Farewell dinner.

I regret that this entry doesn't contain any particularly stunning images. The weather this week has been quite disagreeable and I have spent most of my time sitting indoors looking forlorn. Oh, and reading.

On the whole I've been extremely distractible; I'm gearing up to leave in a mere five days. I haven't been bringing my camera with me (again), although this has been in an attempt to protect the books that I've been reading. They get beaten up rather badly by the presence of my camera and it makes me feel bad.

With the weather being rainy, windy and finger-freezing, coupled with my linear focus on my departure to LA this Friday, I've hardly spared a thought for blog content. Truly any photo thoughts have been dedicated to what my entry will look like next Sunday once I'm in LA with Andrew. Expect self-portraits of me smiling.

All of these factors combined couldn't completely halt the flow of, 'but what about this week's post?' thoughts. And so, as a better than nothing entry, I present cell phone images of last night. These serve as a documentary of the lovely evening I had with my co-workers. I believe I have referred to them as Philip and Aurora in the past, so I will continue to do so.

Bummed I only get one dinner here, but it was a spectacular one!

On Tuesday of this week, Aurora and I simultaneously asked one another if the three of us (three being Philip, but he wasn't present at this time) wanted to have dinner Saturday night. What a serendipitous moment! I told her that I loved Italian food, and hadn't forgotten that she mentioned there was a great place in Salthill called Da Roberta's. So she made a reservation for seven p.m. Saturday (last night) :D

The menus impressed me.

The three of us proceeded to have a wonderful time! Da Roberta's was a nice Italian place, crowded and friendly and a little on the expensive side. The two of them insisted on buying my meal, which was incredibly nice of them. The whole night was quite leisurely; we ate slowly, had plenty of conversation and even bought dessert!

I'm going to learn to make bruschetta. 

I had quite a bit of fun poked at me from them, seeing as I'm a very plain and simple eater. The menu was rich, varied and intricate. While looking over the options I thought of how many people I knew would revel in the decadence, and really I just wanted something simple :] I teetered briefly on ordering a pizza, but in the end decided on lasagna. I also had some spectacular bruschetta. It was worth feeling like vomiting afterward.

Huge fancy plates!

Dinner culminated in dessert, which I already mentioned, and that very rarely happens for me. When we entered the restaurant I saw the dessert case and spied a particularly succulent looking piece of chocolate fudge cake. It was at that moment that I decided I needed to order a dessert, no matter what I had for dinner. Once the dessert menu was looked over, I became super excited because I saw that they offered profiteroles.

This lasagna was amazing.

I have never had profiteroles, but I've wanted to try them since last summer. There's a scene in Half-Blood Prince where the characters are eating delicious looking desserts, and I assumed that it was vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate syrup. I was informed that they were, in fact, eating profiteroles; a French dessert consisting of puff pastries filled with cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup.

Aurora's seafood pasta had a teeny tiny octopus. T_T

They. were. amazing. One of the most satisfactory desserts I have ever eaten in my life. I hope I find a place that serves them in LA. I don't imagine that should be too tall of a request.

Profiteroles as they were presented to me.

Covered in chocolate. I went to take a picture of the empty container after I had 

devoured all of them, but the waitress took it away before I could!

After the hefty and excellent meal, we took Philip's bike to Aurora's house so that he didn't have to chain it up on the street, and then we went to have a drink at a place called Oslo's. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was called. The rest of the evening was just as pleasant and enjoyable as dinner was. After one drink we went across the street to an 'amusement center' consisting of a large-ish arcade and a casino. Philip really wanted to play pinball (he kept singing 'Pinball Wizard', which was fantastic).

We played the middle Spider-man one.

We played head-to-head pinball, well I guess technically head-to-head-to-head (ha!) and Philip won by a rather large margin. I, in turn, lost by a rather large margin. *shame* But that's OK! Afterwards Aurora and I played two rounds of air hockey and we both won once. I love air hockey so much! Philip had a bad run-in with a busted Guitar Hero machine, and then we all played a game of pool.

You can see Aurora's arm there. Yay pool!

Unfortunately, I caused a spectacular loss for Aurora and myself. It had been an extremely long time since I'd played pool (I really can't remember the last time) and it was a sad show. The loss was entirely my fault, seeing as I sunk the eight ball while both teams had two balls left. Ah well. It was still fun!

The night ended with a few more drinks back at Oslo's and continued fun conversation. It was great to finally get an evening out with my co-workers who I have spent the last three months with. So, in that tiny way, this entry is slightly relevant to my photo life. Ha!

-MJ

Ireland Day 77 - Sensory Assault

The biggest one being my walk from the bus to home this evening.

Wandering through the cul de sac with the overgrown street sign, it's a shortcut of sorts, shown to me by Catherine and Maisa. Sometimes the bus drivers don't stop at the park and go to Cotter's. This different way of finding home makes the most sense if that occurs.

Turning down the street, wondering to myself if the dog will show up again, I come across a black cat. "Looks like Loki." I thought idly to myself. And then I stopped. "... Looks a lot like Loki."

My eyes burned a bit at the familiarity of it, rapidly remembering that this time next week I'll be on my way to Washington. I asked myself, am I homesick? I stood surveying the animal, pondering to myself, thinking harder about the cat that it so forcibly resembled.

And I came to the conclusion that it wasn't homesickness. I don't know one word to describe what it was. I said to myself, "I don't want familiarity." I thought briefly about all of the things that will surround me soon and how familiar they're going to be.

It's not that they're bad, that's not the case at all. Never is it that simple! Never.

After recovering from the black cat incident I started to muse over the fact that Halloween is fast approaching. As though the nature surrounding me was eavesdropping on my thoughts, I was suddenly struck still, again, by the overwhelming scent of Autumn: sweet, aromatic dead leaves.

I was still for more moments then, taking in a breath so deep that it almost hurt, willing myself to overfill with it all. And then a fresh wave of how badly I want to be in Ireland for Halloween and Christmas settled itself over me.

I have been informed that Shop Street decorates rather completely during the season. Lights everywhere, I was told. Geraldine said that Brown Thomas fills its shop windows with various Christmas displays that are impressive and fun to look at. She waits until Christmas day to finally view them, opting to cover her face to block the displays up until then. I think that's really awesome. Oh, and she does this with hot chocolate in hand. Even more awesome.

Next year. Next year.

My evening was settled with dinner and then tea. That would be the last sensory assault of the day: I burned my mouth but I found tasty biscuits to go with the tea. I think that evened things out.

I started to read Eat Pray Love today. I can't resist my curiosity anymore! So far I am really enjoying it too.

Does it bother you that this is backwards? I'm feeling so lazy tonight. 

Look at how long my fingernails are, it's insane!

Oh, I suppose I did have a fourth strong sensory experience today: the sound of a brief but torrential downpour about half an hour ago. I'm really hoping for good weather tomorrow, and for a few reasons!

One being the Arthur Guinness Day festivities plus concert, as well as wanting some specific photos that require people being outside and enjoying themselves. The weather lately has not been conducive to personal success in that area. Here's hoping!

-MJ

Ireland Day 75 - Around Connemara

Today saw more exploration adventures!

I mentioned recently that I hadn't been out and about lately. I've been sticking around town and tending to my current routine, not having many chances to do anymore touring. Funds are tight and I'm not interested in doing tours by myself. These aspects do tend to restrict my options!

Tra Sáilín, a small beach past Spiddal. 

However, knowing that I'll be back before too long makes me feel less sad about missing out on popular places. There will be time! :)

After spending some time with Miriam she asked me if I'd had a chance to see Connemara yet. I told her that I had not but that I wanted to, just didn't want to do a tour alone.

So, she ever so kindly offered to take me today! And we had a very nice time.

We explored down a random road and met this nice fellow here.

One thing that I miss out on while being part of a tour? Stopping wherever I want. Miriam was awesome; she stopped wherever I asked her to and even pulled off on a few places that she knew of that she thought I'd enjoy.

Since she was in no hurry I was allowed to take my time photographing one thing over and over again and stopping randomly in the middle of a conversation.

Joy!!

For the most part we had very fair weather. The first half of our excursion was almost too warm. There was mist hanging over the ocean and it was beautiful. On our way back down to Galway clouds and fog started to settle over the landscape, obscuring the views rather heavily.

Another random stop shortly past Maam Cross. I wanted that valley in the background and this is where the sheep ran from me!

A few times we passed some pretty spectacular views but the lighting was just so bad that I didn't bother to have her stop. It wouldn't have hurt for me to snap a few shots, but I knew I'd be disappointed with the results so meh.

I got a lot of shots that I'm very happy with! My only let down is my lack of sheep photos D: I badly wanted to get some cute sheep pictures! At one point we pulled over near some sheep grazing behind a fence and they freakin' ran like crazy when I got out of the car :( :( Even after standing still for a while to prove I was harmless they still wouldn't come back.

Kylemore Abbey.

Next time! Grrr.

But speaking of sheep, I was rather surprised when we turned a bend in the road and there were two sheep moseying nonchalantly down the center line!

"Sheep!" I exclaimed. Miriam laughed and said that they're everywhere.

"But who do they belong to?" I asked. She said most likely some farmer nearby.

"What if something happens to them?" I was so amused and curious. She explained that cars are used to sheep wandering the roads so they rarely get hit, and there aren't many predators in the area. On top of all that the farmers generally have so many sheep that they probably don't even notice if one or two go missing.

Fascinating!

Early Autumn leaves resting at the top of a small waterfall at Connemara National Park.

She decided to take the route that the tour buses take, therefore ensuring plenty of beautiful sights for my camera and myself. We went up past Maam Cross and around to Kylemore Abbey. We walked around outside of the Abbey but didn't pay to go in. I'll leave that for another time.

After that we rode out toward Clifden and then stopped at Connemara National Park. It was mostly just trails but I saw some dogs swimming in a pond and that was cute. We stopped in Clifden because she was thirsty and she bought me a Loop de Loop, which was a lemon/lime partially chocolate covered popsicle. It was good too!

We stopped at Joyce's for some groceries and then I made dinner. To my great dismay (and pain) my sciatic nerve in my left side decided to freak the EFF OUT and I can barely walk right now. I have been stretching as much as I can and now I'm just laying down. I wanted to do the dishes but standing is friggin'... just no. So I hobbled upstairs and collapsed into bed. I do NOT know what's going on but it had better be finished when I wake up tomorrow.

I forget what this flower is called. I like it.

I'm sleepy. Today was fun.

-MJ

Ireland Day 61 - Glorious Sunset

Once again, allow me to gush about the amazing quality of light that happens during sunset here. It hypnotizes me. I was doing quite a few things on my computer when I looked out the window and saw a small patch of light illuminating a row of windows on a house across the street. I jumped up, grabbed my camera and threw open the window, proceeding to snap away. It feels a little cheap to use it at my 365 because I took a very similar photo not too long ago. This one is encapsulating the light, whereas the last ones were black and white. So I think it'll be different enough.

The chunk of light that served as my inspiration.

To my extreme delight, the sky slowly changed while I was focused on the windows. Where it was a bland patch of clouds before, with the peek-a-boo happening on the windows, the clouds shifted and the light broke out and the whole sky lit up in just astonishing pastels and swirls. My attention sufficiently diverted, many photos of the clouds/sky were taken.

Usually when I see a fantastic sky I am out of luck because by the time I get my camera ready the light or clouds have shifted and it is no longer interesting. Such a stroke of luck this evening.

Currently I am eating dinner. Tonight? Chicken burger and fries. I'm branching out! I mean, this is something I normally eat but not something I've made for myself here yet. While walking through the grocery store today I stopped and went "Hey I can make chicken burgers", so I set out to find them. That was a roaring success, but then the chip aisle ruined everything, again. Why oh why can't Joyce's just keep a regular supply of chips? There are different brands every time I'm in there! Oh, and by the way, what is with all of the cheese flavored chips here? I love cheese but not in my chips >:O I ended up buying a Cheddar and Sour Cream flavor. It's not very good. They also have a (very popular and common) Cheese and Onion. But no Sour Cream & Onion. What?? They have Doritos, but only in 10 packs of snack bags, and even then only Nacho Cheese flavor, not Cool Ranch. Bums me out.

I had a really nice talk with Louise today (she works for International Internships, she's the company contact for Ireland). I gave her a very thorough rundown of my goings-on as of late and we talked more about the visa that I'll be applying for once I return State side. She gave me further reassurances that there's nothing to worry about, just a matter of getting it started! A nice thing to hear. We spoke a bit about jobs and places to live. I'd love to live closer to the city center next time and she said that won't be an issue. I can most likely live in Knocknacarra Park again if I can't find anything in the city, so there's no worry! If I can't find anything related to photography for a job then I can waitress :O So getting a job shouldn't be a huge issue either. Of course I would prefer to work in photography, we shall see. To end this paragraph I will say that Louise is so. awesome.

Today has been pretty nice. I slept in as much as I could and then just laid in bed for a long time while watching Friends. That was nice. I had a few things to catch up on here at the house including cleaning my room and doing some laundry. I was very leisurely about getting ready and treated myself to a decent ,if polish-less, manicure! haha The suspicious bruise on my shin is turning a great green color, I spent a lot of time inspecting it. That and my tattoo. It has healed nicely! Always a good thing. I also made my bed and sewed a button back onto a shirt and went to the grocery store. Productivity! I should have saved something for tomorrow heh xD

Actually I'll have plenty to do tomorrow. My conversation with Louise was very good in reminding me of things that I want/need to take care of. It has been suggested to me by a few people that I should create an etsy shop and sell my photos. I kept saying I would start it later, later, after graduation, later, after I get back from Ireland, etc etc. Well, I decided it wouldn't hurt to create the shop and start doing research regarding prices, structure and printers in the area in Washington. I can also start to sort out which photos I'd like to put up. That way once I return I can start uploading and telling people. "A good way to save money for Ireland", Louise said. And she is right (so long as it works). I can continue to do it once I return to Ireland as well, so long as I get a smooth system running! I'm excited :)

I think tomorrow I'm going to walk to Salthill. There are a few places around there, including the shop that Brad uses for printing, that I want to locate. The forecast says rain, but it might not! I'll walk the Prom again and actually remember to kick the wall this time (I hope!!). If it rains it had better pour, that way I can get some angry ocean photos.

I can't decide which one I like best so I'm posting all of my favorites. I have two more, so they're just tacked on at the end here. The last one is my 365 for today.

Ta da!

-MJ

Ireland Days 58/59/60 - A Lot Of Things

I have a lot of reasons for being behind. I was busy the past few days. Friday I went into town and met up with Dave. We were at The Cellar briefly before heading to Eoin's new place! He's not too far away from town, still very easy to walk to at night! It's not as "two minutes away" close as his last place was, but the new place is nicer so that's good for him and his roommates. ANYWAY. 25 and Pyramids were played. Drinks were had in rapid succession (thanks to Roger). Apparently a few clubs were visited. Then my alarm clock didn't go off.

Yesterday I went straight from work to a rugby match where I met up with Dave, James and Roger. I generally don't care to watch sports but rugby is interesting. After the match in Dublin and the guys mentioning this match that happened yesterday, I actually wanted to go. Connacht won, which is a good thing! The weather was nice and the match was impressive. Wish I knew the rules a bit better, the calls would have made more sense to me. I'll add it to my list of things to do for while I'm back in the States for a bit. That way when I come back to Ireland I'll be good and learned. After the match we went to Tara's. Tara is super cool and nice! And with a neat apartment right in town. I met new people but for some reason I wasn't feeling particularly social. It's like the conversationalist in me was out for the night, so that was a bit of a bummer. Next time! We went to the Roisin Dubh and stayed pretty late, then most of us went to a place called Apache Pizza. That is good pizza. It was 3 am though. I should try it during the day and see how I feel.

Today I remembered to pay rent to Steve, so that's good. The day was dark, overcast and almost a bit sinister. Brisk, cool. I ate leftover pizza on the bus ride. Classy, no? On my lunch break I wandered around and observed the sky some more. Still sinister, not very many people on the streets. I visited Geraldine at work and she invited me to have dinner with her and Owen! :3 That perked me up considerably and I meandered back to work smiling while the rain started.

After closing up the studio I went back to where Geraldine works. She asked me if I liked pasta, which made me laugh inwardly because I love the crap out of pasta. She didn't know that so I'm glad I didn't laugh out loud, that would have been rude! Their roommate Marionne (spelling?) was home and cooking, it was nice to see her and chat for a bit. So many friendly people here! Owen came along before too long and we watched the Jedward reality show. So. Funny. And oh so terrible. It's a lot of things. Fortunately, one of those things is highly entertaining. Geraldine made dinner and we ate and chatted while also watching X Factor. That would be Ireland's American Idol.

Waiting at the bus stop rather foolishly.

A very fun night indeed. I hope to repeat it again soon. Geraldine asked me what I would miss about the States once I return to Ireland for a full year. At first I couldn't think of specifics, but then a tiny list started to grow: gardetto's, munchies, Olive Garden, Best Buy, and good gummie candy. Geraldine has actually eaten at an Olive Garden before while she was in New York and she was very enthusiastic while recounting how much she liked it. Mmm, Olive Garden xD

I started to talk to them about the things that they all say that I find interesting and/or like. At first they sounded strange to me, but now they just make sense. They seem like better ways to say things that I already say. FOR INSTANCE! Off the top of my head I can't recall hearing anyone here say me, you, him or her. They say myself, yourself, himself and herself. It seemed too proper at first, and then the more I thought about it I decided that it was polite. Suddenly saying me, you, him or her sounds... blunt and rude. So abrupt, almost like poking your finger into someone's chest when you address them as opposed to politely gesturing toward them.

They also say 'your man' as an almost catch all for any person ever. I don't know that I can really explain it properly, but it's certainly interesting. Whereas I would maybe say, "You know that one guy blahblah", they would say, "Your man blahblah". The funniest thing is that everyone always knows who "your man" is. I love it.

The third biggest thing in my mind is the word dodgy. I am familiar with the word but no one ever really uses it. People here use it all the time! I recall Dave saying something was dodgy and I made a comment that no one around me ever used that word. He asked me what I would describe the situation as and I had to stop and think for a minute. I threw a bunch of suggestions out to him and he didn't particularly like them, they were too long or too many words or not quite descriptive enough. The more I've thought about it, the more I realize that dodgy is a great word. It's so... parsimonious.

I looked at the bus schedule wrong when leaving Geraldine and Owen's place. Today is Sunday, which means the last bus is at 7:45. I was attempting to catch an 8:15. See where the disconnect is? I sat at the bus stop for 20 minutes before realizing my mistake. So I heaved myself to the bank and hopped in a taxi. I had a very amiable driver and it was only 10 euro. I felt pretty silly about reading the schedule wrong, but all in all I think it ended up OK.

The evening has turned blustery. The wind is up. It reminds me of Grinch Night. I don't work tomorrow, so I'd like to appreciate the slightly stormy weather and listen to some music. It started to rain a bit but it has stopped, I'd like it to start up again so it can add to the music. Tomorrow I will sleep in. I will savor it.

In my very first plan for Ireland, I would have left today. I'm so glad that I have another 24 days.

-MJ

Ireland Day 56 - Too Much Food

Technically this is day 52 in Ireland, seeing as I spent four in Paris, but this is 56 days total that I've been abroad, so I'm just going to go with it.

I didn't take any photos today. I'm probably going to snap one with my webcam. I am in bed with my pajamas on (not even 9:30) and I am not getting up again. I am sleepy and full. So, so very full. Smaller meals would be a good idea. Perhaps I felt so hungry because food was such an epic adventure while in Paris. I just stuffed my face today. Bleaaaaaaaagh.

Not a lot happened. I attempted to make plans with a few people this evening, but they were all busy! So then I decided to watch Amelie, but then I got wrapped up in making/eating dinner and now I'm tired so I'll just go to sleep soon. Sounds kinda lame but I feel fairly fulfilled so I'm calling this a good day!

That's my leg going under the covers.

Work swept me up into it right away! There was a lot to do this morning. Rushrushrush and lots of orders to make! It's nice to be busy :) I keep seeing all of these "staff needed" signs around Galway. Makes me feel itchy and anxious about coming back next year. I'll be able to get a job anywhere that'll hire me, so long as places are hiring. Staying with photography would be ideal, of course, but I will take anything (and I kind of have to if I want to stay for a year, which I do!).

The weather welcomed me today like it did yesterday. Lunch was made all the more enjoyable for me as I sat next to a window and soaked up the rays. I spent time at the Spanish Arch after work, again sitting and soaking up rays. Everything smelled so wonderful outside. I could have sat there for much longer had the clouds not rolled in. Weather has to change sometimes :) I considered walking The Prom but I'm glad I didn't. I'll do it tomorrow instead.

After buying this messenger back a few weeks ago I really thought it'd help facilitate taking more pictures because I could bring my camera around with me without lugging my backpack as well. Laziness has prevailed in me because I take my camera everyday and yet... no photos. At this point I am happy to simply be in and around Galway, admiring buildings and familiar places. They are becoming fabulously commonplace (and I mean that in a very good way) and as a result I am not as compelled to bust out my camera for every single situation. I have some days off coming up soon, I'm hoping to make plans to go somewhere for a photography adventure. We will see!

On my walk to the bus stop this morning I thought again about the fact that today is September 1st. I smiled while thinking about Harry Potter and company getting ready to get on the Hogwarts Express. "The train leaves at exactly eleven o'clock, we've missed it!" is what I heard in my head as I strolled and I smiled to myself.

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11:18 am: photo one: back to the studio, happy September!

2:05 pm: walking: I think I'll have a burger for lunch.

5:54 pm: Spanish Arch: this crow has a white face.

6:30 pm: bus stop: that old dude just peed next to a tree. What the heck.

9:14 pm: in bed: I ate such huge meals for lunch and dinner. I am rolling in bed like a beached whale. I should walk home tomorrow.

-MJ

Ireland Day 40 - Gummi Bears

Things got a little weird just a bit ago.

I've been wondering what my photo of the day will be and I wasn't coming up with anything. I am too lazy to leave the house today, it's raining and I'm wearing shorts because I have half-assed plans to wash all my jeans. I also don't want to put on shoes. A problem, right? I mean, I could wander around the cul de sac, shoeless and in shorts while it rains. I don't want to freak out the neighbors though.

Instead I've been doing some computer stuff. I deleted a bunch of things to make room for the 12 gig WoW beta patches. That's 12 gigs on top of the already huge install. Seriously, Blizzard? I managed to free up about 10 gigs from deleting the trash in my Aperture file. This is embarrassing to admit, but I didn't even know there was a trash to empty in there. Oh well, it's empty now! There are about four hours left on the patch install. This is the third time I've tried this, so we'll see if it works. I'd really like to play!

Back to my photo of the day conundrum! I have this bag of gummi bears that Cass sent to me. I thought that maybe it'd be fun to do something with them? But what to do! I can't stop thinking about the fact that almost everyone I know is leaving at the same time. Crappy inspiration struck and I decided it would be a good (terrible) idea to make little sets of what people are up to and why they're leaving! I also made an apology, because this may be weird.

Maisa is leaving for home! Her flight is very early tomorrow morning. Clearly, this is her catching the bus to Dublin.

The fantastic Owen and Geraldine are in Russia climbing a mountain!

Dave, James, Tara and Estella are doing a few different things, so I decided to set them at Pukkelpop!

Here's my apology.

Every gummi bear was eaten after the photos were finished. Thought you might want to know that bit of information. 

For the rest of my evening, I'm guessing there won't be any big plans. I'm done playing with candy that much is for sure. I'm getting hungry. I think I'll try my hand at mini pizzas and hope I don't burn the crap out of them this time.

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10:14 am: home: lazy day, wonder if I'll even leave the house?

11:37 am: home: going to make some eggs!

11:58 am: home: I wonder, if I had a car here, would I take advantage of it and go places, or would I take it for granted?

12:15 pm: home: searching this kitchen for anything is always a huge adventure.

2:39 pm: home: I'm thinking of using these gummi bears for a photo shoot.

3:14 pm: home: being alone with my thoughts isn't so bad.

5:50 pm: home: I didn't burn my mini pizzas! :D

-MJ