Glücklich Geburtstag to me!

its my birthday, im in germany, its my birthday!

i dont even know where to begin...

yesterday i had the stomach flu - that was swell. stephe had it friday, uncle rudolph on sunday, me on tuesday and so at this rate, my mom will be throwing up by tomorrow! splendid vacation!

sunday we travelled to liebenstadt to meet my great aunt getrude and great aunt christa for the first time. getrude looks just like my grandma before she lost weight. it was so hard to see them, reminding me of my grandma the whole time. it was a great visit (neither of them spoke english though) but it didnt seem to matter. anything we wanted to convey to each other can be done through facial expressions alone. ( speaking of facial expressions, miss scott, you should have seen mine when i read the post on the blog about the snoring... i will get you one day, just wait :) this was probably the first and the only time we will ever see them, so it was very hard leaving them. we only stayed about 2 hours at aunt getrudes and 1 hour at aunt christas. uncle rudolph wasnt feeling well and it was about 2 hours from worms. we also went to my late uncle karls house and had cake (imagine that, cake - germany? who would have though...) with his wife hildagarde. omg - she was the cutest little old lady i have ever seen before in my life (with the exception of the obvious, my own oma!). i can wait to post the pictures for you to see. as soon as i get back home i will (home = london). so the ride home was a rollar coaster ride through the winding mountains of germany. funny, i didnt remember buying a ticket for the ride... we are driving along the side of the mountain at 70-80 kph while it was raining and there are winding turns every 3 seconds. i thought my mum was going to have a stroke, seriously. ''sometimes cars fly off the mountain if they go fast enough'' - stephe
there are alot of quotes by stephe lately, me and my mum almost cry laughing at them!
stephe kept yelling at him and he would hold up his one hand and make a talking face with it at her saying ''oh, stephe, oh'' while keeping his other hand on the rollar coaster steering wheel from hell. i was even a little scared and if you know me and my driving, than you would understand how bad this was (especially in the back seat). but if you ever ask me infront of my 'unkle rudolph' i will tell you that it was good driving and there was no problems at all! i will stick up for him whenever needed!
that night my mum wanted to take a bath, so she asked stephe and stephe says ''oh no, no you cant take a bath. it is too late at night and the water running in the tub will wake up the neighbors.'' what? are you flippen kidding me? the water at night will.... good grief. we tried to reason with her then realized that we should just appease her and agree. but the loud flushing of the toilets wont wake the neighbors. seriously, this thing sounds like niagra falls... whatever.
ok, so mum takes a shower instead and the hot water tank makes an ear screaching sound instead, but that shouldnt wake the neighbors i imagine, right?
the next day we go to rudolphs daughter, petra, house for lunch. wait, did i say lunch? i meant 3 course meal. germans, well europeans, eat large lunches and small dinners. i have pictures dont worry. it was really great, his whole family it wonderful! except for the fact that stephe told everyone that i couldnt drown because i was too fat. this was right after she told petras husband, who cooked the meal, that he was a good cook and it showed (he is a larger jolly german man). after the drowning comment, i asked stephe since she is so skinny if that means that she isnt such a good cook?? did i mention petra and her husband dont speak english? funny thing, everyone got the joke anyway and was laughing!! oh well, we went and took a long walk throught the woods after lunch and came back to a 3 cake spread for dessert. ugh, i was still full.
that night we went to the irish pub and made plans with ryan to go to heidleburg the next morning. with plans made, we came home and took showers and then went to bed. i told my mum that i didnt think my stomach felt right. that was an understatement... i spent yesterday, literally the whole day, in bed. i feel much better today though, good thing because they took me and my mum to lunch at a rest. down by the rhine river. guess what we ordered? think- germany, german cuisine, havent gone out to eat yet since we have been here.... need a minute?



cheeseburgers. yep, we ordered a cheeseburger and these fried potatoes. it was so good! i think they were a little disapointed though. i would have ordered something else if i had the chance to go to a rest. a little earlier in the week i suppose and order the cheeseburger i had so been craving. but it was my birthday and that is what i wanted to eat. actually, there is a dinner of pretzels and champagne waiting for me at home - so i should go (i sent mom there already so we didnt get introuble for being out so late).
another quick quote ''if i wash this you can wear it on your finger'' - stephe
this was when we had some laundry to do and my mum wanted to wash her sweater but stephe said it was wool (it is cotten) and that it would shrink. dont get me wrong, stephe is a wonderful person, and is good to my uncle rudolph, im just not used to all these rules and regulations.

german electricity vs. american electricity

german electricity = 1
american electricity = 0

so my mom comes to germany and takes my adapter for my ''dual voltage'' (key words there) hair straightener and plugs her makeup mirror into it then plugs it into the wall. she comments to me on how much brighter the light is and how her mirror has never been so bright before. i look at her then look at the plug in the wall and im like ''please tell me you didnt... get the damn thing out of the wall NOW MOM!'' she is like ''why?, it is working so well and it has never been so bright''. ya mom, it is bright because it is running on 220 volts of electricity compared to the 110 or 120 (whichever) that it usually runs on. we are lucky the apartment didnt go down in flames. she felt the back of the mirror and says ''oh yeah, it usually doesnt get that hot''

and it starts... the darlene\jamie adventure in germany.

mom met ryan today and we went for some drinks. the beer over here is so different. i had a wheat beer with banana juice (who does that?). mom drank water :( .we actually thought that we were going to be introuble when we got home, but it seemed to go ok. stephe has this thing with leaving egg salad out of the fridge for long periods of time. actually, cheese too. and cheesecake. ok, anything that has to be refridgerated she leaves out on the counter for long periods of time. so mom and i force fed ourselves the salmonella salad and then took a nap. refer to the nap section of the blog below for a furthur explination... then on this booming saturday night, you find us here at the computer lab next door. we are so much fun, whoa, look out - we are partying it up now. it is ok, tomorrow is easter and we are going to liebenstadt and i am going to see the house that my grandma grew up in! this is the entire reason for the trip! i cant wait.

naps in the afternoon and why you need them... my mom and i are sleeping in the same room while she is here. after we stayed up for 2 hours talking like old friends, we finally go to sleep. only she goes to sleep and snores, i fall asleep and am awakend by the snoring. this isnt normal 'run of the mill' snoring either, this is a clinical lab type of snoring that one would like to do research on. (dad, you were right...) so this is why one would need to take a nap in the afternoon. ugh, i dont even want to think of it later on tonight. every 10 minutes ''mom, stop snoring''. the snoring stops, then starts again louder than before ''mom, MOM!'' her reply 'WHAT jamie, i am sleeping'' and then i say ''yes mom, you are sleeping. the whole village knows you are sleeping, infact i think dad can hear you sleeping all the way in beaver center, we know you are sleeping!''

how about this: i went to get a soda from a machine here and it came out in a glass bottle! then on the machine was the bottle cap opener. just like the old days.

i burnt my hand on my hair staightner today. if you know me, then you know about this hair straightener. it heats up to 450. the scar on the palm of my hand goes to show this. it feels really nice. i ask stephe if she has some burn cream, she brings me suntan lotion. bless her heart, she meant well!

ok - us 2 ole' ladies are going to head out of here now, time for bed. well, time for my mutter to go to bed, it is just time for me to lay there and stuff cotton in my ears and wish i was in my own room.

happy easter or shall i say: ''glücklick Ostern''






i cant believe i am doing this... dad & jp, mom wants you to know that her pick for the busch race is jamie mcmurray because bill elliot is not running that car.

the nascar never stops... even when she is 1000's of miles away from it...

mir gefällt es heir sehr gut!

i love it here!
why are there 6 words in german compared to the 4 words in english??

mein mutter is here! we picked her up at the airport this morning. i was so happy to see her! what a relief, now stephe can have someone else to pick on. just kidding. (ok, serious a little)

this is a short post because the two of us (non german speaking tourists) are going exploring in a german village... alone! wish us luck!

ciao! jamie und darlene!

eis, hünden und zigarettes! or for you guys: ice cream, dogs and cigarettes!

so i forgot to mention this yesterday - everyone here in deutschland has a small dog, and the small dogs go with you everywhere. seriously, everywhere. in the stores (grocery and small shops and the mall too) and then inside restaurant (they sit underneath the tables). it is so cute! i have to have a dog when i get home. i sent a postcard home to bonnie telling her that we are going to have to have a little talk, when i get back, about something... ie: me having a puppy! the next thing is ice cream, only over here they refer to it as 'eis' = ice. and there are eis cafes all over, almost like starbucks in america. one on every corner and in the middle of the blocks too. its good as well! the best ice cream i have found so far. the lines for these ice cafes are so long, or every table is jam packed. that is all they do over here. and they feed it to the dogs too, which i cant imagine to be good for the dogs. then there is smoking, everyone here smokes. there is no such thing as a no-smoking section (dad - you would be so happy). little kids smoke. little kids holding a cigarette in one hand, ice cream in the other and the dogs leash is wrapped around one of their wrists. trust me, i have the pictures as proof!!
yesterday stephe asks me if i would like to see the biggest bell in the world. so i said sure, why not! so we travel about 20 mins away through miles and miles of vineyards and we end up in this small village named: bad dürfheim. i dont know what it means, but i look around for this huge bell right? all i see is a huge ass barrel! oh, barrel - not bell. i see, that makes much more sense now that i think about it. why would there be a bell in the middle of the wine country. come to find out that my uncle rudolph made barrels for his profession, and then moved on to actually making the wine. so that is why we are drinking wine for breakfast, lunch and dinner... :) anyway, it was a nice trip to another village. i really love germany, it is so nice and slow paced. i really feel like i am on holiday! if i would have gone to italy and spain with the girls, it would have been rushed and fast paced - this is a nice change.
stephe keeps telling me that i need to lose weight. thanks stephe for pointing out the obvious. so when i eat something that she wouldnt eat, she tells me that it makes me 'wide'. then persits on me eating potatoes, sausage and loaves of bread. i try and tell her that i am full, not hungry anymore. she says ''no, eat, eat...'' ugh. make sense. so i eat an apple for breakfast and then a small lunch (lunch is the biggest meal of the day here) and i get yelled at (not really 'yelled' at) for not eating enough. i cant win!! :)
oh, here - you will enjoy this story: ryan and i were walking by this statue a few days ago and he points out that it is martin luther. oh, great. martin luther king? i ask. uh, no retard.... martin luther as in martin luther founder of the luthern church. www.luther.de i am so smart sometimes that i wonder why i am still in college! he was thoroughly impressed with my vast knowledge of history...

Ich spreche wenig Duetsch, sprechen sie Englisch?

the most common phrases used daily! i speak little german, do you speak english? the answer is always: nein. No.
great.
that is not condusive to someone who is trying to find her way through the city, or to the bathroom...
ok, lets see... saturday i met my uncle rudolphs family at his daughters 25 wedding anniversary. it was so much fun although no one really spoke english! i played the role of the mute from america, just smiling alot. they probably were thinking ''what is wrong with rudolphs neice, is she retarded?'' earlier that day, i met an american at the computer lab (where i am now) who is from oklahoma, but has lived here for the past 2 years. his name is ryan. he has taken me around the city for the last 2 days. i was telling him about the jokes that people at the party were telling me, or trying to tell me, and that i thought they were just making fun of me because they were laughing hysterically at these jokes (that obviously i didnt think were funny). he said that the germans think the jokes are hysterical and that they werent laughing at me, they were cracking up over these jokes. oh. trust me, they werent funny. in deutsch, in english, still not funny. that or they really were just making fun of me, sitting there and smiling, that would have been much funnier.
ryan from oklahoma. he works at an irish pub here in worms. my age, actually since my birthday is next week, he is younger. really nice guy, it so nice to have someone to talk to. last night though i guess i stayed out a little too late with him because when i called my great aunt to let her know that i was going to be home at midnight, she hung up on me. i was helping him bartend at the pub (he had to work at 7 that night) and i didnt want to leave right away. i got yelled at when i came home. i almost feel like i am 16 years old again. its not that i am not spending time with my family, i mean THAT is why i came here, but it is nice to meet someone who 1. speaks english fluently, 2. is my AGE and 3. is soo much fun to be around. guess i am staying in until my mom gets here on friday, maybe that will take some of the heat off me. she is 48, perhaps she will feel like a teenager again when stephe starts yelling at her too! please dont get me wrong, i love my relatives here in germany!! i am just venting i guess.
so i have this huge headache from all the wine i have been drinking over here. not just with ryan, but with the family. they start drinking wine in the afternoon with lunch and then continue it throughout the day. i think they go through 3 bottles a day. oh and the water here... let me tell you this: you cant buy regular 'still' water. everything is carbonated. the water, the juice... i am surprized the milk isnt fizzy too! so i finally find these huge bottles of evian (not 'gassy' as they call it here) and buy 3 of them. i am already out of the water and need to go back to the market and get some more. also, everything is recycled here. you will get fined if your garbage is not sorted out correctly. a good thing i guess, but so weird.
ok, all i can do for now - i have to get some postcards and be back to get drunk by 12:30. i mean, be back to eat lunch and have 3 glasses of wine in the middle of the afternoon...
:)
Bis morgen!
(till tomorrow!)

guten tag!

hi everyone, i am in deutschland! boy the language barrier is huge. i just smile alot. and let me tell you, my uncle is the cutest thing i have ever seen! we can't really talk alot to each other, but we try. this keyboard is all crazy, the 'z' is where the 'y' should be and vice versa. then we have these fun letters: ö and ä and ü and ß. and everytime stephe & rudolph tell me something or how to say something, i forget it 3 seconds later. it's going to be a long 2 weeks...
i will try and write more later about this whole expirence, it should be a good one.
auf wiedersehen

And the big news IS???

The big news – I almost forgot! I may have mentioned it at the tail end of the last post but didn’t give it all the attention it deserves. Ready for it??

MY MUM IS GOING TO GERMANY TO MEET ME!

That so deserved all caps! It was going to be a surprise (could you even had imagined that one, there wouldn’t have been an inch of makeup left on my eyes…) but somehow my spring break plans ended up getting all changed around (Rachel…) so I was going to spend my 1st week in Germany instead of the 2nd, then travel with Dayna & Karen to Italy. My mum says to me “So wait, you won’t be in Germany for your birthday then?” (the 30th of March – incase any of you forgot ;) I tell her no, that I will be with Karen & Dayna. She had to tell me that she was coming on the 24th to Germany. I can’t really remember exactly what I had said then, something to the effect of “What, What, are you kidding me? Are you serious? Are you kidding me?” And on and on and on I went. This is going to be the best part of the entire trip abroad. Me and my mum, navigating ourselves around Germany for a week. Neither one of us speak German. Fantastic! I CAN’T WAIT! So, that was the huge news that I couldn’t mention.

I went to the Portobella markets today in Notting Hill. I also found out that I am not exactly a market person either. Tea pots, silver spoons (unless there in my mouth), old pictures that are supposed to be one of a kind, then the same old ‘one of kind’ pictures down the street at another booth… I stopped at the cute little boutiques and stores along side the market more than I browsed through the vendors tables. See, I am learning a lot about myself while I am here! Hotels, real stores… I have come along way to learn what I’ve known all along! High Maintenance = High Quality! I am just kidding, I can be just as down to earth as the next person when it’s required of me. I like the simple things in life just as much as the extravagant ones.

I must get some work done – I found this new hobby of reading. I love to read. I love to read what is not required of me to read. I have things to read for my cinema class. I fall asleep when I try to read them, but when I read books written by Adele Parks about the 30somethings of London trying to make it with work/relationships/drama, I can lay in bed for hours staying awake. Amazing. Put the cinema book in my hand and I am out cold in 5.

I’m going to give it one heck of a shot though this time - wish me luck! (I’ll probably finish the Parks book by the end of the night!!)

The southern coast off Ireland. Suppose I am looking at a sea of some sort... My Nyquil induced coma I'm fading in and out of is prohibiting me from remembering the name. Beautiful though, isn't it? That is one good excuse of not knowing my geography...  

If I ever get married, I said IF, he will need to bring all of my family and friends to this B&B in Ireland to do it.  

Heaven. 

Me being creative with the camera! This is along the entrance into Glendalough - it's a archway made out of stone and that's a wall in the back ground with the horizon of trees and mountains...  

The celtic cross in a burial ground at Glendalough 

One of the many rivers that run through the valleys at Glendalough 

Wicklow Mountains... Possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

Dad - You could have your pick! This was from so far away, I am surprised my camera even zoomed in this far. Incase you aren't sure what they are because your eyes have done gone bad on ya, they are little deer! 

This is one of the hundreds of pictures I took of the Wicklow Mountains.  

No leprechauns, just a little red headed Irish man! (his hair really was red) 

The two musicians from the pub crawl. Perhaps this is why my face is so red in the next picture! While in Ireland, do as the Irish do!! (Go ahead JP, what do you do in Ireland?) :) 

This was Friday night at the pub crawl. Those are shots of Jameson. The bartender told us to go behind the bar to take a picture and down the shot! Must be because she knew the sink was closer that way if one of us got sick! Had I been in the sun?  

Something for everyone to remember! 

The sun setting over the skyline of Dublin 

One of the fountains of water pouring into the factory. I could have taken pictures of the water for the entire trip. Doesn't take things to visually excite me I guess! 

Here is the factory brewing the black stuff (Guinness) as they refer to it. 

I look really great don't I? I can reassure you that I am not really drinking that. Ewk. It was free, so what they hey! 

Old Guinness bottles in the brewery. Did you know that the Guinness book of world records and Arthur Guinness are connected? Neither did I! 

This is the Royal Hospital where the Irish Modern Art museum is housed.  

Here is a lunch hall in the Trinity College. Very Harry Potter isn't it? 

Here it is: Summer Camp from hell. I can't even bare to think about it anymore! Someone, book me into the Waldorf... 

Why on earth would anyone want to come to the USA to celebrate St. Patricks day when they already are in Dublin, Ireland?? 

Here we are, first night in Dublin (Dayna went to bed). Why is my face always red?? 

No leprechauns... But I did catch the flu! Awesome!

Well, I’m back from Ireland! Actually I have been back since Monday morning but my computer has been on the fritz. I took it to an IT place prior to leaving and I got it back on Tuesday worse than it was when I dropped it off. I need to start listening to the inner voice that says “Jamie… Jamie you know this isn’t a good idea. Stop what you are doing and listen to me…” But as always, I don’t listen and end up learning some sort of lesson. I think I am paying for the internet now too(no more free AOL) and it’s going to cost me an arm & a leg…
Ireland was amazing. I flew in on Thursday night and met Dayna & Karen back at the hostel. I’ve learned something about myself. I’m a hotel girl. This hostel thing isn’t for me. 16 girls in a room, bunk beds, one shower, one bathroom, someone is always sleeping, can’t talk, can’t turn on the lights… 4 days I endured this. Ugh. I never really went to summer camp that I can remember but I am sure this was exactly what it was like. Only more fun at 12 I’d imagine. Not any fun at 25. Anyway, Karen and I went out the first night in Ireland to a pub (keep in mind we stayed right in Dublin, so ones going to expect that all pubs are Irish) and as we make our way to the bar to order my first Guinness, I find myself being met by 2 Asian bartenders. Wait. Something isn’t right with this picture. Ireland = Dublin = Irish Men…. I’m not racist by any means, that’s not what this is about. I wanted to be greeted by an real Irish bartender! Oh well, I just take my Guinness and smile. Karen and I go upstairs and find some other people that are staying in the hostel with us. I take one sip of my Guinness and set it in the middle of the table “It’s up for grabs! I tasted it, now I’m wasting it. Thought it would taste better actually being in Dublin, but not so much!” It didn’t take much before someone poured it into their glass! I gave it a valiant effort. We didn’t stay out late that night because we had a huge day planned for Friday. Friday morning came and we planned on taking a jump on/jump off bus tour. By the way, Dublin is just as expensive if not more expensive than London. Maybe Germany will be cheap, the $, ₤ & €’s are dwindling down fast at this rate. We went to Trinity College and walked around the campus for a little while. I went to see the book of Kells while the girls went and walked around the campus some more. It was really interesting to read about it. The book of Durrow was also there and I learned on the trip to Glendalough that is it was kept inside the Round Tower for many years. This is one of the reasons the door to the tower is 15 feet off the ground. When it flooded, the book would remain unharmed. Ok, I know – enough of the educational stuff. After that we found a travel center and booked our day trip and had a bite to eat. Then we jumped back on the bus and went to the Museum of Modern Art in the old Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. This was an old hospital with a beautiful garden placed behind it. I don’t know how many of you have actually seen modern art, real modern art… I thought I did, but that was nothing. The exhibition that was on display when we went was by Laurie Anderson and was titled: The record of the time. It was not only visual, but musical and interactive as well. There were phones hanging from the ceiling when you first walked in. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to touch them, but you could hear voices from the receiver. When you put them up to your ear, it was just a non-sense conversation. There were well over 100 different pieces to look at. One may want to call this type of art weird. I like to call it absolutely fascinating! After this we jumped back on the bus tour and made our way back to the hostel. That night we planned on partaking in the Musical Pub Crawl. Partake we did. It was €8 and we were supposed to meet in the upstairs of Oliver St. John Gogarty’s pub. When we got there, the place was packed! I thought we were the only people that would do a musical pub crawl, thank goodness we were wrong. There were 2 musicians who were going to perform the tunes and songs while telling the story of Irish music. I didn’t think I would love this music as much as I did. It could have been the Carlsberg I was drinking (my new favorite – it’s an English beer) or that the music was really that good! I bought a cd! Again, Jamie makes a mistake: the cd was not what the music was that night! Maybe because it was made in a studio and what I heard was live. Maybe I had too much Carlsberg to drink and I don’t remember what the music really sounded like? What ever the case, I was really disappointed when listening to it! I recorded some of it with my camera so I suppose I can create my own musical pub crawl cd if I really wanted to. There was a part where the musicians asked anyone in the audience if they could sing and would like to share a tune with us. One man got up from Spain and sang a song. All in Spanish of course, it could have been about war and murder for all I know. Then Karen & I started pointing madly to our fearless friend Dayna; who can sing in German. She was just drunk enough to go up on stage and sing a little tune! I think I almost wet myself at this point of the night and it wasn’t because of the drink! She gets up there and they hand her a guitar. She can’t play the guitar. And she belts out “Smelly cat, smelly cat”. The crowd thought it was hysterical; the musicians didn’t get the joke. They were like “Com’on now, are you serious?” She was like, “It’s a joke, it’s from Friends.. Never mind” She then starts strumming the guitar singing her German song. It was really good that she got up there and the people in the crowd referred to her as Phoebe for the rest of the night. I couldn’t have done it. Then again, I can’t sing so there wouldn’t have been a reason for me to get up there! After that, we went to the bar and a little Irish man bought us 3 shots of what looked like baby Guinness’s. It was baileys and some other chocolaty liquor. Yummy! Make sure to check out the pictures below this entry of Ireland and make sure to go to web shots as well, they are all there! After this we stayed at this pub and went downstairs to another band that made fun of Americans, mainly me, Karen & Dayna. By this point in the night though none of us comprehended or cared what he was saying. We finished up the night drinking at the bar and then that brings me to the next morning. That’s because that’s all I remember. I know, I know. Don’t yell at me. Trust me, that is the last time I have drank that much and I remember why I’d stopped drinking again. Saturday was horrible, due to the hangover, so Karen, Dayna & Nick (Dayna’s boyfriend from London) did some sightseeing and waited for me to get up. We then did a quick walk through of the National Gallery of Ireland art gallery and then made it to the Guinness brewery tour before it closed. Getting there at 5 pm and thinking we were going to make our way through 7 floors of the brewery was a genius idea. Whose idea was it? I’ll give you a second…. Ok, it was my idea. I think we made it to 3 of the 7 floors? Nice idea slick. That’s ok, I think we were all museum-ed out by the end anyway! The best part of the tour? The little paperweight they give you that has a drop of the black stuff inside (as they so ofter refer to Guinness as). On the back of the paperweight is a black ring that entitles you to 1 free pint of Guinness at the end of the tour. Ugh, great… just what a girl with a hangover needed. We made our way to the gravity bar the gave you a 360° view of Dublin. Kind of like the London Eye I rode on. This wasn’t much a view either though, not that it was overcast (the sun was actually setting) but it just didn’t really look like much. See pic below. I did exchange the black ring in for a pint, but I just held it up to my mouth for a picture and then (very non-chalantly) placed it back on the bar. I felt like someone was going to place a spotlight on me and a booming voice was going to say “Back away from the bar, this girl just put her drink down and wasn’t going to drink it…” Luckily that didn’t happen. After this we went back to our hostel for a little nap (an absolute MUST for me by this point) and then headed our to a little pub for dinner. Then we went into Temple Bar area (it’s a cluster of bars spread across 2 or 3 blocks). I was not drinking. Nor did I feel like going out, but I thought I’d better, how often do you get to go to Ireland? I took it easy, drinking water and kind of just sat around on a stool watching the crowd. Going back to the hostel kept looking better and better if you can believe that one! Finally we did leave as the pub was closing up. Sunday morning we got up early and met our bus for the day trip to Glendalough & Wicklow Mts. This was the best part of Ireland by far. Our tour guide was very good, he told us so much on the ride to each destination. We went by the old U2 recording studios that are now covered with graffiti (which is kind of sad). He showed us the sight of the new U2 recording studios. He also told us that Dublin is eventually going to become car free. The only means of transportation will be taxi’s & buses. They are going to make most of the streets pedestrian only. Kind of a neat idea, if I’ve learned one thing here in Europe it’s that you walk… Everywhere… The first place we stopped on the trip was on one of the coasts. This was the first time I’ve seen water I think since I’ve been here. We then stopped again in the hills before Glendalough at a little bed & breakfast for some tea. They had the cutest little bridge all covered in ivy, it was the most perfect thing I have ever seen. We then made our was to Glendalough and our tour guide told us about how the Vikings had come through the area and burned some of it down and told us the story of the round tower and the high cross & Celtic crosses. It was very interesting. I think I was too taken in by the sites to completely pay 100% attention to him though, unfortunately. When you see the pictures you’ll understand. We then got to take a 45 min hike through Sally Gap, Loch Tay & Barron Peat Bogs. Ok, we took a 45 min hike but I don’t know if we actually saw those exact things on the way. He mentioned them; they are in the guide I’m looking at right now from the tour… So we will say that is what I saw and leave it at that!! J We then took another small drive through the Glencree & Enniskerry village and stopped for lunch at another B&B. After this we finally made our way to the Wicklow Mountains. You definitely start believing there is a high power when you see such sights as these. The mountains, the glacier lakes…This was, by far, the most beautiful scene I have ever laid eyes upon in my life. The air? The freshest I’ve ever taken a breath of. The sun was glistening on the water and through the mountains the entire time we were there. I could have sat there for the rest of my life just staring out at the landscape. (Dad, you would have loved it – there were deer grazing down by the water of one of the lakes) Truly amazing. So after I took a trillion pictures and almost rolled of the mountain (Dayna & Nicks idea to lay on the edge for a picture!) we got back onto the bus to head home. If anyone has a choice to go to London or to Ireland for a day? IRELAND hands down. This was by far the best scenic experience I have had thus far. When we got home, we again took a nap at the hostel. All the fresh air made us extremely tired. We then had dinner and tried to get into a hotel for some live Irish dancing. They wouldn’t let us in because we didn’t have valid id. Lets see about this: a photo card titled “International Student Identification Card” with my dob, ss#, height, weight, favorite food, etc.. and it’s not valid. OK. How about, you won’t let us in because we are American? No, that’s not it you say… You all know me very well by now, I wasn’t taking the situation very well. We had to be 21 to get in to the hotel to see the show. I’m 25. My dob is clearly printed on the card. What the %$^&@#*^&^%#$%$#@!!!!! All I wanted to see was some IRISH DANCING. I don’t want a drink. Dancing. Ugh. No use in getting all worked up all over again. We found a cute little pub instead and went inside. The only flip side of the situation was that they had the cutest bathroom and a beautiful mural on the wall leading up to stairs. We stayed there until close and then came back. I left the next morning early for my flight back home to London. It’s really nice visiting another country, but I wanted to come home to my own room with privacy and my own bed. The flight between Dublin & Heathrow is only 45 mins. I fell asleep on the plane and did one of those flinchy wake up things (you know, when you’ve had a dream that you are falling or something). The lady next to me looked at me and laughed! I am finally able to navigate my way through airports rather well these days. Finally, considering that the trip here was hellish.
That night we went to see The Producers by Mel Brooks at the Royal Theatre. It is a musical and it was ok. Kind of the over acted Jim Carrey style of characters. Not really my thing. I like the ‘I have no plot, nothing makes sense’ type of theater evidently. No worries though, it was something I can now say that I have been to see. On Wednesday, for my theatre in London class, we took a tour of the Globe theatre. This is only a reconstruction of the 1599 playhouse. The first two have burned down. The guided tour was interesting, but the museum part was lagging. I think I have done one too many museums in the last month. I can’t even stand around long enough to read anything. I have a brilliant idea though, a panel of seats that are attached to a track, and each can go at their own pace, you sit, you push buttons to move, you read. What a splendid idea. This way, no one gets tired of standing and maybe you will actually take the time to read the signs and whatnot they have posted. Otherwise, I look around at brightly colored objects and walk fast. No reading. Oh well.
I have been extremely sick all week. You would have thought that the fresh air in Ireland would do one good. Monday night I started feeling achy and it’s continued all the way though today. I have been self diagnosing myself this whole time (Erin, Lora – you know what I am talking about!). When we first got here to London, we got these little information flyers about meningitis & septicaemia. Lets do a checklist of my symptoms shall we:
Severe headache? √
(ok look, I know this is the sq. root sign, but I couldn’t find the checkmark sign so just work with me here!! )
Stiff neck? √
Fever? √
Confusion? √
Hives? √
Severe Sleepiness? √
Pains in the limbs, joints and muscles? √ √ √
Difficulty walking or standing? √ √
Oh great, I have meningitis. Have I been to the Dr. though, because that would make sense if you were sick to go, wouldn’t it? No. Instead, I lie around in my room burning up and sneezing and coughing and complaining. Then last night when I thought it couldn’t get any worse – I’m awakened out of a Nyquil induced sleep to a fire alarm in which I am being pushed down 3 flights of stairs to the freezing cold. Words don’t describe my mood at this point. We stand outside for 5 mintues, just enough time for me to completely wake up and not go back to sleep, and he lets us back in. Cause of the fire alarm? I could have cared less… Just wanted to go back to bed. I woke up this morning at about 11 am and that’s where I am now. Still in front of my computer. I have been on it all day. Slept a total of 15 hours and now I sit in front of a computer (that every time I hit save, it freezes and I have to shut it down and start it again, a nice new trick that it didn’t have before I took it to the IT people…. Fun, special, wonderful! Really happy with the stellar job they did.) and spend my whole day away updating my blog and webshots. Thanks people, thanks a lot! (I need someone to blame, right?)
I am taking it easy this weekend; 1. because I have Germany to look forward to & 2. I have a ton, I mean a TON of work to do for school. I am just going to the portobella markets tomorrow and on Sunday going to Canterbury.
Remember when I mentioned numerous times above to "see below" for pictures? Unfortunatly that will not be happening today. My computer has seemed to refuse to use the program that allows me to post the pictures to the web.
I am going back to the IT place on monday - it's not going to be pretty, I can tell you that right now.

Off in search for my own little Leprechaun

Leaving for Ireland tonight for the next few days returning Monday night. I can't wait, this is going to be so exciting! My first picture to take when I get there? A pint of Guinness at the first Irish pub we go into! My little brother says that there is no other reason to go to Ireland except to drink... I'll show him - church, museum, pub... horseback riding, pub... walking around looking at the sites, pub... walking around to find more pubs... ;)
Taking the computer in today to have the virus removed or something like that. Actually, I don't know exactly what they are going to do to it... Probably going to be a mistake by taking it in there. Let you know Monday when I pick it up!
Have a smashing weekend & I'll be back with more stories soon.


Dad - Happy Birthday early!! I'll call you (preferably, not from a pub!!) Love you!

"They say that the truth hurts, but the only thing that truth hurts, are illusions"

I just finished reading a book entitled 'Sickened' by Julie Gregory. An international bestsellar about her life as an abused child from her mother's ill mind. This is called Munchausen by Proxy. This is a specific type of child abuse brought on by a perpetrator, usually a mother, who makes an otherwise healthy child sick in order to seek continued medical care. The mothers who do this commonly have a history of traumatic abuse or neglect suffered in their early life. Since the trauma or neglect was inflicted by their primary caretakers, the perp gets a latent parental need fulfilled from interacting with doctors, who are universally recognized caretakers and authority figures. The doctor rarely finds anything wrong with the child, but the mother goes from doctor to doctor, pursuing tests and surgeries. Sometimes the mother fabricates the symptoms, sometimes she causes them. Sometimes the child is maimed, sometimes the child becomes sick from a combination of drugs and surgeries. Sometimes the child dies. This form of child abuse is called Munchausen by Proxy (MBP). This book needs to fall into the hands of someone who needs it. It was absolutley gut wrenching at times. I come all the way to London to read a book about an american. I suppose it was so easy to read because it wasn't required for any of my classes. That makes the most sense; don't get the books needed from the library, buy books at the Heathrow airport and read them in 2 days. This story was so riviting that I couldn't put it down. If time allots it, I recommend checking this website out. http://www.mbpexpert.com/definition.html
I am leaving on Thursday for Dublin. I think I had said yesterday 'no big deal, few days to pack...' Ugh, have to pack tomorrow. And there is so much to do in Ireland that I don't know how I am going to see everything in 3 days. If anyone has any ideas how I can become a professional traveller, post them - I need to make a career out of this. Lora & Erin know what I mean, 1 week in London was nothing... So much that we wanted to do and couldn't fit it all in. My flight is booked for Germany too! I am so excited! For reasons I can't go into yet, this is going to be the best adventure of my life. I have decided to stay in Germany for the entire 2 weeks of my spring break rather than travelling to Italy as originally planned. I know, I know - doesn't make sense from what I had just keyed about about travelling and how there is never enough time. But I think that the 2 weeks that are going to be spent in Leibenstadt are going to more priceless then anywhere else I could ever travel. This trip isn't going to be about site-seeing, it's going to be about family...
Need to get some sleep, the next few are going to be rough. I have a precis do on Thursday in my national cinema class. Stellar. I will start this project as soon as I learn what the hell a precis is anyway and what it has to be done on. Way to wait until the last minute Jam... Some things never change!! :)
Oh well, as always, I will come through last minute with another one of my smashing pieces of work!

Sidenote:

A quote by Julie Gregory

"The memories that hang the heaviest are the easiest to recall. They hold in their creases the ability to change one's life, organically, forever. Even when you shake them out, they've left permanent wrinkles in the fabric of your soul."

I think that explains more in 3 sentances than what others (ie: me) have tried to find the words for for years...