Potato!

Yes, ladies and gents, my first irish potato.

I got up...not as early as I'd planned and set out to do some shopping and exploring. Seeing as I always get lost, the two have become synonymous. I accidentally found the city centre and the Cathedral (hopefully photos at the bottom) and shopped around some little chemist shops, 2Euro shops (like an expensive Dollar store), and Dunnes. In Eyre Square, inside a shopping centre, I started getting a bit hungry--not having eaten much for breakfast or lunch. I couldn't decide if I wanted hot cocoa or a pastry, and soon I stumbled upon a milkshake bar. I asked them for their best kind of chocolate milkshake (there were maybe 30-40 options for milkshakes), and the shopkeeper told me that Chocolate Muffin was the way to go. I said OK, and she proceeded to pour milk into a blender, drop in a whole chocolate muffin, and blend it up for me. Can you say awesome?

Found my way back to campus (after a few dead-ends running into the Corrib river--I guess I found the boat landings!), and joined a Campus tour. Met some other nice internationals from Chicago, San Jose, Kansas, and Germany. Kind of learned to orient myself and headed home for dinner and to figure out the evening. My roommate, Cassie is here with her friend from school, and he lives in the building next to us. He is, apparently, famous for his mashed potatoes, so we decided to collaborate for dinner. We gals brought over rice and stir-fry veg, while the guys made baked beans and potatoes. I got to meet all of the guys, which was cool--they're great. The International Center was showing The Commitments at 7, so we decided to head over (I was the only one who'd seen it). We left the potatoes uneaten, as they weren't quite finished yet. (For some reason, the guys' apartment has a potato masher, a drying rack, and tupperware. We have none of those things, but do have two extra spatulas and four casseroles without lids. Strange.) After the movie, we came back and ate the still-warm mashed potatoes, and I can witness, Gary's fame as potato cook is well-earned. There was a bit of garlic, some onions, and I don't know what else, but it was lovely. He insisted that they still weren't perfect and he'll try again, so I am looking forward to testing his new creations. (My other flatmate, Claire, doesn't like potatoes, so Cassie and I have decided to learn as many different recipes as possible until we find one she likes. It's the only thing here that's cheap!)

Claire joined Cassie, Gary, his flatmate Steven, and myself as we headed to the city centre for the evening. We found Shop Street and some famous pubs (Taaffe's, Quays, the Roisín Dubh), but they were all too crowded by 10:30 on a....Wednesday....night. So we found chill little pub a little ways from the hubub, and decided to get a pint and sit outside. It was a very nice little place--Jimi Hendrix and Simon & Garfunkel posters on the walls, assorted album covers and postcards hanging everywhere, tons of nooks and crannies full of mismatched easy chairs and couches. While we were sitting there, I heard the Beach Boys' "Come Go With Me," A-Ha's "Take on Me," and Billy Joel's "Piano Man" all in a row. Nice. When we got to the door, the security/whatever guy asked us how old we were. Claire said "20," and he waved us all through. Very tight pub, that. The guys got Guinness (of course), and we ladies each enjoyed a pint of Bulmers (it's an Irish hard cider--perfect for non beer fans). It was a nice evening, we all got to know each other, talking for about an hour and then all the way home (orientation started at 9:30 this morning, so we couldn't stay out that late). Cassie and Gary are both physics majors, Steven's a math major, and Claire is psych, so I was--as usual--away from my music/theatre geeks. But it was OK--Steven and I managed to agree on one universal truth: Superman < Batman. And the Phantom Tollbooth is awesome.

This morning's orientation session went from 9:30-1, mostly all speakers and powerpoint. Yay! I am still a bit confused out specifics, but I am excited to get started!