casserole, which was pretty much beef stew with mashed potatoes on top.  The Temple Bar was a tad crowded and we were all kinda worn out so we headed back early and played a lot of car games.  Since then we have learned that Eric is not to be trusted in Go Fish, and Annie doesn't approve of the rules of it.

Saturday Eric and I went on a tour of the Boyne Valley.  It is home of Newgrange, an 80m diameter neolithic passage tomb of the Celts that is 500 years older than Stonehenge, 1000 years older than the pyramids, and 3500 years older than the Mayans.  Needless to say, it's old.  It's been completely preserved from the time it was built only the outside had to be touched up.  We couldn't take pictures inside, but we got to go in and walk along a hallway to the center room with three recesses where the cremated remains of most likely high rated officials were buried.  Inside there were various carvings, the most famous of which is seen below (don't know why this person got to take pictures and I couldn't).  Some people believe the three symbols represent life, death, and rebirth, our tour guide said it was the sign of hallucinogenic drugs at work.  Other carving we saw were more swirls, a feather, a rippling down the side of one stone, and jagged lines. 

Figure 2: Famous spirals

Figure 3: Newgrange from the side

Then we drove around some scenic parts of the Boyne valley, and saw where the Battle of the Boyne took place (William of Orange vs James II). William of Orange won (woo Protestants!).  Then we went to the Hill of Tara, which was where the old Celtic kings were crowned.  On a clear day apparently you can see 3/4 of Ireland.  We had a clear day, so apparently we did, I'm not so sure though.

Figure 4: Panoramic view from the Hill of Tara.

Then we met up with the rest of the crew, who had just spent the day in the city.  We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was where Handel's Messiah was played for the first time.  It was beautiful! We then did some shopping and found new shoes for Eric, which was a lot of fun!  In the evening we went to Temple Bar again.  We ate at a place called Bad Ass Cafe, which was nice although expensive.  Then we went to The Temple Bar, which had live music and was a nifty place :) We went home again and played more card games, and I learned how to play Kemps for the first time.  I wasn't very good.  

On Sunday we went to a Camogie game! It's the female version of hurling.   It was really intense and a lot of fun! I've heard of the game before, but never seen it or learned the rules so it was a really neat experience.  Sadly, our team lost, but it was a really intense game! And they wear skirts, which is awesome.  

This week was awesome, and I'm so excited for the week to come!  

All my love,

Amy

Week 2: First Week of Classes and Day Trips!

Hallo!

Week 2 has been pretty interesting! We finally got senior design figured out (yay!). So the four of us will be working on a problem relating to the growth of pressure ulcers when a patient has a cast.  Pretty fascinating stuff I know.  It's nice to have it worked out, but sad in the fact that it means school is really happening.  The first week of class in Ireland is so much more relaxed than at Purdue, lots of classes are cancelled and I had one homework assignment.  But, the bonus is my schedule is all worked out and here it is:

BME 402: Computational Methods in Engineering Analysis
BME 405: Tissue Engineering
SG 111: Early and Medieval History of the Celts
PI 240.E: Bioethics
Senior Design

It's going to be an interesting semester, and I'm excited for the variety of classes!

This weekend we took two day trips with a tour company.  The first day focused on the Connemara region, which is a primarily Gaelic speaking region and a very rural area.  It was really rainy that day, so there's lots of rain spots on all my pictures, but the fog in the mountains was lovely so it doesn't bother me.  Most people would say the area was dreary, but I think it was quite beautiful.

I can't get pictures to load right now, so I'll try to add some later.  But we saw Kylemore Abbey, which is a castle converted to a nunnery.  It's situated in the Inagh Valley and by a lake, very picturesque.  We also stopped for pictures at the Lough Nafooey, which is home to a lake that is said to house the water horse. We also saw a fairy tree! Pink ribbons are tied for a good wedding, blue ribbons for a pregnancy, and pieces of clothing for sick children. The last stop was the Ross Errilly Abbey, which is the ruins for an old home of Franciscan monks.

The day trip on Sunday was focused on the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher.  We drove around the Burren, seeing the various stone tombs, one as old as 3000 years with a 12 ton stone on top (heavy!).  We also stopped at Dunguaire Castle, from the 1500s, which still houses medieval style meals.  For lunch we stopped at a lovely little pub which had the quickest service I've ever witnessed.  My food was sitting at the table before I got back from ordering it at the bar.  Also, fantastic fudge! Mom you would love it-they had praline fudge, no chocolate on it at all!

The Cliffs of Moher were by far the highlight of the weekend and simply AMAZING! The edge of Ireland before you hit the Atlantic ocean and 8 km of 416 m high cliffs.  We were cautioned about standing on the edges of the cliffs due to wind, but it was such a clear day we had to do it anyways.  We had an hour and a half to walk around and took tons of pictures at the edge.  It was pretty scary, but worth the jitters to be able to look down and see the waves crashing against the cliffs. Simply stunning.

This week classes will be kicking up again, and hopefully we'll be taking another trip this weekend! See you next week! <3

Love,
Amy Liz

Week 1: Arriving in Galway and ensuing shenanigans!

Hello loves!

First off, sorry if this is a poor blog, I've never done this before but I thought it'd be a cool week by week update on my whereabouts and doings! Once classes start (tomorrow eek!) my weekends will probably be my only exciting times, so I'm hoping to clue you in every Sunday!

So here goes nothing...

My Daddy and I flew out on August 25th, first flight was from St. Louis to Chicago, it was over in about 40 minutes, no problem.  Then came the 3 hour layover until we'd be flying to Dublin. Butttt of course, nothing goes as planned and there were issues with the plane (electronic things and then they did an engine check) so our flight was delayed an awesome 4 hours.  We got underway and I passed out, listening to Mumford and Sons on repeat and then I was woken up when we were getting close to landing.

My first thought upon landing in Dublin was "Green." I just looked out the window as we're taxing to disembark and all I saw was green, it was awesome! We took a bus from Dublin to Galway and I'd like to tell you that I was so excited I stayed awake and took in all the sights of the Irish countryside...but I passed out again.  I did see some sheep though.

 

Figure 1: Map of Ireland.  The city I'm living in is Galway, in County Galway

We checked in to our hotel and grabbed a bite to eat from a Pub called "The Front Door".  We fly around the world and we got to an Irish Pub, and what does my Daddy order to drink? A Budweiser.  But never fear, I got a cider :) We went to bed pretty early, since we were planning on getting up to see the city and check me in to my dorm.

I don't have pictures of my dorm yet, sorry I'll add them soon, but I'm living with Matt, Nathan, and Eric who are all BMEs from Purdue! There are 3 bedrooms (Matt and Nathan are sharing), 1.5 baths, a tiny kitchen, and a living area. The major advantage to living with 3 guys? They kill all the spiders, of which there happen to be many.  After we moved all my stuff in, we went to go get the things I had been planning on buying here and to tour the city and college.

Figure 2: Awesome view of Galway.

The rest of the week has been a blur of getting over jet lag, orientation for NUI-Galway, checking out pubs, and meeting people. The section of Corrib Village we're living in seems to be mostly international students, which is pretty nice because they're already moved in so we've met quite a few of our neighbors.  It's kind of worrisome that classes start tomorrow and the plans for senior design are still iffy, but I'm sure it will all work out splendidly! When I have my schedule hammered out I'll attach it, but right now I'm planning on taking senior design, a finite element class, a tech elective type class (either tissue engr or quality management), bioethics, and a history of the Celts.  Definitely a wide variety! 

When I have my facebook back I'll post all the pictures I have accrued in this first week :)

So far:

 Fave thing: The city, the campus, walking around it's absolutely gorgeous!

Least fave thing: Never knowing when it's going to rain! 

Random Funny: The fire alarms keep going off in our apartment...and only in the building we live in. Twice we've had to go stand outside while they are blaring until someone comes and turns them off! Not the best way to meet the neighbors.

Next week I'm looking forward to: Classes starting and getting in to a schedule! and hopefully a weekend trip :)

See you next week!

All my love,

Amy Liz