Dublin and some other thoughts

Just got to spend the weekend in Dublin, Ireland for St. Patrick's day! It was veryyy fun. After a long night of traveling (long story short I had to cancel and switch flights just a few weeks before because I had to take a midterm and they wouldn't let me take it another day)  I had to fly from Seville to London, wait in London for about 5 hours, and then London to Dublin, so I arrived at about 7 in the morning to Dublin on the 17th. Got to my hostel and I was pretty shocked. It was very nice, clean, and exactly what I think most hostels are like, but compared to my private room, private bathroom one from Paris, this really freaked me out. We were in a 6 person room, so I didn't know 3 of the people, there was one outlet, hardly any room to move, a girl and boys bathroom on the floor, and 2 showers that you had to share with people on your floor. Needless to say I felt dirty the entire time, and sort of hate hostels and I'm realllly happy that it is my last one I have to stay in. I'll be in apartments or hotels the rest of the time. The random people in the room were very very nice and that wasn't a problem, but I could not handle the bathrooms and showers. Very sanitary but I just can't share stuff like that with strangers..barf. Luckily all we do is sleep there anyways. The parade was cool, we didn't get very good spots to watch it but we could sort of see and it was pretty wild. Then we just went to a bunch of different pubs for the rest of the day. Met a lot of cool people, lots of Irish people who were all very nice, but a lot of people from all over Europe as well which was really cool.  The next day we just casually wandered around the city because although there are a few things to see, everything is so close that it was easy to walk everywhere and still see everything. This is me in front of the famous Temple Bar. The whole temple bar area is sooo cool, great pubs and great people

 The River...we got so lucky with the weather it was warm and sunny!

The above two pics are Trinity College. This campus was beautiful and it was so fun to see the Irish locals at school. Oscar Wilde went here and a couple other famous people. Everyone was laying out on the grass, drinking beer, it was fun.

 St. Stephens Green was sooo pretty. Like I think the best park I've ever been in. We walked around it forever just enjoying all the green, the lake which had swans and ducks, the people watching was so fun as well. It was so beautiful and so relaxing. I would hang out there everyday if I lived there. We walked on the famous Gafton St. to get there. It has shops such as Chanel and designer brands. No cars go on it and its just a really wide street to browse on and wander into pubs and shops.

 Above is St. Patricks cathedral. Really pretty on the outside, we had to pay to go in and I didn't want to do that. But it looked cool!

This is Dublin Castle...and this is the only part that actually looks like a castle, the rest of it was just like any other building. 

This is the statue of Molly Malone...don't really know who she was or what she did but it's pretty well known I guess!

And this is Gafton St. This guy was real and frozen in place, saw a few of those. Pretty cool.

Basically Dublin was a really good time, I wish I had planned out my flights better and had a day to see the country but oh well. I'll just have to go back! 

It's always weird to me how great it feels to be back in Seville after a trip. Like flying into Seville on Saturday was the best feeling ever because it's like I'm going home. I think coming back to 73 degree weather was a major help, but I couldn't wait to see my friends here, or eat my señora's food. I'm going to Barcelona next weekend and as excited as I am for that, I can't wait for the next week when I'm in Seville for a little while again until I got on my next trip April 8th. 

I realize my last post was probably a little concerning and very depressing to read, you probably are thinking how stupid it is I'm complaining when I am living in Spain for 4 months and going on these awesome weekend vacations. And I realize that, and I don't want it to seem like I'm not having the time of my life because I AM. Like, I couldn't be happier here and it is the best experience ever, but I obviously not everyday is going to be perfect, and I felt like I should blog about how I was feeling and I was just getting really sad. You guys have to remember this is the longest I've been away from home, the farthest, AND I get homesick just being in Eugene...so this is very different for me! But anyways, after I wrote that last blog, literally the next day was totally different. It was really sunny, my package came from home so I got my phone and ipod, some dresses, etc. And I was enjoying hanging out with my señor and señora, they were so friendly ( they always are, I was just getting super annoyed with some things) and everything just turned around and I felt much better. And then when I got home yesterday they were so much fun, had a great lunch with them and I was so happy to be here. Today I layed out on the roof, (got sunburnt after just an hour because I am so pale) had a yummy lunch, and then a couple hours later my señora and I had our afternoon cafe that we have some days and we chatted outside on the terrace for like an hour. 

As we were out there I realized a few things about how lucky I am here. Whenever I tell my friends that I've played games with my señora and señora, and that I sit outside with her and chat like we are friends, they tell me how they never do anything like that with theirs (either because they don't like them that much, can't understand them, or just don't want to) and I am SO happy that I can do that with mine. For one, this is like the only time I actually speak spanish, and I love being able to have a conversation with her (although words come out veryyyyy slowly on my end) Also, I don't just sit in my room all day, I hang out with them like they are my real family and it makes me feel so much more comfortable coming home to that. I have friends who never want to sit in their house, never want to just hang with their families, and I'm so thankful that's not me. I don't live in the best area (it's far from everything and not very pretty) but everything else about my homestay makes up for it. And I think the times when she gets mad at me for having a light on or the heater, or when I accidentally get water on the floor from the shower, the way she says it is just the culture here. I don't think she means to be mean or even stern with me,  I think that they are just much more confrontational and forceful when they say things and it comes out differently then it would in America. If that makes sense...

Laying out on the grass by the river yesterday was sooo great. I seriously think I was blinding people with the color of my skin but it was so fun. Me, Marlee, Carolina, Ian and Jesse were all on a blanket just taking in the sun. Unfortunately the water in the Guadalquivir river is dirty so we can't swim in it....and it got VERY hot. But we just went into the shade when we couldn't handle it. There were sooo many people there. All the locals, as well as Americans, and most of them having a beer or wine with a little picnic, I can't wait to do that all the time when the weather is good. I have 3 exams this week, history, anthropology and spanish film class. I'm really nervous. Like I don't understand anything in these classes, they are completely in Spanish, and we never get homework so I never have to think about class outside of class, the teachers have suchhh strong accents, and they never have us participate so it's like we don't really even have to try...my friends and I asked my anthro teacher for help after class and all they say is that the exams are easy and not to worry and just ask questions in class. So that wasn't very helpful because  thats's what we've been doing and we are still confused. I'm just a little annoyed because when I was signing up for this specific program at Oregon (the Liberal Arts one) I kept saying, I'm not at the level where all my classes should be taught in Spanish, and because I had taken a 300 level spanish class at Oregon they were like you"ll be totally fine. But no...I shouldn't be in these classes...we'll just have to see how the exams go. It's supposed to be sunny throughout the week and I go to Barcelona on Thursday! Sorry for such a long post, had a lot on my mind!