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!