Falling into routines, spending more money

And so my second full week at Limerick came to an end! Guys, I am soooo exhausted. But it was so much fun again, I think my mom might have be right with her suspicion when she says I will never want to go home...

Windy Monday

Monday was a bitch. The wind was howling all day, trying to push us off our bikes - not that I needed any hardships to cycling, after I haven't done any exercise the last 3 days, I had problems riding my bike at a proper speed without fainting before getting to campus. And then there was the wind. And some rain too. How nice! (not nice) And of course the rain stopped just the exact same minute we got off our bikes at campus. If this is not Murphy then I don't know what is.
But I went swimming in the afternoon (this time with Vera, who, just like Clémence, surprised me with how great she swims!). I managed to swim 2600 meters this time. Not much, but it will do for a start until I can get into shape again.

Cycling behind Vera and Eszter

Following Clémence to uni

Yes this is my foot and knee and part of my bike

Typo Tuesday

We had our first EFL class this Tuesday and our names got - surprise, surprise - really mistyped. Apparently, I am called 'Daluia Bereca'. Eszter and Vera got at least one of their names properly spelled, but not me, of course. We laughed for about ten minutes just at this in class. The teacher will sure hate us soon.
In the afternoon, we had our first Gaeilge (Irish language) class!! The teacher, Billy, is kinda sexy with his strange humour and speech, but mostly just funny. He teaches at a really fucking slow pace tho, I have no idea how I will not doze off at his classes if we keep asking all the people in class what their names are and what they mean, what languages they speak and such (in English, of course). This is all intersting but in class I would rather learn something. After school, we went grocery shopping and I bought my second bottle of peanut butter. I won't really have money to buy meat tho, at least not regularly, so I might have to look for other possible types of food that are relatively cheap and have some protein in them. Vera and Eszter both bought Nutella by now - I am still strong and resisting the temptation.

Eszter trying to look guilty with her Nutella - and failing

Long Wednesday

On Wednesday, after a pretty cool lecture about the 'Merry Wake' and the tradition of funerals in Ireland,  we had an unbelievably boring EFL class (most fun (or as the Irish people say here, craic) thing was when we had to talk about what 'nostalgia' might mean. I mean.....bruh). Irish language was okay but not much fun either cause we are really taking it slowly. And we have no homework yet, which is soooo wierd for me after all the 20-30-60 pages of Swedish homework I am used to having to do.
After classes, we had some craic at the courtyard - they had some kind of event there so there was a clown doing tricks and a girl on loooooong legs walking in the crowd and giving away sweets, and the UL mascot (a wolf) was strolling around in the crowd and dancing to the music. Also, we got some free stuff - again. I really can't believe how much stuff we just get for free. This time, we got some instant pasta soup and some Pringles and a small package of Haribo ("Sterben muss Man so wie so, schneller geht's mit Haribo!") and a keychain and more sweets. Oh, and we got invited for coffee too.
When we were seriously stuffed with free stuff, we went to buy our tickets for next weekend's Galway and Aran islands trip. We were there two hours prior to them starting to sell the tickets (and while waiting, I practiced some juggling, but I haven't been doing it for a while so I am kinda rusty) and the line started at least 40 minutes before they actually sold the first ticket. So we had to wait a lot in the line, people queueing like good Swedes all around the cafeteria. But eventually, we got our tickets! (That is, we paid and they took our student number, with no actual evidence of the payment whatsoever, so I really hope we won't be left behind...) But many students were not so lucky, like poor Clémence, who got to stand there and then the tickets were sold out before she could get hers. This trip was really popular, evidently. Can't wait to go there next Saturday!
After buying my ticket (30EURs off my shoulder again....), we went to the sports center with Vera and Eszter, who both had krav maga training. I had to wait some for my archery training to start but I made a new friend while waiting and another few while practicing archery. I was not THAT bad, I mean I got to hit the target several times and once I was even in the middle yellow circle. Which is cool, even if my arrow landed there only accidentally. I was certainly not among the best ones but definitely not among the worst ones either, so I say that is a victory. Also, my team who I got to practice with was really cool, I really look forward meeting them next Wednesday.
After training, I cycled home alone and it was SO FREAKING COLD that I kinda tried to hurry so I ended up clearing the distance in 14 minutes or so. Instead of 20 or more. That is a tough record to break.

Vera and the woman onthe walking poles

The clown

Not only did they give us free coffee, but they also had this!

Chilling out while waiting

The line BEHIND us

Archery training!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not-so-well Thursday

Unfortunately, I managed to get a cold from previous night's cycling in that ungodly cold weather. And we had to get to campus early for TEFL lecture. After that, we had a meeting with the Erasmus coordinator here at UL, who signed our papers. At some point these two weeks, I started hating administrative bullshit even more than I had before. In the afternoon, we had a pizza party which we were supposed to attend with out buddies. Mine got lost somewhere in the ether and I didn't feel so good anyways so I cycled home after 20 minutes - and no pizza. I didn't even have the appetite for them, even tho I saw other students eating them and they really looked delicious. Eszter was wise enough to stay home in the first place but I joined her soon enough. Just to make out something good from my second trip this day to university, I made a few pics of the road and such.

The freeway we have to cycle over every day

The house we live in

Get-productive Friday

Not wanting to follow the pattern from last week when I did kinda nothing for two days in a row, I vacuum cleaned my room, washed my clothes, and composed a few letters to my home university - about Erasmus and my BA thesis as well. And I started reading another book. For pleasure. It would be really high time for me to start reading something that is on my reading lists - any of them, really.
In the evening, we went to Lena's house, who invited us for some pre-party before going to the Stables. We took our beers and got some snacks and had fun, talking a lot, meeting a bunch of new people (from Spain, Canada, US and Sweden!). Yes, you read/heard right: Sweden! I finaly met some Swedes! We talked very shortly about Swedish music and literature (they have read none of the books that were on our reading lists back home...) but it was kinda rude leaving the others out of the conversation so we changed back to English after I got them to teach me a Swedish tounge-twister. :D I absolutely love it, even tho it is really short. (Sex laxar i en laxask.)
Then we headed to Stables, the university pub, where they held a toga-party so some people were actually dressed in sheets. We had fun dancing and singing and basically, partying, and Alex got to be the hero of the day as she sprained her ankle the day before at trampoline training but she still came to the party - with crutches. We got her a bar chair so she was sitting while dancing, but it was still hilarious and the DJ (the fat old guy with the mostly bald head) even dedicated a song to her. When the party at Stables ended and the pub closed at 1 am, we stayed for a while, just talking on the pavement by the entrance, tho I really wanted to go, but some people of the group always got distracted, talking to someone, so we had to wait and go back and persuade them to come now and then someone else got into a conversation and then we had to talk them into going and so on, so we spent there at least an hour before actually starting to walk back to Lena's house. But we ended up not going in there, because two Irish guys we met had invited us for a joint and Lena did not want to smoke out her flatmates so we went to one of the guy's house, who lives really close to Lena. He and his friend poured us some whiskey, fired up some music on the laptop and as we talked about stuff (mostly music, I think), we shared the joint and spoilt the whiskey with some Sprite - but it was really too strong in itself. Then Vera stated that she was hungry and asked Brandon (the guy who invited us over) to make some food. He said he would cook us some real good microwave popcorn - and he did. We ate like half of it (out of a nice big flower pot) and threw around the other half, trying to catch them with our mouth. By this time I got really tired so after another hour or so I got Lena and Vera to get up from the couch and we finally left. After we got to Lena's (and we ate the remains of the chips there), we cycled home with Vera. We got home exactly at 4:30. I brushed my teeth and fell into bed without even taking a shower first.

The girls at Lena's house pre-party

The DJ and a guy dressed in sheets

Sleepy Saturday

After Friday's late party, it was no wonder that I was a wreck on Saturday. I woke up sometime around 11, I did my best looking like a person, I went shopping with Eszter (I still have no idea how I managed to do that) and spent a lot of money on vegetables and some more on cheese and fish filets. When we got home, I went back to bed, my splitting headache from the morning still not giving me a rest even after two painkillers. I got to sleep a bit and around an hour later woke up feeling much better. I even cooked a vegetable soup - my first soup since I came here! And my first veggie soup ever.

This is how I relax - Kindle, peanut butter and my plushie

Dear God I had to pay a lot for all this food

My veggie soup! (it is super delicious)

City-centered Sunday

After a late breakfast and skipping lunch, we went to Limerick city center with Eszter and Vera. (I keep not mentioning Clémence, but she was away for the weekend on some kind of a windsurf-trip with the club she joined.) It started adventurously, as we went to one bus stop, the bus did not come but we saw a few really good-looking Irish guys warming up for hurling, then we cycled to Stables, after giving up on catching the bus at that stop. There, we had to wait for almost an hour, but finally, the bus came - and we even met Lena after boarding it! She was just on her way home. In Limerick, we spend a good time in Penneys, and after I did not buy anything at all last time, I wasn't strong enough this time. I kept myself from buying any Harry Potter pyjamas or blankets or pillows, but I just HAD TO buy a Hogwarts T-shirt and matching HP socks. I solemnly swear they were jumping into my hands and when I wanted to put them back, they shrieked like baby Mandrakes and fought like the Whomping Willow. So I had no choice but to bring them with me. After Penneys, we finally had some fish&chips at a place called Chicken Hut (or something similar, but it was definitely a chicken place, not specialized for fish....). Eszter and Vera also wanted to buy churros but (luckily for me, not so much for them) they just ran out of churros. I think my winter coat still has that stain of chocolate on its front from my first and only churro-experience in Hyde Park last December.
Not wanting to spend even more money, we walked down to where the Milk Market takes place on Saturdays, then to the cathedral and to King John's castle. We did not go in but we walked around, crossed a bridge over the Shannon and walked some more. Then crossed another bridge and went to find a bus stop. Altogether, we walked almost 8 kms and Vera and Eszter greeted and petted several dogs. Exhausted from our adventures in Limerick city, we cycled back home, put some stuff into the washing machine, and ate a bit for dinner (mostly just soup).
 

Eszter braided my hair while we were waiting for the bus

By the river Shannon

Eating fish&chips

My awesome HP T-shirt (and the socks)

Random stuff section:

• Irish people do a lot of exercise and we have yet to see any obese ones
• I seem to have very vivid dreams here in Ireland - dunno why, but they are pretty interesting (and kinda unnerving)
• I met students at the university the age of 17!! Irish kids can get to university this soon. Insane.
• Irish people also don't seem to smoke. At all. We only saw three people smoking so far, a woman at campus and Brendon and Garreth this Friday.
• I really miss hugs here in Ireland. This is not really a thing connected to the country but after 18 days of being here, I just miss-hugs-so-bloody-much.
• Btw Irish people are still really nice. Helpful, kind and offering all kinds of stuff for free. Brandon said 'It is simply nice to be nice'. I guess it is kinda the motto of Irishmen.
• And all the guys wear training pants...

But now I really gotta go cause it is already past 1 am and I still have to read two short stories for tomorrow's contemporary lit class. And I just HAVE TO read some more from the JR Ward book I am reading right now.