Irish Weather

The past two weeks have been a mixture of highs and lows for me here.  Just like the recent weather.  Last week, Ireland decided it was summer for three days. Temperatures were in the high 60s and while that may not sound like a hot day, it was about 15 degrees warmer then the days before.  I guess my body had adapted to the colder weather because I was sweating while walking to class.  Everyone in Cork was wearing shorts and t-shirts and had dragged out any and all furniture from the living rooms into their front gardens to soak up the  the warmth.  Every available section of grass on campus was covered with students lounging about.  The parks were full of people playing rugby and soccer.  Sadly, I was stuck in my lab for most of the days.  To make matter worse, they still had the radiators on full blast within the department as if it was snowing outside, making our lab an oven.  I did manage to escape for a cool pint at one of the local pubs.

Mother nature soon realised that it was not summer and attempted to correct her error.  However, she clearly overcompensated and sent us back into winter.  Temperatures were back to around freezing in the evenings and only reaching the high 40s during the day.  Scotland and other parts of the UK were covered in snow.  Now, we are back to spring time conditions.  The weather reminded me of a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  I thought they were just being silly, but now I realise that they were just accurately depicting the weather in this area of the world.  I included that clip below for you all to enjoy.

Much like the weather, my life this past few weeks have been a mix of highs and lows.  I gave my first public lecture here in Ireland for the UCC Archaeology Society.  The lecture went fantastically well.  It was the largest turn out of people for the entire year.  The event was filmed but there was an issue with the camera so I am still awaiting a copy of the talk.  Once I have a copy I will upload it here so you all can view it.  So that was a major high point for me here.  

Sadly, that high lasted as long as the Irish summer.  Classes have finished but the amount of work I need to complete as increased.  I have several essays, presentations and a massive anatomy exam to study for all in the next 4 weeks.  Stress is starting to set in.  On top of everything, I am still researching and designing a new project for my thesis.  The mummy project has officially been cancelled.  I will still be involved with the project, but it will no longer be my thesis.  I am sick of being reliant on other people when it come to my research.

Lastly, money is becoming a major problem.  I have yet to be able to secure a job and thus have yet to get any form on income.  The government does not consider summer school as part of the academic year and thus I cannot get any financial aid either.  Right now I am looking at about a $2000 deficit that will hit around the middle of August.  I am actively searching for a cheaper place to live for the summer as well as other cost cutting measures.  But I fear it won't be enough.  I was hoping to travel a bit during the summer months and do some touristy things while I was living here, but those are going to have to be put on hold.  Just one more thing to worry about I guess.  I know it will all workout in the end, it always does.  Just don't really need the extra stress right now.

I will upload some pictures from around campus that I took while during the 'Irish Summer' this afternoon.  I also have a 2nd slide show I am working on from a cemetery dating back to the early medieval period.  Those should be posted soon as well.

Thanks again to everyone who actually visits this page and reads my posts.  This blog as been visited over 1200 times since it started back in September!  Really appreciate the views!