kate (ireland): Gaillimh

since i'm more familiar with galway city (Gaillimh) now, i can give you a better sense of where i am.
galway is a gorgeous city on the west coast of ireland. john is probably familiar with johnny cash's "galway bay." the national university of ireland--galway is made up of about 15,000 students and i think it's safe to say that there are almost 1000 international students here now, mostly americans.
i live in a subpar student flat next to the corrib river. there is a beautiful path from our complex to campus along the river and a side-canal. the trees are huge and soaked with rain-water. everything is covered with ivy and moss and there is a constant smell of burning wood. the walk downtown is pleasant and fairly quick. people spend time in eyre square and shop street for pubs and shopping. it took me a long time to have a decent idea of how to get around, a huge blow to my city ego. galway is full of small, curving streets that don't line up with one another and sometimes street signs on the sides of buildings are easy to miss. all of the street signs, road signs, etc. are written in both english and irish (one example in my facebook album) and irish is required in the schools.
the other day i went out with my tiny map in search of a huge used bookstore to buy some of the books for my literature class (really, i won't spend the entire semester drinking). i felt really accomplished finding it by myself in a nice little side street and sitting at a nice coffee shop next door. i walked home along a short-cut bridge that runs the length of the river and watched the water and the rooks flying all over the place.
more to come. i'm off to blow some more euro on dinner and pints. give me a call on skype at keb1223 (6 hour difference from the midwest).