im from UUUHMERIKA

yesterday. was. st patricks day. 

IN DUBLIN IRELAND.

yeah, it was kind of a big deal.

i spent $400, again FOUR HUNDRED dollars in the past week. i swear i was robbed. i dont remember spending that much. i woke up this morning with shamrock tattoos on my face, my hair could get me drunk if i smelled it and/or be considered flammable, i have the worse headache of my life, and im lovin every minute of it. i have eaten fish and chips, taken more cabs to more clubs/pubs, and had more beer in the last week than i have all year. this is the first real weekend that im actually IN the country. we always travel! it has made me realize that i dont really have that many friends here, and its because we had to choose between traveling everywhere or staying here and partying with everyone all the time. its a little saddening =[ price i pay i guess. 

anywho, on wednesday night we went to a club called diceys. its pretty common  to go there, ITS HUGE and they offer awesome international discounts. it was jam packed. i had a blast. the lady insisted on a "bag check" as soon as i got in, which is something they have never done. i had about 2 mixed drinks in there. shes like "im gonna hafta take this" in her manly voice and i was like, "ok butch, take my snapple" apparently it was a big deal because i kept repeating how upset i was all night long. we took a cab there, but instead of taking one back we walked. i have no cute heels here that i can walk in, so i have to wear my heeled boots all the time. not a fan =/ 

the next morning i was dying and i swore id never drink again. but i sobered up somewhat by the time the parade and the hurling/gaelic football match rolled around. our seats were AWESOME! i had a blast there. i swear, genevieve just snaps her fingers and makes everything perfect. i love that woman, shes amazing. i may or may not have had a burger from a vendor because i was dying, and hot dog at the game (jake got us one, hes so sweet!) AND a green slushy that conveniently turned my mouth a festive color. then i ate fish and chips and a pub. i have ruined my diet. we drank at a pub after the games. i paid way too much money for food and of course way too much for drinks. then, we came home, got ready, and st patricks day began. we pregamed and went out. i few half decent looking men were talking to me. he said where are you from and when i said the US i got the classic response of "haa, of course, but where in" i just say chicago because no one knows anything else in the states. i then tell everyone that ive been here since january. usually, they are surprised, but then believe me. this guy last night refused to believe me! lol i had to show him my student ID before he realized i wasnt a tourist. its actually kind of annoying after a while. but over all, the night was a great success [said in borat accent] we got back, jess paid me 13 cents for the cab [thanks jess] and we went upstairs. jake bought a frozen pizza and i loaded with veggies, because we have to get our 5 a day somehow! drunkenly works.so since i raged the last two days i have to be a shut-in today and do all my homework. my friend is here from back home, she came to see another friend of mine and i was just a perk in the whole deal :P, so i need to spend time with her also. i cant wait to go home! apparently, i had a 30 minute convo with my parents last night. if they had time to talk with me, that means they weren't as busy as they had hoped =/ sad. i hope they made some moneys tho. the whole conversation is patchy. also apparently, i stole a bracelet and a scarf. also apparently, i took all my clothes off and somehow got into jakes shirt and boxers. and apparently, i made new friends in ireland last night. we've got to start planning amsterdam/brussels, and im saving my appetite for some brownies. ima go try and get all the booze and green off of me, get some lunch with my favorite bunny, and try to be a student for a few hours.

i have 29 days left. 

we'll get two wee cups and split it! (land of scots)

SCOTLAND! 

i just got back from a 3 days trip to scotland. traveling seems to be getting more and more stressful lately. im getting kind of burned out i think. that, and things have been crazy-stressful lately. im nearing the end of my trip, and frustrations are getting the best of me and patience is running thin. but anywho

Scotland was a ton of fun. we booked a hotel that was MUCH more expensive than i anticipated it to be, i bet it wouldnt have been so pricey had we not booked it the night before. it was nice to have our own room to trash tho. our first night there we just chilled out for a while, then went out and navigated. we found the Royal Mile, which is one of the main streets in Edinbraugh (spelling?) we did some shopping, and i may or may not have bought a wallet that looks like burberry and a passport cover that is INSANELY adorable. i would out pictures on here, but i CANT RIGHT NOW because my computer is still dead. the adapter went out on it, and i had to wait for HP to send me another one. turns out they refuse to send it anywhere but the billing address, and i had to have it sent to the US then to here. it has been 3-5 days and i still dont have it. of course it couldnt have happened in the TWO MONTHS that i had nothing to do academically, it has to happen in the week span where everything is due. its not even that ive been slacking, its that all my work is on my computer. i usually throw it on google docs so i can access it everywhere, but of course i didnt do that this time. the library computers here dont even have word on them! technology HATES europe. its so frustrating.

anyway, scotland. 

we saw the castle in edinbraugh, and a couple more cathedrals. they were gorgeous. we didnt get to go to St. Andrews because it was snowing (snowing!) and the buses wouldnt run. i was not about to take a two hour cab ride after paying almost $40 a night for a room, so we stayed where we were. we did some grocery shopping and played a drinking game to CSI: Miami. the game was every time they said something stupid or corny we had to drink. who knew we'd be almost chugging our stuff. that show is so dumb! jessica appointed me judge, the position i was soon thrown out of after one episode. it aint my fault we decided on a dumb show!

the trip was stressful and frustrating. we ended up having to sleep in the airport bc we couldnt afford another hotel in glasglow. we went out to eat, i had a burger ( ^_^ ) we jumped on our flight at 7am, we THOUGHT we left phoebe behind, JESSICA IS A LIAR. overall, it was nice to see scotland, but it wasnt terribly eventful, and it was so nice to be back din Dublin.

since we've been back, we've started to work on our group project. we have to come up with a marketing campaign for a product. we chose a marketing campaign for redbox here in europe. they dont offer any here, weird right? BUT since i dont have a computer, it makes researching and typing terribly difficult. ive been reading handouts for my other classes. READING pieces of paper, who does that anymore? like, highlighter and everything. it BLOWS. i have to make this blog quick, because ive stolen jake's computer from him and he wants it back. jerk :P there will be more posts later. ive got a ton to talk about, considering this is st. patricks WEEK and im in dublin. prepare for a shitshow.

peace out

ciao, bella

ROME:

our little trip to rome was EXHAUSTING, to say the least.

i shall regale you as to why, whilst i lay in a bed i may not get out of today and eat an apple, the only non-carb/gelato item ive had to eat in days.

so, being the eager traveller that i am, and having the somewhat anal type A personality boyfriend i have, i made all the arrangements we would need to allow this trip to go smoothly. of COURSE this cant happen, i mean its me we're talking about. i booked a hotel, yes HOTEL not hostel, on cheaphotels.com thinking that this would be our little splurge trip and we'd have some luxury. i looked up directions to all the sites we wanted to see and was so relieved when the directions seemed easier than any other trip ive planned. our flight got in at about 10 pm (night was the cheapest) so i thought we could go straight to our hotel and meet up with the boys in the morning.

boy, was i wrong.

we got to the airport in Dublin just fine. we used to take a cab (costed about 25E) but we found a shuttle bus that brought us there for E6 each. i searched and searched the airport for Dr. Pepper to bring to andri, as they dont have it in italy i guess(those poor, sad italians) and was unsuccessful. our flight was more than a little shaky, the landing bounced like 3 times and we basically had to keep our seat belts on the whole time. we get into Rome (ciampano) and we take a shuttle to Termini, the big train and bus station. 

its aaaaaall down hill from there. 

in termini, we first thought we'd look up a bus that might take us there. we cant seem to find a schedule, so we decide to go find information as they usually speak english. we end us wandering the termini station for several hours, all while trying to get our phones to work to call the boys, trying to find an information desk. at about 11:30 pm, we finally find one. in very broken english, the man tells us that our hotel we booked, you know, the one that said it was 11km (about 6 miles) from trastevere where the boys live is actually 30 KM (15 MILES) from where the boys live, about 25 miles from Termini. no buses or trains run that far, and the best way would be to take a E65 taxi. 

then

we go to take a taxi, we're standing outside, minding our own business, when this short tubby italian man comes up to us and asks where we're going. we tell him, and then a group of 4-5 italian men crowd around us and start babbling in italian about who is going to take us there. i was starting to get weirded out by them, but jake said he read that that's what taxi drivers do there, they discuss who is going where because some of them dont want to drive super far but some dont mind, etc, etc. the guy says "you wait for taxi, will be E100! i take you for 90" i said "im definitely not paying more than E50", and we negotiated until about E65 was decided. we start walking to his car. WHICH we find out is an unmarked, taxi license-less car. i was like NOPE not getting in there. he couldnt figure out why in the world we wouldnt want to drive with him in his sketchy ass car. he kept saying "i know these streets vedy well vedy well you get there fast" YEAH, without our organs. needless to say we ditched him quick. 

so now its about 12:30 am and our phones FINALLY start working. we get a hold of the boys who said they will come to termini.jake and i are sitting in the train station cafe tired, cranky, hungry, and pissed. we decide to walk around a bit, watching all the hobos drink and have deep philosophic discussions. finally this person comes running at us screaming something. i started to walk away and was like ANDRI?! it was our friend from florence that was in rome too. THEY WERE FINALLY HERE. its about 1am at this point.

we walk to the boys apartment, about a half hour walk, so i can use their internet to try to find a hostel for the night and cancel our other res.im on there for about 2 hours and cant find a THING thats under E100, even hostels were crazy expensive. its about 2:30 am. trevor looks up some hostels that are close to the apartment, gives us directions, and jake, drunk matt, somewhat buzzed mark, and i set out to find these places.

so, google maps lies. ALOT.

we took the exact directions  it gave us, only to find out that not 1, not 2, but ALL 3 of these hostels do not exist. at lest not in the place that they say they do. we wandered basically into the complete other side of Rome, kind of the ghetto area. its about 5am now. we decide, after getting very lost, to head back. we finally head back to the boys apartment at about 530 am. we sat at the table till about 6am, and decided that it was best to give up, save one night's hotel fee and just get trashed at the table until morning. thats exactly what we did.

matt ended up passing out at the table, smashed his head against the corner, mark jake and i kept talking irish accents saying "DRUNK POTATOES" over and over again; it was a shitshow.

so now it's 7:30 am, we watched the sun come up in rome, drunk. i found us a new hotel and at 8am, i called and asked if i could check in that early. i was able to sweet talk him into letting us, and we set out, once again, on our trek around Rome. if thats what being homeless feels like, i can see the pros and cons. we FINALLY got to our hotel. we got a "queen sized bed" which was actually just two beds pushed together. as soon as we walked in, i ran to the shower, jake ran to the bed. i joined him shortly after; its incredible what a hot shower can do. we finally slept.

but only for 3 hours.

its now noon. we decide to get up and sight-see, goddamnit. it took us a little bit to figure out the public transportation, but we did, and  then we went to the Vatican. it was like Christian Mecca. St. Peter's was incredibly gorgeous. it gave me chills. i blessed myself with holy water from the vatican. i feel holier. lol! 

later that night, we went out to eat with boys.  i had pesto gnocchi, jake had a different kind. then we got gelato, my second one of the day. IT WAS AWESOME. we wanted to stay and party with them, but our buses stopped running at 1am, so we had to head back to the hotel. i slept like a rock.

day 1/day 2 = 3 out of 5 stars.

The next day, we saw the colosseum and the roman forum. i forgot my camera in the hotel, so no pictures from the forum. it was so beautiful. it was sunny and gorgeous out, still a little chilly tho. i wore my new yellow roman dress, E12! we were supposed to go to a soccer match with the boys, but we decided to sight see more. we wanted to see the trevi fountain and the colosseum at night, so we were going to go back and put pants and sweaters on.

turns out, roman metros only run until 9pm on sundays.

so now we're stuck at a bus stop called cornelia, with no bus going home and no train to take us to the city center. we finally get on two connecting trains NEAR our hotel and walked the rest of the way. so, stuck in the suburbs of italy because nothing runs on sundays, we decide to go to dinner. pictures are on here. it was a tiny little place and i got a veggie pizza and this super yummy dessert. we got about a block away on the bus and i thought, hey, id better check for my wallet. YUP. i left it at the restaurant. we went SPRINTING back, trying not to have a panic attack. we got  there and the waiter had it in his apron. he was even going to bring it to the hotel as its the only one near the restaurant and he knew we weren't italian. i couldve hugged him. THANK GOD it was a tiny mom-and-pop place. italy outside of the roman city center actually reminds me alot of arizona when i went with my family on the way to hawaii. it was nice =] but anyway, we went to sleep early and got much needed down time together.

the next day, we got up early and saw the vatican museum, sistine chapel, colosseum again, and hung out with matt. we cut in line about 2 hours up the que, and made it into the chapel in about an hour's wait. it was INCREDIBLE. we had gelato AGAIN; we knew it was the last time we could there. on the way to the colosseum, i tripped on a rock and fell and twisted my ankle. i just sat on the ground for a while. seriously, what else? it was fine tho, just a little sore. we got back on a train and got on the shuttle to the airport. the shuttle left late. of course the shuttle left late. we got to the airport with only 45 minutes to go through security and get to our gate. we got there on time, and got in line right away. 

turns out, ryan air delays flights and doesnt tell you

so, our flight was delayed an hour. its not 9pm and we've been standing in line for an hour. jake and i are sitting on the floor in line at this point. they have it set up so that once you're through passport check, you cant go back out to go get food or anything to drink. yet again, jake and i are cranky, tired, starving (we ate breakfast and that was it), and we JUST WANT TO GO HOME. we finally board the plane and ride on of the shakiest, coldest flights of my life. it landed late, and as we were hurrying through the terminal in Dublin we saw the shuttle bus that would take us to oconnell.

turns out, it was the last shuttle bus.

SO, we end up taking a more expensive coach bus to our stop and ride the luas home. we never buy luas tickets, you can normally just jump on.

turns out, they have guards that check your tickets after 11pm.

THANKFULLY they did not check ours. the guys didnt seem to vigilant on doing their job. THANK. GOD. finally got home and passed out. i may have skipped my 3 hour masters class. sorry, david hurley and other french students that i hate. i was supposed to volunteer, and i was trying to find a way out of it when i got an email from the guy saying not to come in today. SWEET. i get to go learn how to play gaelic football today, and it counts for a grade. after the weekend i had, i'll take it.