One week back at PC and it has been an adjustment, though my friends have made it very easy. As much as I miss Ireland, I missed PC even more. This week has been filled with seeing everyone for the first time being back and catching up, as well as busy with classes. I missed my friends so much, I have spent almost every waking moment with them just hanging out.

I am living in Bedford in a single, so I have pushed the beds together. Though I have spent most of my time in my best friends room in Mal Brown. We have had family dinners, I made lemon pepper chicken with broccoli and rice pilaf. It turned out really well.

Today we spent the entire afternoon watching football. The Colts won just like I had hoped and now I am praying the Saints can come up with a win. Have a great week, it is great being back in the 401!!!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello Everyone!!!

Well I am finally home!! I arrived in Logan airport on December 19th, hours before the storm hit the New England area. As soon as I was at the baggage claim I had my cell phone out texting and calling all my best friends! It felt awesome to just be able to get in touch with everyone without having to be at a computer! When I arrived home my entire family came over for dinner to welcome me home, it was great seeing all of them! I didn’t realize how much I missed all of them until I actually saw them.

The following day my family spent the day getting the house ready for our annual Christmas Eve party! I made sauce and meatballs and stayed home all day due to the fact it was still snowing! The following day Julianne came over for dinner, it was great seeing her. I missed her so much! We basically just hung out and talked for like four hours catching up on each other’s semesters. As the weeks went on I eventually saw my other college friends Andie and Colleen, who both live in MA.

Christmas was spectacular, I got to see all my family and just enjoy my favorite time of the year with the people I love. I haven’t been up to much since I came home, just spending time with my friends and family, as well as getting ready to go back to PC!! I have been keeping in touch with my Galway friends, I miss them so much! It was hard adjusting to being home in the beginning, not just the time change but mentally as well. The hardest part besides being in bed by 8pm and waking up at 6am was that I couldn’t just walk out the door and walk somewhere I needed a car. Though with Katherine home on vacation it has made things easier, but I haven’t really gone anywhere really. Except for the few times with my college friends and when we’ve gone out sometimes songs come on the radio that remind me of Galway, I get sad and immediately text Casey and Karyn. The text is usually like a line from the song then remember the good times in Galway.

I do miss Galway, but there is nothing like being home! I have actually already planned my trip back to Ireland, May 2011 right after graduation! And if I can find a cheap roundtrip flight, I might even go back and see my housemates in Gort 70 during spring break this year! The spring break trip in not final, but after graduation is, I honestly cannot wait to get back. I have met some of the most incredible people over there and have become good friends with my Aunt Tricia’s friends, who were so kind enough to look out for me over in Ireland. I am looking forward to seeing them this summer when they come over to the Cape!

All in all I had the most amazing experience, sure I got homesick, but who doesn’t. By the time December rolled around I didn’t want to leave and I was trying to do everything one last time so I could just soak it all in. I recommend studying abroad to anyone who might show the tiniest bit of interest, it is an experience of a life time! You will make friends that will last forever and learn so many life lessons along the way.

I hope everyone had a great New Year! I want to say to three of my PC friends who are currently heading off on their study abroad adventures, I hope you have just as an amazing experience as I did! I can’t wait to see you when you return! It's back to PC for me in three weeks, WOOT!!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey everyone!

Just a quick note…Last week was a busy week, I spent the entire week studying and taking exams :( . I am currently in Dublin visiting my aunt’s friends who have been nothing but amazing to me through this entire experience. I came to visit and say goodbye to them, until I see them this summer on the Cape. Also my childhood friend, Maggie, is in Dublin for the day by herself on a tour through Ireland. So I am going to be meeting up with her and show her around. Then I go back to Galway tomorrow morning to study for one last final on Wednesday! I am excited to be almost done with school work here. My last three days I am going to spend just enjoying myself and taking in Galway one last time. I have had a wonderful, life changing experience. I cannot wait to go home and tell everyone about it, but I honestly do not want to leave.

I plan on posting again the day I leave about everything that goes on this coming week and dealing with having to leave. Have a great week!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 5:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know I did. My family was here visiting me and I was thrilled to be with them! I surprised them Friday with Thanksgiving dinner, it was great! We did loads of shopping while in Galway and on Saturday we made our way to Dublin. There went to the Guinness Storehouse, Jameson Distillery, and Grafton Street to name a few stops. The lights for Christmas were already up, which just put me in Holiday mood right away!

My cousins, sister and I at the Storehouse

I really enjoyed having my family visit; it was so good to see my sister. I really missed her, as well as my aunt and two cousins. It just made me realize how much I am wanting to come home, but at the same time not leave here. I think that has been the hardest part of the whole experience, I want to go home so I can see everyone I love and be able to call or text my friends whenever I want, but Ireland is so amazing and the people here are so wonderful part of me doesn’t want to leave. Overall though their time here made for a wonderful weekend even if it was raining most of the time, but that it typical Ireland for you. On Sunday night we went to the Shelbourne Hotel, the same place I went with my Aunt Tricia with all of her Irish friends, and we had drinks. My sister and I also took pictures for our Christmas card, which is always a tedious project. That was one of the highlights; the other was the fact after three visits to the Distillery I finally got chosen to do the whiskey tasting. I loved it!! It was said that if you touch the original mill that is placed in the Dublin Distillery you would have 10 years of good luck, well of course I touched it!

Getting some good luck

At the Shelbourne

My family and I all packed up Monday morning and headed to the airport where we parted ways mid afternoon. I headed for my gate to Rome, where I met up with my friends Preston and Karyn. Rome was spectacular and gorgeous! To be honest I do not enjoy history very much, but when I was there I was so intrigued by everything. It was like I was living everything that I had learned in civ, but now I felt like I understood it even more. I went to the Colosseum where we did a guided tour that included the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum. It was just so beautiful and Rome itself did not appear to look very city like, say like Paris or London, but rather it had ruins everywhere! Our tour guide joked and said that normally ancient marble would be put into a museum, but because there is so much of it, they just leave it lying around. So if you could carry it, you had yourself a souvenir, unfortunately I could not find a piece small enough to fit in my backpack. Later we went to the Patheon and Trevi Fountain, I threw two coins in because I was told that means good luck. And well I need all the good luck I can get when it comes to my finals.

At the Colosseum

Preston, Karyn and I at Palatine Hill

Some of the marble they have lying around

Drinking water from a random fountain, because you can, the water is the clean!!

My friend Luke and I tossing in our coins to the Trevi Fountain

Every night we had gelato, I don’t think I can ever eat regular ice cream again it was so amazing. One night I had Nutella and Tiramisu, it was heaven! My last day in Rome which was Wednesday, we went to the Vatican. We arrived while the Pope was having a Papal Audience, it was so cool, I actually saw the Pope! Unfortunately my camera died at this point of my trip so I have to wait to post pictures from Wednesday until my friends return from their 10 day excursion through Italy. We then went into the Sistine Chapel, the artwork is just magnificent. Like I said before history is not my thing and neither is art, but after learning it in civ it was just amazing to be able to say I saw it in person and know what it is about.

Italy was great, but it is nice to be back in Ireland. Though the feeling is bittersweet, I have to start to study for my finals now. So with that said, I will update most likely the end of next week and again right before I leave. Hope you all have a wonderful week and check out the pictures from London on my previous post about that trip!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey everyone!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I have actually been really busy studying for my finals in a week and half. I am trying to get most of it done now because my sister, two of my cousins and my aunt all arrive tomorrow!!! I am so excited to see them, I have so many things planned to do with them! Also the semester ends this week and next week is study week so when they leave on Monday I am heading off to Rome for a few days. My finals start on December 7th and go through the 18th, lucky me I have an exam every day the first week and one the second week. With my jump start in the studying I am hoping it'll make my life a little easier since my study week is cut in half due to Italy! With that said, I will try to update a few more times before I leave.

Unfortunately for us Americans here, we miss Thanksgiving, but Casey and I decided that we would try and celebrate it with our housemates. Though we are not having all the works, or even turkey, it is the idea behind it. So we are really excited to be able to share the tradition that we are missing so dearly back home with our Irish roommates. Thanksgiving in my house alwys meant the start of Christmas, so I cannot wait to finally blare Mariah's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" first thing tomorrow morning like I do every year.

I will post pictures from London when I get back from Italy. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pictures from London posted

Sorry for not blogging the past two weeks. I was actually waiting to talk about London after I got back from my trip to Germany. Unfortunately there were some turn events that caused me to be in Ireland for the weekend. Friday night I had planned to try and stay up for my 5:45 am bus to Dublin to catch my plane to Munich. Well I had set my alarm for 4:30 because I was exhausted and got about 3 hours of sleep. I hit the snooze and woke up 15 minutes later, thinking I would only rest my eyes for another minute I turned off my alarm. The next thing I knew it was 6 am and I missed my bus. I called my parents frantically trying to figure out what to do, I was also the only one going to Germany this weekend and there was home alone. See I was supposed to go and visit my older cousin Christine, who was in Munich on business, but because I made this mistake of thinking I was fine without an alarm I missed the only bus that would get to Dublin Airport on time to catch my 9:30 flight, which was the only flight out to Germany. I even looked into changing my flight for today and I was already too late, I had to be 4 hours before departure in order to change my flight and I was only 3 by the time I thought of it. This was just the icing on a very bad week!

It’s the middle of November and that means at Providence its housing and class registration. Both of which I dealt with abroad. This only makes things ten times worse when things go wrong. So if you are planning to go abroad make sure everything is settled, housing wise and course wise before you leave. Have an idea of what you want to do and if you’re on the second day of registration, like I was, make sure you have a secure back up plan. If you see a class you need already over-enrolled days before you register get in contact with the professor and see if you can over-enroll, that way you are not as frantic about getting all your classes. Also work out housing before you leave, make sure you have a plan, even if your friends do not like to plan. It’ll make life easier on you; trust me I had a plan and then things changed a few days before housing was due causing stress and it was hard to get in touch with my friends at the moments I needed to and vice versa due to the time difference.

As for last weekend with London, it was absolutely amazing!!! The city was spectacular and I went just about everywhere. I had three full days there with a girl in my program, Christy. Friday we went over to Waterloo and did the London Eye. The view was absolutely amazing; we saw Big Ben and the Parliament from it. Right next to the London eye was a Movieum, inside there were so many different objects from all sorts of movies. They had the Dinosaur from Night at the Museum, a whole room dedicated to Harry Potter, and a Beatles section. There were so many different costumes from so many movies, props, and set designs. Inside the Beatles section was Ringo’s original drum kit, though I wasn’t allowed to take any photos, which I was upset about. I really only went there was because Christy is obsessed, but more importantly my dad is like a Beatles freak. He would have killed to see this stuff! I was more interested in the Harry Potter section; they had the Nimbus 2000, the some of the outfits the characters wore, and some of the props from the movies. It was so cool I had like died and gone to heaven. That night we went to see Billy Elliot the musical, it was really good. I remember watching the video in either my junior or senior year English class back in high school, the dancing was just incredible!

On the London Eye

Harry Potter Section

Saturday we ventured out to The All-England Club. This beat Harry Potter in the Movieum by like everything. I unfortunately had to go in alone; Christy is not a tennis fan and did not want to spend the money. I really wanted to do the tour, but I opted to see the Wimbledon museum instead. Inside I saw the trophies they give the winners and runner-ups! I saw how Wimbledon all began, I was seriously in heaven. I have dreamed about going to Wimbledon and watching the tournament and after I finished at the museum I walked around the grounds for a few moments. Long enough to see the actual standings board, it was incredible, but the best part was I actually saw Centre Court! It was a lot smaller than I thought, but it was still the greatest thing I had ever been to. After that we went to King’s Cross to see Platform 9 ¾! I took all the crazy touristy photos that Christy was too embarrassed to take. That night was Bone Fire Night for Guy Fawkes Night, I am not really sure what it was, but there was this huge fireworks display. I felt like it should have been the 4th of July, but this was crazy. There were a sea of people at Alexandra Palace along with rides and food venders. Inside, which we didn’t go to since we were too tired from our very busy day, there was a beer festival and other crazy activities. But the fireworks were incredible and I particularly enjoyed how they were set to music.

Centre Court!!

Taking Platform 9 3/4 to catch the Hogwarts Express

Sunday we went to Abby Road and found other people taking the touristy photos walking across the street. I even took a video of my feet as I walked across the street for my dad. We saw London Tower and both Tower and London Bridge. Since we were going to the airport that night we just spent the rest of the evening walking around Piccadilly Circus, which is like shopping central, looking at all of the Christmas lights that had been put up. It was absolutely incredible. The whole trip was.

Walking across Abby Road

Sorry for the long post. This weekend also happens to be a very big weekend for juniors back at PC, JRW (Junior Ring Weekend). I was upset at first I was missing it, but after talking to my aunt who is a PC alum and also missed her JRW because she was abroad; I realized I’m in Ireland which is amazing! So I just hope my friends had a spectacular time at JRW!

Two weeks of classes left! So I won’t be traveling until after these next two weeks, but next week’s blog shouldn’t be boring. Nothing here ever is! Have a good week!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I never thought that Halloween could be crazier than at PC, but I was wrong. It was definitely the most anticipated event so far. Everyone was dressed up starting on Wednesday and celebrated right through the weekend. Though I only celebrated on Thursday, it was a ton of fun! I went as a nerd. My glasses I think made the whole ensemble as well as my backpack. My housemate Aine, went to see Up in 3D and I used her glasses and just popped out the lenses. These glasses looked like the ones the old man wears in the movie.

Gort 70 all dressed up

Friday I booked my flight to Italy! I leave on November 30 from Dublin and will be going to Rome for about three days. My friends Julie and Elise are joining me on a weeklong adventure. Our original plan was to go to Switzerland and Amsterdam for two days each after Italy, but Julie found out she has a paper due on December 3rd. So were just going to stick to Italy, but I am still so excited! That night a group of us went to the Connacht Rugby game. It was so much fun! Connacht is the Galway team and one of the four teams Ireland has. Each region of Ireland a team and Connacht is Galway’s! The best part was that the field was about a twenty minute walk or so.

We're the green team, naturally

The mascot, I am pretty sure I heard his name was Eddie

Saturday I booked my trip to Germany to visit my cousin! I also went down to Shop Street, it was complete mayhem, but I was able to get a bit of gift shopping done. Other than that I spent the weekend trying to get work done, since I am leaving for London tomorrow. I will be returning from London with loads of pictures on Monday. So expect another post either Monday or Tuesday of next week.

With the holidays drawing near it is a constant reminder of all the delicious foods I am missing out on, for example my mom’s apple pie. She usually makes on over Columbus Day weekend and since my birthday usually coincides with it, it makes for the best birthday “cake”. Also I have been having a huge craving for the best chocolate chip cookies in the entire world. My auntie Ro makes the best chocolate chip cookies and my friends at Providence can attest to it. Whenever I get them in the mail, I hate sharing but I do because my friends enjoy it when they arrive! These are just some things I am looking forward to most when I get back home!

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! Check back on Monday or Tuesday of next week when I talk about my adventures in London!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past weekend was a Bank Holiday, which means we had Monday off. WOOT!!! The week itself was very low key, after my weekend in Paris. Our program took us to Cork for the Jazz Festival over the weekend. Though they did not have anything planned for us, except dinner on Friday night, which meant we had the entire weekend to ourselves to explore Cork.

We saw everyone from our orientation and other IFSA Butler students we had never seen before, but we mostly hung out with the people from our orientation. Part of the festival took place in our hotel! In the bar there was a “stage” set up and that is where the jazz band played. We initially went out and explored the area, but went back to the hotel and saw the jazz band playing Friday night. I really enjoyed myself and the music was amazing. My dad would have absolutely loved every minute of the weekend, seeing he is the biggest fan of music that I know. Saturday I joined some friends to the Old Jameson Distillery in Middleton. This is where the original and current distilleries are located, it was very different from the tour I went on in Dublin, but all the facts were the same. Then that night we stayed at the hotel all night. After the band a DJ came in and there was a huge dance party going on! Finally on Sunday it was a three hour trek back to Galway.

Over the weekend my roommate Lindsy, from freshman year at PC, was in Galway with her study abroad friends. We met up for dinner on Sunday night and hung out for a bit. It was really great to see her and catch up. I took her to my favorite place, Kelly’s Kitchen! Great food and just great craic! Monday, the bank holiday! Casey and I spent the entire day lying in bed catching up on all of our American TV shows and then proceeded to order Chinese food for dinner. As Julianne, so accurately put it, “sounds like your kinda day baby girl,” I miss her and all my girls back at PC, love you! Those days are the best though!

Well Halloween is just around the corner and people are already going crazy! Tonight my roommates and I have already creeped on the crazy costume parties that were going on outside our window. It was complete mayhem; I can only imagine what tomorrow night is going to be like. My Irish roommates told me that tomorrow night is the night to go out, especially in costume.

Well that’s all for now, hope everyone has a safe and savage (wicked awesome) Halloween!

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 6:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Continuation of the prevous post, pictures are posted

The week itself was filled with birthday festivities, because yes I am finally 21!!! The best gift I got had to be the double stuf Oreos my sister told my parents to bring me!!! The OC and double stuf is a great combination! On my actual birthday my housemates and I ordered Chinese food and watched Dancing with the Stars! I was so excited to hear they had it over here because it is one of my all time favorite shows, right behind Friends and the OC of course.

This past Friday a group of 20 of us from my program went to Paris for the weekend. So far it was the best thing I’ve done! We went and saw just about everything. We didn’t actually get to our hostel until about 8:30 at night. On Friday’s the Louvre allows anyone under 26 in for free so Laura and I took the Metro over to the Louvre and were there for about a half hour. We did not even make a dent in it, but all we cared about seeing was Mona. So after we raced to see her, since it closed at 9:30, we spent what time we had left exploring the wing she was in. Everything was just so breathe taking, and I am not that into all that stuff.

Outside the Louvre

Saturday was extremely full of things; we woke up early and spent three hours at Versailles. It was incredible just to see a place that I had learned so much about in high school and in DWC. I saw this fountain in the gardens that I vividly remember seeing pictures of during a DWC lecture, it was so weird. The architecture of the palace was so amazing and the gardens, wow they were just gorgeous. Standing at the edge of the palace looking out towards the gardens looks like it should be fake it was so amazing. On top of the natural beauty, we had spectacular weather. We even stopped and had lunch at the sandwich place in one of the gardens. After Versailles, we saw the Eiffel Tower during the day and took your standard pictures in front of the Tower. Though my camera had died while we were at Versailles, Laura took pictures for me!

Versaille

Sitting in the Gardens of Versaille

Karyn,Casey, Laura, and I infront of the Eiffel Tower

We also went to the Arc de Triomphe on our way to Champs Elysees, it was incredible to just walk down that street and see all the shops. We then took the metro over to the Basilica and walked up all the steps, which was worth it because you could see the entire city from the steps at the entrance of the church. Inside was incredible too; it was not as amazing as the Notre Dame, which we visited on Sunday. But Saturday night Laura and I met up with one of her sorority sisters and all of the people she was in Paris with at the Eiffel Tower. Yes, I went to the top and had champagne!!! It was the best part of the night! I was just thinking to myself “Happy 21st Birthday to ME” honestly nothing will ever top this birthday.

The Basillica

Celebrating my 21st on top of the Eiffel Tower

Under the Eiffel Tower at night

In front of the Notre Dame

I am going to Cork this weekend for the Jazz Festival so I will be sure to post Sunday night. I will have pictures from both weeks as soon as possible. That’s all for now, hope all of you are having good week! Slainte!(cheers)

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry for the delay in posting! It’s been a very busy, yet eventful two weeks my parents came to visit me and I went to Paris! So I made two separate posts so they wouldn’t be too long!

On October 9th, I rose early to go and meet them at Shannon Airport. When I left my house at 7:30 it was still pitch black out, I had never been out of my house that early so it was really weird. My bus was late leaving and arriving so I was delayed getting to my parents. From Shannon we went straight to Kinsale where we had lunch at Old Head, it is a golf course that is like on an island of its own! It was absolutely gorgeous; while my dad played golf my mom and I explored Kinsale. It is actually a really small town, we must have walked around the town about four times before we decided to go and just sit in a pub at 6pm. It took my father about five hours to play golf, but he enjoyed every minute of it. After dinner at Jim Edwards, the pub my mom and I went to, we went back to our hotel in Cork. We think we got a free upgrade in our room because it was amazing!

View in Kinsale

My Dad and I at Jim Edwards

My parents and I infront of our hotel

That Saturday we made our way over to Galway while hitting all of the touristy places along the way. I kissed the Blarney stone and climbed up the Cliffs of Moher. My friends, who went the week before, told me that since we had been to the Aran Islands I would not be as amazed. But we still had a good time, while waiting in the bathroom I ran into Karyn, it was so weird she was under the impression that she was not going to see me all weekend! The driving tour of Ireland was really nice, I actually slept most of. I was somewhat tired, but also I am like a baby, the motion puts me right to sleep! Out of all the years we have been going down to the cape, I fall asleep every time and that drive is only about an hour and half, so I think I missed some of the sites along the way to Galway.

Blarney Castle

View from Cliffs of Moher

I took my parents to some of my favorite places while in Galway to eat and walked up and down Shop Street. Last Sunday I did more of a tour type thing with them, after lunch at Griffens’ we went down Shop Street where I finally bought my new Claddagh ring from the Original Claddagh Ring store. It was the only thing I planned on buying; it was my birthday gift to myself! Something I will always have and remember everything about being here!

First of the two posts

Posted by Liz Roscillo at 6:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)