I got the pleasure of taking my phone to the phone repair shop and getting it fixed for a lovely 130 GBP. On the bright-side, the gas station near Coppin House is finally finished. In fact, it seems to be more than just a regular gas station. It is part Centra and part Moran’s which means that they do sell gas (petrol), but they also sell produce, snacks, hot food, and ice cream. That night some friends from Coppin and I went try out their ice cream. Not bad and after having to get my phone fixed it made the day much better.

April 10, 2019

The weather was super nice today! No rain, not as cold, and *gasps* the sun decided to grace us with its appearance. This type of weather is too good to not be in it and I ended up going with Antonia and Josie on a walk.

After not having any assignments or tests this entire semester, final assignments and tests are rolling around all due around the same time. I have to say that even with deadlines coming up this semester has been the most relaxing semester of my entire academic career.

April 11, 2019

Presented on my topic for Irish Folklore today and it went well (it’s also over which is even better). I had chosen to research Irish wakes and funerary customs and I truly did enjoy researching that topic. It was a perfect mix of anthropology and history.

In typical Thursday class fashion, a group of us went to Boojum for lunch this time in celebration f being finished with presentations.

April 13, 2019

Somehow Alaina and I got it into our heads that we needed to visit Glenveagh National Park. It is the second largest national park in Ireland and is just a not so quick trip across the border. Of course, the only bus time that would get us there was at 8:30 am which lead to us getting up at 7 am. However, we almost didn’t get to Glenveagh.

We were not able to exchange our GBP for Euros and the bus did not take card payments. Fortunately, the bus driver was an amazingly sweet woman who set a positive tone for our entire trip. She allowed us to ride to the Letterkenny bus station and just use the ATM there to get the money to her. She even pointed us in the right direction to catch our other bus towards the actual park. She was so helpful and nice that it made our day. The thing we didn’t account for is that there is only one bus that goes to and from the national park and it drops you off at 10:15 am and does not come back until 5 pm. That is the only bus. That meant we were at that park for almost six hours. Six. Hours.

When life tries to give you lemons, make lemonade. The park was huge and we were able to explore basically all the park had to offer. From the gift shop and restaurant to the Glenveagh castle and the beautiful gardens. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside of the Castle but it was truly beautiful.

April 14, 2019

Today was just spent studying for my upcoming finals and working on my research paper for my From Civil Rights to Brexit class. I decided to explore hunger striking and its use in Irish resistance. It is going pretty well and I am learning things that I had wanted to explore when I decided I wanted to come here.

I guess I’m becoming a Cinematic Arts major with the amount of movies I’m seeing this semester. Antonia, who is actually majoring in Cinematic Arts, and I saw Instant Family in theaters this afternoon. It was great because during the day on Tuesday the ticket is discounted so I only paid around 3 GBP for the movie.

March 29, 2019

I was interviewed by Dmitry, another international student from the U.S. He has this project that he does back at home that is similar to the Humans of New York franchise except with people around his home university. It is called Humans of Hampshire College. The whole concept behind the project is tremendously interesting and I would recommend looking at other stories. You are telling the stories of the people around you and in this international setting, there is another dimension being added to the story– a sort of reflective element. It was fun to do and it made me want to do something similar at Agnes.

March 31, 2019

There is nothing like hiking around a Mesolithic site and someone’s backyard.

Alaina and I went to visit a Mountsandel aka the Middle Stone Age. To put the age of this site into perspective for non-history people. The Mountsandel was built before farming even began on the island of Ireland and before Stonehenge was built. So yea, it’s pretty old. It remains one of the earliest known settlements in Ireland. It has been excavated and the site was also used in later periods of Irish history. Sadly, none of the pictures could capture just how deep the impression is and how diffult it was to climb along the side of it to get a picture.

Google, of course, made walking to the location a little difficult. Sometimes Google does interesting things when you’re trying to walk somewhere which is why it led us through this opening in a fence inside a neighborhood that led to a field. To give Google some credit, Mountsandel was across the field, however, it was an interesting path. But, it was worth it. Mountsandel was beautiful and I was excited to be walking around such an ancient site.

It wouldn’t be an outing with Alaina if we did not end up ending outside in an impromptu picnic. Sitting on a rock wall in a Lidl parking lot enjoying our snacks from said store gained us the most interesting looks, but a sunny day cannot be wasted.

March 22, 2019

I decided to suck it up and re-do my hair. I love the hairstyle, but having to re-do it yourself takes something out of you. The take-down, the hair washing, the stretching and drying, the parting, etc. However, I managed to finished before 3 pm which was my goal for the day.

Later on Antonia and I went to see Jordan Peele’s US. There will be no spoilers of any sort in this post. I just wanted to say it was a good piece of cinematography. The distorted version of I Got 5 on It and especially the string version of the song set the tone for the film. In fact, I liked the music used in the film. The actors were on point and especially Lupita Nyong’o. She snapped in that film. I would recommend the movie to anyone who hasn’t seen it. But enough of my amateur film reviewing.

March 24, 2019

Nail painting party at Coppin House! Some of my friends and I got together and had like an impromptu nail painting and crepe eating party. One of the girl’s had a sister that was visiting and we got to meet her. It’s crazy to think back to the first week of being here and worrying about making friends and being alone in a new environment.

Who doesn’t love donuts and shopping?

I went with some friends to the Foyleside Mall because who doesn’t love a little retail therapy more like window shopping. The best thing about the mall is that there is a Starbucks there. It’s been hard to find a nice iced caramel macchiato in town and Starbucks is old faithful.

March 15, 2019

Guess who got their nose pierced?

I just want to make it clear that this was not an entirely impulsive decision. Alaina was coming to L’Derry so we could travel to Donegal together for St. Patrick’s Day. We researched and found a perfectly non-sketchy and sterile tattoo and piercing shop, Holdfast Tattoo and Piercing. No appointment needed, just walk-in. I meet Alaina at the train station and we walked and got our noses pierced right off the bat. It hurt and I almost chickened out multiple times, but I did it!

For lunch, I got the pleasure of introducing Alaina to Patricia’s Coffee Shop which will be even better to go to when it gets warmer because it’s located on the riverfront. Basically we ended up walking along the riverfront, eating pastries for dinner, and clutching our throbbing noses.

I finally got to check out the Omniplex Movie Theater in town. We saw What Men Want (super funny and I would recommend) and the seating there is AMAZING. Enough leg room for people to pass without them being in your lap, seating that is cushioned, and the seats RECLINED. I know I’m being dramatic but I’ve have never experienced such luxurious in a movie theater. Now, the popcorn we need to work on. Apparently, it is not a thing here to put butter on popcorn. Even the at the movie theater the option is only salty, not salty and buttery. However, there is the option of getting SWEET popcorn. It’s not caramel corn but it’s like they put sugar instead of salt over the popcorn-a whole new cultural experience.

March 16, 2019

Most of our day was spent traveling by bus from L’Derry to Donegal. Honesly, it was a very nice ride and the views were amazing. I am always amazed by how most of Ireland seems to be agricultural. I was also able to experience the border situation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which is to say I was able to experience why a hard border would be an issue.

Currently, traveling from Northern Ireland to the Republic is like crossing state lines in the United States. It happened so quickly I didn’t realize that we were in the Republic until a while later. From the stories my professor tells us about his childhood growing up with the border and seeing how many lives depends on the freedom of movement between the two countries, I am beginning to truly understand how much an impact Brexit can make on an individual level.

We made it to Donegal and with check-in at 3pm we decided to look into all the cool little shops and checked out the places that the town had to offer. But of course it was raining so it was mostly finding places to take cover. However there was a bit of sunshine as we were touring Donegal Castle.

I got to try a traditional Irish lamb stew, one of the specials at Blueberry Tearoom and Cafe, for dinner. It was truly good and what I needed after the cold and rainy day. The waitresses were super nice and seemed to know every local that came in. Don’t even get me started on the dessert! One of the waitresses recommended it to us and to be completely honest I didn’t hear anything beyond chocolate.

Donegal Town is small and it seems that everyone seems to know everyone. Our taxi driver knew our Airbnb host and was able to navigate with much direction. Christina and Eamonn were our Airbnb hosts and they were the nicest people. The was nice and we had our own full bathroom!

March 17, 2019

It’s Lá Fhéile Pádraig !!!! (St. Patrick’s Day)

If you don’t know, St. Patrick was the one to bring Christianity to Ireland in the year 432 AD which is why he is so important to Irish history and culture.

Christina recommended the Bank Walk to us after breakfast which we had never heard about. It is this pathway along the River Eske that flows into Donegal Bay. It also the cutest fairy doors and houses all along the path in the trees. And it was actually sunny today! Our Airbnb was not particularly close to town, but Eamonn offered to drive us since he had to go into town which was super sweet.

Hot chocolate and a nutella, strawberry, banana crepe constituted a late lunch. By 3pm the parade was starting. It was fun seeing the parade especially since it started with a bunch of children jumping up and down chanting, “Exercise!” Lots of cute children, families, and the random tourists like us. I think that’s why I think we made the right decision going to Donegal, it was mostly local people and not as crowded or touristy as Dublin from what I’ve heard from some people that went there. My favorite of the evening was a float from the Bohemian Rhapsody movie.

We spent some time trying to find a spot to eat because you can imagine that every place was packed. Thankfully a table at The Harbour was open. I have to say that I am becoming a fan of fish and chips. Earlier when Eamonn dropped us off he had recommended McCafferty’s Pub and from how crowded it was it was probably well worth the recommendation. Unfortunately, even the locals couldn’t get into the bar because it was so packed. We went to the Castle Bar instead and it was just as good. We were able to get a seat in the corner and enjoy our drinks in honor of St. Patrick.

Donegal has been great and I almost hate to leave, but I classes to show up.

Until next time, Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Ireland!

First off it was actually pretty warm today.

Irish is becoming more complicated the more we learn but isn’t it like that for everything you learn. Irish is like no other language that I have studied or even been exposed to because it has no roots in Latin or Greek. It is entirely, for the most part, based in Celtic origins. And then there are different ways to say yes and no to questions and it all depends on the verb used in the sentence. That along with the spelling is a lot to wrap my head around but practice makes perfect, right?

This is probably the least exciting, but finding iced coffee has had a trial and error phase on campus. But, I am happy to announce that I have been delivered! There’s a place called Jitters that sells an amazing iced caramel latte and croissants.

March 2, 2019

You know when I said it was warmer a few days ago. That didn’t last long at all. The wind today was INSANE to the point that I actually had to take over or risk being swept away.

Alaina came today and we went in search of Taboo Donuts…again. Now last time we found a stand in the Foyleside Mall that sold Taboo Donuts, but there is an actual brick and mortar shop in town. After getting directions from a really nice woman, we finally found it. Turns out that we have passed the shop before at least five other times in our original search for the shop. Because we could not just pick one, we decided to pick to each and share them. Oh, and did I meant that this was our breakfast.

We walked around Derry looking our the mall. There is a store in Foyleside Mall called M & S (Mark & Spencer) that sells clothes, has a cafe, and a small grocery store. A true one stop shop. We stopped for lunch at Grannie Annie’s which I heard was pretty good and they did not disappoint. The restaurant is also aesthetically appealing in my opinion. It looks like a quirky vintage shop. I would have taken a picture of my food but I was too busy stuffing my face eating it.

Jenny and I checked out Gweedore and The Guildhall Taphouse. Both were super nice places that were a mixture of traditional and contemporary elements. I absolutely love the traditional Irish aesthetic with more contemporary influences. Now to the mini rant that I want to get off my chest.

While I was waiting for an open stall in the restroom, a white woman grabbed my hair.

Wrapping her hands around my twists without a care in the world she exclaimed, ” It’s so long !“.

Now since being here, many people have complimented my hair, but none have touched it. One can give a compliment without touching someone. After a flurry of emotions and honestly being thrown off, I just gave her a nasty look and booked it into the nearest open stall before I said or did something. I figured it would happen, being in a place where the population is 9% non-white and around 1-2% Black. I have had enough people looking at my hair with great interest to know that someone would try it. That, however, does not make it any less annoying. I do not understand the process behind touching someone you do not know, specifically since hair is so personal. I know a lot of other Black women while traveling and in the United States has experienced this. And for the non-Black people who do not understand, it really is not a hard concept to grasp.

It goes hand in hand with consent.

She did not ask my consent to touch me or my hair. She just touched. And I can not help wondering what she would have done if I had just grabbed at her hair in the same manner. The action is filled with the implications of historical power relations and a common racial microaggression. It says that you have a sense of entitlement to my body and my hair. It is not a compliment and there a hundred billion ways to compliment without touching.

Until next time…

Neither Alaina or I had classes on Monday, so naturally, we decided to explore Northern Ireland! We decided to check out Cushendun, a village protected by the National Trust. The village is located along the Antrim coast and you can actually see Scotland from the coast.

And when I say a village, I mean a legit village. It was a bit of a shock to see a town so small, and in reality, Alaina and I walked around almost the entire village in a day. It was a beautiful place, but unfortunately, the places we wanted to visit were closed because it was off tourist season. Although we couldn’t visit the tearoom we wanted, we ended up having an impromptu lunch on the beach. Sitting a bench on the beach we saw a small dog, a gorgeous, tiny dog just running laps around the entire village. He was not interested in us at all, and he continued to run his little marathon at least six more times.

It was nice getting out and exploring more of Northern Ireland, plus, the bus ride to Cushendun was beautiful. I am not going to lie, I enjoyed the journey more than the destination.

February 19, 2019

Today was another one of firsts. Or more accurately, the first real Irish language class.

Learning Irish was pretty fun and the approach that the professor took was honestly so helpful. Seeing Irish as it is spelled, as an English speaker, is mind-boggling. For example, to say “hello” in Irish is written “dia dhuit“. Now, you would think that those D’s would sound like “dee”. But no, “dia dhuit” sounds actually sounds like “GEE A GWITCH” according to the Donegal dialect. There are fewer letters and certain groups of letters can make a different sound than what it looks like. “Deas” sounds like “JASS” and raibh sounds like “ROY”. It’s wild and confusing, but very cool.

February 21, 2019

Two of the girls from France and I went to the Ice Wharf. It’s always interesting to hear other people talk about their own countries and to hear a different and insider opinion on the world. I got to learn about Brittany, the region where they are going to university. and some of the history of the region.

February 23, 2019

As someone afraid of heights and bridges, I don’t really know why I signed up to go for this trip. The ResLife office, for the lovely price of 10 GBP, arranged for a trip to those that signed up to the Gobbins. The Gobbins is in Islandmagee and is an almost 3-mile walk on the side of a cliff along the Antrim coast that has existed since 1902. In case you missed, that I’ll say it again….a walk on the side of a cliff.

I’m not going to lie. I was shaking and had to focus on the path in order to not pee my pants. However, I got over the initial shock and on the whole, it was not that bad. The path and bridges were not too high up and looked to be very, very sturdy. Our guide was a very kind Scots-Irish man who regaled us with witty stories about the history of the Gobbins and some of the wildlife there. From smugglers hiding contraband in its caves to deaths of some WWII soldiers along its cliff-edge, the Gobbins has seen it all.

But, instead of me rambling on about how amazing it was and all of that, here are some pictures from the walk.

We also had to go through a cave where they had this system (still not sure how that worked) that kept the cave from filling up with water.

If you suffered from claustrophobia, this wasn’t for you.

February 24, 2019

Another day, another day trip. After the Gobbins I just stayed in Coleraine with Alaina for the night. Today we decided to visit Ballycastle, a coastal town we passed on the way to Cushendun.

It was nice and also very, very cold. We walked around town and little at the stores and shops. We had lunch at the famous Morton’s which has the best fish and chips I have ever tasted. 10/10 would recommend, it uses local fish and it’s super fresh. I had the battered cod and chips, and trust me, I don’t even like fish all that much and it was still good to me.

We went and found the Bonamargy Friary. Bonamargy was a Franciscan friary built in the late 15th century and was used as a church at one point. As creepy as this sounds, it was pretty cool to see the different gravestones and just how much they varied in age. Some graves were from the 1500s and then there was one of a man that died in the 1970s. The oddest thing is that right next to this historical and protected site is a golfing course. As Alaina and I explored Bonamargy, we were also making eye contact with people golfing a few feet away.

And of course, what is a cold day without some ice cream. Morelli’s Ice Cream Shop is pretty well known and we just had to try it. A nice scoop of lemon-lime ripple while sitting by the beach in February in Northern Irish weather is not the most ideal, but it was a nice view.

If we didn’t do that then we would have never seen the guy leading his pet pony on a leash for a walk on the beach. I have to say that, that was the highlight of the entire trip.

Until next time…

I think the typical image of someone studying abroad is one where the student is jetting off every weekend to a new place and doing something every day. And for the most part, I’ve felt like that too. I felt like every day I was not actively exploring or traveling was a waste of time. But, I realized that it’s not that simple.

It’s like going away to college, not every day of your life in college will be exciting or be filled with a new experience. Not everything will be a big, grand adventure and sometimes the adventures are smaller. Sometimes the triumphs or the highlights of the day is becoming more attuned to the culture and society you are living in and enjoying the subtle differences and similarities.

It’s about noticing the grandmother helping her granddaughter pick out outfits in Primark, a young man helping an older man cross the road, the way everyone seems to know everyone despite L’Derry being a city, and the quick-fire way of speaking and the dialect used by locals. The slow acclimation to the accent and the moment of confusion when you don’t understand something.

Sometimes it’s not just about the new sights and new places. Sometimes it’s about the looking and the seeing and the hearing. Sometimes it’s about slowing down and learning about their point of view of their country, of your country, and of their culture.

And really the majority of my week went like that. Doing mundane tasks like grocery shopping and mailing off postcards because I’m oldfashioned. Finally, getting more confident in using the oven and eating more than just PB&J sandwiches or takeout. I sat in Patricia’s Coffee Shop and enjoyed my coffee and scone while writing in my journal.

On February 14th, I went out with Jenny, Ombline, and Victrine to the Ice Wharf for a pseudo-Galentine’s Day. I went walking about the River Foyle and tried new shops and food places, and I am able to get around the city without using Google Maps. I think I am finally settling into my new home.

• Malls are called shopping centers
• Parking lots are called car parks
• Three hour-long classes with 10 minute “comfort” breaks that only meet once a week
• Most people don’t have classes on Monday or Friday and most people go home on for the weekend. Some people even have full-on jobs back homes that they go to on the weekend.
• Going out days Sunday/ Monday and Wednesday nights since most people are either returning back to campus (Sunday/Monday night) or leaving campus to go home on Thursday night (which is why Wednesday night is going out night)
• Makeup and the wearing of makeup. Some of the girls from Magee and around Northern Ireland wear what I would call a full face of makeup. Full coverage foundation, highlight, contour, smoky eye, and lipstick. Some are dressed up and sometimes others are wearing a sweatshirt and leggings. I honestly want to know their secret to how they keep their face set with all this rain and mist here.
• People definitely dress nicer/ are more fashionable here. Again it’s like the makeup, it’s not everyone, but enough to where I’ve noticed.
• It would also be nothing to see someone walking around with a skirt or a dress and maybe some tights or not even though it’s totally cold outside.
• Heels on cobblestones =a very impressive sight to see.
• Smoking! Whether it’s cigarettes or vapers, people seem to smoke a lot more here. It would be nothing to see a group of students standing outside for a smoke between classes, or seeing people crowding around the outside of a pub for a smoke, or seeing someone riding a bike and also having a smoke.
• Sinks in the dorm rooms. There is a sink next to my wardrobe which is very useful! You don’t need to go to the bathroom, every time you need to wash your hands, or do your face routine, or brush your teeth. It’s just very convenient and I wish we had that in the States.
• Single rooms/ no roommates. My entire dorm building here is made up of nothing but singles.
• Dialects and range of accents. People from L’Derry tend to speak faster than some other parts of Northern Ireland. I meet a man you grew up in a different region in Northern Ireland and we got to talking about the range of accents here. He’s from a county that talks noticeably slower than those who grew up in L’Derry whereas Belfast has their own distinct dialect.
• Paying for bags at stores. If you do not bring your own reusable bag or a bookbag to put your stuff in, getting a bag from the store costs some money. It’s nothing outrageous, it just makes bringing your own bag an initiative for most people which I appreciate thinking about it from a sustainable standpoint.
• Alcohol and pub culture. I ‘ve never had a professor or advisor give a recommendation for a pub or bar before, but it seems to be a thing here. Whiskey and little cups of Guinness was also offered at a Culture Shock event that was put on for international students. There was also a Refresher’s Quiz put on my either the student union or Reslife that was BYOB (bring your own bottle). Not necessarily bad, it’s just different.
• The obvious driving on the opposite side of the road and the use of roundabouts. I’ve almost been hit at least 10-15 times since being here just because I keep looking the wrong way. I dream for the day that I don’t have to look at both ends of the road 4 times before crossing.
• Young men wearing Adidas tracksuits seems to be a popular thing
• “What’s the craic”? “Where the craic”? Now, in Northern Ireland and the Republic “craic” means the news/gossip, entertainment, fun, how’s it going, etc. The first time someone said that to me I just stood there like a deer in headlights and said “Good”. What I was saying good to or why I was saying good, I don’t know but it was a natural response.
• “Cheers”! I am not completely sure of the use, it just seems to be an exclamation after an action. For example, a cashier saying cheers after I’ve signed my signature on the receipt after a transaction. I’ve seen a man buying a bus ticket and saying cheers after getting their ticket, and he said it again as he was getting off the bus.
• “Wee” is a word used pretty frequently here. “Can I have a wee signature”? “It’s just a wee walk”. “Do you need a wee bag”? “We’re gonna take a wee break”.
• You pay for meals at the till (cash register) at restaurants rather than a waiter/waitress bringing out the check and you handing them the money. Sometimes you tell the person what you had and other times they seem to already know.
• Brexit is a hot and relevant topic here given the history of L’Derry and its proximity to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
• Stay in a pub long enough and you’re bound to be approached by an older Irish man and regaled with a story or two along with a firm handshake.
• There is literally a street with nothing but pubs.
• There are switches that turn on the outlets. In order to use the outlet, you have to turn on the outlet.

• If something says it costs 5 GBP then it costs exactly 5 GBP
• Raincoats are a must because the wind can and will destroy your umbrella.
• Speaking of the wind here, it is a force to be reckoned with. I’ve almost taken flight a couple of times.
• There are restaurants that sell literally everything. A food shop could sell burgers, kebabs, pasta, pizza, wings, Indian food, traditional Irish breakfast, and everything else under the sun. You could literally eat several different kinds of foods at one place.

That’s all I could think of for now. Until next time!

I went grocery shopping and worked u the courage to take out money from a bank here. It was either be hit with a $8 ATM fee or keep paying for the 3% fees on every purchase I made with my card. Plus, not every place will take cards like little independent bakeries or markets. The only other option was paying 10.50 pounds for a train ticket to Coleraine where the nearest Barclay’s ATM was (Barclay’s being the only bank here that I can use without some sort of fee from Bank of America). And I had to think, was it worth the trip?

Apparently not.

I’ve also somewhat conquered my fear of the ovens here. Now let me explain. The ovens are not the same here as they are in the U.S. Firstly, in order to operate them at all you must first flip the switch on the wall to turn it on.

Now, the first time I tried to use the stove I didn’t know this major tidbit. Cue me waiting for far too long for my sweet potato to bake before realizing that the oven wasn’t getting hot and nothing was happening. That was not my proudest moment and neither was me removing my sweet potato from the oven and promptly putting it back on my shelf like nothing ever happened.

However, I think I have finally figured it out ( with the help of Alaina who I video called and forced to help me). After putting my groceries away, I tried again-and voila! It was cooking!! The only problem was that I forgot how long a potato of that size takes to bake and promptly got impatient which ended up with my nuking the potato in the microwave after approximately 30 minutes. But, I did! I use the oven!

February 5, 2019

I had my Introduction into Speaking Irish class today, although the professor still was not there and Dr. O Ciardha ended up teaching us again. It was a pretty fun class in my humble opinion. Some random stuff I thought was interesting from class:

• Dr. O Ciardha had apparently never tried or even heard of a fried oreo
• The Romans never physically conquered Ireland, but the arrival of Christianity via St. Patrick in 432 AD greatly altered the Irish language
• There are less letters in the Irish alphabet and they do not have the letters: J, K, V, W, X, Y, and Z

Today was also the first day of the boxing class that signed up for last week. I’ve always wanted to try boxing and for 10 pounds I decided why not. We did a lot more than just throwing some punches let me tell you. We started with a warm up moved to a series of core exercises, 2 rounds of jump roping, throwing punches while walking forward and backwards, and then ended with a 11 part circuit. It was still fun, even though I felt like dying (a slight exaggeration). It was good, well until the soreness kicked in the next morning.

February 7, 2019

I honestly thought I had the oven situation all figured out, I really did. Guess who ended up burning her dinner to a crisp in the oven. I just don’t think this should not be that hard to figure out (apparently it is for me considering the amount of food I burned in this oven). The funny thing is that like an idiot I somehow decided to sign for bakeoff here. Oh well, I have until March to get my life together and figure this out.

February 9, 2019

Ever since watching the Vagabond Brothers video, Alaina and I knew we had to visit the Mussenden Temple. It did not disappoint.

I meet up with Alaina in Castlerock, a beautiful town situated along the Causeway coast. Before venturing in search of the actual temple after receiving directions from the sweet older lady in the Visitor Center, we dropped into Crusoe’s Coffee Shop for a warm drink and a snack.

The place was super cute and Apple Toffee scone was definitely a 10 out of 10. The walk to Mussenden Temple was not bad at all and to our luck, it didn’t really rain at all. Although there was enough wind for me to take flight. It goes without saying that the views were amazing and surreal just on the walk alone.

It wouldn’t be a tale of Alaina and Sylvia trying to go somewhere if we didn’t get a little lost along the way trying to go the backway. Luckily, a kind man with his dog saved us going the wrong way and escorted us all the way to the entrance of Mussenden Temple. Shout out to that man whose name I cannot remember.

I’m pretty much gonna let the photos speak for me rather than trying to explain every little thing. Although you could not physically go into the temple, it was still pretty cool to see up close and personal. But I wanted to mention that fact that there were sheep!! A whole field of them near the Downhill Demesne House. Can you tell that was the highlight of this trip? We even got to see a mother sheep and her lamb up close. It was not on purpose though. We kind of turned a corner around the wall of the Downhill house and there they were. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture because of the whole defensive mother protecting her child thing which I could completely understand. I was not about to get into with an upset mama sheep for a picture.

After that adventure and a trek on the beach, we ventured to a little hole-in-the-wall shop called Ruth’s Bakery. Ruth was a lovely woman who knew what she was doing in the kitchen. And then it was parting our separate ways home.

I meet up with Ric, another international student at Magee, in the city center. We ended up looking at different shops around town and going to dinner at Bentley’s a restaurant and bar with like three floors that we got lost in.

Until next time.

January 26, 2019

Today, I got to walk where the giants walked. Today, was the Game of Thrones.

It started with me waking up at 6:45 in the morning to get ready and be on the 8:38 am train to Coleraine. Others from Magee were also going and we met up to begin our trek to the train station across the bridge to the other side of L’Derry. Thankfully, there was a veteran international student that let us in on a little secret.

There is a free bus service that goes from the bus center on our side of the River Foyle directly to the train station across the bridge. He essentially saved us from a 34-minute walk. We meet up with the Coleraine students and I meet up with Alaina.

The tour was amazing! I’ll admit–I am not a Game of Thrones Fan and I have never actually watched even one episode of the show. Nonetheless, the places that we saw were unbelievable.

We started off at Dunluce Castle and traveled to the Giant’s Causeway, Ballintoy Harbour, Carrick-a-Rede Bridge, and the Dark Hedges. Of course it was raining for most of the time, but the sun did make an appear at one point.

It was an exhausting jam packed day, but so worth it.

January 27, 2019

To be honest, I didn’t really do much today and I think that was much needed. It has been a whirlwind of activity for the last few days, and after having walked a little over 10 miles yesterday, a rest day was needed. The last thing on the agenda for orientation was dinner with the Chaplaincy.

It was a nice dinner and the people were very warm and welcoming. It felt nice to get a home cooked meal.

January 28, 2019

Not having classes on Mondays are gonna be super weird.

The Refresher’s Fair was today and I went with another international student, Jenny, to look around. What better way to meet new people than to sign up for clubs? I ended up signing up for a international student club and boxing classes. I have never done boxing before and thought why not.

Jenny and I meet up with some of the French international students to go to the Foyleside Mall. It was nice to get to know some of the international students better and talking about some of the differences in our countries.

Jenny and I tried out Cowbog, a vegetarian and vegan place in town. Although I am neither vegetarian or vegan, I don’t mind eating it most of the time and the burger was good

Later on that evening the Student Union put on a Culture Shock event and I got to try a crisp sandwich which they assured was legit. It’s made up of butter bread with chips (called crisps) for the filling. I’m not gonna lie…I was not a fan but I tried it.

January 29, 2019

The first day of classes and several things happened.

So there are around 6 other Americans in the Irish Studies program and we have all the same classes, including this first class, Introduction to Speaking Irish. Now, the timetable they gave us was like a chart but it was hard to understand what time the classes started and ended. That was how we all ended up showing up to class a whole HOUR AND A HALF EARLY. I think after say…20 minutes we knew we had messed up.

But, it gets even better. Today it was snowing which from what I’ve gathered from the locals is pretty unusual. So perhaps our professor was snowed in, either way, class time rolled around and no professor. Instead, the head of the Irish Studies department came and gave us a crash course in the history of Irish Gaelic.

January 30, 2019

3 hour long classes are going to truly be a test of my endurance, and we did not even go the whole 3 hours today. Thankfully, I am very interested in all of my classes. Today was Northern Ireland: Civil Rights to Brexit. I am excited to learn about the subject because it is something I have little knowledge of. It is also very fitting of our time in Northern Ireland where there is a debate around Brexit and a hard or soft border between the Republic of Ireland and the North.

January 31, 2019

My last class of the week is Irish Folklore and it’s also the only class this week where the professor lectured to entire 3 hours. The entire 3 hours.

Now, the subject matter is very interesting and I cannot wait to develop into the anthropology and history of Irish mythology but we go pretty quickly in class. One moment we were on the syllabus and the next we were covering a few centuries of history. The class is also broken up into a lecture (2 hours) with a three hour gap and then seminar (1 hour). It’s very different from the structure of classes at Agnes, but that’s a post for another day.

Guess who finally did laundry? I have been spoiled by Agnes where we do not have to pay for laundry. As such, I already did not like the idea of having to pay for laundry but it couldn’t be helped. The laundry process is so complicated here and I will save you the long story. The short of it is that you have to have a laundry card in which you go to a website to put money on it (5 pounds per load), activate that card at the kiosk on the 1st floor, and use card to operate washer and dryer.

Did all the steps including putting more money on my card to dry my clothes, and they still were wet after the second dry. So, I ended up hanging them on every available surface in my room.

The night wasn’t a total bust. I went to the Ice Wharf with a couple of international students which was fun, and I got to eat at a new place called Romeo’s.

February 2, 2019

My roommate is here! She’s visiting from Coleraine for the weekend. Last night we went with two other international students to the Ice Wharf and I introduced her to Romeo’s.

Today was another day of walking over 10 miles. We went on a hunt for a place called Taboo Donuts for breakfast which took 30 minutes and several loops around Diamond Square. But the donuts were worth it in my opinion.

We walked part of the city walls and the view was beautiful. I also found St. Columb’s cathedral which I want to revisit during my time here. After a while we had to get off because the pathway a slip-n-slide of ice.

We decided to revisit the Tower Museum since the last time was so rushed. I have to say that I like the setup of the museum in general. I like how they tell the story of Derry and it’s like your going through a maze in time. However, the mannequins in some of the exhibitions almost gave me a heart attack. This time around we even got to see the exhibition on the Spanish Armada.

We did a good bit that day like trying out the Cafe Gate in the Craft Village and of course doing a bit of shopping. I think this is the most we’ve shopped together in the 3 years of living with each other.

And that’s a wrap until next week.