the light at the end of the tunnel....

Why is it that i concentrate best between the hours of 12 and 2 am?
I just finished paper three of the week and tomorrow i'm on to numero 4. So the only thing that stands between me and the end of this semester is a long-ass paper reflecting on what economists can learn from anthropologist in the study of development. Yeah, i'm exhausted just thinking about it but once i have it out of the way i plan to spend the remainder of the time, making up for lost time in the last two week that i have not been living it up. So here is the to-do list to commence as soon as i turn that stupid paper in:
--Relax/have fun/go shopping/drink/pack/watch movies/play with friends

more specifically
--go ice skating on River Lagan
--Clubbing on Wednesday night..(I HAVE to--its so Euro and i haven't been yet)
--Go to Giant's Causeway
--"Slumber Party" for bonding purposes on Friday night after a fancy "goodbye Belfast" din din

I'm so excited!

And Monday i'll be home!!
It's really sad/depressing/exciting that I only have a week left.

funny exchange

caitlinjj (1:49:44 AM): well we're having a slumber party on friday
trizatchmo (1:50:11 AM): the three of you?
caitlinjj (1:50:18 AM): yes
trizatchmo (1:50:21 AM): why don't you just call it a crunkfest?
trizatchmo (1:50:27 AM): "slumber party"
trizatchmo (1:50:35 AM): you ain't gon do much slumberin
caitlinjj (1:50:43 AM): cause we're going to move all the mattresses into one room
caitlinjj (1:50:50 AM): and "slumber party it up"
trizatchmo (1:51:10 AM): that sounds like what i call a "hassle"
caitlinjj (1:51:21 AM): haha

cold!

My favorite time of day is 4:00 pm when i hear water trickle into my radiator which means the heat is coming on.
Up until that point almost all activities that can be are done sitting in my bed under the covers. I miss central heating!!

Thanksgivin's

Its been awhile since i posted, but that's mostly because there hasn't been much to update. Thanksgiving was fun though. We planned an elaborate dinner, determined to ignore the fact that Ireland didn't celebrate our traditional holiday. In honor of T-giving i skipped class. Since the subject of that class was going to be about food consumption, i figured this was appropriate.

I made two of my favorite dishes for t-giving, squash and green bean casserole. They were both quite good, if i do say so myself. We also made mashed taters, fruit salad, mac and cheese, and homemade pumpkin pie via Catherine! I only tell all this because let me stress, its not easy preparing such a meal in a foreign country, especially considering our resources. ie: the only pot i own here is about the size of a tissue box (the square kind). Oh and we had chicken instead of turkey because turkey is hard to find here and when we finally found one it was too late. So it was tough, but it all worked out. And on top of that, it snowed on Thanksgiving! That was fun because all the Irish kids were freaking out about it and trying to play in it, even though it was barely any. Apparantly they don't get much snow here. After t-giving dinner, we did what all proper Americans celebrating thanksgiving in Ireland would do--we went to the pub.



Yesterday, Catherine and I went to the Belfast Christmas market, which was great fun. They have all sorts of vendors set up around the City Hall selling things from different countries around the Continent like Cheese, crepes, crafts, sausages, mulled wine. It was neato. Here's the City Hall a la the Continental Market:

people are going to stop reading this, beacause i always get politcal. But this is beyond politics.

This makes me so overwhelmingly sad and disappointed in our country.

and then very angry.

i love my mommy:)

My sent me the greatest package today! It was full of wonderful things including: two dvds, the Vanity Fair music issue (which i Love and look foward to every year), a little purse, and American macaroni and cheese! oh joy. It completely made my day and my week.

Also, i have been listening to AirAmerica radio (over the internet) a lot this week, which if you don't know, is a liberal talk radio station that has hosts such as Al Franken, Jeanene Garafolo, and Jerry Springer. And it is amazing. I will be honest, some of the hosts are a crazy, but its only because they are effing pissed off about the politics in this country (well not this country, since i'm in Ireland) as they and everyone else should be. So they are usually ranting and raving but i find it pretty funny but also very informative. I'm getting news that i just don't get from mainstream media and i feel like thats really important. For example, the WH changed the official transcript from a press conference because the press secretary said something he shouldn't have. Isn't that ridiculous? No major news orgs reported that and if you don't think its that big of a deal, think about it this way--they just wrote a lie into history. What other types of lies have they weaved into our history? Iraq's WMD's for one...anyway, i have a paper to write but have a listen if you dare. www.airamericaradio.com

Bush 0

This is not to say that i don't really like John Kerry, i do, and I think he would have made a better President and that our country would not be as effed up now if he had been in charge. That being said, John Kerry, please stop sending me emails--i was on your list before but i don't really care what you have to say at the moment because its the same thing all the Democrats are saying. And if you are going to keep sending me emails, could you cut the ridiculous subject lines. The one today is great, and i think i'm going to start keeping a list, beacuse all together they are quite comical. Today's email subject line from John Kerry "Reality 2, Bush 0". Wow, John that's clever.

gray days

the last week has consisted of me working on papers almost exclusively and i am so sick of it! I really could have been done by now but i'm such a great procrastinator that i'm sure i'll finish both papers the night before they are each due. Hopefully, i'll get to do something social this weekend, and then next week i'm off to Edinburgh to visit Zack--yay!

not necessarily coherent

American culture pervades Northern Ireland. You can only really understand U.S. hegemony when you live in another country. You can be told it by people and professors, but its hard to get until you at least go abroad. Sometimes i want to say, Don't you people have your own culture? Wouldn't you rather watch Irish tv shows or listen to Irish music artists? I know this is naive since they can't help what's marketed to them but it still is kind of bothersome to me. A few small illustrational anecdotes:

--Today in my Development and Change class, we talked about American tv shows for about 20 minutes. They were really just talking about their favorite shows but they were all American: The Sopranos, Desparate Housewives, Sex and the City, Lost, The O.C. 20 minutes. It was remarkable to me. Especially when i was aked if i watch the Soprano's and I said no, its a premium cable channel and I'd have to pay $30 a month for HBO. Not the case for the Irish. Because the companies make plenty of $ of it in the US they can market it cheaply here.

--Then in a completely different class, Economic Anthro, we watched a clip from the Sopranos illustrating how social relations impact gift exchange. And then a clip from the movie Ghost World about garage sales. We also read an article about "the U.S. garage sale", which is funny because its like all these anthropology students are studying our culture like they would the Yap of Micronesia. a bizarre feeling. apparantly they don't have garage sales here.

--I know this entry is quite boring, but just to add, yesterday one of professors spent nearly the entire lecture focusing on how the U.S. is screwing the world with its foreign aid. I wanted to skulk out prayed no one knew i was American. It made me feel very depressed and very powerless.

--Unrelatedly, looking at my floor yesterday, i decided I look like an earplug junkie. Which isn't too far off...