Faith

I read a really good blog on faith the other day, which got me thinking a lot about it and what it means to trust God with tangible things. I've come to the conclusion that faith is a lot like sitting in an invisible chair. I've been told that this chair is big, sturdy enough to take all of my weight and more, and part of me believes it. But the other part of me thinks that the moment I sit on this chair it will collapse, if it's even there at all. So at first I was perched on it, sitting in faith but ready at any moment to jump up and support myself. When I saw that it didn't collapse, I relaxed a little bit more. And when God came through for me this morning in an ordinary but visible way, I felt like I was reclining in the chair, comfortable enough to lean back and trust him with all my weight. But I know that next time something comes up I will have to start again, and try to remember that the chair is sturdy enough to hold me. Hopefully next time though, I won't have to start from scratch.

Laugh

I love things that make me laugh. Like watching a delightfully cheesy movie multiple times (Twilght anyone?) or weird Irish phrases ("this cake is yum!"). The other day I had the perfect opportunity to practice laughing at myself. I unknowingly went to my history class an hour early, certain that I was on time. The lectures here are all really big, so I am used to not seeing anyone I recognize in the class. Just as I was settling into my seat, a (cute) Irish guy sits down next to me and starts to chat. Perfect, right? So I was understandably distracted and didn't notice that I was in the wrong class until the professor put up a chemistry slide. Um..not quite my history class. Unfortunately, the seats in the class are set up so that I would have to get the entire row (including my new friend) to stand up before I could get out. So instead of embarrassing myself in front of the class and my new found Gerard Butler, I decided to sit through an entire hour of Organic Chemistry. To top it off, I took notes so that no one would get suspicious of the lone History major in the crowd. The entire time I was trying hard not to start laughing, I felt like such a fraud! And, too top it off, I will never see my cute Irish chemist again. So sad!

Life Savers

Right along the road to school runs the fastest river in Europe. Where it runs alongside our apartment it looks relatively slow, but by the time it reaches town it looks pretty terrifying. Apparently, I have cause to be afraid because every twenty yards or so (I really have no idea) there is a bright yellow stand with an orange life saver attached. Colleen kindly informed me as we were passing one of these that if I fell in she would throw one out to me. My reaction was along the lines of "that's all?!" Because, let's be honest, if I fell in I would want her to do a lot more than throw me the life saver and hope I grabbed on.
I'm finding out that looking for a church is a lot like trying to get out of a very fast, cold river. A life saver is great, but what I really need is for someone to jump in the water. I've visited two churches here, and while both have been really nice and welcoming, very few people are actually willing to go out on a limb and really try to make me part of the group. This is hard, because as much as I want to be part of them, I can't invite myself in. Thankfully, last night I went to the Christian Union (which is like their version of Campus Crusade) which had a lot of visiting students as well. Because we are all in the same boat, we were all reaching out to each other. So I'm not writing this so that you all feel bad for me, because really there's nothing to feel bad about. Instead, to all my Grace church and Campus Crusade friends: really reach out to people, even if it means you are giving up sitting with your friends and it makes you uncomfortable. This has really reminded me what it means to be new, and that Christians aren't always the most welcoming bunch. But we should be! So my advice: Stop throwing life savers, and get in the water.

Connemarra

This weekend some friends and I decided to go to Connemarra for the day. It was gorgeous! We stayed in a little town called Clifden, which is near the Connemarra National Park. Clifden was adorable, and I am now convinced that if I ever moved here permanently I would move there. After a warm lunch in a cozy little pub we rented bikes to go explore. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, it was just what you imagine Ireland to be. About half way through our ride we saw a castle off the road, which left us little choice but to go and explore. So we walked our bikes down the rambling dirt road, managed to avoid the freaky looking cows, and discovered a long lost castle (well, that's what it felt like at least). It was the perfect Irish adventure! I will try to post pictures again, but it hasn't been working well lately.

Gifts

My day has been far from perfect. I woke up early to register for a class, got in a line, and waited outside in the cold for three hours. I then shivered my way over to my class, ate my peanut butter sandwhich, and sat in class for an hour listening to a professor who I can barely understand. As I walked back to my apartment I felt that, at best, the day had been merely average, and probably a little less than that. But then something came to mind that I read on another woman's blog this summer. She was talking about the importance of counting our blessings, and despite how cliche it sounds, I completely agree with her. Because once I did I realized that today was a great day, not a sub-average one. To start with, I am in Ireland. Yes, I sat in line for three hours, but I was sitting in a beautiful courtyard surrounded by a 19th c. building covered in green and red ivy. Out of the 100 people waiting, I was one of 8 who lucked out and got a seat on one of the benches. I got the class I wanted, while the majority of those in line probably had to resort to their third or fourth choices, and yes, I was cold, but I got to warm up with a delicious hot chocolate and peanut butter sandwich. To top it all off, on my way back to the apartment the sun came out (something I am learning not to take for granted) and the view of the river was gorgeous. I was reminded in a great way that God is working in both big and little ways, we just need to pay closer attention to see it.

Therapy

A few days ago my advisor told our group about a favorite spot of him and his friends. Right by the water in Galway there is a long walk called the Promenade, and at the very end of it is what he has nicknamed "therapy hill." So a friend and I decided to walk all the way out there the other day and see if it was really as good as he made it out to be. It was. Once we got to the top of the hill we could see all of Galway Bay and across to county Kerry on the other side. It was gorgeous. It got me thinking, what is my therapy? Here's what I came up with.
Escaping into the comfortable world of a favorite book for the hundreth time.
Having (another) girls night.
Getting lost in the car with your best friends, and having way more fun being lost with them than being at the destination.
Singing the same worship songs whether you are in SLO, Oakdale, Glasgow, or Galway.
Watching Bridget Jones' Diary and eating Ben and Jerry's with a new friend even though you miss your old ones.
Driving at night with the windows down and the radio blasting.
Some of these are from home, and some are from here, but these have got to be some of the best forms of therapy, right?

Castles, Kisses, and Cupcakes

Yesterday Colleen and I went to Blarney, which was so much fun. We took the bus to Cork (4 hours!!) and then a smaller one to Blarney, which is a little town just outside the city. First we walked around the castle grounds, which were gorgeous. I kind of felt like I was walking through the set of Fern Gully (anyone remember it?). We then went up to the castle in search of the stone, which we were determined to kiss in spite of the millions of germs infecting it. The castle was cool, but pretty run down, and as we climbed up the slippery, narrow, winding staircase I was sure I was going to slip and die. I'm going to try to post a picture so that you appreciate what I went through to get to this stone. Anyway, we finally got to the top and made our way over to the stone, which is not easy to kiss. You have to lay down on your back, grip two poles, and lower yourself down about a foot or so to kiss the stone on the wall behind you. The man holding on to me did not seem adequately concerned, and I considered faking it and just kissing the wall behind me so that I wouldn't have to slide down so far, but I decided to actually go through with it. And I'm so glad I did! Yes, kissing the blarney stone is listed as one of the top ten tourist traps in Ireland, and yes, I will probably contract some horrible disease from all the germs on the stone. But still, it was pretty cool. Afterward, since we had a ton of time to kill before our bus came, Colleen and I went to a tea/cupcake shop. It was adorable, the cupcakes were delicious, and the chatty owner had a fantastic accent. All in all, it was a great day!
ps. Pictures are soon to come. It doesn't always let me upload them, but I will keep trying.

Worship

I love worship. Most Sundays, it is my favorite part of the service. But because I am so used to worship at church, I often forget that that is not the only time that we can worship God. Tonight I went with my group to a traditional Irish dance and music performance called Trad on the Prom. My favorite musician was this man who played some sort of Irish pipe (kind of like a bag pipe, but you don't blow into it). As he started to play his first song, I was reminded that music doesn't have to have Christian lyrics or be played in a church to be called worship. It can be whatever leads us to worship God, whether it is a man playing the pipes in a crowded hotel ballroom or a beautiful cathedral. It was great that, in the midst of a crazy day full of "craic," or fun, God reminded me of himself when I least expected it.

Scones

So tonight (as you can probably guess from the title) I made scones. In Ireland. It was perfect...until it wasn't. It turns out that our oven is a little over eager, resulting in slightly burned scones. Thankfully, nothing can ruin a scone for me, and with a little jam it was still delicious. It was made even more fun because Colleen and I had them with out tea. Needless to say, I am adapting to the food here very well.
Even before the scones, my day was really good. It was the first day of classes, so I went to a lot to just figure out what classes I wanted. I went to Central European History, Medieval Ireland, The Irish Emigrant Experience, and Stories of Medieval Wales. Most of the classes were pretty good, which means I can't decide which ones to take and which to drop. So many choices! I still have two more to check out, so I think it might be a few days before I actually know my schedule.

Pictures (cont'd)

The internet is being a little weird here, so I couldn't comment and post pictures in the same post.  The pictures are of:  The Corrib River, which is the fastest in Europe, my roommate Colleen and I drinking our favorite (cider, since I am the only person in this country who doesn't like beer), NUI Galway, and Shop Street, which is like Galway's downtown.  Enjoy!

Pictures!

Day 5

This is only my fifth full day in Galway, but I feel like I have been here for so much longer. Summer feels like a distant memory, especially the heat. Although I haven't been here long, there are some definite things I am starting to pick up about Ireland.
1. It rains a lot. I knew this before I came, but it is different to here about it than it is to live in it. It's more a question of when it will rain and how hard than if it will rain.
2. The Irish don't say their th's. So three becomes tree, ect. Unlike the rain, I really like this.
3. Biscuits are amazing. Digestives (my new favorite brand) are going to be my downfall.
4. People walk here. I honestly don't think I have ever walked so much in my life, and that is saying a lot when I look back at my first few weeks at Cal Poly.
5. The people who created Skype were amazing. It is so nice to be able to both hear and see the person you are talking too (especially when it's your twin!).
6. The stereotypes about Ireland are not just stereotypes. People really are incredibly friendly (especially the taxi drivers) and they drink just as much as we think they do.
7. The Irish are really laid back about some things. My favorite illustration of this is the story of the main building on campus. When it was being built they switched the plans with a college up North. Consequently, they built the wrong buildings in the wrong places; the one that was supposed to be built in Galway was built in Belfast and the one that was planned for Belfast ended up in Galway. How does that happen??
8. Although Ireland is cold and rainy and contains some pretty impossible accents, it's also beautiful and friendly, and I'm pretty excited to be living here for a semester!

Day 2

My first full day in Ireland has gone much better than the first. I started the day by searching all over town for a charger for my laptop (I found it!!) and moving into my apartment. The apartment is about the same quality as the dorm I stayed in freshman year, but with the addition of a living room and bathroom that we share with six people. I also met my roommate today, Colleen. She is really nice and down to earth, which is such an answer to prayer. This means that I am no longer incredibly lonely and am feeling much better tonight than I did last night! I will try to add pictures later, the internet is very cooperative.