I'm on permanent leave...

You've all seen the movie Eurotrip. Well, I just got back from one. Skeezy guys, long bus rides, sketchy/illegal cab rides, cancelled ferries and the inability to flush toilet paper for 11 days. Yeah. Stories and updates to follow shortly.

Made it past Athens and the Acropolis. In Paros, its raining. Tell you more later.

I always say the weather in Ireland is crazy. Well the past 24 hours takes the cake. St. Patrick's day was warm enough (light coat weather) that turned from very sunny to pretty windy and rainy by about 11. By 12, the rain had all but stopped and it was pretty nice again. Today was sunny when I woke up. I went about consolidating arrangements for Greece, and then I got an IM from amanda. "Look outside." I pulled up my shade and it is SNOWING. And not just a little snow. More like, I-live-near-the-artic-circle-and-i-can't-see-50-feet snow. I haven't seen it snow like that since the ice storms that knocked power out to half of Hickory. And the wind was swirling all around. You could see shifts of snow from where the wind had switched back and compressed a few disperse flakes into a wall of snow. Also, snow isn't supposed to fall UP. UP I said. If you haven't heard it, you should listen to the Lewis Black stand-up segment on when he saw lightning during a snow storm. That was his signal that the weather was out of control. This is mine. 20 minutes after I was alerted to the snow, THERE WERE BLUE SKIES! What the ****? And now everything is gray again.

I'm going to Greece. Where the weather is predictable: warm.

Happy Paddy's day ... from Ireland. Today was pretty crazy. Despite drinking last night, I had to get up early to get up early to get across town before the parade started. We watched the parade on TV because the streets were too **** crowded and the weather was ******. The girl downstairs later confirmed that we had done the right thing.

Ireland didn't win the six nations tournament due to France pummeling some crappy country, but it's all good. Duke lost. The bars were packed, mostly with American tourists (most of which made me ashamed to have my accent). It isn't that I'm ashamed to be American -- I love my country. It is just that some of the people aren't right. But every country has that, I suppose.

The Brazen Head was good again tonight. It is quickly becoming my favorite bar. Outdoor heating and plenty of seating go miles in my book. Plus I can order my drinks 2 people deep and get them 1 person deep. That's just good bar-tending ("Jameson & Coke and a Guinness, please "-- and the guy didn't bat an eye).

But now, I need to go to sleep. I have to do laundry and pack tomorrow. I ship out for Greece on Monday. I sure hope the money comes through quickly.

okay - you know I don't like to name names or anything like that, so I'm trying not to do so here (unless previously named -- I have my own rules). I'm being intentionally vague. The people who did all this know who they are, but nobody else does.

"Don't take the lack of updates as a sign that I'm slowing down; I've just been busy. This semester, off the top of my head, I've been to Spain, Sweden, and Amsterdam (the Netherlands). I just got back on Tuesday and am headed to Greece on Monday. Between travel, class and job hunting, I've just been busy.

"This week, in particular, has been pretty good. I went to amsterdam, which is an amazing city. I toured the house anne frank lived in (so now I've seen a hiding place, the nazi headquarters, and a concentration camp) and saw a Van Gogh museum. The stair cases in the buildings are so small that they actually have pulley systems on the top of the buildings to lift furniture up the the desired floor... think of those cartoons where somebody got smashed by a piano. They're a little less
far-fetched now. The red-light district was creepy. I seriously couldn't look any of the girls in the face. And they use all sorts of methods to get your attention.

"I came back and amamda's (amanda is a good friend of mine) sister and friends were here. [omitted] I played host to the 2 friends for 1.5 days. They were a lot of fun [... snip...] They had to catch a bus at 5am, so I "stayed up" with them to make sure they caught it (as I'm pretty used to 5am buses). [omitted]

"My ex-roommate got in today, and after [this morning's festivities] I met up with her for dinner and a few pints. And I just got back in. Tomorrow is St. Paddy's day (well, today is), and Ireland has a chance to win a big rugby tournament. The city was crazy after we beat England; I can't imagine what it'll be if
we win it all.

"So don't take the lack of updates as a lull. If anything, there is more going on. But it is almost 'normal' now... so I don't think to really write it. "

So that's what's been up. I'd like to write more, but I don't see it happening while I'm in Greece. Maybe when I get back. Only 2 months till this whole adventure is over. Wow...

The Kooks. Very good. Sample:
Ooh La
She Moves In Her Own Way

Also, "Bamboleo" by Gipsy Kings.

It was a day that ended in 'Y'... so we went drinking on Saturday. But I was good. I actually made it to 11 o'clock mass in the city. And boy did I pick the right church. The church I chose looked nearly like a medieval style. It was more a single line than the cross shape usually associated with old churches, but very ornate and very cool. Mass took all of 45 minutes, most of which was consumed by a homily and giving communion to the 3 or 4 dozen people that had decided to join me.

After mass, I had to wait at the bus stop to get back to the south-bound buses. An old man struck up a conversation and we talked about the little things until our respective buses came. Rugby (Ireland beat the HELL out of England in Croke park.. which is BIG), weather, bus system, where I was from & what I was doing... From the 75% that I understood, we covered it all. I also met a girl visiting from DC later that day when I was back in the city & walked her around a bit while doing some shopping (after taking pictures - see below).

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. People are taking it easy before the 3 week spring break starts up. I, personally, can't wait. I'll be in Amsterdam for 3 days, back in Dublin for about 5, then in Greece for about 11. It is going to be wonderful. Oh - and there should be plenty of exploits to share when I get back. If there aren't, it wasn't a good trip.

New image galleries should be up (This was really the entire reason for the post).
Spain pictures
St. Stephen's Green pictures
Student's Union elections