Cork-Saturday

(I know this has taken me forever to write, but nothing really exciting happened)

Saturday our day began with everyone gradually waking up around noon and fumbling to get ready for the day. The eight of us then traipsed out into the cold in search of food. We wandered around the city for awhile just to get a feel for it. Unfortunately it was really cold and windy, so I didn't really see much outside of the hood of my jacket. This was one of those morning where everyone was hungover, tired and hungry and if you can imagine, kinda grumpy. We wandered by pubs and restaurants, looking at menus, everybody disagreeing on what we should eat. I want omelets! I want lasagna! I want a burger! and on and on, eventually a few of them decided on a place and Maggie said "were going separate ways" I replied, "are you breaking up with me?" and then they left to get breakfast while Ali, Jon and I found a pub in which we could get both lasagna and a burger. Over lunch we discussed macaroni and cheese for roughly 25 minutes. Jon has never had macaroni and cheese! They only sell it in a can in Ireland, and I guess they just don't really do it at all in Scandinavia. I have promised to someday make some from scratch for everyone, mmm. After lunch we made our way back to a pub and settled into a corner booth for the rugby match. This match is a big deal as it was Ireland vs. Italy in the Six Nations Championship. Seetha tried to give us a rundown of the rules while we all grabbed a Bulmer's and got settled. Bulmer's is awesome because it is basically alcoholic apple juice. We all watched the various screens (there were at least 10) and some of us, like Seetha and Jo got really involved, while others, Jon and I, stared at the screen and tried to pretend we cared by yelling when everyone else in the pub started to. Although I don't really get sports the atmosphere was pretty fun and Rugby is actually relatively entertaining to watch, especially when they like pick the guys up by their shorts and like toss them in the air a little bit.
After the first half of the game, the Bulmers and the stuffy air in the pub were getting to us so Ali and I headed on our way to do a bit of exploring. We started by finding....a thrift store! You can imagine my excitement as we thumbed through the racks. I found an awesome mens lacoste sweater which I now wear with leggings and is the epitome of comfort. After that we stumbled upon a giant indoor market! We walked past the butcher and were surprised to see literally an entire pig, just cut up into the various parts, we commented on how huge the ox tongues were and the girl who was working there picked one up and like wiggled it around. Then she picked up an ear and was like, hello? hello? We were grossed out and amused at the same time. Then it was stalls of fish and cheese and all kinds of delicious baked goods. I don't know what it is about markets but they just make me so happy, I don't even have to buy anything. I just like looking at all the local, natural food and handcrafted things. I bought some chili sauce from this ancient irishman and he was sort of talking to me, but I couldn't really hear/understand what he was saying so I just smiled and laughed and then he gave me a loaf of bread, "as a present". :) how sweet. We wandered through a few more shops and then walked in like, two giant circles to find the pub where everyone was again.
After a stop at the grocery store, we headed back to the hostel where we cooked frozen pizzas and relaxed for awhile. Jon and I went to the tv room where I discovered the most entertaining game show of all time. It is called Total Wipe Out, and basically it is an obstacle course where people fall into mud and water and it is hil-ar-ious in a slapstick sort of way. I wasn't planning to go out, but everyone talked me into it and we played drinking games in our room with some of the ESN leaders and then went to this club. Unfortunately the drinking games got the better of me and my night was pretty short. On to sunday!