Another Day in Dublin

January 20, 2010 8:56 pm
The past few days nothing too exciting has happened but I wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive so I figured I would blog!
Last night our French roomate Laetitia and Charlotte made our roomates supper and invited 6-8 of their friends over from France. It was so nice of them! We ate frozen pizza and for dessert they gave us bananas and nutella. I have never heard of nutella before but it is AMAZING!!! I might bring some home with me because I don't think Iowa has it! It was so interesting to sit and "talk" to these students. They all have been learning English since 7th grade but really had no way of practicing it until they came here. For thinking they are bad at it they are pretty good! They love American tv shows but it is so strange because it is in English but they do French voice overs, yet that is what they are used to. One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, and many many more shows and movies are here like that. We talked about the movie the Hangover and to them they call it A Bad Bad Trip. That is how it translates for them in French. How crazy is that? Charlotte had her laptop out with itunes playing and it amazed me how many American songs she had such as Lady Gaga and many more. Kristen and I asked them about it and they said they love American music because it is so so good. I was mouthing the words to a song hoping no one saw me. One of the French guys, Steven, pointed me out and said, "I saw you on MTV the other night! Taylor Swift!" They all tried to teach us a little French but I am horrible at it so I think they gave up on me. They stayed until 9:30 or so and then we cleaned up. It was really nice to meet them when they are not being crazy. One French kid has already been fined 200 euro due to playing with the fire extinguisher. They are very loud but that is their culture, I am slowly getting used to it! They were extremely nice last night and were generally interested in getting to know us. One guy was fascinated with me being a farmer's daughter. I have no idea why.
Today we had class from 10-12, 2-4, and 4:15-6. It was a long long day! Kristen, Meghan D., and i went to look at Celtic rings during the first break. It is a souvenier that I have really wanted since arriving and I figured that will be the one souvenier I buy myself and will really cherish. I bought one. It i two hands holding a heart with a crown on it. The heart stands for love, the hands are for friendship, and the crown is for loyalty. If you point the heart towards you it means your heart is joined with anothers (that is how I have been wearing mine). If you point it outwards it means you are available!. The orgin of the Claddagh ring as they are called comes from Richard Joyce. I will type the explanation card out for everyone!:
The Joyces were one of the famous "Tribes of Galway" who settled in the Connemara region between the Twelve Bens and Lough Corrib. They were descendants of the Norman families who came from Wales with Richard de Burgo when he took Galway from the O'Connors in 1232. The Cromwellians during their conquest sent young children from Galway to work in slavery on the plantations of the West Indies. The boat on which young Richard Joyce found himself was captured by Moorish pirates. His new master, a Moorish Goldsmith, taught him his craft and when he returned to Galway in the late 1600's he set up a workshop in the Claddagh region. What the Claddagh motif signifies we cannot be sure, but by tradition it is believed to denote that Friendship and Love should regin supreme. Two hands cradling a crowned heart; the Heart for Love, the Hands for Friendship, the Crown for Loyalty. The popularity of the Claddah spread with the mass exodus from the West of Ireland during the Great Famine of 1847-1849. The Claddagh is worn by people all over the world including many famous.
How cool is that?!
Meghan M. has been having shooting pains in her leg for two days now, yesterday it was so bad she couldn't go to class. Today a rash broke out. She went to the doctor and he did nothing for her. He gave her medicine pretty much saying it may or may not help. I hope I do not get sick because that is ridiculous. I talked to my mom about the symptoms and she said it might be shingles. Kristen and I looked up the symptoms, talked to Meghan and decided that that is pretty much exactly what she has. The poor girl just got over tonsilitis and now that happens. We are leaving on a trip at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow for Northern Ireland but she cannot go. We all feel awful about it! I feel really bad but I don't know what to do for the poor girl! The trip should be really fun though...we will have to bring Meghan something back!