The Impossibility of Dry Clothes

So to start Ireland is humid, not that you'd notice it because it's chilly, so it combines to make a nice weather for walking... I've done so much walking...

But ya'll remember this?

Not my roommates....

Actually, that was the wrong picture.  Let's try again...

Yeah.  No dryer, just a washing machine.  I've been trying to dry the same clothes for three days now.  They've been caught in two rain storms.

Here's the joke.  This morning it was sunny outside and looked great to hang up clothing, so I said.  I'll try this again.  Hung up my mildly wet clothes.  Ten minutes later, it starts raining.  So I run out and pull them down.  Now, ten minutes later it's sunny again.
Whatever, it's back to plan B which was... let them dry in the basket because I'm too lazy to figure out how a clothes horse works.

What I was hoping for.

What I actually got.

Anyways... so I heard back from the immigration office.  Not helpful.  They basically told me, you should have done [insert lots of shit here] in America, before you came over.  My response reading it is like, yeah... but I'm here so now what?  I worded it differently in the e-mail (because none of their phone numbers work).
So while I have interviewed and gotten several jobs, I am unable to legally work them and have to leave the country in 3 months.
They conveniently did not answer a single question I asked about when I can return to Ireland or what happens if I overstay... which was lovely.

Sims 3 Supernatural is awesome and has been occupying my non-writing time [which is why I have not been updating this blog].  Writing time has been up-ed from 1 hour per day to 6.  I plan on finishing several novels while in Ireland, maybe earning enough cred to get that agent.

Anyways, I promised everyone pictures of Mad Jack's college.  Here's a few:

You know you're headed towards NUIG, because of these:

Two big ass cranes.

The college is undergoing some pretty impressive re-construction efforts and they are lead by these pillars of construction.  I've never seen them move, but I'm sure they do... You can only see the red one in this picture, because the white it kind of hiding behind the tree and building and blending into the sky.  But it's there in the background of the next picture.

Note the white crane.

This is the super modern suspension bridge over the river running through the campus.  It is wobbly as hell on windy days and anytime more than two people are crossing at the same time.

Here's another picture. 




Actually I only took that picture to get a picture of the girl in red. 
Here's that one:


 My point being, that everyone in Ireland dresses really awesome and stylishly, but I can't take picture of it because it's creepy and stalker-ish.  But basically, it's awesome medieval tunic, scarves, leggings, and blouses... Just awesome clothing.  That I can neither fit into nor take pictures of...  Also they dye their hair bright colors...

This is the college bar.  Yes.  A real bar.  They have 7 optics of Capt. Morgan and 7 of Smirnoff Vodka.  I think optics are the same thing as kegs?  Point is, that's a lotta alcohol on campus.

The dudes at that table were joking with me (I was on the bridge taking the picture).  One of them was about to jump in the water and try to swim over to me, but his friends distracted him.

This is the main building.  All the services and stuff I think... I don't know actually.  It had the most reserved parking around it and it's near the front gates of the college.  I'm not going there, none of these matter to me.  It's just a cool looking building.  As far as I'm concerned this is where the faeries live.

Yup.  Faeries... in that tower.

Here's some campus art.  I like that the one is modeled after the original statues here (ie. ancient) and the other is modern art.  Guess which is which:

Here's a hint: It's the triangle sex.

This is about the distance I end up behind Lane when he gets interested in his environment... good thing he's usually not paying attention to where he is.  At the moment, I took this picture he was looking for the library.  Hint it's actually in the direction he's looking.  That's just a river running through the college.

This is the river running through college:

There are more faeries here.

These two buildings reminded me of where my Blood Thirsty Wench works.  Mostly because they look holy-shit old and are under-construction.

                                             

Nice Juxtaposition.

I asked one of the construction workers if they were doing anything to preserve the ivy.  He laughed at me and asked why they would do that.  I then explained I had been to an ivy league college in the states that preserved the ivy.  He kinda looked confused and then said, "Do they know the ivy breaks down the building?  It's no good."  I told them I wasn't the one with the Ivy League Degree and we had a good laugh together.

Nature!

This is just above the river running through campus.

Yeah so the campus is beautiful.

Remember is rains everyday here every day so they always have green stuff growing.

Some gorgeous flowers outside the financial aide building

This is a field.

I'm looking forward to finding out if the leaves change color in the fall or if the trees even loose their leaves over the winter.
For some reason, I have never been able to figure out temperatures.  Like I know 30 degrees is freezing, but I'm not sure if I need a coat for 50 degrees.  Does that make me sound stupid?  Look! More nature!!












Okay, so this isn't really nature... it's a parking lot with sky and a building and potted plants...  I couldn't figure out why I took this picture, but I still liked it... so ...damn it appreciate the flower and sky and the little bit of the building.

Appreciate the flower closer now!

 

I wonder if the college knows that the flowers lining their most prominent entrance are very patriotic... for Americans.


 So this building is the accommodation building... which I think was completely useless to us.  This is also an example of how my camera is tricking you.  In real life, the building is camouflaged.  Camouflaged in a weird Irish jungle.  You can barely see it in real life.


When I realized I was looking at a building I actually jumped because the realization startled me. (No lie.  Optical illusions are scary.)


More of the jungle.

Can you find the Faeries?

Not actually a cherry tree.  I was so depressed when I got closer and realized it was poisonous gooseberries instead.  I think...










The sign says "No ball games."  If you know anything about Irish sports, like Rugby, or soccer, or that phenominon called hurling (more on that later) then you understand what hapened to the grass here.
It might have been the construction, but I prefer to think it was a bunch of grown men beating each other up over a piece of rubber.



Here's the library...

I might be confused... 

There's a shit ton of buildings in the campus, but I'm pretty sure this is the back of the library.  And if it's not, who cares.  You're don't know the difference.  Their library is actually very not cool inside.  It's really clinical and open... not in a good way.  It feels like you're in every body's business and since it's really quiet you just feel intruding on the space of others.  All the books are in the middle so there's no breaking the area up like in Stockton, just long tables of sitting next to other people at work... So I've been going to cafe's and the public library (which oddly enough had books I like more, as well).

Here's what I see when I go to find Mad Jack on campus.

In, real life he's less fuzzy... a little.

This is the PLYWOOD ramp up to the library.  When it rains (remember, every day) this gets so sodden you can feel yourself sinking through the wood... the PLYWOOD.

This is a big of the courtyard outside of the library where I usually meet up with Mad Jack. That white bit is the sign to the food court they have underneath the restaurant which features a real Starbucks and Subway Sandwiches.  All the other food down there is crap.  This by the by, is the only Starbucks I've seen in Ireland so far.

Because I can hear you all saying, "What the fuck is that yellow thing?"

This is one of their offices for the professors.  So like at Stockton, they put all of Lit. Dept. in a hallway.  Here they put them in a cottage.  I'm pretty sure they have to go home at the end of the day though.

This is the University Chapel.

Doesn't Gaelic look nifty?

This is the Chapel's Courtyard.  I'm sending pictures to my landlord with requests to remodel because now my courtyard feels insufficient.

 And here's... wait are those all the pictures I have?  I haven't even covered half the campus.  There's the towers (there's three and everyone gets them confused).  There's the theaters...  There's... did I get this?

 Yeah I think I did.

Then that's it...

Oh wait.

This was in the bathroom: