I've Arrived in Dublin

I know I'm a little late starting this blog but I arrived in Dublin last Wednesday (Jan. 12).  Luckily my flight was one of the last ones out of JFK Tuesday night.  It was delayed only about an hour which I was totally okay with because they were de-icing the wings.  We took off and thankfully I slept most of the flight.  We landed in Dublin a little after 9 in the morning on Wednesday and was picked up by API (the study abroad program I'm traveling with)  at the airport to take our group to UCD.  While packing the couple days before I told myself I definitely needed everything in all three of my bags...I was definitely regretting that decision while dragging all  my bags from the airport terminal to the bus by myself.  The API director told us on our way to the bus, "Usually we only advise the students to only bring the amount of bags you can carry, but I'm very impressed you girls have it under control".....right after she said that my duffel bag went flying off and I totally contradicted what she had just complimented us on...oh well I managed.  We arrived at UCD and signed in and dragged through a days worth of orientation stuff and then finally worked on settling into my Belgrove apartment!

Oh, there's a pond on campus here too, just like "the Mack" but a tad bigger

Sarah O'Brien from home and I both planned on going to UCD by coincidence and I'm so happy I have a piece of home with me...she is such a good time : )  So the next day we had to sit through more orientation talks...just like freshmen year all over again.  Anyways that morning I finally met up with Sarah and we got to spend the day together!  Later on that day there was a reception for the international students...we dropped by for a while mainly for the free food and wine!....and to meet new people of course.  Afterwards we went to the student pub on campus to check out the scene there and met a group of great people!

Our first Friday night in Dublin everyone was ready to go out down town.  Since Sarah had been here already for a few nights she lead us straight to a club called Krystal.  We were told that the cover for the club was usually 15 Euros and that this was where the people from "The Hills" of Dublin and Collin Farrell hang out...and we got in for FREE (the one word that is music to any college kid's ears).  Sorry Kelsey, I didn't see Collin but I looked : )  So yes, we were totally under dressed and the drinks were expensive, but the fun we had is all that counts!

On Sunday the weather was great- sunny with blue skies (a weather forecast Ireland isn't too familiar with) so Sarah, Katelyn, Emily and I took full advantage of it.  We took a little shopping trip down town and walked through  St. Stephen's Green.  Its a public park in Dublin's city center that is simply gorgeous!  It has a huge archway as it's entrance and there are several benches and a gazebo inside, perfect for people- watching.  It also has several fountains which adds to the beautiful scenery.  The park is located right near Grafton St. which is a prime shopping area in the city.

The entrance to St. Stephen's Green

 Isn't it gorgeous

Of course we took a picture in front of a fountain
(From left to right its Me, Emily, Sarah,& Katelyn)

Well I made it through my first week of classes...It doesn't feel like I'm really here for school yet.  It was so nice to get settled in and site see the week before classes started, but I guess it's time to get back to the grind.  Everything about school here is so different than back home; this shouldn't have been a shock to me,  I was aware of how big the school was when I decided to come.  I guess it really hit me when I walked into the largest lecture hall in Ireland for my first class ( YES, THE LARGEST ONE).  There were a couple of hundred kids in the lecture- it was NO Mendel 273.  Yes Mom I know, it's all part of the experience and I just need to go with it.  Of the six classes I'm taking, only two of them are in that huge hall; luckily the other four are in smaller rooms.  The classes or "modules" as they call it here I'm taking are: Contemporary Irish Society and Culture, Intro to Moral Philosophy, Human Nutrition, Traditional Irish Storytellers and Their Tales, an Irish history class, & Health Psychology.  I'll admit it, I know I always complain at home about the insane amount of work my science classes bring, but now that I'm only taking Nutrition, I know I'm going to miss all that science.  On a side note...no classes on Fridays for me!  That's a first...guess I'll have to do some traveling : )