A List of Missing Things

THINGS I'VE MISSED ABOUT AMERICA:

1. Family + Friends: Duh. Sorely missed, however I secretly wish that everyone could just join me in Ireland so I could get the best of both worldz. However then I wouldn't have...

2. My house: Nothing beats waking up in your own bed, rolling out of said bed, stepping over mounds of clothes piled on your floor, skippin' down to the kitchen, pourin' yourself a nice cup of joe (whilst batting the dog away from the cat food) and watching t.v on mam and pap's bed / living room couch with kitties perched on your shoulder and the family dog going ape shit that someone else is awake. Substitute "your" for "my" and "kitties" for Shoo Shoo, Wally and Macy, and "family dog" for Murphy and t.v for "Bravo" or as I fondly remember it, "Channel 44".

3. Pandora: Ireland/ Europe in general should hop on the Pandora bandwagon RUL QUICK. They don't know what they're missing. But I do.

4. Wings Over Burlington: I CAN'T QUIT YOU.

5. Vermont: Next best thing to Ireland in terms of beauty and people that generally rule.

6. SMC: Because you stimulate my mind and offer me free chicken patties on the weekend.

THINGS I'LL MISS ABOUT IRELAND:

1. Irish time: Which differs from real time and by real time I mean whatever your watch or cell phone or whatever other form of technological time table offers. Irish time is slower, real-er (and by real-er I mean what your watch or cell phone or whatever other form of technological time table offers doesn't offer which is just LIVIN' and gettin' there when you get there) and doesn't just pertain to idle minded lazy sleepy heads as you might think be thinking. Grown ups follow Irish time too. Heck, they almost enforce it! I don't think one of my professors was in class before I was. Restaurants and cafes don't rush you out and make you feel weird, they wait for you to ask for the check and pay at your own convenience. They let you REST..aur..ant...

2. Animals : Especially Sheep maybe. Especially lambs. Especially lambs takin' naps with their bb brother or sister or cuddled next to their mam. Or a lamb jumpin' and runnin'. So cute and soft lookin' and makin' cute noises and decorate pretty much every road in Ireland.

3. Ruins: Give me an old stone castle or church with a roof caving in, covered in ivy and flowers at any time of day and you'll have me gushing and gasping at its beauty.

4. Green EVERYWHERE: Just incomparable.

5. Taking walks past any of the above said things, especially with Isabelle, Brenna and Liza (we took many throughout our sojourn here) singing the Sound of Music, or attempting to sing an irish song, or simply Rihanna.

6. Dare I say it, Ryan Air: Only because it brought the lolz (the countless times I somehow messed up checking in and having my boarding pass almost being rejected and me almost being fined but not) and for allowing me to travel easily enough to nearby beautiful countries.

7. Pubs: And how its totally normal for families to hangout there, toddlers and babies included, enjoying the best trad music ever, which also happens to serve delicious soup to boot, and some even have adorable middle aged people irish dancing in the middle of the floor, who at times will dance up to you and ask you to join in. You can also strike up a conversation with virtually ANYONE and most often that not, they rule and make you happy for humanity.

8. The Doughnut man: I wish I could stuff you in my carry on and have you create those doughy balls of heaven on the daily.

9. NUIG: Because you were practically optional and gave me lots of free time to wander around Galway.

10. FRIENDZ; American or Irish, I'll miss everyone so much. Which is weird because we didn't know each other for that long, but we did in a way. And I wish I could see everyone often but I know I can't. Which is actually the saddest thing. And how I miss my family and friends now is how I'll miss you guys. And how I skype my family and friends now is how I'll skype you guys. Which is weird. And Sad.

And I'm not ready to leaveeeee but I am. But I'm not. And I'm sure within the next few days I'll think of more things to add to the Things I'll Miss List.

How ye gettin' on?

This weekend was spent in Donegal with Cara and the lads, and was possibly my favorite weekend in Ireland. Friday afternoon Isabelle, Brenna, Alex, Odhran D. and myself took the bus which passed through some gloriously picturesque fields and hills, sprinkled with many adorable sheep, cows and horses (whom I will dearly miss when I'm back in America. I dread driving along a highway that doesn't involve passing by old ivy covered ruins and farm animals, but instead mini malls and parking lots LIVIN' ROOMS BEDROOMS DINETTES HAY HAY. Anyone? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk ...I digress.) When we got to Donegal Town we met up with Cara, who just arrived herself from Dublin, and we went to a cafe, drank cups of joe and made a plan for the night which involved taking a party bus to Killybegs for their friend's birthday party (but more on that later. And by party bus I guess I mean a kind of taxi bus but party bus offers a more accurate description). Odhran D. and Alex walked to his house, as they were staying there for the weekend, and Cara's mom picked us gals up and drove us to their house. About a 5 minute drive from town, we barreled through what looks like a one way windy street decorated by a canopy of trees to their house which over looks Donegal bay and flowery hilltops. Most of the lads live next door to her so we "dandered" (which means a "wee walk" according to Odhran D.) over to Odhran N.'s house and jumped on his INGROUND trampoline overlooking the bay and played with his cat (jealous?) . There are donkey's in the front yard and her family pretty much shares a dog that actually belongs to Brian's family who lives next door to them but is love with her mom so the sweet lil dawg instead splits her time between both homes.

Friday night everyone came over and we hung out in the shed behind her house blasting tunes and waited for the party bus which certainly delivered. Good times that is. To give an idea of how much fun the party was, I found out the next day that there were about 3 rooms and free food I had no idea about since I literally only left the dance floor a handful of times only to use the ladies room. We then took the party bus back to Cara's and hungout until the wee hours of the morning. The next day we hung around, laughed about the night before and listened to what the boys did after they left Cara's (holy water might have been involved) walked around town a little, watched Doritos Ads (which, you're right dear reader, doesn't sound like a typical pastime. But you see, Cara and some of the lads entered an ad contest and we were taking a looksie at their competition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iLF5qpBQMQ&feature=related ...watch it and weep suckers). We then went to the town over for an outdoor concert which featured bands and singers from the area, but the grand finale was this Harry Potter Hagrid looking character whose guitar skills are greater than or equal to my map skills (see below). We then got shuttled back into Donegal town and went to the Abbey Hotel bar and then to the dance club Sky. Which in a word, ruled. We finished off the night with some Shamrock Chinese Food, yes thats right, Shamrock. Chinese Food. If that doesn't bring the lolz I'm not sure what does. Then more late night convos at Cara's ensued until the wee hours of Sunday. We woke up for a second to wisely decide not to take the 9:45 am bus back to Galway but instead the 4:15 pm, and then ate a gracious and delicious and massive brunch prepared by Cara's little sisters.

We were seriously sad to leave as Donegal is one of the most beautiful/ fun places I've ever been and Cara's parents, sisters and brother could not have been more generous, hospitable, or sweet. This weekend has made me even SADDER to leave Ireland, and I'm already planning on moving here next summer. I could gush about the weekend and Ireland in general forever but I have things to do and by things to do I mean take a walk to what we coined the "fairy forest" which is a castle and accompanying magical forest land about 40 minutes from my house which we found last week and never want to leave.