Happy New Year!

This week marks the start of the Jewish new year- so in honor of that- HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A few observations--

Fire Alarm: This is the one sound that causes immediate action. I've been here for 3, so far, and I'm just at the 2 week mark in the dorm. The alarm goes off, the dorms clear out, and then we wait. We wait outside, huddled in shivering crowds (because it's usually at dinner time or in the night when the alarm goes out, and when you're startled by a loud noise, you may remember your key, no less a sweater or scarf), until the "Cork City Fire Brigade" arrives, with all their bells and flashes at full force. The 6 or 8 men stomp out in uniform with unimpressed looks upon their faces. They go in. wait....5 minutes....wait. They come out, then the warden announces the room number which set off the alarm. Until this point everyone is a little tense, whispering to one another about what they were doing- excusing any possibility that the alarm was set off in their room. The apartment dweller is identified, and life resumes, as usual.

Textbooks: Purchasing textbooks here is an option, not a requirement. All of the books that my professors have listed as "suggested readings" are available in the library, usually 4 or 5 copies of them. When I went to pick up a few, there were none taken out, which makes me think that these suggestions are not particularly important to the students, and certainly are not monitored or enforced. Nevertheless, I did purchase a book today- a whopping 13.45Euros, which is the extent of my textbooks for the semester. No complaints there!

Dirty Streets: It's not like East Jerusalem, but the streets here are littered with animal feces and remnants of dinner that somehow just couldn't stay down. There is a large fine for littering, yet no consequences for puppy poo or vomit; so when walking through the streets of Cork, it's smart to watch your step.

Rain: As soon as it starts falling from the sky, the masses pull out their umbrellas. It's rather amusing, cute- even, until you're the one without an umbrella and within a few short minutes everything you're wearing is saturated with the water from above. I bought an umbrella yesterday- a worthy investment, indeed.

Music: Well... to devote a mere paragraph to the music in Cork, and in Ireland in general, is an absolute understatement- so I'll put it this way: The music alone could keep me in this country forever. It's absolutely wonderful- having the opportunity to hear live musicians every night of the week, usually for free- jam out their favorite folk tunes. Ahh, this is the life!