Daughter of Darkness

When asked why I chose to move to Northern Ireland from a land of sun and warm weather, I usually jokingly reply that I was exiled from Colorado due to my predilection for cloudy and rainy weather. There is then the obligatory aghast looks and the reply "Well then, you've come to the right place!" But more often than not I feel my statement really doesn't sink in to the questioner's view of the world (that in fact everyone loves the sun and heat and no one could actually possibly prefer the rain compared to that). This week in Stockholm and reconfirmed for me (and confirmed very emphatically from Melanie's point of view) that I not only to I prefer rain and cloud cover but I actually have a very deep antagonistic relationship to the sun. It annoys me intensely. Most often I loathe it. I try to hide/run/cover from it but it seems to seek me out to induce more pain and anguish upon me. Melodramatic much? No. Ask Mel. Really, there are no words for this relationship so I will end with a picture (worth a thousand, I hear...)

This is how I feel when I venture out into the sunlight:

Men, Cafes, and Mexican food

One of the best things about living abroad is seeing new places and people. I realize just how little of that everyday adventure I receive in Derry. Not to say that there are not interesting moments there still, like trying to understand the pedestrian chicken game everyone seems to play on the streets (personal space doesn't appear to exist there) or the always fun times of trying to find equivalent food items such as tortilla chips and sour (aka soured) cream. But having lived in Derry for nearly 10 months, I've been rather starved for newness. All that has turned around with Melanie's and my Scandinavian journey. In one day, we've seen more eye candy than we have in the past 10 months, and sat in several cafes for a quick break from sightseeing to have some ice cream and needed caffeine (Derry is distinctly lacking in this important aspect; its a beer drinking culture, not a cafe culture). Best of all experiences so far has definitely been – the Taco Bar. Neither of us realized just how desperately we missed Mexican fair (any to be had in N. Ireland must be homemade, and let's face it, that's just not the same..) therefore our enjoyment of the Mex Mix combo plate was beyond our imagining. And now its time to pull away from the computer and get back out into this teeming metropolis full of new sights, sounds and tastes all awaiting our deprived palates.

Endings and Beginnings..

Another semester has past and though I can't recount all that must needs be said on that right now (as it is much past my bedtime), I will reflect briefly on my time in the 'village' - that is, the Duncreggan Student Village. As with anything in life there were good times and bad. Luckily for me, the former outweighed the latter. From lucky meetings blossoming into good friendships to just watching the footballers do their stuff on the pitch (yes, our kitchen overlooked the field and it was often a gooooood site). Movie nights, impromptu karaoke and apple tarts were some of the excellent highlights. Then there was the ever balancing nasty all-nighters and super-humanly loud cleaning crew bright and early at 9am every week, not to mention the fire drills at 2am on the coldest nights of the year (a trend not only carried out in Northern Ireland as my stint at DU will attest).

I can't say I'll miss the dryers that never really dry or the continuous racket from the kids first time away from mommy and daddy who insist upon drinking themselves to oblivion every night of the week, then return home yelling and screaming loud enough to wake the dead - or at least all of us who were already asleep in the dorms. But I will miss the good times with the friends I've made. And in case words alone do not cover it, here are some pictures of just such ocassions as I'm referring to....

What better way to get to know someone than we sharp objects in your hands?


Just a regular night out on the town for us girls in Derry!


Prepping their debut...


...as the rest of the crew get in the zone.


A little birthday breakfast goes down best with some good company


A year in grad school ain't the same without a trip to the local pub/creepy cradle-robbing club!


The girls working the dance floor!


The gang all together at last