My Thanksgiving Leftovers are Gone :(

Happy Wednesday all. I just spent all day in the library and need a reprieve. Funny how my revived interest in blogging coincides so perfectly with the heap of assignments I have pending. For the moment Bernard MacLaverty can wait (Chaucer can definitely wait). My agenda for the night is to whip this baby out, make French toast and then enter a 48 hour state of quarantine in which I complete my Northern Irish Lit essay.  It's a bit ambitious considering I already made plans for tea tomorrow, but truly, that essay will be finito by Friday…I am determined. I’ll add that it’s not due until December 14^th, so I think I’m doing okay. I've been a bit sappy in my last couple posts and the last few ones are bound to be heavily sentimental. So tonight, I am going to whine.

Ireland, fix this please:

• The bus is kind of expensive. 1.90€ for one-way fare into town? Dublin, Lauren is not made of money and Rathmines is not that far away (clearly my walking days are over, thank you November…kidding, I haven’t walked to Trinity since September).
• Why are the baked beans in tomato sauce? Guys, molasses—you don’t know what you’re missing.
• Trinity Library, why you be trippin? No one is trying to steal your books, take it down a notch. Things I would appreciate: heat….I know you’re not poor, and I’m cold. Also, a friendlier attitude perhaps? Why so grouchy?
• Irony of ironies: I accumulated 5€ worth of overdue fees during “Reading Week”. SMH
• Eggs on the shelf. Huh? This one isn't really a complaint seeing as it hasn't killed me yet, it’s just weird.

That’s all I've got. Other than the aforementioned grievances I really like Ireland…I’d make a list but then this post would get mushy and I can’t have that. Plus, it’s French toast time. Excuse the brevity but it is finals season.

Besos,

Lauren

Below are random pictures from November, including a night out, the view from my balcony, an Ingrid Michaelson concert, and my recently-broken clothes horse. 

My Big Fat Irish Thanksgiving

 

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s been a bit strange spending the day solely in my apartment (instead of driving to Brighton, to Hyde Park, to Brighton again and back to Medfield haha). Only one dinner? Who ever heard of such a thing? Even stranger, I cooked a turkey! I’m twenty-one….I honestly think I’m too young for this responsibility. Figuring out how to work the baster was a LOLfest. But to give credit where it’s due, we did a fantastic job (and the turkey was BA). We managed pretty much every Thanksgiving staple: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, apple and pumpkin pies (both homemade), and we even included some fancy carrots and asparagus. To boot there was also butternut squash pasta, corn, bread, wine, cheese and crackers, brownies, ice cream, toffee pops and some Reeses Cups (sent from Mom). And 18 cans of Bulmers ha. Not too shabby.

Although I would have loved to spend the day with my family at home, my Irish Thanksgiving had its own special kind of charm and was loads of fun. If nothing else, the company was a reminder of what I am most grateful for this season: the friends I've made in Ireland (Irish and American). I've been including a lot of lists in my recent posts, so here’s another:

What I’m Grateful for this Thanksgiving:

• The past three and half months, which have been wonderful. There are so many things I love about Ireland—Dublin, Trinity College, the Cumann Gaelach, my roommates, the pubs haha. My time here has been better than I’d hoped for.
• My Mom and Dad for letting me spend the past three and a half months here. And my sisters, just for being my sisters. And obviously Tinker because she is the best.
• My Irish Chickens. I couldn't be happier to share Thanksgiving with such great friends. I know Chloё reads this and I assume Sadhbh does, so to both of you, I will miss you terribly when I return home and I cannot wait to soak in the California sunshine with you next summer. Thank you for making this semester so much fun (go raibh maith agaibh…I had to look up how to make that plural, I’ll hope it’s right haha)
• That I get to go home to two cities and see people I love.

So there you have it folks, My Big Fat Irish Thanksgiving. Complete with feasting, two rounds of Alice's Restaurant (for a grand total of 46 minutes), and general hysteria (only the best kind). I was even able to stream the Thanksgiving special of Acoustic Sunrise live on Mix 104.1 (and for once the time difference was convenient). I did miss out on the football game but let’s be real, do I care? Haha no disrespect, but it’s not like I watch it at home either.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving (and if you’re Irish, a Happy November 22^nd)

Lots of Love,

Lauren 

My Week in Paris

Bonjour mes amours. As most of you have heard or gleaned from Facebook, I recently spent a week in Paris. This was my one big trip outside of Ireland for the semester and I couldn’t have picked a better city. People give the French a hard time for snobbery, but I can’t blame them for high standards. After a few days, part of me wanted to be Parisian too. If you’re the sort of person who is easily charmed by pretty things (ahem, like me…) Paris is the place to be.  The architecture, the people and even the food are all gorgeous. Duck may be my new favourite meal (although escargot is also delicious!). After a week of chocolate croissants and French pastries for breakfast, it was somewhat disappointing to return to my regular buttered toast and tea in Rathmines. That said, there was one culinary fiasco during the trip—after reuniting at the airport, Olivia, Whitney and I made our way on the RER into the city and found our hotel. Unfortunately, by the time we settled in, every restaurant nearby was closed. Since I stupidly skipped lunch, the mints at the hotel weren’t going to cut it for me. And so, our first meal in Paris was at McDonald’s. The horror.

It’s impossible to cover Paris in a weekend, but we gave it a shot. From Thursday night to Monday morning we saw the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, Sacré Cœur, and the Louvre. We also made time for a night of clubbing at Le Duplex on the Champs-Élysées, and a morning of shopping in the Barrio Latino. Oh and thank you GW, we registered for our classes next semester.  Some highlights, stories and impressions:

• Late Thursday night we waited for traffic to slow at the top of the Champs-Élysées so we could bolt across the very large roundabout and see the Arc de Triomphe up close….only to be informed by security that it was past visiting hours. No problem, how should we get back? Same way we came of course.
• Champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower, need I say more?
• The Palace of Versailles. While it was absolutely worth the visit, my final thought on leaving the “hunting lodge” was that I don’t blame the French for beheading the gluttons who lived there.
• A lovely Moroccan man at a souvenir shop in Montmartre gave me an Eiffel Tower key chain because he thought my eyes were pretty <3
• The Venus de Milo! To see the actual statue was almost surreal. Granted, I could say the same of nearly everything at the Louvre, but I was especially awestruck by Venus.  

For our last night together in Paris we stayed with my cousin Cecilia and her daughter Catalina. They were so warm and welcoming, and Catalina even played the harp for us. The next morning was bittersweet—we had a fun morning shopping in the Latin District but after such a wonderful weekend it was hard to say goodbye. I’ve been dreading leaving Ireland for weeks now, and while I still will be sad to leave, spending time with Liv and Whit was a reminder of how much I have to come back to in the States. A funny realization I have come to in Dublin is that while quality always trumps quantity where friendship is concerned, you feel their absence more strongly when you don’t have many friends around. I’ve been pretty lucky in Dublin to have great roommates and wonderful friends from Trinity, but company isn’t always just a text away. In that vein, it will be really nice to catch up with everyone at GW in January. Fortunately, I was quickly distracted from missing my friends by my Gamba family in Paris. I don’t know whether this is a big-family-phenomenon or something special to the Gambas, but the beautiful thing about their company is that you don’t need to have met them before to feel at home with them. I didn’t know Cecy or Monica before staying with them, yet meeting them felt more like a reunion than an introduction. One of my favourite parts of the trip was my insiders’ tour of central Paris by Monica and her lovely daughter Jade-- très charmant. Between my friends and my cousins, I couldn’t have asked for better company over the week. I hope to return to Paris, but for now I’m happy to be back in Dublin. Until next time, au revoir.

Avec l'amour,

Lauren

 

P.S. for anyone who knows French, sorry if I botched it...blame Google Translate lol. Also, enjoy the pictures below but there are many more on Facebook