"Goodbye"

So here I am. It's my last full day in Ireland and I really don't know what to think. I have so many things I want to say...seeing as its almost been a month since my last post...and I really don't know where to begin.

Let me backtrack and tell you the happenings of the past month...then I'll get to the philosophizing and reflecting on my trip as a whole :)

I studied intensely for 4 weeks for my physics exam...with little day trips here and there to break the brain freeze...and also found that I have a new favorite comedian - John Pinette!! (thanks to my wonderful roommie for introducing me to him via YouTube!) Had to take a taxi to my exam in the city. It was a huge basketball court with over 500 desks arranged in rows and felt like a sort of SAT or ACT setting. It was crazy!! The exam was the day after my birthday...so of course I had to celebrate being done with Physics AND my new age hehe. We went to a couple places that night in the city before ending up at my favorite pub - The Old Oak - and had a great time listening to music, hanging out and having a great time :)

After celebrating I had exactly one week until my Anatomy final and I studied every minute of those remaining 7 days. (well not every minute...because I slept and ate and took small breaks to watch TV shows online...but 80% of my time was spent studying lol)

After taking that exam in the very same basketball court, I officially became a Junior in College!! It was great to be done studying and I simply collapsed from exhaustion that night...I had no energy to celebrate or party haha. The following weekend I went on a 48 hour trip to Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains (places where parts of Braveheart and P.S. I Love You were filmed!) I had bad experiences with the tour buses there, and the hostel we stayed in was right next to a train bridge and busy city streets. Thus, all night I heard the sound of the pedestrian walk signal and the loud trains rumbling by my window. I was not a pretty sight in the morning...little sleep and not very good breakfast. But! All the same, it was a grand to be in Dublin for the last time and see the Wicklow country!

I came back later on Sunday night and packed. I packed, packed, packed, packed, and saw sights in Cork City on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and today. (Tuesday I was sick with a bug...otherwise I would have been out and about then too! haha). My roommates had a goodbye party last night and my friends and I skipped out early and went into the city to The Old Oak. It was one of the best nights I've had here...getting dressed up, live bands in the pub, playing Rummy card games there, and enjoying the Irish culture with wonderful friends!!! Certainly a great finish to my 5 months here :) Today I went back to the pub with a friend for lunch and one last look around the city...and last opportunity to take pictures of my life here.

Which brings me to my philosophizing part of this blog! haha. I have begun to wonder about the word "goodbye". Currently I have my iTunes up and am playing all the songs with the word "goodbye" in the title. There are many different contexts in which this word is used. For example, many songs have a sad/heart-wrenching meaning attached to the word: "Here Comes Goodbye" by Rascal Flatts, "Goodbye" by Audio Adrenaline, "Say Goodbye" by Skillet and the same title by Sanctus Real, "Starts with Goodbye" by Carrie Underwood, and of course the classic Beatles (and re-sung version by Glee) "Hello Goodbye".

Other songs have a mean and almost hurtful purpose in using "goodbye": "Goodbye" by Kristina DeBarge (Na Na Na Naaa Hey Hey Hey Goodbye), "Goodnight and Goodbye" by Jonas Brothers, and yes, "Bye Bye Bye" by NSync.

My Goodbye to Ireland is most definitely using the sad/bittersweet context. I have had such a wonderful time here, even with the sad times! There were definitely difficult times with school and other situations, and also times when I wanted to go home. But overall, my time spent here was amazing and so enjoyable! I am so overwhelmed with this blessing I have been given by God to experience a whole new and unique culture here in Ireland. I am sad to leave the people I met here and the memories I have made while being here. (I am especially going to miss the peace and quiet of my own room!!! For the first time in 16 years I didn't need share a room with anyone! :D) It was most definitely a treat to be here. I have a feeling it will be many months (and maybe years) before I can fully realize what I have been able to learn and how much I have grown and matured during these past 5 months.

I have heard that the word "goodbye" has been derived from "God Bless." This is my farewell to Ireland, and my prayer for blessings upon this country and all the wonderful people who have shown hospitality to me and welcomed me with open arms. I do hope to visit again, but sadly I think it will be many years before I can return.

With all this sadness saying "goodbye" to Ireland, I am more importantly saying "HELLO!!!" to my wonderful family and friends back home!!! How I have missed you all so much, and I can't wait to give you all big hugs and tell you about my adventures in person!!! Guaranteed the stories will be long winded and mixed with my "ADD moments" but that will be the fun of it all :)

Thank you for coming with me on my journey "across the pond!" It has been a lovely time.

Hope to see you all soon, and I thank you for your prayers for a safe and uninterrupted flight back to US soil!! (Be sure that I will be kissing the ground when we land lol) Take care!

God Bless :)

May Day! May Day!

May 1st is the official first day of summer here in Ireland, and it reminded me of a little bit of Memorial Day back at home. It was a 4 day weekend, but there was little to no sign of human activity in the city! Hardly any cars were on the roads, and the buses were nearly all shut down for the holiday. There weren't any patriot displays or thanksgiving for the service of men and women in our military, but it had the same quiet celebratory feeling. Shops, stores, banks, and offices were closed until this Tuesday which made getting laundry coins very tricky. Of course I had forgotten to buy them earlier last week...waiting until the last minute when I had only 1 pair of clean socks in my drawer. Go figure! ha ha

In my history class, I had learned that there is some folklore attached to May 1st. It was a day of new beginnings, and it was a superstition that if one milked a cow, churned butter, or did anything with the milk, their crops for the year would be cursed by the bad fairies. Hence, no one lifted a finger to do any sort of farm work on May day for fear of the curse.The tradition has carried on today as a bank holiday, and the official beginning of summer. I know what I would be doing on a summer holiday...BBQ and campfires!! But it was not so this time around . . .

I spent this summery weekend in a very uneventful way - studying!! As well as breaks to watch movies and make myself a cup of tea :) Even though my 2 final exams are over a week and a half away, I need to review a whole semester's worth of information. That's one thing I really don't care for in the schooling here...there were no quarterly or midterm tests in my Anatomy & Physiology class and the classes were huge lecture halls of at least 350 students. Much different than my 40-50 students/classroom in my "medium sized" university back home! I also don't care for the month of prolonged studying. I would much rather have a week to review old tests, cram it all in, have library parties and hunker down in my room, then take the test, be done and go home! I have yet to see if this month enhances my studying and absorption of material...we will see with my exam grades I suppose ha ha.

On the other hand, I should not be complaining. I am very lucky that I only have 2 finals for the end of the year. My Irish roommates have 8 finals, covering material from both this semester and last semester. If I was in their shoes, I would be praising the high heavens for this month long opportunity to study! I can see why this month long Easter break was necessary for them.

It's 10:45 pm here, and just about 2 hrs after the sun finally set. It's beautiful having my window open, seeing the green leafy trees (finally!), and listening to the breeze. I think this late sun set is affecting my sleep cycle, because I have only been able to get to sleep around 2 am and I wake up at 8:30 with the sun beaming through my window. 8:30...that's earlier than what I'm used to, but I shouldn't be complaining about that either I suppose ;) I have yet to hear any crickets or peepers; this is very odd for me and I'm sure I will be quite spooked when I hear them back at home.

Less than 4 weeks and I will be back in my beloved country! I'm trying to enjoy the rest of my time here in Ireland, but this studying is really nagging me. I have 10 days after my last final before I go home, so I am hoping to take one last trip around Ireland, or maybe stay here and bond with my roommates. I won't see them ever again, so I want to make the best of the remaining time with them!

Alrighty, I'm off to catch up on some Glee episodes online. I shall return with more updates of my experiences and travels here . . . Even if my travels mean that I walked to and from the library in one day :)

Talk to you soon! Take care, mariss

The Beautiful Letdown

"It was a beautiful letdown, when you found me here..." -Switchfoot

So here I am, still in Ireland, and this is where I will stay until the end of the semester. Like I said yesterday, my flight to Paris was cancelled...and the airspace isn't open until later tomorrow. I tried to see if there were flights sometime soon, but out of Ireland to anywhere is completely booked until Sunday, so that would mean less than 3 days in Switzerland before our flight back to Ireland. :( It's been a very odd couple days being in the dark about flights and whether things will be open or closed, so I am finally relieved with the present news and my final decision.

I decided to not chance a "test flight" and ferries were all booked, so I will stay here in Ireland. What a horrible thing it is to be here!! (<-- Major Sarcasm!)I am sad that our plans for Switzerland will not be possible, but this was something no one anticipated, so I am not sorry for spending the money to book places, and then not be able to go. I am very proud of my decision. There were too many "if's" involved...once in Paris would we be able to get a train to Switzerland? (because they are on strike lol) and once in Switzerland and wanting to get back to Ireland, would we be able to? Who knows! I was not willing to take that sort of a risk...and I'm an adventurous girl! Heck, I just planned a spur of the moment week long trip around Ireland, and I was prepared to go by myself if I couldn't find anyone to travel with! Adventure definitely does not frighten me. This sort of expedition to go out of the safe zone into a chaotic arena of flight disruptions - just for a vacation (rather than to get home or to an important meeting or event) - seemed neither wise nor appealing to me.

It's funny to look back: A week ago today I was in Doolin at the Cliffs of Moher, and I thought I was shortly going to Paris and Switzerland for 12 days. It's funny how a couple days can change a lot :) I'm very thankful that I am not stranded by the volcano in a foreign country with finances being a worry just to provide for a place to stay and food to eat. God certainly knows best, and I am happy to go with the flow! :)

This is good news, because now I can study more, calm my nerves for my exams, and possibly explore more of Ireland!

Thanks for bearing with me through these chaotic times! I apologize if this has been a rambling sort of entry.

I pray that all of you reading this will have a blessed day :)

I'll be in touch soon, Mariss