Another week in Newcastle

I actually stayed in Newcastle this weekend to relax and put my life back together since I've been so busy lately. I haven't had time to blog in a week, so here goes ...

Wednesday was the rugby game in Lancaster! 8am wake-up call! It's about a 2.5 hour bus ride away, which went surprisingly fast just chatting with all the 1st team girls and enjoying the English countryside. I was on the bench for most of the game since the 3rd year hooker has seniority, but I actually got to play for the last 15 minutes. It was SO much fun. I won all the balls in the scrums, had a couple great line-out throws, and got a little trampled in the rucks. Apparently I did a good job because the captains and coach told me afterwards that the scrums didn't change once I went in, which meant I was doing just as well as the starting hooker. After 80 minutes of stress, bruises, and screaming, we WON! It was a very exciting game, indeed.
We all went to grab a bite to eat with the Lancaster team, then headed back to Newcastle. The bus ride home turns into the "party bus" and everything gets a little crazy. The theme for this week's rugby social was "Fairies," so we had tutus, wings, and glitter everywhere for the ride home. We met up with the 2nd team girls near the Student Union, then went right along to our usual Wednesday night hot spots, rugby bags in tow. 20 hours straight with the rugby team ... hows that for team bonding!

As for my Newcastle womens rugby future, who knows which team I'll be playing on. I was talking with our coach after the game, and it looks like I'll be flip-flopping between teams for the rest of the season, depending on who our opponents are. I'll either be starting for the 2nd team and playing all 80 minutes (yay, game experience!), or being a backup for the 1st team (they'll pull me up if an injury occurs). The 1st team girls are amazing, but I would much rather play more than watch from the side and only get on the field for the last bit. Both 1st and 2nd team play home games in Newcastle this week, and I should find out which team I'm on tomorrow at training. I'm wishing for starting on the 2nd team. All my flatmates and friends from my block are anxious to see me play and are planning to come cheer me on ... well, my rugby guy friends will be cheering, the girls will be hiding their eyes as I get tackled. Oh well, what's a couple more bruises, anyway?

We watched the Rugby World Cup last night in the pub down the street. England lost, but it was still an entertaining game. The rest of the weekend has just been relaxing for the most part. I actually visited the library (shocking, I know) yesterday and caught up on some reading for classes. I have to work on an Archeology project today that's due on Friday, and then prep for my Biochemistry lab practical that's scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. 5 weeks into study abroad and it's finally time to crack the books ... at least until essays and projects are finished.

This Friday I leave for Paris with the Loyola group and we stay until Sunday. I'm planning to see Clarice and Mary while I'm in Paris. Then on Tuesday Anna, Janine, and Laura from Rome are coming up to experience the Newcastle craziness for a few days, then next Friday all 4 of us have a flight booked to Dublin for the long weekend. I'll return to Newcastle Monday morning at the crack of dawn, but sleep is willing to be sacrificed for cheap flights! I'm really excited to see new places, but even more pumped to see my friends again. There's just something different about traveling with people who know you so well.

Yes, I'm still having a brilliant time. I'm balancing friends, fun, and rugby quite nicely. Still covered in bruises from being tackled, but then again I match all the other rugby girls. I'm finally caving into academic pressure and doing some work (blah!). I don't think I'd mind the work as much if it were subjects I'm actually interested in, but Archeology and Sociology for humanities core credit are just boring. I'm actually excited about Biochemistry lab practical on Tuesday, though. We'll just take this week one day at a time until I get to see the Paris and Rome girls in less than a week!