Week 3.

The constant rain of the past week or so is proving to be worth it, as I've noticed the grass growing greener each day. The morning drizzle today faded by late afternoon and the sun finally came out! I can't even explain how much I have missed feeling the sun's rays on my skin (although these are not nearly as warm as the ones I'd be feeling in California or Arizona, the feeling is still fabulous).

I've spent little time blogging about my classes because they have turned into such the norm, but they are going wonderfully. My grade for each of my classes is only based off of one to three assignments, so I have little to no work during the semester except for taking notes. However, taking notes is not as easy as it sounds. Irish teachers speak very fast, don't spell out names, and typically have thick accents because their schooling included them learning and speaking the Irish language. Today in my geography class, for instance, I wrote down "Labrador and Newfoundland form problems together." When I glanced over at my neighbor's paper, she had written "Labrador and Newfoundland form a province together." Major difference!!

On Wednesday, Courtney and I went shopping with an Irish girl we had met at a party a few weeks earlier. Alanagh, a first year, took us to a mall called "The Crescent" where they had an H&M and a Zara amongst other places. Her friend drove us there - our first experience in a car since arriving - and the girls made the trip eventful by blasting music, honking the horn at people walking/waiting at bus stops, and yelling (or as Alanagh called it,"roaring") different things out the window at pedestrians. Alanagh has great fashion sense and kind of resembles a cuter version of Taylor Swift. She also loves the fact that we're American and from California!

"Isn't she just the cutest thing in the world?" she remarked after I made the stupid mistake of referring to some euro as 'coin dollars.'

A majority, probably around 95 percent, of the Irish people go home every weekend. So Alanagh threw out the idea that Courtney and I come to her home in Clare, about 20 minutes away, so that her mom can make us a home cooked meal one weekend. (I'm assuming her mom is a fantastic cook because Alanagh mentioned to us that, because she's the baby of the family, her mom cooks meals then freezes them so that Alanagh can just defrost them and eat them when she is at school.)

Most of our study abroad friends are traveling this weekend so Courtney and I are having a nice, relaxing couple of days! Tomorrow we plan to go to a yoga class at the massive gym on campus, then head to the Milk Market in the City Centre, and end the day by cooking dinner together, baking something sweet and watching a chick flick.  The Milk Market is like a farmer's market but has knitted goods and jewelry as well as food. I've never been but have heard wonderful things about it so I'm excited!!

Everything else is going great! My roommate Jorge, from Spain, is cooking us dinner tonight. I am loving how many different cultures my roommates come from! We are all learning so much from each other. I absolutely adore my roommate Christina!! She is from a "small willage" in Austria that sounds a lot like Colorado from the way she has explained it. She is super athletic since she grew up in an area that is associated with skiing. She's also a fantastic cook and is opening me up to a bunch of different types of food, like German Rye bread - YUM! I hope some of her characteristics rub off on me because she is very sweet, always seems happy and is up for anything!

Going abroad is definitely teaching me more about myself and who I want to become - something I kind of assumed would happen but not to this extent. I am so blessed to have an opportunity like this!!