Weekly Recap

I always try to think about clever, witty titles for my blog posts but it turns out to be harder than expected and usually ends up being some cliche metaphor. But I try!

Pretty solid week. But I guess for comic relief, I will start with the one sore spot. Literally, sore spot. I was leaving my apartment yesterday morning for my 9:00am Social Theory class (which is always an accomplishment). Just for a little bit of background, there is a small metal ramp outside our front door as a handicap entrance. Kind of ironic that a ramp for safety purposes caused my morning mishap. Anyway, I was walking out to surprisingly find that quite a bit of ice had accumulated on said-ramp, causing my downward spiral to the ground. Luckily, I was able to grab both railings and hold on. Unluckily, I went down harddd on my left knee, leaving me with quite the war wound. Solid start to the morning. But I'm pretty grateful that if I can call this 30 seconds of embarrassment and pain the absolutely worst part of the week, I'm pretty lucky.

Let's go back to Tuesday. This week was Fun Fitness Week for the Slainte Society, so we put on a bunch of events on campus to promote healthy living and exercise. These included Twister, a Wii tournament, and a pole dancing clinic. I KID YOU NOT. I was working in the Alumni office when that particular clinic took place, but I can only imagine it generated quite a crowd.

We also tried to raise a little bit of money for the Christina Noble Children's Foundation, an organization we regularly raise money for. Tuesday night we hosted a Table Quiz. I don't think these are as popular in the States (at least I had never heard of them) so I'll explain. It's basically a trivia game with different rounds - sports, Disney, TV, health, etc. We held the event in one of the eateries on campus and charged 5 euro per person. We tried to get one of the members of the Comedy Society to host for us, but that didn't work out so guess who got control of the mic? That's right - ME! Though I certainly wasn't complaining; I was excited to do it! The event turned out to be really fun. Semi-successful you could say. We didn't have a huge turn out, but we raised a little bit of money and I got to meet a bunch of Irish people. It was also a great experience for me because I was sort of in charge of putting a lot of it together. Of course we all shared a lot of the responsibility but I was the point person for the project. I got to understand how things work, who you contact for certain services, and the inner-workings of the Society world. Definitely reminded me a lot of SGA (Student Government Association) at Holy Cross, which I miss dearly.

After the quiz, I went to the Old Bar on campus for a few drinks with two of the other Slainte members and a bunch of their friends. I had an absolute blast. Nothing crazy, just sitting around talking and getting to know each other. But it was so great because it really did remind me of my life back at Holy Cross - a bunch of girlfriends doing nothing special, simply hanging out together and enjoying the night. It was great to be a part of, and I certainly hope I can hang out with them again! This is our Slainte crest.

So Tuesday was a great night. Then Wednesday, the HC girls and I went out to dinner with our advisor, Vicki, at a great restaurant, Soho, right in the city. We talked about our upcoming ICIP project as well as the weekend trip we are all taking together. Holy Cross graciously is paying for all of us to go on a Ring of Kerry Heritage Tour Weekend. We get on a bus Friday afternoon and it's two full days of activities and touring of the Ring of Kerry. We are going the weekend before my birthday, about 10 days before St. Patrick's day, and two weeks before the big family trip so March is looking to be a full and exciting month!

Kristin's friend from Holy Cross, Mary, is visiting from Galway this weekend. I know her pretty well too  because we are involved in a Holy Cross retreat group together so it's fun that she's visiting. We are planning a few trips today for our big vacation month in April. Plus, I am finally sitting down and organizing some stuff for summer internship opportunities. I know summer isn't exactly around the corner, but it also sort of is! And I know it's going to creep up sooner than I think. Of course I have absolutely nothing against nice weather and vacation time, but it's weird to think that with summer also comes the end of this whirlwind European adventure. NOT something I am going to think about!

Any suggestions on April trips?

Slan!