Oh Oh We're half way there, Oh Oh Livin' on a Prayer!!!!

Hi All,

So we have officially reached the halfway mark of the program, which kind of blows. It's been a busy 2 weeks. Papers, reports, outings, hospital visits. So much to do, so little time.

Last week passed without any incidents. Our play got cancelled due a cast members sickness. We were all very happy about this because we were all kind of dragging. It's been rescheduled to the busy month of November. On the weekend, I took Friday off and just read and relaxed. At night we went out to dinner and had Chinese food. Unfortunately since I took Friday off, Saturday and Sunday were devoted to homework and papers. I managed to get my history, film, and culture papers done by Sunday so I wouldn't have to do any work this week but attend class. Which was a good thing.

Though I am not in America, I keep aware of the American politics. And let me tell you, I have never supported Obama's universal health care more, after experiencing the U.K's firsthand. On Tuesday, I got to spend 3 hours in the hospital waiting room. Don't worry though, I am OK. It seems I have low blood sugar mixed with exhaustion. I have been resting up lots. I refuse to be sick before break!!!!

I know you are all dying to know where I am going for break. So drum roll please... SPAIN!!! Yup Yup I plan to spend 6 lovely days in warm Spain (70 degree weather!). My roommate and I are all packed and ready to get on that plane tomorrow!!! I will attempt to use my limited knowledge of the Spanish language to get us around. In 4 years, you would think I have learned some Spanish but you would be wrong. Just ask Lisa! Don't worry, I am armed with a Spanish phrasebook, my travel book, and the directions to our hostel.

OK I need to double check my suitcase and make sure I don't forget anything. Look for all my great pics sometime at the beginning of November.

Much love,

KP

WHERE'S MY LEPRECHAUN?????

Hi all!

So I know you are all waiting anxiously by your computers to read my blog and hear all about my weekend in Ireland. Well here it is!!!

First off, I’m going to start with an Irish story:
There once was an Irish man named Seamus O’Finnagan. He had left Ireland at the age of 17 to come to New York and he hadn’t been back in 60 years. Yet he still loved his homeland and in his backyard he grew Irish flowers and potatoes to remind him of home. One day while sitting in his backyard, he saw one of the leaves move oddly. He pushed the leaf aside and under it was a leprechaun. Seamus said, “Hey, you’re a leprechaun.” The leprechaun replied “Yes, I am.” So Seamus asked if that old legend his mom use to tell him was true, that if you see a leprechaun they owe you 1 wish. The leprechaun replied that it was true. Seamus said “Well I see you so you owe me a wish.” The leprechaun said “Fine. What’s your wish?” Seamus said “Well I haven’t seen Ireland in over 60 years. I miss home.” The leprechaun said “What do you want me to do about it. Get on a plane or take a boat.” Seamus replied “Planes were unnatural, they don’t make sense. And I took a boat to get here. I’ve never been so sick in my life. I’m never getting on one again.” So the leprechaun asked him what his wish was then. Seamus said “I want you to build a bridge connecting New York to Ireland.” The leprechaun said “Are you crazy??? That’s impossible. I’d have to hire engineers, get technicians, and get approval from both countries.” “Well that’s what I want,” Seamus said. The leprechaun thought it over and said “Ok we’re going to do something unusual here. We’re going to scrape your first wish and you can make another.” So Seamus thought about it and said “Look around me. I’m all alone. I’ve had American girlfriends and Irish girlfriends, but none have stuck.” The leprechaun said “So what’s your wish?” Seamus replied “I want to know how women think. I want to know what their thinking and I want to understand them.” The leprechaun took off his hat and scratched his head. He then put it back on and replied, “So do you want 4 lanes or 8 lanes on this bridge to Ireland?”

This was our first free weekend trip, which means it wasn’t through JMU. Eight of us went to Dublin. They were: Jamie, Christine, Whitney, Nora, Hannah, Mike, Trevor, and of course, yours truly!

So our weekend started off very bad. We had to wait for Christine to get home from class at 5:30. We thought we were going to be late because none of us knew how long it took to get to Gatwick on the Gatwick Express train. We were guessing at least an hour so we thought we were running behind. Before we could even catch the Gatwick train, we had to get to Victoria Station on the underground. Well en route to Victoria on the underground, some idiot pulled an alarm so the train had to stay in the station until it was cleared. We were all freaking out and it was RUSH HOUR, so the trains were packed and hot!!!! Finally we were cleared to go and the train got to Victoria. We managed to catch the Gatwick Express, which actually only took 30 minutes to get to Gatwick. So in the end we got there in plenty of time.

The flight was a short jump and by 11 we were in Ireland. We took a taxi into Dublin and arrived safely at our hostel. We were able to check in and head up to our room. Now this being my first hostel experience, I didn’t know what to expect. Well our room had 16 beds (8 bunk beds) and was an all female room. Well a half dressed girl was occupying one of our beds, so we had to go switch that bed. After we got everything straightened out, it was definitely bed time since it was after midnight.

The next morning brought daylight and rain. I was able to clearly see our room. It was like being at camp or freshmen year at college with 15 roommates instead of 1. I got use to it. After showering and breakfast at the hostel, we set out to truly begin our weekend. We decided to first head over to Dublin Castle, since we were all a big fan of castles after Edinburgh’s Castle. Unfortunately Dublin Castle was a bit small and a bit of a let down. It looked like they had built modern buildings onto the 1 small old part of the castle.

A bit of a disappointment

"Catch me Trevor"

Christine: "Someone whould get on that statue and let them crown you"
Kendra: "Ok, I will"

After that, we decided to walk to the Guinness Storehouse Factory. Here we had a self guided tour of the factory. We learned all about Arthur Guinness, saw how they make the beer, and even got to go to the tasting room. The tour ends in the Gravity Bar where you get a free pint of Guinness. Me not being a fan of beer took a picture with my free beer and then proceeded to let Trev drink it. We then visited the gift shop and headed out after almost 3 hours at the factory. We were all hungry so we headed to lunch. After lunch was naptime back at the hostel since we were all tired.

Enough Said

Water: One of Guinness' main ingredients

Tasting Room


We read this book for film class last week!

Me with my beer
(Don't I look so young. Too young to hold a beer)

After naptime, it was time to get ready for the evening/night. Seven of us walked over to Trinity College to see the school and neighborhood. This was also the starting destination of our official Dublin Backpackers Pubcrawl that we had signed up for at the hostel. This was an AWESOME experience. There were about 25 people in the group, so we got to meet all kinds of people. We met other American college kids who were studying in Spain, a couple of Irish guys (one was celebrating his 21st birthday), some JAG’s (army lawyers, one of them was celebrating his 29th birthday), and some Australians. It was a great mixture of people and we really bonded with many others on the crawl. We went to 5 bars and 1 nightclub to end the night. It was really eye opening and I loved meeting new people and talking to them about their life and culture. It’s funny, most people wouldn’t associate pubcrawl with education, but I learned a lot about Australia from our new friend Giselle, about Germany from the American JAG’s stationed there, and about all kinds of places from our fellow hostel/pubcrawl/world traveler friend Adam.

Group shot at Trinty

Me being studious on the steps of a Trinity Building

Pubcrawl!

Giselle and Me

Saturday brought an early morning for some of us. On Saturday we ended up splitting up into 3 groups since we all wanted to do different things. Jamie, Nora, and Christine went on the Cliffs of Moher tour out in the countryside. This tour was too expensive, so Trev, Mike, and I decided to go on the cheaper countryside tour to Glendalough, Wicklow Gap, and Kilkenny. Hannah and Whitney decided to stay in Dublin and explore the city and shop.

Well Trev, Mike, and I departed the hostel at 7:40 am (I know, early for college kids). We were picked up from the Dublin Tourism Centre at 8:20 and we were off. Our bus driver/ tour guide was this amazing Irish man. He’s the one who told the leprechaun story and he sang and told many other stories and facts. He also trashed Italy since Ireland was playing Italy that night in a World Cup qualifier. We went up into the mountains and saw Guinness Lake and sheep. I slept half the way since it was early and the bus swayed you to sleep every time you got on it. We then got to Glendalough. Here we explored an old monastery and walked to the 2 lakes. It was so pretty and the boys were so foolish but tons of fun.

Next we got back on the bus and drove through parts of the country where the movie “P.S. I Love You” was shot. We then ended up at Kilkenny. Here we had 2 hours to explore and have fun. All 3 of us were hungry so we went and ate right away. I then did a bit of shopping, and then we hit up the beautiful Kilkenny Castle. We took a tour of the castle. Soon it was time to get back on the bus and hear more funny stories/trash talk from our guide. Our last stop was at possibly the oldest Portal Tomb (4000 years old). Finally we headed back into Dublin.

In Dublin we met up with everyone and exchanged stories about our days. We then went to a sports bar in order to watch the Ireland vs. Italy soccer game. It was an exciting game, made even more exciting since I was in an Irish bar. I cheered and groaned when Ireland scored or messed up respectively. When Ireland went ahead 2-1 with 2 minutes to go, the bar went crazy. I got drinks spilt on me and hugs and high fives. Unfortunately Italy scored a minute later. But people were happy that it was at least a tie game which meant that Ireland qualified. Afterwards we walked around a bit and then a few of us went home to sleep.

Trevor and I at Guinness Lake

Guinness Lake & I

The boys hiking up some random hill off the path we were supposed to take to get to the Lakes. They were like 5 year olds, but oh so amusing. A lady told me to "be strong" on dealing with them.

We finally made it to the Upper Lake

I'm super strong!!

Holding up the Portal Tomb

Walmart Family Photo

The next morning we ate and had to check out. Our flight wasn’t until the evening so we wondered around Dublin again. We went shopping for a bit to find souvenirs and gifts for family and friends. We then spent an hour in the park chilling and playing (see picture below). Afterwards we walked to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. By then, it was time to prepare for our departure so we headed back to the hostel to pick up our luggage and head to the airport. My suitcase barely passed the standards for hand luggage but by wearing both my sweaters, I was able to make it on the plane with it lol :-)!!! We landed early and made it back to Madison House by 10 pm.

Me in my bed at the Hostel

In the park

Grass Angel

Jamie airplaning Mike!

Me in doorway of St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Overall, it was a great weekend. Who cares about travel stress and tiredness when you’re traveling Europe? My only disappointment with Ireland was that I didn’t see any true gingers. I only saw about a dozen red-heads and half of those were American. No one was nearly as red as my Kenny (who I love lots, Sorry Katie!), so I was sad. GET MORE RED-HEADS, IRELAND!!!!!

Well, it’s time for me to do some more homework. I promise to write soon. I should have more time since I am actually spending this weekend in my current hometown!

Much love,
KP

Crunch Time

Well I have now finished another week of school. It's getting close to midterms, so I have spent the week writing papers and attempting to accomplish all the readings that I have ignored. It hasn't been an easy week. Scotland was fun and tiring, so getting back into the swing of things was hard.

On Monday, my Theatre class took a tour of the London National Theatre. We saw where the props were built, costumes, and all 3 theatres. We then saw the play "The Power of Yes" at the theatre. It's an interesting play about how capitalism failed and the events leading up to September 2008. It was very informative, even though it was a little dry. I am writing a review it for my theatre class.

On Tuesday my film class went to see the newly released movie Dorian Gray. This was a pretty cool movie based on an Oscar Wilde book. I'm really happy our film teacher finally took us to see something that was actually interesting!!

Wednesday brought history class. We studied Nazi Germany and then went and saw the Holocaust exhibit at the Imperial War Museum. I loved the exhibit. It wasn't in your face, yet it evoked so many emotions. Though I've studied the holocaust, I've never truly grasped the horror. This was a sad period for the human race. There were so many quotes throughout the exhibit that just made you think. Some of my favorites were:

"Where books are burned in the end people will burn.” -Heinrich Heine

"For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothing" -Edmund Burke

Today for Culture by Design we went shopping! Can i just say that Professor Pacey seriously is my favorite teacher. He took us to Harrod's to look at the design of the building and how the store is set up. In order to buy anything in this store, I would have to sell my car, and possibly my sister. We then went to Abercrombie and Fitch to observe that store too. It barely looked like a store, it was more of a nice Victorian building. Right as you walk in, you have the option of taking a picture with a shirtless male model... need I say more???? I do have a picture with him, no need to deny it.

Well that's it for my week. I got to go finish packing and preparing for Ireland.

Much love,

Kendra

Scotland!!!!

Well it’s been a week since I’ve written. So I will willingly admit that this is going to be a long post. So if you’re hungry, go make yourself some dinner, bring it to the computer, and settle in for an adventure!

Last week started off as any other. I gave my theatre review with my partner Jamie, and our professor loved it. She said we covered everything and there wasn’t anything for her to do. Tuesday brought all-day class with an interesting movie at the BFI about Hitler (Note: in this case, interesting is a euphemism for really boring. I fell asleep and missed the years between 1933 and 1939). Wednesday meant history class and we also watched a movie about the Spanish war and revolution during the 1940s called Pan’s Labyrinth. For a movie that was in Spanish and had subtitles which I constantly had to read, I actually enjoyed it. It was truly interesting. Thursday was Professor Pacey’s class (Note: His name is in fact not Pacey. He just looks exactly like Pacey Witter from Dawson’s Creek. I do not actually know his real name since I only call him Professor Pacey, just not to his face). He took us to a really cool gallery where we looked at how advertising and labels have changed throughout the 20th century. It was cool to see the different products from the different eras. There was even a whole display of Pepsi cans (cough, mommy, cough).

After class on Thursday, I decided to head out and do some exploration on my own. I wanted to see if I could find the place where my family had stayed at before when we came to London. After a tube ride and a short walk I was able to find the Pax Lodge Girl Scout Centre. I took a tour of the place and saw the floor we stayed on. It was great returning back to the place I had stayed and the place that had launched my career & love of history. That night we went to see a play for theatre class called “War Horse.” This was possibly the BEST play we have seen so far. It was a great tale about a horse during World War One. I laughed, I cried, and I left with a smile on my face. If you get an opportunity to see this play, I HIGHLY recommend it!

Me in front of Pax Lodge

On Friday I had to wake up early and lead the whole group of us to King’s Cross station. There we boarded a train for Scotland. The train ride was 4.5 hours and sitting right behind us was a bachelor party. They started drinking the minute they got on the train and never stopped. If that wasn’t bad enough about 4 stops into the ride another bachelor party got on and sat right in front of us. We were officially on the party car. The bachelors all started talking to us and having singing wars against each bachelor party. After hours of this we finally arrived in Scotland where we proceeded to the hotel, only to find out that 3 of the guys from the first bachelor party were staying at the same hotel! We then went on a bus tour of Edinburgh. It’s a really small city, but very beautiful. Afterwards we were free to do what we wanted so we wandered around High Street and looked around. Some people went on a Ghost Tour, but they sold out of tickets so half of us, me included, did not go. We instead wandered some more and explored the city. We then went and sat at the pub to wait for the rest of them. We met a friendly Irish guy and listened to a live band do covers. The others joined us after their tour and we had a grand old time. It was truly a European pub experience.

Hannah and I on the train to Edinburgh

On Saturday, we woke up early and headed out to Edinburgh Castle. I have decided that I want to move into the Castle because it sits on a high hill and has some of the best views in the world. I then decided that I couldn’t live there because though beautiful, Scotland is cold as a freezer and more windy then Chicago. I’m telling you, in 10 minutes the wind destroyed my beautiful, nicely curled hair. It was crazy windy.

Me in Edinburgh Castle looking out on the city

Jamie, Christine, & I at the Castle

Edinburgh, THE Windy City of the U.K.

Me being slightly inappropriate to the statue of a bagpiper

We then walked the Royal Mile (aka High Street) down to the Scottish Parliament. We then had a tour of Parliament. It’s kind of crazy shaped, but very cool. Afterwards was nap time. We were all kind of dragging since we had been up the night before. After a 2 hour nap, I then hit up the mall right next to our hotel as many others still slept. Once everyone was awake, Jamie, Hannah, Christine, and I decided to do a real European pub crawl (Please note that due to not feeling well, I did NOT drink). We started off on Rose Street where we ran into 2 other girls from our group and the boys. We all joined up and took cabs over to a pub that had real live Scottish music. Here we met a nice Canadian man who told us all about whisky and how to drink it. The girls decided to try real Scottish Whisky, so they could tell fathers, uncles, and guy friends at home how they have now drink real whisky. I observed! We then went looking for another pub on our crawl. We got turned away from 2 places, before we found a club. The club was awesome. They had great music, including some Jackson 5 songs. We danced and had a ball. A couple of us headed home after the club, including me, while the others hit up another club. It was a very fun and successful night, and great to watch the others go crazy on this authentic pub crawl.

Sunday was another free day. I was very thankful that I had abstained from drinking because the 7 of us girls decided to go hiking (I know what you all are thinking… Kendra, hike?? She’s her mother’s daughter. She doesn’t hike, camp, or do any type of wilderness). Well, I did! We decided to hike up Arthur’s Seat, which is a very famous mountain in Edinburgh and has something or another to do with King Arthur. This was a hilly and very long hike. We were basically climbing up rocks. We started off with 7, kept losing people steadily, and by the time we made it to the top we had 4. I somehow refused to quit and made it to the top! It was worth the constant climbing, the being out of breath, and the wind and cold. The view from the top was AWESOME!!! There are no real words to describe it. I tried to take some pictures since they say “A pictures worth a thousand words,” but even the picture couldn’t capture the feeling and sheer joy of the moment. I was amazed by the view. You could see everything. You could see the Edinburgh Castle and for miles. I loved every moment.

Arthur's Seat aka the mountain I hiked up

Whitney, Me, Megan, Christine, Nora, and Hannah

View from midpoint

Taking a rest 3/4 the way up

Top of 2nd highest peak

Sitting on the compass at the top of Arthur's Seat

Group Picture on top of Arthur's Seat

Me, Nora, Jamie, & Christine

Me sitting on Arthur's Seat

After we made our way back down, we had to eat. It was our first priority. We found a nice café and had great food. We then did some shopping on High Street and bought trinkets and such for family and friends. Soon it was time to meet at the hotel and depart for the train station. Once on the train we were all pretty exhausted, so we settled in for a sleepy 4.5 hour train ride. Unfortunately we were all born under unlucky stars. A bachelorette party got on and sat in front of us. They were all very loud and obnoxious and none of us were happy. Luckily they got off after 3 or so stops. We arrived in London around 9:45, I was home by 10:10, in the shower by 10:20, and in bed before midnight.

Well that was my amazing week. It’s hard to believe that this is my life now. I shall write again soon! Look for more hopefully on Thursday!

Much love,
KP