May 16, 2011

Only five more sleeps to the Vienna tournament!! I'm beyond excited now at this stage..I went to the doctor last week about my knee..didnt get the best of news really..he told me not to play in Vienna as there could be a problem with my meniscus..the pain is still as bad as ever, and the doc prescribed me a gel painkiller, but i cant find it in the chemists, which is disastrous! I'm going to play through the pain anyway and just hope for the best really, thats all I can do..I could end up doing much more damage if I fell, but we'll worry about that if it happens..we also recruited another girl for the tournament..her name is Leanne, she played for Donegal for 6 years so she's going to be unreal I'd say!! I also have a throat infection..thats probably due to my tendency to have a cigarette every now and then...Work's going well too, getting some good hours which means extra money!! Always makes me happy :) I got an A in my Social Policy exam last week too, was delighted with that!! What else....Oh I met two very lovely boys from London last week, they even invited me over to see them during the summer, so we'll see :) Man United won the league at the weekend too, all that's left is for them to beat Barca in the Champions League final!! Thats it for now..

May 5

My knee is fecking killing me...At this stage, I'm getting quite concerned about my fitness for Vienna...last week during the warm up at training, I had to stop after the warm up due to the pain in my knee..Luckily Mammy Whelton has come to the rescue and has posted out my "magic gel" (Etoflam)..thats really strong so that should kill the pain every few hours anyway..no matter how crippled I am, I'm still going playing in Vienna on May 21..I'm just afraid that if I fall again, I'm screwed...Let's not get too pessimistic though, I'll be fine :) I was kinda disappointed with the turnout at training last night though..only 5 girls (plus myself) turned up..it's only 2 weeks to Vienna so we REALLY need everyone at training next week so that we can really focus on our weak aspects and continue to improve on our strengths! The most frustrating thing is that we really do have the potential to do really well in this tournament, but we need everyone at training to discuss tactics etc...I will be devastated if we dont win, but then again, I cant get too optimistic either....
In other news, I was working Saturday and Sunday..I went out Friday night at 7pm for "one hour"...got home at 4.30am!! Getting up at 8.30am for work wasnt easy, but I did it!! And it was my first day working in the big beer garden upstairs and I only had one void!! Hanka told me that I did really, really well for my first day working there, so I was thrilled with that, particularly I was so wrecked!! I had to go to Propoganda bar on Friday night to collect my runners-up prize from the competition that I entered last week (I won a 500czk loyalty card for the bar), so myself and Sinead Murphy went there...then we went to the Dubliner for one cocktail, and were half way through our drinks when Shane text me to say they were over at the Old Oak, another little Irish bar near to the beer garden that myself and Sinead were going to call into..so we met up with Shane, Kev and Darren Troy (some laugh he is!!)..had a few drinks there and we all got a taxi back into town..myself and Murph went to Harley's cos one of her classmates was celebratin their birthday there..after a few minutes we said we'd go back to the Dubliner for a bit, and sher the lads were still there so we stayed there with them for a while...myself, Murph, Kev and Zarra (one of my work buddies) then went back to Harley's and I got a taxi home at half 4...ridiculously random but really fun night!! I'd be lost if I didnt play football out here!! After work both days my knee had swollen quite a lot, so I cant wait for Mam's package to arrive..I'm working tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday so I'll most likely be crippled after that, as I'm working in the big garden all weekend!! But money is money, and I realy enjoy the work so far, so thats the main thing really! I'm planning on staying here until late June/early July as I have a job guaranteed here, but Mam told me that Grandad is slowing up a lot in recent days (he has lung cancer) so it will all depend on his health...I didnt realise his health had deteriorated so that upset me quite a bit, but all we can do is hope and pray that he will be okay..he was told last June that he had a one in five chance of surviving until this June, so fingers crossed he'll be okay..he's a fighter so let's hope for the best..
That's it for now really...Oh Man United are into the Champions League final, delighted about that!
Ciao

April 29

Its Royal Wedding Day!! the four of us are glued to the ceremony on BBC all morning, dunno what to make of the Queen's style now at all!! She looks like she's constantly falling asleep too!! We're all also in agreement that Harry looks better than William! Harry's shoulders are very VERY broad though!! Kate's dress is lovely, but fucking hell she's stick thin! Camilla is a fool anyway, she looks desperate!! Kate's sister is stunning too, odds are Harry will go off with her at the reception!!
Anyway, enough about the Royal Wedding..yet again, its been ages since I wrote on this..but now I've been challenged to write on this every three days so that I will be writing on alternate days..thanks to Craig Dunne for that interesting idea..challenge accepted!!
In news of football, my knee is pretty fecked..even after the warm up at training on Wednesday night, i had to stop...fingers crossed it'll be okay for Vienna on May 21, only three weeks to go!! Cannot bloody wait..I'm so determined for us to win at this tournament, and go out on a high!! We're well able, and we're definitely improving week after week! Shane Crean (our manager when he wants to be!!) took the training on Wednesday night and to be fair, it was probably one of the best trainings we've had so far..thats probably because the girls actually listen to him properly, and I dont really have any sense of control over them cos I'm trying to concentrate on training myself too!! So that was pretty good..if he could take the trainings more often, it would be great, but he has to train too himself so I dunno...we'll figure something out...
I went home from April 14 to 20 too..it was lovely to chill out at home and rest the liver for a week! I got to meet up with the girls too, which was class!! I raided Penneys and New Look as well with my cousin, got a few lovely bits so was delighted with myself! One thing though, flying on your own is pretty boring!! I was up at 4.50am on the Wednesday though when i was coming back, and I got to Prague and had to pretty much go straight to college, and from there to training!! Needless to say, I was as hyperactive as fuck at training..a few of the lads and ladies also asked me to pick up some goodies for them whilst I was at home, so handing them out was like handing them €50 like!! their reactions were just comical...sher I was only happy to help!!
We went to a boat party last Thursday night..we started drinking at 6pm...which inevitably led to Sharon being quite drunk quite early..plus we had bottles of vodka for like 85 czk...recipe for complete disaster!!! Needless to say, I lost my Irish phone and my make up..well they were stolen like, so that was pretty sickening..Twas a good night overall though, bar that little hiccup!! :)
It was Eli's 21st birthday yesterday so we went to a Pakistani restaurant last night for dinner...one word...UNREAL!! there was so much leftover that we brought the stuff back home for dinner today..cant wait to scoff that!! there was also a golf tournament yesterday and people from the Hibs and Hibettes (well, just me) helped out as caddies..great fun!! Talk about a mix of weather though..it was roasting at the start, then we had thunder and lightning (fucking hate thunder) and then it rained and then it was sunny again...my farmers tan on my arms is gettin funnier by the day!
Think thats about it..oh what a win by Cork last Sunday in the National League final.. Dublin choked yet again, but thats no surprise really...and to make things sweeter, Shane was convinced that the Dubs were going to win that we bet on it..not much like, only 30czk each..but twas great to win!! Ended up going out drinking with him, Ken and his missus, and their friend and boyfriend Sunday night..great craic!!
Cao :)

April 11, 2011

Yet again my aim to write on this blog regularly hasnt happened!! What a joke like, its nearly a month since I wrote this!!!
One of the most important things that happened in the last few weeks was our football tournament that took place on April 9....oh god, what a day!! We actually managed to beat Vienna, but we lost to Warsaw both in the group stages and in the final, but I was so unbelievably proud of the girls!! I was captain for the tournament, and when the final whistle went against Vienna I was ridiculously happy!!
The afterparty in the Dubliner was just as good, but I was just so exhausted towards the end of the night!! Fantastic day and night though, roll on the tournament in Vienna in May :)
Another main thing is that I am actually employed here now!! Im working in the Dubliner bar with a couple of weeks, and I really like it! Its tough enough at times when it is busy, particularly when I'm not familiar with everything!! But hopefully with more practice it wil get better, but so far so good :)
I was actually in the hospital over here last night (April 10)..I fell a few times during the tournament on Sunday and my balloon had swelled pretty badly, and by the night after, it still hadnt improved so I ventured to the hospital...Thankfully the xray showed up clear, but it's still as swollen as Saturday, so fingers crossed it'll be okay! Im meant to be working this Wednesday night but I honestly think that I'm unable to stand for 7 hours and run up and down the stairs :( I must ring Hanka (one of the bosses) tomorrow and make sure it is okay with her, and I have one of the girls to work for me anyway, so fingers crossed there wont be a problem!!
I'm heading back home this Thursday for a week too, so that'll be nice! I'm looking forward to seeing the gang at home :)
Thats about it, it's an abbreviated version of events but I cant actually remember much else!!
Ciau :)

March 21

Fecking hell I'm appalling for writing regularly on this..it's been over two weeks like, I'm some joke!! Trying to remember what I've done over those few weeks is going to be tough :/ Well I guess one of the main things was that we started football training last Wednesday (March 16)..Jesus we had some laugh!! There were only 6 people there overall; four lads and two girls, but honestly it was so much fun!! Ken, Kevin, Bryan and Sean were so sound and friendly, and Carrie was really nice too! Thankfully I've played football for years, so I felt that I blended in somewhat okay with the lads...poor Carrie was new to the sport, so she needs a bit more practice, but even the difference between her skill level from the start of training to the end was phenomenal, so she'll do just fine!! Since then I've recruited at least five more girls, so we'll be flying it for our tournament in April, all going well!!
The other big celebration we had was Trisha's 21st and Patrick's Day, which we celebrated together!! For Patrick's Day, we started with a few drinks in the Dubliner at about 3pm and we watched the All-Ireland Club hurling and football finals..to be fair, the pub was pretty quiet so there wasnt much of an atmosphere! We went home at about half six to have a bite to eat and we invited some friends from college over to our place to drink before heading back into Old Town...we eventually got back into the Dubliner at about midnight, and the place was bopping!! Great atmosphere, and the live music was flying! I ended up meeting with the lads from WIT that we had tried to meet with for a few weeks, they're fierce craic!! We ended up going to Lavka club and we had free entry cos of being Irish!! Friday was spent just chilling cos of the good old hangover :)
On Saturday, myself and Emma headed to the Dubliner to watch the Ireland v England rugby game, what a bloody awesome performance from the boys in green! There was a super atmosphere for that game too, and we met up with a few of the GAA lads, but they were leaving for another pub, which was called James Joyce..myself and Emma went there when we were finished our drinks and we met up with some more of the GAA lads..turns out that one of the lad's fathers lives only five minutes from me back home!! Its a small world...
I went to the cinema with a friend then on Sunday night, and we saw Battle:Los Angeles..twas a good film in fairness!!
I think thats about it for now, I'll do my best to be a more regular blogger :)
'Til next time!!

March 4, 2011

Jesus Christ I'm a disgrace for keeping up to date with this blog! Needless to say, it kinda shows that it was a pretty uneventful few days as I didnt have the urge to write frantically on this! Anyways...
Well we were due to start college on Monday, so we called into Martina in the International Office to finalise our module choices and to get details of our tutors and lecturers..turns out that we didnt actually have any classes on the Monday, so it was pretty handy! Monday evening was pretty uneventful too if i can remember correctly...
Tuesday was much the same as Monday to be fair, we had to go back into the International Office to finish the paperwork and yet again, we didnt have any classes sorted yet, as the tutors werent told of us yet! So we went for a walk around Stare Mesto which was really nice...a bit chilly, but it was lovely to walk around and relax for a while! Myself, Janna and Trisha then decided to go to a Beach Party that night in Aloha Music Bar...that was a complete disaster cos we couldnt find the bloody club! We then wandered into a club in an old church which was pretty cool, but it was fairly annoying that we couldnt find the Beach Party cos we were all dressed up and ready to party!!
On Wednesday, we ACTUALLY had college!! It was our Erasmus class, and I was kinda disappointed to learn that not all of the Erasmus people chose to take the class...to be fair, all you have to do is sit there in the class and actively participate in discussions, and you get 3 ECTS credits..not that hard like!! It was nice though, I think i'll really like that class!!
Talk cha :)

February 27, 2011

I had written a really long blog about the last few days, and when I went to click Publish Post, the frigging thing deleted itself :/ Guess I'll just have to try and remember what I wrote!
Well I havent been very consistent with my blog writing with the last few days, but I promise to improve this!!
Let's start with Thursday...Myself, Trisha and Janna decided to go to the Erasmus 80's Party in Lucerna Music Club that night, and it was a brilliant night overall!! However, the volume of alcohol that I consumed was quite disgusting..never again!! I do think that the games of Kings and Black or Red were what tipped me over the edge though, but sher look I'm only young once! We made some lovely friends that night, including a very nice American guy, David...great night overall!
Friday was therefore spent with me nursing quite a severe hangover on the couch for pretty much the majority of the day..the only positive was that I had an amazing 12 hour sleep Friday night, which had me mentally prepared for Saturday night!!
Saturday night was another disaster in the drunken nights category, as we decided to go to the Glow in the Dark Erasmus party in SaSaZu...I decided to drink vodka beforehand in the house, and our friend Emma also came over to pre-drink with us...Again, the card games were a disaster, particularly the waterfall card in Kings!! Ugh, nightmare!! I was pretty wasted when I got to the club, but thankfully Emma got me some water, so I sobered up after that!! It was a pretty good night overall, but I still think that Thursday night was much better!
Today I found a HUGE bruise on my left thigh, and I've no clue as to how I got it...Its rotten :/ We're heading to the Dubliner bar here later to watch the Six Nations game between Ireland and Scotland...I'm predicting an Irish victory, but I cant wait to watch Tommy Bowe..yum :)
We officially start college tomorrow, and as sad as this sounds, I'm kinda looking forward to it!!
'Til next time :)

February 23, 2011

Oops I havent written here in a while...the tiredness is really catching up with me!! We headed out last Saturday night (February 19) and we got chatting to a group of guys from England, who had the cheek to say that my accent was made up!! I can categorically state that it IS NOT; however, we had the banter with them, they were great fun!! We also got chatting to a guy from Scotland, who told Janna that she was the poster Irish girl - red hair, freckles and the surname of Murphy - another great laugh there!! When we were on the tram home, we were talking to some American dudes, they were really nice as well!! Saturday night was super overall!!
On the Sunday, I dont think we did very much..Monday was our first day of college, and of course it decided to snow!! It was -10 Monday morning, and it was fairly slippery when walking...However, we successfully made it to college and we got our forms signed from our Erasmus co-ordinator. Our student cards should be ready soon, so we will go in to collect them either today or tomorrow, as we need them when applying for our student travel cards. We were also sent the list of modules being taught through English this semester - to be fair, there is a great choice, including Drama Production!! Excited about that :)
Tuesday was also a pretty normal day, myself and Trisha went to the shop to get stuff for dinner...pasta and meatballs were yum!! Trisha and Janna headed out to an American party thingy last night then..they're still asleep :)
Til the next time :)

February 19, 2011

So I've been in Prague now since Tuesday, and I'm really liking it!! We went out last night to The Dubliner, which is an Irish pub in Praha 1, and we had Magners..yum :) We then went to another pub to meet up with a few of the Gaelic football team so it was nice to get to meet them!! After that, we went to a local club..it was crazy!! It was small but it was pretty packed! We grabbed some food before getting the tram home, so it was all good! we're hoping to meet up with Rachael, one of our classmates from back home tonight as she's here for the weekend from Vienna, so we'll see where we go for that..I'm thinking an early night though to be honest, these 5am bedtimes are a shock to the system :) Myself and Emma went for a stroll to Sparta today so I saw the football stadium, and then we got the tram back into Stare Mesto and I got my Czech number!! So I'm happy out :)
No other real news apart from that...
Til next time :)

February 17, 2011

So I'm STILL sick...great!! I'm relying on the good old Panadol solution and Strepsils to rid the cold, and its working again I think! I think I just need to wrap up more..no more denim skirts and leggings for me for a few days! In other news, myself and Eli went to a foodstore called Albert this evening, its pretty cheap!! However,  the lady at the checkout got pretty annoyed when I couldnt speak Czech..I guess I'm going to have to get used to that! Its still pretty cold here at the moment, but its still pretty bearable!! We also had our international meeting with the college which was interesting!! We learnt that our college is a private university, and there are only 17 Erasmus students in total..so we think, anyway!! We need to pick our modules now early next week, but we can sit in on some lectures to decide whether we would like to study them or not!! Hoping to do a bit more sight-seeing tomorrow, along with trying to find the huge Tesco in Praha 1..its four floors high!! I think that's pretty dam impressive :)
Night :)
x

February 16, 2011

So today was my first full day in Prague...I love this place even more now!! Myself and my two other friends from UL took the metro into the main city centre to see some of the historic sights of both the Old Town and New Town. Some buildings are just beautiful, almost gothic in design..one thing to note though, meals and food can be quite expensive in the main city centre as the area would predominantly attract tourists! The main centre though has some fabulous shops and a few fantastic shopping centres! We also said we'd sample the McDonald's here too...it tasted EXACTLY the same as the McDonald's here..what an anti-climax :) It's cheaper though, plus all meals in McDonald's over here tend to automatically come in a large size...all the better for less than €5!! There are also some Tesco stores over here, as well as Vodafone, 02 and many more..it's like being at home, except the buildings are much prettier :) We went to a pub down the street tonight, cocktails were just over €2...just beautiful :) I must get to like beer though as it's so cheap here!
Anywho, better call it a night..we've got our international meeting with our college tomorrow!!
Bye :)

I arrived in Prague!

So I'm finally in Prague!! I flew out from Dublin yesterday morning, leaving behind two quite emotional people..Mam and Dad..I know it must have been hard for them, as I've never gone away for so long, but the time is going to fly!!
Prague is beautiful though, and the apartment is just perfect!! We have wireless internet and  satellite channels, which is pretty cool!! Planning on doing a bit of sight-seeing today, check out some of the famous churches and such!
Will write again soon!
:)
x

Countdown is on...

So there's less than two weeks to go before I fly out to Prague for my Erasmus as part of my college course..Up to now I haven't really been thinking about it that much, but the past few days, I've thought of nothing else! Anybody who knows me will know that I love my camogie and ladies football, so to not be involved with that back home in Clon will be extremely weird to say the least! I just hope that I wont forget anything important when I go to Prague..that would be typical of me! OK I guess that's it for now..I'll write again soon....Peace out!