cliffs of moher

Gorgeous.

How scary are those drops? They try to keep you away from the edge, but people go anyway. It's insane!

The obligatory picture of me looking pensive and staring out into the Atlantic.

Pretty sure you're not allowed to to this. Random Dude did not care.

Most of the group from Duquesne. We were missing a few people. But the bottom row L to R is Sarah L., Lisa, me, Kelly. Top row L to R is Caitlin, Sarah S., Rebekah, Doug, Meg.

Got up early and we took a tour bus with two other student groups to to the Cliffs of Moher. Along the way, we stopped at Aillwee Cave. The cave wasn't anything incredibly spectacular, but it was nice and I feel like caves of any sort are pretty cool. It's REALLY old and it was discovered in the 20th century by some guy who followed his dog who was chasing a rabbit. And he kept the cave to himself for 40 years until he decided it could be a tourist spot.

I have some nice pictures from there. I didn't feel like doing the whole upload thing with them. So check out my Facebook if you want to see those. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2014988&id=1476120019 (You should be able to see the album even if you don't have a Facebook).

In other news, tomorrow night is the Superbowl! The Superbowl that the Steelers are in! They're actually airing it here. Apparently there are some Steelers bars in Dublin, but that's a bit far. They show American football in a couple pubs. It'll start airing at 10 PM, but the game won't actually start until 11. We're going to get there around 8 and try to claim a table or at least a section of the pub close to the TV. Its gonna be a long night.

no pictures yet...

Cliffs of Moher were amazingly beautiful. My camera battery is charging right now, but I'm going to upload pictures tonight. Beautiful.

As per Laura's request, if anyone wants to send me notes or any other lovely things of that nature, just send them to:

Rachel Noderer
27A
Cuirt na Coiribe
Headford Road
Galway
Ireland

do it for the living, do it for the dead, do it for the monsters under your bed

I feel so much better than I did in my last post. I've been talking to people here about that "missing out" feeling and everyone is experiencing something similar. So we're all going through it together.

And, yes, four months is a lengthy amount of time. But it can also go by quickly. Actually, we're already at one month down/three to go. I'm in my third week of classes already and I feel like we've just started. So this may not be as hard as I initially thought.

I really can't wait to go to London. That's going to be a lot of fun. It's just Kelly, Mike, and me. All of us want to basically do the same things too. And we're all very laid back. So I think they're going to be wonderful travel buddies.

This Saturday we're taking a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher. Hold on to your seats for some FABULOUS pictures. If you've never seen then, Google Image that right quick. They're breathtaking in pictures. I can't even imagine what it will be like to be there in person. I hope it doesn't rain, but it's probably going to be ridiculously windy.

I don't have any final exams for any of my classes. But they're all assessed by a final essay of about 3000 words. Each of my five classes requires a 3000 word essay. That's a 10 page paper for each class. 50 pages total. That's a short story. WHAAAAT. I think it'll be okay. I honestly think I'm going to start working on those papers as soon as I get topics. I don't want that all crashing down on me. No, thank you.

By the way, if you haven't read Lolita, do it. It will make you feel squirmy, but Nabokov is honestly a master of the English language. It is beautifully written. Beautifully.

oh, the people that i've met are the wonders of my world

I hope this homesickness passes. It does for the most part. I'm better than I was yesterday. But I just keep having moments. I'll get in a really weird funk and then miss everyone from home.

Apparently four months is quite a bit of time. Who knew?

It's just this feeling of missing out. Which is weird because I'm in this totally amazing city in a beautiful country. But I also can't share this with the people I love. That's hurting.

I think I'll feel better when people have definite plans to visit. My mom is still looking for flights.

I'm afraid that when I come back everyone will be reliving some great joke that I'm left out of. Or I'll change. Or they'll change. Or everyone will grow in different directions. But all of these fears seem incredibly blown up when I stand back and look at them.

I have to stop thinking about it. While four months is a long time, it can also be a really short time. And I have to make the most of it.

I talked to Kelly earlier and she said she was feeling the same way. We're thinking about planning bigger trips (like to England or Scotland or the other side of Ireland) every three weeks. It'll make the time go by faster but we'll also be experiencing the rest of the world.

I don't have class tomorrow. If it's not raining, I think I'm going to go out and explore with my camera.

I do feel good about this.

!!

Okay. I just need to explain the ridiculousness that was yesterday morning.

To catch everyone up, here's how the English department at NUIG works:
Your English lecture courses are huge and you don't need to go through a special registration for them. You just show up and eventually register with the university. I'm taking two of these. Modernism & Postmodernism and English Specialist Studies (Nineteenth Century Gothic and The American South--how these two go together, I have no idea.). These classes have about 200 people in them. It's nuts.
THEN you have your English seminar classes. They are much smaller--about 15 people. These haven't started yet because there is a super special registration process to go through. There are about 30 classes to choose from. Each of them has a limited number of spots available to international students. And these spots are given on a first come first serve basis. So it's highly highly competitive.

Yesterday morning, I got out of bed (after NO sleep because I've been sick all week) at 4 AM. Left the apartment at 5 with Sarah, Sam, and Doug. We got to the university at 5:15. And we stood outside in the cold wet suck. 5:15 AM and I was the 61st person in line. Yes. 60 PEOPLE WERE THERE BEFORE US. The girl who was first in line had been there since 2 AM. Apparently she had just been drinking whiskey and coffee the whole time. Oh my goodness, it was wretched. Just sitting there.

Though, the first girl was really smart. She took her notebook and made everyone sign in in the order they got there. Around 8 AM, the registration people came and took the list and gave out numbered tickets according to the list. As soon as we had the ticket, we could leave and go somewhere warm until 9. Then we lined up according to our tickets and went in to register that way. It was NUTS. And there were people rolling in at 9 AM trying to sneak through, they came out bitching and moaning. Seriously. We were warned to come early. They should've come early.

The Jane Austen class was the first one to fill up. I'm alright with that though. It would have been my only Monday class. So there would have been zero motivation to go. But I got my second choice, Contemporary North American Fiction. We're reading Fight Club and American Psycho. Apparently the prof is really awesome. And I do not have class on Mondays. I'm very pleased with how this worked out.

After that exhilarating morning, I came back to the apartment, took a shower, and went to class. After class I passed out on the couch for about an hour. Made dinner and watched Grey's Anatomy with the roommates. And then I took Benilyn PM and made a hot toddie (tea, lemon, honey, and whiskey) to get rid of my sore throat and I had the best night of sleep I've ever.

I woke up feeling SO much better. It's funny how that works.

I think tomorrow is going to be a reading day. I just started Lolita. I'm about 50 pages in. It's really beautifully written. But it makes you feel really creepy.

OH! I booked a flight to London. Kelly, Mike, and I are going the first weekend of February. It's gonna be awesome.

AND I got into the play I auditioned for. It runs the last few days of March/first few days of April. And that first weekend of April, we're taking it to Dublin for some Irish student drama festival.

Excitement!

Oops!

Sorry, everyone. I've been AWOL for a bit. (I recently learned what AWOL stands for. Don't judge.)

Well, actually. The internet in Cuirt na Coiribe went down Saturday afternoon. There was a big storm. And apparently when big storms happen, things break. And that makes me nervous. Because it storms quite a bit. And the office closes for the whole weekend. So we were left without the internet until Monday morning. I know. It was only two days. But when people depend on Skyping and IMing for their connections back home, two days is a long time. But it's amazing how much reading you get done with you don't have the internet. I'm just saying.

So Sarah, Kelly, Abby, and I decided it would be a good idea to go for a walk to the delicious creperie in the previously mentioned storm. This resulted in an absolutely phenomenal lunch (best crepes EVER.) and pretty nasty colds for Abby and myself. For the most part, I'm feeling healthy. My sinuses stopped crushing my face. But my throat hasn't stopped hurting.

Today was Inauguration Day! The college bar had a thing. They were airing CNN on a bunch of different TVs. The bar was packed and everyone was cheering and loving everything. It was awesome. I'm gonna make another post about it later with a whole buncha pictures, don't you worry.

As for right now, I need to get some sleep. Sarah and I are leaving at 5 AM to go stand in line to register for our English seminar courses. There are only 15 spots available in each class and they're given on a first come, first serve basis. There are people going at 2 AM. I'm not even kidding. I'm hoping for the Jane Austen seminar, but if I don't get that, I have some backups. But waiting (probably outside) for about 4 hours isn't going to do much for my cold. Awesome.

you've gotta push all the doubt to the side of your mouth

More beauty for everyone to enjoy. Galway Bay.

More of the Bay. Galway is beautiful.

Better street shot than the one before. It was a muuuuch nicer day outside that day. Bustlin' little town.

St. Nicholas Church. It's real old and real pretty.

This is what I see when I walk to and from school. Yeah. That's right. To be fair, this was on a rare non-rainy day. So I don't see this very often. But I lovvvve it!

I auditioned for a play today. Tom Stoppard's Dogg's Hamlet. It's entirely nonsensical. Like, it's in English, but they're just saying random words and you get the meaning through the acting. I don't know if I'll get in. I was totally the first one to show up though. How very enthusiastic of me!

Everyone went to the pub crawl sponsored by the International Students Society tonight. I signed up to go, but I haven't been feeling well these past couple days. I've had a sore throat that I can't kick. I keep on coughing and sneezing. And I have class at 9 tomorrow morning. I feel like a pub crawl could get really expensive too. I'm trying to make 50 Euro last me until Tuesday. Budgeting is hard. :(

So I'm going to be doing a RIDICULOUS amount of reading during the semester. Seriously. Like, three books a week. I'm trying to get a head start so I have room to fall behind. I'm already halfway through Frankenstein.

I want to go out and do the social thing, but I'm also here to learrrrn. I'm such a nerd. Though, I have gone out quite a bit by my standards.

I'm hoping to go to the Cliffs of Mohrer soon. I think Ann, our on-site coordinator, was going to plan something for us. So hold on to ya seats for some fabulous cliff action in the near future.

And excitement! Eric called a little bit ago. He's trying to come visit the last weekend in March! Nothing's definite though.

On that note, it's time for me to get to bed. 7:30 AM, here I come.

there's a hole in your head, spilled your thoughts on the floor

My second official day of class today! I had British Empire and Modernism & Postmodernism. We watched a really good documentary on India in British Empire. I really think I'm going to enjoy that class. The professor (Simon Potter. He is so unbelievably British.) emailed Kelly and me a course description to send to our advisers. He even said in the email, "I confirm that this is very much a course on global history." He's just grand.

Oh, sidenote. They say "grand" here a lot. It's interchangeable with "fine." Like, if you bump into someone and you say, "Oh, I'm sorry!" They'll respond, "Oh, you're grand!" It's wonderful and I want all of you in the States to adopt it.

Then Kelly, Ryan (our new friend), and I wandered around this huge room by the Student Union for Societies Day. NUI has a ridiculous amount of Societies (clubs). I signed up for a ton. There's really no obligation. It was just to get on the email list. But I signed up for the International Student Society, DramSoc (the theater society!), Human Rights Society, Alive (volunteer program), the Film Society, and a few others I think. They even have a Dating Society where they organize speed dating. Kelly, Sarah, and I think it would be hilarious.

There's an audition for one of the DramSoc's plays tomorrow. It's Tom Stoppard, so that would be exciting. It's just nervewracking! I want to do plays here, but I'm afraid I won't have time to travel, or I won't be able to take people out when they visit. Then again, I don't have any exams so I have the entire month of April to go traveling. And no one is DEFINITELY visiting me yet. So I'll audition.

My Modernism & Postmodernism class...I don't know how to feel. It's a huge lecture class. Seriously, there were over 100 people in that room. And the professor read from notes and told us about the modernist movement. Holy God. I wanted to kill myself. I know I should go to class, but I just don't understand how you can do a lecture based course on literature. Oh, Duquesne, you have spoiled me so.

Tomorrow I have Phenomenology in France and Specialist Studies (American South and Gothic Lit). Phenom should be cool. Dr. Rodemeyer recommended the prof that teaches it and I convinced New Friend Ryan to take it with me.

I'm gonna go see what the roommates are up to.

Peace.

oh dear.

Lil' too much tequila for Rachel.

I can't handle going out every night. My roommates (and the Irish!) love partying and going out and drinking and clubbing and all that jazz. It's nice every once in awhile, but I seriously don't like it THAT much.

I guess that's really all I have. The International Students Society had their Welcome Party for all the international students. It was fun, but wayyyy too many people. It's impossible to mingle in that setting.

Anyway. Food now.

oh internets. you kill me.

It's terribly hard to post pictures on here. It's being all fussy. ANYWAY. I do have some. And I promise to post some pictures of the campus soon. It took about an hour to do just these. So. YES. That is the Church of Galway (?). Maybe? It's right by the NUI campus. Very very pretty.

More gorgeousness. Near the campus. You see this as you walk into town from the school.

Crossing the bridge on the way to town from school. Lovely.

It was a little cloudy, so this picture didn't turn out as nice as it could have. But this is a view of Shop Street. It's, uh. Where all the shops are. It's the heart of downtown. Cars aren't allowed through it. There are a bunch of stores, cafes, and pubs.

The Kings Head is awesome! It is the oldest pub in Galway. It was established in the 1600's and the building is even older than that. We went there on one of our first nights out. It's a really cool atmosphere and they usually have live music. Actually...any pub usually has live music. GLORIOUS.

Another street in Galway. I feel like this was near Eyre Square.

Me trying to be artsy by a fountain in Eyre Square.

Me, my roommate Abby, and our neighbor Jason at The King's Head. Redheads reppin'.

So there are some of the promised pictures. Hopefully this picture thing stops getting sassy with me so I can share more.

I have my first NUI class tomorrow! Well, I don't know if I'm taking it for sure. It's The British Empire: 1880-1945. I'm hoping I can get it to count for my history core back at Duquesne. If it's not going to count, then I'm not going to take it.

The Irish system is sooooooo relaxed. It's ridiculous. We don't even officially register our schedules for another week. But classes started today. It's really something to get used to. They want you to try out your classes for a week before you commit to them.

So far I'm planning on taking that Brit Empire class, Modernism and Postmodernism (We're reading American Psycho and A Clockwork Orange!), Specialist English Studies (it's split into two sections, The American South and Nineteenth Century Gothic), Phenomenology in France, and I'm taking an English seminar.

The seminars don't start for another week. And you have to register with the department. They're very competitive and only have a few spots in them, so they're given out on a first come first serve basis. Meaning, I'm lining up at 6 AM to secure my spot. I'd really like to take the Jane Austen seminar and have it be my 400 level British lit course. But I have some back ups, including American Short Stories (400 level American lit), Contemporary Writing - North America (again, 400 level American), and Contemporary Writing -Children's Fiction (Honestly, I don't know what it could count for. But I really want to read Stardust for a class.)

It's looking like it'll work out. I went into town today to get some of the novels we're reading in the Specialist Studies class and Postmodernism. The gothic class has Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyle and Mr. Hide, Dracula, all this awesome stuff.

I'm also trying to plan a trip to visit my friends in Queven. Kelly, Sarah, and Lisa want to come with me. Jean-Luc and JC are REALLY pumped. They send me Facebook messages everyday wanting to know when when when. JC has a break in February, so I'm thinking we'll pop in for a weekend then. There are planes that fly right from Galway to Lorient! I'm excited.

Not much else to report on. I just really want people to come visit me. So start working on your spring break plans, people! Flights are not that expensive and you have a place to stay whether it's sleeping on the deliriously comfy leather couches or snugglin' with me!

That's it for now.

Peace out!

picture post!

Sorry this is so delayed! I've been keeping pretty busy.

I had a random bout of homesickness last night. I think it's passed. It's just rough realizing that I won't be back next week. That I'm actually staying here for several months. But I think it'll get better once classes start (Monday!). Registration is so weird here. For lecture classes you just show up and eventually register with the university. But you never register with the department. And then seminar classes don't start for another week and there are limited spots available so you have to get there super early to make sure you get the class you want. Right now it's looking like I'm going to have one class on Friday, which I'm trying to avoid. But it's pretty early. And it's a lecture so if I miss a few for a trip or something, it's not going to really matter.

Anyway! Here are some pictures of the city! I may edit this later with some captions. But right now I'm just gonna shove some pictures on here.

EDIT: UGH. I have too many pictures to load and I'm so tired. If you have Facebook, you can check them out there. I'll try to pick my favorites eventually.

mm.

Day Two in Galway has been very successful. Sarah and I sat around and watched Celebrity Big Brother all morning. It was pretty awesome. Coolio is hilarious.

When Kelly got back from the doctor's, we all got ready and took a cab to PC World so they could get ethernet cables. And then we when to McSwiggin's to grab some dinner. It was great and reasonably priced! Then we walked around the main part of the city where are the shops are, even though the shops were closed. We're touring the campus tomorrow, so I'll have some more pictures to share with everyone.

We went back to Dunnes to do more shopping. I got another pillow. Hopefully it'll make sleeping a little more comfy. My mattress is like a rock.

The other three roommates arrived tonight! It's kind of weird because Kelly, Sarah, and I spent the whole day bonding and we got used to it being just us. Now there's a whole slew of girls living in our apartment. The other girls are from a school in Oregon. Apparently there are 12 students from this school living in Cuirt na Coiribe. They all invaded the apartment for a hot second to see the other girls. It was nuts!

But they seem nice. They're really quiet. I'm worried that Kelly, Sarah, and I are going to be a bit too much for them. We're pretty outgoing and these girls seemed fairly reserved. We shall see.

Gotta get some sleep! More pictures tomorrow.

galway flat!

So this what you see what you walk through the front door. It's the main hallway of the apartment. All six of the bedrooms come off of this hall. And the common living room/dining room/kitchen is at the very end of the hall.

Dining room/kitchen

Our beautiful kitchen! It's so huge!

Living room. I can't figure out how the work the TV. And yes, those are leather couches.

View of the dining room/kitchen from the living room

Apparently when I took these pictures I was obsessed with the dining room table.

Here's my bathroom. It's all mine! I'm sure it's very exciting to all of you. There really isn't any sort of cabinet so all the necessities are sort of piled up by the toilet.

My absolutely freezing bedroom. But it's precious and cozy. To the right, out of the frame, is a door to my bathroom. I had to go buy those sheets today across the street. It was pretty awesome. I'm thinking about going to get more blankets because I can't deal with this cold situation.

Here's my desk. Notice the abundance of cords. I can't move the desk to hide them. Oh well. But it's a lovely desk. Clearly.

whoa, emerald isle!

I have safely arrived in Galway!

I had to fly from Pittsburgh to Newark. Then from Newark to Shannon (6 hours). And then take a bus from Shannon to Galway (2 hours). And then get a cab to my flat (...5 minutes).

By the way, my flat is FREEZING. I have the heater on full blast in my room and it doesn't really circulate the air. By my desk it's fine. But my bed is ridiculously cold. I just took a two hour nap that was supposed to be one hour because I didn't want to leave the bed! This is not good for a girl who is always cold! Hopefully it'll get warmer soon. Or I'll just get used to it.

I've only met two of my roommates--Kelly and Sarah. They're from Duquesne and flew on the same flight. We have three more roommates arriving sometime between tomorrow and Wednesday. They're pretty nice. I think it'll work out. All of us have our own rooms. Some have their own bathroom (me!). And we have a shared living room/dining room/kitchen space. I'm going to take some pictures to post in a bit.

I don't have a way of getting in contact with the other girls in the other flat. All of us expressed a desire to go into the city and explore. But I don't know if that's going to happen tonight. Kelly's not feeling well and Sarah just went to take a nap. Maybe Sarah will go when she wakes up.

I'm just bored. My roommates are sleeping. The other girls are AWOL. I'm cold. And the TV in our living room does not work. BUT I'M IN IRELAND! So everything's fine!

The drive in from Shannon was gorgeous. Actually, Ireland really reminds me of Brittany, France so far. Especially Queven. It even smells the same! I really don't know how to describe that smell. It smells comforting and welcoming.

Pictures to come soon!

procrastinationnnnn.

Yeah, that's right. Still haven't packed. I'm leaving at 3:30 tomorrow. I have a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and various other bathroom items packed.

I had a wonderful going away party last night! Everyone really enjoyed themselves and it was great to see most of my friends all together.

I should probably get rolling on this packing situation. But the next time I post, I will be in my new home!