Homeless in Wales? Check!

So many adventures in Wales. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to and we met some of THE genuinely nicest people I have ever met in my life. Here is a video recapping some of it. Some things we did were explore an underground mine, hitch-hike, hangout with friendly sweet people, sleep in a tent we made of trash bags in a forest off the side of the road, visit the Bodnant Gardens, climb Mt. Snowdon (the tallest mountain in the British Isles), and much much more!!

Westport /Croagh Patrick & Dublin/Kilkenny & Stuff...

Sorry it's been a while since I updated this. Do you ever feel like one minute your in...America...and the next minute your in...Ireland? Well, last week I went home to Cali for my brother's wedding, which I will blog about soon. Stopped by San Diego to surprise my friends there, spent a night in San Fran with my cousin Ilima, and went home to San Jose to celebrate my brother's wedding with all the family(when I say all the family, I mean ALL the family- we have a hugeee family). I will give you a quick summary of my ridiculous life(by ridiculous I mean ridiculously random and crazy. and awesome, lol).

Croagh Patrick and Westport: Westport was one of my favorite towns in Ireland. We walked along the bay and found a field full of sheep. It was a pirate-ish town back in the day and it totally felt like it when the fog rolled in over the 365 small islands in the bay. We met some friendly people in the pubs that night, including the old man Peter that I danced with in the pub that I mentioned earlier in a previous blog. Everyone, as always in this country, was very very welcoming and friendly in Westport. The next morning, we climbed Croagh Patrick which is one of the tallest mountains in Ireland and is significant because St. Patrick climbed it back in the day and banished all the snakes from the island(which is supposedly the reason why Ireland has no snakes to this day). There are three stops on the way up that people perform sacred rituals once a year when making their mecca to the top of the mountain in BARE FEET. When I heard they did this in bare feet I thought it was crazy! I can't believe people do that in bare feet because the whole way up we walked on pure rocks and there was even some snow at the top. The view was beautiful at the top and we could see all the small islands in the bay below. Definitely an awesome weekend in Westport/Croagh Patrick.

Jitka, one of my goof friends from Prague

I've never seen a sign like this before

Fishing nets

Climbing up the rocks...



Dublin and Kilkenny: We went here with our program, API (Academic Programs International). In Dublin, we got to tour the Guinness factory, eat cupcakes at a nice little cafe from a coupon I won, and we found a place that is called "Burritos and Blues", both something I love. We also got to see St. Patrick's Cathedral. We had less than one day so we literally ran around trying to make the most out of it like we always do. Oh and we also dressed ridiculous, just for the heck of it. haha. Next stop: Kilkenny. Here, we found a cute little town where the pubs were loaded with people. First we went to a huge pub called the Left Bank, then we went to a few other smaller pubs where we were able to dance/make good conversations with people. I met some very friendly people who allowed us to come to their farm and check out their animals. The baby cows were sucking my thumb like a baby bottle it was so cute! We also saw the Kilkenny Castle which was great. On the way back from Kilkenny to Galway, we stopped at a farm where they make hurls, the sticks used in hurling. We were able to watch how they make the hurls and buy some for ourselves. We also got to get some autographs by the makers of the company themselves. I have practiced a couple of times because it is a new sport to learn and so far I love it =]

For some reason the video I made for Dublin-Kilkenny isn't uploading on here, so I put it on youtube...click on this link to check it out!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtlKcut2XPg

Lisa and Pat, my fellow crazy-dressed friends who I love =]

Jumping in the Barley at the Guinness factory. Against the rules? Probably.

Epic pictures in the Guinness factory! haha

Waterfall at the Guinness factory

A Guinness at the Guinness Factory

Awesome artwork at the Cake Cafe

Me and Lisa being gangters. Ok, actually we were just freezing on the bus.

Cows in Kilkenny!

 Stuff: I went kayaking with the NUIG kayak club and it. was. AWESOME! We got to learn some defensive swimming, did a capsize drill, kayaked over a mini waterfall, sat under a waterfall, and got pushed off a bridge into the canal(twice!). By pushed off the bridge I mean that they balanced the kayak on the railing, I climbed up the railing and into the kayak, then they pushed me over and I nose-dove into the canal with water pouring over me then popped back up a few seconds later. The second time around the guide guy through my paddle into the canal before he pushed me and told me to use my arms to paddle. No mercy here for beginners. haha.

Me and Abby, a girl who lives in my apartment complex and is also in the CU

Random Irish Fact: Instead of calling something "sketch-y", they call it "dodge-y"

St. Patrick's Day...in IRELAND!

My day started off by waking up, putting on my green attire, and heading over to the parade in town on shop street. The streets were packed with people. And yes, people actually do wear green here. They don't dress as ridiculously-looking though as we do in the states on dress-up holidays. Fortunately, I got to watch the parade from a friend's apartment in town which was a view from up above the street. After the parade, I went to another friend's house where we had a barbeque. It was a nice day so we brought out couches and chairs outside in the front yard and relaxed, played catch, and grilled pork chops for dinner and bananas with peanut butter and chocolate for dessert(one of my dessert favorites!). After the BBQ we went into town and looked for corned beef and cabbage(to satisfy our Irish-American tradition). We couldn't find it anywhere so we ended up going to a highly-recommended burger place. It was a nice quiet place in there; not too crowded. After dinner we went to a cute little pub and sat there for a while and chatted with a bunch of people. I met some really friendly Irish people and they ended up giving me a leprechaun hat, complete with a beard and everything. So naturally, I grabbed my friend's Guinness and posed for a leprechaun shot(as seen in my pics). There's nothing like sitting in a pub IN IRELAND listening to LIVE Irish music and getting a free leprechaun hat on St. Patrick's Day (and some "free" 'from-an-Irish pub-beer-glasses we found laying around). =] After being in that pub, called the Crane Bar, we went to another larger place where we got to sit and talk and dance when we wanted. I met someone there that I thought I recognized from the BBQ earlier so I was like, "Niall?" and he was like, "Yeah...(questioned look on face)" and I said, "You were at the BBQ earlier right?" and he said, "No..." and I was like, "WAIT, but your name is Niall?!" and he was like, "Yeah, how did you know that? Have we met?" and I was like "No, okay so now I feel like a major creeper but that's really cool at the same time 'cause I've never guessed someone's name on the first try before(especially such an uncommon name!)!" haha, funny/random story of my night. Anyways, it was a lot of fun just talkin' and dancin' the night away with my friends. Before going into St. Paddy's Day, I expected some sort of city-wide hunt for a pot of gold. Unfortunately, this was not the case, however, I had a wonderful time nonetheless. An experience to remember <3

Crowded streets after the parade

The parade

BBQ @ Villys

Lydia =] (met her at the airport then never saw her again then re-met at the Christian Union)

Extra crispy garlic bread is better right?

In bathroom stall: "Take a walk by yourself& discover the beauty of the world around you"

People who gave me the leprechaun hat




Random Irish fact: The term "cue" is used for a "line" that you wait in. Ex: "The cue is over there for the ride."

Random Funny Stories

A few funny/random stories:

1) Earlier this week I was walking through shop street (the main area in town) when from no where a pigeon flew into my head and flew away like nothing happened. Weird.

2) Over the weekend I was forced (under pressure of the band who called me up on the microphone) to get up and dance in a pub with an old man who could barely walk. No one else was dancing besides me and the man who seemed to know everyone and be a regular at that pub. Little did I know this would turn into him asking to kiss me and trying to follow me out of the pub while carrying his dancing shoes. He literally had dancing shoes and a bag specifically for them. And he literally did ask me to kiss him right after I asked him to take a picture with me. I simply said, "uhhh just smile for the picture" and left awkwardly. Awkward.

3) Today I went to my professors office to ask what my essay prompt was. He told me it was "Should the paluta pay? If not, why not?" Not wanting to look stupid, I didn't ask what 'paluta' meant and spent forever trying to research what it was on my own. Come to find out, he said "Polluter" not "Paluta". Gotta love accents lol. Culture Misunderstanding. (<--I encounter these types of things often)

Aye...When in Scotland!

My International Business Class went to Glasgow, Scotland for a field trip. We went to Strathclyde University, one of the top International Business Schools in Europe. Here is a run-through of my weekend:

Day 1:
-Checked in at hostel and explored Glasgow a bit
-Got my first Startbucks in 3 months! Best caramel macchiato ever!!
-Caught a train to Stirling (We crashed first class on accident. They were offering us tea and stuff and we were wondering why no one was sitting in the nice big seats. We chatted it up with some business men too and brought up the topic about microwaved water that I previously mentioned in a blog-they had never heard of it either. They worked for Deloitte in Scotland and it made me so stoked that I am an international business major =] A couple train rides later we were discovered and got kicked out of first class. Then we sat next to someone who I heard talking about the Los Gatos greek trail and I was like WHAT, you're from Los Gatos!!? Small world huh?)
             -Went to the Stirling castle and walked around the town. Went into a bagpipe shop where we learned how bagpipes were made (It takes 9 months to make because you have to wait for the wood to shrink after you cut it). The people in the bagpipe shop helped us map out our journey to the highlands and gave us tips and advice for how to get there/what to do. They literally took 30 min out of their day to talk to us and help us. The people in Stirling were VERY friendly.
-Went back to Glasgow and met up with the rest of our class and all went out on the town to a place called Bamboo where we danced the night away. We also made some Scottish friends and got a private tour of Scotland at night when everything was beautiful and lit up with Christmas lights.
-Random: It hailed and snowed and rained and was sunny all in the same day. I wasn't really a fan of the Scottish weather, although I loved Scotland.

Day 2:
-Went to Strathclyde University with our class and went to a seminar on International Business. There seems to be a stronger emphasis on academics/studying in Scotland then in Ireland
-Got another Starbucks for energy since we barely slept
-Jumped on a train to Edinbourgh
                    -Went on an underground tour of the Edinbourgh Dungeon which was awesome
                    -Got to the Edinbourgh castle 6 minutes after they closed so we didn't get to go inside but got to see the outside still
                    -Explored the city and talked to random people. We saw a guy playing a bagpipe on the street and went into a wool-weaving factory. I LOVED Edinbourgh and did not want to get on a train back to Glasgow. They whole town was all cobblestone with beautiful ancient architecture and family-friendly cafes.
Went back to Glasgow and went to bed early so that we could wake up early to go to the highlands the next day. We planned on renting a car because it was cheaper than the train and we could explore at our convenience.

Day 3:
-Woke up ready to go to the highlands!....until we looked outside and saw the blizzard conditions. There was no way it would have been safe to get in a car on the left side of the road in a blizzard. So, we stayed in Glasgow for the day and went store-browsing/shopping. We walked by a store where people had their feet in fish tanks and the fish were nibbling away at their feet. This seemed kind of gross yet intriguing. How could they be sitting there without laughing? We decided to try it. The second I put my feet in the tank, the fish started munching away. My friend Kelly and I were laughing so hard because it was so ticklish! We left with out feet feeling soft and refreshed. It was a good day. Now I am dying to go back to Scotland and backpack through the highlands to Loch Ness!!
-Went to a karaoke bar and actually went on stage and sang karaoke. We sang "California Girls" by Katy Perry but changed on of the choruses to "Scottland Boys" (you can see this in the video below). We met a bunch of friendly people once again. We also met an old man outside who kept saying "hubba bubba" and we finally figured out he was talking about bubble gum because he gave us a piece. haha, most of the time I could not understand what people were saying but I wanted them to keep talking because I loved their accents. In fact, the Scottish accent is probably my favorite accent that I've heard so far.


Video recap:

Random Scottish Fact: They say "Aye" a lot, meaning "Yes". They are VERY friendly. I thought the Irish were friendly but man, the Scottish will go out of their way to talk to or help a stranger that they may never even meet again.


*Here is a note I wrote on facebook about some thoughts of mine after the trip. Thought I'd share them with ya'll too:

Somewhere Out There...

Have you ever met someone who is just completely unique and different from anyone else that you've ever met in your life? Maybe it was a few words, a kind gesture, or a long conversation where suddenly you felt like you've known this person forever, or whatever it may be...but for some reason you just can't get that word or gesture or conversation out of your head. And the weirdest thing is, you may never see that "stranger" ever again. But somewhere, that stranger is existing at the same time you are, and something they did or said has given you a whole new perspective on life and they may not even know it. And the fact that you probably will never see or hear from them again just makes you want to have one last word or gesture or conversation with them THAT much more. Driving me crazzzy....ajfhjfbhbfn

Currenly listening to: "I'll never be the same 'if we ever meet again'..." by Timbaland (<---song in my video)