Second Semester in Full Swing…

I have a very full load of classes this semester – 7 in total! Another anatomy dissection lab in which we are now focusing on the abdomen & pelvis, another biochemistry class (L), digestion, PBL sessions, animal ethics, veterinary careers, and animal husbandry – which is the best class as we spend every Tuesday on the farm learning handling of large animals. So far most of my classes require a fair amount of work, but they are all pretty interesting except for biochem – just not a fan and it doesn’t help that the lecturer for the class puts me to sleep. I have had one midterm already in biochem and have no clue how I did – ugh! And I have another midterm on the 29^th of February in digestion, so I am studying for that ongoing. Then the first 2 weeks of March I have what I would consider spring break, so 2 whole weeks off of school!!! And my dad is coming out for the first week, so I am looking forward to showing him around my town and then exploring Dublin and other parts of Ireland with him. =)

A Day at the Races…

Decided it would be fun to head to Leopardstown Race Track for the Hennessy Gold Cup to watch the horse races. It had been awhile since I had been to the races, my friend Erin is huge into horses and knows a bit about the jockeys over here, and then we dragged my roommate Courtney along. We dressed to the nines as that is the tradition for the races here and this race especially was a big one. I brought along my nice SLR Canon digital, so I could capture some close ups of the horses and we made a day out of it. No betting this time out, but I did choose a horse in each race to win and got lucky a few times – I chose my horses based on their names and often do quite well with that strategy. Overall, it was a great day out and I can’t wait to do it again.

A Revelation of Sorts…

My trip to LA made me realize how much I love Dublin. Until I went to LA I could not really say how I felt about Dublin or Ireland really – I knew I liked it, but I could not put my finger on why. I really love the character of the city – the old brick buildings, the cobblestone roads, the little neighborhoods, the pubs, and just the general atmosphere of the place. Kind of hard to explain. I think a lot of Europe has old architecture which I am excited to be able to explore at some point. And I like to a certain extent a small town feel – living in Donnybrook I can shop in my local stores or go to the local pubs and people know me. Then if I want to go out in the city I can and there is still so much to explore in city centre. I feel like I could walk around Dublin for days and never explore everything it has to offer.

The weather can sometimes get me down as it can be quite cold compared to what I am used to and it does rain a bit more than LA for sure. When the sun is shining in Dublin it is beautiful and it does occur quite a bit more than you would think. The Irish countryside is gorgeous too and it is so much harder to find open land in the states then here. I think biggest contrast I saw when I went back to LA was just how much bigger everything was – the roads, the cars, the buildings. And it was all so modern as well. On top of that it can take so long to get places in LA and the public transport sucks. I find myself suddenly preferring old charm as preferred to new modern. I love LA weather. I wonder if there is a way to combine the two somewhere in Europe perhaps.

California Here I Come...

Going, going… back, back to Cali, Cali…. My trip to Los Angeles for holidays was definitely a nice break. The flight was, of course, ridiculously long and I did not sleep at all and spent the majority of the time catching up on movies I hadn’t seen. Roc was a champ and slept most of the way on my lap. All of the flight attendants loved him as well as the passengers. He makes friends wherever he goes – such a little pimp. On arrival to LA the first stop was, of course, Starbucks for a proper chai latte as the Starbucks in Dublin does not have the same syrup (I proceeded to get a chai latte every day I was back). After a few hours to try to relax, shower, and semi-nap it was time to have X-mas eve (oh yeah did I mention I flew in on X-mas eve). Yeah and the one kicker also was that my luggage had not made it on my connecting flight, so I would have to wait until the next day for it to be delivered. So my wardrobe was a bit limited.

We had X-mas eve at my parent’s house (thankfully where I was staying as I am not sure I would have been able to travel anymore that day) and I got to see my nephew for the first time in a few months! He had grown quite a bit and was walking around everywhere. Then X-mas day was up at my brother’s house in NoHo area. We had brunch in their beautiful backyard with yummy sandwich soufflé and bourbon & OJ’s! The sun was shining and LA weather was showing me what I had been missing. Roc was a bit over stimulated from his long trip, so he was keeping himself busy pacing in the backyard. We had a present opening session inside their living room and then hung out for the afternoon. Then Justine (my bro’s wife) made an awesome array of appetizers for dinner with her culinary genius.

On New Year’s Eve, I headed to my friend Pete’s house up in Thousand Oaks for one of his epic parties. As usual the place was decked out – huge tent in the backyard with music bumping, my friend Scott was bartending, and lots of food and booze to be had. It was a great way for me to see so many of my friends in one place that I otherwise would have not been able to get together with. I would have to say it was probably the best NYE yet and there were a few surprises I was not expecting.

The majority of my time in LA was spent hanging out with my family which was exactly why I went home – to be able to relax with my family. We played random games, watched movies, walked the beach, went shopping, and even went bowling. It was fun just to hang out with everyone again as I miss them a ton when I am away. My mom made all of my favorite meals which pretty much means all Mexican food, haha. Since it is so hard to find that here in Dublin – it is most appreciated!

The visit was great and LA weather was wonderful as usual – although somehow I was cold even there. But the sun was out every day as it should be. I got to hang out with some very good friends and also spend some quality time with my family. Until next time…..