The Good and The Bad

I figured my entry about Belfast alone will be lengthy as it is, so wanted to write about a few things that have happened--both good and bad in the past week separately.

First off: Wednesday night my roommate Sean came to my room and we were casually talking like we usually do, then suddenly he tells me he's dropping out and it's his last week. I thought he was joking and I couldn't believe it. I stood there not knowing what to say. He was the one I felt closest to of my Irish roommates. I almost thought I was going to cry. I am sure he will visit...he might be here next week for RAG week (Raising and Giving) it's supposed to be a big week of charity stuff, but it's basically like Homecoming Week and everybody gets wasted. I woke up the next morning and had forgotten about it and then remembered. Thursday night there was a birthday party for Katha, who lives next door. I went for awhile, and then went to Stables with Erin, Lily, and Kathleen. I got back to my room, and it may have been the Bulmers, but I got super sad about Sean leaving. He left Friday and when I got back last night his door was wide open and it's completely empty :(

At The Lodge. Sean is the one in the blue sweater


The Good piece of news is that on Friday we booked flights to Brussels, Belgium for the weekend of April 9-11 and then to Rome for April 23-25! I am SO excited. I was starting to think I wouldn't be able to get to more of Europe because everyone was starting to become less available with visitors and other conflicts, but we got it all figured out! I still really want to see Auschwitz but not sure if I'll make it. But I guess either way I'll be content with what I did instead :) I am mostly excited for the food that both places offers! Chocolate and waffles and PASTA! yum yum yum.

Now on to the bad. My mom and her 3 friends were supposed to leave for Ireland Saturday. While I was in Belfast, I had my home phone with me to get texts from her for updates on their travels. Unfortunately at about 9:00 PM or so I got back up to my room in the hostel and looked at my phone. Their flight to Newark was delayed at least 2 hours because of bad weather. We texted back and forth for a bit and then I just decided to call to see what was going on. My mom said they couldn't get another flight until Monday--or today, rather. I was SO bummed. Even though I still felt confident she could get here, I was sad that they were going to miss the stuff on their tour and she wasn't going to get to see all of Ireland and it's amazingness. 2 of her friends decided to not even come anymore. They had flight insurance and got their money back. However, when I got back last night I checked my email and my mom said she and her friend Bonnie found a way to meet up with their tour after they get to Dublin Tuesday morning. I checked the weather for Newark, and apparently there has been a big rain storm the past few days. Saturday they had high winds too. The forecast says it is supposed to rain today too, but as long as the winds stay low they should make their flight I'd think. I really really really hope it all works out today because I was so excited for my mom to be here on St. Patty's Day! She is going to stay a couple extra days now too and we might go to 1 or 2 places that they missed on the tour. All we need is the luck of the Irish today!!
My mom and I on a plane to San Diego, almost exactly 1 year ago!