Finally Finished, Farewell

The week before was a nice week. I went to Dublin twice this past weekend. On Friday, Arlette and I were invited to a reception / lunch by the Lord Mayor of Dublin. She was doing this for international students. Never one to pass up free food (especially free good food), we both attended. We met a lot of other internationals. An American here or there, a few Russians, and your standard assorted Continentals (French, Spanish, Italian, and German). Several ambassadors also attended, so I chatted up the Indian ambassador. On Sunday, Arlette, Ita, and I went back to Dublin to see some more sights and such. We saw the Kilmainham jail and walked by the Guinness factory on the way to St. Stephen's Green. We were to meet Dan Shannahan there for lunch at Wagamama (awesome name, I know). We would've walked around Guinness factory were we not already late for lunch. Or on time, I suppose, if you're Irish. Lunch was delicious and we wondered around the decked-out mall nearby. Once we got back home, I made the last flat dinner - the famous American Breakfast for Dinner. Again, delicious.

I've finally finished my semester. This past week has been quite busy. I've had SQL assignments, two 3500 word essays, and two exams. It feels nice to be done with it all. Of course, that means my time in Ireland is coming to an end. I've got some mixed feelings about that. I am really looking forward to coming back to the States, seeing family, watching sports like a proper American, etc. Yet I feel like I've been on an adventure for the past three months (which seems like much longer than three months. I feel like I've been here for ages.) and I don't quite want that adventure to end. I've landed in a foreign country and knew a single person (brother of a friend). I've been all over the country (north, south, east, and west) and was able to spend nine days in Paris. I've met some amazing people here and made some great friends. I've learned a lot about Ireland, America, and myself. (I also learned a little of that college education stuff). I feel culturally educated now. Good job me.

There are many things I'll miss about Ireland. Guinness is probably in the top three. Or two. The people I've met are up there as well. I'm gonna miss the friendliness that everyone seems to have - where you could wander into a pub, sit down next to someone, and have a new best mate. I might miss the Irish accent, even though I haven't given it a second thought for the past few months. I might even miss Euros and how coins are actually worth something.

I've taken some more pictures of Maynooth town and its pubs. Oh pubs. You will be missed as well.

The road leading up to North Campus. The shopping mall is the big building in the back.

O'Neills. Jazz nights on Tuesdays and Rock and Roll on Mondays - the music was always good. As the second smallest pub, it had quite a cozy feel.

The Mantra. The upstairs is the closest thing Maynooth has to a nightclub and the only place in town to charge cover. The downstairs was more traditional and had a pub quiz every Tuesday. This place just opened up last year. It used to be the dive bar but is much snazzier now.

This is the Roost. Yes, everything in this picture, except for the chimney way on the right-hand side. There are four different bars and two separate dance floors inside. The Roost had live music Sunday through Thursday nights. My personal favorite pub.

Church. I went here on Sundays. It was conveniently located on the way to the pubs.

There are two other pubs - the Student's Union pub and the Clocktower. I never went to the Clocktower because it's just a little too far away. The SU pub is notable for the three euro pints they had every Monday. As a student, I often felt compelled to take advantage of this offer.

This will be the last post in my blog. I've enjoyed writing about my experiences and adventures and I hope you've enjoyed reading. I'd like to thank everyone who read this blog, especially those of you that commented and made me feel loved. Extra kudos to you.

I'd like to say something profound in Irish here, but my vocabulary is pretty limited. I think 'goodbye' is 'slawn' or something like that, which I suppose will do.
S'long and slán.

Internet was down yesterday

But I was bored, so I wrote a blog post. Here ya go.

I have less than two weeks left in Ireland. For some reason, two weeks seems like a huge milestone. Fifteen days is a lengthy span of time, but thirteen days is hardly any time at all. Two weeks today I'll be heading up to Chicago (which I'm really looking forward to).
I've got quite a bit of work to do in the meantime. A computer program or two, some math worksheets, and two essays with six thousand words between them. Obviously, the essays are the greater part of the work to do. Apart from that, I have one single exam to take the last week.

I'll leave the better part of my ruminations on leaving Ireland for next week. This week, I'll speak of America - land of the free and such. Here's the top five things I miss most about the good ol' US of A.
1) Chipotle. You have no idea how much I crave this. I think I could eat it three times a day for a month.
2) Peanut Butter. Ireland has peanut butter in the same way America has Guinness - a pale imitation of what it should be. A proper PB & J is next on my "To Eat" list.
3) Snow. It's not cold enough in Ireland to get snow. Chirstmastime doesn't feel the same without snow at some point.
4) Friends and family and what not.
5) Cheap alcohol. A tray of Budweiser (18 500ml cans) costs 28 Euros (roughly 42 real dollars), whereas a case back home (24 330 ml cans) is less than 17 dollars.. A pint in a pub is six real dollars if you're lucky.

Don't feel bad, friends and family. You managed to beat out cheap booze.

I've received some housing information for Dayton next semester. I'll be staying with international students in Gardens Apartments on Stewart. I really liked the little cultural exchanges that occurred between my flatmates and I this semester and I'll try to continue that.

Happy St. Nicholas Day to all. Despite the lack of snow, I am full-out in the holiday spirit and very much looking forward to Christmas. I was promised a pumpkin pie to myself since I wasn't able to have any for Thanksgiving.

Before we depart for the semester, I promised Arlette a list of things she should do when she and her husband visit America. I've compiled a list, but I want to know if you guys can think of anything they need to do, eat, visit, or try in order to truly experience America. The less region-specific, the better.
- Visit Cedar Point (a little region-specific, but they are huge roller coaster fans).
- Eat at Chipotle.
- Eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Use Reduced Fat JIF brand peanut butter.
- Eat BBQ chicken wings, funnel cake, chocolate peanut butter pie, pumpkin pie, crab cakes, and an alfredo pasta dish.
- Dunk Oreos in milk.
- Root against the New York Yankees.
- Eat Twinkies, possibly deep-fried.
- Don't go to New Jersey.
- Go to a baseball, football, or basketball game. Attend the tailgate, if it's a football game.
- Good beers: Arrogant Bastard Ale, Honker's Island, Mad Anthony's, Yuengling
- Go camping. Eat S'mores.
- Go to a drive-in movie theater.