All With My Computer While Sitting At My Desk In My Room

November 30th

This last day of November I spent catching up with family, planning future trips, and finishing up school assignments.

After sleeping for close to 10 hours, I got up late around 12:00 and went for a run across wet, cobble streets up toward the Mirador de San Nicolas in the Albayzín.  I had to stop as my legs really hurt and I felt like I was doing more harm then good while running.  I walked back to my apartment from Calle Elvira.

I took a screaming fast shower as Antonio's room immediately floods when the hot water is turned on.  The plumbers are hopefully coming tomorrow.

I then sat in front of my computer for more or less the rest of the day.  What would be perceived as being unproductive had someone observed my physical actions, was the exact opposite as I skyped many of my relatives, receiving a great "tour" of the new "three-seasons room" and redone basement of my Aunt and Uncle's house in Wisconsin, catching up with my brother and Mom, and talking to my Grandparents in Los Angeles.

My friend Jon from the program called me, and we organized our trip to Prague.  My winter break is now officially maxed out.  I'll be in Italy for Christmas, Granada for New Years with Prague and an Eastern Europe tour to top it off!  A sincere "thank you" to my generous relatives who have made these trips possible.  I'll be flying an indirect route to Prague as the cheapest deals on Ryanair were to book two separate flights.  On January 1st,  I'll be leaving Malaga to Dublin,  getting in late to Dublin, sleeping in/arriving early to the Dublin airport to catch a 6:00am flight to Prague.  I've never booked two separate flights for one intended destination but the prices were cheap and I think it should work out.

The rest of the day I spent finishing my large, hour and a half presentation about the "Social Class Hierarchy of the United States" that I will give tomorrow.  I think it looks pretty good although I'm little nervous to speak that long of a time in front of the class in Spanish.  Hope they don't mind me reading from my notes as I can't memorize a presentation that long.  

Dance Marathon. Potluck Dinner

November 29th

I finished my presentation for Contemporary Social Structure.  I'll be using Google Earth to show my house and the neighborhood where I live.  Amazing technology.

We cleaned the piso.  The heating situation keeps getting worse as whenever we try to turn on the hot water, Antonio's room floods.

At 4:00pm I went over to the campus of Fuente Nueva, where I participated in the 4 hour dance marathon put on by my salsa teacher.  We did all different kinds of dances but spent the majority of time on salsa.  It was something completely new and a lot of fun.

Heiko and I had a fantastic dinner with Marta, Anna, and Federica.  Heiko, Marta, and I cooked some great tapas using the recipes from my book.  "Sauteed tomatoes and bread" and "Spicy Mushrooms." Anna brought a quiche and Federica brought a lasagna.  It was pouring outside and we had a pleasant evening hanging out. 

University of California Study Abroad Thanksgiving Dinner

November 28th

Having no class on Friday is great.  After sleeping in, I went to talk to Inma about my classes as I had received an email from MyEAP saying that my classes hadn't gone through to the study center.

At the office I talked to Inma about all of my concerns regarding my improvement in the language, classes, and grades form ILP.  The last one turned out really well, as I had received an "A" during the ILP summer session.  Definitely a nice GPA boost.

I read for an hour in the library and stopped at the bread store before returning home.  Nice lunch and a pleasant afternoon.  Nathalie is in Madrid and Alberto was going to Motril so the apartment would be pretty empty this weekend.  I went over to my friend's Sarah's house for coffee and then out "shopping" to see if we could find a cheap black dress shirt and tie (cheap as in under 10 euros).  No luck.  I went back to my apartment, ran, and then changed for the Thanksgiving dinner.

It was starting to rain as I walked with another student from the program to the ritzy hotel where our dinner was being catered.  It was a lot of fun talking with everyone while we were served our first course of tapas.  One of the professors told me that I was very charismatic and should become the next US ambassador to Spain.  I don't know what cup of tinto de verano he was on, but it was a nice complement.

The dinner itself was really good with the turkey almost tasting as good as an "American one."  A few people made some nice speeches.  After dinner we left in a huge group to go to a "rock-n-roll" bar on Calle Pedro Antonio.  The group broke up after we left that bar, but I hung out with some kids who I hadn't talked to in a while before walking home.  

A Thanksgiving Potluck

November 27th

The problems with the heating have also affected our hot water.  My fast-as-possible-freezing-cold-shower was the  worst shower that I've had since my cistern, bucket shower in Guatemala.

Despite a rough start to the morning, I was really productive and spent a solid 4 hours working on my project due monday for my Contemporary Social Structure class.

At 2:00, my friends Maggie and Kendra, who I hadn't seen in a long time from my program, came over.  I made fresh pasta and marinara sauce.

I had class late until 8:00pm but as soon as I was done, I headed over to my friend Rachel's house in Cartuja who was hosting a Thanksgiving potluck.  The food was great and it was a lot of fun to see everyone from the program as we're all spread out around the city and its difficult to meet up with all 50 students.

We welcomed in the weekend by heading out to kereoke bar in the Realejo.  I placed my jacket along side everyone else's and we hung out until closing.  I still hope that it wasn't malicious, but when I went back to get my jacket it was no where to be found.  Everyone else had theirs and no one had seen mine.  I asked the bartenders if there was a lost and found but they said that if they hadn't seen it while cleaning up it was probably gone.  An additional bummer is that my gloves and hat were in the pockets.  I'll have to buy a new jacket as its too cold not to have one.  Still, I was lucky that I hadn't lost anything more significant like my wallet or passport.  

I like Skype!

November 26th

My morning classes were good, although I will have a big group project due on the subject of "Imperialism" the following month.  Salsa was great.  I went grocery shopping (its really shocking to see how expensive food is, how much I eat, and how often I need to go to the store.  The past two years I've shopped on my own, but I still relied mostly on the dining halls).

I did some last minute studying for my midterm exam in Contemporary Social Structure.  The professor had told us to "study the texts and notes as that what would be on test," but as it turned out the two free response questions were very broad and didn't even ask about anything from the reading.  I think my first midterm went well although I'll have to wait for my grade to be sure.

Back home, I was the only one there and I decided to wait around for the landlord to come at 8:00pm.  In the mean time I skyped my brother in Wisconsin where he was deerhunting and I was able to get the video chat somewhat working so I gave my family in Wisconsin a "tour" of my apartment.  Its a really amazing technology.

The landlord came over and he was furious with the plumbers and apologized to all of us.  Instead of running, I ate a frozen pizza and had German Christmas cookies and hot chocolate from Heiko.  ¡Viva España!

I worked on my Powerpoint presentation for my solo, hour and half presentation that I will give about the "Social Class Hierarchy of the United States," and then am expected to discuss my "personal life" or my own experience of growing up in my country.  I'm excited for the presentation although I'm nervous to be speaking for that long of a time.  

Before going to bed, I caught up on the news and read about the terrible terrorist attack in Mumbai.  Really horrible.  Also scary that Americans were being targeted specifically.  Another significant and salient reality of being from the United States of America.

"The Joys of Homeownership"

November 25th

I got up early at 8:00 having good intentions to run in spite of the cold.  Instead the doorbell rang and the plumbing crew came to fix our heating.  To give a bit of background, last year my landlord had put in a brand new 6,000 euro heating system that has broken and does not work at all.  After going back and forth with the plumbers, they finally were able to come out.  We do not have heating in our apartment, but our landlord is really good and has bought all of the rooms personal space heaters and has told us that we will not have to pay for any of the utilities until everything is fixed.  In order for them to replace the pipes, I had to move around everything in my room. 

Unable to study in my house, I grabbed my books and computer and went to the library where I logged in solid studying time.  I stopped by the UC study center and added a grammar class for the next semester.  My original plan of just taking poli sci classes has been working well so far, but I feel that I am putting myself at a disadvantage by not taking a grammar class.  My speaking and comprehension has improved but my writing ability and grammar I feel has stayed the same.

I went with Heiko to the "comedor" and after he showed me where the very nice public library of Granada was.  I talked to my Public Policy professor about how I feel a little lost in the class and she said that its understandable that I'm not understanding everything due to the language barrier.  She said that I had done a good job on my presentation and should focus less on worrying about the grade and more on my personal improvement with the language.

Back home, I saw the destruction left by the plumbers.  The heating still doesn't work and we now have holes and dirty hand prints in the walls.  My wall had a hole that let light in from the hallway but Antonio's was far worse.  His room shares a wall with the shower and the plumbers had left a hole between his room and the shower.  Water could easily come in.  We called the landlord and he told us he would be over in the morning to fix what he could and was going to call the plumbers right now.  Living in my own place is a good learning experience.  Its stressful for us, but I know its nothing compared to being the landlord who actually owns the piso.  

Monday or a Continuation of the Weekend?

November 24th

Today I got up early at 7:30 and took my time getting ready and reading before my classes started at 9:00.  

Salsa dancing was fun; we learned the "floreo" which is a step in which both dancers move around in a square, spinning, until they reach the point where they started from.   After class, I went with some of the kids to the "comedor," dining hall for lunch.

Analysis of Public Policy in the afternoon went well as we had a large group project and my group was motivated to get it done.  Contemporary Social Structure was good although the reality really set in that I have a lot of work to do.

Back home, I took a quick run and studied before going out for tapas at "Los Diamantes" on Calle Navas to celebrate our Italian friend, Marta's, birthday.  I hung out with my favorite, motivated, group of Erasmus students.  We had some excellent sea food tapas and then went to a jazz cafe before going home.

Sunday Work

November 23rd

On my run this morning in the Parque de Federico García Lorca it was warm enough for me to wear shorts.  The rest of the day I tried to maximize my productivity.  It took me a while to finish the "trabajo" for Teoría del Estado and I'm not sure if I did it correctly as the questions were very broad.  We had to read a peace on Ancient Greece and Rome, discuss its historical significance, and then relate it to the contemporary world.  All of my school work takes me a long time as I have three dictionaries on my desk and I have to stop and look up words every few sentences.

For dinner, Heiko and I shared what we had in the fridge.  Hung out with Antonio for a little bit and then went to bed early to be ready for the coming week.

An All-Day Hike in Güejar Sierra

November 22nd

Heiko woke me up and I put on my "new" boots.  Today we were going on a hike to the Sierra Nevada mountains and were supposed to be meeting up with our friends at 9:45am.  I put some cheese and salami in a tupperware and stopped by my favorite bread store to buy some bocadillos to bring along.  At the bus stop we met up with our international group of friends.  Marta, Ila, and Federica from Italy, Anna from France, and Christian from Austria.

We took bus 390 from the bus stop at the end of my street by the River Genil to a little town called "Güejar Sierra" about 45 minutes away.  The bus was very inexpensive as it only cost 3 euros for a round trip ticket.  After a pit stop at a café, we climbed the path out of the town and entered the Sierra Nevada national park.  The day was perfect and the terrain reminded me of hiking in California.  The mountains in the distance were covered in snow, but where we were in the foothills it was warm enough to only wear a sweater.  I enjoyed talking with everyone in the group as they all have such cool backgrounds.  Stopping for a picnic, we found a flat area surrounded by some large boulders to block the wind.  We saw a snake, basked in the sun, and admired the snow capped mountains.

The bus only had two return trips at 3:00pm and 6:00pm so after missing the early one we headed down and caught the late one back home.  For dinner, Heiko and I made some great pasta with our own freshly made marinara sauce.

I needed to study, so I locked myself in my room but eventually came out as  ton of people started coming over.  Anna, the French girl who had hiked with us that morning, invited me to a party in the Albaycín.  Coincidentally, the party was at the shared piso of one of the kids from my program and one of her French friends.  Living in Granada is a lot of fun, as there is always something going on, but its small enough where I'll run into the same people and overlapping social groups.

A View of Granada in the Morning

November 21st

I got up and went for a run in the Albayzín, stopping to stretch by the "Mirador de San Nicolas."  This old church is directly across from the Alhambra, and from it one has the most spectacular view of the old palace and the city of Granada spanning out below.

I studied for a few hours and then went grocery shopping.

That night I went to a party at my friend Ryan's house from ILP.  Antonio came with me and I had a good time seeing a lot of people from the program.

Piece by Piece

November 20th

My last day of school for the week began with me being a little unproductive.  I woke up at 8:00 looked at my watch and then fell immediately back to sleep waking up an hour later.  A little disappointed in my self for falling behind schedule, I quickly laced up my running shoes and did my loop around the Zaidín area.

Back at the piso, I did homework and also sent a lot of messages to my old friends in the US.  While writing, the doorbell rang and I received a package from my dad.  Inside were excellent cookies from my Grandma, an amazing Umbral t-shirt from my brother, my hiking boots, sleeping bag, and a warm blanket.  I won't have to repeat the freezing nights in Dublin on my next trip.

I stopped at the library to check out the book I'll need to for my presentation of the US.  The book is translated from English and the author is a professor at Cal Poly San Louis Obispo.

I walked over to Blake's piso in Plaza de Toros to talk with his roommate Ettori about our upcoming trip to Italy.  I'll be in Italy for 10 days, December 19th-29th , and right now we have no plans, just tickets.  We'll be flying into Milan.  After going through what would be a smart route to take, it looks like this trip to Italy will be a "Northern Italy Tour."  I had thought it would be cool to bomb straight down to Naples and then work our way back up to Rome, Florence, and Venice.  The 9 hour train ride from Milan to Naples doesn't sound bad now, but I know when I'm one the train it will be a little much.  Also, adding another city would cut days off the others.  I want to tour and see as much of Europe as possible, but I also want to have a more tangible experience than "I went, took some pictures, and left."  This trip will be "Italy: Part I" and hopefully I'll be able to do a southern tour in the future.

Class was good.  My professor is very excited for my upcoming presentation on the US.  I don't want to let him down.

I came back and did some homework and then went out to "Barrio Latino" salsa club where I met up with some kids from my class.  There are free salsa dancing lessons every night and although I found the teacher's instruction to be a little tedious, it was fun to "put our skills to use."

Back home, I had a great conversation with Heiko about "the past and our generation's responsibility to remember it."  We were referring to the Holocaust and World War II and had ended up on this conversation as we had seen a pro-Franco, pro-Fascist protest in the street that evening (I guess today was the anniversary of his death and there are still some people in Spain who think that the time under Franco was better).  Heiko said he felt uncomfortable and unsettled to see something like that occur in Spain.  

Same Topics, Different Language

November 19th

Got up at 8:15, ate a quick breakfast, showered and went to Relaciones Internacionales where my definition for "power" ("la habilidad para hacer lo que quiera") was the class example.  I like going to school with students from so many different countries.  Everyone has a different experience and a story to tell.

Salsa was fantastic.  I'm slowly improving.

I stopped at the local bakery on my street and bought some fresh bocadillos and some good raisin bread.

My presentation in Public Polilcy went pretty well.  Out of all my classes, this one has the highest level of Spanish and is the most difficult to understand.  I generally feel that I'm in the mid to high range among the foreign students in regards to understanding the language and participating in class.  In this one, I am definitely one of the worse.  The class is mostly Spaniards with a large group of French students who speak Spanish perfectly.  The teacher speaks very quickly in an accent very Andaluz.  If I can keep up in here I'll be fine in my other ones.

Back home, I changed and went for a run in the Parque de Federico García Lorca.  It feels great to get back into shape.

I met up with Jan and Julia from Germany, and Christian from Austria at 9:00 to go for tapas.  The point of me going (as I have a lot of work) was to talk with Christian about his Master's thesis that he has asked me to proofread for diction and syntax.  He goes to an English-speaking university in Austria and his thesis will be in English.

Back home I watched part of the Chile vs. Spain soccer game with Antonio, Heiko, and Alberto.  We talked about sports, girls, and politics.  They're the same conversations I've had in the US with my friends from back home, but just in a different language.

Mucho Trabajo

November 18th

If there is one thing that I like about a new haircut, is that it keeps me focused.  I got up early and took a long run along the river Genil.  It was freezing going out but by the time I got back to my piso it had warmed up a lot.

Class was busy all day.  I have a large project in each one of the my classes.  

I continued with my branching out with cooking as I included a few more ingredients (onions AND tomatos!) and made meat balls to go along with my normal tomato sauce and pasta.

Busy at School

November 17th

My classes were interesting but busy.  The professors have really started to pick things up.  I received a high grade (I don't know what exactly) in my history class.  There is no such thing as student confidentiality here in Spain as the Professor announced to the class who had done well.  I was one of the few names he read.  He said I had done a good job although my control of the language needs improvement.

Salsa was intense.  We did some new moves where we bend the girls down, suspended to the floor, step over them and continue with the movements.

Went grocery shopping, had lunch, and then received a message from my cousin, Mack, about his recommendations for my trip to Italy.  More on that as the trip develops.

I have a large presentation to give on Wednesday for my Public Policy class.  Little nervous but my powerpoint looks good.

For Contemporary Social Structure, I will have to give a large presentation about "the social stratification of the United States" and then also talk about my own life.  The professor wants the class to ask my questions.  I think it will be fun although a lot of work.

As I've been doing the same thing for years now, as I always debate whether I should cut my hair.  I went to the "peluquería" and got a nice, although very short haircut.  Part of me said to grow it out as I like how it looks long and I won't be able to have it long when I have a real job.  Now its short and I won't have to get another haircut for a year.

I had plans to run, eat dinner, and then read but instead we had a "family meeting" to discuss responsibilities of cleaning up and being considerate.  Despite some elevated voices, I think we got everything worked out.  Living with other people is a lot of fun but it is sometimes difficult to come to a position that everyone can agree on.

Back in Spain

November 16th

Despite our frantic search for a taxi, we still made it to the airport with plenty of time.  After going through security we all fell asleep in front of the gate.  On the plane, I buckled my seat belt and then immediately fell asleep.  I woke up in Málaga having slept through both the take off and landing.

Back in Málaga, we waited an hour for our bus back to Granada.  Walking back to my piso from the bus station, I enjoyed looking at the backdrop of the mountains covered in snow.  The ski resort opened this weekend and I would like to go skiing or snow boarding with one of the programs through the university.

I did homework the rest of the afternoon.  The shoe has dropped and I have a lot of projects due in the next few weeks before winter break.

Monuments, Picnics, and Trying to Stay Up All Night to Catch our 6:00am Flight

November 15th

It was so cold during the night, that Blake had gotten up and taken the towels hanging in the bathroom to use as blankets.  After breakfast and a shower, we took the bus to the center to meet up with the girls at Parnnell Monument with its amazingly tall spire/lighting rod.  We stopped in the historic post office (number 2 on "sites to see in Dublin" after the Guinness factory) and then walked in the direction of Trinity college along the river, enjoying the morning.  In front of Trinity college, we were "kidnapped" by an old Irish man who had an array of hats and musical instruments.  He had us all stand in front of the statue and took our picture and then proceeded to teach us a traditional Irish dance.  It was pretty funny.

We were to meet up with Joe at 1 at the corner of Grafton street and Steven's Green.  Grafton street is the main shopping area and all of the stores were getting ready for the Christmas season.  After finding him, we went to the market to shop for our picnic.  With a few loaves of bread, cheese, and juice we wandered along the perfectly manicured paths in the emerald forest of Steven's Green.  We found two benches and enjoyed our picnic in the park.  

Acting as our unofficial tour guide, Joe showed us around Trinity College, Ireland's oldest University (1500's) and a real life Hogwarts, and then took us to the amazing National Gallery of Ireland where we admired some fantastic paintings.  Heading back in the direction of the Guinness Factory, Joe brought us to Ireland's Oldest pub (1198), "The Brazen Head."  We had some good pub grub and ended up staying there for about 4 hours.  The girls had checked out of their hostel and since we would have to be at the airport at 4 to catch our 6 o'clock flight we decided to stay up all night.  

For the third night in a row, we went back to Temple Bar and George's street although we did go so some new, really cool pubs.  Everything was packed, but we did find a couch to sit down in one of the pubs.

Our relaxed evening drastically changed as we found it extremely difficult to find a taxi to the airport.  We had underestimated Dublin nightlife and soon found us in a situation in which we needed to get to the airport but were not any able to do so as every cab was full and there were no more buses running.  It started to rain (the first time of the whole trip) and we were getting wet as we tried to hail a cab.  We found one but he only had room for four, so Blake and I told the girls to get in.  I then found myself running along the streets of Dublin trying to hail a cab.  After a frantic 15 minutes, we found a free taxi and took it to the airport.  Our last taxi conversation was about the difference between Irish and American sports.  Despite talking to the driver he still overcharged us.  A learning experience.  If you have a flight to catch, don't put yourself in a position in which something could go wrong with your schedule.

Lovely Day for a Guinness

November 14th (Third Month in Europe!)

Today our goal was to tour the Guinness factory.  We got up around 9:00 and after thawing out from the night before we asked Joe for directions on how to walk into the city.  It was a beautiful walk as the fall colors of the trees and the yellow leaves on the ground guided us along the one main road to the city.  We stopped to observe some of the monuments and old stone churches.  We ate breakfast at the "bagel factory" where we enjoyed having a kind of food that we hadn't seen in three months.  

We made it into the city but were pretty lost in regards to finding the factory.  It was a comical experience as we asked a lot of people for directions and were given responses in some Irish accents that were so thick that I couldn't understand a word that they were saying.  I would have preferred to speak with them in Spanish.  After some aimless wandering, we eventually came to "St. Jame's Gates" and the large Guinness Factory.

The girls had also gotten lost and we weren't reunited until 1:00pm.  We received a student discount and a map for our self guided tour.  My favorite part was the advertising section as I think the animal characters and advertisements are so clever.  Guinness used to be billed as an "energy drink," for "strength and vitality."  Did you know that they used to prescribe Guinness to pregnant women who weren't feeling well?!

The factory/museum was 7 stories and at the top we were greeted to a spectacular 360 degree view of Dublin and the surrounding countryside in the "Gravity Bar."  Here we turned in our ticket stubs for a complimentary pint of Guinness straight from the source.  We lounged in the chairs along the wall, "gulping" our Guinness and soaking it all in.

I continued my conversations with taxi drivers, this time about American politics, as we hailed a cab and took it back to the Temple Bar area.  We had an excellent early dinner at "St. George's," pub.  I was a little disoriented as the sun set and the night was pitch black at around 5 pm.  I guess we were a lot farther north than I realized.  

We decided to just hang out before going out later that night.  Blake and I went back with the girls to their hostel in the center of the city.  It was a really cool place with half of it an underground labyrinth with common areas.  We talked with some Spanish students from Valencia who were studying abroad in Germany and visiting Dublin for the weekend.

We ended up going out around the same area as the night before.  It was a lot of fun.  There were a ton of signs welcoming the "Kiwis" from New Zealand as there would be a huge Rugby game the next day between Ireland and New Zealand.  I had seen a  lot of "All Blacks" jerseys as we walked through the city.

Blake and I decided to save money on a cab and we walked back to UCD.  Along the way, we somehow ended up on the street with all of the embassies.  We stopped and talked to the night guard at the British embassy for a good 20 minutes.  Despite getting a little lost, we made it all the way back to Joe's apartment in a little less than then 2 hours.

Welcome to Dublin!

November 13th

Today I would be traveling to Dublin, Ireland for the weekend with four other friends from my program.  I got up at 9:00 and after a quick breakfast and final decision what to pack, I said goodbye to Heiko and started walking toward the bus station on the opposite side of the city.  I still hadn't bought my bus ticket and I was a little worried that I was saving it to the last minute (Alsa's, the Spanish bus company, website had been acting really weird).  I met my friend Athena on the corner of Plaza del Toros by the bull fighting stadium and we made it quickly to the bus station.

We had no problem buying our tickets. A t the station we met up with Erika, Yessie, Blake and another girl from our program, Corinne and her friend Kerry who coincidentally had booked the same flights.  

We were flying Ryanair, my favorite sketchy airline, and in order to fly to Dublin we had to take an hour and a half bus ride to the large southern city of Málaga.  Málaga was beautiful and sunny and we joked that why we would want to leave the perfect weather to go freeze in Dublin.  We walked around the large plaza before heading in the direction of the airport.  There was a train station in the same building and we caught a train that took us directly to the airport.  We were already having a good time and I knew it was going to be great trip as I was traveling with a fun group.

Arriving 2 hours before our flight, we checked into Ryanair and went through the security without any problems.  While waiting in line,  there was a man trying to smash his suitcase into the small Ryanair luggage box that determines whether you have to pay more (I only had my bookbag as Ryanair charges significantly more to check in baggage).  Our flight boarded at 3:30 and we all got seats next to each other on the back of the plane.  I had good intentions of doing some homework, but I realized it was futile, what with the limited space and the fun conversation going on around me.  Up in the air, the sun was an incredible red halo against the ink-black sky.

In regards to housing, Blake and I would be staying with my friend Joe from UCSD at his on-campus apartment.  The girls' couch surfing fell through and were prepared to get a hostel.  The Ryanair flight was good and the landing wasn't nearly as bouncing as the previous flights I had been on.  Greeted with a blast of cold air as we disembarked the plane, we were welcomed to Dublin.  I had come prepared and the weather and temperature wasn't as bad as I had expected. 

Traveling with only a carry on makes leaving the airport really easy.  I was excited to get a stamp in my passport as normally travel between EU countries doesn't even require customs to look at your passport.  As we decided what to do, I got a map from the tourist office and talked to Joe who old me to take the bus from the airport four about 40 minutes, all the way to University Center Dublin (UCD).  The girls decided to go to the same hostel that Corrine and Kerry were staying at and after looking at the map we chose a point on Temple Bar street and agreed to meet up at 9:30pm.

The bus from the airport outside of the city center to Joe's apartment was pleasant as we got to see a lot of the city.  When we arrived on campus, I called Joe and he came out to meet us.  We took a zig-zag route through campus back to his apartment.  The apartment was nice and a little reminiscent of UCSD.  He had two couches that he recommended would be better if we just took off the pillows and put them on the floor as mattresses.  He didn't have any blankets and Blake and I hadn't brought any.  Joe's first semester ends in a couple of weeks and he was in the middle of studying for finals so he wouldn't be able to come out with us tonight.  He showed us what bus to take into the city and what was the easiest way to get to Temple Bar.

UCD is about an hour walking from the city center or a 15 minute bus ride.  Dublin was beautifully lit up as we took the double-decker bus into the center of the city.  We were both starving and although we wanted to maximize our consumption of traditional "pub grub" we stopped at a pizza restaurant to split a large pizza.  We walked up toward the river and found the girls waiting at the corner drinking some Irish coffee.

Although a hub for tourists, Temple Bar is the main area in Dublin for pubs and nightlife.  We decided to try the "Temple Bar" bar on Temple Bar street.  Entering the pub with its dark wood walls and red and gold paint, it was cool to be in "the original" style bar that all other ones seemed to have been copied from.  Of course, we christened our trip to Dublin with a pint of Guinness from the tap.  There was a live band playing traditional Irish music and we got tables right in front.  A lot of people were dancing and clapping their hands.  We had a good time being part of the crowd.

From Temple Bar we wandered around until we ended up on George's Street where we went to a great pub called "The Globe."  Ireland has normal bars and "late" bars.  Late bars are almost like discotheques without the cover as they have dance floors and are open to around 3:00am.

We hung out until closing.  The girls walked back together to their hostel and Blake and I took a cab back to UCD.  In his thick Irish accent, the driver kept repeating our questions or answers with an "Oh really, so you're a student."

We tried getting back to Joe's apartment on our own and ended up getting really lost.  We ran into a group of 60 or so students for who were sleeping outside huddled together in sleeping bags for "homeless awareness week."  We started talking to them and they told us how to be truly Irish in regards to drinking a Guinness.  "In gulps without twirling the glass so you can see how many gulps it took you to drink it."  I felt bad to call Joe at 3:30 in the morning, but he got up and found us.  

I fell asleep quicker than I thought, considering I was freezing without any blankets. I wore my beanie, curled up in my jacket, and put my sweater on my feet.