Off to Belfast!

Not too much new to report. It was a pretty quiet week. Last night we went out to one of the nightclubs in town, and it was actually fun. I've found a few that I've had fun at , and they're starting to grow on me. We hung out with Mary's Irish roommate, Mick, and a few of his "mates." They were really fun, and hopefully we'll go out with them more.

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Belfast with the rest of the Arcadia program. I'm so excited to see Northern Ireland! It's going to be so different from the Ireland I'm used to seeing, and I can't wait to experience something different. We have plans to see Giant's Causeway and the political murals in belfast city. It's going to be a very long drive though, and we're leaving at 9:30 tomorrow and aren't supposed to get there until around 5. That's a long time on a bus!

The time here is flying by- a little too fast! In just a few weeks my friend Craig is coming to visit from his spring break, and it will be St. Patty's day. Then Mom, Dad, Chelsey, and Nana will be getting here, it can't believe it! I can't wait for them to get here, but time needs to slow down!

More good news- we booked a spring break trip! Mary, Lindsey, and I will be flying to Barcelona on April 9th and staying there for three days. It's right on the coast and hopefully we'll get some nice beach weather! Then we are flying into Pisa, and will take a quick train ride to Florence, where we'll stay with Stacy for a few days. I'm so excited to see her, I miss everyone from RWU like crazy. Then we have no definite plans, but will fly out of Venice on the 19th back to Ireland. I've always wanted to see Spain and Italy, and I can't believe we actually are going to have the chance to go!

Things I'm Having Trouble Living Without....but I'll Somehow Manage

So there's a ton of things that I miss from the states that they don't have over here (mostly foods). I figured I'd make a list so I can get right to it when I get home in May.

1. Almedia 326
2. The Border Cafe
3. Bristol Bagel Sandwiches
4. Classic's & Bristolian Pizza
5. CheezItz
6. $5 Pitchers of Coors Light
7. BUFFALO CHICKEN
8. Big Sue's cooking
9. Tostito's Chips (they don't tell tortilla chips anywhere!!!!)
10. My RWU family
11. Hulu
12. The Salad Bar at the Commons
13. My feather bed
14. constant phone updates from Julie
15. having some form of income
16. dollar bills
17. Chex Mix
18. Dunkins Iced Coffee
19. Driving
20. long, hot showers
21. $17 30s of Keystone Light
22. zumba
23. spinning
24. cheap clothes/ jewelry at forever 21
25. crafts from michaels
26. paint by numbers
27. having more than 14 tv channels
28. Netflix
29. Corey
30. The fam

31. Ra ra ra ra rachhhhht


I'm sure I will be thinking of more as the weeks go on and update this post on the reg.

London Trip-"Mind the Gap Mate!"

London was AMAZING!!! It was so much fun and is such a cool city, filled with so much history and things to see. The weekend was jammed packed with so many things, we saw so much in the few days we were there. We got to our hostel late Thursday night, so we just got some food and hung in. We woke up early Friday morning to get on a "Hop on-hop off" double decker tour bus, and spent the day riding it around the city. We stopped off at Picadilly Circus, where we found a great store where i got some new jeans (5 pounds on sale!) and then walked around a little and grabbed some lunch. After lunch we went on a Beatles Walking tour around SoHo. Our tour guide used to be a guitarist in the time when the Beatles were getting big, and took guitar lessons from Eric Clapton. He showed us all sorts of cool spots, like where Jimi Hendrix played his last gig before he died, where the Rolling Stones got together, and the house where The Beatles played on the rooftop. After the tour we hopped back on the bus and stopped at Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament. By the end of the day we were so beat, we got back on the bus and rode it back to Hyde Park, where our hostel was near.



Friday night I got to meet up with ReRe and Mikey at a pub near our hostel. They took the tube and met me and Mary for a few drinks. It was so good to see them! We chatted for a few hours and I got the full scoop on what's been going on at home, and we had a lot of laughs. It was so fun meeting up with them and it felt so good to be with family! After we left ReRe and Mike, we headed back to the hostel to meet up with the rest of the girls and went out to a Hookah bar. I had never smoked Hookah before, but it was so much fun! It was very relaxing and we were sitting on couches outside with heated lamps all around us. It was a good day to end a long day of touring and walking.

Satuday morning we woke up early to catch the changing of the guards ceremony at Bukingham Palace. Our tour guide took us to see a bunch of statues of kings and queens, and it was so interesting to learn about how crazy some of them where! The changing of the guards ceremony was unbelievable, the band played awesome songs and the guards looked so cool marching in sync with their uniforms and bear fur hats. After the tour we grabbed lunch and decided to make our way to Harrod's. We attempted to figure out the way on the Underground, which was very interesting. We ended up switching way too many times and made it way more complicated for ourselves than it should have been, but eventually made it. As soon as we walked in I was blown away. Everything was so extravagant, and incredibly expensive. I loved the jewlery room, and have never seen such big diamonds in my life. There was an amazing shoe room, with heels costing about 1000 pounds, I found one gown for over 5,000 pounds. I loved every minute of it, and decided that I need to marry rich. Saturday night we went on a pub crawl that was advertised at our hostel, and had a blast. The crawl took us to five bars, and included free admission, four free drinks, and VIP access in the clubs. I actually enojyed the London club scene, it was much better than the ones in Galway!



Sunday morning we headed our with no set plans, and wandered around Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens for a while before getting on the tube towards Abbey Road. We finally got the hang of the Underground system, and once you figure out how to read the maps it's kind of like the T. I had no idea Abbey Road was going to be such a busy street, and every time we tried to get our Beatles picture we got honked and screamed at. Eventually I decided to say "too bad about 'em!" got in the middle of the road and directed traffic so we could get our shot. The picture came out great, and I think we look just like The Beatles!


The weekend was great, and I had such a fun time traveling, it makes me want to go to more places!!!

When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure

This week is the first time I've felt homesick since I've been here. A lot is going on at home, and I'm missing my family very much. These next few days are going to be very hard for them, but also filled with the good memories that we have all shared with my Uncle Paul. He was a great god father, and was always so good to my cousins and I. I just finished skyping with my Nanny, and miss her so much. I wish I could be home just to give her a HUGE hug. I'm so glad I got to see her though, and will by thinking about the rest of the Powell family this week.

Rest in Peace Uncle Paul, we all miss you

Craic, Coral & Pointín

This weekend was great. Mike Mo came Friday night with his three roommates, and we had a blast. They got here around 8, and we made them some dinner and headed out for the night. We did a little bit of a pub crawl starting at the King's Head and making our ways to the Quay's and the Front Door, all my favorites. We didn't end up getting home until very late and it was a great night, good craic (craic=fun).

The next morning we slept in for a little, then headed into the market downtown. I got the most delicious crepe, and will definitely be heading back to that stand next Saturday. There was so many delicious looking stands, and a lot of great crafts and jewelry too. We decided that that is going to be a weekly tradition for the weekends we're in Galway. After the market we grabbed a coffee and took a nice long walk down to Claddagh to show the guys some of Galway. We also walked a little bit of the Salthill Prom since it was such a gorgeous day and got some great pictures.

Saturday night we went back into town, but didn't go as hard as the night before, because we had an early morning Sunday. We went to a few pubs, then the guys hit up Supermac's for some burgers and I got a Bailey's Ice Cream. It was delicious.

On Sunday we took a bus tour to Connemara. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we had a great trip. There was about twenty five of us, so we had an all student tour. We had the same tour guide as last week, and he snuck us some Pointín . Pointín is like moonshine and is illegal in Ireland. Apparently his brother-in-law brews it, and he let us pass around the bottle and whoever wanted to have a taster could. It was certainly the strongest liquor I've ever tasted, and after I sipped it I learned that it was 160 proof, and 80% alcohol by volume. It burnt the whole way down, and I can see why it is illegal. We also stopped at Coral Beach, and had the chance to throw some coral. The tradition is that if you pick up coral off the shore and throw it over your left shoulder into the water you will become very rich. If you throw it over yo

ur right shoulder you will be lucky in love. The trick is you can not throw it over both, and have to decide which one you would rather. I chose my right, and am hoping it starts to work over here soon! Here's a picure of me about to throw my coral.

We made other stops along the tour, at the "Hooker Bar" for a drink, the leprechaun's cottage, Kylemore Abbey (which was gorgeous) and a few other places. The landscape of Connemara is absolutely breathtaking, and I want to go back in the Spring when the grass is greener.