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...