Write It Down

I'm pretty sure this'll be my last post before I leave for Ireland tomorrow, so I'll be sure to make it a good one.

My midterm went well today, aside from a few tricky fill in the blanks I feel pretty confident about it... so, hooray!!

After history, I got to have lunch with 20 or so delegates from Northern Ireland and the Republic and it was just... SO COOL. They got a grant from BC to get together to discuss the peace process and reconciliation and what not, so they're here in Boston for part of the week and Washington DC for the rest. Anyway, we (the service trip group) got to chat and eat with them and it was quite possibly the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. They were all so awesome and nice and gave us their cards, telling us to email them or stop by their office if we ever wanted to look around or get a hold of documents or just to chat. All three of us from the service group who were there (me, ben, sarah) are history majors with a focus in irish/uk history so all of these politicians were just going crazy offering us names and tips and... AHH. It was amazing. One of them women actually works for Eamon de Valera's grandson.

Also, they convinced Kate (the leader of the trip) that we should go to a hurling match at Croke Park.... WOOHOO!!!!!

All I've really got to do now is pack, clean up my side of the room and get through tomorrow (haley house, class)

My list is slowly shrinking. Very slowly. Here's where I stand:

• US History midterm Thursday
• Haley House Friday morning
• Regular things (classes, work)
• CVS - travel shampoo, etc.
  
• pack (DO THIS THURSDAY. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!)
• sell the rest of my t-shirts ( Sold two more, only two left!)
  

Pam, my friend Mackenzie's mom wrote on my facebook wall* about wanting a T-shirt to help send me to Ireland, so that's pretty cool.

I picked up my application for Galway yesterday and it looks fairly simple. The actual application itself is only 10 questions, things like last name, first name, parents names... etc. The hardest part will be putting down what classes I want to take. Of course, it won't be binding, but they want to have some idea what you'd like to take. I'll also have to get two academic references and one character reference, all from BC faculty. I think I'm going to ask Lad, my writing professor from last semester, and Prof Troxell, my PULSE professor, to do the academic references. I'll ask Phil for the character reference because he's said he'd be more than glad to do one for me many times. So that's pretty much straightened out. I think we have to write an essay of some sort, as well. A How Will Studying Abroad Tie Into Your Other Studies At BC type thing, which will be a piece o' cake.

I've got to look up the last 200 miles of the Yangtze and Mekong rivers for my history midterm... blech.

* I still stand by it not being OK for parents to have facebook

This week is going to be full of insanity and headless-chickenness, specifically me running around like one.

So, to keep me happy, a list:

• meeting with Glynn today at 3
• US History midterm Thursday
• Haley House tonight and Friday morning
• Regular things (classes, work)
• CVS - travel shampoo, etc. Converter? Disposable camera?
  
• laundry (DO THIS BEFORE THURSDAY. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!)
  
• pack (DO THIS THURSDAY. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!)
• sell the rest of my t-shirts

Another list:

• Crabgrass Frontier
• Clothes
  
• toiletries
• camera (digi & disposable? disposable only? what say you?)
• camera charger
• iPod
• fun book
• towel
• journal & addresses for postcards

------------

I feel better now. Also, good news! My package from my momster came today... well, sometime last week, actually. Turned out they delivered it to my old building, for reasons unknown. Also, I got an email from study abroad and I'm approved for the Galway program... which is AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING. Now I can start the application process.

HOORAH!

I fixed my settings so that I can comment back to people... finally!

In other news, out of the 6 t-shirts I have to sell, I've already sold 2. Also, I may have convinced the leader of my group to make sure we visit Croke Park while in Dublin.

All in all, a good day.

I was selling t-shirts today and sold two to prospective parents:

mom 1: Yeah my son is a junior and trying to figure out where he wants to go
me: Oh how exciting! Is BC his first choice?
mom 1: No... well.. he's being kind of laissez-faire about school right now.
me: ....

---------

mom2: Oh these are great, I'll get one!
me: Thanks so much!
mom2: are they one size fits all?

---------

selling cookies in the dining hall tonight...

me: cookies for a cause! $5 from your meal plan, support our service trip!
crazy accent guy: What?
me: Would you like to buy cookies? Only $5 from your meal plan!
CAG: I don't really like cookies... and we have better chocolate in Switzerland.


Ouch, gotta admit that one hurt a bit. I wanted to tell him that if that's how he feels about it, Switzerland is just dying to have him back. This is Amurrica and don't you err forget it!

I just saw a man peeing outside in the bushes on my way to work.

Ew.

In other news, this weekend was action packed and fun - a nice break from the crazy amounts of homework I've been doing lately.

I met a guy from Belfast at Haley House on Friday and that kind of put a downer on my morning... he was just so sad! I was chatting with him about how long he's been here, if he thought he'd go back, etc. and he said that he and his mom (he's probably just a little older than me) had come here three years ago and didn't have anything to return to. I suppose I probably should have expected something like that, but his tone of voice and the look on his face... so sad. Then he said that it wasn't really something they talked about in Ireland and I apologized for bringing it up... and he started talking about the conflict, saying it was no use for anyone to apologize anymore because it had already happened and apologizing just brought up the old feelings all over again.

The rest of my weekend was much more cheerful. We had Relay for Life on Friday night/Saturday morning... nothing too out of the ordinary happened, just a bunch of fun and exhaustion.

I got to see Katherine yesterday and we had burritos at Felipe's in Harvard Square and saw Neil Gaiman's book-turned-movie Coraline, which was amazing. And in 3D so double amazing.

One of the ladies just came into the office here at work talking about the paint she chose for her house... "Well it's called Meditative Blue... which I liked. I thought about going one step down, but that one was called Languid Blue and I thought NO WAY am I having anything LANGUID. That's such a negative word..."
I wonder what she thinks languid means?

Just got this email from An Siopa Leabhar, the Gaelic League's bookstore in Dublin:

Caoimhe a Chara,


Cailíní Beaga Ghleann na mBláth is out of print I'm afraid. Do not hesitate to contact us for any other book enquieries.

Go raibh mìle maith agat

So I guess I don't get my book after all. Curses.

ETA: Well, I just sent the guy an email back asking if he knew of any bookstores in Dublin where I might find the book on the shelf... I'll be there in a few weeks and it doesn't hurt to ask!

Got an email back from the history museum contact person today...

It was addressed to Kevin. So yeah, that's kinda lame. And funny. I figure it means one of two things: a) she wasn't paying attention, or, b) she assumed Keavy is a nickname for Kevin and decided to go all formal on me and call me by my "real" name.

I can't decide which would be better.

The study abroad grant application is due Friday and I've asked Phil, my Irish professor, to write a recommendation for me. All I have to do is write a 500 word essay about my goals for studying abroad and how it will tie in to the rest of my time at BC. Pretty e-z-p-z.

While I was in the Connolly House yesterday, I picked up one of the Irish Studies newsletters and lo and behold, there was my Irish history professor right on the cover. Turns out he's got a weekly radio show on RTÉ 1, the Irish radio station. Kinda crazy, pretty awesome. I'm definitely going to give it a listen when I'm not at work.

Tonight is our service trip pasta dinner fundraiser. I'm quite nervous about it because I don't think we're going to make very much money. We were all given 10 tickets to sell at $5 per ... and I don't think anyone has sold the full ten. I've sold 5 and will maybe sell a few more at the door, but it doesn't look like it's going to be the money earner we thought it would be.


Oh, and... check this out. I'm on a boat, and don't you ERRR forget it!

My meeting with Prof. Rob Savage of the Irish Studies dept. went well... he seemed eager to help me out and make this double major thing happen. He said there's only one Irish Studies major at BC right now... kinda crazy! Looks like all (hah.) I have to do is write a proposal, including what I want to do, specific classes, etc for the next couple years and submit it to him and the other director, Marjorie Howes, and then after a bit of revision submit it to my dean. No biggie.

It should be do-able, I think I'll be able to finish up both majors... I have 7 history courses left, 4 of which I can take abroad. Prof. Savage said that the Irish Studies major would be equivalent to the History major in terms of number of courses... so I've finished 4, I'll be able to take 4 abroad, then 4 senior year. Not a lot of wiggle room, but totally possible. I think I have 4 core courses left (nat. science, soc. science, art & cultural diversity)... I'm not sure if courses can double count, but if they can then I'm in business. If not... I might have to overload at some point. Yikes.

Now I'm stressed.

In other news, the Sasquatch lineup should be out soon and word has it The Decemberists are likely to be on it! Woooohoooo! If so, I'm definitely going.

My respek for (far?) Coldplay has just skyrocketed. They are awesome, their Sgt Pepper rip off costumes are sooo cute (and acceptable) and they keep making nods to "boss" Paul McCartney.

Kid Rock, on the other hand, can DIAF.

ETA: Whhhhhy do Robert Plant & Alison Krauss keep winning things?!?!?!?!

And, for some stupid reason, I cannot post comments on here... ROAR.

M.I.A officially wins creeper of the night... polka dot preggers belly is NOT okay.

I think Paul found a time machine because he is magically de-aging. Or he's just had SRS plastic surgery.

Neil Diamond is creepy.

20 days until Ireland! I am so so so excited. We still haven't heard back about which placement we'll be at, but my first choice is this teen club place called Slí Eile (literally "Other Way"). The other placements are a preschool and a family center, with parenting classes, daycare and all that good stuff.

What with fundraising, Relay for Life, Haley House and just regular old school-y things, these next few weeks are going to be crazy...

Haley House yesterday morning was pretty good... it was SO cold on the way there, though. My little weather dashboard widget said it was -2 degrees when I left at 5:20 and boy did it feel like it. When I was walking through Copley Square on the way there, right by the train station, I saw a guy approach a man sleeping saying "You okay brother? You awake? Wake up, brother!" and it was kind of reassuring... it usually freaks me out to see the guys who come for breakfast sleeping on the streets, covered in a only few blankets and tarps.
I had my hair in french braids from the night before and everyone kept telling me they liked how my hair was "decorated," kind of a funny way to put it.

We talked in PULSE discussion about that article I posted the other day, about the Nazi doctor. We're supposed to be a collaborative class, so each discussion is decided on by a vote (how democratic) so I suggested we talk about redemption and forgiveness as related to this Dr. Death fellow. It was pretty interesting to hear what everyone had to say... I really love that class, there are a handful of us that are always talking and sharing, so the discussion can get pretty lively.

I'm supposed to be writing my FDR paper right now, but I'm about halfway finished so a little break is alright in my book. We're supposed to write about what we think of Roosevelt's presidency based on this book, Debating Franklin D. Roosevelt's Foreign Policies 1933-1945 by Justus Doenecke (what a name) & Mark Stoler. It was a good book, comprised of two essays, one arguing that he was messed up and his foreign policy reflected that, the other saying that sure, he made mistakes, but he was better than anyone else around at that time (Churchill, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, etc).
The essay prompt asks "Was FDR a warmongering interventionalist? A hypocritical isolationist? A...?" and I'm taking up the third option, arguing that more than either interventionalist/isolationist, he was a "Rooseveltist" i.e. his reputation/public opinion of him/america's standing domestically &internationally were what drove most of his decision making.
I feel like I'm being a little risky here, especially because I really want to do well on this paper (new professor with seemingly impossibly high standards)... but as Kelsey pointed out to me, it isn't about regurgitating information. I'm feeling pretty confident about the way it's turning out so far, so hopefully it'll be okay. Also I plan on bringing it into the prof's office hours monday.

With all the paper writing I've been doing lately, I've been thinking about setting up a little peer review/writing circle group amongst my friends and classmates... I really found classmate feedback handy last semester in my creative nonfiction class, so maybe some people will be up for it.



In the meantime, I've become addicted to Pandora. I'm currently listening to "Oxford Comma Radio" based on, you guessed it, Vampire Weekend's Oxford Comma.

also, check out this youtube vid... Hilarious.

Okay, back to FDR.

Today in Gaelic we came across the word slua... which was cool because I could define it and impress the whole world. All because I included it in my awesome blog title yesterday.

In other news, I guess Indiana Jones, TinTin and all those other "omg there are Nazis in the Middle East!" conspiracy theorists were right. Kind of makes you wonder how hard the "Nazi Hunters" were really looking. Err... maybe that was too soon. But... I mean, how obvious a hide out is Egypt?

I printed out an application for a study abroad scholarship. It's reserved for kids who get finaid (COUGH, dad, do the FAFSA stuff NOW, COUGH) so hopefully I'll be able to get some dinero to help out with next year. I've just got to write a 500 word essay about my study abroad goals, how studying abroad will tie in with the rest of my BC education, yaddah yaddah. I've also got to get a recommendation from a prof, so I'll ask Phil... he'll definitely put in a good word for me.

I had something else to say... something meaningful. Oh well. Haley House tomorrow morning, time for bed.

I just sent out a slew of potentially life-changing emails including:

• one to WSHM about getting an internship this summer
• one to the co-director of the Irish Studies department, seeing about switching from History to an interdisciplinary Irish Studies major.
• one to confirm my study abroad choice of Cork in the fall, Galway in the spring.

... now all I have to do is sit back and wait. Which is no big deal. Only the worst part of sending out potentially life-changing emails.

I realized in US History yesterday, as my professor was rambling about all his great achievements, that I want to be an active historian. As in the dig-through-smelly-old-barns-in-hopes-of-finding-groundbreaking-documents type of historian. The kind that writes letters to dead peoples' relatives so that i can get my grubby historian hands on their precious family heirlooms, exposing those dead people as the wily people nobody ever realized they were. Of course, loads of fame and glory will ensue.

Every time I tell my dad about something funny that happened to me, he asks, "Did you write it down?" Every time, I say, "No.. but.. whatever." He'll say something along the lines of "When you get to be my age (pfft.) you'll regret it!!"

So, as a late New Year's resolution, it's my goal to Write It Down.