Hi, Ireland: hi, from newcastle...again

So my ‘culture shock’ this week has taken an interesting form… I constantly think I see someone from home. I’ve ‘seen’ someone I know for the past few days. It’s ridiculous.

Anyways,
So we went to Belfast for our first lecture in Irish Art. Honestly, it’s not that great. We are by far the youngest people by 30 years. It’s not what any of us had in mind…..

But after class we were able to shop and do whatever we wanted (which is always a special treat). In some thrift store I found the best deal of my life… VHS for 99p. I was a tough decision but I bought three movies that I thought best suited the needs of the people J
1. Now and Then (everybody needs a good chick flick)
2. Spice Girls live in Istanbul
3. The Labyrinth (David Bowie…c’mon)
I’m pretty excited about them.

Moving along… so we did some more shopping, Luke got some new shoes, I got some shirts… Then Luke and I went out to eat at Bourbon (the food of New Orleans…. It was close to where we were) It was fairly expensive, but we needed a good meal. The restaurants are very different here. Service is definitely not a priority……(this to be noted later on)

We met up with more JBUers and road the long bus home. My body is learning to handle the bus and van trips, but Luke’s is not. I think he now gets headaches as soon as he steps in one.

Friday we had our Philosophy class and we had a lecture from someone named Dr. Robert Rogers about Pascal. It was interesting. Apparently this guy has a degree in Philosophy of religious history (or something)… Luke was a lot more interested than I was of course

That evening we were going to the play Pygmalion. I had never heard of it, but it is the play of which My Fair Lady is based. Before we went there, we went out to eat at Pizza Hut. I was not that excited about greasy pizza, but I am so glad we went. We had feasts, literally. This place was by far the cleanest pizza place I had ever been in and it is the only place that has free refills on pop (!!!). So Luke, myself, and Tyson shares a feast for 3. This consists of 3 starters (we chose cheesy garlic bread, potato wedges, and dippin’ chickin’) a large pizza (half pepperoni and half spicy chicken) and three deserts (two cheesecakes and a chocolate fudge cake)… My meal cost half as much here as it did at Bourbon. Not only that.. but the service here was so refreshing. Most of the time your drinks never get filled and you wait 20 minutes for your bill. So basically, it was really good.

Then we went to Pygmalion.. I have never seen a legit/non-highschool play so I loved it. Others said it wasn’t that impressive… but who am I to say.

Now it’s Saturday and we all have nothing to do… so we are at the library
Tomorrow we meet our ‘friendship families’ and it will be a long day.

I hope all is well, please email me... i'm bored and I need the drama from your lives to entertain me

here are a few pictures...

this is when Luke and a few others from the group climbed the mountain.... it is beautiful... and freezing... and I did not go :)