I own a scrumcap!!!

            So I found out some interesting facts about UCC, thanks to the very informative Wikipedia page, that I want to share:

~UCC was founded in conjunction with the University Colleges Galway and Dublin, mostly because St. Finbarr, the patron saint of Cork, had his school of learning and his monastery here hundreds of years ago.

~On a similar note, the college motto is “Where Finbarr taught, let Munster learn” (Cork is in County Cork, which in turn is in Munster province, one of five provinces in Ireland)

~The UCC medical school graduated two women in 1898, twenty years before Oxford did, and also many years before most other institutions did.

~UCC was the first Irish institution to use embryonic stem cells in their research, in 2008.

~Famous UCC attendees include actress Dame Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley), comedian Graham Norton (did not graduate), actor Cillian Murphy (did not graduate), and rugby player for the Irish national team Ronan O’Gara.

            Rebecca and I went shopping on Monday for rugby stuff for our upcoming game on Wednesday…eek! I’m really excited but at the same time extremely nervous. I mean, you guys know how I get before games at Bowdoin—just imagine that plus the fact I’ve only practiced twice before this game since our season ended in November. Oh shenanigans. Also I realized Bowdoin has spoiled me so so so so much: here we have to buy our own shorts, socks, Underarmour, and scrumcap. Though now at least I own my own scrumcap and I won’t have to fight for a sweaty one that fits back at Bowdoin slash just not wear one in the game. Good investment, I believe.

            The IFSA group had our first get-together since we’ve been at UCC at this little Japanese-esque/noodle restaurant called Wagamamas (interesting name…) on Monday night. It was nice to see the others since we've split up kinda to do our own thing with our new-found friends. I’m very happy about that, though, since I really enjoy the people I’ve been hanging out with. Good times fa shizzle. One group had gone to the Aran Islands this past weekend and I really really want to go. Probably in February or something…idk. Also, the food was REALLY GOOD. When we asked what we could order, they told us to get whatever! So of course everyone ordered a ton of food since we didn’t have to cook it; a common theme was that this was the first meal we’d been completely full at since our first night lol. I got gyoza, yaki soba (Google it, don’t wanna explain haha), and this fantastic bowl of ice cream with fresh berries. Yay fruit!

            Rafa and I went to the Guarda today (Tuesday) to register, but I was unable because I didn’t have a form. DO NOT PANIC!!! (That’s to you, Mother :-P ) I just need to have my bank send me a statement and I’ll be fine. They’re very chill here. Did you know the Guarda aren’t armed at all? Also they have these neon yellow jackets that are awesome yet kind of funny. I’m still intimidated, but they’re a lot more approachable than the police back home. For example, if I were walking home alone at night and for some reason felt unsafe, I could call them up and they would a) stay on the phone with me until I got to my room or b) come and get me if necessary. How nice! Though I’m sure the ones at home would do that too (maybe?), I don’t think I’d ever think of calling them for that…

            Today we had our last rugby practice before the game tomorrow night against Ballincollig, which is a real women’s team—that is, not college women. OY. The thing about practices here is that everything happens really fast, like transitions between drills and the drills themselves, so while we only go for 1.5 hours we get soooooo much done. Lots of fitness, some fitness plus passing, and tons of contact, which is different from home. We do a lot of handling at Bowdoin and only do contact twice a week, which I guess is technically the same amount of time, but it feels more often haha. Possibly because it’s a lot more intense—no one “pulls punches” like at home for fear of tackling a teammate. I kinda like it…it’s so much more game-like and I’ve def gotten better at tackling. I’ll probably write again tomorrow or Thursday about the game, so stay tuned. There may even be pictures!

Slán go fóill!!