Going to miss football today! The parade I can live without, but not being able to watch the Green Bay beat up on Detroit is a tough one. Plus, Kyle Orton is playing today... But I think my Thanksgiving will be complete w/out American football. We'll see...
The DIT Christian Union is hosting a Thanksgiving meal tonight, and in all their wisdom, assigned me to decor... Obviously they don't know me very well. It's fine, though, cause Dunnes was full of pretty orange things. Love Dunnes, it's a target-ish Irish owned store.
As can be seen from my previous post, I'm a little bummed that this is my last month here, but am thankful for this experience. I can't believe how blessed I've been to be able to come to Dublin. I've been trying to take advantage of everyday, knowing how few I have, and to praise God for his blessings.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
1 Month Left in Dublin
All the planning and all the people and all the stress it took to get here. All the drama and all the confusion and all the frustration of being in a foreign country. All the money. All the friends and all the travel and all the tea and all the good times of the past three months. It's nearly over. I don't want it to end.
But Christmas is coming. And as green as the grass is in Ireland, seeing frozen hoosier corn fields is gonna be the best Christmas gift ever.
But Christmas is coming. And as green as the grass is in Ireland, seeing frozen hoosier corn fields is gonna be the best Christmas gift ever.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Strabane and Other Ramblings
Spent the weekend with my friend Rachel in Strabane. Strabane (Pronounced Stra-Ban, rhymes with fan) is in Northern Ireland, which is in the UK, so I was technically in a different country. No passport stamp though, seeing as the border with the Republic is an open one. I was prepared though, just in case!
Before I start with my trip, I'd like to ask for some prayers. Back here in Dublin, the DIT Christian Union is doing an event I'd like y'all to pray for. Next Thursday, 26 November, we'll be putting on a Thanksgiving dinner. We're inviting all of campus to the event. Pray that the logistics go well so that we can share Jesus with DIT's campus.
Strabane is next to the Sperrin mountains, absolutely beautiful country! Even in the somewhat dreariness of autumn, there's hundreds of shades of green. Although the city of Strabane isn't much of a tourist attraction, Rachel's mom was happy to drive us around the area. We spent Saturday in Derry, or Londonderry, (depends on where you stand on the unionist/nationalist spectrum) walking the walls of the city. From the walls we could see most of the city. It's another great example of Ireland's old-meets-new. We could see 300 year old churches and 10 year old shopping centers from the same spot. The walls were built in the 1600s, and have played a part in the city's history ever since. From early English-Irish conflict in the 17th century to the Troubles in the 70s. It was so odd to read info plaques on the walls about these terrorism type events that happened only 30 years ago, some even more recently.
Also on the itinerary for the trip was a visit to to Asda and its travelators. Asda is a Wal Mart owned supermarket, so I felt a bit dirty being there, but the travelators were worth it! What's a travelator you ask? It's an escalator without stairs! It's a moving sidewalk that goes up an incline! I've never seen one in the US. Although, I'm sure they're someplace, just not in Indiana. Asda wasn't much like Wal Mart though, from the looks of it. It took me to realize why it looked so different. Then in hit me: WINDOWS the whole front wall of the store was glass, there was natural light! You could see what the weather was from inside the store... such a foreign concept. Also, the whole 2 floors thing and the clothes looked like they might last more than a week. Being Wal Mart and in the UK means Asda has some of the best prices around, so the locals swear by it. There's so many ad campaigns in the Republic telling folks to "shop local" "shop Irish" etc because so many folks make the quick drive North to do their shopping. Even all the way from Dublin, because of tax differences and the Pound falling to the Euro. You can buy more sterling with your Euro and then pay prices that are lower anyways. Although, from what I can see, prices in the Republic have been falling with the recession.
That's a lot about economics and walmart, I'll put up another post soon about some more adventures from my weekend.
Before I start with my trip, I'd like to ask for some prayers. Back here in Dublin, the DIT Christian Union is doing an event I'd like y'all to pray for. Next Thursday, 26 November, we'll be putting on a Thanksgiving dinner. We're inviting all of campus to the event. Pray that the logistics go well so that we can share Jesus with DIT's campus.
Strabane is next to the Sperrin mountains, absolutely beautiful country! Even in the somewhat dreariness of autumn, there's hundreds of shades of green. Although the city of Strabane isn't much of a tourist attraction, Rachel's mom was happy to drive us around the area. We spent Saturday in Derry, or Londonderry, (depends on where you stand on the unionist/nationalist spectrum) walking the walls of the city. From the walls we could see most of the city. It's another great example of Ireland's old-meets-new. We could see 300 year old churches and 10 year old shopping centers from the same spot. The walls were built in the 1600s, and have played a part in the city's history ever since. From early English-Irish conflict in the 17th century to the Troubles in the 70s. It was so odd to read info plaques on the walls about these terrorism type events that happened only 30 years ago, some even more recently.
Also on the itinerary for the trip was a visit to to Asda and its travelators. Asda is a Wal Mart owned supermarket, so I felt a bit dirty being there, but the travelators were worth it! What's a travelator you ask? It's an escalator without stairs! It's a moving sidewalk that goes up an incline! I've never seen one in the US. Although, I'm sure they're someplace, just not in Indiana. Asda wasn't much like Wal Mart though, from the looks of it. It took me to realize why it looked so different. Then in hit me: WINDOWS the whole front wall of the store was glass, there was natural light! You could see what the weather was from inside the store... such a foreign concept. Also, the whole 2 floors thing and the clothes looked like they might last more than a week. Being Wal Mart and in the UK means Asda has some of the best prices around, so the locals swear by it. There's so many ad campaigns in the Republic telling folks to "shop local" "shop Irish" etc because so many folks make the quick drive North to do their shopping. Even all the way from Dublin, because of tax differences and the Pound falling to the Euro. You can buy more sterling with your Euro and then pay prices that are lower anyways. Although, from what I can see, prices in the Republic have been falling with the recession.
That's a lot about economics and walmart, I'll put up another post soon about some more adventures from my weekend.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Avoca Manor, a Weekend with TCDCU in the Wicklow Mountains
Avoca Manor is a retreat center in the Wicklow mountains.
I went there for a "Weekend Away" this past weekend with the Trinity College Dublin Christian Union. It was incredible. I was welcomed 100% by the Trinners. I knew a few people already from going to a few things, but I was definitely a newbie. My original plan was to go to Avoca with the CU from DIT but my schedule didn't allow it. I think that was a God thing, not that going with DIT would have been bad or anything, but I was supposed to be there this weekend.
We talked about being transformed by God. I think God has done some transforming in me over the last few years, and He has done a lot in me these last few months in Dublin. I've really learned, I think, to appreciate how blessed I am. I'm a country bumpkin from Indiana living in Europe, Europe!! How is that even possible? I have a great family who've allowed me to go on this adventure even though they don't quite understand why I want to spend 4 months an ocean from home.
The whole situation of coming to Dublin the first time, and then coming back; I see God's fingerprints all over it. I think he has some plans for my last month and a half in Ireland.
I went there for a "Weekend Away" this past weekend with the Trinity College Dublin Christian Union. It was incredible. I was welcomed 100% by the Trinners. I knew a few people already from going to a few things, but I was definitely a newbie. My original plan was to go to Avoca with the CU from DIT but my schedule didn't allow it. I think that was a God thing, not that going with DIT would have been bad or anything, but I was supposed to be there this weekend.
We talked about being transformed by God. I think God has done some transforming in me over the last few years, and He has done a lot in me these last few months in Dublin. I've really learned, I think, to appreciate how blessed I am. I'm a country bumpkin from Indiana living in Europe, Europe!! How is that even possible? I have a great family who've allowed me to go on this adventure even though they don't quite understand why I want to spend 4 months an ocean from home.
The whole situation of coming to Dublin the first time, and then coming back; I see God's fingerprints all over it. I think he has some plans for my last month and a half in Ireland.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Academic Life
I've heard that some of y'all are concerned that I'm not actually in college here in Dublin, but I promise you, I am.
I'm a little over half way through the semester here at DIT. The work load has been pretty light so far, a few things due each week. Mostly lab reports. For my Irish Culture class, I have an "information packet" due next Friday. It's sort of like a lot of small reports in one, I guess. It's a lot about the Irish language. Did you know Ireland had it's own language? I didn't until I came to Dublin last year. Part of the report was to speak with someone born/raised in Ireland about their opinion on the language; my friend Rachel was glad to help. She also gave me some more of the Irish language info I needed. Things like the Irish word for prime minister (Taoiseach). So after about 20 minutes of that, I'm half way done, yay! She's a fluent Irish speaker, and pretty much awesome all-round. Rachel was one of the first people I met in Dublin when I came for a week last year, and gave me my first tour of the city. She's been a great friend while I've been here and got me plugged into the Christian Union at her college, Trinity. While I'm on a tangent might as well keep going, I'll be on a retreat with the Trinity CU this weekend, to Avoca, a lodgeish thing in the Wicklow mountains.
On the engineering side of things... all is going smoothly, 2 pretty straight forward classes, and 2 not so straight forward. I have one class, Instrumentation, which is all lab based learning. I'm in a group with 3 other people and every two weeks or so we start a new project to build some sort of measuring device. It's proved to be challenging. Me and the boys (of course, I'm the only girl in the class) get along ok, but the tasks we're given don't always match the time and hardware we have available. We did fairly well on our first presentation, on a gas flow measuring device, a few weeks ago. This week's project is a formal report, no presentation. We're to build a strain gauge, I'm actually going into finish that up after I post this. I have one class, controls, which has been really math intensive. I've had to brush up on my calculus and do a lot of reading on my own, which is good for me, I think. The other two classes, Digital Communications and Computer Architecture, are more straight forward. I'm learning a new programming language in CA which has been interesting, I'm actually a bigger fan of it, Assembly, than C, which is what I used last year. In DC, I just finished a report on a voice scrambler. It was all simulation, but we'll be using some hardware in that lab soon, I think.
The atmosphere in DIT is more laid back than Purdue. The lectures are more concerned with you learning the concepts than with you doing a bunch of assignments and reports. It's a double edged sword, though, because it makes me a bit complacent. When I get back to the Purdue EET world of weekly lab reports and daily homework, I'll be in for some culture shock.
I'm a little over half way through the semester here at DIT. The work load has been pretty light so far, a few things due each week. Mostly lab reports. For my Irish Culture class, I have an "information packet" due next Friday. It's sort of like a lot of small reports in one, I guess. It's a lot about the Irish language. Did you know Ireland had it's own language? I didn't until I came to Dublin last year. Part of the report was to speak with someone born/raised in Ireland about their opinion on the language; my friend Rachel was glad to help. She also gave me some more of the Irish language info I needed. Things like the Irish word for prime minister (Taoiseach). So after about 20 minutes of that, I'm half way done, yay! She's a fluent Irish speaker, and pretty much awesome all-round. Rachel was one of the first people I met in Dublin when I came for a week last year, and gave me my first tour of the city. She's been a great friend while I've been here and got me plugged into the Christian Union at her college, Trinity. While I'm on a tangent might as well keep going, I'll be on a retreat with the Trinity CU this weekend, to Avoca, a lodgeish thing in the Wicklow mountains.
On the engineering side of things... all is going smoothly, 2 pretty straight forward classes, and 2 not so straight forward. I have one class, Instrumentation, which is all lab based learning. I'm in a group with 3 other people and every two weeks or so we start a new project to build some sort of measuring device. It's proved to be challenging. Me and the boys (of course, I'm the only girl in the class) get along ok, but the tasks we're given don't always match the time and hardware we have available. We did fairly well on our first presentation, on a gas flow measuring device, a few weeks ago. This week's project is a formal report, no presentation. We're to build a strain gauge, I'm actually going into finish that up after I post this. I have one class, controls, which has been really math intensive. I've had to brush up on my calculus and do a lot of reading on my own, which is good for me, I think. The other two classes, Digital Communications and Computer Architecture, are more straight forward. I'm learning a new programming language in CA which has been interesting, I'm actually a bigger fan of it, Assembly, than C, which is what I used last year. In DC, I just finished a report on a voice scrambler. It was all simulation, but we'll be using some hardware in that lab soon, I think.
The atmosphere in DIT is more laid back than Purdue. The lectures are more concerned with you learning the concepts than with you doing a bunch of assignments and reports. It's a double edged sword, though, because it makes me a bit complacent. When I get back to the Purdue EET world of weekly lab reports and daily homework, I'll be in for some culture shock.
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