Boring Update :)

Hi everyone!
You should be so impressed, we are getting better with posts! I know Dad said there was starting to be more and more time in between posts and we realllly are sorry, but we're working on it!

Well this was my first week at the new job. I now work at a women's clothing store on Shop Street called Monsoon. It's literally a 4 minute walk from Katie's store :) I work in the stock room and it's just me in there so I handle all the deliveries everyday and hang the clothes, security tag them, etc. Everyone I work with is (again) soo nice, I lucked out twice! I also get to listen to whatever music I want because I have a radio and can't hear the store music, so Katie is pretty jealous about that. I had a great first week- it's so nice getting out of work while it's still light out! I only work 24 hours a week now, instead of 40, but I get paid more so it's not too shabby!

Last night we changed our clocks, so we are once again 6 hours away from everyone at home. Isn't it weird how countries can just choose when to do that?! Anyway, last night we went to our friend Dermott's house which is just around the corner from us, with some of David's friends and David's band and just hung out. Around 3 we realized we had to spring ahead so it was really 4! The crowd started slowly breaking up after that haha It's so nice though to be able to sleep late and still get so much done during the day, I love weekends now that I have them off! Katie and Sheila and I have been thinking about traveling and have started piecing together a possible trip so that is really exciting.

In other news I hear it's snowing in Chicago and ISU...Sorry guys!! I do love missing Chicago spring 2 years in a row though, the rain doesn't seem so bad compared with snow! I do hope it clears up soon for you though. Tonight I think we're just going to watch a movie and take it easy, work again tomorrow! Being "off the drink" definitely has its perks though, I could really get used to this!

I hope everyone at home is doing well, please take care!! Love you all,
-Erin

Up North

Today is our first day in a month with no guests. It was an exhausting few weeks, but SO much fun. Jameson came last week. He and I went to Connemara on Friday, which was gorgeous. He had a pretty short trip. Erin and I headed back to Dublin with him on Saturday, where we met Lauren. Her plane had just landed, but her traveling wasn't finished. We hopped on a train to Belfast (the capital of Northern Ireland) that night.

Belfast was a very interesting place. The city itself wasn't very impressive- sort of dirty, lots of graffiti- but the history was amazing. It still feels somewhat war torn, and there is evidence of the Protestant/Catholic hostility everywhere.

The first night, we got to our hostel and were informed that it was overbooked. So, they took us to the overfill house, which we had completely to ourselves. It was nice and quiet, but kind of creepy. We went out to a bar nearby that night. The next day, after switching to a different hostel and illegally claiming a private bedroom for ourselves, we walked ALL over the city. We saw the political murals on the West End (which were incredibly anti-Bush), the wall that separates the Protestant and Catholic sections of the city (whose gates are closed every night), a few cemeteries, the Belfast Hospital (which is world-renown for its treatment of gunshot wounds), and City Hall. It was truly sobering to see how the violence has affected the city and its inhabitants. A few things really struck us- a street named RPG, for "Rocket Propelled Grenades" (it was the clearest shot the IRA had when launching weapons against the security forces), a tall apartment building where security forces monitored activity in the city until 2005, and police cars that were literally tanks.

That night we went to a great bar called Muriel's where we sat and talked for awhile. It closed early and several people pointed us in the direction of "The Kremlin," which they described as "90% gay and a lot of fun." We made friends with some boys there and danced all night to American pop music. It was TONS of fun. Our new friends told us that the hostility of the past few decades is hard for them to identify with. They didn't seem to care much about it. Most of the bitterness is felt by their parents' and grandparents' generations. I guess that a good thing- progress?

The next day, we headed out of the city center to Belfast Castle. We took a beautiful walk through the woods to get there. The castle sat on a hill where you could see the ocean and the whole city of Belfast.

That night we took the 2 1/2 hour train ride back to Dublin and then a 3 hour bus ride home to Galway. We were so tired from all the traveling, but we were all really glad we made the trip.

This week, we went out with the UIC Rugby Team. We met them at a bar on Tuesday night and had a ton of fun, so we made plans to meet up again. They're touring Ireland and playing various Irish rugby teams. Small world, huh?

Erin and I decided that we might take after our friends, Lenny and Mick, and go "off the drink" for awhile. Our livers could use the break!

I know I promised pictures last time, but we haven't had much time to upload them. I'll really try to do it this week.

Katie

London and St. Patrick's Day

Hi everyone! The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. So far, we've had 5 visitors: Anne, Colleen, Tyler, Dustin, and Stacy. I worked 9-6:30 everyday last week, so I didn't get to do all the fun day trips, but Erin will tell you all about those. They packed a ton of stuff in- Ashford Castle, the Aran Islands, Connemara. I think (hope) they all enjoyed the trip.

In other travel news, London has shot to the top of my favorite cities list. Stacy and I spent last weekend there and had a blast. We flew in late Thursday night and made our way to Smart Russell hostel. You'd be smart not to stay there. Our room slept 26 people in two rows of bunk beds, stacked three high. We didn't get much sleep with people coming and going all night. Luckily, London was cool enough that we forgot how tired we were.

Before we left Galway, I had contacted the Dean of Georgetown Law School's Center for Transnational Studies asking for a tour of their London campus. Dean Foster wrote back and offered to give me a tour himself, so that was our first stop on Friday morning. He was a really nice guy and the law school was great. Seventy five students from law schools all over the world (30 from Georgetown) study there every semester. They live in London and have access to King's College library and facilities. 

After that, we walked along the River Thames, drank some tea, saw the changing of the guards, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and various other attractions. The British aren't known for their cuisine, so we opted for an Italian dinner. We had a few drinks at a pub called Brewmaster's, and then headed back to the chaos of our hostel.

The next morning, we had to switch hostels since Smart Russell was booked. The second hostel, Globetrotter's, was WONDERFUL. It was clean and quiet, and the people working there were really nice. We did some more touristy stuff on Saturday (Tate Musuem for Modern Art, Millenium Bridge, etc.). We also stumbled upon a really cool neighborhood. My friend, Brian (who goes to Georgetown Law and is studying in London) lives in the area, so he recommended it. There was a great antique market in the winding back-streets of the neighborhood, and we ate dinner at an English pub. That night we bought tickets to Zorro, the musical. It was great, definitely the highlight of the trip. There was flamenco dancing and great music. Totally worth the 25 pounds.

Sunday was London's St. Patrick's Day parade, and we could not have asked for a more beautiful day. The sun was shining, and the streets were packed with people waving Irish flags (I kept forgetting which country I was in!). The day started going downhill when we tried to make our way back to the airport. After being pointed in about 5 different directions, we learned that the bus we planned on taking does not exist. The alternative was a train, which was not running. So, we had to take an hour bus ride to a different train, a half hour train ride to the airport, and then a shuttle bus from the coach stop. We ended up arriving 35 minutes before our flight, only to be informed that check in closes 40 minutes before the flight. We begged and pleaded, but they refused to let us get on the plane. We had to pay 71 pounds each (about $130) to take a flight from a different airport back to Ireland. So, we got on another bus (which cost 12 pounds), rode an hour and a half to Stansted airport, and found out that our plane was 45 minutes late! Of course. We finally made it back to Shannon airport, and an hour bus ride later, we were back in Galway. We ended up laughing about it in the end, but you better believe that RyanAir will be receiving a letter from me.

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. We thought Rag Week was crazy, but it doesn't hold a candle to St. Paddy's. The day started with a parade and lots of sunshine. The streets were completely packed with people, and almost everyone was carrying a beer. Every bar was full all day. We walked up to Salthill for some of the day (Erin had left her wallet at work, so we had to go get it), and then bar-hopped for the rest of the day. We found a great band at a pub called the Spanish Arch (Erin and I can't escape our love of Spain), so we stayed there for most of the night. Stacy had to catch a bus at 2am, so we called it quits sort of early. Great day overall!

Today, my friend Jameson is coming to Galway to stay with us. We don't have any plans yet, but I'm sure we do some sightseeing. Lauren comes Saturday, and we're thinking of making a trip up north to Belfast (in Northern Ireland). 

Erin was offered a new job today. Remember her first interview at Monsoon? It's a women's clothing store. They loved her when they interviewed her, but couldn't afford to hire her at the time. They called today and offered her a position that pays 10 euro/an hour (1.35 more than she's making). I think she should take it. It's way closer to home and involves fewer hot plates and screaming children. Although, I will miss the discount she gives me when I eat at Coco! She hasn't decided yet, but we'll keep you updated.

Well, my computer is about to die, so I gotta run. Love you all! We'll try to be more consistent about our posts in the future. Expect more pictures soon!

Katie

Some Pictures!

Hey everyone,
I don't have time right now to write a proper blog because the internet cafe I'm in is closing, but here are some pics from my Facebook album to hold you over...I hope you like them!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2300874&id=22914517&l=505b0

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2300883&id=22914517&l=97d9a

Each of those are an album with pictures from the whole week of visitors. I have one more album to put up but if you look at both of those you'll be caught up as far as I am!

Love you all,
-Erin

Galway is the REAL Windy City

Hey everyone! So sorry it has been so long since we have written, and this will only be a quick one because we have company! Nothing really happened last week. We both worked a ton, Kate has been getting lotssss of overtime, and we didn't really go out to save money for when our friends got here.

Anne and Colleen got here Friday morning and we got a quick lunch and I let them sleep. We went out for a bit to Monroe's Friday and met some hilarious Israeli guys and then turned in early. Saturday we went to the CLIFFS OF MOHER!! (You can Google image that) It was soo foggy we actually couldn't really see the cliffs which was disappointing, but the wind was absolutely unreal, you could barely take a step without it blowing your foot out from under you! It was funny to try and even talk. I know what you're thinking: Cliffs on the windiest day of your whole life? Is that smart Erin? Well, no it's not...but rest assured we were safe and clung to the slabs of rock that protected us from the cliffs and only jumped to see if the wind would throw us into the ocean once :) On the day tour we also saw a castle and some mini cliffs, which we got to as the fog was rising so we have GREAT pictures from those. It was absolutely gorgeous, and to have my roommates with me for a trip like that was amazing. We have really great pictures and lots of fun memories!

Saturday night we went to a bar called The Living Room where all my work friends were. It was a cool bar with much better music than any we have experienced so far (with the exception of the 2 Q's who we are seeing tonite!) There was tons of dancing and lots of pints, so all around a great night. Sunday I had to work but Tyler and his brother Dustin got in from Dublin so everyone came and visited me at work! As I tend to do without permission I gave them all a huge discount on lunch and they really enjoyed the view. (By the way, Tyler is my friend from college and his brother is studying abroad in Amsterdam right now so that's where they're headed next.) Today we are showing them around Galway, everyone has a few things they want to get (Claddagh rings and such) and they all had a Traditional Full Irish Breakfast (which includes Black Pudding--Google it). Tonight it's back to King's Head for 2 Q's and tomorrow is the much anticipated day trip through Connemara. I will explain Connemara better in a later post, but get excited!!

Sorry again for the wait, just know it means we're having a great time! Love and miss you all TONS,
-Erin

Sunny Day

It's a rare sunny day in Galway. Erin had work at noon, so I took the bus with her to Salthill. There's nothing like that view, especially on a day like today. I ate lunch at her cafe- it was delicious! However, I now understand Erin's intense dislike for small children at work. Some of these parents should be required to take a class or something- their kids were out of control. Poor Erin has to dance around the place with scalding hot beverages and avoid spilling them all over a bunch of brats. She works until 7:30, which is never fun on a weekend but especially tough when dealing with a bunch of stupid people. 

We're starting to get really excited for our visitors! Anne, Colleen, Tyler, and Stacy all come within the next week. At one point, when Tyler's brother comes to Galway, we'll have five house guests! Luckily, David will be in the U.S. touring with his band for half of March, so we won't bug him. We haven't seen Wash Wash in over a week, so we're not too worried about him being bothered. (We are a little worried about whether or not he is alive...) After that group, my friend Jameson comes and then Lauren. We can't wait; we already have tons of plans: Connemara, the Aran Islands, Donegal. Things were so crazy when we first arrived that we haven't done any Irish tourist stuff yet. Stacy and I are also planning a trip to London. Sheila's family is coming to visit this week too, so there will be lots of sightseeing done this month. I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to post!

Last night, we went to Monroe's, one of our favorite pubs. We happen to catch "Two Queues," which is the two-man-band we talked about earlier. They play the exact same songs every time we see them (including "Galway Girl" at  least twice), but they haven't gotten old yet! We met a bunch of rugby players from New Zealand too. The Irish rugby team defeated rival England yesterday, so the pubs were full of rugby fans celebrating the victory. Erin and I are trying really hard to understand rugby. It's a really cool sport... the parts that we've figured out anyway. Our plan is to buy jerseys, hang out at the pubs on game days, and eventually catch on.

Work is still, well, work. We're both working about 40 hours a week, which isn't as bad as we thought it would be. We figure the more we work now, the earlier we can quit and travel! Our current plan is to do Spain and a couple of other countries for about two weeks and return to the States on April 28. It kind of stinks that we have exact opposite work schedules (I work 9-5 Monday thru Friday and Erin works 12-7:30 three weekdays and weekends), but I think it's preventing us from driving each other crazy. We finally registered with immigration and applied for our PPSNs (the Irish equivalent of social security numbers). So we're legal, and, more importantly, we can get paid!

On an unfortunate side note, I heard back from Yale Law. It was a no, which didn't come as a huge surprise and was almost a relief. Now it's off my mind, and I can start weighing the pros and cons of the other schools. I'll have to officially make the decision by mid-April. Barring my acceptance to Stanford, I think Georgetown in Washington, D.C. will be my home next year! (Sorry, Dad.)

Well, until next time, I hope all is well! Thanks for all the comments and emails. It's great hearing from home! We love you all.

Katie