it's been a pretty uneventful week apart from getting used to classes and trying to settle in to a new routine. it's been raining ALL the time and it's going to be difficult to get past my "it's raining so i can't leave my bed" mentality. the rain did create this amazing sunset a few nights ago, which almost makes up for being constantly cold and damp.
with the rain there has been an influx of snails and slugs on sidewalks, roads, and walls. it's disgusting. on monday morning on the way to class i was puzzled as to the weird gooey spots all over the sidewalk. oh, don't worry, it's a bunch of dead snails. not only are they everywhere, but they're large enough to draw attention (the slugs are like 4-5 inches long). they've been frequenting the area in front of our apartment so today, for instance, as i was entering the gate, i glanced to my left and right at eye level a snail was hanging out on a ledge... just staring with his tiny stalked eyes. makes me cringe. i'll be sure to update with a picture soon.
on a happier note, we've come to expect and love a pair of swans who hang out by a little red bridge we cross to get to class. we've named them ewan and clementine and it always brightens our day to see them floating there :)
there is also a pasture with some horses that we see every day!
classes have been good but very very crowded. all of my classes are in these giant lecture halls (like in movies) with wood-paneled walls. the room fills up completely and then some people resort to sitting on the stairs! the professor stands at the bottom and talks the whole time with no audience participation! so strange.
the content itself seems fairly interesting... i learned that although there are 5 million irish people in ireland, there are 85 million irish people in the world! who knew! one of my classes is co-taught by two american guys which is a nice change of pace. all of the professors (saints and sinners professor aside) have great senses of humor which makes class pass quickly.
on the home front, we had burritos for dinner again and then decided to try to do laundry. it was no easy task. we first had to walk outside in the rain to the "launderette" where we discovered the machines are half the size of american ones... turns out it costs 3 euros to buy 1 token for one load. thus the entire experience cost me 6 euro. one of the machines wouldn't open and i was yanking on the door for a good 10 minutes. at this point, a girl came in to take her laundry out. she reached over as i struggled and jabbed a button with a key on it causing the door to fly open. needless to say, i felt really intelligent.
to make matters worse, the machines took about double the holy cross machines and made a noise that can only be compared to a plane's engine during take off. we were concerned that the machines would blow up right in front of us. so we sat there and supervised our washers/dryers for about 3 hours. not fun. on the way back we thought we could be tricky and go through the garage to take the elevator to our third floor apartment. said garage turned out to be something straight out of a horror movie: flickering lights, puddles, dark shadows, and a staring cat (no joke) included. we reached the elevator in a fit of hysteria.
and now i sit in my room... laundry to fold, bed to make and piles of various junk all over my desk. i might deal with the mess... or go eat some more brown bread and jam...
i'm off to dingle for the weekend so everyone (milwaukee bunny) be reassured that i have not died in the interim between posts :)
love and miss you all too much to handle!
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