Hey again,

I’m so sorry this has taken me forever to write, I have just been very busy this week getting ready, doing some homework, and of course, planning for Halloween.
Now, I want to give some details about my trip to Amsterdam and Belgium with my Mommy!

I suppose I shall just start at the beginning.

Hiya Everyone!

Well, let me first start by saying that I don’t have any hilarious anecdotes of fortune tellers or little old ladies for you today. However, I do have some (in my opinion) brilliant, remarkable views to share with you about what I have discovered about Irish culture and the nature of the Irish people! If you wish to read more (which I certainly hope you do!), I’m trying this new thing where you click on the link right below this that says continue reading!

Greetings to all of my dedicated blog readers!

I have quite the tale for you today of my weekend in Milan.

Let me first start by saying that it was a simply perfect weekend. My friend Zara and I had a blast, laughing the whole time and making millions of memories. Italy is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in the world—the people, the buildings, the artwork. It is simply stunning. However, numerous hilarious events made the weekend one of those unforgettable times that you just have to tell someone about. I shall start at the beginning.

Now, for those of you who have taken a flight with Ryan Air, you know that although the flight is cheap, they attempt to charge you for every single little extra—baggage, boarding passes, anything. So, Zara and I, attempting to get out of the 40 euro boarding pass charge went to her house at about midnight on Wednesday evening to print our boarding passes. What would happen to us? Her printer was completely out of ink. For the next hour or so, we attempted to change the ink cartridge.

Epic fail.

In addition to having no clue on how to manage this arduous task, we were attempting to replace the black ink with pink ink. Clearly, we are technical geniuses. Anyway, at about 1:30 in the morning (mind you that we are supposed to be at the airport around 5 a.m. for our 7 a.m. flight), we decide to come down to the campus and try to find a security guard to let us into the computer lab. You know what happens next.

Another epic fail.

So, now, 2 o’clock creeping on, we head back to Zara’s house and get on the internet to search for an all night internet café in downtown Dublin. Around three in the morning, I hop out of her car, while she continues to drive around, and I run into the creepy, side alley internet café where I finally manage to print the boarding passes! Hooray!

Then, about 2 hours of sleep and the adventure begins.

Where should I start?

I could go on about the creepy, older Australian fellow who followed us around the plane, waiting for us after immigration, finding seats next to us on the bus, and shamelessly and rudely hitting on me every chance he got.

Not cool.

However, why don’t we skip that seeing as I have much more entertaining tales to tell!!

Day 1.

Zara and I land in Milan and take the bus into central station. From there, we meander through the city of Milan on a trek to find our hotel. Luckily for me, Zara is a whiz at the map, and we found the hotel within a half an hour. So, as we unpack into our room, we are faced with two options:

1. We could take a nap seeing as we were completely and utterly exhausted.
2. We could go and start exploring Milan.

Obviously, we chose the latter and set out to explore. Our first stop was at Santa Marie delle Grazie, the resting ground of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, “The Last Supper.” Now, the hard part about all of this was finding the actual place. The streets in Milan are all centered on hundreds of piazzas. However, the key is to know which way, left or right, you take at the piazza. I know you are probably thinking this is easy with a map, but I assure you, it really wasn’t. It took us about an hour to find the place. Then once we found it, we went to book our reservation for either Friday or Saturday. The receptionist told us they were booked literally throughout all of November. We tried to be crafty and say it was for school assignment, but that did not work for us either. Instead, I bought a poster and we walked around the outside for a long time.

So, Zara and I thought that we needed to get out and do something productive seeing as the day hadn’t gone as planned up until then. We set off to the Duomo, Milan’s Cathedral, to view this brilliant piece of architecture. We first went inside and lit candles in honor of those we have lost. Then, we walked around the inside, noting the fantastic stained class and ornately decorated interior. Luckily for us, a woman we met earlier on the plane, told us to walk around the side of the building and take a lift to the top. Unsure of exactly what this would entail, we gladly paid 5 euro and walked up about one million stairs! When we finally reached the top, I couldn’t even believe it. We were literally standing on the roof of the cathedral, walking amongst all the pillars and spikes. It was amazing. The view of the Piazza del Duomo below was equally as incredible. We spent the next hour on the roof, walking the length of it, meeting a few people, and taking way to many pictures! (See some below!)

After we left the Duomo, we walked down the shopping street to the immediate right for a couple of hours. Milan is truly the fashion capital of the world. I don’t think I had enough money to even buy a pair of socks in those stores—Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and so many more. However, it was such a cool experience to just walk around all that the piazza had to offer. That evening, we went out to dinner and called it a night!

Day 2.

This day had a little bit of a late start seeing as we absolutely couldn’t get up before ten o’clock (remember, we ran on about 2.5 hours of sleep the day before). However, once we were out, we thought we should go and see some culture. In our map book, one of the top sights to see was the Sforza Castle. In the surrounding of the area, there is not only interesting architecture with beautiful parks, but also, the Museo d’Arte Antica, a museum within the castle that has many Gothic and Renaissance treasures, including rooms decorated by Leonardo da Vinci. In the museum, we spent a few hours looking around and finally came to the Rondanini Pietŕ, a masterpiece of Michelangelo that he never finished due to his death while crafting the piece.

After that, we had some lunch and decided we needed to get some luck! We headed to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to find the bull mosaic on the floor. In Milan, there is an old legend saying that if you spin around on the testicles of this bull mosaic three times, you will have good luck.
No kidding.

So, we went to the bull, spun around and took plenty of pictures!

With our new good fortune, we headed out of the galleria and went through this side street. We were abruptly stopped by a man with an umbrella speaking in a very high pitched voice. He was a transgender palm reader. He slowed our trek and began to tell Zara and me about our auras and palms. However, after telling us that we were princesses, he told me it would cost 12 euro to read my palm. Now, I kindly declined because I really don’t believe in palm readings, especially for about twenty dollars! However, Zara loves this kind of stuff, so we heard him out. Zara was told that she will have one girl, two houses in different countries, and will not die of cancer. She was also a very good person and her eyes show kindness and wisdom. In addition, there is a good spirit looking out for her.

My fortune? Not so good.
I have a gremlin instead of a spirit! I know you might think I am making this up, but trust me, it actually happened! He told me that I should watch out for dying of cancer and that my eyes show determination. He also said that I don’t like stupid people or ignorance, and will conquer the world. I kindly nodded, but then attempted to get away. However, he grabbed my arm and told me that because I was a non-believer, I was essentially bad at life.

Great news to me.

After we managed to escape the grasps of the palm reader (or as I should say, after Zara paid him for her fortune-telling), we went to a traditional Italian restaurant and had some amazing pizza! They really do have it better in Italy! Although, I have to say that Little Caesars’ Hot and Ready Pizzas give Italy a run for their money!

Now, this next part may have been the strangest part of the entire trip. While attempting to cross the street to find our way back to the hotel, Zara was looking at the map, while my eyes were wandering over the streets before us. As I looked to my left, I literally saw a man get hit by a car. Two seconds later, people screamed and the man was lying face down on the road. I essentially couldn’t move because I was so shocked by what I had just witnessed. Somehow I managed to pull Zara over to where the man was being helped by some passersby. His face and hands were bleeding worse than anything I have ever seen, and I think his leg may have been broken. However, the strangest part of all was that the driver of the car took his grand old time walking back to see if the man was okay. I mean, he literally meandered back acting like nothing had happened. I’m not even sure if the man survived because mass chaos broke out and Italian yelling ensued. Zara and I left the madness and allowed the ambulance and guards to sort it out. Crazy right?

Day 3.

Day three was spent walking through the markets of Chinatown, visiting an aquarium, and attempting to rent a Vespa. No luck of course. However, one extremely interesting story did happen. I was cursed.

I know you might be thinking that being cursed is made up and all, and so did I…until last Saturday.

We hopped on the Metro to head over to where Chinatown was. This was about 7 stops on the Metro, and it must have been 85 degrees in there. I had on a sweater and a silk dress, but I took the sweater off due to extreme perspiration. No big deal right?

Wrong.

There was an older lady sitting across from me with these huge bifocal glasses as big as her head. She proceeded to stare/glare (honestly it was both!) at me for the entire ride, and was even whispering under her breath. I was extremely uncomfortable with this seeing as I strongly believe it is rude to stare. However, I didn’t know what to do. The Metro was packed and hot, and this lady wouldn’t look away from me!

Then, I brillantly thought, “Oh, I’ll put on my sweater. Maybe that will make her happy.”

No?wrong again.

Her eyes never wandered away from me, and I was fidgeting more and more by the minute. When at last our stop came, I saw the lady standing up. I held Zara back for a moment to let the lady get off first because I just wanted to be as far away from her as possible! Then as I was walking behind her, she froze in her spot and did a half turn around to glare in my eyes! Yikes! Terrified now, I grab Zara and say, “Are you kidding me?” But, right at that moment, unbeknownst to me, she had stopped walking and was now right beside me! I yelped and jumped about ten feet in the air before grabbing Zara and sprinting to the other side of the walkway.

Now, I am convinced that I am cursed. I’m waiting for the evil to come get me at any moment. Perhaps, it had to do with me not paying the transgender palm-reader to hear my fortune? Who knows?

Anyway, overall, it was an amazing trip. It really brought Zara and me closer and we had more laughs than I can even remember. Milan is a fabulous city that I hope to see again one day.

I hope my stories gave you a good laugh today! Any advice on how to undo cursing would be greatly appreciated!

As always, thank you for reading and?

Cheers!

Oh and by the way, this whole not having a man around thing is slowly making me a very independant woman. I live on the ground floor here in my dorm. I came in my room to clean up a bit, and was picking up a pair of jeans on the ground when a giant man-eating spider fell out of them. So creepy! I managed to muffle my scream of terror and flush the little devil. Proud of me anyone??

Good morning to all!

Very interesting classes today and I think I shall write a bit about it on here. First, I went to my current affairs class. The topic of the day was capitalism verses socialism. It all started off quite pleasantly; everyone telling which they thought was better and why. Then, as should be expected, it turned a little argumentative. A student in the front row began talking of the corruptness in the United States Health Care and how we are moronic for not immediately accepting the health care plan. In addition, he claimed that we “turn people who are ill away at hospitals.” Naturally, my nationalism fired up. So, I rebutted, “Well, actually my mother works at a health care facility. We do not simply turn ill people away who cannot afford it. We do take care of many of the people without health care and in addition, we have many free clinics and volunteer services.” He went on some rant back about how we only cater to the rich and have a terrible system. Then he said, and I quote, “Your whole government needs reformed.” Ouch.

Interesting comment however. One of the things I have learned here is that many people resent Americans. I’m not sure if it has to do with the superpower status we have, or their false beliefs that we all live in the lap of luxury—you know, like me, driving my Hummer, eating only caviar, and buying 10,000 dollar earring. So NOT my life. ‘I just don’t know’ (to quote Eddie Holt, my current affairs teacher!), but there definitely is some resentment by certain people.

Speaking of the supernational status, you would not believe how Irish teachers speak of the United States power. I have never taken any courses on this type of study, and I have never seen the United States from anywhere but within either. They talk of the country as this massive, literally, world-determining force. They even say that nothing passes through the United Nations without the United States support. They even joked a little, during a democracy conversation, that everyone wants to go to “the promised land of America,” with a slight chuckle I might add.

Even more news for the day. During lecture, my current affairs teacher brought up the 10,000 or so rapes American soldiers committed during World War II. All I can think was, “What is he talking about.” He said that no one wants to hear about massive raping by the “heroes.” Shocked as I was, I am also glad to learn about these things. I am slowly beginning to realize that they don’t put ‘dangerous’ opinions in the media, but how am I to know the truth of what is actually happening? These opinions are very disconcerting and have given me quite the headache.

Moving onward with my morning, in my international relations class, we were discussing whether our vote counts in elections. I think myself and maybe 5 other people raised our hands as a yes , it does count vote. Mind you, this is an INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS course! These people want to be ambassadors and political leaders and reformers of Ireland! I was flabbergasted by this. When our teacher asked everyone about it, individuals stood up and said that they are such a small vote, it doesn’t matter to them. Then our teacher would ask, “Are you mad about that?” and the students would say, “Not really.” I guess I have just been brought up by my parents to believe that my vote matters and that even though I am one person, I have a say in how our country is run. That is, in fact, the basis of democracy, is it not? I guess it was just hard to hear because I am unaware as to if all students feel this way. Why are we teaching our youth to not care about these issues and their voice in the democracy? One day soon, our youth will be adults. Will they still not care when that point comes about? Let me know what you think about this?

I truthfully don’t know, but I can say that my nationalism as well as passion for international relations and politics have been lit, and are burning steadily. I cannot wait to do some more research now on the current issues facing not only America, but the entire global world.

Well, enough of my tirade on politics and nationalism studies! Let me tell you about the Cliffs of Moher. If you ever do get a chance to come to Ireland, this is one place you absolutely cannot miss! I hopped on a bus on Sunday and took it to Galway where I was picked up by a touring company. From there, we set out to see the sights! They took us to a cave, called Aillwee Cave. It was brilliant. There was an underground waterfall in the cave! I think it may have been the coolest thing I have ever seen!
After that, we headed out to the Cliffs of Moher. Oh, I must mention that since I went to the Cliffs alone, I needed to find some companions. Luckily for me, ten or so Italian guys were on holiday there before they went back to class, and I hung out with them all day. In the pictures, you will see them! So, upon arriving at the Cliffs of Moher, I was literally speechless by the beauty of the sight. They are just these massive rock formations in the sea that you can walk out on! Well, you actually aren’t supposed to go beyond the sign, but as I said, I was with Italian daredevils. What else could I do?

Anyway, when I was standing there, pretty secluded, on top of the cliffs, which are about 210 meters high, I felt this sudden surge of confidence, exhilaration, and self-evaluation. It was one of those once in a lifetime moments where you feel like you can do absolutely anything. I think I might have actually been able to fly. It was incredible. I can’t remember being that happy and sure of who I am in such a long time. I never wanted to leave that spot. Okay now, as cheesy as this sounds, I think I may be discovering a new portion of Hayley out here.

Well, we stayed at the cliffs for about an hour just taking pictures, walking around, etc. (I do hope you enjoy some of my pictures! )Then we headed home, stopping for short photo shoots at the Galway bay and a part of the coastline! Excellent trip! Once back in Galway, I went to the pub to kill a few hours before my bus ride back to Dublin. From there I watched the New England Patriots play some football and listened to the bartender describe the game in absolute detail to one of the Irish customers unfamiliar with good old American football! Perfect ending to my day!

Tomorrow morning, I am going to Milan with my Irish friend Zara. I found a ticket for the equivalent of about 40 dollars! I love Ryan Air! More updates on Sunday once I am back!
Please feel free to leave me some comments, either about the pictures or even about the political testament I made!

Miss everyone back home, but send love across the Atlantic!

Cheers!

What’s the craic? S’craic? That’s the craic.. What is this strange word that seems to pop up in every conversation? What does it mean? Is it a noun or a verb? And what on earth do they want to know?

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read my blog. My name is Hayley Leight. I am a junior biology major at West Virginia University, minoring in French and planning on attending medical school in the future. However, this semester, I have put biology on the back burner and decided to go after another passion of mine, traveling. I am currently studying at Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland. During the semester, I am taking courses in international studies, current affairs, cultural communication, and literature. Clearly, a big change from the chemistry and molecular biology I am used to!

I’m delighted that you have taken the time to read my blog, and I am going to do my best to keep you entertained with my endless stories of exploring a new country and developing as a new person.

As of now, I have been in Dublin for almost three weeks, and I am still trying to get my “lay of the land.” However, I am going to use this entry to catch everyone up on m y first three weeks in Dublin..the good, the bad..and the funny.

Upon arrival to Dublin with another student from WVU, Chalee Apessos, I knew instantly that my adventure was about to begin. Exhausted from the sleepless plane ride, we managed to get our bags, exchange some money, go through customs, and find the taxi que all in due time. Then, we had our first encounter. Chalee was supposed to have an apartment close to campus for the semester, so we moved over about a week early. However, before we could go to the apartment, we had to get the key. Not knowing how large of a city Dublin was, we hopped on a taxi for the ride. Thirty minutes later, and approximately 90 euro (about $135 dollars with the exchange rate), we were at the apartment. After being shell-shocked by the price and feeling slightly nauseated about the money, we went in to what was supposed to be a lovely, homey apartment close to DCU. Not the case.
The bathroom reeked of sewage, probably for being in lack of use, the sink wouldn’t drain, the bedroom was almost too small to even turn around in, the walls had dirty marks all over them, the mattress was stained and smelly, and on top of that, I found a spider in the bathroom. Not the best first impression. However, our morale was still high, and we opted for the optimistic end: At least there were other students. Yet again, not the case. One apartment member was a nurse, one sold cell phones, one was doing a Ph. D., and the other nowhere to be found. In addition, when I asked the roommates how far away DCU campus was, they said it was about a 45 minute walk, but not to walk after dark alone because it was a rather sketchy part of the neighborhood. Excellent. Clearly, Chay could not live here for the semester and be able to have the best experience possible, but we didn’t know what to do, nor where to stay that night.

Solution? Call Dad.

The exhaustion hit and the hysteria followed quickly. I called Victor (my Dad) and talked to him for about 5 minutes. This cost me about $15 dollars! He tried to stay calm and tell me what to do, but obviously I wasn’t in the best listening state. I needed a cell phone and a place to stay until the campus residences opened up (5 days) and I needed it pronto!

Now, in the U.S., when you go to a cell phone store, typically they activate it and you are set to go. Not the case here. As I found out very quickly over here, I am completely helpless with real-life skills. Ireland is clearly doing its best to give me a few! It took me over two hours and a ton of money to get our phones activated and on some sort of plan. Yet, at this point, around 7 o’clock, our bodies were starving, exhausted and it was getting late. We ran into the nearest store, about a mile away from the apartment and bought two towels each. Then, we attempted to go back and find food along the way, just planning on crashing, unbeknownst to anyone, at the apartment for one night! We went into a little pub called “The Swiss Cottage.” When asked about something to eat, they said the nearest place was about a mile down the road. Alright, no food. Instead we had a drink with the locals of Ireland. My first experience in a local pub!
About two hours later, we meandered back to the apartment where we proceeded to lay the bath towels on the one, single, bare twin mattress, took two sleeping pills each, and finally fell asleep. The last thoughts on my mind were of the homeless people I had served dinner to at the Bartlett house. I had a newfound empathy for going to bed starving and cold. Day 1 ends.

The next day, I managed to find some courage and we set out early to obtain an actual residence. I found a pay phones to call my Dad again. My mother was up sick all night worrying about me and my father had called everyone he knew to help us out! Such cool parents! Derek, the residence coordinator here, found Chalee a room for the semester on campus, and directed us to a hotel for the next few nights until the dorms opened up. After more expensive meals and taxis, we made it to the Days hotel!

The next few days are honestly kind of a blur. I remember spending way too much money, not knowing how to take public transportation, having a horrible eating plan, and getting the flu. However, the first few days here have been the biggest learning experience I have ever had. I learned that I can handle just about anything, and I can navigate unknown places. I just have to keep my cool. Nonetheless, my first impression of Dublin was made, and I was worried sick about the coming semester.
You know, I have always thought that first impressions are distinctly determining? not anymore! In the last two weeks, my impression of Dublin has gone from one of detestation to one of adoration.

After spending a few days at the hotel (spent mostly exploring the city, and a two-day country road trip with my friend Eamon), we moved into our dorms and began the student orientation. Things were great and I began to meet a lot of cool new people from all over the world; Australia, Sweden, United States, France, Germany?everywhere!
It is funny to me because I don’t feel international at all. However, in Ireland, I am. It is definitely a new experience to raise my hand as an international student. I still feel a bit awkward doing that.

Anyway, over the last two weeks, I have been working on making friends, touring some of Dublin, and getting settled into my place. We just started classes last week here, and they really haven’t gotten into much content yet, but I am definitely excited to see what new knowledge they bring.

As for touring Ireland, I have gone to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College. In case you don’t know what that is, it is an elaborately written manuscript containing the 4 gospels of the New Testament. It was written by monks over a thousand years ago. The exhibition was wonderful. I went alone and ended up spending close to two hours reading all of the manuscripts and stories about the book itself. Then, from there, I went into the Long Room, the reading library filled with over 200,000 of the oldest books at Trinity. I was caught off guard by my emotions, and I actually shed a tear in the hall. It just felt so surreal to be surrounded by that much history, and I was very inspired.

I have also gone on a Dublin bus tour to see the land, and I have walked around much of the city center, being sure to hit Henry street? one of the best shopping streets in all of Ireland!!

As of yet, I am just trying to make my time here excellent. I feel so alive in this city, and I want to embrace everything about it. I am planning numerous trips with my parents and friends, and can’t wait for everything to unfold.

Tomorrow I am going to see the Cliffs of Moher on the western coast. Excited to see what that brings.

For now, I am going to upload a few pictures of some of my new friends here at campus, and some of the sights I have seen on the tours!

Ah, and now of course, you are probably wondering what craic means? It is simply there way of saying, “What’s up?” or “Plans for tonight?” or “That’s what’s going on.” As for s’craic? Well that is just too plain lazy for me!!

Enjoy and Let’s Go Mountaineers!

p.s. I really really miss football games!
p.p.s . I know this entry is extremely long, but they will typically be shorter. I just had three weeks to cover here!