Rock down to Botanic Avenue....

Thursday my day was filled, Finally! I say finally because I have found myself bored a lot and sitting home alone a lot, following the latest Irish soap, Hollyoaks. Now don't get me wrong, this is some quality telly, but it is nice to feel like I am doing something. Thursday morning I headed into church, using the other side of the street than normal, hoping to avoid my special friend if he happened to be out, for the homestart mothers and toddlers club. I was stood up as the church must have gotten the start date wrong.

I spent the morning in the office perfecting my treasure hunt for the Partnership event next Wednesday. Around 1, I made the quick 5 minute walk down to Castle High School. I met with the PE teacher there and planned to join up with the year 10 netball class each Thursday afternoon. I am still unsure exactly how old the girls are, I think its comparable to 8th grade there? Maybe. Being in a school with insane bells that ring every 30 minutes for class change was awkward. It has been many years since I have used bells to change classes, and as I sat thinking about it, I couldn't remember the sound of the bell from High School. All I know is that it is not the same as the loud, looooooooooong, fire alarm sound that changes classes at Castle. It made me jump all afternoon.

It is interesting that I am helping with netball when I have no real concept of netball. It is their version of basketball, though only girls play it. There is no dribbling as when you have the ball you can't move. The basket is a single hoop, no backboard. Oddly enough, there is no net in netball either. As I stood at one end of the court during the scrimmage, acting as the goal... My vision was blurred into Carolina Blue uniforms, tall guys, and a yearn for the UNC fight song. With every squeak of the girls shoes on the floor, the reality of missing an amazing Carolina season got more and more painful. Needless to say, Thursday netball might be a little depressing for me this year and I've got to find some way to watch it over here... A YAV in Kenya this year told me that when he studied abroad in Ghana he watched the national championship there, yes, the one Carolina won! If they had it in Ghana, they have to have it here! I've still got hope....

I then went to the afterschool play practice, the first full read-through of the Oliver script. The kids were pretty cool, a couple come straight from netball to rehearsal, so that was nice, they knew me. The read-through was so entertaining. Oliver, as you probably know, is set in London. I never once considered the accent. Hearing the students struggle with the midlands accent was so funny. I never really realized the difference. They asked if I could do it, being an American. While I am not shy, I told them I couldn't, which is accurate. I do however think that it would be easier for Americans. When we think about English accents, we think of the London accent. One of the girls learned the phrase 'alright, alright' in the midlands accent and before each line when she was struggling to get the accent correct she would say 'alright, alright' under her breath. It was hysterical. I think it is going to be a very good group and that I will like Thursdays a lot.

Last night we headed out to the University area to check out the pubs there. We were in search of some younger people! Being Freshers week, like freshman orientation, there were lots of 18 year olds. There were times that we felt old, but also people our age. We were amazed at the craze with American music. There was a live band at The Botanic Inn, or 'The Bot' and they played brown eyed girl and build me up buttercup. Sadly, the Irish do not know how to shag or even dance well to music like that. It was entertaining. At one point I turned to Lauren and said, these people need to spend some time in the Carolinas and learn how to shag! This guy overheard me and gave me the funniest look. It was quite humorous. (I'm sure you know that shag is slang here for sex.... yep, foot in mouth...) We did end up talking to some nice people and our black taxi driver didn't charge us as much as he should have. We hit the chippy of course and made a new friend there too. Now, we just need to get free chips!

This morning I braved city center alone. I am hoping to travel on Fridays and maybe short overnights around the Republic and Northern Ireland. Because the roomies both work, I would be doing these alone. Going to the city center was just the start of my venturing alone, I hope! I took the bus alone for the first time, and found out just how unreliable the buses can be. I waited for 25 minutes for the bus on the way back, slightly unsure that I was actually waiting on the correct one. Then, I just got too impatient and walked. That is what I get for being lazy! In the same way, I learned the true value of the little green man, who tells you when to cross the street. I have been pretty good about waiting for him, all the while with people walking past me and just crossing the street. Today I almost lost my life to a big blue lorry when I decided I'd use my own judgment. opps. Don't worry, I learned my lesson.

Gray's anatomy season premier was last night. I know, some of you might say, you're in Ireland, how can you really be thinking about Gray's! Well, when allll the telly, minus Hollyoaks, here is American, and you spend lots of time alone, you watch the telly and think of all the things you want to watch at home. Only natural. Mom is taping them for me each week and sending me the tapes. I might be a few weeks behind, but I will keep up this season! So don't tell me what happened!

I hope all of you are well! Enjoy some sunshine for me!