Nothing super noteworthy to add for my introduction, other than I can't believe my sister is coming in like four weeks!! That means I'm almost done with this semester :o
School: These past two weeks of school have been a little boring to be completely honest. While I find most of the subjects interesting, the lectures seem to be pretty monotonous this week. Though classes have been stale, I have really been enjoying my extracurricular activities! As many of you know, I am in Christian Union (CU) and the Mountaineering Club. I have really enjoyed attending CU and small groups for the past few months. With the help of this faithful and encouraging group, I have learned a lot about myself and have grown in my faith. ALSO, through CU I had the opportunity to work on my mad bowling skills. We went bowling last week which was super fun, and I will share more about that later on in the post. This past week I have also had the chance to work some more on my new found climbing skills. It is so exhilarating to work on a new route, finish it and then soar down (safely) as Ellen belays. I am thrilled to have discovered this part of myself, and I cannot wait to get home and climb with Jonny (and possibly Mike?? – He was a big fan of me joining the mountaineering club!). As exams are slowly approaching, I have **attempted**to start the studying process. It’s an arduous task to be sure. Hopefully next week I’ll have better news regarding my state of studying!!
Tourist Fun: This past weekend, Ellen and I went up to Blackrock to visit her cousin! We went to Belfast on Friday, and we did the hop on hop off tour while her cousin and daughter went to W5, a children’s museum. The hop on hop off tour was really neat because not only did they provide transportation around Belfast, but they also gave us a lot of really good information! Our first stop on the tour was St. George’s Market, an indoor market with a lot of cool stuff. We got lunch (Mac and Cheese), bought some fun souvies, then walked to Hotel Europa (the world’s most bombed hotel – 33 times) to pick up the bus again. We traveled through the Falls and Shankill Road and learned more about The Troubles. Our next stop was at the Crimlon Road Gaol, the last Victorian jail in Ireland. We went on a tour of the jail which was really neat. Again, we learned even more about The Troubles and what prison life would have looked like over the past two centuries. It finally closed in 1996 and is now an interesting place to tour and learn a lot about Northern Ireland’s history. After that tour, we met back up with Ellen’s cousin and got dinner at Made in Belfast. After dinner, we drove back to their place and had a relaxing evening. On Saturday, we stayed relatively close to Blackrock and went to the Hill of Tara and Slane Castle. It was really neat getting to explore a centuries old inauguration site amongst many fairy trees! As I am taking a medieval Ireland course, it was so neat to be able to see Tara as it was a major site of influence during that time period! I just love how learning and traveling can align! Slane castle was also really cool! We got to tour the inside, play games on the grounds and learn more about the family that STILL lives there. They even have their own distillery on the property in the old horse stables. Hopefully that statement won't give my dad any ideas... he and Joe were throwing around the idea of making our own cider when they were here a few weeks ago! As we were traveling with Ellen’s cousin and her daughter, we got a full glimpse of what travelling with a 5 year old looks like. I was not prepared in the slightest! I never realized how long it takes young children to go from place to place! On our final day, we spent the morning playing with Ellen's cousin's daughter and then headed to Ravensdale forest for a quick walk through the forest before our train. It was so much fun getting to hike around and explore the forest. We even got to witness a mountain bike competition… so neat! The train ride home was quiet as we were so tired from the busy weekend! Can’t wait for the next adventures of our upcoming weekend in Cork!
Something New: My something new for this week has got to be bowling for the first time in a foreign country. Though I have to admit, the only difference between American bowling alleys and Irish bowling alleys are the sizes of the shoes! At home I’m usually a US 7 ½, but here I was a UK 5! Bowling with CU was super fun and relaxing though I really underestimated my bowling skills! I think it might be because all of my bowling experiences have been with the Bowsers, and they are all pretty skilled at bowling, if I do say so myself! Bowling with CU was a blast, and it was such a great way to get to know more people! We even went to Johnny Rockets, an American style diner, after we finished bowling. The food and shakes were delicious, and it was kind of fun being in an atmosphere that reminded me of home. Oh yeah, I also got to try my first ever spice bag when I was at a CU this past Wednesday! So yummy!
What I’ve Learned This Week: This week I learned that you cannot put big pieces of bread in the toaster or else it will set off the fire alarm!! YEP, I did that today!! Thankfully it was only the alarm in my room, so the building didn’t have to evacuate, and it turned off by itself once I got all the smoke out. Though I missed the embarrassment of having to evacuate the whole building, my entire room now smells like burnt toast. So, any and all suggestions on how to get rid of that smell would be much appreciated! Hopefully next week’s lesson will not involve loud fire alarms!!
Also found a great quote while I was at the Hill of Tara: "Life is like a cup of tea... it's all in how you make it." (not sure who said it, but I LOVE it!!)
*Weekly Tea Trivia: White tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea can be converted to a thousand different varieties.
Cheers,
Anna