You can get all A's and still flunk life.

I think I need to make the title of this post into a song...

Anyway, I know you're all tired of me talking but this story really needs to be told.

1st things first - Friday was the UCD Ball - a 10 hour long concert on campus where you can't leave once you enter. So far the descriptive terms for the Ball that we've come up with are "freak show" and "parade of humanity."
Really...people wear the most ridiculous outfits (and I realllly mean it). The Irish also have no concept of pacing themselves which means that by 4pm people were passing out on the floor.


But really, here are the highlights of the ball for me - (mom, dad and aunty em please don;t freak out).

1. I hit a guy -In fairness, he was trying to pry open the door to the port-a-potty while a girl was in there so I yelled "don't be an asshole" to him. But then he pushed in front of me and tried to break into the one that my roommate was in so my instant reaction was to protect her and so I slapped him as hard as I could and told him to "feck off." I'm still impressed he didn't hit me back BUT SERIOUSLY, what kind of perv tries to break into a bathroom when a girl is using it. And it's not that he needed to pee or anything...he was actually breaking into it to see the girl inside. And the worst part is he was with another guy and a girl and they didn't do anything to stop him. *shudders* THIS is why girls go in groups.
2. By sheer accident we ended up at the very front when one of the performers came on (Vengaboys) and it was insane. So much so that the Gardai threatened to shut the party down early. Anyway, we were more of less trapped there (me, 2 of my roommates and 2 ND guys) and people were shoving so much that a huge mass of people fell at once. And yup, you guessed it, I ended up right at the bottom of the dogpile. Scariest.Experience.Ever. Thank God there was a guy down there with me and his knee was up (at an incredibly painful angle) so that my face wasn't crushed and I could breathe. My arms were pinned. After 5 layers of people got up I managed to get out. I was not thrilled to say the least. It still hurts every time I move my left shoulder.
3. After a few more minutes of that insanity we decided to get the hell out and so one we all linked hands and I went in front basically faking an emergency to get people to move (I deserve an Oscar for my wide-eyed look of panic). THEN just as we make it out of the mass of people and are in the clear and allll safe, this guy swings his arm out to throw his coat over his shoulder and elbows me straight in the nose. The irony is staggering. That still hurts too by the way, but only when I touch it.
   

Anyway, since I clearly survived that traumatic experience we spent Saturday at the Cliffs of Moher. Despite the horrible weather we still had fun and got some awesome photos.
We saw a bunch of other stuff on the way but I will save that for when facebook is letting me upload photos again.
For now here's one of the rocky landscape of the Burren.
One from Lisdoonvarna which is famous for its singles festival in September. Apparently the guy who owns this pub is a full time matchmaker.
And of course, many many many photos of me at the Cliffs of Moher. Note of course that in each of these photos we are well past the safety ropes. Actually in most cases we're a 10 minute walk outside of them (onto private property).




Now, if you'll notice the look of fear on Kristin's face on the realisation that the rocks just come apart in layers...well that's because we're currently standing on a rock ledge overlooking the water. Woops.

My Weekend in Paris (and some music)

Well, as I'm pretty sure most of you know, this is not Paris.

Due to circumstances beyond my control (I just edited out a 2 paragraph long rant about a certain Volcano) we could not fly out to Paris this weekend. Sometimes it's easy to forget that Ireland is, in fact, an island.




Our flight has been rescheduled for the 30th of April and hopefully by then this will have all blown over (literally) or else I'll be out a considerable amount of money on hostels/hotel rooms as they've all decided that they're not responsible for the volcano and will keep everyone's money.

Anyway, instead I went down to Cork with Allison and Kaitlyn to have a girls weekend. We have a habit of choosing "the song" for each trip we make and this time there was atie between the following -
Beach Boys - Good Vibrations - because it played two nights in a row in two different pubs.
The Glee version of Hello Goodbye - It has NOTHING on the original but it's much more fun for a girl to sing along to.
All American Rejects - Gives You Hell - Glee inspired but the original is angrier and won out

Oh, to the trinis, I visited Pres' founding school - Presentation College Cork)

Anyway, to those of you who know me well will know that Cork is one of my favourite places and that I very very nearly ended up at UCC instead of Notre Dame for college. Because let's face it...UCC is breathtaking. Just to prove my point I'll include some pics.



Speaking of breathtaking - you can't go to Cork and not visit the Blarney Castle!
The weather was brilliant and I kissed the blarney stone (for the second time).

And of course, walked up a set of dangerously eroded stairs backwards with my eyes closed.

Wouldn't you?










But the very best part of the day was when we simply lay on the grass taking in the sun (and a bit of an afternoon nap). I'm so glad Allison got a pic of this because it's slightly epic.



Finally, would it really be me if we didn't stop in a few pubs? Of course not. We went to a few small ones but the best was the microbrewery where we had what were undoubtedly my favourite beers so far. It's pretty depressing that I can't find them anywhere else. Maybe I should ship a keg home...haha.


Anyway...we'll see if the volcano decides to be nice and let me go to Paris. I'll keep you updated.

Since I moved to America...(and Ireland)

This post was inspired by a similar article by Janique and seeks to highlight some of the more interesting/curious experiences of my Univeristy life.

Since I moved to America

• I use the words "epic," "awesome" and "über" more than I think any human should be allowed to.
• I "hang out" with acquaintances, but my close friends all know I "lime" with them.
• I have developed a gag reflex to any tomato based pasta sauce courtesy the Morissey Tomatina
  
• I alternate between "soccer" and "football" so frequently even I don't always know what sport I'm referring to.
• I have discovered there are worse things than being super pale - like being fake-tan orange.
• My accent has become indecipherable. And I miss it.
• I have developed an intense rivalry with Jamaica, Barbados, Haiti and the Bahamas as they are the only islands people seem to know about. My country is in none of these islands.
• My accent is constantly imitated but never accurately so. At the hands of others I sound English, Indian, Irish and many things that can't even be classified.
• I learnt about cricket in order to explain it to others.
• I learnt more about my country and culture than 17 years in T&T ever taught me.
• I have been to countless interesting places and made many loyal and caring friends.
• I appreciate my Trinidadian friends so much more and miss them daily.
• I am constantly sleep deprived and a borderline nervous wreck but I'd do it all again anyway.
• I have become less radical in my views on international politics (which I think is an improvement).
• I met the most amazing young man and lost him but found the grace to thank God for the time given to me.
• I realised that my country's pledge outlines everything I aspire to become. (See end of note).
• I have discovered how little I actually know about myself - like what I want to do after college.
• I've become eternally grateful for all my parents have done for me and can openly acknowledge that they are, in fact, ALWAYS RIGHT.
  

Since I moved to Ireland

• I think it's grand that you can have great craic without getting locked.
• I know now that umbrellas are useless and nothing warms you better than a hot whiskey. (See recipe at bottom).
• I now appreciate the American system way more and don't know how I used to be able to lay it all on the line with a make or break 100% of your grade final exam.
• I have traveled all over one of the most beautiful countries in the world and while I love Dublin for how all it has to offer, I will forever miss the simple, friendliness of the people in Irish towns.

The National Pledge -

I solemnly pledge to dedicate my life
To the service of God
And to my country.

I will honour my parents,
My teachers, my leaders and my elders,
And those in authority

I will be clean and honest in all my thoughts,
My words and my deeds.

I will strive, in everything I do
To work together with my fellowmen
Of every creed and race
For the greater happiness of all
And the honour and glory
Of my country.


Hot Whiskey -

2 1/2 oz Irish whiskey
1 slice fresh lemon
4 cloves
1 tsp sugar
hot water

Pour the whiskey into a whiskey sour glass. Add cloves into the fresh lemon and gently place into the whiskey. Fill with hot water and dissolve in the sugar. Serve immediately.

The State of Things

So today I realised that I'm a total idiot. Okay, not really, I'm just such an optimist I tend to overlook more obvious explanations.
That statement (and this entire post) comes about from an experience I had on Henry Street today.
After Jonathan and his friend left to return to London I spent a lot of time walking around downtown and sort of just doing my own thing because it was SUCH a beautiful day. The sun was out in full force so I was in a T-shirt and jeans and there were buskers everywhere.

Then I saw this beggar on the side of the road and he was shivering and I can't tell you how much I pitied him. I said to myself "if he's still there when I get out of Tesco I am marching straight into Penny's and buying a blanket for him."
Okay, now how many of you just thought "wasn't it a warm day?" Well yeah...totally didn't occur to me at the time (and sadly he wasn't there when I came back so I couldn't get him the blanket anyway). But do you really expect my first reaction (even on a hot day) to be 'this guy is going through heroin withdrawal.' I don't think it should be.
So I may be an idiot, but I'm really glad I am because (in this case) it means I just expect the best from people.

Also, on another slightly related note - literally 10 minutes later I saw a boy who couldn't have been 7 years old yet sitting on the side of the road with a rosary around his neck and one of the most defeated facial expressions I've ever seen. Isn't it tragic that in a developed nation we have little boys living on the streets and begging for money?
So then I thought "I wish I was rich so that I could take care of children like him." Which made think of the song "Sparrow" from Simon and Garfunkel. In particular the following verse:

Who will take pity in his heart,
And who will feed a starving sparrow?
"Not I," said the Golden Wheat,
"I would if I could but I cannot I know,
I need all my grain to prosper and grow."

Suddenly the "if I was rich" excuse just doesn't seem to cut it, because I may not have a lot but I have more than him and that means I have more than I need. Every single person reading this does. So what do we do with the little that we have? Do we sit there thinking we need it all and don't have any to spare or do we get up and use it to help someone?

I think the answer is obvious.

"The Closest Thing to Heaven on Earth"

Believe it or not, the title of this post does not apply to gelato (though three scoops of gelato does come pretty close to Heaven).
Instead, it;s all about the amazing, inspiring feeling that comes from seeing thousands of people gathered together to celebrate the Church's most jubilant holiday.

Anyway, I'm a little swamped with work (as the end of the semester is rapidly approaching) so I'll try to keep this short.
We did many many things, walked a lot and saw more churches than I can count, potentially every obelisk in the city, the Trevi fountain, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Roman Forum etc.

But, more importantly, we had mass on Holy Thursday with the pope at San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John Lateran) and stations of the cross outside the Colosseum with the pope on Good Friday. Finally, on Saturday we had a tour of the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's and on Easter Sunday we had mass with Papa Benedicto!!!
Seriously though, we were sitting in dresses in the pouring rain for 5 hours and were literally so cold we couldn't stop shivering but it was SO WORTH IT. It was an amazing experience - especially hearing the pope deliver Easter blessings in 53 different language (I can personally say that his French is flawless and I've heard enough to know that his Hindi and Swahili both sound spot on).





And I got to see Fr. Matthew on Monday which was awesome! It was cool to just hang out with him and be shown around Rome. I'm really glad I got to see him. And he introduced us to a friend of his who is an Irish Augustinian brother... very cool, fun guy. :D
It was a great day!




Finally, we may or may not have had pizza and gelato twice a day, everyday. ;)