Hanging out in Galway!

Hey Everyone!  I spent last weekend in Galway, and I am spending this one here as well!  It's been good to get caught up on many assignments and projects I've put on the back burner.  I'm also starting to prepare for finals, so that is good as well.  I've spent a good deal of time with my amazing friends the past two weeks...it's been brilliant!


Two Thursdays ago, Jess, Katie, Michelle and I went out with Jess's Irish friends Ciara and Laura.  It's always a good time!  We went to Jess's apartment before, and I tried Jameson for the first time.  Jameson is Irish Whiskey, and it is actually rather nice.  We mixed it with red lemonade, and it tasted like licorice.  As always, we had a great time!  I also got a Berry Bulmers, which was quite fruity and delicious :)

Last weekend was pretty fun.  Friday we spent a lot of time shopping in the afternoon.  I had a lot of my Christmas shopping done beforehand, but I finished it all on Friday!  Don't ask what I got you, because it's a surprise :)  We also got pizza at our favorite pizza joint, Napoli's.  It's so delicous, and cheap!  But yes, Friday was full of shopping and going in and out of all the touristy shops. Saturday was a productive schoolwork day--probably the most productive I've been since I came to Ireland.  I cranked out my global econ essay as well as a few marketing assignments.  Afterwards we celebrated by going out to the Front Door and then dancing at Cuba.  It was a fun night, but a not so pleasent morning.

I laid in bed for a while on Sunday, but managed to get up around noon.  Jess, Katie, and I went into town again for some more shopping--but this time for clothes.  I got a cute pair of boots for 10 euros and a belt.  We got pizza from Napolis again--it's just so delicous :)  Afterwards I did a bit more schoolwork and went to bed relatively early.


On Monday we prepared and grocery shopped for our Thanksgiving dinner, which took place on Wednesday.  Jess's friend Laura is Irish and has a car here, so she drove us.  We got everything except for the turkeys, because we couldn't find one anywhere!  Luckily, Katie and I stopped at another grocery store Tuesday and they had just gotten some in.  So we carried two 13 pound turkeys back to Dunaras in the pouring rain--very fun times!  We had to thaw them out quickly since we only had 24 hours until dinner! 

On Tuesday Apartment 29 had a sundae party as we watched Eat, Pray, Love.  Of course, it was absolutely fantastic :)  I enjoyed the ice cream and the movie very much so!


Wednesday was the big day--Thanksgiving!  There were 17 of us all eating dinner in Jess's apartment, which isn't very big.  We started cooking around 2:30 and had to de-giblet the turkey, which was quite foul.  We had to break the neck and pull it out, along with the giblets--the lungs exploded in my hands--fabulous times.  Anyways, we marinated it, and put it in the oven for some roasting!  We also had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, mixed vegetables, corn, apple salad, and then our roommate Jessica made apple crisp for dessert.  It was quite the feast, and everything turned out perfectly!  Our turkey did kerplop, but the other one stood strong.  I'm so happy everything turned out fabulously and that everyone had a great time! I'm thankful for all of the great friends I've made here and shared memories with!

Today Jess, Katie, and I went into town and grabbed some pizza, of course.  We also explored the Christmas Markets which resembles Germany's.  There are many countries represented with booths ranging from food, jewelry, clothes, ornaments, and anything you can imagine!  I'm quite pumped to go back on Sunday to buy some treats :)  There's also a booth of stroopwafels...it makes me so happy :)  There's also a large beer hall that resembles Oktoberfest, which will be quite fun as well!

I'm here in Galway this weekend, and I plan to finish up my last two econometrics assignments.  Next weekend we're heading off to Rome to visit Liz, our friend from Duquesne.  I'm also meeting up with my friend from elementary school, Andrew, who is also studying in Rome.  I haven't seen him since like 8th grade, so it'll be nice to see him! 

Our final exam also came out. I have my two hardest finals (managerial econ & econometrics) on Wednesday December 8th.  Global Econ is Monday Dec 13, Imagining Modern Ireland is Tuesday Dec 14, and Marketing is Friday Dec 17th.  I'm trying to plan a trip to Norway/Sweden sometime around December 9-11/12th.  If I go I'll have to go alone, so I'm a bit scared--but I think it'll be fine...I'll just have to do some intense planning.

P.S. I may start using "ye" in my vocabulary instead of "you all"...please don't judge me.

That's basically all that's been going on!  Hope everyone is well!

LoveLove,
Christy