It's December already?

Whoa! So, I've heard from some people telling me to update my blog since my last post was in October. yelp. Well... we have good reasons for that! Masters degrees!

As of today, all my classes are finished up and I'm busy just writing some papers. This semester I took the following courses ...

1. Labor, Migration and Conflict - Final Paper to be written!
2. Race, Ethnicity: Theoretical Concepts - DONE
3. Colonialism, Conflict and Liberal Intervention - DONE
4. Conflict Zones: Israel-Palestine - Final Paper in progress!
5. Research Methods - DONE
6. Race, Ethnicity and Social Policy - DONE
7. Human Rights and Global Issues- Final Paper to be written!

I've thoroughly enjoyed all of my courses and have learned so much! Claudio, as of today, has finished 2/5 of his classes! Those being Derivatives and Quantitative Methods. From what I gather, he has finals left for Capital Markets, Econometrics, and Corporate Finance. How exciting does that sound? (The answer is not! But he's doing well :) )

Christmas in Dublin is quite nice! here's some shots that I stole from google, since I'm never wise enough to take out a camera and get photos.

Dublin Christmas Market at Stephen's Green

Grafton Street adorned in lights

Popular student hangout, the Ginger Man

I've set myself due dates for the 3 last papers that I have to do, but here's what I get to look forward to during my month long Christmas vacation!

My mom & dad are GREAT and felt bad that we didn't decorate for Christmas and didn't have any plans, so they're gifting us a tour of the west coast of Ireland for Christmas! How wonderful are they?

We'll see sights like these...

Cliffs of Moher

The Burren

Historic village of Dingle

The Ring of Kerry

These partly are for your guys' enjoyment, but also for my motivation.. the quicker I finish these papers, the quicker I get to go see these beauties!

The "Christmas" vacation Claudio and I planned actually takes place in January, because of the cost of flights and things. We'll be headed straight for the sunshine in the Canary Islands! The canaries are basically the Hawaii of Europe, just a LOT cheaper and most Spanish than anything. We'll be visiting Lanzarote and Fuerteventura... which are the two most Saharan looking islands, as opposed to the more lush islands. Here's some photos for everyone who wants to get a case of jealousy.

A little stark, yes, but this is when the new episode "Kill the Moon" on Doctor Who was filmed, so I'm up for a lunar beach escape!

After we get home all suntanned and relaxed, I'll be back at Trinity for my second half of classes. I'll be taking

1. Race, Ethnicity: Theoretical Concepts - (second half)
2. Colonialism, Conflict and Liberal Intervention - (second half)
3. Research Methods - (second half)
4. Forced Migration and Ethnic Cleansing
5. and another elective I haven't decided on yet?

Hopefully you guys are all excited now to see my POST-TRIP photos! Thanks for reading! 

Where else do you think we should go in Europe?