May the wind be always at your back

So it took me a full two weeks to figure out that the Settings tab would allow me to change the title of this thing and for some reason it felt wrong to write anything in a blog titled Christineeeeeee. Anyway, now that I've given it a proper name (a common Irish blessing and
farewell begins "May the road rise to meet you"), I'm feeling compelled to put something in it.

I've been in Ireland for about two weeks now (Dublin for a week and a half, and Limerick for orientation before that) and I'm pretty sure it has rained every day. My first day in Dublin, I left the apartment without an umbrella and haven't done it again since. So far I've learned that the weather report here is about as reliable as the bus schedule. Which means that you must be wearing at least three layers when you leave in the morning and that regardless of the clear blue skies at 10:50, you most likely won't make it to 11:00 class without opening your umbrella. And that buses run entirely on the schedule of its driver's mood. But once I learned that the umbrella is not an optional accessory and I started suggesting times ranges to meet people instead of specifc times, things have been running much more smoothly.

Even so, adjusting to the incredibly laid back lifestyle here has been a little rough. Especially coming from a fast paced New York City summer. For instance, getting all my classes together has been a bit of a pain, since people go days without responding to emails and can rarely be found in their offices. And on the occasion that they are, the advice is often something like "well, just take it one step at a time" (good general life skill, but not a very helpful answer to "can you register me for this class?").

So I am actually still in the process of acquiring a sixth class, but my classes so far are as follows:
Reading the Story of Ireland: Irish Literature Through the Ages
Eighteenth Century Literature
Contemporary Irish Writing
World Englishes (linguistics)
Language Impairment (linguistics)

Hopefully the search for Class #6 comes to a close before the deadline on Friday, but none of the administrators seem too concerned that I'm missing a course at this point.

But the one thing I noticed even before the turtle pace of life was the color difference. I guess I've heard it said that Ireland is green, and I guess it logically follows in light of the average rainfall, but Ireland is green. Very very green. Everywhere. Even in the environmentally friendly sense of the word. And, having to actually pay for electricity and hot water, it's been rubbing off on me as well. Meaning my roommates and I hang onto the daylight for as long as possible and find ourselves working in darkness for an hour or so before conceding that it is time to rely on electric light. The water temperature adjustment has been going less well, but seven days of cold showers brought me a newfound appreciation for (instant, infinite) hot water at home.

This weekend was the program's organized family stay in the city of Gorey, an hour and a half south of Dublin. Although it was nearly the opposite of what I had been told to expect in a host family, the weekend was an amazing opportunity to see the countryside and explore the nearby town of Ferns and its castle (albeit without much assistance from the hosts). I'm not quite sure how to add photos to this, but if I ever figure it out, I will upload a few from this weekend. Now that I actually have, by the way, the first photo is from the top of Ferns castle and the second is from a churchyard in the town.

Now it is somehow very late and, even though I don't have classes on Monday, the plan is to wake up and try to find Malahide tomorrow, which is both a town and a castle somewhere on the sea. So that's all for now, all my love to all over the world.