Hello, March!

Just me and a bunch of swans hanging out by a
canal in Bruges.

They say time flies when you’re having fun… It’s been a month since my last post; sorry guys! But at the same time I’m not. We were playing cards last night with one of our Irish friends and we got to talking about how each of us hadn’t blogged in a long time and he said “Well isn’t that a good thing? That means you’re more engaged with life here” (or something like that…). So I decided, yeah, it is a good thing that I’ve been too busy and involved in my life here in Galway to be preoccupied with making sure to post a blog. So it’s a good thing for me but I guess less so for those of you who are living vicariously through my adventures (specifically you, mom :) ).

Grand Place

 Anyway! February went by real fast. I took a trip to Brussels, Belgium with my roommate Hilary, and it was amazing! We saw a bunch of really old buildings including the Grand Place in the middle of the city which is basically a courtyard enclosed by four really old important buildings, one of which is now the police station (which Hilary and I figured out on accident and it kinda freaked us out). I was amazed to see all the intricate carvings and gilded architecture that was accomplished hundreds of years ago. I was intrigued. 

Atomium! Each of the bulb parts are
rooms/exhibits and you travel through
the tubey parts via escalator or stairs

We also went to the Atomium which is a huge structure of a molecule but you can actually go inside of it. At the top is a panoramic view of Brussels which I’m sure is more beautiful on sunny days as opposed to the cloudy gray city-scape we saw. On Sunday we went to Bruges, an old medieval city in northern Belgium which was lovely. It was at least sunny that day so all the little canals and building faces were lit up. But it was cold! I didn’t have a hat or mittens or anything (like an idiot) so I’m pretty sure that’s why I was sick by the time we were back in Ireland. But overall, it was a splendid trip; the chocolate was divine, and Belgian waffles are arguably the best pastry I’ve ever tasted.

The end of the month brought lots of excitement. A little bit of Cobber spring break came to Ireland. Pat Ross came to visit from the states as well as our beloved professor, Dawn Duncan, and Holly hopped over from France! It was a lovely week of reunions and sharing what we’ve learned of Galway with the people who came to visit. We did SO MUCH WALKING that first weekend Holly and Pat got here. My feet were so sore. Also, my boots are totally wearing out from walking so much, but I’m okay with it because it shows that I’ve been experiencing life in the pedestrian city of Galway.

Nice set of waves coming in

This past weekend I went surfing! Yes, surfing. In the Atlantic Ocean. In March. You might think I’m crazy, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. It was so fun! Turns out I kind of have a knack for it! And by that I mean that I could actually stand up and catch waves in the shallower waters. Needless to say I was pretty proud of myself. It was a great experience, and I’d love to do it again. But only when the waves are small because when we were surfing the waves didn’t get much higher than maybe three or four feet, and I usually nose-dived on those ones. So I still need a bit of practice before surfing the big ones. But nearly my favorite part about the surf trip was wearing a wetsuit.

It was so comfortable, and I felt completely invincible in it! Also, it did a great job of keeping me relatively warm. We also got to wear these cool surfing booties and gloves and you could even wear a cool neoprene cap (which I totally wore). Long story short, if I fail at being an editor or a professor or whatever professional endeavor I decide to pursue after graduation, my plan E will be moving to Cali and being a surf instructor ;)

I’m off to Paris this weekend! Don’t hold your breath for an update because it might be a while :)