ALLLIIISSSSSAAAA!!!!!! Wait, I feel like I broke into your secret diary or something. Did you really intend for other people to post to your own blog? I think there is some feature where your readers can add comments or something, but I don't know how to do that. ANYWAY, how ARE you???? It is so nice to read your blog and the beautiful Alissa flowing poetic prose. It sounds WONDERFUL there. Puddle-wonderful. And mud-licious ;-). I mean, wonderful in that kind of this-is-wonderful-now kind of way, but it sounds like you are overall too deep and interesting for them. JESUS!! Do they really drink all the time? ANYWAY I am totally DYING at this school--it is so lifeless and dull, and I am taking a zillion classes. But I did make concrete on Wednesday! That was kind of exciting. And I'm going to see Mike S. and some other people tonight. It just sounds so alive and vital there. It's STILTED and GROSS here. Is that really true, or am I just idealizing it from your posts? Anyway, I don't really have anything to say right now, but now that I've settled in here a little bit (I seriously have 7-8 hours of class a day, plus other stuff), and figured out how that I should read your blog ;-), I will tell you more stories! I miss ya dude! Keep it real, and remember, beer before liquor! (Or is it liquor before beer....?) -Love,leigh

um yeah sorry forgot to put my name its me! Laura

-Laura and the post below...

HEYY!! issy whats up? wow they love buffy thats awesome yay buffy! you know in about 2 months i shall be on my way to.. IRELAND!! woowee! and umm schools ok.. im a second semester senior and it doesn't feel like everyone says it feels i still have to work and stuff oh whatever..anyways i love you very much and have fun.. wooo im not going to dance and i hate it so much so yeahh... nothing really intersting is happening in my life so im boring talk to you later bye bye

I think i've finally found my place in the world. I went to the writer's society last night--and not only do they love poetry--but they love BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER too! We were discussing emily dickinson and specific buffy episodes and the cute spanish waiter decided that we should give each other spanish/english lessons*ayay* and all i could think was ahh I'm in Heaven!!

Meh. I think the honeymoon periodmof the study abroad experience where everything is hunky dorey, as the intelligent study abroad advisers call it, is over. Not that i don't like it here and not that i wish i were elsewhere, really, i just feel kinda blah. I don't feel like writing, i don't feel like going out to more pubs..i don't think i'm cut out for this fun loviing, easy going irish way of life. I'd rather be at a coffee shop discussing the latest indie movie getting all jittery from caffeine than watching everyone get drunk night after night. But, anyways, i'm sure this intellectual seriousness will uh pass.

Last night was a pretty interesting night...for one thing, i got proposed to. This mmm 30 something? irish lad comes up to me and asks if i know the name of this other guy in the pub because he's an irish soap star...i'm like uh..i don't know. Then he's like OH you're AMERICAN--is that harrison ford then? Is it Arnold Schwartzenagger?...i'm giving him a weird look which makes him go away for 5 minutes, but then when my friend Dierdra who i'm at the pub with goes to get us a pint he comes back and asks what my dates are for next friday. I say dates? Plans, he says. I say oh i don't know what i'm doing yet...so he says, clearly the obvious next step in conversation:

Will you marry me then? I laugh and say i don't think so, no..without blinking he says, "what about saturday?"

Man that's some pick up line.

After this, this younger, more handsome although turns out even stranger, lad asks dierdra if she can hold his beer for a second so he can, "stretch out his hammies" She's like okay? turns out hammies=hamstrings...and in the middle of the bar this guy ryan just bent down and streeeetch. He then tells us that he has made a fitness video and would we like to see it? I say i don't have a video player and he then whispers something(i think just to make us lean over closer to him)
'You know Mr Master Fitness of the 80's, 90's?"
"Sure(clearly, he was not of sane enough mind to argue with)
"i'm going to be the future!"

right-o...he made dierdra hold his beer again so he could stretch his hammies...then we hammied on outta that part of the pub.
ANd then i ran into the guy who gave me that nice tour of Galway the past week...who...looked really happy to see me and i kinda forgot what he looked like. He claims to have emailed me(umhmm) and proceeded to give me a line that i thought people only said in the movies

'did you sleep well?
'when'
'the night i saw you.'
'Sure, i slept fine'
'i didn't
'why?
'Because i was dreaming of you all night'

seriously--i give credit to whoever first invented the line--lord byron, whoever--congratulations--but as for now--pleaasse put it in a plastic tube, label it cheez-it and call it a day, kids.

I gave him my number this time because he really seemed pretty interesting...but i don't know--the skeptical light is bleeping red.

i'm off to el gymnasio for now
~alissa

p.s please post here if you get a chance-i want to know what you brilliant lads and lassies be up to!

I'm listening to the new white stripes album and eating a forbidden scone in the computer lab. The lad next to me keeps me evil looks but i don't care so much. He looks mean anyways.

So, i went to a club last nite because if u said u were with the sailing team, you could get in for free and it stays open later than the pubs. It was more crowded than it is on the weekends--its amazing. I was almost sick at realzied how much of my life i've spent working. Because, it's great that i have this solid foundation of learning--that i can spout off facts about Imperial Russian History and know the sin of a 60 degree angle...but for what? Is that really going to make me happiest in the end? I was with my friend Bre who goes to Brown and both of us were just coming down from being a bit tipsy and totally speechless. Spain has their siesta, the irish have their free flowing whiskey and we have...501k plans.

Earlier in the evning i went to this storytelling session which turned out to be fairly leftest propoganda---the guy was talking about how he is betting on the evolution of dolphins for our planet's future...and kept saying how, life is abotu WE, not us and them--animals are WE, blue, yellow, purple, white, black people--WE. And, i just wasn't in the mood. Not that that's an excuse--no one is ever in the mood for social change i suppose--but so WHAT i wanted to ask???He kept insisting that it was our generation that needed to break out from the repition of our elders and remake the world. OKAY. HOW, BUDDY? People say that they hate when people point out whats wrong without offering to make it better--and it was the same thing. I mean, if he ended and talked about recycling, energy efficiency okay but so vague and so full of undirected emotion...On that note of recylcing--in supermarkets, they charge u for bags here, but all the cookies are individually wrapped and there is no decent recycling program. Seems silly.

Thursdays are supposed to be my writing days but i haven't written a lick yet...bad bad me.

I'm gg try.

love love
~alissa

Ireland may just be the most beautiful place on earth, kids. If, say, you can get over the weather and how it can rain, be sunny, hail, and have a rainbow within one half hour.

Okay--here is my singular rant about how great irish boys are! Gr-8, like tony the tiger great. SO polite. AND chivilrous. That brogue! Blush blush blush

I went out to a pub called the Kings Head(ha ha darn english) with some friends last night and ended up meeting this lad named Align(Alan in English). Yes, poke fun Lauren "has anyone told him his name is an english verb?" hardy har har. But anyways, so I ordered a guiness caus my friend tess reeaaallly wanted me to even though i still think its kinda nasty, though its gettin a bit better, but it takes me forever to finish them. So all my group(its like the freshman herd all over again so help me) is done and ready to go to another pub but i still got a ways to go so I ask ALign if he wouldnt mind waiting for me.

By the time i finish this pub has stopped serving(all pubs offically stop serving at 11:30 though often, unofficially, its later) And I know i was supposed to 'text' my friends(text messaging is soooo big here) but he was really just great to talk too--really intelligent and not that my friends here aren't but, well, it was nice to be able to talk about bigger things than the surface randomness that is inherent the first week u meet most people.

SO some general facts about mr irish lad(and i don't know if he's full of *$^% or not but he knew all sorts of crazy historical facts so i'd imagine not...) he went to Trinity to study law but graduated as he's now 24, worked in England in a traveling theater troupe and when they put on macbeth he was, you guessed, it macbeth, is now working as a carpenter because he likes working with his hands and doesn't like law, and loves Reggae and will sing it if you find yourself in a quietly lit coffee shop at 1:30 in the morning with Bob Marley playing softly overhead.

Also fascinating was this ring he had, that had all these family symbols on them ranging from his family crest to what his family used to farm...apparently his family goes back 5000 yrs to ireland.

I know i know, i shouldn't be walking around with strangers after dark in a foreign city after drinking(mainly from a water bottle filled with orange juice and vodka--classy as always). But it was just such fun! And, on that more serious note--foolishly i believe i have a decent judge of a person's character and will continue to think that until proven wrong.

He showed me all these non touristy, historic parts of galway. For instance, there's a part of the river that flows the oppsoite way than the rest because there's a secret passage that goes underneath. Or, there's a deserted house built in 1211 in honor of the fighting dead that stll stands uninhabited to this day. And, all the while we walked along the river arm in arm.

He walked me back to my terribly out of the way apartment and didn't even try any funny business. Well, ya know, besides acceptable and nice funny business:). Neither of us had a pen so we'll see how good his memory holds up, and if not--there are plenty o other fish in the irish sea, but it was great craic(galic for a good time) all the same.

Anyways i want to still catch that double rainbow so as Marc's italian roomates say as they throw out rotting cheese they left over from last semester into a garbage pail,

CHOW!

wait why dou have two "the Green detail?" and why are they so confusing damn blogs damn them!! anyways what i said before was soo ya kissed a 40 year old balding Irish man.. well thats wonderful.. and the next mayor of gallway well! you are going places my dear.. you are you are... anyways im in science and i should be looking up Mars oooo the red planet.. but im writing to you.. have fun dont get into to much trouble and dont kiss anymore 40 year old men... see ya.. i miss and love you very much!!

- Laura 8^)

Hey guys--
so I realized that you can't post responses of any kind--so here's my password info(careful caaareful) so u'll be able to--just remember to sign your names.

user id: lass0 (lass zero)
password: alissa

look forward to readin whatcha got to say!

Now, a dog story--

First of all, no dogs here are on leeshes no matter the size, hence they are often bigger than me and end up in the middle of the street....Yesterday, i found this guys dog, brandy was the lil gal's name...and she wasnt on a leesh and followed me for like 10 minutes from town to the campus and i got worried she was lost. I noticed she was wearing a caller with a number on it, so I called it and this guy answered. And this is what he says(in huge irish accent of course)

"OH you found my little doggie, did you? Oh she lives right round the corner, just tell her to go on home, now. Say, yah, Brandy, GO HOME. Right right i'll go long, swing by for her. Thanks Much, cheers!'

so i do and she kinda stops following me but doesn't go home...so i leave and then he calls back and introduces himself as "yes, you called about my little doggie" and i almost crack up caus he's like a grown man talking about his uh little doggie, but i tell him which direction she was going and it was funny.

Also funny, was my two irish flat mates who i havent properly met yet caus both came home last nite from break totally hung over and ill.

I'm off to register for totally ludicrous classes ie classes that sound cool, like philosophy of religion and magical realism fiction woogoo

tatsies

I'm here! And now must pay 2 euro to the euro dealers caus i went past my 15 minutes here on the computer...but so it goes...everything here costs so much anyways and besides euros aren't real money right? it's like Euro Disney and how it isn't really disney world right? uhuh. So I thought i could do a semester without music but that was just too painful so i bought speakers for my disc man today on my solo journey into galway. It's not that big a city but i still feel like i haven't really found my way around. It took me like an hour to leave my apartment today i was aprhensive about going into town by myself. Not caus its unsafe just caus...well i don't know--caus i didnt really want company anyways.

Walking around its so interesting looking at people's faces caus friends and aquaintances from home now look SO IRISH. LIke, i never knew their featurs were irish but they so are. Alice, Erin, Caleb, Random dude from my fiction class last yr--i feel happy whenevr i see a friend look alike:)

We had our orientation yesterday and besides for the fact that my classes all seem to fall on mondays they look fantastico...but ha we had like 4 people tell us that we shouldnt really be here to study so yeah interesting...

Now for random story from last nite--I'm at a pub with some interstudy kids(all girls save for marc) and this girl who lives across the hall who knows claude!!! her name is abby and her irish bf and his friends and we seem to have lost one IS girl, Tess who's perty cool, from UVM, and last evening SO DRUNK

i went to find her to see if she's okay and she's talking with this guy gary and also this guy who keeps telling her that he's going to be the next mayor of galway--right--and i'm wearing a blue scarf(will be important in just one moment and yes of course other clothes dirty mind heads) and so he turns to leave after talking with us a bit--and yeah he's like 40 and balding somewhat charming i suppose but 40 and balding and pulls my scarf to the left and gives me a kiss on the right cheek, then pulls it to the right and gives me a kiss on the left cheek, then turns to me and says, "actually this is better" and pulls my scarf straight forward and well you can imagine. I was just so flabbergastered and like uhhh what just happened? Yeah, just got smooched by the 'next mayor of galway'. Mental note--must be better prepared for these irish lads next time i go out ie: tonight:)

cheers all!

p.s the first phone number for my phone is wrong(house line) its really 011-353-91-4175

MIGHTY!

It's cold in Chicago. Good thing I'm leaving here soon--to go to great white beaches of Ireland where I can frolic in the heat and go swimming all the time. No, this is false and an apparently common misconception. I was at the beauty salon getting my hair dyed back to its originial color(a holiday gift for my mom long story) and I mentioned that it had to be permanent caus i was going away for 5 months to Ireland and the lady starts talking about warm exotic beaches...who was i to correct her fantasy and replace it with rain, fog, and yellow plastic galoshes. I haven't actually purchased said golashes yet--but it's iminent.

We're talking care of our aunt and uncle's dog for the weekend and she's quite the lil pup. SHe was barking up a storm and not wanting to go to sleepy until I took her into the den and watched an hour of West Wing. Guess politics does really put everyone to sleep. P.S i am ADDICTED to that show. Sigh Josh Lyman...if only you weren't married to the mom in Malcolm in the Middle.

A HS friend came over tonight randomly and it was terrific seeing her. I always kind of wondered if we were friends or just shared similar friends. And either way I enjoy her company, but as hs days grow farther away and the bs between some of us grow, it was a comfort to just talk frankly. We walked the dog waiting until she uh "went" but then i didnt want to have to deal with it while holding the leash so i took the dog inside and then couldnt find the poop. I lost the poop and even tried to find it with a flashlight. No such luck.

Okay so yeah that fascinating story is a slice of the train of thought lines you'll be reading from me should you choose to frequent this online heap of ramblings in the coming weeks. I like you. Otherwise I wouldn't have told you about this online journal. JOURANAL. Not Diary. I don't plan on gushing oober private thoughts. You'll have to write me an email to get those. Oh, you make me blush. I have no time to make nice about people or things who aren't nice. So yay. Glasses up. Toast.