Although the past couple of weeks spent in Cork have been relaxing, I am definitely ready to travel again so it's good that November will be filled with new countries. I will be in Budapest this weekend, am celebrating my 22nd birthday in Amsterdam, and am going on an 8 day adventure during our study week to Switzerland, Munich, and Prague. My host brother that I stayed with while in Spain during high school is currently living in Milan and really wants me to come visit him, but I might end up having to sell an organ to afford it by the end of the semester.
We spent the last week celebrating Halloween in Cork. We heard at the beginning of the semester that Halloween is huge here, so we knew that we wanted to definitely be in Cork for the holiday. We started celebrating on the 29th and went to a party at our friends' apartment. After spending a majority of the night there, we decided that we wanted to go to Holy Cow, the nightclub that we spent so much time in at the beginning of the semester. When we got there, it was too full and they weren't accepting anyone for the rest of the night. We all knew what we needed at this point - pizza. We discovered Fast Al's, which is terrible for both our diets and bank accounts, but it's SO GOOD. Way better than Jeff's back at Iowa State.
Clare and I made the executive decision to stay in on the 30th because our friends were all going to a haunted house. I get scared to the point of near tears at the haunted hike in my hometown that is made for children, so I knew there was no way that I would be attending this. We walked down the street to the movie theatre and got popcorn and candy and came back to our apartment and had a 20/20 marathon. If you haven't seen the "Mystery in the Mansion" episode I highly recommend it.
The next night, our guy friends were throwing their big halloween party at their apartment that they have been planning all semester. We all brought food and ended up having a huge feast. The hit was definitely the dark chocolate guinness brownies with cream cheese frosting that Erin made. The party ended up getting massive and so many Irish students we didn't know were showing up, so we decided to head into town. This is when things got good. On our way, Meghan got EGGED. Actually egged by a car of guys driving by. I felt so bad, but I couldn't stop laughing. We got to Rearden's, a popular bar that we frequently go to, and they weren't accepting anyone under 21. A lot of bars in Cork become 21 or 23 and older on the weekends which is really weird because the drinking age is 18. I haven't had any problem with this since I am 21, but all of my friends are all only 20 so none of them could get in. At this point we decided we, again, needed pizza so we headed towards Fast Al's. I wish I was lying when I said that Bridget got 4 pieces of pizza and ate them all.
The next morning, we all met up for brunch at a popular restaurant in the city center, Amicus. Our early start professor recommended it to us, and it definitely didn't disappoint. The croissants were actually the best croissants I have ever had, which is saying a lot since the ones in Paris were so good. We decided to buy some cleaning supplies and go help the guys clean up their apartment. It was an absolute disaster and smelled terrible, but it ended up not being that bad with 10 of us all cleaning.
The end of the semester is approaching, so I began writing some of my essays to get them out of the way. It feels like I just got here, but somehow I only have a little over 6 weeks before I head back to Iowa. I am not homesick the slightest bit, which I'm kind of surprised about, but I am getting excited to finally be getting closer to seeing my family, dog, and my friends. Only 45 more days.
We spent the last week celebrating Halloween in Cork. We heard at the beginning of the semester that Halloween is huge here, so we knew that we wanted to definitely be in Cork for the holiday. We started celebrating on the 29th and went to a party at our friends' apartment. After spending a majority of the night there, we decided that we wanted to go to Holy Cow, the nightclub that we spent so much time in at the beginning of the semester. When we got there, it was too full and they weren't accepting anyone for the rest of the night. We all knew what we needed at this point - pizza. We discovered Fast Al's, which is terrible for both our diets and bank accounts, but it's SO GOOD. Way better than Jeff's back at Iowa State.
Clare and I made the executive decision to stay in on the 30th because our friends were all going to a haunted house. I get scared to the point of near tears at the haunted hike in my hometown that is made for children, so I knew there was no way that I would be attending this. We walked down the street to the movie theatre and got popcorn and candy and came back to our apartment and had a 20/20 marathon. If you haven't seen the "Mystery in the Mansion" episode I highly recommend it.
The next night, our guy friends were throwing their big halloween party at their apartment that they have been planning all semester. We all brought food and ended up having a huge feast. The hit was definitely the dark chocolate guinness brownies with cream cheese frosting that Erin made. The party ended up getting massive and so many Irish students we didn't know were showing up, so we decided to head into town. This is when things got good. On our way, Meghan got EGGED. Actually egged by a car of guys driving by. I felt so bad, but I couldn't stop laughing. We got to Rearden's, a popular bar that we frequently go to, and they weren't accepting anyone under 21. A lot of bars in Cork become 21 or 23 and older on the weekends which is really weird because the drinking age is 18. I haven't had any problem with this since I am 21, but all of my friends are all only 20 so none of them could get in. At this point we decided we, again, needed pizza so we headed towards Fast Al's. I wish I was lying when I said that Bridget got 4 pieces of pizza and ate them all.
The next morning, we all met up for brunch at a popular restaurant in the city center, Amicus. Our early start professor recommended it to us, and it definitely didn't disappoint. The croissants were actually the best croissants I have ever had, which is saying a lot since the ones in Paris were so good. We decided to buy some cleaning supplies and go help the guys clean up their apartment. It was an absolute disaster and smelled terrible, but it ended up not being that bad with 10 of us all cleaning.
The end of the semester is approaching, so I began writing some of my essays to get them out of the way. It feels like I just got here, but somehow I only have a little over 6 weeks before I head back to Iowa. I am not homesick the slightest bit, which I'm kind of surprised about, but I am getting excited to finally be getting closer to seeing my family, dog, and my friends. Only 45 more days.