By my third week in Philly sunny skies were becoming more and more infrequent and there was definitely an emerging chill in the air. Leaves began to gather on the sidewalks as the first indication of Fall. The tail end of Storm Ian made me feel quite at home funnily enough. Weather this time of year in Ireland usually moves from the summertime temperatures of around 65°F (scorching I know) to the grey skies and rainfall that characterises most of autumn and winter. This week I noticed the supermarkets began to fill with pumpkin flavoured… everything. Biscuits, cookies, coffees and even beer. I’m very excited to experience Halloween in the US. I’m currently in the process of convincing other exchange students, with varying degrees of success, to book a night at Eastern State Penitentiary over the Halloween period. I’m keeping an eye on movie theatre listings as well to catch some horror movies, my favourite. By week three I was quite settled into my routine of classes, homework and exercise however I had hardly done any sightseeing apart from what was in my immediate vicinity in University City. Therefore on Saturday, along with some other exchange students, I headed into Center City for the first time. There we walked around City Hall and took in the sights. Back home a building is considered tall when it has more than five buttons in the elevator. As a result it was quite the dizzying experience standing at the base of the Comcast Center and staring up the side of it. For lunch we headed to Reading Terminal Market. The busyness and collections of sights and smells was truly amazing. It was as if any food you could think of was for sale. There I indulged in a meatball sandwich with provolone cheese from Dinic’s and an apple fritter from Beiler’s Donuts. Both of which were well worth the wait in long queues. On our war home we were treated to the sight of a stunning Philly sunset reflecting off of the towers of Center City. Towards the end of week three I once again had the pleasure of running into my old friends at the Philadelphia Fire Department when the fire alarm in my building went off and we were all evacuated… again. I hurried out the door with my shoes untied, backpack open and an everything bagel in my mouth. Friday night I went to a Drexel ice hockey game with some friends. As is the case with most US sports, ice hockey is not played in Ireland. As such it was thoroughly entertaining to see such a different spectacle to anything I’d seen before. Everything was so fluid and multidimensional. It was thoroughly entertaining. Especially every time the crowd cheered as the zamboni passed. Drexel won out over the Navy 5-3. Mup d’lads (Irish slang for well-done lads). Once again NFL Sunday ended in another win for the Eagles. This time over the Jaguars. The Eagles are are now four for four and gaining some serious momentum. That in combination with the Phillies making the playoffs makes it look like I chose a good year to come to Philly. GO BIRDS!
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