Classes, First Rain, & a Birthday

More classes today: Contemporary Irish Society and Mass Media in Ireland. Both professors are native Irish, also studying at DCU to earn their PhDs in the school of Communications. In Contemporary Irish Society, we discussed the origins of Ireland, its location and how it directly impacted and still impacts how the country is viewed from other parts of the world. Mass Media in Ireland was really great. We talked about the different British newspapers and how the Irish used them as a guide when starting their own papers years ago. Our professor also explained his interpretation of American culture, and its direct influence on the Irish media. I think Mass Media will probably be my favorite out of the three classes, since it really pertains to advertising and what I want to do in the future.

After class, eight of us walked to Tesco, another grocery store (or food hall), about 20 minutes away from campus. While the Spar-Mart has the essentials and its close location to our apartments is great, Tesco is amazing! Much more of a selection, lots of deals, and I even found Oreos! A few things about grocery stores in Ireland that have surprised me so far: the eggs are not refridgerated, types of milk are not categorized by color (skim, 1%, whole, etc), and they charge you .22 cents per plastic bag if you need them to carry your groceries. It surely isn't Acme or Shaws, that's for sure. Right after we got home from food shopping, it started to drizzle; maybe tomorrow I'll finally get to wear my new rainboots!

My roommate Melissa and I, with help from our other suitemates made a chocolate-frosted sponge cake and blew up balloons for Casey (Casey turns 21 on 1/20). At midnight, we celebrated as she blew out the candles and we sang Happy Birthday. Her first drink of choice as a 21-year-old: MILK. This girl loves her milk, let me tell you.