NATA in NOLA

I recently went to new orleans for the National Athletic Trainer's Association's annual conference; for about 5 days, the city of new orleans probably had the highest athletic trainer per square mile it's ever had and was very well equipped with health care providers for all sorts of potential injuries and emergencies.
The conference was great and I met with a bunch of grad schools, and needless to say the dining and nightlife was awesome, but very very pricey. I've never appreciated Athens so much (although not having an open container law bought some brownie points for nola)

Restaurants visited:
-Felix's Restaurant and Oyster Bar
had a soft shell crab po boy. the line was out the door here and the prices were kind of steep but it was soooo worth it. The bar, Jester's was conveniently located right next door and boasted the strongest drinks in the french quarter, so I think those libations made the wait seem faster and more enjoyable
-Cafe du Monde
a new orleans staple!! we passed the original restaurant in the french quarter but actually ate at the "stand" because it was closer to our hotel and the convention center. Allison and I split an order of beignets and washed it down with some chicory cafe au lait
-Cafe Maspero
went here twice thanks to their large portions and reasonable prices. I had a fried oyster po boy one night and jambalaya another. The seafood platter was another popular choice which was HUGE and under 12 dollars. yummmm. also served $1 strawberry daiquiris that my friends seemed to enjoy. I personally thought they tasted like sunscreen..
-Howling Wolf
went here for a quick lunch (was definitely sick of subway; it's a bar with a small menu and I had a cuban sandwich to die for. seriously, amazing
-Serio's Po Boy and Deli
this was in a throwdown with bobby flay for mufalettas and won. since i don't like olives, i passed on the winning dish and went with a specialty po boy and split cheese fries with christina. very tasty and very filling. SUPER friendly staff

annnnd of course we had to visit tropical isle (hellO hang grenades) as well as other classy institutions with clever names such as Bourbon Cowboy

if only hugh had been there...

so today my parents came up to celebrate my early birthday at...drum roll please..the five and ten!!!!

token birthday picture of me and ellen. please note the matching squinty eyes and skinny arm pose..further proof that in 36 years, I will be this precious woman (just kidding, she's not that old!!)

so the five and ten is one of Athens' best restaurant owned by Chef Hugh Acheson aka my favorite unibrowed Top Chef Masters contestant. The website says it best actually...

To Athens he is a guy who owns those restaurants, has one eyebrow, a wife far better looking than he is and two young children who are the apple of his eye.

He also owns the National...and has the best sense of humor EVER. needless to say I prayed the entire car ride there that he would just happen to be chilling at his restaurant today. no dice. Before my parents even had a chance to glance at the menu I made them promise there would be absolutely no singing today. For my 18th birthday at Paula Deen's Lady and Sons, they let it slip it was my birthday and a freaking opera singer crooned to me for about 27 hours. hello embarrassing. Annnnd then the hard decisions began; Dad and I decided on the eggs benedict and Mom got coerced into getting the special omelet of the day-somehow I don't think she was too disappointed

this eggs benedict was served on a delicious potato pancake instead of an english muffin!

the omelet was perfectly seasoned and stuffed with thick braised bacon, cheddar cheese, and spicy kim chi. it also came with a little side salad and this great potato pancake (different from the eggs benedict though)

Our meals were delicious and we wolfed them down in record time. Surprisngly we were satisfied but not stuffed, so our interests turned to the dessert special on the board. We decided that instead of drinks (since I don't turn 21 until a week from tomorrow), we surely could split two desserts). At this point the waitress brought us our check, and we had to inform her that we were not done stuffing out face, dessert menu please!! We decided on the Vanilla Creme Brule and the Special of the day: Peach Cobbler with Whipped Cream and Spiced Plum Sorbet

yes, those are cookies accompanying that delicious jar of vanilla creamy goodness, and yes they were equally delicious. that plate was all but licked clean

also all but licked clean. the spicy sweetness of the sorbet cut right through the sugary sweetness of the peaches. even though by the end of this I was pretty full, I definitely could have eaten another one of these

Overall, this was probably the best brunch I've ever had in Athens. Yeah, we have some good ones (The Grit, Mama's Boy, The Last Resort..), but nothing really beats fine dining. It was pricey, but worth it fo sho. But let it be known, I will keep coming back until i catch a glimpse of my beloved chef unibrow

floating the broad? clearly we paddled...

it's pushing 100 degrees in Athens and the pool just isn't cutting it to beat the heat anymore; when my neighbor Patrick told me that he was getting a bunch of people together to float the Broad, clearly I couldn't say no. Why you ask?

1. sun=hot, river=cold
2. something in athens i've never done before
3. new friends yay!!

so we loaded up the car, met/picked up some omni people, and headed to the Broad River Outpost. When we got there, the parking lot of packed and we were worried that there may not be any kayaks left, but luck was on our side and we got the last six (note to self: next time call ahead). We paid our 20, strapped the coolers onto the 'yaks, and put in the river. Apparently there are two parts of the river you can "float", the upper and the lower. According to the website, the upper portion is about 5 miles of moving water and the lower is 6.5 miles of class II beginner white water containing 7 shoals each with individual ledges and sloughs. I don't really know what this means, but in Gabi language it means lots of opportunities for me to get stuck on rocks, scream really loud, and possibly slip (yes, i definitely fell down and went boom, but it only happened once. win). Aside from getting stuck like 8 billion times, and one flip of the kayak, things were pretty uneventful until the end when we realized that Patrick was nowhere to be found. After 20 minutes of freaking out, we see him paddling towards the pick up point. thank god. apparently he hit "30 rapids, lost the beer and sunglasses,....and his dignity". Could be worse. While waiting, I saw one guy that broke his foot, jumping off a rock. Reason #87 why i don't jump off anything but a diving board.

After a good four hours on the river, we were all starving, which leads me to another first in my life: all you can eat pizza. I pass Stevi B's almost everyday but have never EVER had the desire to go and find it a little bit (ok a lotta bit) ironic that I went with a bunch of trainers from the Omni, but seriously BEST IDEA EVER. I probably ate the equivalent of half a large pizza (and had room for a late night fro yo binge later). My OCD food and exercise tracking told me that I burned about 1300 calories kayaking (not to mention the 600 from fight club), so honestly I didn't even care that I ate more for one meal than I usually do in a day.

Operation try new things so far has been a smashing success-hooray!!

a colorful night..

Friday night I killed two birds with one stone and visited Pints and Paints (http://www.pintsandpaints.com). Catch up with an old friend? check! Commence exploring Athens? check!
On their website, Pints and Paints describes its self as "an art bar where friends, families, teams, groups, and individuals can spend time together, enjoy drinks, and create their own mindless masterpieces.". Painting? Knowing me, I was going to get messy, but in true Gabi form, things got messy a little before schedule. I had a couple hours before it was time to go to Pints and Paints, so I decided it was the perfect time to try out a new soup recipe (my logic: beets were a main ingredient and my hands were going to get stained painting anyhow...) and use my brand new food processor (yes, i'm a kitchen nerd). I went to town prepping my ingredients and loading them into the Cuisinart, i started pulsing them all together, enjoying the fun color everything was turning and then BAM

my kitchen went from spotless to possible murder scene is .2 seconds. and this is just a small amount of the explosion; the carnage spanned from the fridge to the sink and everywhere in between. After getting over the shock and wiping beet mush from my eyes, i salvaged what i could, cleaned the beets off the walls, and finished the recipe. yes, it's delicious.
fast forward to pints and paints. I got there a few minutes before Shira and her boyfriend did so I awkwardly walked around and chose a stool and easel to park myself at for the next 3 hours. In front of me was a canvas with with the georgia theater scene sketched out on it, a few brushes, a plate full of paint, and most importantly, a smock! Shortly after Shira showed up, the painting started, and the artist in charge talked us through mixing our colors, the techniques we should use, and where and what to paint. Honestly, I was really hesitant to do this because of my extreme perfectionism, but pints and paints made it pretty fool proof.

my masterpiece
shira's version of the georgia theater

now this is called pints and paints for a reason. they sell beer, wine, and specialty drinks (Shira and her boyfriend split a blood orange mimosa, I believe?) Since I'm about two weeks from being 21, i didn't drink (why tempt fate?), but it's a fun concept! Overall, I'm hooked. This was a great way to forget the world and just be creative for a while. At $45 for a 3 hours session it was a little pricey (i think 15% of the proceeds went to help rebuild the ga theater though-yay!!), so I don't know how many times I'll be able to come back, but I will definitely go back again. With two other places with similar concepts opening in the Athens area, I predict this will be another trendy hit (much like cupcakes and self serve frozen yogurt), but I don't think I'll consider going anywhere else. I know at least one of the other places is a franchise, and I'd rather support local, independent businesses, plus Pints and Paints have lots of athens specific scenes (the ga theater, weaver d's, the arches, etc..) so not only do you come away with a unique canvas, but one that is unique to the athens area and culture. This was a great first "local experience" stay tuned for an athens bucket list :)

going local

so i think it's safe to say i've explored a lot of the world (yeah, i've only blogged about two countries, so you'll have to trust me on this one), but it dawned on me the other day that I really haven't done much exploring in the state of georgia in general, much less the city (is it considered a city?) of athens.
I'm been to 19 states* in the US (not counting airports and states we've just passed through) and various provinces, states, cities, towns, etc... in 6 or 7 other countries.

all of these experiences in my less than 21 years have been amazing to say the least, but I feel like tourists to Georgia have done more things here than I have.
now that i'm no longer taiwandering, and back from dublin, and can't say i have any more international adventures planned in the near future...it's time to get local and explore what's in my backyard!

**going to make it twenty next month-new orleans here i comeee

"stop shaking the bridge!"

Currently Chandler and I are posted up in the lobby of our hostel trying to stay awake until our 4:30 am airport shuttle comes in hopes of beating jet lag. Yes, it sucks, but at least it gives me a chance to catch up on my blogging!
Today started bright and early when we met Dan's dad's bus at 6:30 to drive out to Northern Ireland. Needless to say, I passed out for the majority of the four hour drive, only waking up when we took bathroom and coffee stops. Northern Ireland is what I think we all think of when we think of Ireland. Very very green, smells like sheep and cows, and lots of ruins and castles and such. Our first stop was Dunluce Castle which was absolutely gorgeous. It was about this time that I realized that my memory card was in my laptop and not my camera so I had to rely on other people to take pictures (thanks chandler and erica, you da bestest!!). We explored the castle for a little while, actually a very long while because there were tons of great picture opportunities and lots of cameras to capture them.



At the end of our castle explorations, all of the girls decided they wanted to be princesses, we got on the bus, and headed off to the Giant's Causeway. Giant's Causeway is a magnificent rock formation right on the coast or northern ireland with lots of fun folklore surrounding it. Unfortunately, I was too focused on not slipping and plummeting to my death (or at least further injury) to pay too much attention.

All of that hiking had made us hungry, so we grabbed lunch at a little pub by the causeway called the nook. I did NOT have fish and chips this time (surprised?) I had irish stew, which was delicious and was hot, which was what I needed after been wind whipped around down by the coast.
Back on the bus, we had a short ride to Carrick a Rede, which according to wikipedia is in North Antrim. This fun little attraction is a rope suspension bridge that attatches a small island (Carrick) to the mainland.

It was a nice little walk out to the bridge, where we then all walked across, took pictures on the island, and then walked back. nobody died, but Dr. Ferrara did have a little too much fun shaking the bridge and freaking us out.

It was too late to do the Black Taxi Tour of Belfast, but we drove in anyhow and watched the Ireland vs England Rugby match in a pub called Robinson's. Ireland won! It was a crazy atmosphere, let me tell you. After that we were all tired, grabbed dinner at subway, and headed back to homebase in Dublin. This is where we probably should have just finished packing and went to bed, but when in Ireland.....go out! So yes. After coming back to the hostel at like 2:15,changing, and throwing the rest of our packing together, here I am sitting with Chan in the lobby of the hostel watched the drunken parade, blogging, and trying to not pass out. Back in the states around 1 tomorrow-I think I need a break from spring break before I can go back to school....

what are you having for dinner? fish and chips...again..

today we were super touristy. We woke up, had breakfast, and caught a bus to Kilmainham Gaol which is a very old church that was very important in terms of prison reform and in Dublin's history. It's one of Linda's favorite places in Ireland so she did a great job supplementing our tour guide and pointing out fun facts about the Gaol-she kept referencing the Michael Collins DVD that Ferarra gave us to watch before Ireland in our "free time". uhhhh what free time are you talking about?

From the jail, we started walking to Christ Church, but before we got there stopped into a really beautiful catholic church. Not exactly sure what the significance was, but it sure was pretty. We got to Christ church, walked around, took pictures, blah blah blah we're tourists and then realized how hungry we were and went out in search of lunch. Linda suggested Queen of Tarts where Erica and I split a butternut squash, feta, and spinach tart and fatty over here (that's me) had a DELICIOUS chocolate pear tart. Probably like 8 million calories, but seriously worth it.

Went back to the hostel to grab our stuff and caught a bus to Howth (pronounced hoe-th) where i promptly passed out for about 45 minutes. I woke up when I dreamed I heard someone say "someone wake up Gabi" SURPRISE i wasn't dreaming. Actually asleep. go figure. Once off the bus, we were greeted with the most gorgeous views of green grass and misty coastline. We took a short walk to the top of the mountain? (hill? Cliff? I’m not really sure) and started our cliff walk down. I personally thought the trail we were on was pretty steep, although Dr. Ferrara told me otherwise. Sorry Ferarra, not everyone hiked on everest-it’s a perspective thing. After slipping and sliding down the trail I changed out of my Uggs and into my Nikes and had a slightly better time keeping my footing, although Dan had to hold on to me a little bit when we went down hills. I blame my lack of balance to my bum leg.

After we got to the bottom, we took a short (ish) stroll to the city of Howth where we watched the seals for a while, took about six hundred more pictures, I lost the game (for the first time in 3 days), took more pictures, and then went to the Bloody Stream for dinner. Sounds unappetizing, but I finally had fish and chips that rivaled the Salmon Bake in Alaska annnnd it was wrapped in newspaper. Hooray! We took the bus back and ended up being super cool and playing spoons then calling it a night since the bus was coming at 6:15 to begin our trek to north Ireland!

when in Irish...

Today was the day that we were all looking forward to-Saint Patrick's Day!!! We were able to sleep in a little bit, thank god-we were all feeling pretty rough from last night, and when we finally got up, we got all our green gear on and headed out for the day!

The streets were packed with green and beer. I've never seen anything else like it in the world, it was like a the biggest festival i've ever been to, times one million.
After 6 million photo ops, we found somewhere where we could kind of watch the parade and settled in. The parade was really cool with lots of live music and performers, but people watching was the real show.

jerm getting a better view of the parade on alex's shoulders

all of us in city center

erica and I pre-parade. sunglasses=clutch

We watched about an hour of the parade we walked over to Croke park, and by walked i mean the group walked, I hobbled (see below)to watch the Gaelic Games.

my battle wound

It was the all club championship, so the best of the best Hurling and Gaelic football club teams competed for the national championship. This has further emphasized in my mind that Irish sports are far superior to ours. It was a lot of fun, but really cold and we were all tired and hungry, so we left before the Gaelic Football match was over.
gaelic football teams entering the field

chandler & I at the match

Linda (Dr. Ferarra's wife) had a great idea to cook dinner at the hostel, so Chandler and I picked up salad stuff and bread and Linda made a fabulous dinner of spaghetti and tomato sauce.

hey dr. cooper, spaghetti!

the cute couple cooking together

I think we're going to have to have an early-ish night tonight since we had a crazy night last night and have a lot of touring to do tomorrow. Let's see if that really happens though..

ok so we didn't stay in, we went to an out of the way pub called doyle's where we just hung out for a little while. pretty uneventful minus the possible tranny that hit on Erica. HILARIOUS. she's probably scarred for life though, not going to lie.

"irish girls don't grind"

So the past two days have been one big green blur. Yesterday was our last day of class and since we had clinic duty we got up REALLY early, caught the bus, and headed to DCU. They have a student run clinic where anyone, not just athletes can go and get checked out. I really enjoyed practicing my assessment skills and was happy I could teach some of the DCU students some new manual muscle test techniques and rehab exercises. We ended with classes and then headed back towards town to do some exploring and shopping. IT WAS SO CROWDED…AND GREEN

After we were shopped out, we went back to the hostel and got ready for our St. Patrick’s Day eve extravaganza. It’s obvious that I’m am blogging a day late (sorry I’m not sorry) and I feel the need to share what I wrote down when I woke up this morning to jog my memory for later blogging:

class-shopping-walked around forever for dinner-best fish and chips-walked around forever to find off license-Susan's-night club-insanity-a petit drunk

And now for the more in depth version: After a brief photo shoot in the bottom of our hostel that was not so different than freshman year in the lobby of the dorms, we headed into Temple Bar to find somewhere for all of us to eat. I guess we forgot that like eight million people caravan to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day because it was super crowded and we probably walked around for at least an hour until we found somewhere that would seat us. Go figure. Erica and I split probably the best fish and chips (and mushy peas!) that I’ve ever had-Take that Leo Burdoch’s!!

jerm & alex

before our night out

chandler and I, so color coordinated

So after we were properly fed we all headed towards Susan’s place for a wee gathering before we headed out to the clubs. On the way, we had our first off license experience. Off license, for those who don’t know, is the fun little Irish word for creepy liquor store. This “store” was probably the same size as my walk in closet, with a little place for everyone to queue up and the rest was a glassed in area for the cashier to sit in, surrounded with alcohol. We put money in a little box, and he slid the alcohol out through another box. Very weird, very sketchy, moral of the story, American liquor stores are better (not that I’ve ever been in one….) Once armed with our hydration tools of choice, we walked across the street to Susan’s where we hung out and enjoyed ourselves until we decided it was time to walk to the clubs. This time we went to the Palace, which was right next to Copper Face Jack’s (the club we went to the first night). I guess that it was a typical club, since I don’t really have a vast knowledge of clubs, I don’t know what to compare it to, but it was loud, packed, expensive, and had lots of flashing lights which is how I picture the majority of European clubs. We were definitely in rare form dancing alllll over the place. Around four o’clock we made our way out of the club and were introduced to the best food EVER-Garlic fries. All they were fries with a garlicky mayo on top, but no lie, one of the better things I’ve eaten in my lifetime. After our hilarious seven hundred mile hike home we continued the hilarity a little while longer and then passed out excited for the St. Patrick’s Day festivities that were awaiting us

ohhhh erica

Injured Reserve

Sooo it's safe to say we're dropping like flys. The injured list is as follows:

Ferrara-Flu

Alex-inversion ankle sprain
Jerm-"groin" injury
Gabi-subperiosteal hematoma
more on this later

So yes, started as another ordinary day in Dublin. Woke up, got breakfast, stopped by the corner store and got coffee (such a local!), and got the bus to campus. They have two programs called heart smart and breathe smart which are exercise programs for those with cardiac problems and pulmonary problems respectively. It was AWESOME. Being around the older Irish people was a hoot! After that we watched some testing, grabbed lunch, attended another lecture, and pretended to be the good students that everyone thinks we are. After that we had some friendly competition with the Irish students and played basketball and soccer. Everyone got really into it; I channeled my inner Andy Landers and coached our basketball team (go amurrica)

taking my reffing responsiblity very seriously

annnnd I actually played soccer, albeit not well, but at least I tried right? which now brings me to the injured reserve. Alex managed to sprain his ankle while dunking on fools playing basketball. I had the great privledge of taping his ankle up while every DCU student watched me in awe, AND Dr. Ferrara took pictures. No pressure right? So then the soccer games began which was fun for a while, until Crystal and I both ran for the ball, swung to kick it, missed, and whacked each other in the shins. Crystal got a small bruise, I got a massive contusion that looks like I'm hiding a golf ball in my shin (don't worry, once the bruise shows its' full colors I'm posting a picture). As I limped my way off the field (don't worry Mom, I'm better now and don't worry, I'm surrounded by like eighty athletic trainers)I noticed somebody writhing on the ground in pain which turned out to be Jerm upon further inspection. I could explain to you his injury, but I think it's best described by the following conversation with Dr. Ferarra:

Ferarra: Are you alright?
Jerm: Man to man, it was a tip shot
ouch

So needless to say, we are taking it easy tonight to heal up for SAINT PATRICK'S DAYYYYYY. Plus, early day tomorrow-have to go work in the clinic in the morning!

Bobby Flay Says Yes, Gabi Says No

Needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do. Soooo here it goes. Monday was our first day of class (yay school on spring break) but despite the fact that we had to learn (learning? study abroad? what?) it was another great day. So we woke up, ate breakfast, and hopped a bus to DCU. Using my fabulous i-can-sleep-anywhere skills picked up in Taiwan, I promptly passed out until we got there. Still groggy, we stumbled into class which just so happened to be MASSAGE-clutch. Since nobody had told us what we would be doing, naturally i was wearing about 5 layers which needed to be removed which is how Chandler, Erica, and I found ourselves lying awkwardly under towels as DCU students learned how to target our subscap. Too bad Bud Cooper wasn't there to tell us to bring out play clothes. After Massage we took a five minute break which we turned into about 15 mintues..whoops and then we learned about and practiced joint mobilizations with the other students who apologized for being too big for me. Clearly they don't realize that the boys i work with are all over 6 feet and well over 200 pounds. I informed them of this and I really don't think they believed me. We had lunch at the university, discussed some journals, and were done for the day. We had dinner at Leo Burdocks which was just featured on Bobby Flay's Dublin special for having the best fish and chips ever--I personally wasn't impressed. Maybe the fish and chips i've had in Alaska spoiled me? I don't know. Either way Mr. Flay, you need to refine your palate; Leo Burdocks may be the oldest chipper in Dublin, but it's not the best.


After dinner, we wandered around Temple Bar a little bit and I found an Ireland Rugby jersey to wear on St. Patrick's day--hooray!

under the ha'penny bridge

the river liffey in Dublin

We came back and changed, and went out to the pubs wear hilarity ensued yet again. At one of the pubs there was a beer called "Galway Hooker", i absolutely had to order it because of the name, and turns out it was fabulous. It kind of tasted like sweetwater pale ale. love ittttt

calling the dan

Today was most excellent. We woke up (and didn’t shower since our hostel is lacking hot water for the time being—GROSS), ate a quick breakfast downstairs, and met Dan’s dad. He owns a bus company and has graciously offered us his services for our stay in Ireland. Knowing that we are from the south and can’t handle the cold, he had a whole collection of winter jackets for us to wear while we stood outside and watched Dan’s Gaelic football match. Gaelic football is my new favorite sport and I’m determined to learn it and bring it back to the US and completely dominate the world. It’s pretty much a combination of rugby, soccer, and US football and while it is officially non contact, there are body checks a plenty. After we remembered that we as Americans have a reputation for being loud and obnoxious AND that nobody knows us, we decided to live up to that expectation fully and “call the Dan” (yes that was my idea, and yes I am a genius). For those who are not in the know, calling the Dan consists of yelling “goooooo Dan sic ‘em woof woof woof” Obviously once a bulldog, always a bulldog. Hooray.

Dan (#10) dominating his football match

After Dan’s match we went to tea (another reason why I love this country) where we warmed up with tea (obviously), fruit, bread, cookies, etc…deelish. Even though we just watched a Gaelic football match, we still needed more sports (we put the athletic in athletic training-duh) we hopped in the bus and headed to the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) museum to get our learn on. En route to the GAA museum, we had our own version of Saturday night live-Sunday afternoon live anyone?? Complete with renditions of forrest gump and celebrity jeopardy. Good thing we all peed before we left because I definitely would have wet myself. I would say that I’ve never laughed so hard in my life, but I kind of do that on a daily basis thanks to my athletic training peeps.
So yes, we got to the GAA museum where we got a tour of the facility including the locker rooms, player’s lounge, the actual field, and the box seats. What’s really cool about the Gaelic sports is that it’s all amateur. NOBODY gets paid; they just bust their asses for the love of the game. Gives you a lot to think about especially with the NFL lockout. Going to the GAA museum has really gotten me excited for the Gaelic Games on St. Patrick’s Day though, the energy is going to be out of control! After our tour, we went upstairs and tried our hands at playing Gaelic Football and Hurling-Needless to say I was a complete fail and made a mockery of Ireland’s national sport (sound familiar? Flashback to tai chi in Taiwan)

the entry onto the field of Croke Park

all of us in the locker room with jerseys

chillin' with a giant hurling stick

We finally pulled ourselves away from playing our Gaelic games, but really a busload of elementary schoolers came in and we felt bad for hogging all the fun, and hopped a bus to take us to the Guinness Storehouse.
The storehouse is basically a museum walking us through how Guinness is made, the history of it, fun advertising campaigns, etc… It was really interesting actually, but something else that was pretty cool is that the museum is shaped like a giant pint glass and is 7 stories and the 8th story is a bar that gives you a 360 degree view of Ireland. We got really lucky today and there were no clouds, so we saw EVERYTHING. We made it through the museum, enlightened to the world of Guinness, and had our free pint overlooking Ireland. I could get used to this!!

at the gravity bar in the guinness factory

putting milk mustaches to shame

cheers!

aileen and I with our "tasting" glasses

at the entry of the museum

For dinner, we experienced more of Ireland’s hospitality-we went to dinner at one of the DCU’s professor’s house where she made us a lovely dinner and dessert. The DCU students that were over at UGA came too and we had a great time sitting around, eating, and cutting up.
We caught a bus back to Temple Bar (the area that we are staying—I’ll post on that later), dropped some stuff out, and met up with Dan and Susan at a local pub. This was much more fun than the clubs-we just grabbed a pint and rocked out to (American) music. I may or may not have had to do ten pushups on the NASTY PUB FLOOR because i lost "the game". sadly it was not documented on film, but i have plenty pictures of Erica doing them. gotchaaaaa. Came back pretty early because A) it’s Sunday night and pubs close early and B) we have to be at school tomorrow. I had great hopes of updating the first post and adding more details/pictures, but I should probably attempt to sleep.

the day that lasted about 36 hours...

So today lasted about eight million hours, and now, lo and behold I’m wide awake. After our 8am class, Chandler and I high tailed it to Atlanta where we took MARTA (chandler’s first time!!) to the airport where we started our trek to the emerald isle. Nothing really eventful happened on the flight, I actually managed to sleep which was a godsend after my Taiwan trip (see are you there ambien, it’s me gabi), we got off, went through immigration, and was greeted by Dan who took us to Susan’s since we couldn;’t get into our hostel until like 2. Once we got to Susan’s, we promptly passed out for a couple hours (maybe?) until it was time to lug all of our stuff to our hostel and get ready for the day..

documenting Chandler's first MARTA experience

First stop for us was Trinity College where we got a tour around campus (it started raining, awesome) and saw the book of Kells. The long room of the library was awesome-so many books arranged by size (um efficient), but sadly we were not allowed to take pictures, so you have to take my word for it. After our trinity college excursion we grabbed lunch in a super cute café in the bottom of an even cuter store, and then went to Dublin Castle for a tour. Our tour was supposed to be at like 330, but they decided to move it to 4:45 so we went to a nearby chapel, took like 8 billion pictures, and picked up a snack at this little bakery shop called the queen of tarts. SO GOOD. So then we FINALLY got a tour of Dublin castle, which was pretty interesting, but at that point in time I hit a major wall and literally almost fell asleep standing up.

outside dublin castle

the group at the gate of dublin castle

book of Kells at Trinity College

the girls at trinity college

After the tour though, I perked up when I had my first pint of Irish Guinness while watching the second half of the Ireland/Wales rugby match (The Irish were not victorious, sadly). Once the game ended, we hopped a bus to Aileen’s house because her mother was cooking us dinner, which was AMAZING. Plus she made welcome cakes AND cupcakes. So so sweet of her! A lot of Aileen’s friends from school came-We ate, we drank, we were merry, and then we all caravanned via taxi to a club. Clubs are not, and will never be my scene, but this was fun enough I suppose. We were all together and dancing and having a good time, which is all that matters. Despite the fact that it was cold and nasty outside, the inside was nice and toasty and being the resourceful and inventive athletic training student that I am, I traded my sweater for a top I fashioned out of my scarf. CLUTCH. Anyhow, super tired. I’ll add pictures and more info later

erin go blog?

I'm baaack. I knew this blog wouldn't be a one time thing. Yep, I'm at it again, ANOTHER study abroad in another country..and I couldn't be more excited! In less than a week, I will be in Ireland!!! A handful of athletic training students, including myself, are going over there, attending some classes at Dublin City University, visiting the students that were over here last semester, celebrating St. Patrick's day (!!), touring around, and just soaking up as much of Ireland as we can in a week. If it was up to me, I'd be leaving today, but unfortunately I have a bunch of stuff i have to do before friday.


so instead of studying, I'm compiling a list of why Ireland will be greater than Taiwan
1)no squatties. real toilets>glorified holes in the ground
2)we share a common language. sure there's the whole irish accent and stuff, but I sure won't have to do the whole potty dance everytime I have to pee
3) the food fish and chips or stinky tofu....hmmmm
4) americans are not uncommon entities no creepy pointing and NOT sneaky picture taking
5) no peace signs in EVERY picture there are only so many times i can do the "token asian" pose
6) rugby>tai chi i don't think i'll be able to make a mockery out of rugby...wait, yes i can
8) Castles. I am not leaving Dublin until I find myself a husband and a wedding site
7) um SAINT PATRICK'S DAY national holiday, nuff said

I am however sad that I can't yell at people to "read my brog" anymore...oh well, trade offs.