Scared by the Make Up Monster

Last night I experienced probably the most culture shock I’ve had since I’ve been in Ireland. This occurred when I went over to a friend’s house, where she and her friends were meeting up before going out. Her friends rolled in with cases of makeup larger than my stage makeup box. They stripped down to their underwear to apply fake tan to their entire bodies, while singing along to the new Jennifer Lopez songs they had turned on Youtube. A minimum of four hair straighteners were in use at a time. Little did I know that you straighten your hair before you tease it, curl it, insert hair extensions, and spray the crap out of it with one or more products. They broke out sets of makeup brushes and every possible color and shade of powders, creams, and sticks, applying layer upon layer until I barely recognized them. All of this occurred in a whirl of talk about diets, workouts, master cleanses, and celebrity bodies.

I sat watching in amazement. I felt like I was backstage at a beauty pageant. “So THIS is what sororities must be like”, I thought to myself. I was terrified, but fascinated. I was quite literally observing something completely foreign to me. My friend came over and asked me if I was alright. I looked at her, with my air dried hair, lacking any sort of product (save some lotion to calm the frizzies), and 5 minute makeup job, and whispered, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” One of the girls turned around and half joking asked me if I thought they were vain. It took everything to hold back the resounding YES!

 And then there was me....

Finally, (AFTER 2 HOURS) I went out with them to the club. Eventually, I met up with another American there, who had gotten ready in a similar manner as I. I told her about the freak show that had preceded the taxi ride and how uncomfortable I felt being in the club surrounded by such made up girls. She paused for a second and said, “Jenna, how many guys have asked you to dance tonight?”

“6….”

“Right. And how long have those girls been standing in a circle together dancing and trying to attract guys?”

“The whole night…”

“Guess they wasted those two hours getting ready, huh?”

It was perfect.

Study Breaks/Cultural Exchanges Part 2

Yesterday I shared the sacred time I spend drinking my Starbucks venti Americano with a few of my favorite Dance UL friends. (A note about Starbucks – I still do not support this company, and as soon as I return to the States, I will refuse once again to give them my business. However, when I’m over here, I NEED a coffee that is larger than my pinky finger, and there is literally no other place where I can acquire that necessity.) Christelle is a French Canadian in her third year of med school. Elle is an Irish vocal major, and was spending this semester abroad in Mexico, but had to return midway through because the town she was in became too violent. We discussed our postgrad ideas, summer plans, Christelle’s volunteer work in Africa, and of course the Dance UL gossip. 

After lunch, Christelle drove us into town, so Elle could get her visa pictures taken for her Summer in America. They took an hour to get developed, so Elle and I occupied ourselves with smoked salmon and dreamy strolls through boutiques in which we would never be able to afford anything. On the bus home, she invited me to dinner later that evening.

I forced myself to study (it’s getting REALLY hard at this point) for a while, but then walked (in the pouring rain) over to Elle’s house. She had made pasta from scratch, the way she was taught by her host mother when she spent time in Argentina. 

We shared the meal with our friends Ariel, an American who spent the last semester studying in London and now studies in Limerick, and her visiting friend, Lisa, an Italian who is studying film in London. The food was delicious and the conversation was good, so naturally we decided to move the dinner party to a pub and continue talking over a few pints.

When I finally got home, I was ready to dive into studying again. But, as every college student knows, you have to check both your e-mail and your facebook before doing anything productive. To my delight, I had a message from a very good friend I met over here, who just moved to Melbourne, Australia over the weekend. It was really good to hear from him.

I always thought that I am extremely lucky to have grown up in such a diverse community and had a splendidly international group of friends. But, when it comes down to it, they all live in America now. The great thing about the friends I have met over here is that they actually live in different countries. What a fabulous excuse to visit!

Study Breaks/Cultural Exchanges

As I trudged through my second week of exams, the need for sanity breaks greatly increased. This, coinciding with my love of celebrating holidays that I really have no business celebrating, gave me a perfect idea. Cinco de Mayo celebration – Ireland style! On May 5^th, I went out to lunch with a group of friends and threw out the idea. I’m not quite sure why, but I assumed that everyone knew what Cinco de Mayo was. Wrong! Seven blank Irish faces gawking at me…I turned on the charm and described it in the best way that I knew how, “You know…it’s a Mexican holiday that Americans commandeered and turned into a day of drinking tequila and eating tacos.” The response was overwhelming, and the night out was a go! The best part was that they completely got into the holiday. I was receiving “feliz cinco de mayo” texts all day/night, the girls tried to accessorize appropriately, and they tried to keep the drink orders “traditional”. I found this completely hilarious and had a great time.

In turn, I was invited to watch the Chelsea vs. Manchester United soccer match yesterday. This may have well been a holiday to the guys I went with. We arrived at Hurlers, a popular pub near campus, an hour before the game because “it fills up quickly”, Rob warned me. Two hours of screaming, shouting, and cider completed, half of the guys walked out soaring, while the other half hung their heads in shame. 

We headed for “victory pizza”, which apparently seemed like the perfect time for them to give me a tutorial on everything I say “wrong”, and how to correct it.

Soda = fizzy drink

Comforter= duvet (regardless of it being a duvet or other type of comforter)

Trash can = bin

High school = school (college should not be referred to as school)

Gas = petrol

The list goes on for ages, but you get the point. I’m told that these vocabulary quirks are to be fixed by the time I visit them this Summer. I’m working on it.

One more week of exams ahead of me… I can’t imagine what sort of study breaks we’ll come up with.

Limerick Riverfest

A citywide festival, Limerick Riverfest, occurred over this past bank holiday weekend (yeah, they have a bank holiday for the first of May…what?). I only made it down to the festival on Saturday evening, but I had an incredible time. There was a free open air rock concert, BBQ, a huge street party right outside the Locke Bar, and a firework show over the River Shannon.

 I went to the festival with Dance Club friends, but by the end of the night we had made loads of new friends. The town was filled with people and after the fireworks, we went from pub, to pub, to club, just to meet up with all the other friends we had out that night and inevitably make more. It was fabulous. I think this has been one of my most memorable days in Ireland.

I’m so excited that most of these dancers will be in the States this Summer for school or work, so I can visit them. And, I'm banking on coming back to Ireland to visit them too.

Easter and Exams

Coming back from spring break to be smacked in the face with exams was jarring, to say the least. However, I allowed myself a study-free weekend to recover and celebrate Easter with family. We spent Saturday walking around the milk market, city centre, and campus,

and Easter Sunday in Blarney, with a pit stop for an oversized Easter feast in Cork.

Then, the rents went on their way to Dublin and I hit the books hard. Having not done any “real” studying in, well, 4 months, I wasn’t really sure where to begin. The concept of not having exams or homework all semester, then having exams worth the majority of the module grade at the end of the semester is completely foreign to me (no pun intended). I’m not entirely sure how I did it, but I ended up getting 2 out of my 6 exams out of the way, to enjoy a final dinner with my parents in Limerick before I had to run to a birthday party and they prepped to fly back to the States. Listening to them talk about Ireland was so bizarre, because it made me realize how much of a culture shock it’s going to be for me when I go back to the States. All of the surprising differences they mentioned seeing during their travels all seemed completely ordinary to me, for better or for worse.

I have two more weeks of exams, and I’m finally beginning to figure out the best way to avoid “hitting the wall” while studying. This technique includes getting up early and taking lengthy naps, having lots of skype conversations with friends (shout out to Ionut for allowing me a straight 4.5 hours of conversational stress release), listening to Afro Celt Sound System albums on repeat, occasionally running to the campus Starbucks or to my neighbor’s flat for much needed dancer talk, and watching South Park episodes whenever my eyes stop being able to focus or my writing hand cramps up.  

It's not all fun and games anymore, but I can't imagine it being over.