Eh?

This is going to be a quick update because I'm exhausted and need to sleep because I have to be up at 4 for my flight to Paris.

I stayed in the best hostel so far on the Aran Islands. It felt homey and the Italian manager all made us food for dinner. This was a great idea because then you get to meet and see everyone. I started hanging out with some Canadians because there were a lot! I was the only American and they kept poking fun at me but it was all in good fun. It was a pretty crappy day though but it ended up being a great experience.

Connemara was beautiful, I did a lot of walking! I have some great stories but ask me in person because they're better that way. The hostel was in such a remote place but beautiful. It was 6 km to the town! So the swiss kid and I walked a long distance just to get some pasta noodles for dinner! I got some great pictures and video!

So the nickname everyone gives me at hostels is either America or Florida. I thought they were pretty funny, not very creative though. I've actually started to respond to it. I've counted how many roomies I've had in the past week and I've had 29 so far! Tonight, I'm at my brother's house and he's in Spain. So it feels weird to be alone especially when you sleep in a room with 8 people..

It's so great to be meeting so many different people frome so many different places. I think backpacking Europe was the best decision I've ever made. I can already feel myself just growing and learning so much! I haven't been stressed out at all as well! I don't have to go on a schedule and I can do whatever I want. I got lost the other day and I didn't even worry about because I knew eventually I'd find my way. This is such an amazing experience and this is only the beginning!

"Chicago without the R"

So all my roomies left me and went their seperate ways, while I have one more night here. Tomorrow I leave for Connemara, I expect to do a lot of hiking there because I hear it's just gorgeous. The new roomies are nice but it's for sure a diverse group, not as fun as the others though. There's two middle age chinese people, two Australian girls, and three french girls..

A drunk guy said I looked like Katie Holmes, how does that happen? Haha! I have a lot of stories but it's late and I'm tired. Just checking in and telling you I'm alive, don't freak out! Haha!

Night!

Hostel 1

I stayed my first night in a hostel and it was amazing! I like Galway and I've met so many amazing people!
The people in my room:
Hunter & Alyssa-North Carolina
Hannah-Australia
Mike, Dave, & Jordan-Canada
All these people our hilarious and loads of fun. It's great hearing the stories they have. I've been hanging out with them.

I've already had two of the strangest encounters:

1. I walk into the room and Hunter is half asleep and in his boxers. He thinks I'm someone else, figures out I'm not, and then can not stop laughing. So then we had an akward conversation. That is how I first met him.

2. This random, drunk irish guy. He just came up to us and started treating us like his best friends. He was funny but a little crazy..He also punched our door. Haha..

So last night the canadians got a whole bunch of beer and made the kitchen into a bar. Then everyone in our room and two others joined them. (No, I did not drink if that's what you're wondering) Then we had to move it to the dining hall. But it was a lot of fun. Everyone's really funny. Dave told us the story about how he got chased by a horse! I have it on video, I'll youtube it someday.. It's hilarious! Then the drunk Irish guy crashed our party and we went into the city about 1:30 am. We wanted to go to Bar 903 because of the name but they wouldn't let the canadians in because they were wearing shorts. So we went to this club called Cuba. It was really weird, there were pictures of Fidel Castro up! Also, there were either a bunch of young kids or old people. Then we kind of just crazy danced and Alyssa showed the german kid what grinding was because he didn't know! Shortly after the club closed and we went back to the hostels. We sat in the dining hall again. Then the Irish guy came again, so we went to our room. Some went to sleep. Hunter and I couldn't sleep and a certain two people needed some privacy. So we went to the couches in the main room and talked. It was a great night. I was the youngest though. Everyone is like 22-25.. It's so easy to meet new people! I like hostels though, you meet a bunch of different people, that have different stories.

I'm going exploring!

Galway

I just arrived in Galway not to long ago.. I met this girl from California and we've become friends and we've been exploring the new city together. I'm glad she's around because then I'm not so lonely and I don't look AS stupid when I'm lost.. We got lost for an hour! Haha!

I'm in my first hostel and claimed a lower bunk! Score! Of course there were only two other girls in the room at the time and 4 bunk beds.. I'm still debating if I like it here, it's a lot like Dublin. We'll see, I still have a lot to see..

I saw Neil Young last night and that was amazing! I don't even know how to describe it..& I was right in the front. Thank you brother!

I have to go, I only have a little bit of time left on this computer! I'll update more later!

Beards & Red Heads.

I want to say that the birds are oversized here. It's creepy.

Anyways, last night we went to a show at this pub/bar called Wheelans. It was a really nice place and the bands were brilliant! Wayyyy better than the music scene back home! We're going to another show tonight and I'm excited to see what those bands have to offer. One girl told me I looked irish. I took that as a compliment..

After the show we went to this pizza place called Ray's and they had amazing pizza! Best I've ever had! Then we got some fries after, that was good as well!

A short update.

1. It's chilly outside.
2. My backpack was only 19 pounds, I'm proud of that.
3. I just slept for 19 hours!
4. Accents make people a lot more attractive!

Tonight we're going to see a band at this bar. I'm excited for that! There hasn't been too much going on because I was exhausted yesterday and I just woke up today. I'll update later!

I hate automatic toilets.

So I'm sitting in my brother's kitchen downing coffee, trying to stay awake. I admit staying up all night the night before wasn't the greatest idea I've ever come up with. I mean I had a lot of fun with the people that stayed up with me but not a good idea for the situation. I thought if I stayed up all night that when I got on the plane for Ireland, I would fall right asleep and then the jet lag wouldn't be that bad. Well I only slept 2-3 hours on the flight because the huge tv was in front of me. So I would start to fall asleep and then a scene with light would be bright and wake me up. Also, the row I was in had three seats, there was a couple next to me, they kept being all lovey, and watched The Notebook on his ipod together. It made me sick.

I met this really cool lady on my first flight. She was going to Malaysia to see her family and she was an accupunturist. I typically hate talking to people on planes but I was so wired on the 2 energy drinks I had, (thanks to Ms. Samantha for showing me the great Starbucks ones) that I just wanted to talk. So I started a conversation with her and I just went on and on and on and on. She told me this quote: “When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else.”-Joseph Campbell. I thought that was a pretty awesome quote. I also couldn't sit still. But I watched the sunrise in the sky and it was beautiful.

So I'm in Dublin, Ireland now. Later brother and I are going to Dundrum to eat, I'm excited about that. I love it here, I'm glad to be back. I really don't know how I'm going to stay awake because I need to stay awake so I can get on their schedule! Ehhh, I've been flying for 24 hours and have gotten 2-3 hours of sleep in the past 48hours, I'm kind of grumpy..I hope all of you are doing well! Keep in touch and keep reading my blogs! I'm going to hopefully update once a day!

All Nighter.

One hour till I leave for the airport! It still doesn't feel like I'm going! Crazy, crazy. I haven't slept and Miles, Jesus, Naomi, Richard, and Nick are keeping me company! We're all watching That 70's Show, it's great! I can't believe I leave soon! Ahhh!

Packing.

I'm looking at the amount of clothes I'm bringing and thinking to myself, "What have I gotten into?" I am going to be doing a lot of washing.

Funny Story.

I always over pack when going somewhere. I'll go on a trip for a week and I'll have the biggest suitcase with half of my closet in it. But this time I have to pack very light. So I was taking the clothes I was bringing out and it took a lot of self control to not over pack. I'm not used to this! It's like 2 months with a week and a half worth of clothes! Ahhh! Haha!

Crazy, Crazy!

Almost There.

One Week.