Wednesday July 13 - Lost finding a grocery

Wednesday was fairly boring. Well not boring, but it was a typical class day, so pretty uneventful. We had one class in the morning and one afternoon. I took a nap in between and was a little late to the second class, but overall just a normal day.

I'm a little nervous about my classes - getting flashbacks from accounting last semester with Allen. The good thing, however, is that I have experience with the similar structure of classes. Basically do what you're told and you'll be fine. Only challenging thing is that aside from notes we really just have three tests to gauge our knowledge from the month we have here. It seems like everything is pretty straightforward aside from learning mostly the terminology and specific theories and so on.

After class we went to the local grocery here - TESCO. We got a little lost on the way, but that's supposed to happen, right? Anyway, it's great for groceries, but it doesn't carry much. We have now been to two or three different TESCOs and while one was a superstore and others weren't, they vary in products. I couldn't find a pack of hair ties for the life of me, and I only brought one - the one I wore on the plane. They even had wood polish weird roll-on deodorant, and bobby pins, but NO HAIR TIES. What kind of place is this?

We picked up a few things for the next few days and caught a bus home. Fun fact: you pay for bags if you use any. Ireland is a pretty green country - not just because there's so much grass everywhere that looks a little TOO green. They have mandatory recycling (or so I'm told), and consequently have an odd arrangement for trash in our room. Glass goes in one bin, dry recyclables like plastic and cans in another, trash in another but no food there. We have a small bin for those that don't fit the category.

We got back and needed a few extra things so we went to the small grocery on campus, Centra. Turns out they have overall better deals on produce, but everything else varies. They even have a few pre-made things to reheat. All that and a giant cooler of Ben and Jerry's - including a "Phish Food" flavor I may just have to try (yuck!).

We ended up making pork fajita mix on a bed of rice after a little confusion on how to turn the stove on. Sounds crazy, but all the outlets and appliances require a switch to turn the outlet on. We even blew a circuit using the toaster when it was maybe one of three items and the fridges plugged in. Took a while to find the electrical panel - too high for us mere short people. Anyway after that it was time for bed, and ready to begin a new day!

PS - while trying to find the grocery we discovered that it seems to be a trend of people to leave clothing on fences.. I've seen countless shoes and jackets scattered about. Not sure what causes this, but the many pubs on every street may play a part.