Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Just a quick St. Paddy's Day wish to everyone!I wanted to take some pictures of green things and post them everywhere (poor flickr would've had green overload), but I thought better of it, and instead I'm going to post a couple of photos from my trip to Ireland which was right around this time last year. Unfortunately, I missed St. Patrick's Day while I was there, but I did stock up on leprechauns, Guiness memorabilia, and--hey I'm American, so I couldn't resist--Irish cheddar. Thinking back on my trip, I remember specifically being a bit disappointed with Dublin--I had pictured in my mind another place, I think. But now, remembering those two days of packing-in the sites and running around excitedly as if it were a weekend field trip, I think what a wonderful experience it was. Somehow I had squeezed in this getaway into an already busy March schedule, and it was a welcome change: from the simple change of scenery in misty green-grassed Dublin, to the chance to spend time with friends from home. Looking back, I think of places I missed, things I wish I could've seen, what I would have liked to have explored more, and reasons upon reasons to return to the Emerald Isle. Sometimes trips are best traveled in hindsight.
So Happy St. Patrick's Day, dress in green, drink Guinness, and kiss Irish People (or pinch non-green wearers!)...in other words, be Irish for the day (Or longer!). Happy St. Paddy's Day especially to my friend Patrick--do they celebrate that in Germany? If not, you'd better teach them!
Ah, and what about this for a bit of luck:
Purdue beat ARIZONA, on its knees, to advance in the NCAA tournament! Now that's 3 Indiana teams that are still in it! Next games up: Purdue vs. Florida (yikes!), Indiana vs. UCLA (yikes again!) and Butler vs. Maryland. Go Indiana teams! Go Boilermakers!
-Jackie
O' Leprechaun Goyette
Lucky Leprechaun
Well, it's almost St. Patrick's Day, and while I'm getting ready to dress in green and pinch people, my brother sent me
this article about Cathedral High School (where I went to high school) and its issues with big-name university, Notre Dame. It seems Notre Dame no longer wants to share its Fighting Irish Leprechaun with Cathedral anymore, and, after years of back-and-forth discussions, has finally pulled the plug. I'm seriously considering buying up all leftover leprechaun-wear at Cathedral when I get back to the states in August and keeping them as valuable collector's items--that stuff will be worth a pot o'gold some day! Seriously though, I am sorry that my alma maters keep showing up in the news lately, and I'm also sorry that Cathedral has to give up its good luck charm. That lucky leprechaun follwed me through years of high school cross country and track meets and plenty of school assemblies and every other part of being a high school student. Still, the luck of the Irish, in my mind, will always be present at Cathedral, with or without the little fella.
In other news, two of the four Indiana teams
in this year's brackets won their games last night (the other two play today--one being the above-mentioned Notre Dame) as the NCAA Basketball Tournament roared to a start! Congrats to
IU and
Butler (that's right, BUTLER!), and good luck to my beloved Purdue Boilermakers who play Arizona tonight! One of my friends (and fellow Cathedral grads), Maura, waits all year for March Madness to begin, so yesterday was a huge huge day for her. But, being as she is a Marquette graduate, I send out my deepest sympathies, as Marquette lost against Michigan State yesterday, 61 to 49. Sorry Maura! That's gotta be a major let down. Oh well--you can cheer with me for Purdue tonight...!
Go Boilermakers! Ah, how I miss the excitement of March Madness--no one understands these things over here in Italy!
Finally, check out
this post over at Rubber Slippers in Italy of Rowena's hedgehog find! Anyone who has been to our house can bet that Antonello and I loved checking out the pictures of this prickly little pet. What a cute guy! More on our OWN hedgehog and porcupine collection soon... :)!
More translations to do, and another couple of classes to get through before the weekend can REALLY begin. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!
-Jackie
Late in the Week: but still here in Macerata
This photo is too late, I know, and I've got to start getting back to the theme: Monday. This week has proved to busy again--lots of lessons and, on top of that, I've been working on translating a bunch of brochures. NOT fun. I find that my English is complete nonsense, and I begin to wonder what exactly IS my native language? Hoosier, I'm guessing.
details of a wooden door in the city centerSo, we're going back to the
door theme here...I love the doors of Macerata, and the ones in the historic center are probably the most interesting. I've been wondering how to go about photographing them, and I went on a little spree last Friday, taking detailed shots of doors on my walk home. Check out some of the others over at
flickr.
I've gotta get back into blogging more regularly too, so as soon as I have some time (there's the rub) I'll be back to blogging more regularly. Next week the 8th grade class is going to Barcelona for their class field trip (you heard me right), and therefore I should hopefully have some mornings a bit freer. So hopefully more blogging next week!
Also, a couple of things--
First, welcome to
Lori, who arrived in London on Tuesday! She's coming down to Macerata and the area to visit us and other friends here next week--hopefully it won't get cold and snow (despite the forecast). But, that would be typical, wouldn't it? Weather problems? For Americans? Why, of course not!! ;)
Second, check out the
DePauw website about Delta Zeta, a sorority that was just kicked off campus this week. That's a big story (hey, I'm a DePauw grad...any time we make it into the
Indianapolis Star, it's a big story, much less the
New York Times). I'm probably the last DePauw alumn to have actually heard about this, but hey...news travels slow to Italy.
That's it for now. Back to translations (and maybe a bit of flickring)...Have a great Macerata--Thursday? Ciao ciao!
- Jackie
AuGuRi!!
Happy Birthday and plenty of warm wishes to bella Corrie!How old are you now? (you don't have to answer that...but the closest guesser will win a year's subscription to the Allora Aspetta blog! :) ...kidding kidding)
Have a wonderful day, bella, and enjoy the time with your parents! I wish we could be up there celebrating with you! Hope you guys are having a blast, and I hope the weather is warm there! Eat some birthday gelato, or perhaps a whole birthday cake, and have fun!
-Jackie
