On the Irish Grind Stone

Well, they weren't lying- summer has gone. It's gotten way colder and the rain has come back. Oh, well. I hope that I can find it again when I go on my trip with the SMC girls to the Aran Islands. We leave Friday and come back Monday night (don't worry, Monday is a bank holiday so we won't be missing school). But that'll be next weekend, here's what happened this weekend:

Friday: I slept in after my night at The Roost and woke up to gray skies and a light drizzle. This might be a bit weird, but I found this in one of the stalls when I went to the bathroom at The Roost, and really liked it.

It reads, "Smile, happiness looks gorgeous
on you!" I bet this has made tons of drunk
girls burst into tears

We all had our own work that needed to be done, so my roomies and I all sat in the common room working on our essays. I tried to look for summer jobs, and applied to a ton. For dinner, some of the guys came over and we ordered burritos because being in Ireland makes you really miss the ease of Chipotle.

Saturday: Maynooth was a total ghost town. I tried to study outdoors, but it was far too cold with the sun never coming out. I continued to work on my assignments indoors throughout the day and studied for my one and only exam. The exam is on Irish history so there's a lot of difficult dates and people to remember. I went to the gym (because of the rain) as a study break and greatly enjoyed being able to use the facilities without fifty people trying to fit into the place built for fifteen.

Took this on the way to the gym

When I got back from the gym, I tried to look for jobs again, but it's going to be hard to be hired while I'm here. So, if anyone in Michigan knows of somewhere that can hire me, even if someone needs a nanny or a sitter, I would greatly appreciate the job!

Sunday: Sorry, but I basically did the same things again. I stressed out over all the assignments I have and the exam that's a huge part of my grade. I did, however, take a study break to go to mass, where, instead of the priest giving his homily, a young seminarian from Saint Patrick's (the school we share a campus with and where I take my religion class) came forward to talk to the audience. He was supposed to be recruiting for more people to join the seminary, so he told us about how he got to Saint Patrick's. He started off by telling us that he didn't have some amazing story, he wasn't a convert, nor did he have one big dramatic revelation that he was supposed to be on this path. Apparently, when he was six he told his dad he wanted to be a priest, as he was an altar boy and understood what being a priest meant. (He even said how he understood they couldn't be married, but that didn't matter to him at six years old). His father hit the roof and he decided he no longer wanted to be a priest. As he grew up, he still believed, yet school made him fall away from the weekly attendance of mass. He decided to pursue working in a business, until an advisor at his school told him that Saint Patrick's was looking for more people to become religion teachers. He'd always wanted to be a teacher, and theology could become a part of his life again. So, he took it. I really enjoyed his story, and it gave me more admiration for the men in my religion class, and any who join the seminary at all.

Tomorrow is my exam! Wish me tons of luck and I'll let you know how it goes.