Hello Internet Peoples! I hope all’s good in the hood.
I’m finally getting around to my (supposedly) monthly life update! I do apologise for the lack of frequency yet again; you might think that students are incredibly lazy, and you’d be right- but when exam season strikes, goodness knows we feel the flames under our wee bums and BOY can we write essays in record time! Despite the awfulness of exams, however, I have managed to get up to some interesting things. Hope you enjoy!
Also, writing these little updates kind of makes me feel like a little old lady at Thanksgiving, writing a “review of the year” for her distant relatives- do you know what I mean? “This year has been wonderful! Jemima got her first tooth, and we all watched little Jimmy play his first big boy football game- unfortunately he fell and hurt his little fanny”. Maybe I’m crazy? Just let me know if you enjoy this sort of thing or not!
ANYWAY, let’s get to it!
1. Alfie.
April was verrrrrry exciting indeed, because guess what? WE GOT A PUPPY! His name is Alfie (if the title didn’t give it away), and he’s about four months old. He has many interests, including playing fetch, attacking my feet while I sleep, and watching Wallace and Gromit. Seriously! He also really loves being petted and cuddled, which is amazing because he’s just so cute, we can’t leave him alone!
Alfie is a rescue doggy- we got him from a local shelter near Derry called “Rainbow Rehoming” when he was 10 weeks old. He may be young, but he’s been through a lot. Poor little Alf was found beneath a bridge, which was beside a busy road, and he was covered in mud and completely soaked. He had hypothermia, and he’s really lucky to have survived! We feel so fortunate and blessed to have him as our little pet, and to be able to give him a good home; but I just can’t understand how someone could abandon a poor, helpless little puppy who couldn’t look after himself.
For anyone who’s been contemplating getting a pet, please do check out the Rainbow Rehoming Facebook page, because they work so hard, and there are so many animals that need a loving owner!
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rainbow-Rehoming-Centre/11160113946?fref=ts)
2. Easter Break
“Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote” came along, he brought Easter, and therefore a much needed break from University life! You know when you make plans with your friends, but in the back of your mind you think “Hmmm, might not actually happen”, but then all of those plans come together in the same week? Well, that’s my excuse for having been at the Ramore four times in one week :S As much as I was an absolute glutton, it did give me the chance to try several different dishes, instead of ordering the ol’ faithful chilli chicken penne pasta every night. And those desserts, wow! I’m salivating all over my Macbook (possibly the most disgusting, pretentious and fancy damn sentence I ever did type). But my favourite part of that whole week was definitely getting to see my friends again- from my distillery buddies, to my home friends, and school friends, it was the most wonderful week I’d had in a while. And in addition, I got to spend Easter at home with the parents, and Alfie, and a lovely, brand new bottle of gin. Perfect little break!
3. Belfast Zoo
Seeing as cabin fever was starting to set in with all of the essay writing, myself and le boyf organised a little trip to the zoo with some friends; we’d been talking about doing this since we started university almost two years ago!
Also does anyone else find it incredibly weird that there are just a number wild animals on top of a hill in Belfast? I feel like we’ve given them an advantage in some way (the perfect ambush position)…
Anyway! Despite the crazy weather, which ranged from clammy to rainy, we had a fabulous day; who knew pigs could get so big, or that giraffes were so friggin’ cute?! I totally recommend visiting the zoo if you haven’t done so already- it’s just something a little bit different. Animals are so beautiful and intelligent.
On a side note- one thing that wasn’t so great about the zoo was the fact that, for what seemed like some CRAZY reason, the closer we got the top, the more it stank of weed. And I mean stank. However, after some quick googling, we discovered that apparently, the urine of a particular wolf smells like marjuana. How weird is that? Or at least, thats what Belfast Zoo wants us to believe…
4. “yes I said yes I will yes”
I’m a little bit in love with Molly Bloom! Oh how I have become obsessed with James Joyce’s Ulysses. One of my essays was actually on this text, and in the nerdiest way possible, I had so much fun doing research for it. I’m yet to finish reading it, as we were set various parts for required reading, but I’m so entranced by it, I can’t wait to find some spare time and continue! I also had to do a class presentation on it, and as it was my last class of the year, I actually dressed up as Joyce. And yes, the walk home was very… interesting!
My favourite part of that class, however, was when we had to discuss the sexual undertones of Molly’s interior monologue. Our tutor got so bashful, he basically choked on the word “orgasm” and blushed the blushiest of blushes I have ever seen. It was hard not to laugh, so I just twiddled the ends of my stick on moustache in a nonchalant kind of way.
10/10 recommend reading Ulysses, however. It is an incredible text, and so worthwhile!
5. EXAMS
Did I mention I’ve been doing exams? I do apologise for using the “E” word so much, but it is a really big deal at this time of year, and just puts a big grey cloud over one’s existence 😦
I’m dedicating a section of this post to talk about exams, in the hopes that anyone out there still going will be more sensible than I am. It turns out you can’t survive on just digestives, Red Bull and wee cups of tea and coffee. I ended up collapsing before my last essay was due, and landed myself at A&E a week later, all because I wasn’t looking after myself properly. However, it’s not the first time I’ve passed out during exam season- I’m kind of like one of those fainting goats? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_3Utmj4RPU)
I’m not writing about this for pity- I find it really embarrassing that I was acting like such an eejit by not eating enough and barely sleeping! This is a warning for all of my fellow workaholics: if you’re reading this, TAKE A BREAK AND GO EAT SOME BROCCOLI!!!!
I’m also not allowed to drink coffee at the moment, which is absolutely KILLING me! If anyone else out there has had to cut coffee out of their lives, PLEASE tell me how you filled the void because I am well and truly struggling!
Some other exciting things these past two months have beeeeeeen:
Finding out the school I’ll be teaching in in France!
Having my daddy come and visit me in Belfast
Random coffee dates (or in my case, hot chocolate </3)
Visiting a very cool food van in Derry- Pyke and Pommes (go check it out here- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pyke-N-Pommes/336202456501124?fref=ts)
So all in all, a rollercoaster two months! Let me know what you lovely folks have also been up to, either by leaving a comment or sending me a message.
As always, thank you SO much for reading my posts! It makes me so very happy, and your support gives me the buzz which coffee used to (kidding of course! You’re all way better).
Much love, et à bientôt!
Amber xx
Amber, Like the Traffic Light 