Reflection of a Lonely Cloud

"I wandered lonely as a cloud"

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high over vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the starts that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
The stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of the bay:
10,000 saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves besides them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed- and gazed- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.


Sometimes, I feel like that lonely cloud. Personally, for me my daffodils has come to be Ireland. Before this trip I kind of felt like I was just going through the motions of everyday life. I was happy but just not the excitement or challenge I was looking for. Being here gave me a whole new look on my abilities and has really given me confidence to do new things. It has made me more of an action taker than I was before, which has been something I really wanted to work on. I have felt a lot of comfort here and although my real home, like the dancing waves beside the daffodils, is great and good company there will be nothing better then my trip here. At the end of the poem, Wordsworth talks about laying on the couch in serious thought thinking about those daffodils and how much much pleasure they brought him. And even though I kind of dread going home, I'm curious to see how things have changed or stayed the same. And even, how I will fit back into the culture or how I will now look at it. This laid back, time doesn't matter vibe totally fits me. Although schedules are nice sometimes, I prefer to just let things happen. I have had no regrets and I really can't wait to plan my next trip to Ireland.

Galway

We only have a few weekends left here in Ireland and really we have seen so much since we've been here but the one place I heard we couldn't miss out on was Galway. So Taylor, Eoin, Melissa, and I booked a hostel and decided to take a road trip out west and see what this place had to offer. Jen ,A friend from home, was actually visiting that weekend too, so she was able to tag along for the ride. The drive up there took about 4 hours and we had great laughs along the way. It was also kind of nice to go on a trip by ourselves with out a huge group or itinerary. Once in the city, we had to navigate to find our hostel. We were staying in a place called Barnacles, which was located in the middle of everything and right across the road from three or four bars.

We got there in about the evening, so we decided to get ready and hit the town. On the way in we saw The Kings Head, which was a bar Dr. Reed had told us about, so we decide to start there first. The place was packed with people and in the back, a band was setting up. Galway is actually pretty know for there excellent live music so I knew the performance was definitely going to be good. So after a while of getting to know the place we settled in and began to jam out with the band. It was a great time, everyone was singing and dancing along to the music. Finally, they played the song Galway Girl and all us girls went nuts. We ended the night with some 2.50 euro pizza and headed back to the hostel. The first night in Galway was a success.

The next morning, we started our day out with the best burritos I've had in a long time. They were huge and really hit the spot. From there, we started to explore the city more and did some shopping. The city center was pretty quaint and had lots of fun shops. The streets looked so different from day into night. During the day the city is pretty calm and good amount of people, but not too overcrowded. But at night the city changes, the streets are packed and most pubs are full wall to wall with people.

At about midday we headed out to Spiddal, which was only a little while outside the city, so we could get a good look at the ocean. We found a spot, where we could stand and look out and see the Aran Islands. We sat there a while sitting on top of a stone wall gazing out into the ocean. There something about the west country that gives me a very peaceful, natural feeling that I really like. After sometimes we decided to head back to get ready for night two in Galway. Just as we were about to get in the car, a rainbow appeared right over the wall we were just sitting on. I think it had to be the first rainbow I had seen in Ireland which was pretty cool. This reminded me of the poem "My heart leaps up when I behold", not just because of the rainbow part. Willian Wordsworth speaks of this rainbow he sees in the sky and everytime he sees it, his heart leaps. He has this feeling no matter how old he gets and says if one day he doesn't get this feeling any more then he midest well just die. I know when I go home and think back of Galway or Ireland in general it will give me a happy feeling in my heart forever as well and if that feeling fades I would be worried.

"My heart leaps up when I behold"
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky.
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural pity.

Oh Lisdoonvarna!

Going westward to county Clare showed me a whole other side to Ireland. It was alot more laid back and had that old traditional Irish feel. The town we stayed in , Lisdoonvarna, had very little to see and only had about a streets worth of shops and restaurants. But come September, that place is full of people for the annual Matchmaking Festival where singles come to find their one true love. So if your looking for love and are of an average age of 54, this could be the place for you.

Saturday, we made our way to the Aran Islands and went to Inis Mor Island, which is the "big island" of the Aran Islands. After a hour and a half boat ride across the sea, we made it to the land. There were plenty of attractions to see on the island like stone forts, light houses, churches,and shoppes that sell the famous wool sweats. Now, we had a choice to either take a travel bus to each stop or brave the elements on a bike. The bike was was my top choice. How great would it feel to ride along the shore of the Aran Islands on a bike. So a group of us, took on the challenge and headed out to the old stone fort.. It actually turned out to quite the production. First, half the group split off on a different route, leaving Dan, Liz, Melissa and me on our own. Then, while we stopped to make sure we were headed in the right direction, a bird swooped down and decided to leave a present on Dan's shoulder. He stood there in complete discussed over the event and slowly began to take off his jacket to clean it off. Once we were on the road again we started to make great time as we road up and down the hills, gazing over the land of cows and horses. Next thing we know, Melissa had lost her sweater at some point on the ride so her and Dan turn back to find it. At this point we were all getting kind of tired and our time was starting to dwindle down. It was such a great feeling when we finally made it to the fort. We parked our bikes and with careful stepping started to climb to the top of the ruins. The fort was still in decent condition and stood on the edge of the cliffs. The wind was blowing so hard that I literally had to get on my hands and knees to crawl to the edge. The best part was looking down into the crashing water against the rocks. It had to be one of the coolest things I've ever looked at especially because it kind of scared me.





After spending sometime looking out on the ocean, we headed back into town to catch the ferry home. The ride was great but we had to go really fast because we only had about twenty minutes to get back across the island. Once we were about half way back a few of us started to get phone calls from the other group, Lindsay, Joe and Ray, that Joe's bike chain broke and they would have to walk the rest of the way back. As soon as we got back we tried to send them out a car to pick them up but luckily someone had already done so. So we were all back and ready to head back when someone realized that Ray never came back. He had apparently left Joe and Lindsay to ride back for help. At this point the sky was even getting dark and it looked like rain. Everyone was getting really worried and the ferry to take everyone back to shore was almost ready to leave. We would have to leave without him, so the group got on the ferry and waited for departure when all of a sudden we heard someone yell "We found Ray". Out of breath he climbed aboard the boat and sat down. He had made it just in time. When we got back, we ordered tones of Chinese food and lots of conversation. It really ended the day off nicely.

Volcanoes: they're a pain in the ash

So the last 48 hours have been pretty interesting. It all started on Wednesday, April 14th when me, Liz, and Dan headed for the bus stop to catch our afternoon bus to Dublin. We were all really excited for the next day when we would be heading off to Munich, Germany, where we would be staying with one of Liz and Dans' friends Katja. We kept talking about all the places we wanted to see, do, and eat. Once we arrived in Dublin, Dan navigated us to our hostel called Abraham. Once inside we were greeted with a big smile from the man at the desk as he proceed to check us in. We would be staying in a four person room, so us three and a roommate. The rooms were actually really nice, containing two bunk beds and a decent size bathroom. After settling in, we headed out for a night on the town. Our first stop was the Bad Ass Cafe, mostly because we really liked that name and Liz found us each a coupon for a free Guinness with any meal. The trip was starting off great, a free drink, a night in Dublin and then a weekend in Munich. After a while we made our way to a couple other places, first IFI, the place I really wanted to go back to if i had a chance. We stayed there for a while and got dessert. After some time, we headed for Dan's favorite place, Pravda, a pub with a Russian communist theme. Yea, sounds a little funky, but is was actually a really nice place,where the walls were covered in murals and movie posters. We decided to end our night at a decent time since we had to wake up early the next morning, but before we did we stopped off at Rick's, a burger place with the best garlic and cheese chips ever. They tasted so good but made our breath pretty vial. So after we scarfed those down, we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next morning we were up by 6:30 packing up our bags and heading to the bus station to catch a bus to the airport. We were still pretty tired but ready for a day of travel. Inside the airport was a mad house. There were people everywhere and the lines went on forever. At the time this nothing really occurred to me, I just thought it was a busy travel day. We finally reached our line and started to check in when we kept hearing announcement that all UK flights were being cancelled or restricted. We all looked at each other and said, thank god were not going to the UK. Once inside we sat down at a cafe for a quick bite to eat. The TV in front of us was showing breaking news of a volcanic eruption in Iceland. We started to figure that this was why all UK flight would be cancelled. At this moment we hoped that nothing would happen to our flight. As we made our way down our gate, we heard that the flight to Berlin was being cancelled, not a good sign. As Liz and I checked out the departure screen, Dan went to see what was going on with the flights for the rest of the day. According to the screen the flight was still on, but we noticed as Dan was walking back that he looked a little disappointed. He said that all the flights for that day would be canceled and maybe even the next day as well. After the bad news we kind of just sat around for a while, not really knowing what to do. Our disappointment was obvious, but we thought we should attempt to get a flight for the next day. So we headed back to Dublin city to find an internet cafe. We walked around O'Connel street for a while until we finally found a place to get on a computer. Unfortunitly, all was booked up so we reluctently came back to Dungarvan. A lot of people from are group had travel arangments for that weekend that had to be cancelled. On the plus side we got to go to the Food Fest and rest up for the week.

Update April 19, 2010:
The volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, that erupted in Iceland is still active and all flights in and out of the UK are cancelled. Since April 14th, over 81,000 flight have been cancelled. The ash that the volcano is producing has the ability to stop the plane's engine by melting and congeal to it's turbines. These ash clouds now stretch from Masco to parts of Canada. Everyday that this ban contiutes, the International Air Transport Association losses close to 300 million dollars. Restricted flights are expected to start soon, but nothing yet is final.

Ireland Has Stolen My Heart.

Another beautiful day in Ireland was beginning. I had come home from another day in the park when received a invite to go hiking. So Lindsay, Eoin, Joe, and I headed out to climb one of the Irish hills only about 10 minutes away for The Park. When I first decide to go, I didn't realized I'd actually be climbing a mountain. We started off on our adventure making our way up the rugged pathway, stumbling over boulders and panting as we struggled to make it up the steep soil. We probably reached about half way up when I turned around to see the most beautiful view of Ireland I've ever seen. The hills went on forever as well as the green grass and trees. It felt so surreal. I loved the feeling of being in the middle of something so natural and untampered with. As I turned back around I saw how much further we had before we reached the tip top of the mountain. It was going to be a challenge but I couldn't stop there. The higher we went the more vertical the rocks would get. At one point I stopped and sat on a rock to catch my breath and when I glanced over I saw two sheep just grazing on the mountain. First, I was amazed that they could climb that high. Then I thought to myself, if sheep can making it up a mountain like this, so can I. I pushed through the rest of the way and made it to the highest rock. As I looked down, I couldn't believe how far we had climbed. We walked along the mountain top, climbing up on big boulders and enjoying the scenic view. The picutes we took were pretty amazing especially the ones where we pretended to fell of the side of the mountain. So classic. In the middle of two of the hills was a lake that apparently was formed by glacier movements. It sat there so still and reflected the clouds as they moved slowly by. We then proceeded to throw rocks down the side of the mountain trying to make a splash in the lake but none of us succeeded. It was apparently alot further away then we thought. After along time of gazing and jumping around from rock to rock we started to make our way down the mountain, which was actually much harded then I anticipated. We finally reached the bottom when the sun was beginning to set and the sky began to have a pinkish hue. When we turned around to look back up at the hills just one more time, I couldn't believe how high we were. I felt so uplifted and accomplished that I was able to conquer something so scary and massive. The day ended perfectly with a yummy dinner and great company.





"The world is too much with us; late and soon"

the world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given out heartsaway, a sorded boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everhting, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.- Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in the creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleacant lea,
have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Before today, I felt somewhat out of touch with nature. At home sometimes I feel all I see is man made ojbects or enhancments, nothing is natural any more. People spend more time sitting inside googling the world instead of going out there and really enbracing it. How can people treat such a beautiful thing like such crap? It was really great to climb and breath in the fresh air of the mountains on such a beautiful day. I can see why Wordsworth was so pissed in his poem. It's hard to see such great things being abused and underappreciated.

Walk like a Parisian

On our last day of the trip we had the option to go to Versaille or spend that day as you please. Although Versaille sounded like it would be really amazing, I was really in the mood to have a laid back day pursuing the streets of the city. The first place I wanted to go back to was Montmartre, which is located on a hill in the north of Paris and by far my favorite place in Paris. I think it was one of the most colorful and unique areas of the entire city that I had seen. It was full a crafty shops, cozy cafes, and a square where tones of artiest came to create art and sell their art work on the street.

I was really enthralled with all the paintings that I had to buy a few. A lot of them seemed to depict similar scenes in Paris but it was neat to see how each artist captured it differently. Some were very abstract where is would take a while to figure out where it was painted and other were very simple straightforward pictures mostly of the Eiffel Tower. One of the works I bought was of an alley way with different shops and the Montmartre Basilica in the background. The artist explained to me how she used spray paint the paper to give color to the background. Mine has touches of gold, orange and turquoise on it. Then she would go in with a black pen and sketch the scene. I liked the simpleness of it and gave me a good memory of the area.

Also, that day we spent time in the Salvidor Dali museum. He had such an inventive kind of bizarre style like no other artist I really know and from what I hear he was a pretty strange guys as well. The museum was small but it was nice to walk around in with out a crowd like the big places. There were a lot of sketches of his hanging throughout the room, some of them with specific themes and others just random depictions. I think that sketches tell a lot about an artist because it shows their experimental side since usually they are just practices for something bigger.


The rest of the day was spent pretty much shopping, strolling the city, and eating banana and nutella crepes. The people here really know how to do it right. Sometimes you just got to stop, relax, and observe the world from a small cafe in Paris.

Say La Vee

So were off to Paris for spring break! what could be better. The week was spent seeing sites, art, eating creeps, and walking my feet to death. The city was absolutely amazing and had such a different feel to it than Ireland. The first thing we did when we got there was gaze at the Eiffel Tower and take about 50 pictures from every angle possible. Really though, I was really impressed with how intriguing the tower was. I never thought I would get so wound up about it. Some people decided to stand in line to get to the top, but I decided to save that for another day and take a look around the city a bit more. I felt everywhere I looked there was something of importance, whether it be a statue, building, monument, whatever. There was just so much to look at and take in.

My favorite night of the Paris trip had to be when the group went out to dinner for a traditional French meal. We were given a three course dinner plus never ending wine and bread. Half way into eating, a man with a guitar and another with a accordion started playing for the restaurant and getting us to sing along a bit. After a few glasses of wine, the room became a bit more rowdy. Everyone was having a great time dancing around with each other. At one point, the guitar man made me get up and have a dance with him. It was silly but after, everyone got really into it and got out of their seats to join in. The best was when Dr. Hosey Dr. McGurk and Fergual took over and started busting out their moves. It was a brilliant night and I don't think anybody wanted to leave. On the subway back to the hotel, Dr. Hosey thankfully changed our meeting time in the morning an hour later just to give us some extra rest time. My feet really appreciated it.

Of course all the art museum were amazing. It was really cool to see real paintings done by artist's like Picasso, Monet, and Renoir. The Louvre was obviously incredible. It was amazing to me to actually see with my own eyes real pieces of artwork that everyone knows like the Venus and Mona Lisa. It was really interesting to me, after a while, to see such a switch of style between all the museums. It went from Renaissance pieces to Impressionism, Surrealism on in to Modern art. I really enjoy the Impressionist artist. The work wasn't so straight forward, I felt it had more character and feeling behind it. The modern art museum, The Pompidou, was really wacky. I've seen modern art before but the stuff they had here was really outrageous, mostly in a good way. One of the rooms had projected videos on every wall of a woman doing kind of uncomfortable things to look at, like rolling around naked, holding a headless chicken, and one of her covering herself in water and paper. It was very odd but for some reason I wasn't very bothered by it. Then there was stuff like sculptures made out of random objects to create one whole piece of work. There was this one was of a woman made of different toys, cloth materials and yarn. Every other art gallery we went to that day was so boring compared to this place. It really was shocking,which I think was the point, but things like that stick with you longer and make you think more compared with some other art.

We had beautful weather while we were in Paris, where it was nice enough I could just wear short sleeves during the day. One of the days we even ate out on this huge lawn just in front of Hotel des Invalides, where Napolean's tomb is. I felt like a true Parisain. Later that night, a group of us decided to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower since it was such a beautiful night. When we go there, the line really wasn't too long, probably only took about an hour. When we reached the first level the sun was just about to go down which I think was the best time of the day to see the city. We got to see everything in the light but also at night when all the city lights began to glow. The view made everything look so intreging. The best part was when we were in the tower when it started to sparkle. Corny as it is, it put a smile on my face.

The trip was totally successful. I feel like I got to see all the big things in Paris that I ever wanted to see and more. I think by the end of it, we all gained a good grasp of the city and I know plently of us that would love to go back. As mush as I enjoy the trip, I was really excited to get back home to Dungarvan.

Peace

Today started out just right. With the first look out my window in the morning, I knew it was going to be a great day. The sky was bluer than ever and the sun illuminated the clouds. I started off with a good breakfast followed by some relaxation before our first day of class of British Literature. The class started at 10:30 so after I had the whole day a head of me. I decided to take a strole threw town and make my way over to this little park that over looks the bay. So I packed up my sketch book and pencil as well as a copy of Yeats's Early Poems and headed out. When I reached the spot, the sun was high up in the sky shining down onto the water making ever ripple glimmer as it moved by. I found a bench, sat down and started sketching the boats on the bay and just some other buildings in the background. Everything was so peaceful as I set there trying to capture the scenery with my pencil. This was nearly impossible. After some time, I decided to head over to the other park closer to the middle of town. I found a nice spot under a tree next to one of the bridges and I began to read some of Yeats's poetry. I have a hard time sometimes interpreting literature but just being out in the open Irish air made it much more enjoyable. His first set of poems seemed to start off quite unhappy. There was obviously a lot of sorrow and burnded on those whom Yeats was writing about. I also seemed to sense a man verses nature theme. As I flipped through the book, I came to a section about the rose. I really enjoyed the first poem of the series titled, To The Rose upon the Rood of Time. I felt it captured the ancient Irish tradition of telling stories and their pride.

More Dublin!

Our first real day in Dublin started pretty early. I started my day out with a nice Irish complimentary breakfast at the hotel, eggs, rashers, and a danish, yet I told them to hold the black and white pudding. Then, as a group we went to Christ Church which was right across the street from our hotel. It was a beautiful church, really nice detail and intricate statues and stain glass. I think it is actually one of the oldest churches in Dublin, next to St. Patrick's Cathedral.
You could actually go down into the basement of the cathedral, where there were tons of displays telling about the church's history as well as other historical artifacts like golden dishes, holy garments, and the costumes of those in the TV series The Tudors, which is filmed in the church. Next we walk down the street to Trinity College, where we saw The Book of Kells. The campus was beautiful and there were people everywhere. I couldn't imagine going to school at a tourist attraction. The Book of Kells was actually pretty neat. Everyday a page would be flipped to show a different passage and detailed illustrations. I was actually able to recognize a lot of the symbols since at the time I was taking the cross-cultural symbolism class. Next, we went to the Old Library in the long room. It was full of very old books stacked as high as the ceiling and statues of scholarly people.

After a while everyone started out on their own excursions around the city. A small group of us then proceeded to go to the writers museum. I wasn't particularly interested in this at first but decided to check it out and broaden my horizons of Irish writers. The museum was pretty small but had a lot of displays for the major Irish writers. I didn't recognize hardly any of them until I got to James Joyce. The display told about his life and the books he wrote. This actually helped me to get to know and understand Dubliners a little bit better now that I had more insight in to his life. After going through the museum, I felt like I saw James Joyce things everywhere. There were statues, plaques, and buildings dedicated to him all over the place, which makes me think he must have been quite a honorable man in Dublin.

The day soon ended and our night was just beginning. Melissa, Lindsay, Taylor and I were getting ready for our first night out in Dublin on our own. We dressed ourselves all up and first headed our for dinner. I was craving Mexican the entire trip so we tried to get into this one place,Acapulco, but the wait was way too long for us so we settles for Cuban across the street. The place was packed as well but we managed to get a table right in front. After having two pitchers of Sangria, an authentic dinner, and some major goofing off, we headed out to Temple Bar.
Now although everyone told us not to go there, we went anyway. The first place we tired was The Quay Bar. We walked in and the place was packed from front to back, you had to literally suck in to get through the crowd and to the bar. Once we bought our six euro drinks, we headed closer to the front where two guys were playing guitar, mostly covers. After we finished those drink we decided to head out and look for a new location. In the mean time, one of our friends from Dungarvan contacted us because he was staying in Dublin that weekend as well. We met him and his friend, and continued searching for the perfect place to go. While walking around, these girls on the street stopped us and said that if they stamped our hands that we could get in to this night club called Madonna for free and get a free shot at the door. What a could be better? So we headed for the club, got in and had our free drink. As soon as we got down the stare, I felt like I was in a bad music video. The bar had an 80s theme so there were disco balls everywhere, colorful lights, and bad music. Lets just say we moved on from that place pretty fast. The next place we went was the best of the night. The one guy we were with was really in to reggae music and knew of a place where this ragga DJ would be playing. Once we found the place, we had the best time. The vibe was really laid back as we jammed along to the reggae beats. We spent the rest of the night there just dancing and having a good time. Unfortunately our night had to end early since the clocks sprung forward that night and we had to be up the next morning at 8. Damn, day light savings! We headed ourselves back to the hotel just before grabbing a Cadbury egg as our midnight snack.

The rest of my time in Dublin was spent doing a little shopping, walking around the city, and going to the Guinness factory, where I learned to pull the perfect pint. Over all, I really enjoyed the city and it was nice to see another side to Ireland that you don't get in Dungarvan.

Welcome to Dublin

We headed out on the bus to Dublin at 8 AM Friday morning. Tired from the night before, I fell asleep as soon as we left and didn't wake up till our first stop an hour and a half later. Only about another hour and a half to go before we would reach the big city.



Tom and Fearghal accompanied us on the trip and would be our tour guides of the city. When we arrived, everyone was matched up and given their room keys. I was put with Monica and Caitlin, who are my roommates back in Dungarvan as well. We had a little while to freshen up then we were off to get a feel for the city. Tom of course had a great story for ever site we visited. I don't know where he gets all his knowledge from but man he knows it all. We hit a ton of historical sites that day from the outside of the Dublin Castle to the Natural History Museum, where we saw these awesome bog bodies. These ancient people's bodies were so well preserved that scientist could tell how old each one was when he or she died, how tall he or she was, and even what each of them ate for breakfast. It was really amazing to see. Most of their skin was still on the bone and even their finger nails stayed completely intact.

Next, we were able to go in to see Parliament, which was actually a really big privilege. And of course we took a group picture in front of it. Tom, besides being an impeccable tour guide, he also was our photographer. He would stop us in front of every historical sight or scenic view in order to get a group shot, even if it meant putting some one's life in danger. He obviously didn't want us to forget anything. Of course it was all good fun, especially for Fearghal who would just walk out of the frame after Tom's 4Th shot of us. But at the end I know I'm really gonna appreciate those picture. Especially because there has to be over 70 of them, which will make for a good laugh one day.

After a day of running around town, we came back for a quick rest to get ready for a night on the town with Fearghal. We first went out for dinner at this Asian noodle restaurant, Wagamama, that literally served gourmet Ramon noddles. The seating was setup with long rows of tables kind of like a cafeteria. It was actually way different than I expected but the food was great. We started the meal off with some warm Saki shots. I ended up with a noodle dish called chicken chilli men, mostly for the name. And with just a touch of hot sauce, it was perfect. I even ate the whole thing with chop sticks, which actually was pretty sloppy but definitely fun. This was just the start of my weekend full of binge eating, I literally wanted to try everything. After dinner, we were off to the posh bars, just after me and Melissa stopped off for a Cadbury egg, which became a regular occurance on this trip.

The first place we stopped in at was very sheek. There was all sorts of fun lighting, beads hanging from the ceiling and a good music. We all had a round and enjoyed the stylish atmosphere. After a while we headed off to another bar just a couple doors down. It was even better than the first one. Really, there was so much going on in this place I didn't know where to look first. You first walk in to this pretty grand entrance where there are cozy little tables along the wall. The first bar is pretty crowded with people, everyone one dressed up in high fashion. As you walk a little further and look up there are huge plants, chandeliers, and lights hanging from the ceiling. It was very bohemian. There were three different floors to the place, yet although it was big there were plenty of private little nooks you could have a drink in. We stayed there for a while, and as time went by the group got smaller and smaller.


When we left this place there was only six of us left. We started on our way home but just before that Fearghal decided to take us through the Temple Bar area, and man was it nuts! Lets just say I saw a lot of skin, puke, and falling all over the place. I mean don't get me wrong I like to have a good time, but this was pretty sickening. It was around 12 midnight when we were there and ever bar looked to be packed to the max. Now I know what they mean when they say Temple Bar is crazy and to stay away.

The last place we went that night was actually really great and seemed to be hidden from the tourists. It was a theater bar where they played a lot of indie films. It was great place to go have a drink, a meal, and even a movie. We sat down had quick drink and a few laughs before we called it quites for the night. I really would have liked to go back there but I never had a chance to. It's definitely on my list for next time though.

A Night To Remember

It all started off on Thursday, the day before we left for Dublin. Everyone was getting ready and packed before the long weekend. It was at this time that a few of us, Lindsay, Taylor, Eoin, and I decided it would be a good idea to go out for a few drinks. So mid packing, I got dressed and we headed out to the Local. When we walked in, the atmosphere was pretty relaxed and we found a table in the back. We sat there for a while as I proceeded to try every type of Irish whisky, the top three being Jamison, Paddy, and Powers. We had a great time telling stories, laughing, and trying to master the coaster flip. This is played by placing a coaster half way off the table then you hit it up with the back of your hand and catch it. Yeah it sounds easy, but try it after a couple of rounds, it could keep you busy for hours. After realizing the only thing I packed for Dublin was a tooth brush and some socks, we decided to head back to the Park. When we reached the townhouses it was about 1 AM.

We sat around for a while just chatting when Melissa got a text message from some friends from the Gaeltacht, who were in the bar at the Park Hotel. They wanted us to join for a couple of drinks since we wouldn't be there that weekend. I decided that would be a good idea and that I would pack later. So Melissa and I headed out to find that the Park doors were shut. We stood there for a while trying to figure out if we should find another way in or just forget about it and head back. Then a man popped his head out the door. We told him we were meeting some friends at the bar and after some convincing he deiced to let us in. The place was pretty empty there were only about two other older men at the bar besides our group. We sat down and enjoyed some nice Irish conversation. After a while our Gaultacht friends wanted to order another round and with a little convincing I got one, too. Guinness's all around! The night continued in this matter. At about 2 AM by some new people came in and sat at the back corner of the bar. They order themselves some Guinnesses and started playing some traditional Irish music.
Excited to see such music being played, we decided to move to a table right next to the group. The atmosphere was perfect as we sat cosily next to a fireplace pints in our hands and live music being played. The night couldn't get any better. One of our friends even got up and played the flute along with them. At around 3 AM Melissa and I decided that we should probably make our way back home in order to get a few hours of sleep before the trip to Dublin. As we started to leave we thanked them for their great music. The two women, Claire and Catherin, who played the flute and he man, Killian, who played the bodhran were from Belfast and were traveling through Ireland on holiday. As we talk a little longer they asked me if I would like to learn to play the bodhran, which is a Irish drum. of course I said yes, especially because i think it's one of the coolest instruments. They gave me the counts and as I started beating, the two flute players joined in. It was one of the greatest moments I had on the trip so far. We finally reached the townhouses at about 3:30 AM. We only had 5 hours left to pack and get a few hours of sleep before we would be heading out in the morning. When I finally did lay down in bed I smiled to myself a bit as I thought back on how great the night was.

Game Time

In order to get us into the really Irish spirit of things, we have been set up to do a multitude of sport activities. We had a choice to do hurling, rugby, gaelic, equestrian, sailing, surfing, and hill walking. As a group we decide to do a crash course in rugby, hurling, and gealic. Rugby was our first sport to try so a group of us hit the field and took on the challenge. When they recommended that we all buy mouth guards, we knew they weren't going to take it easy on us. We learned the basic throwing techniques, did drills, tackling skills, and rules. When all was said and done we played a mini game to become more understand of the game but of course with no blood thirsty tacking involved. It was real great time learning one of Ireland's greatest sports.

That weekend we were exposed to Ireland's top game of choice, Hurling. This game I would say is a cross between lacrosse, soccer, and a bit of baseball. Each player has a hurley, which is a wooden stick that has a flat end. The goal is to get the small ball to the opponents goalpost, where a player can either score above and between the goal posts for one point or below the goal posts into a net that is being guarded by a goal tender for three points. This may sound kind of easy but as this is being done, players are being slapped with sticks as they are trying to balance this small ball on the end of a flat stick. Player's can catch the ball but are only able to walk four steps with it in their hand before they have to throw it up and hit it away. Until recently helmets were not mandatory. It has been said that hurling is the fastest field game in the world.

The game we watched was Waterford verses Limerick. Since the teams are still in preseason alot of the rookie players got to play in order to prepare them for the season which doesn't start till summer around May or June. There are two 35 minute halves with no stops unless someone gets hurt, which there was a lot of. With in the first half of the game an ambulance had to be called to attend to one of the many injured players that day. The vulgar screaming and cheers from the crowd added to the excitement. In the end Waterfrod won 26 to 16 and the town was very happy.

An Rinn

Wednesday March 10th.

Today we went on a bus ride through An Rinn, a city where they speak Irish/Gaelic as their primary language. It was really interesting to hear the people speak to each other in this language because for most of Ireland, this is a lost language. Since we've been in Ireland we have heard some of the Gaelic language, mostly phrases or short expressions. Slainte is the Gaelic word for cheer or to good health. They told us every time we cheers with a Guinness this is the phrase to say.

Also, when we visited this area we were invited to an Irish television station,Nemeton TV, where they showed us a documentary they created called Kennedy's Cadets. When Kennedy visited Ireland he saw some of the Irish honor guard perform and he absolutely loved it. Then when he tragically passed, these same 18 or so soldier performed at his funeral. This would have been very unusual to have a foreign honor guard perform at a presidents funeral, but lucky for them everyone thought they were very professional and clean. We've been learning a lot about Ireland's history since we've been here but this in particularly was interesting because it related both Ireland and the United States.

Experiencing Ireland

My first few days here in Ireland have been unreal. As soon as we step off the plane and saw the Dungarvan officials waiting to greet us, it was only a glimpse of how welcoming these people were going to be. Everyone spoke kindly to us and gave us there best wishes for our stay here. We have been provided with the best accommodations I could ever imagine; beautiful townhouses, cultural experiences, gifts, fine dinning, and warm greetings. I feel that I am going to embrace the Irish culture even more everyday making this place feel more and more like home.