Happy Christmas from Ireland

Okay. So you all know I'm a crappy blogger- so I am sorry for not updating recently, but you knew what you were in for!

Okay, I promise to expand on all of this later, but here are some snapshots of my doings for the past while.

I went to Belfast. And walked across this:









I presented at the Sibeal Feminist Conference at the University of Limerick- a paper I wrote for my 19th Century Art History class at BYU. My friends Shayna and Sam came with me, so it wasn't terrible! I was a lot younger than everyone there, and pretty intimidated... but I must say, no barfing (in public) and no passing out, it went very well.


School's shaping out okay. I am turning in what will basically be the first chapter of my dissertation in a few days. My thesis will be about Saint Brigit of Kildare (in Ireland) and the use of Marian apparitions and appropriation of pagan traditions by Christian missionaries- I even get to tie in a whole chapter about the Lady of Guadalupe, which I did my senior thesis on. In every nerdy way possible, I absolutely love it.

Christmas in Ireland is pretty magical, they are very religious and so they go all out for Christmas. I especially love Dublin...there are lights everywhere, they play Christmas music constantly, and there is just general holiday spirit in the air.





Very cool. However, I miss home and I will not be doing this again (by choice). I miss these weirdos way more than I ever have:

However, I will be gaining one weirdo for the Christmas break!!
So excited for this girl to come! We'll be going to Scotland two days after Christmas and spending New Year's there. It's going to be a blast!!

Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS friends and family and those unfortunate enough to be waiting around for me to post another blog entry. Hopefully I'll get a longer, more detailed blog post up in the next year or so. Just kidding- I will!! Miss you all and have a wonderful holiday season- Eat, drink, and be merry!! :)

Shamra vs. Street Performer

So I met up with some friends in the city tonight. I am walking down Grafton street, minding my own business, and BAM! out of nowhere a finger is stuck in my ear. The culprit was a street performer, spray painted gold and green, who apparently stands still all day on a mini stool, and then startles people by poking them. However, the plan of this "Gold Man" hideously backfired, as he knocked my earring right out of my ear onto the street. I panic, and get on all fours looking for it on the ground. Spotting it relatively quickly, I straighten up and BAM! again (this time much harder) my head collides with the Gold Man, who was crouching above me also looking for the wayward earring. I see spots for a bit, he also looks a bit stunned, and I go to leave when he points vigorously at my hair, gesturing at his face, where I can see a very large and obvious smudge- of missing paint. Which happened to rub off into my hair when the great collision occurred.

Annoyed with a headache, I go across the street to a McDonalds, where I enter the bathroom and stick my head over the sink, running water across the back of it and trying to get the paint out. Around the time the gold and green paint in the sink started to run clear, a very obnoxious woman appears behind me and informs me that (direct quote) "It is absolutely illegal to bathe in a public sink" and that I will need to "leave the premises immediately". I tried to explain to her what had happened, but this was quickly dismissed as the drunken ramblings of an ignorant American. I am then escorted off "the premises" aka, the bathroom, by a very tall security man.

What I am left with: wet, uncurled hair, paint on the hood of my coat, a

headache, and one extremely bizarre hour of my life...

...And one new goal: at some point in my life, take an actual real bath in the McDonalds sink on Grafton street.

Newgrange

Went to Newgrange. Freakin awesome. Interested? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange

Went to Belfast for the weekend- super cool blogging to come on that topic. Maybe. had a great bday, thanks for all the well wishing and gifts ect. Ciao! 

Mobile Uploads

So the Blacks helped me upload pictures that had been stuck on my phone for the past three years. These pictures preserve some rare, spectacular and just plain bizarre memories. I thought I would post some of the more memorable ones, a little tribute to friends and family I miss oh so dearly.

I might be a dog person?

Anyone who knows me will know this is the unthinkable. But the Irish love dogs and everyone seems to have one. And this country is full of the cutest puppies you'll ever see. Feel free to mock me. Just don't mock the puppy.

Arklow/Gorey

 I moved. This is where I live. Pretty sweet, huh?

What happens when I skype with my dad.

Yeah. It's his chin.

What a Week

1. I was sitting on a bench and a man came and basically fell on top of me. Turns out he was having a heart attack...I ran and told someone to dial 911. Apparently its 966 here. Ambulance came, man was taken out on stretcher. Later that day I rode the train into town. It abruptly stopped and we had to get out. A man had been hit and was laying in the tracks. We had to walk almost a half mile in the pouring rain. I guess I have become the American grim reaper of Dublin...This day ended with me spending an inordinate amount of time in a gay bar.

2. I took a bus. And got lost. And ended up here.










4. I feel it should be fairly obvious why I am in love with where I live.

5. Classes are great. It's challenging but my professors create an environment where I am comfortable and gaining my confidence daily. I love what I do and can't get enough of it.

6. Long story, but I am moving to a beautiful house in the beautiful Irish countryside. Pictures forthcoming.