What, classes are over already?!?!?

Well yes they are, after just three months classes have ended and it is now on to exam time. Great. Just as we were all getting into our routines and finally getting the hang of classes they go and end. But it was a really great three months and I'm so thankful for them. I have learned so much and grown so much from my experience here, I just wish it wasn't all going by so fast. We now have a two month period in which we take exams and hand in projects. For those with just papers they can hand them in as soon as they write them and then they're done! I however have no papers, just exams. And so I must wait for the scheduled day to take my exam and thus prolong the period of suffering a bit longer. I have six exams the first being next Monday, the 11th, and the last being May 10th. Yeah, lots of time to ah study, I guess ;)

I was taking business classes, similar to the topics being offered at home. At the beginning of the semester I thought I wouldn't be getting as much out of these classes as the kids who got to take classes on Irish history and medieval castles and literature classes. But not only did I learn tons in my lecturers, I also loved them! I'm also super happy that I don't have to write the 3000 word essays that those kids are now struggling through! For the most part my entire grade rests on a few short answer questions given in the two hour long exam. A little nervous about that one.

This past weekend I went down to the Saturday market in town for the first time. I have no idea why I never went before because it was great!!! It helped that the weather was being lovely, but it was seriously the greatest Saturday morning ever. This weekend was great overall, filled with great friends and food and sunshine (for the most part!). I've been blessed with some pretty awesome friends and I am so thankful that the Lord has brought them into my life. It will be really hard to say goodbye to them (some are leaving in a few weeks :( ). But we are enjoying the time we have been given. You can check out my Facebook video for some of the fun we have on a regular basis at Java's coffee shop.

Here are a few pictures from the past few days:

Indian food!

Last night I hosted my first dinner party here in apartment 25. I was tons of fun to have some great friends over to eat some great food. It was my first attempt at cooking Indian food without my dad's help, and I think I pulled it off quite nicely. I followed a recipe of Jamie Oliver's with some minor adjustments. The recipe can be found here: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/steak-indian-style-spinach-amp-paneer-sa

A few pictures of the evening

Sunshiny Days

So it's been way too long since I gave you all an update on my life. Here are a few highlights from the last month.

Pancake Day was quite the craic, I ate nothing but pancake all day. Three full meals and a midnight snack of just pancake. It was a good day indeed.

I took a trip to Scotland with my International Business class and had a great time!

After classes in Glasgow on Friday I headed off to Drymen, near Loch Lomond, with this dear soul:

We saw some lovely things such as Buchanan Castle:

And Loch Lomond:

We then headed to Stirling where we climbed to the top of the Wallace Monument

And then went to Edinburgh:

Great trip! I loved Scotland and definitely want to go back someday.

Some other happenings:
Several 21st birthday parties, St. Paddy's Day, and a Despicable Me themed dinner party!

Spring has finally come to Galway!!!

Connemara!!!

This past Saturday I got to go on a day tour of the Connemara area which included Cong and Kylemore Abby. It was lovely! Here are a few pictures from the day:

Really cool old monastery that we got to explore. Beautiful surrounding area too!

Pat Cohan Bar in Cong which is featured in the film The Quiet Man

Kylemore Abby

Beautiful!!!

A little bit of everything

Today has been absolutely beautiful! Having the sun shining and the birds singing, plus the warmer temperatures, made walking to church this morning quite enjoyable. It was the perfect way to start my day. It is always a struggle to make myself get up, but when I do I am always so blessed by going to church and getting to fellowship with such amazing people. I've also been realizing more and more recently how much going to church isn't simply about what I can get out of it, but also about what I have to offer to others and to the Lord. That reminder makes it a delight and a privilege to gather together with other believers.

God has such a heart for this city and for this country, I am so excited to be apart of what He is doing here and I hope to be a part of the even big things that are to come. This week is Rag Week for NUIG and while eveyone else is partying and staying up till all hours of the night, I will be joining together with other Christians on campus to pray for our city and our campus. We will be doing some outreach in the city and hosting alternative events for students to come to. I'm excited for this week because it means I will get to see everyone every night this week!!! That's always good.

Tonight for dinner I made Chicken Tetrazzini with my roommates and we had a little family dinner. It was so nice to share a meal together just the four of us. It was also nice to stay in and not have to worry about going anywhere tonight. And while I should probably try to get stuff done tonight, I'm not even going to worry about it. I'm going to finish off this almost perfect day with my cup of tea and a movie all cozy in my bed. Yep, it's the perfect day.

Crazy side notes:
Tomorrow will mark two whole months of me being in Ireland. Crazy!

The Irish are so superstitious and it makes me laugh. They think I'm crazy, but that's ok.
They celebrate and remember the date of someone's death the way we would remember a birthday. They call them anniversaries (and no they don't also call wedding dates this, those hardly get mentioned). So the way we remember Martin Luther King Jr. on his birthday or Washington and Lincoln on theirs, the Irish would remember them on the date of their death. It's sort of a celebration though, nothing sad or solemn about it.


A few pictures from our weekend out at An Cheathru Rua:

                                                      The view from where we were staying

                                                                 Pretty country road

                              Group of students who sang, danced, and played their instruments for us!!!
                                                                 Highlight of the weekend!