I have continued to have a superb time here since my last post. I went out with one of my roommates, a couple of other guys from the hostel, and the hostel owner himself the night I was in St. Andrews. We went to a bar right on the water called Catch, and almost every graduate and his mother was there. It was a bit crowded, but I found a good spot by the railing and just stared at the cliffs and the water while I listened to the singer. He sang a lot of really upbeat American songs, and I left in an extremely good me. I got back to the hostel early for once, at around 1, and slept until almost 9. It was incredible!!

I checked out, then went to look at the castle from outside the gates and cathedral ruins. Then I went to lunch (Subway). After that, I walked on the beach and then went to the St. Andrews gift shop. When I was on the beach, this family was walking with their golden retriever puppies. I thought about how much Daisy would enjoy running along the beachfront there like that. I walked around some more, grabbed a peach from a local fruit shop (it was really good), and then headed to the bus station.

By the way, the University is probably the prettiest I have ever seen, and I could not have better majors for studying there. Both the Economics and philosophy department buildings are located on cliffs over the sea. The School of Economics is where the graduation receoption was held--that must mean something!!

Then I took a bus to Leuchars, and the train back to Edinburgh, where I immediately hopped on a bus to the airport. I have never before been to an airport that did not let you check in for your flight because you were too early. I had to wait awhile, so I went to a cafe and got a ham and cheese panini, grabbed a local tabloid, and enjoyed myself. Finally, I checked in and waited for my plane to depart.

We were delayed almost an hour, but I got a seat at the very front (and this plane was designed so that there was NOTHIGN in front of me for like 8 feet. It was so nice. We got into Dublin, I grabbed my bags and set off to find my hostel. It was after midnight, and the rain was coming down pretty hard, and I will admit I was sort of lost, and hungry. So I went to this place called Abrakebabra (get it, kebabs, haha), and ordered a chicken burger with chips (aka fries). It was pretty tasty, and just what I needed to find my hostel.

I checked in, and went into my twelve person room (yes, they get bigger and better each night). Let's just say it's a good thing I slept well the night before. Twelve people sleeping in an enclosed space was not the most exciting thing in the world. Three or four of them were snoring, all at different intervals, and the door was opening and closing all night on. Luckily I had earplugs, but there did not stifle out every last decibal of unpleasant breathing that was coming from all four corners of the room.

It is a nice hostel though, and the first one i have stayed at with a complementary breakfast. I got out of bed at around nine, eight, and then set off for NUI Maynooth.

Now, if I was a very superstitious person, I would say that after today there is no way I should study at Maynooth. Just after leaving the bus, I walked by an elderly lady who had fallen backwards and was laying on the ground. I did not leave her side until the medics came. Then while I was touring the area by the student housing, a black cat seemed to appear out of nowhere (it was pouring buckets, mind you), and it bored into me with its sharp yellow eyes. And when I was walking back to find something to eat near the bus stop, I got shat on. Yes, out of the sky falls a nic big glop of bird doodoo. It was disgusting, and brought back unfavorable memories of the last time a bird decided to cover me with excrement (at Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan when I was about seven).

Despite these three incidents, I had a great time in Maynooth, and it is a very beautiful school. Half of it is hundreds of years old (the half with the seminary school), and the other half was built within the last forty or so years. The two sides are connected by a nice bridge.

I took the bus back to Dublin (oh, and by the way Christina, I have been thinking about you and your ancestors the whole time I've been here!!), and since it decided to not stop where I left from (even though it was supposed to) I completely lost my bearings.

I am now going to go back to the hostel and shower before exploring Dublin a bit further and hopefully going to bed early.

I should be able to update my blog pretty regularly while I am in Germany.

Hope all is well with all of you,

Jason