My apartment at Gort na Coiribe (or just Gort) is a single floor apartment with one single bedroom and one double bedroom. We also have a bathroom with the TINIEST shower I have ever seen! It will definitely take some time to adjust to, but in the end it gets me clean and that's all I care about. Also, the water heater heats one tank of water between the hours of 4am and 8am. So if/when you run out of hot water for the day, you have to turn a knob to 'booster' the hot water through the system so you don't take a cold shower. Our kitchen is completely stocked with all utensils we may need. Everything from pots and pans, to dishware and silverware is provided to us, so that is incredibly helpful! We have a mini fridge that oddly enough does not get as cold as fridges in the States. I have a feeling a lot of food will go bad fast in that fridge. In our living room, we have two couches, a fireplace (I'm not sure if it is operational... I don't believe it is... but that would certainly be cool!), a kitchen table, and a TV. Our TV has approximately 20 channels.... all of which are AWESOME! Just try watching the British version of Jerry Springer... I believe it's called DNA Drama. Incredibly hilarious.
My direct roommate in the double is an engineer at Nova! She's pretty awesome if I do say so myself... Hi there Mary Helen if you are reading this! We're trying to figure out ways to decorate our room since technically we can't attach anything to the ways with tape or hooks or anything. We also have sorted out two tasks. She turns off the lights at night since she's next to the switch, and I have to make sure the curtains are closed at night and open when we wake up since I sleep next to the window.
Our other roommate in the single is Lorenza. She is from a little town by the sea in northern Italy. She is learning English while she is here in Ireland, but already has a good grasp on most things. We want her to teach us some Italian phrases in exchange for helping her become more fluent in English. So far we have learned "agocha." I don't really know how to spell it... but that's how it's spelled phonetically. Anyway, it means "gulp." So naturally, when one of the girls couldn't finish her Guinness the other night, anther girl on the program kept telling her to agocha! I think our apartment will turn out to be very fun. But more to come on that at a later date.
On Tuesday, we got off our plane in Shannon and the six of us on the flight took Bus Eireann to Galway together. We went shopping in Galway for the bare necessities that we would need for the night (sheets, towels, toilet paper, and breakfast food) and then rested for awhile in our apartments. That night we went out with the other students from Nova to The Quays (pronounced the keys). It was an incredible place filled with lots of Irish students, International students, and locals. The live music was beautiful to listen to and there were Irish step dancers performing for most of the night.
Yesterday, we explored the NUIG campus for awhile and ate dinner at Fat Freddy's in the center of the city. On our way to dinner I saw my first rainbow of Ireland! It was a full rainbow, too! Isn't it beautiful?!
(Some of us at the River Corrib after dinner on Wednesday night)
Tomorrow we have to continue our Orientation at 10am when we will learn about registering for classes. For the next three weeks we are essentially having syllabus weeks. We don't pick our classes until September 17th. It seems so far off. I just wanted to get my classes under way and figure out what my schedule will be like.
That's all for now! I'll keep writing whenever I get the chance! Off to dinner with the group at someone's apartment! Slainte!
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