Irish it wasn't so cold and rainy...

Ello all! I hope you are all having a great week! As my last post was about spring break I suppose I should talk about last week before I talk about Kelsey and I's luck o' the Irish.

Last week we all returned to reality with classes bright and early Monday morning. Something we were all looking forward to. *please note the sarcasm!* However we are all realising that we are coming towards the end, which means papers and exams. Which is very bitter sweet as I've said many many times.

Some of my friends other friend's who are studying in Ireland this semester were here to visit so Monday a large group of us went to the Albert for a pint. I also got a little start on my paper. I at least picked my topic! :)

Tuesday brought my internship again. I got to go to theatres all day again! Still really awesome and if it didn't take like 10 years I would maybe consider becoming a surgeon. I've still got some more time to decide thought so we'll see! This time I saw a hip fracture repair with a large screw and plate. I was a little surprised that the tools they use are really similar to the ones you'd use at home. Screw drivers, hammers, what appeared to be very similar to an impact wrench with the same type of key we'd use. When the nurse training couldn't figure out how to tighten the 'bit' I wanted to help but wasn't sterile...The surgeon and everyone was really good about explaining to me what was going on and why they did what they did. I hope I never have to have that done though, I can see why patients are in so much pain when they are done! Their legs spread and twisted and strapped into stirrups and tied in place, not to mention pounding a huge screw into the femur! ouch. I sort of wish I thought I wanted to be a surgeon the whole time I was here so I could have spent everyday in theatres but I suppose going to the different areas was better...

Wednesday I also had my internship. I was in the complaints department. It was very interesting to read some of the letters they receive and all the work they put into dealing with it. Sometimes it takes close to a year to finalize the case if it goes on to a higher outside complaint department.

Wednesday night a group went to watch the football match in a pub. Another 90 minutes wasted because it ended in nil. I don't think I will ever understand.

Thursday morning I got up and went out to the O2 in Greenwich. This is a huge arena that is also sort of like a mall. It was really neat. But the reason I went out there was that Randy had told me about there being a Body Worlds exhibit there. Body worlds is where they take real human bodies and plasticise them. [see http://www.visitlondon.com/bodyworlds/] It was really really neat. They take bodies and basically skin them and cut them so that you can see different part and muscles and bones and tissues. It's a little sad at first because they have babies and a pregnant woman and all are real who have died and chose to give their bodies for others. But regardless it was really cool. They also have a horse and a giraffe which were super cool! Something I found really neato was that I was able to see a hip bone with a screw and plate in it, just like what I had seen put in two days prior! It was a really awesome exhibit and I'm super glad I went, I had been wanting to go to one for a while and to be able to go in London is great.

After I got back from there I learned that some guys were going to Abbey Road and they asked if I wanted to go so rather than work on my paper I went. We took the traditional Abbey road Beatles picture and signed the wall out side of Abbey Road studios. It was a good time.

Kelsey and I just had a relaxing movie night since we flew out the next morning for Cork!

Now on to the luck of us in Ireland... our luck began at Gatwick airport...I made it thought security just fine, as I always have *touch wood!*. Kelsey on the other hand was not so lucky...She set of the metal detector and had to be patted down and then her bag also had to be searched. When it was time for us to go wait to board we learned that Ryanair had changed something and our online check it was kind of pointless because we still had to get a stamp from the check in desk. Which we neglected to do because this rule was just implemented and we didn't know. So we weren't allowed to board and had to got back to get the stupid stamp. When we got to security they wouldn't let us go any further and the little guard wasn't listening to us or helping us and we were a little frantic because we only had about 20 minutes. Finally he took us back downstairs and gave our stuff to someone who took it to the desk to be stamped. All we needed was a little stamp that said 'received'. Stupid Ryan air!

Our flight went quick, it's only about an hour. When we landed we couldn't figure out for sure where to go. Because we were couch surfing again Kelsey had directions and though we could just walk from the airport but we did end up needing to take a bus to the city centre. Then we got minor lost by turning down the wrong street...The whole time our phones weren't working to call our host... When we finally found her door she didn't answer so now we were worried we didn't have the right door. After a while we ended up walking down the street and found a pay phone to call her. She was home so we headed back. Our host was Edel and she was really nice and we had a great time minus a few minor issues....which aren't really important! :)

That night we were hungry and tired so we went to find something to eat and realised that Ireland is expensive. After dinner we though that Edel was going to call us to meet up when she was done with her lecture but she didn't and she didn't answer so we wasted some time before finally going to the pub she said she might be at. The pub was packed and they are nothing like English pubs! She was there with a friend and they were just heading off to another so we joined them.

This was fun. Although the pub was filled again, there was a live Irish band playing! How cool is that!? We found some seats upstairs and had a grand time. After a round Kelsey and I were exhausted so we took Edel's keys and headed to our couch. The Irish defiantly like to stay out later, because she only had one set of keys she had to knock for us to let her in when she got back, I think Kelsey said it was around 2...

Our intentions were to get up early and head to Blarney and do a lot of sight seeing but it was crappy weather so we chose to sleep in a little longer. Our day in Cork was cold and rainy and we didn't prepare for this...After poking in some shops we headed towards the Cork Butter Museum. Yes, a museum all about the history of butter making. I was disappointed that there was not butter cow, however it was still a little interesting and who can say they've been to a butter museum!? After our time there we went to the church where you can pay to climb to the top and look all around Cork and on the first level you can pull ropes to ring the bells and play songs. This was cool. I played 3 blind Mice and You are My Sunshine. After mapping out where to go next we headed towards the bus station to catch a bus to go to Blarney. Because we looked around in some shops on our way we missed the early bus and had to wait an hour or so but we just sat in the bus station because of the cold and rainy weather out side.

When we got to Blarney we got off the bus a stop too late meaning we had to walk about a mile back to town. When we got to town we did the tourist shops first. There was a ton of sheep stuff in the first one that was super cute but I ended up just getting a few things. :) Blarney is home to the Blarney Castle which holds the Blarney stone. {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_Stone} Kissing is supposed to give you luck or something. After looking around the castle grounds we found some big rocks and stuff and a waterfall. I've always wanted to be behind the waterfall and was able to do so at this one. We also found the wishing steps and made a wish. After a while we were getting chilled and tired so we headed back to Cork and got the keys from Edel and headed home to cook easy cheap supper and hang out for a while.
That night Edel had some friends over for drinks and then we ended up going to a pub at like 1 AM! The pub closed at 2 and then we some how lost Edel but luckily were still with her friends so we were able to go to one of their houses for a while and lay down since we had to leave at 9 AM to catch the bus and get to the airport.

Over all it was a grand time in Ireland, it is a very lovely country and I hope to go back someday!

This week brings our second to last week here in London which equals papers and exams. I'm gaining headway on my one paper due Friday hopefully the rest will come easy!

Talk to you all soon!