A Day in the Life of Irene from Ireland

 After a long and detailed phone call with my good friend Irene from Ireland, I now know her daily activities like the back of my hand. The interesting thing about Irene is that she is incredibly repetitive. She follows her routine to a T every single day. If she falls out of her routine even just once, then Irene will have this feeling that she referred to as "off." This off feeling will put her into a bad mood and ruin the rest of the week for her, so she tries to avoid that at all cost. 

As you know from my last blog, Irene goes to the National University of Ireland in Galway. This prestigious university in Galway has an excellent biomedical program that Irene is a part of. Her days are quite long and exhausting, as you would assume a medical student's schedule to be. Yet, Irene makes the most out of her days and is nothing short of productive.

Every single morning, Irene wakes up in her dorm room underneath her white and black checkered blanket around 6:30 am. The absolute first thing that she does is turn off her fan. Irene says that, "A cold room is the worst way to get ready for the day." She then eats one single banana and heads to the quarters to work out. Her preferred place to work out at is next to the dome on campus. 

Following her hour and a half work out, Irene heads back to her dorm room and takes a shower. She uses her lavender scented shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. If you couldn't tell, her favorite smell is lavender. Around 8:30, Irene meets her friends in the dining area. Each morning, Irene enjoys one "super-dippy" egg, black pudding (a juicy blood sausage type of meat), baked beans, and a bowl of the mixed fruit that is available that day. This meal may sound odd to us Americans, but it is a typical Irish breakfast.

After her meal, Irene makes her back to her dorm room to grab her back pack and heads to her first class that is held at 9:30. Irene and I are similar in the fact that we enjoy back-to-back classes rather than spreading out our day. Her school day ends at 1:20 pm every single day. Before heading back to her dorm room, she stops to grab a quick bite to eat. Her lunch is not set like her breakfasts are, so she just grabs whatever she is in the mood for. Her favorite lunch consists of some type of sandwich with a side of potatoes or cabbage and another bowl of fruit. 

Irene rushes back to her dorm room with her lunch so that she can eat it on her soft, brown couch with her roommate, Annalise. She lights her favorite lavender smelling candle and they put on their current Netflix binge; Peaky Blinders. At about 3:00pm, Irene gets underneath her fluffy checkered blanket and takes a 2 hour nap. Her goal is to be up and ready to go to dining area for dinner around 5:30. She normally isn't too hungry, so she has a light dinner and gets to eat a snack later in the night.

Her dinners consist of some type of meat. Irene mentioned to me that she usually picks what smells the best. She is normally drawn to the spiciest smelling meal. If her eyes are watering, then she is suckered into grabbing it. She loves the spicy chicken that her school offers. Her sides will consist of potatoes or cabbage and another bowl of fruit. 

Immediately after dinner, Irene heads to study in her favorite dorm study hall. The blank, white walls help her focus. She found a study hall that is rarely ever found, so the silence is deafening. All she can do is study and that is what she does. Being a biomedical science major, she has a lot of content to cover. Making hundreds of flash cards and constantly quizzing herself. She puts in at least three hours worth of studying and homework before she heads back upstairs to her dorm room.

When Irene is settled into her bed with pajamas on around 9:00, I am getting out of class. Keep in mind that the east coast of America is 7 hours behind Galway, Ireland. We usually talk on FaceTime and catch up as much as we can. Then she watches another episode of Peaky Blinders with her roommate. Irene ends her night with blowing out her lavender scented candle and turning on her fan. She tries to fall asleep by 10:30. Then she wakes up and does it all over again.