Small Adventures

My life has calmed down a great deal since the month that was Spring Break, St. Patrick's Day, and the arrival of Carolyn and Kristina but that doesn't mean I don't have small adventures.

Small Adventure 1: Yesterday I had to take the bus into town in order to use the Wifi in a McDonald's. I had to submit a scholarship application and for some reason I could not get to their server from the UCD network. I braved the Dublin rain and got my scholarship in while munching on some "twisty fries." I plan on writing Micky D's and suggest they bring those bad boys to America.

Small Adventure 1.5: Laura was in the city as well and texted me so we could meet up at McDonald's. She had to go into town to get a new boot for her poor injured foot but all the medical supply stores were out of her size. I guess a lot of people with her size foot have stress fractures too. We decided to try the Crunchie Bar McFlurry. For those of you who don't know, Crunchie Bars are my new favorite Cadbury chocolate bar which consists of this honeycomb like thing covered in chocolate. Very tasty. They were on sale for Easter and I bought more than I care to disclose.

Small Adventure 2: I made Thai curry for dinner last night (and had the leftovers today). This is about the fourth time that I have made it since I've been in Dublin because it is a fairly easy and hardy dish but yesterday was the most successful attempt due in part to the fact that I found baby corn. I also added potatoes, green beans, and chicken, not to mention rice; it's a Thai stew of sorts.

Last night I danced/sang in my room to a medley of songs from Sweeney Todd and Billy Elliot, but that's not so much an adventure as a habit.

Small Adventure 3: Today it snowed in Dublin. I spent a lot of time doing work and avoiding work. Tonight my internet was acting up so I decided to work in the computer lab and put on comfy clothes to do it. Before we came here we were told not to look like Americans. Somehow I think my Fighting Illini sweatpants, Delta Sigma Pi sweatshirt and shirt, Northface, and Vera Bradley bag betrayed me in my attempts to look Irish. After working (or procrastinating) I came back to the apartment and me and Laura had some fried potatoes while chatting and singing a duet of "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret.

Kristina and Carolyn's Visit: Friday

The grand finale of Kristina and Carolyn's trip!

Friday the plan was to go to Howth, about forty minutes outside Dublin by train, if the weather was decent. Turns out the weather was decent enough so after mailing Kristina's many postcards at the UCD post office we hopped on a bus and headed into Dublin. After getting into the city we made our way over to the Famine Memorial on the banks of the river. On our way we ran into many people selling daffodils as a fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society and Carolyn bought a bunch, which she later tossed into the ocean.

We looked at the Famine Memorial and then, to Kristina's delight, headed over to Connolly Station to catch a train to Howth. Kristina was very excited about being in a station that shared her last name and we took many pictures of her next to various signs. Then we hopped on the DART and were on our way to Howth.

Unfortunately the weather was not looking good when we got there. It was getting rather windy and by the end of our hike it had started raining. It didn't stop us as we made our way up the trail to get the gorgeous views of cliffs and the ocean. Here is a sample:

The magic of the self-timer.

It was getting a little damp in Howth so we decided to hop back on the train and get into Dublin for some lunch, going to a place called Kate's Cottage for some hardy Irish food. After lunch we headed over to The Temple Bar for some music, stopping at the James Connolly memorial on the way. Temple Bar didn't have very good traditional music that day but we enjoyed sitting down and relaxing never the less.

Kristina had been taking pictures of the various colourful doors in Dublin so we made our way down to the Georgian area of town, stopping for pictures along the way. The doors here really are fun and I never get tired of watching them fly by me as I ride the Dublin Bus. We also stopped in Merrion Square, which is the park with the Oscar Wilde statue (although there are probably about four hundred in Ireland). I showed them how it was done, climbing onto the rock where the statue sits. I did it fairly easily, but I had already had practice. Then Carolyn tried. Carolyn is a lot shorter than me and her shorter legs may have done her a disservice. For the life of her she couldn't get up. The funniest part came when she finally got both her feet on the rock only to fall backwards into the garden. Poor Carolyn. On her last attempt, as she made the hop over I held her to keep her from falling. I would have done this before but she wouldn't let me.

We walked around looking at doors a little more, then it was time to hop on a bus back to UCD. It just so happened that Brittany and Laura were on the same bus so we chatted with them on the way back. Laura had just gotten her hair cut and needed it dyed so Brittany was going to come up to our apartment and help her. We all gathered in the kitchen as Brittany dyed Laura's hair and then the Dsigs played a little cards.

Kristina, Carolyn, and I went back to my room after Britt left because they needed to get all their belongings in their suitcases and ready for bed. Laura came in to show us how her hair turned out and ended up chatting with us for a couple of hours. It was a good session of girl talk and made me realize how much I missed my slumber parties with Kristina.

The girls left the next morning at about 6 am. It was so nice to have them here and although I miss they could stay longer my room wasn't spacious with three girls sleeping/living there.

Hospitals, Pancakes, and Newsies- Oh My!

This was the first day in who knows how long that I have been able to sleep in, but I’m not complaining about being busy traveling about Ireland. I’m still livin’ the dream.

After a somewhat lazy morning Laura knocked on my door to vent about the fact that someone had drank half her Diet Coke 2 liter and most of her unopened parmesan cheese. We went on the passive-aggressive warpath and wrote a post-it asking whoever stole her food to fess up. Our roommate Claire came forward confessing that she was very drunk and ate the food, and apologized by giving Laura five euro to buy new food. That was nice of her to come clean. I’m just curious what her drunk food was considering she ate Laura’s parmesan and my ketchup was out.

Laura’s foot had been bothering her for a while and our hike in Glendalough had not done it any good so she asked me if I would accompany her to the hospital to get it checked out. I was down for an adventure so we walked over to St. Vincent’s, which was just down the road. She got registered right away and then we sat in the waiting room for quite a long time watching a soap opera on BBC which perplexed us, mostly because the waiting room was loud and we missed a lot of dialogue. After about two hours she went back for x-rays and said that I could leave because she didn’t know how long it would be.

The Tesco (supermarket) was right across the street so I headed over there to get supplies for dinner. Jen and I were having a movie date to watch one of my favorites, Newsies. We wanted blueberry pancakes for dinner so I picked up some pancake/Yorkshire pudding mix and was on my way.

Laura came back to the apartment and let me know that she had a stress fracture in her foot and had to be on crutches for the next week. We are supposed to go to Paris on Friday so I am hoping that she is well enough to walk around and take Paris by storm. I started mixing up the pancakes when Miss Jenni showed up and we started cooking. I don’t know what, if anything, we did wrong, but those pancakes are not like the ones I am accustomed to having in America. Maybe pancakes are different here but if you closed your eyes and ate our pancakes they tasted exactly like Yorkshire pudding (which makes sense because it was also Yorkshire pudding mix). I’m not really complaining, but it was extremely odd. Now I know not to trust Tesco brand pancake/Yorkshire pudding mix.

Then it was time for main event- Newsies. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this classic Disney musical, it is about newsboys in turn of the century New York who strike against Joseph Pulitzer. It is a really inspiring story which has a lot of truth to it. The newsboys of that time did strike against the most powerful man in New York- and won! And the best part of the movie is that it stars Batman himself, Christian Bale. Adolescent Christian Bale sings and dances with the other newsboys and does a great job. And the choreography is superb! And the music is by Alan Menken! And it’s directed by Kenny Ortega of High School Musical fame! What more can you ask for? Seriously I highly recommend it and Jen and Laura loved it too.

In conclusion:

Hospital- bad, pancakes- debatable, Newsies with my international crew- amazing!

Glendalough and Wicklow

Glendalough and its famous cylindrical tower that is 100 feet tall.

Today was another daytrip that was organized by the Study Abroad Office, this time to Glendalough, a monastery founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century, which is nestled in the Wicklow Mountains, one of the most beautiful places I've seen in Ireland.

I coerced the organized of the trip to let me bring my Aussie roommate Laura to the trip (she was the only one not from the US out of about 50) and Brittany came too. We met at 10:30 (Carolyn and Kristina left at 6 am) and drove about an hour to Glendalough where we went to the visitor center and watched a movie about monasteries in Ireland and the history of Glendalough. As I mentioned, it was founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century who wanted to become a hermit. After spending some time alone in the wilderness people began to move around him, forming a settlement. The settlement grew and at that time it was larger than Dublin and the premier monastery in Europe. I suggest a visit if you have time.

After the presentation Brittany, Laura, and I wandered over to the remains of the settlement before our lunch of a sandwich, water, and a chocolate bar which was provided for free and therefore amazing. Once we were finished with our sandwiches we went on a mini-hike by ourselves and then came back to the visitors' center in time to meet up with our tour guide.

Our tour guide took us for a two and a half hour hike around Glendalough then through the Wicklow Mountains. Our tour guide was an older man who has five generations of his ancestors in the Glendalough cemetery. He told us the history of Glendalough and then we were off to the mountains.

I am a softy for a good graveyard. And if you know me well you know that is the truth. But seriously, out here you can really rest in peace.

Gates to Glendalough. Nerdy me loves to think about the people back 1,000 years ago entering in the settlement.

Cathedral (or what's left of it)

Those lambs are so adorable it makes me feel guilty about my love of lamburgers.

The hike was a lot more strenuous than I thought it would be and I got on the bus to go home with a sense of accomplishment and tired legs. We hiked up into the mountains, which were hideouts for Irish rebels throughout Ireland's rebellious history. It was quite the trek to get up the mountain, but the view made it worth it. The best views were by the Upper Lake (Glendalough translates to "Valley of the Two Lakes" in English).

Uphill

Picture perfect day!

Kristina and Carolyn's Visit: Thursday

After spending the weekend in Galway and the Aran Islands I had to get back to Dublin for classes but Kristina and Carolyn continued their Irish vacation without me, going to the Cliffs of Moher, Cork, Blarney, and many other places along the way. I have to give them a lot of credit for making their way around Ireland by buses without missing one, despite the fact that they had no watch and were using the time stamp on Carolyn's camera for the time. They came back into the city on Wednesday night and we spent time together Thursday and Friday before they left this morning.

Thursday we tackled a lot in Dublin. Kristina was dead-set on going to the Castletown House, which was owned by the Conolly family. She desperately hoped that she was related and would someday inherit it but her dreams were shattered when she was told by our guide that her last name was spelled the wrong way (two N's). The house was about forty minutes outside Dublin and really beautiful and on a lot of nice land. When we got there they said that they had a large group scheduled to come and we would not be able to get a tour for an hour and a half. We pleaded with them and they arranged for a woman from the office to come down and show us around really quickly so it worked out great. The interior was so nice and it looked like a house Mr. Darcy could have lived in.

After taking a bus back into Dublin we went to Kilmainham Gaol. Loyal readers may know that I had already gone there once and was planning on doing some work/shopping while Kristina and Carolyn went but I enjoyed it so much the first time that I decided to tag along (not to mention I get in free with my Heritage card). This time I had a different tour guide which was nice because she focused on different things, including the role that women played in the revolution and civil war. Kristina and Carolyn really enjoyed the exhibit as well.

After Kilmainham we took the bus back into the city. I had to do a little shopping (including getting a new polka dotted dress; I seriously didn't remember the last time I bought a new outfit) and then we went to dinner. Carolyn wanted to try a place called Cafe Fresh, which was a vegetarian restaurant. It had really great food and was really affordable, therefore Dinner = Success.

After dinner we tried to go to the Garden of Remembrance but we never would have guessed that it closed before 6. We peeked through the bars of the gate and were somewhat able to get the idea. I felt bad that Carolyn and Kristina couldn't really visit it while their time here.

We got some dessert and then headed over to the Woolshed, an Australia bar that the Wolfpack was at to watch the Australian football game. Laura is a big fan and being eleven hours behind and in Ireland was not going to stop her from rooting for her favorite team. We went there for a couple of minutes to say hi and then headed home to get ready for karaoke.

Once we got back to UCD it was obvious that we would not have enough energy to party with Brock Jones, the karaoke master, that night. Instead, we had girl talk and went to bed early because we had to fit a lot in the next day.

Inishmor

Cliffs near Dun Aengus on the Aran Islands

Inishmor (I've seen about four different spellings) is the largest of the Aran Islands and Kilronan is the biggest town there. The population is about 2,000 people and the island is two miles by nine miles. The only way you can get there is by ferry; one is at 10 am and the other is at 6 pm. I also know from experience that everyone you pass on the street says hello to you. It has been my favorite place that I have visited in Ireland and I got to share it with Kristina and Carolyn.

We woke up and headed down to breakfast at the Pier House Bed & Breakfast. The man of the house told us that he had lived on this tiny island his whole life, something that I don't think I could do. After a hearty breakfast we went across the street to Aran Bike Rental to rent bikes for the day. Each bike only cost ten euro and it is for sure the best way to tour the island. Inishmor is so rustic that I think being in a car would spoil it. The bike rental guy showed us the best trails to take and we were off! Enjoy our bike tour:

Kristina and Carolyn beginning the ride

The Landscape

Horses, which we met up with later.

Dun Aengus, a Late Bronze Age fort on the cliff. As the cliff erodes chunks of it continue to fall in the ocean.

We spent the longest time just taking pictures at the top of the cliffs. We had nowhere to be and there is a great possibility that we will never be back so we snapped away. Also we were right on the cliffs; we could just look down and see the ocean beneath us. This is Kristina and me in our matching Delta Sigma Pi sweatershirts. Precious.

Waves crashing against the cliffs. Being up there is humbling because the ocean seems so powerful. Not to mention one misstep and you're falling 100 feet.

Loving every minute of it!

Carolyn cheating death on the edge of the cliff.

Cows grazing. Those stone walls have no mortar so they can easily be moved when the animals need somewhere else to eat.

Seals! We headed over to Seal Cove on our second time around the island (we got back from our first round at 2 and the ferry didn't leave until 6 so we decided it to take advantage of our time on Inishmor).

Many seals. They are kinda funny looking things, but I bet they think the same thing about humans.

Carolyn was very excited about the seals so we went to great lengths (literally) to get close to them. I'm glad that Kristina, who can be kind of a klutz, made it safely over the seaweed covered rocks.

Carolyn petting a horse in the distance.

We had a lot of fun petting the horses. There were three adults and a colt.

Stonewalls that were all over the island. I love the patterns the rocks make.

After looking through all of my pictures I was kind of disappointed because none of them capture what the island was really like. One of my guidebooks described it as "moody, heart-stopping beauty that can be interpreted as starkly romantic or monotonously bleak." I really like this description. Riding around here it looked like a movie set for rustic Ireland.

Galway with the Dsigs

Streets of Galway

The original plan for Kristina and Carolyn's first full day in Ireland was to wake up at 6 am and catch an early bus to Galway, but waking up at 6 am was asking a lot so we hit the snooze button for 2.5 hours. We then were out of the room by 9 and caught the bus out of Dublin.

Once we got into Galway our first task was getting tickets for the ferry that we had to take that night into Inish Mor. We got those at the Tourist Information place and then walked along the seaside into the center of town where all the shops and restaurants are. On Saturdays there is a small market around St. Nicholas Church so we browsed around there for little while. Carolyn and I got pretzels and Kristina and Carolyn also got crepes for a crepe stand. The owner was having a lot of fun cooking their crepes and even let them come into the small stand to take a picture.

One of the objectives we had going to Galway was getting an authentic claddagh ring from which originated around there. Serious shoppers that we are we browsed around for the best price and the perfect ring, ending up  at Thomas Dillon, the "original" makers of the claddagh ring. I don't know exactly what the qualifications are for being the original but their rings are the only ones that are allowed to write "original" on the back of their ring. They also had an exhibit at the back of the shop showing the first claddagh rings and telling their story. With the help of Kristina and Carolyn, enablers extrodinaire, I ended up purchasing a sterling silver one, which has a lifetime guarantee. All in all, I'm really glad I got a claddagh ring to remember my trip to Ireland.

After getting Kristina's mother some Ireland wool yarn we got on the shuttle that would take us to the dock for the ferry. It was a fairly long drive and then we had to take the ferry for about 45 minutes, leaving us at about 2 hours roundtrip with waiting. The Ireland v Scotland rugby game was on that day and the Irish, as of most of Europe, are very passionate about their rugby. Therefore the game was on the TVs on the ferry and everyone riding would cheer or moan with the game.

Watching the match

We pulled into the dock in Inish Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands. Our B & B, the Pier House, which Carolyn booked was right at the end of the pier (you probably could have guessed that) and we made our way over there. We ran into the man of the house coming out of the driveway and he said that we must have the wrong place because he had no reservations for that night. Carolyn panicked slightly and told him that she certainly made reservations. He brought us inside and realized that he had written our reservations for the wrong day and there was definitely room at the inn because we were the only people staying there. We dropped our stuff off in the room and headed out to find some dinner.

We ate at the Bayview Restaurant which had a fairly good selection and amazing garlic bread. After a short dinner where Carolyn and Kristina argued over who should have what sugar packet (because each had a different Irish proverb on it) we went out in search of some Irish music. We were told to go to Joe Watty's which was up the road about 7 minutes. The walk was kind of scary for me because it was so dark. The island is so vacant and there are barely any street lights so we were wrapped in darkness. Carolyn and Kristina said that they felt perfectly safe on the island but I always think of the worst case scenario.

We got to the cozy little Ti Joe Watty's and the music was going to start in about ten minutes so we got a table and some water. The music group of the night was a group of three boys, two of which were probably younger than us, and who looked like brothers. They played traditional Irish music, along with some contemporary pieces, and during "Galway Girl" a girl ran up and started Irish dancing. I got the local flavour there and it was a lot of fun. The boys were fairly good and near the end another older man took over for the guitarist. I just loved the feeling of the island and its people.

I'm thinking about trying to bring live Traditional music to Champaign.

Hello Kristina and Carolyn!

I had some visitors from 'merica.

On Friday morning Kristina Connolly and Carolyn Wott, fellow Deltasigs, came to visit me in Dublin. After bringing their stuff into my room and showering we were ready to hit the city. We had planned on doing the New Europe tour of Dublin and found the tour at the meeting spot they said but it was done within an hour leading me to believe that we caught it halfway through. Curious that they would be at the start point at the exact time the other one was supposed to start but who knows. I tried to cover some of the other sights of Dublin for them, like Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and O’Connell Street but it would have been once to hear what the guide would have said. The hour we were on the tour was great though and I have a couple more stories about Bono. You know what they say, Dublin is a city of 1.3 million people and 3 million Bono stories.

After looking around the city we were dragging so we headed into the pub to listen to some music and relax. I wanted to find some nice traditional music but of course all I could find were guitarists playing “Wonderwall.” We settled down in The Quays Pub and talked it up with some English men there for a bachelor party. In Ireland you meet friends wherever you go.

At 6 Brittany and Laura came downtown to meet us for dinner, which we also had at The Quays. We talked and ate and then it was time to head back to UCD because we were pretty tired. Kristina and Carolyn hit the hay early while I stayed up and did some work. We had an early day tomorrow and had to be ready for adventure.

Budapest- Day 3

Last day of the best week of my life!

We woke up, checked out, and hit the town. Stacy was sad to see the Unity Hostel go because she said it felt like home. Our first stop was the city to show Stacy everything she missed the day before because she was sick.

We were greeted in Budapest by the whole population that was celebrating. I had read that it was a national holiday on March 15 but I had totally forgotten. It is meant to commemorate the 1849 Revolution and seemed like our Independence Day. A lot of families were out celebrating and the Chain Bridge was shut down to traffic so everyone could just walk along it. There were a lot of people on horseback in uniform riding about there too. I thought it was just about the coolest thing that we could see another country celebrating their national holiday.

We then headed over to St. Stephen’s because Jen was going to meet yet another friend from home to catch up. The rest of us headed over to the Szechenyi Baths for another authentic Hungarian experience. I was so glad that we went there and I could literally soak up the culture.

After much confusion at the baths we finally figured out what we needed to pay and went into the changing rooms that were co-ed. After getting changed (Stacy actually just wore her underwear because she did not bring a bathing suit) we hit the outdoor baths. Although it was still kind of chilly outside the baths themselves were very warm, about 34-38 degrees Celsius to be exact. It was very cold when I was walking outside the baths wet, but otherwise I was perfectly comfortable, especially since it was nice and sunny. There were maybe different parts of the pools including a whirlpool, jets, and chessboards for the old men who want to play chess in the baths. Indoor they also had sulfur baths and saunas, although I only spent a very brief time in the sulfur baths. We spent most of our time just soaking up the sun and relaxing after an exhausting ten days of travel.

Beautiful. And how blue is that sky?

The hot water was steaming in the cold air.

Jen surprised us there and we hung out with her a little while before getting out and showering because we had a plane to catch. We attempted to find the place where Jen had lunch with her friend Olivia but we were unsuccessful and ended up just going to an Italian place for a quick lunch before our minibus came to bring us to the airport.

We got to the airport successfully with plenty of time to spare. Good thing too because Aer Lingus was experiencing “technical difficulties” so we ended up waiting in the airport for quite a long time (about an hour). While checking in they tried to weigh my bag to make sure it was under 10 kg. I’m pretty sure it was well over the weight limit but I kind of lifted it off the scale ever so slightly while she was weighing it. It also seemed like every place we visited had various egg shaped souvenirs, so I literally had five different eggs in my suitcase. Random I know.

Once we made it through Hungarian security we took time to reflect about the trip, giving overall pits and peaks for the last ten days. Most of the pits were very minor and involved having cold weather. Everyone had the same heartwarming peak- the Wolf Pack. I love those girls and the group just meshed in a way that worked. We are all very different and yet we formed a great travel group that conquered four capital cities in ten days. I will always look back on it with the warmest memories.

The trip went as perfectly as we could have hoped. We had good accommodations, didn’t miss any trains, didn’t get pick pocketed, everyone kept their dignity intact, and we came back with the same number we started with.

Budapest- Day 2

Beautiful Budapest

Our second day in Budapest (first full day) started like every other before it. We woke up (we actually slept in a little for the first time) and headed downstairs to get the free hostel breakfast. At breakfast we met two girls named Cory and Melody who go to USC and they asked if they could come with us for the free walking tour we planned on going to. The more the merrier!

We left the hostel and took the subway to Vorosmarty Ter to meet the tour, hosted by the one and only Gabor. Gabor was a funny little Hungarian man with a love of spandex flair pants and colourful scarfs who referred to us as “travelers,” at one time even yelling “Godamnit travelers, hurry up!” Gabor grew up in communist Hungary and had a lot of passion for the city, not to mention he was very entertaining. We saw a lot of architecture in Hungary as well as statues. Here are the highlights:

Gabor (far right) in all his glory

Palace

Padlock Tree. When you are in love you write your initials on a lock, lock it here, and then throw the key in the Danube River.

St. Stephen's Basilica

It is actually not a true basilica but the Pope called it one when he saw it and no one argues with the Pope.

Chain Bridge which connects Buda and Pest

Hungarian Parliament= very impressive

View of Fisherman's Bastion

Hilly Buda

Steeple of Matyas Church on Castle Hill. The colourful tiles weren't added until 1950-1970.

Fisherman's Bastion

Interesting facts about Hungary:

1. Hungary claims the most nobel prize winners, although most of them were not in Hungary when they did their work.
2. Yoda from Star Wars speaks Hungarian. The script was written in English, translated into Hungarian, and then back in English word by word. The Hungarian language is very hard and unique. If you want to say “I am good” you could say “am I good,” “good I am, or “good am I.”
3. Hungarians are good inventors and invented the Rubix Cube and the ballpoint pen.

After the tour Gabor gave us the down-low on other places to go in Budapest, including the public baths which we hit up the next day. After his little lecture we went to get some lunch and then met up with Stacy who had stayed home from the tour to recuperate. We did some more shopping, and went in the inside of St. Stephen’s Basilica to see the mummified arm of St. Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary in 1000 AD. For those of you keeping score at home, that is the second mumified arm I have seen while in Central Europe.
 

Outside the church there is a square and on this day there were children singing and performing there, probably in celebration of the national holiday tomorrow. We sat on the steps, soaking up the sun and the culture. What a slice of life to hear young Hungarian children singing “Ode to Joy.”

We headed back to the hostel to relax for a bit before heading to dinner with our new friends Melody and Cory. Diana unfortunately had to go back to Vienna in order to head to Bratislava to catch a flight to Dublin for a St. Patrick’s Day. Here we jet set like nobody’s business.

Dinner was ok and after dinner we headed back to the hostel. The girls asked me to perform my monologue because I think they desperately needed entertainment, and I don’t need to be strong armed into performing. I gave the Anton monologue and I think everyone was fairly impressed. Afterwards we shared stories of Gabor with Stacy who missed out and journalled together. We then did pits and peaks for the day. Here’s everyone’s peaks (except for Laura who had already fallen asleep):

• Stevie- choosing between going to a spa and shopping
• Brittany- listening to the music outside St. Stephen’s
• Jen- Gabor and my monologue
• Stacy- being able to eat at dinner (she had the stomach flu)
• Me- journaling with everyone

And so ends another day. Only one more to go!