Celebrating the end of term papers

This past semester I took a course on monsters in literature and film, and for my term paper I wrote about how the duality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde influenced comic book characters and their alter-egos.  Writing 5,000 words (15 pages) on anything is enough to make you a little crazy, and in this state I decided that when I was finished with the essay Michael and I should have a celebratory party at our house and require all our friends to dress up as superheroes / evil villains. 

Michael graciously planned the majority of the event, as I was staying up almost every night to write my final papers in every class.  When January 28th came and our Fall semester came to a close, we found ourselves with about half of the Trinity pop lit post graduates (12 total) in our living room, kitchen, and anywhere we could find space.  Costumes included characters like Rogue, Poison Ivy, Laura Croft, Buffy, mild-mannered alternate egos, and newly invented characters (like the sinister "Dr. Black").  Austin Powers even made an appearance.  Most commonly though, our friends showed up as ambiguous characters wearing tights and a cape.

Because my parents bought Michael a TV for Christmas, we decided to watch Space Jam and The Emperor's New Groove.  Our couch and 5 chairs were crammed, and every pillow and blanket in the house was brought down to substitute for a chair (our floors are hardwood - lovely but uncomfortable for watching movies).  The party was wonderful, and we had a great time.  It's so much fun to be a part of a masters program where almost every student celebrates turning in their papers by dressing up as a superhero and watching children's films from the 90s.

Giving blood with Rotary

Due to the bad weather near the beginning of December, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) was forced to cancel many clinics they had scheduled to receive blood donations.  The Rotary Clubs of Dublin have always participated in the clinics, even going to far as to compete with each other to see which club can donate the most pints, but in light of the blood shortages efforts to increase donations were doubled. 

On December 16th, Dublin Central held a clinic to accept donations.  Unfortunately, I had class that evening and was unable to attend.  The next morning Michael and I flew home to Kentucky for Christmas, but I was able to give blood at Murray Calloway County Hospital, along with my brother Brad, and despite being in a different country, both of our pints were counted toward the Dublin Central donations.

Ireland's biggest snow storm in 40 years

Shortly after Michael and I celebrated my birthday, Ireland was hit with the largest snowstorm of the past 40 years.  Earlier in the week I had asked the head of the English Department at Trinity if there was a chance classes would be canceled, and she responded that in the time she had been at Trinity they had never called off classes due to snow.  Less than 24 hours later the campus was shut down.

With classes called off for the week, Michael and I decided to get up early and take photos of Trinity's campus because it was just so beautiful with the snow everywhere.

On Sunday we took photos of the Methodist church we attend over here for the same reason.  The photos I took haven't been edited in any way, the light actually looks like that early in the morning after the snow.  It's beautiful.

After church on Sunday, we decided to enjoy the snow in St. Stephen's Green.

We met up with Emily Sernaker, a Rotary Scholar from California.  Because California doesn't get a lot of snow, Michael and I were able to teach Emily all the best things to do in the snow, like make snow angels, have snowball fights, build snowmen, etc.  I even tried to make a Rotary wheel in the snow, but it's difficult to see in the photo.  The highlight of the afternoon in the park was coming across several Irish boys ages 7-12 who had a pile of snowballs and no one to assault.  We picked a fight and all of us, including the kids, had a great time.

Then, a few days later on December 2, Cian Timmons, a Rotarian with Dublin Central, called to say that as buses and the luas (Dublin's above-ground train) weren't running, he and his wife were snowed in and unable to attend Handel's Messiah at the Grand Canal Theatre that evening.  Since we live in City Center, he emailed the tickets and after just half an hour's walk we were able to enjoy the performance in the best seats in the house!  Not only was the performance itself amazing, but the walk there and home was snowy and beautiful. We had a wonderful evening and it wouldn't have been possible without the generosity of a Rotarian from Dublin Central.

Helping out the Dublin Viking Rotary Club

On December 11, the Dublin Viking Rotary Club hosted a fundraiser for 4 Irish charities: the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (an organization similar to Needline), the Dublin Rape Crisis Center, the Father Peter McVerry Boys' Home, and the Merchants Quay Drugs Project (a society aiding the homeless and drug addicted).

To encourage people to donate, the fundraiser was held in a shopping mall in Dundrum, where a local retired men's choir sang Christmas carols to cheer shoppers. 

Initially, I had my doubts whether or not people would be willing to give, especially in light of the current economic crisis in Ireland.  However, I was astounded by how many people saw the Rotary logo and simply pulled out their wallets.  We had a sign posted, informing shoppers where the money would go, but rarely did the people who gave walk over to look at it.  One lady said, "Whatever this is going for, I know the Rotary Club will use it well."  It was just one more reminder of the charity work people associate with Rotary.

Turning 25 in Ireland

On November 26^th I turned 25.  It was a first in many ways: my first birthday in a foreign country, my first birthday to be away from my family, and my first birthday to be married.  Because Michael and I have always been careful with our money, we never bought each other birthday presents; instead we celebrate by going out for a nice dinner and enjoying a relaxing evening without the mess of cooking or having to do dishes. 

This year, because we are both students and the cost of living in Dublin is extremely high, we decided to scale down the celebration.  Since it had turned cold, the American and Canadian students in my class had been raving about a chocolate shop that sold what they described as “the best hot chocolate in the world.”  It sounded fantastic, but in our efforts to be frugal we had put off trying it for a special occasion. 

The morning of my birthday, Michael let me sleep in and then surprised me by announcing that he was taking me out to breakfast.  We ended up in the chocolate shop.  We each ordered a hot chocolate (mine was milk chocolate and his was dark chocolate) and we got a chocolate muffin to split.  It was incredibly decadent and the perfect way to celebrate. 

After our delicious breakfast, we took a trip to St. Stephen’s Green to feed the ducks.  I’ve always liked feeding ducks, even when I was a little kid.  My grandfather used to take me to the park and I would pick out which one I thought was the prettiest.  (Even at age 25 I still do that.)  Apparently one of the ducks thought Michael was the prettiest, as that duck that kept walking up to him instead of waiting in the pond with the others; by the time we were ready to leave Michael had taught the duck to catch the bread in his mouth. 

After taking the afternoon off to study, we walked around and looked at the Christmas decorations all over Dublin.  (Their store windows are absolutely incredible and deserving of their own post dedicated just to them.)  All in all, it was a wonderful birthday, and it just proved that old adage: Money doesn’t buy happiness.  I couldn’t be happier.

Making pumpkin pie for Rotary

Since we couldn't be home for Thanksgiving this year, Michael and I decided to bring the Thanksgiving tradition to Ireland.  We started by making a pumpkin pie for the Dublin Central Rotary Club.  (I've found that while most Irish people I've spoken to have had turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc., very few have ever tried pumpkin pie.)  It was very sad to cut up the pumpkins we painted for Halloween, but after the pie was finished, it was definitely worth it.  This is how we did it:

We started by cutting the pumpkin into chunks and cutting off the stringy inside part.  If you've never cut up a pumpkin before, think of it as a cantaloupe.  When you slice it, you have to make sure you cut off the part with the seeds before you serve it; it's the same case here.  At this point you can cut off the skin as well, though I find it's much easier to wait until after you cook them. 

Next, boil the pumpkin until it's soft, just as you would if you were making mashed potatoes.  You know they are done when you can easily put a fork into the pieces (though the skin will never be that soft).  The longer you cook the pumpkin, the more "meaty" it will become.  It just depends on how you want your pumpkin pie to taste.  The size of the chunks also depends on how long you will need to boil them.  Again, the same as if you were making mashed potatoes.

Chances are, you won't be able to fit all the pieces into your pot.  For our small pumpkin it took 5 times, so Michael and I had some candy corn his grandmother and my aunt sent over in a package.  (They don't sell it over here.)  It helped get us in the Thanksgiving mood while we waited for the pumpkin to boil.

I also set aside the seeds.  When I was a little girl, my mom would always bake the pumpkin seeds while my dad handled the dangerous carving before Bradley and I were old enough to be able to use knives.  We loved them when we were kids, so I washed them and set them aside to cook for later.  (I made them with 1 tablespoon of butter, salt, and pepper, and cooked them at 150°C / 300°F for about 25 minutes - they were delicious.)

Once the pumpkin is tender, set it aside to cool for about 10 minutes or until you can comfortably hold it.  The skin should peal off easily with a knife.  Discard the skin and put the pealed, boiled pumpkin into a bowl to be mashed.  Don't worry if the pumpkin seems much more watery than the pumpkin you normally use from a can; it should be.  Most recipes that call for pumpkin will require you to heat it up before using it anyway, so you can cook out the excess water.  If you don't plan on heating the pumpkin, you can freeze and then thaw it.  It will help to separate out some of the water, though not all.  You can also purchase cheese cloth and strain the pumpkin through that.  I wasn't that picky and we had to cook the pumpkin for pie anyway, so we didn't worry about the extra water.

After Michael mashed up the pumpkin, we had more than enough to make the pie.  We followed a basic recipe, though we had to substitute often for ingredients that were hard to find or too expensive.  (Sorry cloves and ginger, we would never use you again.)

I took the pie to the Rotary meeting the day before Thanksgiving.  Despite initial reluctance to try it (they thought the idea of making a dessert out of a gourd sounded gross), a few brave Rotarians had a piece, and with their endorsement the rest joined in.  It was a success!  I had made enough pie for each Rotarian to have 2 pieces, though I assumed most would only have one.  I planned on taking the rest to a Thanksgiving party the next day, but by the end of the meeting there were only a few small pieces left.  Luckily, the small pumpkin made enough for 2.5 large jars even after I made the pie, so I think we'll have enough to make some more.

Here is the general recipe I used, though I just eyeballed most of the measurements:


2 cups of pumpkin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cream
1/2 can of evaporated milk (85 g)
1/2 can of condensed milk (200g)
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1.5 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

I also added 5 oz of cream cheese that I had in the refrigerator and didn't know what else to do with. 

For the crust, we crushed up plain digestives until they filled the bottom of the pan and added about half a cup of butter, a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar, and baked it until it turned brown.  For the filling, I heated the pumpkin and sugars on the stove, then mixed the rest of the ingredients separately while the water evaporated out of the pumpkin.  Once it was ready, I poured the pumpkin/sugar mixture into the mixing bowl and stirred before adding it to the crust. 

Rotary presentation at Dublin Central

Wednesday evening I was finally able to give my presentation at Dublin Central Rotary Club, my host club here in Ireland.  I usually have class on Wednesday nights and come late to the meetings, but this week class was canceled and I was able to give my presentation.

The presentation itself has 4 main parts: information about the scholarship, information about me, information about Kentucky, and information about my host club back home in Murray.  Although I have presented twice before, this was the first opportunity I had to go through the entire presentation.  The two other clubs gave me a 5-7 minute window and I just had to hit the highlights.  It was also my first opportunity to use a projector and include photos with the presentation.  It made a huge difference.

The Dublin Central club was most interested in two aspects of my speech.  First, they were intrigued by the idea of me being in a sorority, as they don't have Greek organizations in Ireland.  They wanted to know what my letters, Sigma Sigma Sigma, stood for and all about the secrets that go along with being in a sorority.  Although I told them about our open motto and our philanthropy, they didn't understand that I couldn't reveal the organization's secrets unless they were members too.  My club was also intrigued by the philanthropic aspect of Greek life, as that seems to have fallen by the wayside in the pop culture idea of fraternities and sororities.  The fact that I had lived in a sorority house was quite exciting for them as well, and after the meeting I had several members who wanted to know if it was like the movies.

Secondly, (and by far the most successful part of the presentation) was my local club's fundraiser "Kiss a Pig Contest."  Rotary members can be nominated for $5 and are charged with raising $100 by the Christmas parade.  The Rotarian with the most money "wins" and gets to / has to kiss a pig at the parade.  Luckily, I had a photo of Roger Reichmuth from last year's contest kissing Pork Chop and it caused quite a bit of excitement.  The club was very surprised and wanted to know if the pig was real, if the pig was alive, where it came from, etc.  They were quite impressed that Roger was willing to kiss it, even for the sake of raising money.  One gentleman commented, "Those Rotarians in Kentucky must be really dedicated to eradicating polio!"

For more information on the "Kiss a Pig Contest," see the Murray Rotary Club's website: http://murrayrotary.org/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103%3Akiss-a-pig-contest&catid=43%3Aactivities&Itemid=1