Scattered Thoughts

It has been a very busy past few days. I apologize for not updating.

I will make this quick because I am very tired, getting sick, and required to be at the bus stop at 8 am.

In the past few days I have stressed out writing a paper that turned out to be so boring and meant absolutely nothing to me; walked around on Grafton Street; ate at Queen of Tarts; got registered with the immigration authorities; watched "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and "Michael Collins"; attended more useless classes; cleaned the apartment and bedroom.

One thing not included in there is packed my stuff for the weekend. Right. That means a 6:00 wakeup to pack, shower and get everything ready.

Why did we clean? Because DCU is insane, paranoid and anal so they need to do monthly checkups to make sure we're not living in grime. If we even leave bread crumbs under the stove, they'll catch us and fine us.

I guess, though, to be fair, my bedroom was in desperate need of a cleanup, so it does feel nice to be able to walk around in barefeet. =)

Queen of Tarts is amazing. I love the pastries and it was all I could do to not go in there again today and fork over 13 euro for my dinner. But count on another visit! I love love love it!

I finally visited Grafton Street on Tuesday, but I was in a rush to finish my paper for history so I had to leave. Today we got a free dropoff at City Centre, so I went again and also into the St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre to do some hat shopping. I'm sick of having to use my animal hood from the one waterproof coat I brought with me.

Oh and btw, that one coat now smells. I can't take it to dry clean because I need it every day. Why? Because it rains EVERY DAY.

Hat shopping, funnily enough like boot/shoe shopping, also took absolutely forever. I have a small head and a fat face - not a very good combination even with the plethora of hat styles nowadays. I ended up with a nice, warm one. My only problem with it is that it's black. I've been on a mission to add more color into my life, and a black hat does not help it.

Then I walked into another store and found even MORE hats that actually compliment my head! They were much cuter, but of poorer material. Sadness. Still, I think I'll keep the black one and just buy another some day.

Writing a history paper and living with the other 40 or so students who have the same assignment is a good and bad thing. On the one hand, you have people stressed out about it as well and stay up late at night with you. On the other, you have tons of people who finish early and come in broadcasting, shouting and dancing to proclaim it. Talk about boosting the self-esteem.

And yes, I did watch "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" the night before my paper was due. Just because I've left America doesn't mean my movie-watching habits haven't come along for the ride.

I will post Kilmainham Jail pictures up soon.

Seriously, if there's one thing I miss the most, it's American politics. I'd take all those skeezy politicians over the undercurrent of chaos that runs rampant in the Irish culture. I'm getting used to receiving death glares from Caroline (for making almost pro-British comments) and feeling frustrated at the Irish.

And hurrah! I have booked my trip to Paris for Feb. 23-25!

Okay. BYE.