FINALS ARE FINAL!

I have filled my head with more knowledge in the past 2.5 weeks then I have possibly ever.

Thank you Kieran, Colleen, and Nikki for putting up with me this week. We've all been especially moody, over worked, and under slept but, I'm happy I had you three to study with. =)

Now, it is day two of being a normal person again and I still haven't fully figured out what you're supposed to do with yourself if you are not studying. But I am getting there. Yesterday, James, Kieran, Colleen and I all went to Belfast for the day. The christmas market was beautiful and we spent the whole time eating way too much food. It was definitely worth it but, unfortunately I didn't get much of my christmas shopping done (I'll have to try again today) and I left my phone on Jame's kitchen counter so I didn't get many photos. Thanks Colleen for the photos!

It is so beautiful this time of year. =). I plan on making it to the Dublin christmas market either today or tomorrow. I'm sure I will have many more pretty light pictures. =)

To wrap it all up, a list! The funny things we have said while studying:

- Adenosine triphosphate, why does that sound so familiar?

         (for those of you who aren't science majors, it is ATP, the main energy source for the body)

- Do sheep have tails?

        The answer is yes...

- The first president was Washington, then Franklin???
- I just had a brain-fart on what an exclamation point is
- The scan-tron has A-Z, there are 24 options!
- I want to name my dog Dartos. Why? Because it causes the wrinkles and folds of the scrotum and no one will know
- She kept coming in the question to ask me kitchens

- I am not going on facebook until this exam is over....

        This picture was taken immediately after the aforementioned statement.

I'm sure there were so many more, but I honestly can't remember. 

Also, we finally got our class sweaters. Makes me feel that much more official =D

4 out of 9

4 of my 9 exams are complete! Only 3 more classes to test for and I couldn't be more excited. So far, my studying has paid off. I'm just about halfway there.

=)
So.
Much.
Studying.

Studying

Outside, it looks like this:

And I'm stuck inside doing this:

16 more days until I'm homeward bound =)

Revision Week!

It is revision week here at UCD which means for the past three days, and for the next 4, I have been and will be doing nothing but writing notes and studying. My hand is probably going to fall off before the end of this week. Either that or it will be permanently cramped in writing position. (Maybe I'm being a little dramatic.) But, hopefully it is all worth it. Finals are so stressful, they give me nightmares...

Luckily, I was able to sneak in a little break yesterday. Glenomena (the residences) had a christmas fair/ pig roast last night. It included all of the holiday amenities such as food, mulled wine, hot chocolate, minced pies, giant inflatable snow globe, bucking reindeer, and gingerbread men. It was so nice to have a break. Photo credit to Natalie. Thanks for taking the picture =)

Honestly, I may have been a little too excited about the giant snow globe. But, seriously, who wouldn't be. Unfortunately, now it is time for me to get back to studying and Dawson's Creek reruns.

Good Luck to everyone who has upcoming finals!!!

PS- My time with Jason was super great. We didn't do anything too spectacular but, we did go to the Savoy Theatre which is so nice, and really fancy looking. Catching Fire was such a good movie I was sad when it ended. It was really nice to relax and spend time with him. Only 19 days until I get to go home and see everyone! =)

Thanksgiving!!!

Today was my last lecture of the semester. It is crazy how fast time flies. I still can't believe it. I have an essay to write tonight but I am feeling like a huge procrastinator. It is a little hard to focus since JASON is coming to see me tomorrow!!!!

Right now, it is tough to be away from home. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and like many Americans I usually spend the day at home with my family. But, this year I am in Ireland. At least Jason will be here to make being away from everyone a little easier. I was thinking about making a turkey myself... in my toaster over -_-.... unfortunately it is sort of impossible to find a small turkey right now. Turkey is a Christmas bird here since there is no Thanksgiving there are no turkeys. It is so weird not seeing turkeys and cornucopia images all over. The city is beautiful though, and christmas is in full swing. I love it.

I'll go on with a very American tradition, listing what I am grateful for-

- my supportive and encouraging family that loves me
- Jason
- studying veterinary medicine... finally
- the opportunity to live in another country
- all of the new friends I have made here
- the unconditional love I get from my pets, I can't wait to see them

I am sure there are so many other things I could think of if I realllllyyy tried. But, I really need to write this essay =P

25 more days until I go home!!!!

Week 11

I seriously can't believe it is already week 11. Next week is our last week of actual classes and it blows my mind how quickly this semester has gone by already. Only a few more week until finals, and just over a month until I go home for christmas. So exciting!!!! As of right now I still have so much work to do apart from studying for finals. Because clearly, now is the best time to give us all of the assignments.

Even though I have been really busy with work I want to focus more on one thing I enjoy doing to keep my mind from becoming overwhelmed. Everyone has little things that they do to clear their mind. The most recurring example I have heard of is running and the runner's high. That feeling when you hit the pavement and nothing else is on your mind but that moment when everything begins to make sense in your world: the ultimate mind wiper for some. Some may describe it as pure euphoria, not me. I wish I liked running unfortunately it's probably my least favorite endurance. Anyway, what I am getting at is everyone has their "thing," wether it is exercising, reading, cooking, talking, listening to music, or watching their favorite reruns.

It is important to have something to do that can clear your mind during stressful times. It is no good spending your day worrying about all of the things you have to do when you don't have the energy, mentally or physically, to do it. It is especially easy to become mentally drained when studies are so demanding. It took me a while before I figured out my "thing" or what it was that cleared my mind and brought me mental stability. I went through a bit of a rough patch about 5 years ago during undergrad when I lost clarity of why I was there. I couldn't clearly picture where I wanted to go with my life (even though I have always known) and I was letting personal stress get in the way of my academic aspirations. That is when I started practicing yoga. More specifically, I started practicing Baron Baptiste power yoga. Which is really complicated and probably too hard for a beginner, but it didn't matter. Yoga brought me to my special place, it gave me the equivalent of a runner's high. Baron Baptiste is a long time yogi who says many inspirational things. Things such as...

"Two key elements in our lives are vitality and habitual patterns that block our vitality. As limiting perceptions and old patterns are given up and released out, we receive new vitality in our lives. In a state of vitality, things begin to open up and make more sense. We gain creative perspective, and previously unseen pathways come into our view for the taking."

and 

Yoga made me feel strong and empowered. It made me proud of my body and what it can do. It made me realize that my mind was strong and I could do anything I wanted.  Yoga gave me a release from stress and helped me organize my thoughts. It taught me that life is a progression, just like yoga. It can never be perfected but you can be proud of your abilities and capabilities and build upon them. It taught me to view my situations as if I were an outsider looking in so I could make more clear and better decisions. Most importantly, it became my outlet or you could say yoga became my "thing."

It is very easy to be hard on yourself or too critical of yourself. It's easy to become bogged down by your day. I can't stress how important it is to do something for yourself and your mentality every so often. UCD has a really great support system for those who may need help with their "social, personal, and emotional welfare." The campaign is called "Please Talk." I have not been personally involved with any of the "Please Talk" events hosted at UCD but I have classmates who have been and from what I understand it is a really good form of support.

Overall, what I am really trying to say, especially with finals being so close, is that you shouldn't forget about you or your own mental stability when studying gets really hard. Work really hard but don't feel bad about giving yourself a little "me time" when it's needed.  

Namaste!

The grading system

Originally, I thought about finally posting the video tour of my dorm room but, the video camera I wanted to use on my tablet is really choppy. Any viewers would have been insanely sea sick by the end. I am going to try a couple things and figure out some way to record a smoother dorm room tour. Until then, I need to come up with more things to write about. Which brings me to what I am thinking about now... the grading system across the pond. Which is really fitting now that I am finally done all of my midterms.

I am going to start by saying I did well on all of my exams (no worries).

Grading here is a little different than what I am used to back home. Here is the grading scheme.

Everyone keeps emphasizing a B is VERY good. Honestly, the most confusing part is that a B is only a 60-70%. Seriously, that is all. A 60-70% and I can have a B. I know a lot of people are happy with getting B's. They say "yea! That IS good." But, after years of striving for only A's (to have the most competitive veterinary school application) I find it really hard to cope with a B being VERY good. Especially after looking at those guidelines above. Piece of cake! These people must be nuts. If I score 70% or higher I get an A. No problem! I can totally do that.

Now that midterms are over, I know why they say a B is VERY good. I must say, while I am still not coping with the evasive A grades very well, I understand why grading is the way it is here in Ireland. This is what I was told in regards to the grading scheme during lecture one day....

Most of the tests are essay based. If you can answer the question correctly with no additional information, then you get a C and that's good. If you add a little more information and some details about your answer, then you get a B. Congratulations, very good job. Finally, if you are not only able to correctly answer the question and add details, but also know some other random information about the topic that you read somewhere else, for example in a scholarly journal, then you get an A.

So to get an A in Ireland you not only have to know the material but you also have to take some extra steps to investigate a little more. To get an A is "excellent." You really went out of your way to understand the material. I think this is really fair to those students who go that extra mile to learn the information or for those who are really interested in a topic and spend tons of time looking up more information. It gives you the opportunity to show that you really do know so much more than what was asked of you and you get rewarded for it.

Overall, it is going to take some getting used to. I will still strive for A's but I will not be disappointed with a B. I will continue to put my full effort into studying and learning everything I need to learn even if the outcome falls shy of my expectations. As long as I know I tried my best I will feel happy with what I have done. Testing can be really stressful and I just need to keep reminding myself as long as I know the answer, even if it's just a little bit, I will pass. =)

Finals are just around the corner.....

Halloween!!

I'm a little late on this. For some reason it didn't occur to me to post about my first Halloween in Ireland.

It was fun, just like every Halloween. I sat in class all day super antsy to get the process going. I couldn't wait to put on my costume! As soon as I was done class I went to the dorms and cooked dinner: portabella mushroom stuffed with brown rice, spinach, and parmesan, YUMMM. Then, I got right to getting ready. I had so much getting dressed up and I seriously impressed myself with my artistic face painting abilities.

Kieran and I both did our make-up similarly. We had a little fire and ice thing going on. She was ice, I was fire. Accordingly, all of her accent colors were blue and silver and mine were red and gold.

We went to two different gatherings, one with some med students downstairs and another at our classmate Max's apartment. Both were super fun. 

The only problem is that I didn't think this through all the way. I set my costume standards too high too quickly. Now I have a lot to live up to. 

Much Needed Relaxation

This weekend I did a whole lot of nothing and it was brilliant. Especially after having two challenging exams back-to-back on Friday. I needed some time to myself and I was so happy and grateful to finally have some. Kieran's mom was in town this weekend so, I was a little sad to not have my partner in crime with me. There is a sunny side to this story. Saturday, while they were out, I went to the hotel, took a bubble bath, and read a book for pleasure. I repeat, I read a real life book and it wasn't school related. It was raining outside all day Saturday, even though it was sunny (tricky weather). After my bath, I went to a restaurant and ate lunch while looking out the window watching people rain dash. People watching is so much fun. Then, I went back to the dormitories.

The rest of my weekend, I filled with watching documentaries about medical anomalies and chatting with Jason.

Life is good. =)

Now back to work...

Noah's Egg

I'm really excited that this post has a little bit of a story around it. Maybe, I'm just overworked from being in the midst of midterms. I like the idea of an adventure. Here we go...

Kieran, my roommate, very early in the semester, asked me, "Where is the egg?"
"What egg?" I replied. She pulled a website up on her iPhone and this is what we read...

"Noah's Egg Represents the beginnings and potential of life, and symbolizes both the field of veterinary medicine and the scholarly pursuits and ambitions of the Veterinary students and staff... Noah's Egg sits outside the UCD Veterinary Faculty's new state-of-the-art premises at Belfield."

Lots of questions followed: We're in Belfield, where's the egg? If it's so big why don't we see it? How big is this egg? Is it supposed to be right in the front of the vet building? Do you think there is another front to the building? Is it around the back? How could we miss a giant bronze egg?

This all lead up to one epic decision... We MUST find the egg.

I'd like to say we went on some big vast adventure in complete mission mode, including flashlights, juices boxes (or cans of diet coke), snacks, and a hand-drawn map of campus, to search out this egg. But, in actuality we didn't. Before we knew it we were studying daily and trying to find as much socializing time, to regain sanity, as possible. We cooked lots of desserts, tried new dinner recipes, avoided multiple near-disaster situations, and went on trips to far away lands (United Kingdom).

And while our egg-hunting ambitions flickered and dimmed our friendship flourished. Cheesy, but it felt necessary to say that.

All was forgotten, until late last week....

As we were leaving the vet building, following lecture, the sound of beeping construction equipment drew our attention to a small mound to the left of the vet school's entrance. There we saw men rolling the egg into place (for theatrical reasons, the egg was rolled... in real life they dropped that bad boy in with a crane). Questions from the surrounding crowd of peers rose. "Is Lady Gaga on campus?" "Why are they putting an egg on that hill?" etc... But Kieran and I knew the truth and we were so excited!!!

At last, we found the missing egg. Turns out if we had done a little more research early on we would have learned that in 2011 the egg was removed from campus to repair a crack. But, now it is safely returned =). If you look closely you can see sperm on the egg. 

Also, on the inside of the egg, there is a "planetarium-like effect." So cool.

And there it is. The story of the missing egg. We may or may not have jumped up and down and yelled yay when we "found" it. The end. 

Side note: Today is UCD scarf day. We rocked it. 

Now, I need to get back to studying for the second week of midterms!

<3

Midterms!!!

This means all I've done for the past week is study, study, study. So not much to write here. But it's nice to keep up with weekly updates.

I'll have a life again soon =)

London Calling

The best part about living/studying in Ireland is that it is so easy and cheap to travel to other European countries. This weekend I took a trip to London, England. (Eeeekkk How cool is that! "Oh, I just hopped on a plane and went to London for the weekend.") The flight was through Ryanair. They have super cheap flights between European countries. It is amazing. Also, once again... groupon.ie. Always check out groupon. I found a Jack the Ripper tour on the website and it was beyond interesting (Especially since I gravitate towards weird things).

Friday night Kieran, Nikki, Gabby, and I went to Dublin Airport on air coach (recommended) and arrived in London really late that night. Friday also happened to be the 1 year anniversary of my passport and I was a little sad that no one stamped it for me when we arrived. Then, we got in a taxi, arrived at the Royal Hyde Park Hotel, and checked in.

We booked our stay at hotel through expedia. It was a decently priced hotel (one of the cheapest for the area of London we were in) and I found that I liked it. The rooms were what some people may consider small but, after living in a dorm room for the last month, it seemed big to me. Also, I got a double sized bed. I shared, but it was a luxury nonetheless. We were served breakfast  every morning which is a minimum requirement for me when I stay somewhere. Also, the shower had real life doors... it's the small things in life. I was satisfied.

Saturday, we started off the day early after getting our Original Tour Bus pass situation situated. I love tour buses. You get history and a ride around the city. Hop-on hop-off tours are truly the best. Our first stop was Buckingham palace for the changing of the Guards. I was most excited that the orchestra played the James Bond theme song during the ceremony. Unfortunately, I did not meet the queen, nor did I make Prince Harry fall madly in love with me.

We bought some discounted tickets for the London Dungeons and the London Eye from the lovely workers of "The original tour." Afterwards we headed directly to the London Eye. Much to our surprise though (only slight sarcasm), when we got there, the line was ridiculously long. Instead we decided to cash in our fast lane, discounted tickets for the London Dungeons which was not disappointing. It was so much fun, I just wish that more people jumped out and tried to scare you. I MISS NJ/PA HAUNTED HOUSES =( =(. After that we took the long route back to the city centre on the tour bus and made our way to the Jack the Ripper tour. I loved it. I managed to get a good amount of halloween/ fall satisfaction that afternoon.

On Sunday, we woke up early and took a very circuitous route to the London eye, due to a marathon that was going on in the city. The third largest ferris wheel in the world (135 m tall) is really quite impressive. It was fun to ride on and the weather was sunny, clear, and warm which made for some good picture opportunities. Once we got off we headed on to the river cruise (that was free with our bus pass ticket) and walked around for a bit before heading back to the airport to go home.

The weekend was a really good one. The weather was fantastic all weekend. There are so many nice cars in London that are fun to look at. Overall, there is simply too much to see in London and it is impossible to squeeze it all in a two day period. But, I think we did our best.

 This picture belongs by itself. That statue was majestic. What I did may or may not have been completely legal.

Note to self: Don't trust hot dogs outside of the US... I shouldn't really trust hotdogs anywhere... but they're especially disappointing away from home. 

Belfast in a nutshell

I'm surprised at how fast another week has gone by! As usual I've been studying my butt off... but, I did squeeze in some fun...

This past Saturday a couple friends and I woke up before the sun and got on a train to Belfast. Irish Rail has fair student prices. =) Belfast is an awesome city nestled in Northern Ireland (which is part of the UK). It was tons of fun and by the end of the day we were all overly exhausted to the point of random giggles the whole train ride home at 10 o'clock at night.

Some highlights from the trip: 

Victoria Square: An amazing mall with a stupendous view at the very top

St. George's Market: typical farmers style market, indoor. Also included random crafty things. So much fun. I was sad I couldn't bring home any seafood. The price was amazing but I don't think the fish would have enjoyed the 2 hour train ride. 

Bus tour: It was ok. Problem with the tour was that part of the city was closed down due to a parade, unfortunately. I was still able to learn some about the city. So yay!
Leaning tower of Belfast: aka wee Ben. It's sinking into the river...

Titanic Museum: Fantastic, as expected. Titanic love <3.
Titanic Studios: We didn't go in. but, I saw it!!! It is where some of Games of Thrones was filmed!!!!

Hashtag mania: There was hash tagging nonstop. It was semi ridiculous. Video that started it all can be seen below... 

Here are some pictures =). I am lucky to have friends who take lots of pictures that I can steal for my posts. Thanks Ben, Colleen, and Gabby!!!

And, here is the video that left (mainly) Ben on a hash tagging rampage all day long. Seriously though, this video is kind of hilarious.

In conclusion, I'd recommend Belfast to anyone. It was well worth the visit.

Honestly, I am most excited for this upcoming weekend!!! I'm going to London!!!! Can't wait. =D

Note to self:
  Don't overfill bread pan with banana bread then leave to do laundry.
 *Kieran may need some serious therapy after what she endured today all on her own. I'm proud of her.

Alas, there's the finished product. it looks a little sketch but it was the most delicious banana bread I ever made. Definitely worth the near crisis situation in the kitchen. 

My Birthday Week!!!!

Time for another post!!! So there are a few things that I'd like to talk about, I'm debating how to go about this, really. What I think I may do is just write everything down day by day as if this were a sweet little diary I am keeping.

Tuesday: Sept 17. GNIB. 

This day started off like every other day, I went to class, came home, and studied a little bit (all so shocking, I know). Then, I wrote a blog post. That afternoon, our class on cell metabolism and replication was cancelled for a visit to the GNIB (Garda National Immigration Bureau) which is all well and good, but this took about 4 times longer than anyone anticipated. 

WARNING!!

If you need to go to the immigration bureau in order to get permission to stay in Ireland, go first thing in the morning. Go before they even open the doors (which is 8am). Just get in and get out. Even if you arrive at 5:30 in the morning you are still likely to be the 70th person in queue. but, I guarantee it will go much faster for you than it will if you go in the afternoon. Finally, if you must go in the afternoon (I don't know, maybe you're in school all the time and you were told to show up at 4) for the sake of your sanity bring some school books and get some studying done. It's wonderful to talk to your friends for four and a half hours straight but likely, you'll all get mad that you're still waiting and just talk hatred all night.
** (Edit: You actually may be better off going during the allotted time during your first year... it takes even longer if you show up in the morning... you'll end up in a queue that wraps around the building)  

Alas, after the long wait I received a card (which I am pretty sure I overpaid for) and permission to stay in the country for a year. YAY!!!

Wednesday: September 18- Jason's birthday!!!!

Needless to say I got just about nothing done. I got to hang out on google hangouts all afternoon with the birthday boy!!

Thursday: September 19

Class and study

Friday: September 20

Woke up early and studied some. Went to class at 2, found out I didn't really have to be there, left class, went back to the dorms. SO EVENTFUL... As I was studying some more after class I found some awesome videos on youtube that explain most of what I'm learning entertainingly and quite simply. So I got distracted with that. Shoutout: CrashCourse! . Seriously, check it out. 

Eventually, after I pulled myself away from the most interesting video on embryology ever, I went to my classmates house for some tacos. The night proceeded with first year/ second year bowling (BYOB, wooot). I played some sweet games of DDR (I still have skill), lost at like 5 crane games (they're all rigged, I swear), and finally ended the night at a bar where we got free shots... oh and celebrated MY BIRTHDAY at midnight with some really awesome people! Thanks to Pip and Emma for all of the pictures from that night.

Saturday: September 21st
MY BIRTHDAY!
Honestly, my plan for the day was to wake up and study, then go to dinner. Instead, I slept in until 11 (I didn't even know I was capable of this), was woken up by Gabby, looked outside and saw bright sunshine, checked my phone and realized it was nearly 70 degrees outside, and ditched my prior plans. I hung out at St Stephen's Green all day with my buddy Gabby (who has the same birthday as me!) and people watched.

Eventually, we went and ate really yummy seafood dinner at Matt the Thresher. Fun fact: Michelle Obama ate here with her daughters when they were in Dublin. (Also, I did not take this picture)

I'm lucky enough to have an awesome boyfriend who sends me beautiful flowers and chocolates and a fantastic family who sends me food and presents!!!

Sunday: September 22
Seriously, once again my plan was to study. But THIS WEATHER had other plans. For real though, where is all this rain I was promised. 70 and sunny, hung out at the Dun Laoghaire Market. If you are in Dublin and you have time on a sunday and it is beautiful outside, I HIGHLY recommend going there. It is right on the water and beautiful.

And Just to tie this all up

Monday& Tuesday: September 23 and 24
Class and study... ALL DAY. (and write blog post) Oh yea! But, the most exciting thing is that I won a hoodie on monday and a flash drive today!

 Oh and once again, the weather was beautiful. =)

In the future I am going to try to write more frequently so I don't have to cram so much stuff into such a succinct blog post. ;o)

And for sake of consistency:
This week I almost fell down a hill. The details aren't important. =)

Balancing Act

I swear this will be the last time I write about how busy I am.... at least I'll try. As it turns out I'm probably going to be busy for the next 4 years straight so, it really makes no sense writing that phrase at the start of every post.

I've really been enjoying my lectures and I feel like I am already learning a lot. I can only imagine how the next couple of months will go. There are a few things here, in terms of academics, that are a little different from my experience in the states. Mainly, classes are listed as three different types: lectures, tutorials, and practicals. Lectures, as you may imagine, are the same everywhere. The professor, or lecturer, stands at the front of the room and talks. Tutorials are a little different. The lecturer may start of with a small discussion then we move into group work, or group discussions. This is great because the lecturer doesn't give away any answers. They steer you in towards answering the questions for yourself which makes the learning process much more personal. Finally, practicals are the american equivalent of a lab class; microscopes, dissections, all that jazz. Once again, professors are only there to steer you towards answering the question yourself.

The real challenge of going to vet school in Ireland is figuring out how to balance social life with academia. So far I think I am doing ok. UCD has tons of clubs and sports for students to join. The first club, hopefully not the only one I have gotten involved with is Vetsoc. Vetsoc is a big deal to us veterinarian students. It seems as if most of the events hosted by vetsoc end up with drinking, an extremely socially acceptable event in Ireland. =P

Along with the fun stuff, Vetsoc also invites many scholars and important people to UCD to talk about different areas of veterinary medicine. Then, afterwards they feed us pizza... anyone who knows me knows I never pass up free food. Vetsoc participates in an AVS, the association of veterinary students, event (held in Liverpool this year!!! yeayea, can't wait) that brings together students from veterinary schools from UK and Ireland. The best part is we get to dress up in costume, aka fancy dress. Finally, in regards to the club, there was some talk of a surfing trip, which I am also totally down for.

I have felt very welcome in Ireland from day one. The second year grad entry students are amazing and really want to make sure we feel comfortable. We have each been assigned a big sibling. My big siblings name is Caitlin and she is excellent. Last week we did yoga together at Yoga Dublin!! I was so excited to find someone else who loves yoga even if the yoga class was lacking intensity for our liking. There are a couple other classes at the studio I am still going to try. Last week, our Big Siblings also hosted a first year initiation party. It was so much fun, the best part was impersonating famous people and animals. As seen below... we have a lot of original moo'ers in the group, including myself. I guess we're not good with on the spot animal noises. I am very impressed with Katie's rooster crow though. =)

After hanging out at the house and acting silly (making animal noises, impersonating famous people, dancing to weird music, etc.) we went out to a club called Dicey's which I really enjoyed. It was nice going out with all of my friends and not having to worry about school work. 

This is a picture from Dicey's with two of the most awesome ladiesss. From left to right: Gabby (birthday buddy), Kieran, and me. I have been hanging out with these two the most, probably because they're from NY and NJ, respectively, and we get each other's sarcasm and sense of humor. I wish I had a picture with more people in it to show everyone because there are bunches of other great people in the program that I have become friends with. But, I am happy I have this one at very least. 

Overall the balance between school work and fun will always be tricky but manageable. I'm very satisfied with how the first week of school played out even if I did start the week off very stressed. I look forward to the rest of the semester and spending more time with all of the new people I have met. Today's goal is to go to GNIB and hopefully get granted my permission to stay in Ireland for the year. 

Now I'm off to study.

OOhhhh Also... Just when I thought I was done doing silly things, I turned too early for my bathroom in my room and hit the wall. In my defense the room was pitch black. Spazforlife. 

Start of a new school year!

I've always loved the first day of school and this year it wasn't any different. The instructor's didn't cut us any slack... as suspected. But I'll go into that later.

Horse!! =)

Last time I wrote was after horse day. On Thursday we got to handle cows. Cows were excellent. The best part of dealing with them is that they are placed in a contraption called a crush to hold them still. I must say, it made the job about 500 times easier. My favorite part was learning how to grab their nose as a form of restraint (think of a bull nose ring... it's the same but you use your hand to do it)

On Friday I learned how to flip sheep. It's a fun way to keep them still and they look really cute when they're flipped (at least I think they do). I was pretty sick this day and I didn't have a voice. I was going to sit this practical out but then I changed my mind. I am happy I did because it was so much fun to catch and flip sheep. 

I'm really relieved I don't look too sick in that picture. I credit much of my brightness to the Vicks nasal inhaler I persistently inhaled all day long. So what if I looked a little funny, it was a live saver. 

That brings me to the weekend.... FINALLY. It was a long week and the weekend went by too quickly. I finally got to buy a knit wool sweater I was eyeing up for a week and I got to revisit the Guinness factory and the Dublin Zoo. =D. It was so much fun. Yay new friends! 

Then comes Monday, the first day of school! It was a jam packed day... 4 classes... lots of review material, all of which I forgot from undergrad. Needless to say I have been spending a lot of time reviewing material that I should already know. Luckily, it is coming back fairly quick. Not as quick as I'd like... but fast enough. Also, on monday housing was on lockdown. Apparently in Ireland (maybe elsewhere too, I don't know) something called "Black Monday" exists. It's a time for students to celebrate the first day of class by getting completely wasted. Rumor has it, in the past it has gotten completely out of control, hence the wristbands to get in and out of the dorms. For the record, I did not participate (maybe I should have =P). 

Today I only had to go to 2 classes, with a 4 hour break between the two. I spent the break in city centre picking out a pair of wellies for anatomy lab and printing pictures to hang up in my room. I think my room may almost be ready to show off to the curious (aka the grand tour). I look forward to that blog post. =D. Anyway, I am super proud of my board, yeayea. It has a little bit of stuff from back home that makes me happy. 

After class was done I finally got some laundry started and ate dinner with awesome people. Now, I have to go review biochem.... weeeee...

That's all for now. =D

Note to self: Don't touch plastic hearts in roommates room, they will fall down off the wall and she will write hate mail on my facebook wall. =P

Updatesss

This has been a busy and tiring week and it is only halfway done... With the help of Jason (he's the best) I moved my stuff to my dorm room on Sunday. Then on Monday, after a sad goodbye, I officially moved in.

I don't really have much to say about the dorm room so far, as of right now it's pretty much a hard-hat zone (So much organizing to do). On the bright side, I finally bought some hangers and a laundry basket so it will look good in no time. When my room is finally straightened up I will take some pics. The bathroom is pretty small but hey, it's mine. 

Once again, it still hasn't rained =)

Most of this week is filled up with Veterinary orientations. On the first day we got tons of basic information about the programme and participated in some tours. Today... we went to the farm. Half of the group handled horses (that's the group I was in). I learned some basic handling and restraining techniques and a couple other things. It was fun and all of the horses are really nice. I am happy I felt comfortable around them so quickly. Hopefully that is a trend that continues....

Tomorrow, on the farm I get to learn some things about cows =) And on Friday we learn how to flip a sheep. Hahaha. That should be an adventure.  busy busy busy.

I don't really have much to say today.. =( I think I am getting sick, I woke up this morning with a sore throat and now my head isn't feeling to well. I'm probably going to sleep early tonight and caffeinate in the morning. 

Anyway, Just for fun here is a list of the silly things I've done this week:

Day 1: Locked my key in my room, had to find someone to let me back in

Day 2: Flooded my bathroom (stupid drain)

Day 3: Walked into a wall. I'm ok. I promise it came out of nowhere 

Day 4: Before leaving the farm, I washed my hands with lube instead of soap...

Touristy Things

The last couple days have been VERY busy.. Nothing but touristy things non-stop. As I had previously foreshadowed.. there are tons of pictures! It turns out my internet here at the B&B is quite slow; hence the delay in this post. But, before I begin I just need everyone to know I have yet to face a rainy day in Ireland... that being said, here is a recap of my last 3 days...

 On day one and two of touristy whatnots we embarked on the City Sightseeing Tour- Dublin; which I highly recommend. This is a ticket we bought online for €9 each from groupon.ie (if you are coming to Ireland, check out Groupon.ie for good deals). The normal price for an adult ticket is €17.. so this was a GREAT deal. There are different tours, some are multilingual with a pre-recorded tour and other are guided by a real life person (those tours are exceptionally better). During the tour we had the option to "hop on- hop off." There are 23 stops (25 if you count sub-stops) each with their own attraction, sometimes even 2 or 3 attractions per stop, also a bus makes its way to each stop every 10-15 mins. It was a great way to get to know the city and we got to hear "Molly Malone" sung on multiple occasions =D: "fish monger by day and Lady of the Night." One of the oldest professions ;). I find it sort of funny that I learned the song for an elementary school chorus concert...

^ Molly Malone ^

...Moving on... On the first day of this tour we took the route completely through one time. It lasted about 90 mins. During this first tour we noted some places we wanted to visit and over the next three days we did just that. The first set of pictures was from the tour itself. When we did get off the bus, the first stop was at the National Museum of Art. I don't really remember much from the National museum. It was relatively small. Honestly, the only reason I wanted to go there was to get a picture with Picasso. It turns out, NO photos were allowed of the Picasso piece. I was pretty sad. But, I did get a pretty cool picture with this black and white piece by Pieter Jan Balthazar De Gree. Also I really like this statue of a young boy by Giacomo Vanelli (1863) because it reminded me of the book Death in Venice, but I won't go any further into that. The piece by Balthazar De Gree looks 3- Dimensional, but isn't and that's what makes it so interesting. Next, we went to Dublinia which was an interactive viking and medieval museum. This was an amazing attraction (Mainly, because I like to touch everything). The tour ended at the Church of Christ. This Church had breathtaking stained glass windows. Finally, we went on to the Guinness storehouse. This was a self-guided tour with a taste testing and a free pint at the end. On the 4th floor you have the option to learn how to pour a perfect pint, and you better believe I took full advantage of the opportunity. I enjoyed taking a goofy picture with a statue (As you'll see down below).

 On the second day of the tour Jason and I stopped at Kilmainham Gaol (gaol, pronounced, Jail) and the Dublin Zoo. During the guided tour of the... gaol, we learned a lot about the history of Dublin; seeing as the jail had much to do with it. Once again, I don't really remember much about the historical bits. This explains why I am not a history major. But, I do remember the really creepy things; for example, during the gaol's busiest times about 10 people were forced to sleep in a single cell with one bucket as a toilet, and over 100 years later 14 men were killed on site at the gaol. The gaol was definitely creepy and I was somewhat relieved to get out of there. On a happier note... the zoo was amazing. I don't really have much to say about this seeing as it was a typical zoo. I really enjoyed the difference in one of the monkey habitats. The Macaque (Sulawesi Crested) monkey lived in it's own colony on an island sort of thing in the middle of a lake on the zoo grounds. All of the big cats were taking naps =( but, I did get to see an elephant pretty up close and personal... I miss the elephants at the Philly Zoo (I fully understand why they had to leave though).

Today, On the 3rd day of doing some touristy things we realized that there were still a few stops we wanted to see that we didn't have time for during the first couple of days. Before heading out, we looked up some bus stops and jumped on the Dublin Bus to go towards our destinations. We went to the Jameson Distillery around noon... which is 7AM local time... way too early for whiskey in America. Because of my outgoing persona, it was guaranteed that Jason was selected to be a taste tester for an American (Jack Daniels), Scottish (Johnny Walker), and Irish (Jameson) whiskey. After the Distillery and walking around some, we finally made it to the wax museum, where I found David Bowie to be the most exhilarating exhibit. The main selling point at the wax museum, for me, was the chamber of horrors (where I got some pretty gruesome, lovely pics). The wax museum wasn't as great as I expected but it was amusing. I didn't like the signs that said no touching... If I can't touch them, then why are the fake people completely accessible???

WOW! This was a really long post. Thanks if you took the time to read it... Thanks, even if you only took time to see the pics.

The Facts:

     Buildings here have such amazing architecture.

     They had red ear sliders at the zoo, we have red ear sliders in Lake Fred at Stockton =)

     I really like taking pictures of me doing stupid things/ making stupid faces... be prepared.

     Buy a "Rambler" bus ticket in Dublin as soon as you arrive, it is more useful than you'll ever imagine.

     It's pretty impossible to get lemon in your water at a restaurant.

     Everything, with the exception of bars, closes between 7 and 8.

     It is cheaper to get Guinness and Jameson memorabilia outside of the tour facilities.

     Beer is not served warm.. I don't know how or why this rumor was started, but it is a big lie. I have not had a single warm beer since I have been here.

     People in Ireland are over-all nice (they want you to have a good time on your vacation).

     Sometimes when you talk to random people it gets you a guaranteed Jameson taste test.

Day 1

Yesterday was my first day in Dublin, finally! The flight was painless and went by quickly. This was probably the first time I flew and didn't feel terrible when I got off the plane. They fed and watered us frequently, that was nice. The seats had these awesome touch screen TVs on them and that kept me amused. About an hour before landing the sun was rising and I got a few pretty pictures.

The most surprising part about day 1 is that it was actually sunny in Dublin (I told everyone that would happen).

We arrived at the B&B (Montrose Lodge) around 9 in the morning after the most terrifying taxi drive of my life: taxi drivers in Ireland are insane (it didn't ease my tension that, in Ireland, they drive on the left side of the road). The roads are all curvy and tight and everyone drives full speed. I've never been in a car with someone who weaved in in out of traffic so quickly, braked last second behind stopped cars, and turned without the slightest deceleration. According to Jason, the taxi driver failed at using a manual transmission. Every time the taxi stopped a loud screech emitted from the brakes and every time the taxi started to move we were jerked back in our seats. But we made it...

After a short nap, the day didn't get much more exciting. We wandered around town a little bit. We went to Tesco (grocery store) for some lunch, saw the Irish Sea, stopped in some local shops, and walked around the campus of UCD. Later on we walked about 25 mins to Donnybrook Village and had dinner at an american style diner, Eddie Rockets... go figure.

Today, hasn't been too eventful. Mainly, I worked on situating myself: opened a bank account, researched some phone companies, and took inventory of foods I may be interested in at Tesco ( I love grocery stores). Tomorrow we plan on taking the bus to center city Dublin and doing a bunch of touristy stuff... so I hope everyone likes pictures!

What have I learned:
     They sell Hellman's mayo and heinz ketchup in the grocery store.
     Sodas are the same, but much smaller
     No one give you ice in your water.. even if you ask for it, they give you maybe a cube or 2
     Some brands are the same as ours with different names/ flavors.. Walkers chips (Lays), galaxy chocolate bars (Dove), Danone yogurt (Dannon)...
    Bacon looks different (weird...) I'm not sure if it tastes the same.
    Bank deposits are called lodgements
    No one stops for pedestrians, unless you get really lucky
    Buses like to travel over the speed limit in pedestrian heavy areas... it's scary and they lean when they turn.
 

First Post!!!!

So here it is... my first post! No, I am not in school yet. But, in a few short months (September, to be precise) I will be attending my first class as a veterinary student at University College Dublin. Yay!!! =). I have officially accepted my offer and paid the deposit of 2000 Euro. Admittedly  I am nervous and I have no idea what to bring with me yet. As I find out more I will certainly post it.

My acceptance email informed me that I will be in the 4 year graduate entry programme and a little bit of information about the curriculum. I'm hoping to get a lot more information soon.

 I guess I can start with a little about myself....

My name is Amanda. I am from New Jersey (south NJ), born and raised. I have never been to Europe....

(A bit awkward since I am about to move there...???)

Since I can remember I have always wanted to be a veterinarian. I am so excited that my dream is finally becoming a more tangible reality. In my spare time I like to read books, practice yoga, and cook delicious foods.

Right now I live at home with my pets, my parents, and my brother; although you wouldn't know it by how much time I spend at my boyfriend's house.. I work as  a veterinary technician at a Veterinary Hospital that is pretty close to home. There are four practices and about 9 doctors. I am lucky to work in an office with a lot of traffic. I love my job and all of the people I work with. They are all very excited for me.

So far I have prepared for vet school by checking out sdn (student doctor network) and using it as a tool to meet current students, asking those students questions, making mental checklists (what should I brinnnggg???), looking up student loan information, and helping loved ones get passports if they don't already have them.

I hope I can maintain this blog throughout the next 4 years.

Fingers crossed and good hopes for the future. =)