Last trip of the semester, buying souvenirs

That is, we started getting ready for going home. The flight home is looming just ahead, trying to overshadow the nonexistent sunshine in Ireland, but we won't let our mood go down with it!
Also, I could have called this a Harry Potter Week as well since we watched some HP movies, choosing one almost every day.

Monday - kinda productive day at home

After last week's constant struggle with this illness I slept late but felt a bit better already. I spent my day reading, vacuuming my room, reading lite till, and cooking lentil soup. In the evening we pulled out each other's names for Santa Claus Day - for which occasion in Hungary all kids get a lot of sweets and a birch rod (well, bad kids get the rod, but then show me a kid who is never bad...). We wanted to keep this tradition, even though we will get our sweets when we arrive home, it's not the same if you don't get it on the 6th of December. So we did that, and I got Clem (and, as it turned out later, she got me). Then we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, following HP 6 the previous night.

Tuesday - souvenir shopping tour

We got up kinda early (well, 9am, but that IS early, okay?) and  went to the city to buy some souvenirs and anything else we might need from the city centre. I bought some magnets and keychains and a considerable amount of sweets. A lot. Fucking lot, really. Then we had a late lunch in Supermac's where I ate the cheapest meal they could offer but when looking at my expenses at the end of the day I was still shocked af. So much money spent on basically food and merchandise. When we decided to come back home we had to wait literally an hour for the fecking bus and as I was still not feeling really good and rather weak, by the time we got home I was dead tired. And yet nothing could have stopped me from curling up on the couch in the living room and watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 with the others.

My very healthy lunch

Nope, I did not buy much... not at all

I just HAD TO buy this tie
Guess what I will be wearing this Christmas

Wednesday - folklore exam and went to Meghann's

In the morning, we all collected our Santa Claus packages from our boots and shoes in the hall and I swear we are just soo cute! :D
As I have not attended the original examination for Irish Folklore (I could not get back from Dublin in time that morning), I had to do it some other time and the teacher thought this Wednesday would do it. So I cycled to campus and got a sheet and questions and she sent me away to sit down wherever I want to around that building and write two essays, then take my exam paper back to her office and slide it in under the door. So that is what I did. And I haven't cheated at all even though I could have used some help as I haven't really (or at all) studied for it, ofc. But I just couldn't do it, I mean the teacher trusted me not to! Ehh...
So then I cycled back home and cooked muffins and washed my clothes but didn't have time to dry them before Meghann (Veronika's buddy) arrived to take Eszter, Veronika and me to her family's farm for a few days. There, we had dinner and then Meghann drove us to a town close to their farm called Listowel, where all (really, ALL) of the shopwindows had trains in them. As it turns out, there is a monorail museum close to Listowel and thus the trains but it was so weird and so cool. We walked some on the streets of that town and then we went back to their house, talked some with her mom who was really nice, then went to bed, where I read a bit before going to sleep.

Dinner at Meghann's, from anything we could find in the cupboards

This poster is on Meghann's wall
Ireland, of course!

A stray cat that lives around the farm
Look at those murderous eyes!

Thursday - beaches and movies

For breakfast we made traditional Irish breakfast, the first time for Eszter and Veronika to try it. Then we went to a beach and walked down the shore and along the cliffs but it was kinda cold and really windy, I mean, REALLY windy and it was even raining some so we were frozen to our bones by the time we got to a café where we had hot chocolate with marshmallows. And we have seen so many rainbows, the first time since we are in Ireland, it was not just one rainbow per month but actually like a dozen of them just one day, and they were huge and beautiful. When we stopped at some ruins we even saw a full rainbow, both ends touching the ground.
After getting back to the house we didn't really feel like going out again in that cold and windy weather so we stayed put and watched Hercules, then had pasta with olives and tuna and pasto for dinner, and watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We also listened to Meghann (and Veronika) playing the piano and spent some time in one of the rooms which was like a small library (it even had a pool table) just looking at books and talking about literature.

At the beach

Puppies always find us, esp Eszter and Veronika

The same beach from the cliff

Another beach, no less glorious

With the girls when the sun finally decided to show for a sec

Rainbow!

Hot chocolate and marshmallows <3

Friday - barn and Stables

In the morning we went out to the farm and checked out the cows, they were quite lovely and big, just as I remembered them from my childhood. :) Then we went to Listowel again and had curry chicken for lunch, which was delicious and I got so full from it I could barely walk afterwards. But I kinda had to as we decided to walk along a river there and then in a park. By the time we got back to the town centre, my stomach made some space in it so I could drink a hot chocolate while the others had the same and cakes in a nice confectionery. After picking up our stuff at Meghann's, we came back to Limerick with her car and first thing to do for me was washing my hair and reading some. This book from Ward is really the least interesting in the series but I care for the characters so I have motivation to read it. I was kinda tired and not yet really healthy but I still went to Stables with the girls and we got our UL bags signed by our friends. (It was originally T-shirts to be signed, as the International Society asked but I figured I didn't want to ruin my shirts but the bag seemed a perfect solution for still getting something signed. :) )

Mrs Cow Casual

Mrs Cow Curious

How can a tree be this GREEN?

Felirat hozzáadása

Hot chocolate again

Veronika all stylish with our UL bags

Busy signing stuff for friends

Saturday - cooold

We slept late and then I cycled to SuperValu with Eszter for some grocery shopping. It was fucking cold, especially on bikes. Then I cooked the remaining muffins that I couldn't on Wednesday before Meghann came for us, had lunch and posted something on my blog, and then cycled to Lidl. And it was even colder! Brr.... But I had to take the bus to get to the city centre because I met up with Aleksandra and her friends, and Michael and Peter (German guys from archery) at Dolan's Pub. It was a nice place but there was some important rugby match so it was rather crowded and everywhere you looked you could only see the match live on TV and we could barely talk over the sounds of the commentator and other people in the pub. And yet I enjoyed it, tho when I left I was kinda sad because this was the last time I met Aleksandra here. Then I cycled home (still bloody cold).

Being all romantic with Aleksandra in Dolan's

Sunday - procrastinating on essay

Though we actually finished with exams and all, we still had one assignment to do, an essay for Contemporary Women's Writing, due Tuesday afternoon. Which means we had to write it by Monday so that we could drop it off at the office on Tuesday. And yet, Sunday came and I still hadn't even had a topic for my essay. Nor read anyting to help me choose. So after a late breakfast I tried to get myself to do it, to just fucking find a topic. I spent hours on.... doing nothing, but then I started reading The Color Purple as I figured it could help me with basically all the topics on the list, as it had gender and race and sexual issues, it had mothers and daughters, it had silence and stories, it had an interesting narration and it had so much more. I actually liked reading it a lot (still haven't finished but plan to, as it is indeed awesome) but it is compulsory and if something is compulsory, you just can't enjoy it the same way. At some point I had lunch and then read some more and procrastinated some more. In the evening we watched Hacksaw Ridge with Eszter and Veronika, and surprisingly enough, I liked it a lot.  And it was the fifth movie I saw this week which is crazy because I usually watch one movie every month or so...

I might not have done anything at all but at least the weather was nice