March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lion?

To try to fit a month in one blog post is seemingly ridiculous and impossible but I'm going to do it. And I will try to do it as concisely as possible.

The beginning of the month started of absolutely swell. It was the second to last week of class AND the week of gigs. The first of the month started off with one of my favourite bands, Yellowcard. They are back and with a FORCE. Their new songs are not only reminiscent of their old stuff but shows a maturity as well. I may have been the oldest there, save the parents of the children, by like 10 years but it was still a great show. Then the fifth, the flatmate and I cashed in on my Christmas/birthday gift to her... Ray LaMontagne! Although we were the only non-couple there, it was a great time. He is absolutely phenomenal live and we were both in tears at one point or another.

Then it was the last week of lectures for our programme, which went really well. It was nutrition and global health and while I knew a lot of the stuff they were talking about, it was cool to see/hear a lot of the articles that I've read materialised. But enough about the boring stuff...

Now March... and Ireland... what could possibly go on in March, in Ireland? Oh that's right ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Celebrating this day in Ireland was on my bucket list and I am so happy that I got to strike it off! My friend Esther and I went to watch the parade and froze our heinies off but it was a very interesting parade.

The theme of the parade was based on a short story called, "Brilliant!"  Hence, the weird craziness of a parade.

See? Super weird parade things

Pinkified version of the Fluffy from Harry Potter

Then the flatmate and I went and started the evening off around 5pm with a pint of Guinness! I told myself that I'd last until 10pm and I did! Just barely. Our friends were having a little too much fun with me being a lightweight so much so that I called it quits right around 10:02pm.

Ah but the day after St. Paddy's was a glorious one indeed! We started off with brunch at a fantastic little place called Elephant & Castle and then we went to St. Stephen's Green (not a pub here like in Mountain View, a beautiful city park) armed with Club Orange (poor man's version of Orangina) and champagne. The flatmate and a new friend insisted on the champagne mostly because they said that if they didn't start drinking again, they'd have the worst hangovers. I believed them and wasn't going to let a thing like a hangover ruin that beautiful day.

St. Stephen's Green

Cheers!

Yes we robbed that Care Bear from a chipper...

After a weekend of recuperation, it was time to start the assignments. And I tried, I really did. I got my ethics in and everything. I was getting geared up for my Kenya trip and was getting more and more stoked for it. God had a different plan. On the 29th of March, I started having severe abdomnial pains which I attributed to lady cramps. The next day did not get much better... and if you want to know the rest of the story read the "The Sick Saga" post.

Fin. (of March)