my european cracklin oat bran

I live off of these. I'm not kidding. 3 boxes a week. they're only 1 pound each and high in fiber.

how much learning do i have to do before i learn to do things right?

let's start with a brief prayer of thanks that traveling and planes and friends and ireland exist. now.

oooooooooh my heavens. what a weekend. I had mostly the greatest time ever mixed with a little chocolate delirium and a rather bitter assortment of inconveniences. I think I have never cussed as much I did this weekend (without a hint of remorse). And then on the other side of this paradoxical spectrum (well..i guess all spectrums are paradoxical..or maybe just opposite...p.s. is plural of spectrum a word? maybe it's spectri), I had so much fun laughing, giggling, crying, crying while laughing, dancing, gasping for breath, and freezing. I'll start with a random encounter I had recently in Swansea the other day. I was standing in the grocery store yawning because I hadn't slept much. I was waiting for a friend to pay. A man, probably 70, and probably the old man from the movie "Up" (but with a welsh accent), walked by, NOT MAKING EYE CONTACT, and mutters "ya tired?" Well, yawn interrupted, i answer "yes", but dont really know who it is I'm answering. Then he says, halfway out the door at this point and still not having made any eye contact, "well go to bed." the end.
Now, let me also preface this ridiculous story i'm about to tell you with: sleeping in through my alarm and pushing snooze has never proven profitable. every night when I go to bed, my mind forgets this logic. hence friday morning when I woke up at 1 pm. I had planned on waking up at 10, running, showering, going to the university to pick up my parent's package, going to class at 1, and then heading to the train station after my class ended at 1:45. false. wake UP at 1, hurriedly shower, check facebook to see if any of my travel buddies have said anything important, and--wait. Someone did send me something important. A message from Lindsey. Saying she missed her stop on the train, thereby missing her flight from Bristol to Belfast, Ireland and it would be about 100 pounds to change the flight. So she stayed in Swansea. No way. My heart sank. I got ready for the day, moving a bit more slowly in my dejected state, and then headed to the university. As I was on the bus I realized that it was now 2 pm, and my train was scheduled to leave at 2:28. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the rail station on a bus from the university, because the buses make so many stops. I wait for the bus for about 5 minutes and realize maybe that's not the best idea. Ok, new plan. I jump in a cab and tell the driver to drive like he had a pregnant wife in the passenger's seat. Not really. I just asked him to haul his caboose. When we're near the train station, it is about 2:22, and I still have to print out my tickets inside. So I asked him to stop and I sprinted across the street inside and stood in line behind two people. They took their precious time, and as I got up to the machine, it crashed. "nooooooo", i woefully moaned, and a train station man told me not to fret but to get on the train and tell the ticket-taker my situation. Ok, good. With 1 minute to spare, I leapt onto the train just as the man was closing the doors. The train started to move before I'd even gotten my seat. It was very romantic.
I found Melanie, whose face flooded with relief upon seeing me. "I just knew you weren't going to come!!" she said. I sat down, shaking, and told her about my morning. or afternoon. Then we mourned the absence of Lindsey and talked about how funny it was that things had been going so smoothly so far, aside from nearly missing the train and Lindsey not being with us. I talked about how I felt like I had a plan so laid out for the next year or so, including my travels for this semester, and everything was falling into place nicely. Then I said, "but you know. I feel like it's not going to be that pleasant and happy. I feel like God has more of a sense of humor than to let everything happen with no bumps in the road." Really, if there were no bumps in the road, there would be less to laugh about. Also, there would be way fewer lessons learned and stored in my life's book of acquired wisdom. I know some people say they aren't kinesthetic learners, but i don't believe them. Maybe academically they are auditory or visual, but I still think most people learn how life works by doing it. After that depthful (someone special made up that word, and i think it's a necessary one to use) conversation, we arrived in bristol, met up with my dear friend Hope, and took the bus to the airport. Upon arriving, famished, we agreed to get Subway after we had checked in. During check in, Hope pulled out a copy of her passport. The lady told her she needed the real thing. Hope's school had told her that if she brought her passport with her, she might lose it, so she should just carry a copy of it with her everywhere. Apparently not. Hope wasn't allowed to get on the plane, sorry, no can do, next time. I cried. Hope told me not to because she was trying not to. Melanie sat with us sympathetically. The stupidest thing is that Belfast really had been her idea and it was something she had been looking forward to for weeks. So Hope went back to Worcester, and Melanie and I went through security to go to the boarding gate. Not without hastle there. Apparently, my liquids weren't stored right or in small enough containers, so into the rubbish bin went my Dove hair-tamer. It was only $4 and 1/2 empty, but after that long day, I felt tears well up in my eyes. Melanie had to throw away her $16 hair gel. Then we managed to get to the gate and decided to get food. We bought food and hot chocolate and waited until our flight was ready to board. Upon showing our boarding passes, the attendant informed us that the passes hadn't been stamped, and we needed to go back to the front of the airport and have this done or we couldn't board the plane. "WHAT? the lady at the front told us we didn't NEED a stamp and just signed her name," I quickly interjected. The woman shrugged and told us that if we hurried we might still make the plane. We literally sprint back through security to the front of the airport, got one simple stamp from these random people and sprinted back to the gate. Just in time. We got on the plane and the flight was uneventful. So we get to Belfast and take a cab to Melanie's friend, Ashley's dorm room (Ashley is from UT) at Queen's University. Queen's is really strict and visitors must be checked in before 7 pm, and if they aren't checked in, they can only stay until 11 pm. Also only one visitor is allowed per room, and only 3 visitors are allowed per semester. Genius idea, really it is. Did I mention there are walls around the dorm campus with barbed wire on top? Prison or College? The jury is still waaay out on that.

It was only 9 pm, so we went to Ashley's room. Ashley said I could sleep in the twin bed with Melanie, and Ashley would sleep on the floor. Did I also mention how amazing Ashley is? That word doesn't actually measure up to how great she is. Most giving, gracious girl ever. I was supposed to be staying in a hostel with Hope while Melanie stayed with Ashley in her dorm room. But without Hope, I didn't want to try to navigate my way around Belfast to a strange hostel. So Ashley let me stay with them. I'm going to repay her somehow.

We decided to go out that night to a club called Rain with Ashley and several of her friends, Gary, Eli, and some other people. It was a blast. So much fun. But by 2 in the morning, we were ready to go home, so we took a cab to a wonderful after-drinking Lebanese kebab place called "Gilgamesh" and shared these incredible chips (European word for fries, for people who don't know) with cheese sauce and grilled chicken off the kebab. It was heavenly. Or maybe we were just tipsy. Then we walked back to the dorms in the freaking cold only to remember...I haven't been checked in, and there are security guards out front who will not let me in. Great. Ashley tried to find a place for us to stay outside of the dorms, and I brought up, "hey, let's just sneak over the wall". Melanie objected, saying that could get Ashley kicked out. But I decided it was a great idea, found a tree that looked climbable and that led to the other side of the gate to paradise. In my strapless dress and with a boost up from Gary, I climbed the tree (and this is me with it the next day) and sat on a big branch until everyone else came to the other side to rescue me. With help down, I made it safely to the other side and felt both hard core and cold. That night, Mel and I slept snug in Ashley's bed, head to foot, and Ashley curled up on her floor. The next day, Saturday, I called Hope's room mates who we had been planning on hanging out with during the weekend and figured out they were going to take their rented car to the Giant's Causeway that day. So me and Melanie went with the amazing trio of Phenomenal Natalie (from New Zealand..which i think has a better accent than Australia), Hilarious everyone-likes-her Beth, and Sweet Emma. It was such a fun trip. We took the A2 (with Scott's advice) all along the coast to the causeway, and the drive was almost better than the view at the end of it. Here's some of the pictures I took at the Causeway:





The drive home we were so sleepy and hungry, so we stopped at the Grouse to eat where we met an old man, whose name was "Billy William McCartney", who proceeded to talk to us throughout our meal because his table with his two friends was right next to ours. Billy was from the city where we stopped to eat (called Ballymena), but to quote him, "Me mum is scottish, me dad is irish, i don't know." He made us laugh so hard. Then before he left, he tossed a $20 Bank of Ireland note (bill) on the table and said "my contribution". He made our day. As I left the table, I thought about how much I wanted to say "Don't you think Heaven will have food like that?" But then I realized only two of us would really appreciate that thought, and I kind of missed being able to talk about Jesus with people. The UK, by the way, has some of the most amazing people I have ever met and who are a lot more loving than many Christians I know. They have beautiful hearts. I really wish I could be like that. While having my faith.

That evening we came back to Ashley's to find a glorious very wide assortment of snacks she had collected that day for us to pig out on that night. Can i just say something? I once had a dream about people who liked to eat chocolate as much as me, but I didn't know they existed until this trip. Ashley and Melanie take the chocolate cake at being able to put down some serious cocoa. I thought about calling us the 3 musketeers all weekend simply because we love chocolate so much. We ate so much of it that many passersby assumed we were drunk. not so, my friends. They're called endorphins. Our snacks consisted of: A pint of Ben and Jerry's half-baked ice cream, an entire container of Nutella (which we put on bread, cookies, chocolate bars, and our fingers), cookies, brownies, a giant Lindt chocolate bar, and some strange tiny versions of those chocolate hazelnut-filled Pirouettes. With full, sick, remarkably delighted tummys, we went to bed that night (except this time I slept in one of ashley's room mate's beds, who went out of town on Saturday until Monday) and slept wonderfully. The evidence:




The next day was Sunday and we were going to go to church but missed the opportunity. So we walked around Belfast and found some really cute shops. Melanie found a jersey for the Manchester United soccer team (David Beckham's old family) and she was so excited with this purchase. Near Victoria Square, the chocolate triplets found Thornton's chocolate shop, which Scott suggested, so we stopped in and bought two truffles each. They were delish. We stopped in the Belfast welcome center, and I managed to find a really nice shirt for very cheap. or should i say: sheap.

...I bought it....

After a long day, a tuna/jalapeño/sweet corn/pepper baguette, a scone with nutella on top, and a chat with Philip, we 3 settled down for a long winter's nap. Today Melanie and I went home without a hitch. We laughed much of the way home from lots of exhaustion and perhaps from coming off of an intense sugar high. Oh how I wish Hope and Lindsey had been with our crew.

Tomorrow I have two classes, then I'm cooking for Matthew and Adam since I like to cook and because they very generously take us to all sorts of places. After that, my friend Zani, from Cafe Ole asked me come watch chick flicks with her. I can't pass that up. And, oh happy day, Wednesday I have an interview for a small position at Cafe Ole. Zani says it's in the bag. We'll see.

before i begin this week...

well, two things are now official. 1. I'm going to south africa...

^he's excited...and 2. some people are kind of dumb. I'm not omitting myself from that well-rounded adjective, but seriously. Someone i know, who is a grown woman and who will remain nameless, decided to write in her facebook status that she had been taking life "for granite". does that make life synonymous with crag? earth's crust? for those of you reading this thinking, "is that not what it's called..?", it's "for granted". to take something for granted. I think i've taken my mother's incessant grammatical corrections for granted over the years. (now...feel free to call me a not very nice name if you'd like.)
I should add some common british terms on here that i often forget because i hear them so often: "quid" (another term for the pound...5 quid is 5 pounds), "knackered" (tired), "good shout" (like when we say "good call"), "tada" (goodbye), to "wap it on" (turn something on), "cheers" (thanks), "i'll speak to you later" (not really different...but we are more likely to say talk to you later), people also say "alright then, off you go" a lot :), and...i can't think of anymore. more later.
This week I don't really know what my plans are. On friday, we're going to belfast until monday. and I think my friends matthew and adam and I will be going someplace fun on thursday, but i don't know where yet. I'm trying to get a job at a café where my friend works, so hopefully this week I'll find out about that. It would be very few shifts--just to give me something to do during the week and earn some extra money. I really a want to make friends with some old people soon. they have always fascinated me.

where will you go to, my lovely?

I haven't written in a week, mostly because my life is becoming more settled and the more settled it becomes, the more uninteresting my blogs seem like they would become. But after a week, I'm sure I have something good to talk about. My travel plans are coming along for the month-long spring break we have (March 20-April 18). The plans been put on hold, though, because our little travel bug, Melanie, has galavanted off to Amsterdam for the weekend. However, for right now, our tentative plans (me, melanie, and Lindsey) are to start by flying to Barcelona. From there, we go to germany (we are waiting to see if we would have someone to stay with before we decide which cities there we'll see), then to vienna, austria (to dance and sing "do re mi" by the fountains like this little friend here):



...from there, we shall go to Prague, then to Switzerland (i'm thinking geneva and interlaken), then to Rome. From Rome, we'll work our way up to Florence, Pisa, and finally Venice. After venice, for that last week, Melanie and Lindsey will be going to Greece, and I will either be going to South Africa to see Philip (i'm trying to find cheap plane tickets), or to Scotland to spend the week with my friend Rhona. Before that little adventure, next weekend, Melanie, Lindsey, me, my friend Hope, and 3 of Hope's room mates are going to Belfast to stay and then visit The Giants Causeway (http://goireland.about.com/od/countyantrim/ig/Giant-s-Causeway-Images/). We get to stay part of the time with one of Hope's room mate's parent's time shares. we get free breakfast. yay, i love breakfast. I really do. I love getting up early and having breakfast. I should probably do that more...

Then March 13-16, me and Lindsey are going to Paris for the weekend and hopefully Normandy for one day. Those are the trips planned so far. Other than that, I am very much hoping to go to Oxford, London, Cambridge, Stonehenge, and Stratford-upon-avon. We'll see when we can fit those trips in. Also at some point, Swansea does a program where they send students to stay with a host family wherever I want to go in the UK for a weekend. I signed up for that, so hopefully they will place me someplace great.

On another note...I was sitting at the University yesterday, waiting for the bus, and decided to people watch. I actually ended up bird watching mostly. Sea gulls are surprisingly large and personal. They're about the size of a medium-sized cat. They walk along the sidewalks with the rest of us; they even walk up and down steps. I think if I had wings, I would be more inclined to use them as often as possible. I very much have an urge to sneak up behind one of these said birds and whisk him up in one feathery squawking swoop. Mostly just to say I did and not so much to make a fowl companion :) I dont understand how seagulls stand up. Or any bird for that matter. They walk around on such spindly legs. Easily breakable. Its also funny how seagulls have webbed feet. Like ducks. Unfortunately, their beaks are not as charming. I think if a duck came up to me and I was in a bad mood, I would melt with one quack. They kill me.

nostalgia

in the movie "Motorcycle Diaries", the main character quotes, "how is it possible to feel nostalgic for a world I've never known?" well, i don't have the answer, but I do understand the question now. Today me, my friend melanie (UT), and Lindsey (UT..flying buddy) went to the Gower, which is (as you can see in the pictures) an incredible part of Swansea. The Gower is an area where Wales and the ocean meet, and rising above the powerful majesty of the sea are cliffs, chiseled out into gorgeous hillsides and rocky crags by the consistently crashing water. The drive on the way to the Gower was incredible as well. It made my heart swell like the waves along the shore simply to see miles of countryside and grass-covered hills. To be away from the city and see sheep. I love sheep. I was one for halloween. Did you know that? As we were riding in the bus, Melanie continued to exclaim, "look it's a cow!" unfortunately, no, it was not a cow. I don't think we saw a single cow. They were all horses. Being the helpful vocabulary police that I am, I continually pointed this out, and for some reason, she couldn't seem to accept it in her mind. Because as we passed more horses, she would talk about the cows.

This is the view looking down to the water from the top of one of the cliffs:






Isn't it luscious? I loved it. We took an hour bus ride from town and then explored for about two hours. Then we got back on the bus, frozen to the core because the sun had gone down, and-once again-we simply couldn't be pulled away from the beauty surrounding us. Instead, we shivered our way back to town and found a good restaurant called CJ Jenkins near the bus stop that would take us to the student village. I ordered a hamburger and hot chocolate. Melanie's birthday is tomorrow (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL!) so she got food and a piece of cake. My hamburger was...let's say < American and sort of reminded me of the burgers they used to serve us in the cafeteria in elementary school. But my hot chocolate, though small, was wonderful. So much so that I went back and got a second one (they were only 99 pence) because I wanted to warm my hands.

Something I miss...hugs. Is that silly? I miss hugs from everyone. The tight ones. People who notably give the best hugs: Ann Laurel Latimer, Ashleigh Abraham, Philip Gilman, my mom, amanda dodson, and Kelsey Cunningham. Ya'll are really good at them. keep it up.