Getting into the Swing of Things

It's been a while since I last updated. Sorry about that. As some of you know, I have the flu, so a lot of things have been put on the back burner for now while I concentrate on school and getting sleep. Speaking of school, here is the final list of all of the classes that I'll be taking over here:

Period 1
Aspects of Irish Folklore
Introduction to Modern Irish (spoken Irish)
Introduction to Irish History for Visiting Students
The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland (1A)
Prehistoric Societies in Ireland(1A)
The Archaeology of Later and Post Medieval Ireland (1B)

Period 2
Of Monsters and Men: Old and Early English Literature
Irish Historical Tales
Intermediate Modern Irish (spoken Irish)
Human Remains for Archaeologists (2B)
Introduction to Archaeological Excavation (2B)

The courses with 1A, 1B, and 2B after them are because archaeology courses (for the most part) are taught in just 6 weeks, instead of the full 12 of the period (their word for semester), so those show which half of the period I'm taking the course.

So far I am definitely enjoying my classes, especially the Prehistoric archaeology class. The Modern Irish classes start on Monday (this period they are only 9 week courses) so I really cant wait for that! One of my flatmates, Joe, is from Galway and went to an all Irish speaking primary school, so he is fluent and has agreed to help us (Toni, Jenna, Laura, and I are all taking the class, though at different times). Next period the class actually goes on a field trip to the Gaeltacht from Feb 27 to Mar 1 where Irish is the primary language. I am sooo excited about that!

Another course that I cant wait for is the excavation course. It is going to be so interesting and very fun. There is no end of year exam for it and you have the option of a 1500 word essay or one week on a training excavation (because that's such a hard choice). It'll definitely be exciting. I cant wait.

Our bout of nice weather has finally passed and the rain has come, though I cant say that it's all that bad. There is still tons of sun, but now it's cold, windy, and the rain rolls in totally unexpectedly (thank goodness I always carry my umbrella with me). The only thing that I wish I had now is rain boots. Thankfully, they are finally on their way. I absolutely love the rain, but I'm not crazy enough to enjoy having my pants soaked up to my knees and my shoes full of water.

So, here are a couple of the things I have learned since I arrived:
1. Irish girls dont like American girls (obviously there are many exceptions, but there are also a lot of glares that have been sent our way).
2. "Like" does not belong in the middle of a sentence, it belongs at the end. Example: It's very cold outside, like.
3. If given the opportunity Irish guys would live in sweatpants. Seriously, Joe and Liam are always in sweatpants (though Liam even more often than Joe).
4. Irish boys are mama's boys. They dont cook, clean, or do laundry. We had to teach Joe how to clean a frying pan. Liam just sticks to beans on toast or a frozen pizza he heats up in the oven.
5. People never pick up after their dogs on the sidewalks.

I have some other stuff to update with, but I'm getting distracted. There are a couple of other Cork pictures that will be up soon and once I get some pics from Jenna I will put up pictures of our Spanish/American potluck dinner party!