AUTUMN

Hello everyone! I have lots to catch you up on. School has been SUPER busy. I just handed in five assignments in the last seven days. I’ve decided my masters program isn’t that different than McGill. Semester one is just like McGill’s exam week, repeated over and over again for twelve weeks straight. However, I have tried to find the time to do fun things while here. I will catch you up photo blog style below…

Perhaps most importantly, MY DEBIT CARD HAS ARRIVED! My eighth week in Dublin I walked into my room to find this magical envelope on the floor. I am excited mostly because I need a bank account to be able to register with immigration, and time is ticking for me to get that done.

My friend Catalina (from back home in Unionville) is currently working in France teaching English. She came to Ireland to visit, so I finally got to do some touristy things. We took a day trip out west to county Clare. Not to be stereotypical but we ate the BEST mashed potatoes ever on this trip! We got to see the Cliffs of Moher and proceeded to take way too many photos. I couldn’t help myself. After all, they are the “cliffs of insanity” from the movie the Princess Bride haha! I’m pretty sure I said something along the lines of “Get more pretty Ireland, I dare you” right before the rainbow appeared. Well played Ireland, well played.

While studying in Starbucks I met a couple from Colorado who were running the Dublin marathon. My brother’s fiancée has gotten me into the sport so I started chit chatting to them about running. (Hi Dan!) I knew the run was coming right by campus so I decided to make a funny sign and go cheer them on. Their faces lit up and they were so excited to see me. The Irish kept calling me “cheeky,” and one guy even ran up and tickled me to try to get me to drop the sign haha. The above photo is stollen from Instagram. Some of the runners were asking for my photo. I’m glad I could make them laugh, because running a marathon is definitely no laughing matter. I have ran (crawled) two half marathons and I genuinely couldn’t do a step more. So much respect for the people who can.

HALLOWEEN has always been my favourite. I once again used it as an excuse to channel my creativity into a make-up related costume. I dressed up as a Roy Lichtenstein pop art character. I went out with Audrey and her flatmates to the Exchange Students Network (ESN) Halloween party. Audrey is the first person I met when I landed in Dublin haha! We met waiting for the air coach… and then only ran into each other once on campus since then. I figured Halloween was a good excuse to catch up with long lost airport friends haha.

When I got to Audrey’s apartment her flatmate was having a costume crisis. I gladly helped out with the mermaid/fish scales. I forgot how much I missed doing make up for theatre shows. It was so much fun!

I know taking a mirror #selfie on a bus is pretty lame, but I had to because this was called a VENGA BUS. Because WE LIKE TO PARTY. (If you’re lost: http://youtu.be/6Zbi0XmGtMw)

Upon reflection, and after two showers, I wasn’t as thrilled with my costume anymore haha.

Speaking of make-up. The Rocky Horror collection as MAC sold out in store and online in Canada so fast! I was so sad because I love Rocky Horror and red lips! Luckily for me, Ireland was sneaky and had a late release date at BT2 on Henry Street. I woke up early to make sure I got one. I did. As you can tell, since I then proceeded to inform the world via all forms of social media that I was now the proud owner of this beautiful lipstick.

Funny story. I joined the trampoline club because I was missing cheerleading and needed something to stay active. Turns out I don’t suck as much as I thought I would. I placed first in my category at our in-house tournament. This past weekend we went to Limerick for inter-varsities and I got a medal for placing third in my category. UCD placed first overall and we got to bring home the shield (for the fourth year in a row!) We proceeded to celebrate accordingly. It was such an amazing weekend and I’m so happy I got to know all the great people in this club so much better! I’m (SLOWLY) learning how to do flips with a goal to move up a level at our next competition. Fingers crossed!!

I drank some vegetables to apologize to my body for the celebratory weekend. It unfortunately tasted like vegetables… but the view was pretty at least 🙂

My mom and dad used all the stamps in Canada to mail me some candy! They know me too well. Those sour cherry blasters are what got me through my essays. Thanks mom and dad!

As always, I’ll leave you with a cupcake. This pumpkin spice one had real roasted pumpkin seeds. The Cupcake Bloke knows what’s up!

I am falling more and more in love with this country with each passing day. Not only is it absolutely beautiful, but the people are so kind and friendly. I love waiting for the bus and having absolute strangers ask me about my day. Dublin is a real city. People have places to go and things to do, and yet everyone still seems to have a moment to spare to say a friendly hello. If I take anything with me from my experience in Ireland, I hope this is it. I hope I can make an effort to be more present, and more open to those people around me.

Hope my family and friends in Canada are not too frozen. I read an article that this year will be Ireland’s worst winter in years. Like a true Canadian, I say bring it on! I would feel quite at home with some snow.

xo Cass