Week 4.5: New room, new views

Entry into the new village

Last week a couple exciting events occurred! Firstly, Emily and I moved across campus to Kilmurry Village. The new location is ideal for many reasons: it is closer to the gym, lap pool, pitches (turf), and the Physical Education and Sports Science Building. The apartments are slightly smaller, but cozier and more connected than in Thomond Village. Most importantly, it means we live with (and next to) friends, which has tremendously improved the social situation. The close proximity has been a huge blessing, especially with the government guidelines of limiting outdoor interactions to one other household.

Our new roommates

We are loving both the new location and living situation. Our roommates are two French engineering students and one Spanish international communications student. They are all fun, welcoming, and quite good at cooking. ;) We joined them in celebrating Chandeleur on February 2nd, a French holiday that essentially involves cooking (and eating) crepes in abundance. With an experienced instructor and concentrated determination, Emily successfully flipped the crepes, and later endured the boys' cringe-y crepe creation. The conclusion: Chandeleur is a tasty celebration that is definitely worth bringing back to the States.

Emily flipping crepes

Crepe-eating challenge

Black Castle ruins

Black Castle (plus us)

The remainder of the week consisted of online lectures, outdoor runs, and rainy weather. The Shannon River rose considerably, submerging the riverside running trails. We hiked to Black Castle with some friends, encountering plentiful muddy puddles and some Irish men who recommended we invest in some "wellies" for such adventures. One of our friends turned 22 during the week, so we walked to Limerick (appropriately singing Taylor Swift's anthem) and celebrated with a round of hot chocolates.

French birthday card for our French friend

Flooded riverside trail

Sunday morning our apartment hosted the first church livestream event, followed by a deluxe American-style brunch with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. One of our professors is involved in the local Elevate Community Church, so we have watched their online sermons for the past two Sundays. Hopefully this will become a weekly event and minister both physically and spiritually to those who join. Until then, the days hold many online lectures and outdoor activities ahead while we wait out the remainder of Level 5 lockdown.

Sunday brunch