Time for another update I suppose. The life of Audrey Germer has been...
Abundant - seems like there's endless things to do, people to meet, places to visit, and foods to try! There's also an abundance of rain, wind (I'm on my third umbrella already), and rock walls. The only thing we don't have an abundance of here is hot water!
Busy - school is finally in full swing, and although we don't have a lot of small assignments, the papers we have require much research and reading and are worth hefty portions of our grade. Who am I kidding...two or three papers or tests are worth our entire grade.
Confusing - although almost everyone here speaks English, it's still taking some time to adjust to the new culture, slang vocabulary, and new customs. I'm enjoying learning the ways of the Irish, but I often still get lost or find myself confused.
Delicious - have I mentioned the food here? I know this isn't a food journal, but if it were, I would have much to say. Pastries and bread (particularly chocolate croissants, baguettes, and cheese rolls) are now my main food group, as is chocolate. Cadbury chocolate to be precise, and although the caramel chocolate bars are my favorite, the milk and dark chocolate bars tie for a close second.
Exciting - SO exciting! It's exciting living in a new place, learning new things, and seeing places I've only dreamed about.
Fun - it's fun to be on my own, in such a beautiful place, with so much to do.
Green - Ireland is sort of like Oregon in that there is so much green space everywhere, even in the cities. Not as many tall trees, but still lots of green.
Hair - who knew hair color was such a big deal around here? There are a lot of fake blondes, and a lot of red heads here, both real and fake. Whoever said red hair was going to become extinct should just come to Ireland, I bet they would change their mind. Here's some new vocab for you all since apparently not all red heads like to be considered just a boring ginger: a Bringe is a red head with more of a brown/red shade, while a Blinge is a red head with more of a blonde/red shade of hair.
I can't think of any words that start with I besides iceberg lettuce, ice cream and Ikea, and none of those words really apply to my life right now since I haven't seen a Cold Stone here yet.
Jersey Shore deprived - self explanatory for all the guidos and guidettes out there :)
Kold - i know that's the wrong way to spell cold, but I needed a word that started with K, and I'm cold around here most of the time. Probably because it's rainy, and windy, and the middle of January and we have to walk everywhere, but even with our heaters on as high as they go, seems like I am perpetually cold!
Lovely - just because lovely is one of my top five favorite words. I suppose my life is lovely here too.
Missing everybody- I'm enjoying my time and experiences here, but I do sincerely MISS everybody at home, and I think about you all the time.
Nutella - Yes, nutella gets it's own category. If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, I'm almost positive I'd pick Nutella.
Outdoorsy - I spend much of my time outdoors when the weather is not terrible. Many of the tourist attractions in Ireland are scenic, outdoor locations. We also joined the Mountaineering Club at school, so every Sunday we go on hikes to unbelievable places in Ireland. So far, I've hiked The Burren National Park in County Clare, and part of the mountains in The Twelve Bens in Connemara, which ended at the Kylemore Abbey - stunning.
Parties & Pubs- the Irish LOVE to party. It's completely socially acceptable to party here any and every day or night of the week. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the huge party days for pubs, although people party whenever and wherever they see fit. And the girls dress up, I'm talking serious dress up, when they go out. Heels, skimpy dresses, sequins, lots of make up, and lace seem to be the hits around here. They make Jersey Shore attire look pretty standard. I think that's why it's so easy to tell the difference between American and Irish girls when we go out - we just don't look anything like Irish girls.
Quite an experience - it's everything I imagined, and nothing like I imagined.
Rainy - lots of rain here, just like Oregon. It just seems worse because we walk everywhere.
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church, Temple Bar District, the play Aladdin at the Gaiety Theatre, first hostel experience ever, St. Andrew's Church, Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, Ha'penny Bridge, Dublin Post Office, National Gallery of Ireland, The Four Courts, Customs House, Dublin Castle, and Guinness Storehouse were all places we visited or things we did when we took a trip to Dublin for the weekend!
Temporary - although I'm here for almost half a year, living out of suitcases reminds me this is only temporary, and I'll be home catching up with friends and family, eating refried beans (they don't have those here), watching American TV, and missing Ireland before I know it. Hard to believe it's already February.
Unexpected - we went to Dublin two weekends ago, and decided on sort of a whim to see the play Aladdin. Guess we should have suspected something was different when we walked in and the majority of the audience was under the age of 10, and holding light up toys in the air. Little did we know (and little did our ticket seller tell us!) this was a "modern rendition" of Aladdin, complete with required audience participation, cheesy jokes, and modern American songs by artists such as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Journey, and the like. The song for the love scene was "True Colors" - if that doesn't say classy, I'm not sure what does. At that point, I started laughing so hard I cried. Nobody else except Amanda and I thought it was funny. Although unexpected, I think the play was my favorite part of the trip.
Very impressed if you're still reading by this point!
Walking - we walk everywhere! The good news: I'm going to have the best legs ever since we walk so much. I'd say on a slow day, I walk a minimum of 4 miles. Most days I walk around 5-8 miles, and on days where we travel or spend the majority of the day out, we walk well over 8 miles!
X is an awkward letter, so I'll just pick F again instead. Here's your Irish Fun Fact of the day: everybody knows Guinness is a huge deal in Ireland, to put it moderately. But, did you know that drinking a pint of Guinness is almost as nourishing as eating a loaf of bread, and in 1794, Arthur Guinness (creator) signed a 9,000 year lease for the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin at an annual rate of £45. Smart lad.
Yikes, 26 things is actually a lot of things to come up with, even with the couple times I've cheated.
Zoo, zebra, zest, zit, zero, and zilch are the only words I know that start with Z...and none of those apply to my life at the moment, so I guess this is the end of the update for now!
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