Sleepless in Seattle

Greetings from the Seattle Space Needle, or whatever it's called.

Lol just kidding. But remember how Melanie and I saw the "Eiffel Tower" in Ireland? We found this beauty here in England. And we also saw a place that slightly resembled the Colosseum. So there's that.


We went to such an interesting place yesterday! It's called LSTM: the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. They gave us a talk on various tropical diseases and showed us their labs. Fun fact: they have the largest collection of venomous snakes worldwide. We couldn't get in to see them, but I'm not too upset about it. I like living.

They also gave us highlighters in the shape of injection needles (big syringe-like things). How do they expect me to focus on the lecture when I have this new toy!? I got through it, though. Hold your applause.




After that we headed to lunch at a museum. The museum was free! I love love love free. During lunch, I found my soulmate. She's been here all along. MELANIE. I was going to steal some fries (they say chips in England), and there were 3. I told her, "Don't worry, I'll only take two- I eat in even numbers." She turned her head as fast as I do when my Mom says dinner's ready. She eats in even numbers too. And she puts the TV/radio volume on an even number (just as I do). And she sets her alarm to weird times like 7:46 or 8:22. SAME. So there you have it. Wedding is being planned. Sorry to her boyfriend.

She also said a hilarious thing yesterday after we realized there was not good recycling here in Europe. She's congreenient. She goes green when it's convenient. What a lady.



Besides lunch, we actually went around the museum. It was the most random museum I have ever been to. Exhibits ranged from dinosaurs to Mayan culture to a small aquarium. Very questionable, but interesting at the same time. Later, we went shopping and saw this on the way:

I had to take a picture. Had to. But sad times when you realize that these are far in-between. This is the only one I've seen. And it smelled bad and had broken glass in it. My life is ruined to say the least.

Ahhh, and it rains here in sporadic intervals. Yesterday, I kid you not, it rained for 30 seconds. Like down pour. We all got out our umbrellas and rain jackets just to put them back away. Weird weather I tell you.


Shopping was fun though! We went to thrift shops and saw some interesting clothes that were very much vintage. There were a ton of American college shirts. We joked that it would be unreal if they had Northeastern University. Then they did...

We all cried. Like no one in America knows of our school, why would people here buy that sweatshirt? I was going to buy it because I thought it was fate, but it had a stain...so I thought, hmmm, better not.

Ended off my shopping spree with some chicken fries from Burger King. Life is good my friends.


Later we went out on the town, and we ended out at McDonald's. I seriously hate myself for all I've eaten on this trip. But then again, I'm on vacation. And I can always hit the gym when I get home. Or hit all my favorite Illinois chain restaurants. We'll see.

Anywho, one of the workers at McDonald's had a tattoo that legit said MOM. It was one of those special moments, when I saw it and then made eye contact with him. He knew I appreciated it.

Here's a funny term I heard: Sauvignon blanc out. Like black out. Lols.

I need sleep.

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

I'm Yelling Timber

Ugh. Today we left Ireland.


While we were in line for security at the airport, which took forever, we saw a sign that said "no photos" in English and in Gaelic. The Gaelic part said "grianghrafadóireacht". I don't know why but I loved how long that word was in comparison to "no photos". I told my friend Mel I was going to take a picture of it, and she just gave me that stare. "Amy, you can't take a damn photo. Can't you read?"

Security only got better from there. My friend Jordan and I get through, and we watch as Mel gets stopped by the machine you walk through. We started laughing because she seemed so startled by the beeping sound. This security guard then turns to us and says, "We'll have to check you two as well if you are going to continue to laugh." We stopped.

Fast forward to the airplane. It happened to be a propellor plane. That's right. I might have said a little prayer before I boarded. I was all of a sudden startled to hear Melanie's voice, "Amy, your voice carries like Pocahontas in the wind." Oh. I guess it was a small plane. And I was situated next to my TA Nick and best friend Jordan. Of course it was social hour. Literally, the flight was an hour. But I actually tried to sleep. As soon as we were off the ground the captain announced we were on our initial descent. LOL. Not really, but you can imagine how fast that flight went.

My teacher was looking out the window like a little kid in a candy shop: smile on face, excited for the rockiness that the propellors were going to bring. Don't ask me why he was so happy.


After landing and being in England for an hour, I already knew I'm going to move here. Kids still wear healies. You know, the shoes from the 90s/00s that had wheels. Stellar.

Quick shout out to my friend Jackson on the trip for secretly reading and talking about my blog to other people. I find out all, and was so happy to hear this :)


Anywho, we were all starving after the flight and the one hour bus ride to the campus of the University of Liverpool, where we are staying. As a group, we went to lunch at a nice Italian place. I got lasagne for the fiftieth time this trip, no regrets.
All of a sudden this happens:

This is the head of the chemistry department at Northeastern, buying us toilet paper because the dorm didn't give us any. We all cried. He's the man.


Besides that, we just chilled and went to an Asian take out place to get food when dinner rolled around. My fried rice was dry. Guess I came to the wrong continent for Asian food. Oh well.





Gotta go to the loo now!

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy engl(andes)

Tennis Ratchet

Oops. We went on the pub crawl again. Well, we tried. You see, they let you go as many times for free, as long as you paid the first time and still have the wristband. We didn't go as early, though, so we had no clue which pub the group was at. So my friends and I went to a place called Whelan's.

Nicole and I convinced these 3 guys that our alter egos were Brandi (me) and Mandi (her). It was a riot. They bought us some drinks, and we schmoozed with them for the night. It was also national tequila day, so we celebrated. OMG and Nicole found out that her niece had been born! We were all so happy and cheers-ed to that. But then things got ratch.

We exited Whelan's and went to some bar that the guys said was fun. Little did we know we had to be at least 28 to get in. Our friends were 31. Ah. Like why are you going to clubs when you're that old? I don't know. It was weird. But they didn't want to leave us, so we went to our favorite place, Dicey's, for the third and last (thank the lord) time. Mandi decided that she wanted to make out with two of the three guys we were with. And she did. While the first one was getting a drink, the other one pounced. Interestingly enough, the other guy comes back and was hella angry. 28 years of friendship, and still fighting over a random girl you meet. Classic. Me and the 3rd guy were just very amused.

But hallelujah that all ended when we found our guy friends from the trip! They saved us from the oldies, and we danced the night away. As we were leaving to go, the sticky floor got the better of me. My shoe broke. I walked to the taxi with one bare foot. Call me Brandi with an "i". I felt ratchet as fuck.

But the next night my best friends on the trip and I all looked classy :)

That's Nicole, me, Melanie, and Jordan. The four of us have had so much fun! In the picture, we were at a going away dinner for the last night in Ireland. It was at a cute place called the Old Punch Bowl. We had a room upstairs (see picture), and we even had an open bar for an hour. It's funny, though, because you give a ton of students free booze, and they'll end up doing what we did: maxing the tab before the hour was up. Oops.

It was all water from then on.

My friends and I thought it was going to be a far walk to get to this place from our dorm, so we got an uber. It ended up being so close, and we were embarrassed for not just walking. LOL, no regrets.

My favorite part was the odd music that happened to play during dinner. I heard my old favorite song "Halo" by Beyonce (sorry mom and dad for bugging you with constantly repeating this song on long car rides). Also, some waitresses sang us a few songs that were modern and some Irish folk songs. They had amazing voices. Lastly, we all sang some karaoke. There was a range from Taylor Swift to Adele to Frozen. Amazing night.

My friend Benjy got up to sing and was moving around as he got to a rap verse. He by accident slapped a waitress, and wine glasses that she was holding shattered on the floor. I died. That was sort of the buzz kill that made us leave the restaurant. Before that, Benjy, Jordan, and I sang "All I Want For Christmas" by Mariah Carey. We're all Jewish. Great night.


Great day as well, before dinner. We walked around the city. Unfortunately it was raining, so we didn't spend as much time taking pictures or leisurely strolling as we had hoped. We did find the tart place I mentioned earlier, Queen of Tarts. It was phenomenal. I got blueberry cheesecake that was in a cute heart shape and an apple crisp. Go big or go home!

Then we walked around and got souvenirs. I bought a hat that says "Irish Drinking Team" with a bottle opener on the rim. I am winning at life. And then we were all sort of hungry again, so my stomach led me to Boojum and the rest of the gang followed. I got my last Boojum burrito. Sad times. It was amazing, though.


Ireland was beyond words. Besides the crappy weather for most of it, I had the best 3 weeks. I hope England and Switzerland rock my world too!

Be back later, gotta go exchange my euros for pounds. Womp.

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Please sir, can I have some Moher?

Weirdest thing. We had the same tour bus two days in a row, and this boy Marco found his hat on it the second day. He had thought he lost it. Yay, so happy for him.

Anywho, we took a trip to the cliffs of Moher last weekend. It was a long haul to get there, but so so worth it. I got a million great pictures, and also a ton of steps from climbing various rocks and avoiding cow poop on the paths. On the way there I peered out the window and saw so many cows. They were either mating, achieving homeostasis (peeing), or just grazing with RBF (resting bitch face). Cows are like humans.

The bus driver also gave us facts along the way, and he showed us the ancestral home of Barack Obama. It just happens to be in bumblefuck Ireland. Who would've guessed?!

Here you see Nicole and I pretending to fall from the cliffs. But don't worry folks, I still have my chalkboard. It reads "Just One Moher Picture". I'll let you in on a secret...we weren't supposed to climb this wall. But you know, gotta do it for the picture. After two hours at the cliffs, on a beautiful and actually sunny day, we headed back to the bus. On the way home, we stopped at a place called Burren- pronounced burn. I really have no clue why we went there, but it's just a ton of limestone everywhere. Fun fact: limestone absorbs heat, so it was actually warm to sit on. 'Twas pleasant. I got out my chalk, of course.





That water in the picture is the Atlantic Ocean! It was relaxing to be by the water and away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Dublin.



I decided to get creative with the chalk though, and we found the flattest and biggest rockiest rock and did this:

It says "Northeastern Chemistry 2015". Our chaperones want it to be on the school homepage- like other pictures of study abroad programs. I wouldn't mind seeing my face every time I logged on. It's funny, my face is actually up in one of the main buildings on campus. I'm making liquid nitrogen ice cream in it (for chemistry club), and it looks awesome. I always tell my friends to meet me by my face. They roll their eyes. (and do it anyway)


Back to Ireland, though, we went back on the bus and took a quick pit stop an hour later. When I went to the bathroom, I found grass in my underwear. Thank you nature.



The biggest miracle was when the air conditioning finally turned on in the back of the bus. I finally stopped sweating for a second and got some sleep. Too much info? I don't care. It was a crammed bus with a ton of crabby/hungry students. And it was a four hour bus ride. Vom.


As we pulled off the highway, I saw a guy peeing on the side of the road, on the grass. Only in Ireland?

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Pregnant Ant Coming Through!

On this trip we've been going through lab tours of many different companies. We went to BMS (Bristol-Myers Squibb) the other day for a session about their main pharmaceutical plant in Ireland. They make many medicines including Abilify (which is the only one I recognized from TV ads).

Our tour guide's name was Barry, and he was such a nice fella. OMG we were not even allowed to have phones. I cried because I wanted to take a picture to show all of you my get-up for the tour. We had to wear special shoes, goggles, and hard hats. It was intense. The first part of the tour was Barry telling us more about BMS (which, for the youngens out there, I couldn't stop thinking about Blue Mountain State). He kept saying the words "third party manufacturer", but pronounced third like turd. TURD PARTY. Woop woop. Wow, I'm five years old. Sorry.

Probably my favorite part of the first section of the tour was when my friend Kaila raises her hand and told Barry that there was a wing reproductive (Aka a pregnant ant) on the window. She is super into insects and actually studies in a chemistry lab that handles insects. Anyway, Barry removed the wing reproductive from the building and all was well.

The second part of the tour was just 2 men explaining processes in the plant. I felt like if I touched anything in the plant there would be an explosion. So I was a good girl and kept my hands to myself.

On the bus ride back I spotted a Montessori school. Freaking throwback. I went there for daycare, preschool, and every day after kindergarten got out. I lost my first tooth there, overslept at naptime, and oh, I one time got in trouble for telling someone I'd give them a knuckle sandwich if they cut me in line for lunch. I haven't changed.

Also this shirt is just the best. Don't mind the face. My TA Nick thought it said Le Barbara. No, just no.

People have started calling me lebarbara now though. Actually, just him...

Okay the other day my friend Nicole and I ordered falafel. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE. First off, we gave them the number of our friend who has data, so they could call. But then he ran out of data, so we asked the TAs (who have data) to call and see where our food was. It was an ordeal. Finally when we found the guy, he did not seem impressed. My friend was like, "Sorry, we're American; our phones don't work!" *face palm* Never apologize for being American. God bless.

The falafel tasted fine but...we ordered baklava as dessert. It tasted like fake grape flavoring. We both couldn't get the taste out of our mouths. Disgusting. Can't order baklava again for a while.


From now on, falafel < naptime. I could have napped instead of enduring that "falafel fiasco", if you will.  Ah, you want to hear about another bad food experience? The other day I ordered lasagne at a restaurant, and they were out. The end. Game over. Amy sad. But I got nachos (I ordered them without jalapeños because both me and Melanie- who split it with me- don't like spicy things). The fricken put jalapeños on it. Cool. I wanted to casually throw them at our waitress, who didn't like us anyway.


BIG NEWS: I decided Miley Cyrus needs a new tour title. Instead of the Bangerz tour, she should tour Ireland and call it the Bangerz and Mash tour. People would be obsessed. I didn't eat bangers and mash because I don't really like sausage, but I heard good reviews.

Lastly, an umbrella is called a brolly in England. That is all.


peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Quota

I'd like to take a moment to appreciate some stellar quotes from the past few days here in Ireland.

"You can get a DUI from cycling"
"If you kill someone on a bike it's called manic cycling"
"Can cows gallop?"
"My spirit animal is a juice box"
"If tomato is a fruit, is ketchup a smoothie?"

And my favorite, besides the juice box one, someone also called me their spirit animal. *tears up* I'd like to thank the academy.


Okay also here's a few more English words to get you through your life:
old dot= mum
kip= nap (I am going to start using this a ton, mostly because I nap all the time)
---

I got really excited the other day because a street performer sang the song Who Knew by P!nk. Me and 2 of my best friends in high school (Kelsey and Jayne) sang that for a talent show/Showcase. Our band was called 'Til Tomorrow, and we rocked. Those harmonies were amazing. We did In My Head an Telephone other years. Love those girls. And I love being reminded of little things from high school or pre-college in general.

OMG hallelujah. Ring those bells. My organic chemistry 3 class is over. I finished my test this week (hence why I haven't really been posting- sorry to my fans). HUGE EFFING SHOUTOUT TO MY TA NICK. He answered tons of my annoying questions about syntheses and how to do science in general.  Here he is getting hype about science:

Lolzzzz. What a gem. Anywho, I also treated myself afterward.


Also, upon a random brain blast, I realized that my new best friend Melanie (from the trip) and her boyfriend Fred have the same names as my aunt Melanie and Uncle Fred. Cool beans, I know. We were excited about it.


Oh. I forgot to mention, I was trying to be cool and cut to the front on my bike tour a few days ago, but the street narrowed, and I braised my leg on the curb. I was fine. A little scarred by the rickety sound my bike made. It was literally right before the end of the tour. Glad I made it through. But the really funny part is that after we dismounted our bikes, one of the tour guides that had been our caboose came up to me and asked how my leg was doing. She saw me hit the curb and thought my previous wound from falling during a run (read old post about that for further detail) was the cut I got from the curb. LOL. I had to explain to her that I ate shit during my first week here. She laughed.

I cried.


Galway, Ireland my friends. Long ass bus ride. We were supposed to go to some art and music festival, but we couldn't find it once we got off the bus. So, of course, we found our favorite burrito chain, Boojum. It opened at 12. We were there at 12. Love at first bite. Sadly that was like the highlight of my day. That and we went to a pub to sit and relax (because we were bored), and the bartender gave us free shots. They tasted like appletinis! And they had free wifi. So much win.


Lastly, I'm sure I've mentioned the running joke my friend Melanie and I have about this radio tower that we call the Eiffel Tower every time we pass it. Well, our friend told us that on Yik Yak (an app where you post random comments anonymously) someone wrote something along the lines of "these girls think the Eiffel Tower is in Dublin. Wow". THAT'S US. We are not dumb, brother. We just like to make jokes. That is that.

Also, the other day we had a tour of the UCD (our campus) labs. They were so clean and nice. And my friends and I looked like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers with our weird lab coats. See below.

For now there's less chemistry happening and more sightseeing. Happy times call for happy hours!


peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Boojum-y in my Tummy

Hold on. *heave* Still catching my breath from the 7-mile bike tour I went on yesterday.


In actuality, it was awesome and not too strenuous. My friend Benjy is a bike tourguide in Boston, so he really worked hard to make sure we could find a bike tour in Dublin. There were nine of us that wanted to go. Other reasons for not going were most likely to sleep in, so I'm proud of myself for getting up and making the most of my trip.

I was that one girl that made everyone line up for a picture. You know what, though? I don't mind being annoying as long as I can look back and have the picture saved as a memory. It's worth being irritating to everyone for 4 seconds of their life. They'll thank me later. They always do.

So we finally begin our tour, and for some reason I could not restart pedaling for the life of me after one of the stoplights turned green. I tried so hard I made a struggling noise. An old lady on the sidewalk next to me laughed. Sorry I haven't been on a real bike (not ones at the gym) since like high school. Little did I know, however, that my bike was on the highest gear. When I figured that out and fixed it to the easiest gear, it was smooth sailing. Too bad it was after a rigorous part of our journey... FML.


I sort of fangirled over our tourguide, Brian. He not only told us to bunch up like grapes; he called my girlfriends and I beautiful grapes. Never have I been so speechless after a compliment. I hope I'm a red grape. Anywho, he also pointed out the best nachos and burritos in Dublin. He's a man after my heart I tell ya. OMG how can I forget! He also told us of a good tart place: Queen of Tarts. YUMMO. Oh and at one point he mentioned Chicago, Illinois. I almost fell off my bike. He looked at me because I was causing a commotion (too much state pride). "That's where I'm from!" I said. He didn't seem too enthused. Oh well. Still proud.

He brought us around to a ton of places my friends and I had wanted to find in Dublin such as Dublin castle. And we went through a touristy area called Temple Bar. He said it was so hipsterfied that people drink coffee out of bell peppers. I cried. Soon we passed a famous club that a drag queen owns called "Panty Bliss". Not going there, but it looked lovely.

I got some great chalkboard photos in front of famous places like St. Patrick's Cathedral. Oh and this picture is a gem:

If you can't read it, it says Amy where I'm pointing, and it also says sexy. 100% accurate. This cute wall was in an alleyway called Love Lane. So adorable.

We passed another interestingly named place, well, actually it was a building called Tube in a Cube. It really looked like a tube in a cube. See picture- featuring my friend Benjy because he wouldn't get out of the damn way.












It wouldn't be a Dublin bike tour without taking a rest stop at a pub. This is not real life. I didn't get a drink, but I schmoozed and used their wifi to look up where the burrito place was that Brian mentioned. All of my friends and I had our hearts and stomachs set on those burritos.

We finally ended our tour near the River Liffey. There is a huge bridge that looks like a harp. And guess what?! They've actually made music from it. I'm sure it sounded a bit like a whale, but regardless, it has been done. Go Dublin!

We all said farewell and thanks to Brian, my love. But, it was now burrito time. The place was a little tricky to find, but when we got there, it was as if my life would never be the same.

Boojum. No idea what the name means. But to me, it means the best burrito I have ever eaten in my entire life, at a student rate of only $5.75 (in euros). I even tried their guac. Unreal. And I don't mess with guac because I don't like the texture or taste. Boojum addict over here.


All my friends and I agreed that we won at life after a successful bike ride and obtaining boojum food babies. I napped happy yesterday.

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

This Wifi Is A Lie-fi

Props for the clever title goes to my friend Melanie.

Woooooo, go me. I did laundry in Ireland. Wasn't as difficult as I thought. I prepared myself (my mom prepared me) with tide pods and dryer sheets galore. Only issue I had was creating the correct change for the machines. My friends were very helpful with lending 20 cents here and there. And guess what?! The machines actually dried my clothes. Unlike Northeastern's drying machines. But hey, who doesn't like laying all their damp clothes around their room to dry?

One weird thing happened, though. My friends and I pressed the same method to dry, and my machine said 45 minutes as theirs said 75 minutes. I have stopped asking questions when life throws these curveballs.

After laundry, we went to a football game! And by that I mean soccer. We went to a soccer game. It was our school (UCD) against Liverpool-where we go next week! How exciting!!!! UCD lost, but it's okay...they had cute players. My friends and I called one of them Ed Sheeran because he was the token ginger. I spent more time in line for ice cream and commentating on the players than watching the game. It's called "footie" in England. Just another fun fact handed over to me by Ricky. Oh Ricky. The common consensus from my friends is to marry him. It's not the right timing, I'm afraid, to drop everything and move to England- where he lives. Maybe in a few years...

Anywho, the girls who I've become close with on this trip decided to go to a Korean place for dinner. I was very experimental and actually tried something besides fried rice. It was called Japchae or something. Then I got my fave thing: mochi. It was raspberry flavored. I thought it would come with like four mochi balls, but it only came with one, cut in half. Sad times.

That night we had a really unique experience on the bus ride home. All of a sudden the bus turned off at a random stop. The bus driver comes upstairs (it's double decker, and we always sit on top because we think we're cool), and he looks at us and then goes to the back of the bus and yells at this guy who we hadn't noticed was there. He was sleeping. The bus driver yelled at the man to wake up and pay attention to when he was getting off. Then he asked us on the way back which one of us was that guy's girlfriend. And whoever she was better keep him in line. We died. Later on we turn around, and the man is sleeping yet again. Finally he wakes up and stumbles toward the stairs. He stops right by where we were sitting and tried to say something. He was drunk. Great. After a while he made his way downstairs and went on with life. But hey, good for him for being able to get home at 9 on a Sunday, plastered.

Then for some reason we decided to go out on a Monday (the next night), to the same club place as last week: Dicey's. It was more outrageous than on Friday. Mostly because there were discounts on food and drinks. This one girl got her ID taken away because she was 17. The legal drinking age here is 18. Like girl, you should be at home sleeping. When I was seventeen, I didn't know what alcohol was.. Woof. 

When I got to one point in the line *yes there was a line on a Monday*, this bouncer asked why I was so smiley. I thought about it and literally told him I didn't know. Life is good. He rolled his eyes. Sorry dude, but I'm telling the truth. Whenever someone mentions my big smile, I think about my big Haley (from my sorority). I miss her and her huge smile so much!

Anyway, back to the scene. I met a guy who begged me to check out his mixtape. I kid you not. He wanted me to download soundcloud (similar to spotify) and check out his song "Gettin in the zone". I did the next day, and my friends and I were unimpressed. Too much autotune. Safe to say his mixtape wasn't fire.

Besides that I was really happy because they played my song Cheerleader again, and they played Red Hot Chili Peppers! Not your average club song. I ain't complaining though. Love me some RHCP.

However, I'm going to go on a tangent and complain about one thing. My salad that I keep getting for lunch at this on-campus eatery legitimately has 3 pieces of lettuce. Please sir, can I have some more? All I consume during my salad eating is the chicken, croutons, cheese, and bacon. I do not know why they put bacon on Caesar salad. Again, no questions asked when in Ireland. 

Besides my lack of greens in the salad, at least Ireland is so green and gorgeous to look at. See, I'm looking at it. And I seem to be enjoying myself right?

I leave you with my favorite (most basic) quote from the past few days:

"If I went to jail, I'd ask them to put a filter on my mugshot"

Retweet if you cried.

peace.love.meep

-amyjoy

Ode to Pringles

The bus did not show up at 6:30 AM. Let me just tell you, there were some VERY unhappy campers that morning. Angry Amy included.


So what do we do when the bus doesn't show up until 9 AM? We quote spongebob in a parking lot. I love my life. Another high point was when Centra (our favorite on-campus grocery store) opened up at 7. I bought pringles and water. After a long night out, no judgement was passed. I'm going to give you a little spoiler, our trip to Belfast did not even go to Belfast. We passed through. -.-



I sat on the bus mostly just listening to music and eating my pringles, pondering life. The usual. I was also trying not to vomit. I get car sick, but also I drank way too much the night before. But if we're going to be technical, it was the same morning. Ugh! Also, we discovered that 1) you can't have just a few pringles and 2) pringles make you more hungry.


We passed by a ton of wildlife, but I was mostly intrigued by the sheep. Each farm we passed had sheep with a different color painted on their back/neck area. Still got to research that one.

You can see the sheep sort of have a blue stain on them. It's so cult-y. It makes me feel like the farmers call a certain color, and no one else can use it. I'd choose periwinkle. But I only have sheila the sheep (see old post).


The day was so interesting, but a lot of time was spent napping on the bus. We went way north in Ireland. They started only accepting pounds as money. 'Twas unfortunate. None of us have exchanged our money for pounds yet because England is next week. I used my card to buy a delicious steak burger. No regrets.


We went to a rope bridge, which was interesting because I'm really afraid of heights. The driver told us about how precarious it was. This driver is a jerk. We got to the bridge (after I almost turned around from my anxiety about the heights), and it was literally the easiest thing. No danger was really present. No trolls were found.

Later in the day we went to the Giant's Causeway. It's a ton of rock formations that are hexagons. So pretty, and very mystical. I brought out my chalk and started writing on some of the rocks.

I'm not one for graffiti, but it was a necessary thing to do. I also have been taking tons of pictures with my chalkboard. It's a hassle to lug around, but definitely worth it. After I took a picture with my chalkboard, I later found out that a little girl had seen me and got really excited. My friend told me that her dad asked if she had wanted to talk to "the girl with the chalkboard". She was too shy though. I would have loved that moment like none other. If only she had come up to me, I would have had her write something and taken a non-creepy picture with her. Glad my weird chalkboard is getting noticed.


On the way home, the driver put on a video about the potato famine. I fell asleep within 20 seconds. Not sorry about it.

For dinner we got our third round of Pizza Hut (219.50 euros) compliments of the Chem department again. I devoured a good chunk of pizza. Pizza is life.



And some weird things I've noticed in Ireland:
-lots of blue cars
-people walk on the other side of the sidewalk similar to how they drive on the other side of the street (very confusing for tourists...we get a lot of frowning people staring at us)
-Dublin reminds me of the word dubloon. A currency used by neopets pirates.


That is all.

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

ParaDicey's

Shit got ratchet last Friday night. *cue Katy Perry's Last Friday Night*


Sitting on the double decker bus and my friends, for some reason, start talking to this guy named Ryan from America. Ryan tells us not to go to the place we were headed to because it was "dirty and not the best". So we believe him and go to a place called Dicey's instead- as per his recommendation.

Holy effing moly. I don't think I've ever been to such a ratchet place. My first stop was the bathroom with my friend Nicole. Not to vom, don't worry. The lady in the bathroom (common thing in Ireland is to have an attendant) had lollipops for sale. I resisted. But barely. So we go into the club and all of the sudden see my friend being ushered somewhere by security. She later comes back and tells us she went to "reception". Her name is Mao Chi. She is a character that I will have a whole post on later. We love the fact that she found an usher to get her a bandaid because her knee was bleeding.

One of the funniest things was seeing this random dude hold his phone up over all the heads. What the hell is he doing, we thought. He was Shazam-ing the song "Oh My God" by Usher. Literally, the only lyrics are Oh My God. I was in tears. Who even uses Shazam anymore? It's like an app that you use to find out what song is playing in a store. You put your phone up, and it tries to identify the music. Usually wrong, I may add.

There were so many creepy foreign guys. Not the Irish ones we all dreamed of. So the guys in my group were like, "If any one is freaking you out, we will be your default boyfriend." They said this to all the girls in my group. How sweet, right?! I ended up using my girlfriend Jordan as a scapegoat. For a hot second I was into women. And Jordan was a good sport. I just literally needed to get away from this guy.

The floor was also so sticky that if someone bumped into you, you rebounded just like those big moving things outside of car dealerships. See picture for reference. It was abominable.

Finally we decided to leave. At 3:30 am. Which usually wouldn't be a big deal...but we had to catch a bus to our day trip in Belfast at 6:30 am. Womp.


That is a story for my next post. Here is a great quote I found this week, though:

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Throwback

I still don't even fully comprehend what happened last night, and I wasn't even drunk.

Here's a preview.

Backstory: we were having a fancy dinner at a luxurious hotel near our campus. Our teacher and staff live there. Anywho, they hired a professional photographer (which I appreciated because I LOVE PICTURES). But they also hired this Irish historian. He was a handful. As you can see, he made some lucky people on my trip dance with him. My friend Nicole was picked because of me. She had left to go to the bathroom at one point, and I told the guy that it was her birthday and that she liked dancing. It was not her birthday. She was a great sport though. Even when he decided to pick her up and twirl her...



His hat. I don't even know what to think. You can see the look of the photographer in that picture. He's thinking, "What the hell is this guy on?!"

The historian told many confusing stories as well as made us sing songs with him. Some were fun. But most of us had zero idea of what he was saying half the time. As my teacher put it, "I don't know if he was rehearsed or winging it." What a weird, weird night. We had some great food though! I had chicken that was filled with chorizo. Little spicy, but I was a big girl and ate it all. Always a proud member of the clean plate club!


Quick complaint.. I straightened my hair, so all my pictures would be extra cute last night. Then it poured, and we walked to the damn hotel. Hmph. I was not happy. My hair ended up curly and frizzy in all pics. Thanks mother nature.

Ah, if you ever wanted to see the head of the chemistry department, here he is. He's pretty bald usually but not here.

He kept arguing with the historian about facts because he's from Wales which is semi-nearby? I don't know, but it was funny. It's quite intriguing to see your teacher in this situation. So powerful in the classroom, so helpless during improv.

Yes, improv happened. The historian made my friends act out stories. Here is a picture of my friend Kaila embracing her inner viking.

At one point he called up my friend Clarissa because she was blonde. She's literally been the token blonde on this trip. You can actually see her in the picture of Kaila, right in front of her. But anyway, the character she played had to be blonde. And as she got up to leave, I said BYE FELICIA. The guy then said, "Alright Felicia, this is what I need you to do." All of us died of laughter. He kept calling her Felicia the rest of the night. "My name's not Felicia!" Said a very defeated Clarissa. 'Twas funny. Other funny things occurred. One of the other staff members made a lot of dad jokes. They were so low key that only my friend Jordan and I heard them. We would always hear them and then look at each other and crack up. At one point both of our nostrils were flaring we were laughing so hard- and seeing the other person laughing so hard made us laugh more. It hurt to breathe. That's when you know that you are in good company.

Oh, here's one of the TAs on our trip, Nick. He got his hands on some dracula fangs that the historian had. I also tend to carry around fangs. It's casual. NOT.


Best part of the night could have been when the guy walked near me, and I said, "What is happening!?" And he replied, "I don't even know!"
Bruh, get your act together.


If I had to describe this occasion in four words it would be:
1. Creepy
2. Factual
3. Inappropriate
4. Ratchet




Looking forward to more weird ass nights like this one. I'll probably remember something else that happened that was significant and add it to this later.

Hope you sort of understood this post. There's a whole new meaning to the phrase "Let's get weird" now.


peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Overdose on Souvenirs

Oh I-rish I was an Oscar Mayer Wiener. Sorry, I just like needed to say that to someone.

Just another day in the life of Amy. I'm starting to really think I'm a black sheep in this world. What does that even mean? Well, I think it means I am unique. Not just how everyone has a different look or different address. I am seriously one-of-a-kind. I don't know someone who laughs as much as I do (even when I'm by myself). I don't know anyone that thinks in the way that I do about humanity. I just don't know. It's not a baaaaaaaa-d thing per se. I just wanted to point out that if you ever meet me, or if you know me already, be prepared for some weird ass conversations. I will make you think. Plus there's a brilliant song by Mat Kearney called Black Sheep. Give it a listen.


Anywho, I saw that hat and naturally posed. Cute smile, I know.

This picture was taken in a souvenir shop. They had deals upon deals. I'm definitely an impulse shopper, so I had to restrain myself. I bought a thimble (which I collect).




This made me cry a bit. Not the pricing, but the take-home message. Morbid. It got me thinking about the random time I bought a keychain from an Alpaca Fair. I know, everything you expect from Illinois. Having random animal fairs titled Alpaca Extravaganza. Fun fact: it was the weekend of my Bat Mitzvah. Still went because I'm a true fan.

So, I bought a sheep keychain because they didn't have any alpaca ones. Super bummed about that still. I named it Sheila the sheep. It now has traveled through 2 moves from my childhood home, to a temporary apartment, to my new house. Sheila hangs happily from one of the kitchen cabinets.

Love love love this hat. I think it means like Guinness looks like genius when drunk. If not, then I can start my own hat business with that slogan. OMG I just realized there is a bottle opener on the hat. Brb, going back to that store right now.


K, I'm back. Wow. Ireland has been such a tub of fun so far. I've gotten really close to some of my chemistry friends and made new friends too. Obviously made some friends from outside the trip, like my pal Ricky. Tehe. For all the girls out there...I told him thank you so much for the flowers, and he replied, "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl." My heart.


I also found out the names of his three ferrets: Frisky, Fry, and Scruffy. More information to come. Possibly pictures.



Oh, and I absolutely aDOOR these doors. (Sorry for the sloppy puns today)

Every time the bus passes this row of houses, my friends and I gush about them. I wonder if Irish people trick-or-treat. And if they do, I bet they say, "Don't go to the red door, they are only giving out the lame stuff this year!" Just Amy thoughts.

I thought it was cool that just across the street from these two doors was this:

 Symbolism with the colors!? I have no idea.


Yesterday we went to my favorite restaurant (mostly because of the name) called Peaches. It has pretty decent buffet-style food. But what really steals the show are the desserts. The first day in Dublin, we walked by and were handed samples. Haven't stopped thinking about those fruit tarts since. And that's exactly what I got yesterday. Then, with my tummy as happy as a pig in mud, we headed to the park. There's a beautiful green area where a yoga class was going on. People were sitting around, and there were no clouds to be seen. Now remember, it has rained almost every day since I've been here. Finally, we got some sun.



Later, we headed to our fave Wednesday hangout: Captain America's. It was karaoke night again, but this time I only stayed for food and one drink. Now let me just tell you about that drink. So last time, I ordered an appletini, and it was phenomenal. It tasted like a green jolly rancher. Yum yum in the tum tum. This time, however, it showed up as a weird yellow color. My friends told me that my face was hilarious when I saw it. Like dude, what are you doing to me? I still drank it all, but it tasted like zero alcohol and 100% like apple juice. I usually wouldn't complain, but I now have trust issues. The nachos were fab, though.

I thought about leaving my number for our waiter Sebastian, just to see what would happen. He had been the same guy that served us last week too. So nice and prompt. Even though most of the time he laughs when we order appletinis or sex on the beaches. I decided against it because that's not really my thing. Great guy from southern France. Oh my gosh. They also give you lollipops with the bill. It's no Andes Candies from Olive Garden, but I still enjoyed the three I ate.


Tonight some weird things happened. I still have to gather my thoughts about it. Tomorrow, my friends, I'll give you the low-down.


PLUS, I've decided that I need to come up with a name for the people that follow my blog/follow my life. When I become famous (probably from a viral video that is me just embarrassing myself), I want fan names. I was thinking Fan-des. Like fans of Andes. I don't know. Still a work in progress. Email me if you have ideas.

amywantsjoy@gmail.com

peace.love.meep
-amyjoyfandes

Nature Is Beautiful

So...remember Ricky from one of my former posts? You know, the English guy who I had fun with on the pub crawl? Yes, that one.

For those of you that have bad eyes, the note says,
"To Amy,
Look forward to meeting again.
Ricky     X"


*Heart drops*


Since when did romantic things happen?
Is this real life?






Okay. So tonight after dinner, I see a slip of paper stuck in the place where my door key is supposed to go. I read it to find that I have a package waiting for me. At the residence office. Of my dorm. In Ireland. What the hell is going on?! I text my parents to see if they sent me anything. Nope. You better bet that I sprinted (more of a swift walk) to get that package. I could have picked it up the next morning before class. Wouldn't that be fun? Lugging a huge bouquet across campus and explaining to the Dean of Chemistry as you walk into class that you met a guy at a pub, and he sent you flowers. Glad I got it tonight.

So I walk into the package office and hand them the slip of paper. Then the girl smiles and goes, "Oh, you're Amy!" Oh shit. What did I do now?

As she hands me this gorgeous bouquet, she smirks and says, "We have all been so jealous of you." Retweet if you cried. People, believe me, I cried. And so did all the girls that I'm friends with on this trip. We gushed for at least an hour. Literally all taking pictures and sitting around the flowers.

Side note: I am a huge fan of flowers. Ricky had zero idea of this (although most girls love flowers). He wins the award for English gentleman. Mysterious and suave. Like Austin Powers...

All my friends would say was, "You have to blog about this Amy!" So here I am. There are so many things everyone is probably wondering. Don't worry, I'm right there with you. But for now, I'm more than content because I truly am living my fairy tale life. I had a rough start to this week with getting my leg cut open (seen on my left leg in pic below), hard organic syntheses to do in class, and just life in general was blah. This was the best pick-me-up ever.

I will give Ricky a million thanks (as they say here). Maybe we will find each other again in this lifetime. Maybe not. But for now, he made Princess Amy the happiest girl in Dublin.



peace.love.meep
-Princess amyjoy

P.S. For all of you that don't believe that things happen for a reason or you meet people for a reason, your life is sad. Learn to believe. And live your life spontaneously. Because happy things happen for those that believe they will.

Shark Bait Hoo Ha Ha

Dudeee...
Why did they decide to change Shark Week this year from August to July? I've never missed it in my life, but of course it started July 5th, and I left July 5th. Life isn't fair.

As a kid I would tape and watch all the episodes religiously through out the week. Then I would go to my friends' houses and watch it with them. I was the kid that thought I was something special because I knew exactly who was going to get bitten or what came next in each episode. That was definitely my prime.


Hopefully my parents figured out how to use the taping system on our TV. I have low hopes, though.




Ah, yesterday I did something great. I somewhat answered a question in class right. My teacher went around and asked every single person about this certain molecule and how we thought it was probably formed. The whole time my friend Jordan and I were nervously awaiting our turns. Usually what happens when I get called on is just a long period of staring at the molecule followed by a half-assed answer. But, I sort of knew this one!

Best part: He gave me the laser pointer to use as I explained my reasoning behind my thoughts. Then I fucked it up and switched slides on the powerpoint on accident, so he asked for the pointer back. But hey, two seconds of green laser pointer happiness. I'll take it. No one else got to use it!


I was on a high yesterday because for lunch I got the LAST meat lasagna that was available at the store we went to. I was on top of the world. It was very delicious.




I want to end this very short post with a quote my friend Ale (pronounced all-ay) shared with me.

peace.love croutons.meep
-amyjoy

Tumbleweed

Today I tried to run a trail near my campus. Working out on study abroad? I know; I'm an inspiration. But let's just say that when I said I tried, that is exactly what happened.

Ireland wasn't having it with me working out. I take that as a sign I should probably go have a beer. Or I could have some wine...oh wait...no I can't. (See last post). I ate shit on the path, end of story.



Today started our second week of class. I had the hardest time focusing this morning as we learned about antifungals and antivirals. Just as a recap, my class is on drug discovery. Not like cannibis or meth. We're talking like real difficult molecules that have been made available for diseases and infections. It's intriguing, but I know I don't want to go into this field- so I lose focus a lot. My teacher is probably the smartest chemist I know. I get mindfucked just listening to him. But I can never stop listening because 1) he has an accent and 2) it all sounds so important. Go chemistry.



In other news, I thought I should share a picture of the crew of people I've been hanging out with (and probably annoying with my lame jokes) on this trip.

Pictured from top to bottom on left: Nick, Jordan, Nicole

from top to bottom on right: James, princess Amy, Clarissa, Melanie, and Jake


We make Jake take all our selfies because he's hella tall. We all go out and have meals together. It's a nice little chem family. I wish Nicole didn't derp in this picture, but I usually am the one to ruin pictures, so I can't blame her.


Also, on a heavier note, this morning someone I thought was really close to me decided to ruin all my positive perceptions that I had for them. It makes me so upset, sometimes, to be so close to someone and work so hard to make them happy, but receive nothing in return. At least this toxic being is now out of my life for good. As my dad would put it, "It's their loss for losing an Andes girl from their life!" Whether it's a friend, boyfriend, acquaintance, or something else, no one fucks with the Andes clique. Woooo, now I'm hyped with pride.


HOWEVER, Irish people are not fans of my dog, Sir Walter Andes. Here he is...just chilling like always. Spoiled brat.

Why do the Irish not like him, you may ask? Welp, I found this sign up on Trinity's (another college) campus.


I'm still crying of laughter. It looks like they specifically don't want yorkie/schnauzer mixes. Sir Walter (Wally) and I have an interesting relationship. I love him when I'm not with him. But at home he begs for food, wakes me up from my beauty rest, and demands I give him attention. Like stahppppp. I want to be relaxed at home, not wake up at 3 AM from his barking at non-existent things that he sees out the window. What a character he is. He has had full Chinese leftovers before and chocolates on Valentine's Day. Not on purpose. But my dad does splurge and buys him McDonald's ice cream cones every now and then. I know. I don't want to believe it either.








Well, nothing too big happening over here. Just trying to keep up with the happenings of my friends at home and at school. Also about to get Neosporin for my leg because of those ladies that wouldn't move from the path. Yeah, that's the reason I fell. For trying to move out of the way to let other people pass. Last time I ever do anything nice for anybody. Lol just kidding, but I ain't happy about my battle wound.

If I don't find neosporin, I'm resorting to potato peels. Wish me luck.

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Goodbye Baby

Moment of silence for the alcohol that was given back to nature today. Pictured on the top is some lovely wine I bought that decided to break through my bag. On the bottom is cider that got stabbed by the broken glass of the wine bottle and squirted in every which way until I finally laid it to rest in the bushes. *takes deep breath* At least no one was hurt in this tragedy.

Woof. You know what would make me feel better about this situation? Wine.



Anyway, I found the best shirt today.

I didn't buy it, but I should have. It was only 6 dollars. I don't like shirts with a ton of words though because A) reading is hard and B) they're tacky. But hey, the picture was necessary.

Another funny shirt I found at this store is the one on the bottom. Hanger is real... My friends know me too well and will make sure I get food right away when I'm hangry. Otherwise Hangry Amy comes into town. She's like the annoying relative that complains about everything until she gets her way. Just don't let me go hungry is the moral of the story. Thank you in advance.


Confession: I really really miss my day camp counselor job. I worked at Apachi Day Camp for 2 years as a counselor for the Juniors (3 and 4 year olds). Yes, very young, I know. Some of them definitely were too young for a 6 hour day of camp. The thing I miss the most? My co-counselors. Becca, Alex, and Gillian. My first year I was paired with Becca then the following with Gillian. Alex was there my second year and was paired with Becca. We became so close. We all still have a group message and talk about funny times from last year. They started camp already, and they keep me filled in on the latest gossip. I love hearing about camp but sometimes feel so sad about not being there. I know everyone is so jealous I'm in Europe enjoying my summer abroad, but sometimes it's the little things like teaching a camper how to swim or tie their shoe that is just as awesome. I also miss the kosher hot dogs we got every Friday. Hehehe. When I come home in August, it's the last week of camp. I definitely plan on visiting my girls! Hopefully some of the campers remember me. This one kid Brandon probably does because I always screamed his name whenever I saw him, and he'd cover his ears. Traumatized. I'm the worst. One of my favorites, Olivia, asked where I was during camper orientation (my co-counselors told me). I shed a tear. Ugh. Today I thought of this only because I found this shop that has a similar name to my camp, spelled differently though.

It's funny because we also got pizza at camp every Tuesday. Probably better than this place's pizza. Chicago pizza is where it's at my friends.


Anyway, I love finding pictures like this one abroad that connect with my life in some aspect. I feel like it's a sign that my co-counselor friends and memories of camp are always with me wherever I go. I cannot wait to visit.

I'm done being sappy for now. Do yourself a favor and don't try to figure out the name of this blog post. You are always going to be wrong. Only my friends here will get it. Don't ask them either; that's cheating.



peace.love.meepizza
-amyjoy

I love you, You love me

BLARNEY.

Ok this calls for some explaining. There is a famous stone in Ireland that you're supposed to kiss called the Blarney Stone. I don't know whether it's good luck or something (I zoned out during our tour guide's speech) but we all ended up kissing it. I'm glad it was raining, for sanitary reasons. Think about how many people kiss that stone daily...Ewie.

After we stood in life for what seemed like eons to make out with a stone, we went and got steak burgers. They were phenomenal. Oh and then my friend Melanie got shat on by a bird. I saw it happen, but I thought it was a leaf that fell in her hair. She started to touch her hair to get out whatever it was and then goes, "No, this is not happening. Not again!" She has been pooped on 3 times. This lady near us was wondering why I was rubbing Melanie's head with a tissue. Then she told us that being pooped on was good luck. Melanie has been a very lucky girl indeed. 3rd time's the charm they say...

(Pictured is Mel being a good sport as I took a picture right after it happened)

Omg I'm so sad I didn't get a 7/11 slurpee yesterday on July 11th. What a shame I'm galavanting around Europe and can't partake in an unneeded sugary intake celebration. But actually I'm crying inside. At least pizza 2.0 happened last night, compliments of the chemistry department. They even had Hawaiian, my fave. Thanks science.

Some random news: street performers here enjoy playing American songs the most. Specifically Sweet Home Alabama. Questionable, but also smart because they play the classics and probably get more tips that way. Another funny thing is that one of the main phrases everyone is using is, "Where's the wifi?" It makes me think of that youtube video "Where's the Chapstick?" I continue to love that video even though it was so middle school/high school.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qYY06KD_Zg (you're welcome)


They also have a ton of minion stuff here (the little yellow guys from Despicable Me). They must've known I was coming because I have a slight obsession with the minions. And by slight, I mean my parents sent me around 20 presents that had to do with minions for my Golden birthday (since minions are gold/yellow)- I turned 20 on the 20th of September, so that's why it was my Golden birthday. I got everything from a minion hat, to minion fruit snacks, to a minion poster that showed two minions with fart guns from the movie. I love my parents. And I love minions. I've taken so many pictures in Europe with these guys.

Kinda happy you can't really see my face in this picture. I don't even know what I was going for.


In other news I've been reminiscing about how I didn't go home this summer and how my friends from home and I are all growing up and changing. Too many feelings right now. So happy with all of their accomplishments, though. I always knew they would go far. Today I talked to my best friend from home, Julie. It means so much when we talk because we rarely do it. We just have the busiest of schedules. I really love that when we talk it's just as if we never stopped talking. She means the world to me! Also, she was just in Ireland. I missed her by a few weeks. She told me some awesome places to go. Wish we could've traveled Europe together. Maybe in the future...


OH. I got q-tips today. Life is good and clean.

peace.love.meep
-amyjoy

Pub-lic

Pictures from my last post just prove the fun I'm having with myself at restaurants. At least I'm entertaining my friends. But really, what is brown sauce?

Oh so this Friday we went to a place called NIBRT (pronounced nye-bert, like Bill Nye the science guy). It stands for the National Institute for Bioprocessing and Research Training. Super fancy eh?! It was basically a plant that trains people how to form cell cultures, purify, filtrate, and do other bio processes to create drugs to be injected into patients. These are not like regular medicines my friends. I can't even begin to explain how complicated and diverse this field is. Two people gave us lectures about it. One of them, Stephen, was phenomenal. The other (very older) guy did not intrigue me or my fellow classmates. Too monotone and redundant. Look up the song Stephen by Ke$ha. It has nothing to do with this but the lyrics are great and very creepy. 

Stephen was very lively and colloquial. We understood him a lot better than the other guy. Also we got to take a lab tour. We got to wear the traditional garb. Including the beard guard. I forgot to shave, so my five o'clock shadow was indeed in need of a beard mask. Just kidding. But Kaila (the funny girl) wore one. She's a riot. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures. I know; you're all disappointed.

Lunch was good. I know... I'm talking about food again. Surprise surprise. We got sandwiches. But what really stole the show was the canary melon. At first, I was like, "What the hell is this yellow melon I'm indulging in?" My friend Melanie was to the rescue (as was Google) and figured out it was a canary melon. Not to be confused with the bird. So yeah.

But I know you're all dying to hear about the pub crawl...let me take a moment to gather my thoughts. Yikes.

First stop was Mercantile. We had to sign in for the crawl and get a wristband. A bright pink wristband. They also gave a token to us, which was good for one half pint of Guinness. Then whenever we switched pubs, we got a free shot. I know what you're thinking. And you're right.

At one of the bars, I finished a keg. Obviously it wasn't all me...but I felt cool. Although my friend Clarissa was pissed because she was next in line for beer. Lols on lols, sorry gurrrrl. But hey, time for some spicy meatballs. So there was a "Stag" party which means bachelor party on the crawl. They were English guys. My friend Jordan and I befriended them. Funny moment: Tom was getting married, and I'm pretty sure they lost him. I asked at one point if he was excited for his fiancé to become his wife. He got real quiet and said, "I can't say right now because her brother is right behind you." Shouldn't he be saying nice things regardless!? Bruh. Get it together. I switched the conversation and started talking about the weather but was very much concerned with his lack of an answer.

Oops, sidenote. My friend (not to be named) peed in an alley because she couldn't make it to the pub (5 feet away). So I of course was a great friend and guarded her from public. She ended up peeing on my foot. The whole night she kept apologizing, but I told her not to worry. "This will make us closer!" Oh drunk girls.

My friend Nicole was almost left behind due to her shoe problems. This morning she quotes, "30% of my toes are broken." What some people do for fashion.

Back to the stag party, a guy named Adam told me I was like a ray of sunshine. Every time he came by I told him to smile and showed him my pearly whites as an example. I was trying to be like my big Haley- always smiling and positive. He was very grumpy. Grumpy gills, according to Dory from Finding Nemo. Besides that I started talking one-on-one with this guy named Ricky from England. He was the youngest in the party, age 22. I found out a lot about him. He's literally so English...has 7 siblings with the names Liam, Charlotte, etc. He also has 3 ferrets. Retweet if you cried. 

I had a good night talking with him! You always hear about those love stories that start at a bar...that was not what happened, but he did give me his token that gets you a free Guinness. Maybe he was in love with me...

He was uber cute; I will not lie. The accent was almost too good. A picture, you ask? All of the pictures are very pixely, and you know, I want this to be a mystery for my readers. What ended up happening? Did I get his number? Will I see him ever again? Tune in next time for the True Life of Amy Andes: Europe Edition.

Peace.love.meepieeee

-amyjoy