Thanks a million, Ireland!

     It is Sunday afternoon. and I will be in Ireland for less than 24 more hours. Our flight takes off tomorrow around 11am, but my sister and I will be leaving Galway about 4am tomorrow morning. The end is near . . .
     I know some people wanted to hear about our 21st Birthday. One of the best things about being a twin is you're never alone on your birthday and when my sister says "Happy Birthday!" I can respond with "You too."
     I think we were more excited to be spending our birthday together than we were spending our 21st in Ireland. The allure of turning 21 in the States is somehow lost here because, well, we have been going out and drinking all semester. Don't get me wrong, we had a great night - went out to dinner, then to our favorite pub - BUT all the worry associated with turning 21 isn't needed. By all accounts, it was a tame night.
     Tuesday May 7th was my sister and my roommate's last final, so we went out that night as well. Really, it was our last night out as a large group since most of my friends went to Belfast this weekend. On Wednesday we went to The Galway Aquarium as something to get us out of the apartments. That aquarium was more fun than aquariums should have any right to be. Lots of large touch tanks - we got to hold starfish, hermit crabs, a massive spider crab (as seen below), and we got to pet sting rays and sand sharks. We spent a few hours there easy . . . then went to a fish and chips shop for lunch . . .
    

The crab seemed really hairy at first . . then I realized it was just mossy . . .

 

     Thursday I spent hanging around town with my friends. They left for Belfast early Friday morning and are getting back late tonight (er . . .EARLY Monday morning), only a few hours before my sister and I leave.

     Then I started packing. a large part of me is devastated that I'm leaving. I have no regrets from my time in Ireland, but if I could, I'd easily spend another week traveling and seeing everything I was unable too.

     I miss my family. I miss my dogs, my boyfriend. I miss American Chinese food, and Noodles, Target, Walmart, and driving my car. There is so much I miss and I cant wait to be back. The flip side is, there is also much I'm going to miss when I leave Galway. The people, my friends, the pubs, (NOT) the rain, our fish and chips shop, black currant as a "normal" flavor. All the little things that have become familiar will be left behind. 



     Where from here?

     I don't know how I've changed. Its a gradual thing, I guess. My diction and the way I speak has changed, the way I see myself, the way I see my country and how I relate to the world is different. My relationships have developed for the better, I think.

     And yet.

     Its hard to tell how much I've changed until I get back. My study abroad advisers both here and in America say that "culture shock" is sometimes more drastic when returning home, because you aren't expecting the differences, not expecting change. Its hard to anticipate I guess. I know I have my family and friends to keep me busy, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous to be returning home.

     Excited, but nervous - where do I go from here? what did I take away from this experience? The adventure of a lifetime - possibly. Definitely one of the most profound experiences in my life to date. I was lucky enough to study abroad. Would I recommend it? Yes, absolutely. Is it hard? Without a doubt. Is it worth it? 100% yes.

     My last post will be a few days after I return to the states. I'll probably have something to say by then. For now, I'm off to go scrub out the fridge, and clean the bathroom.

No matter the country, chores still have to be done.



 

♥C

Tying Up Loose Ends

     I recently got an email from my mom asking about my next blog post, since she hasn't seen one in a while. I looked at my calendar and was amazed. Not that she was right, but that it'd been ten days since I posted last! At this point the days are all staring to run together a bit.
     After my last post, I focused on my studies for my last finals at NUIG. I had a two hour written exam on the 24th from 9:30am-11:30am, where I would have to address three questions, as well as two essays due by 5pm on that same day. Needless to say, I was a bit stressed while studying those last few days. I went to my exam with my sister, and we killed it. Coming out of the exam rooms, we both felt confident that we passed, no problem. Haha, I'm still grinning just thinking about it!
     That night we went to the pubs. Not to drink or anything. I just wanted to get out and go listen to some music. Music is food for the soul, or however that phrase goes, so I rounded up my friends and we went to several of our favorite pubs before settling on King's Head. They had a Traditional band playing and after a drink or two one of the girls in my group went up to the little cleared space and did an Irish jig. She'd been dancing for 12 years or so, and her high kicks were quite impressive! I remember telling her over the crowd and music: "you are my hero!"

     The pub and band LOVED it! 

     We stayed until the band was done playing, and actually met up and talked to them on our way out the door. Lovely people. My friend asked if it was fine that she danced and the lead singer said yes, of course! Her band plays there frequently and she spoke about how the audience and crowd really makes a difference and that and average night is made memorable if the audience joins in participating. They play at the Quays next Wednesday, so we'll likely show up there again because its A.) my favorite pub (for many, many reasons) and B.) we're more or less officially friends with the band. It was a neat night - so glad we went out!

     Thursday night we stayed in and had movie night, part 1. Not super Irish, BUT yet another friend of mine won a competition. The club Bentley's had a promotional thing going on and asked the populace why they should throw "you and your friends a party". Lo and behold, my friend won! So on Saturday we all got dressed up nice and pretty and went to the club. It's one most of us have been to before, in the "touristy" part of town, so we knew it was safe. We all pitched in for cocktails, and got free finger food and champagne, as well as free admission to the club, where we danced and avoided "lollipop kid" who has a crush on one of my friends. Apparently, sucking on a Dum-Dum pop and offering it to a girl is the new pick-up line . . . ? Don't ask me. I imagine he went home alone that night. Poor kid.

     As for this week, we had our Farewell Dinner with our program last night. My sister still has two finals and is finished on May 7th. A few people already went back to the states for summer jobs, and some are leaving the end of this week. Others don't go home until the 18th or 19th. Luckily for us, we are headed home on the 13th of May. I'm SO ready to be home. I miss my parents, my boyfriend, my puppy who turns 1 year old on May 4th, my brother and friends. I'll miss the friends I made here, of course, but they'll be back in the US of A, too. I'm sure we will keep in contact. No doubt in my mind about that.

     On the agenda for this week is one very important event. My twin and I are turning 21 on May 2nd! YAY!!! I know I say "my sister" but we're twins. I guess I think of her as my sister and friend first, before as my twin. That's how my parents brought us up. We were (and still are) "the girls" vs "the twins" and I have to thank them for making that distinction - we are separate people and were able to more easily create distinct identities as sisters rather than as twins. Might seem like a weird distinction. I don't know. I've been a twin all my life so don't know any different. She's always been my best friend, even when she got in trouble for almost cutting my hair, and after I accidentally made her step on a cactus, etc. We fight like no one's business, but we also will defend each other against the world. We haven't celebrated our birthday together since we graduated high school, so being able to celebrate our 21st here in Ireland will be incredible. I'm extremely lucky to have her in my life, even if she talks for 50 min of our weekly hour-long talk when we're at separate universities.

     I'm also lucky she humored me when I said "we should totally try to study abroad together!!!" even though she thought I was crazy . . . and still frequently does.

     Next week will be dedicated to packing and whatever else we need to tie up. So exciting, I'm sure. Speaking of exciting, here's the last installment of Spring break in Scotland. Should probably finish it before its officially not April anymore . . .

 

SCOTLAND

 

     After Loch Ness, we had 2 more full days in Scotland, one of which we spent in Edinburgh. We woke up early, but not as early as the first few days, and had breakfast. Eventually, we ambled up to the castle and proceeded to take way too many pictures. The first is of the Castle, taken from where our hostel was located:

If you go to Edinburgh, I 100% recommend going to the Castle. SO NEAT! The next picture is one taken from the walls facing out into the city. The skyline on top of the hill was where we hiked to the first day we were in Edinburgh. Is it any wonder all we wanted to do was go to bed at 7pm?? Incredible views, but lots of walking. If anything, my legs were looking good by the end of the trip!

     They had walking tours of the grounds, and demonstrations with music, and the cannon. They fire the cannon during midday at 1pm. Why 1pm? It was cheaper to fire one cannon ball than 12 cannon balls. Got to save where you can, right? The other demonstration was on Renaissance music. It was a little cheesy, because of how the guy was dressed, but he told good stories and played a large range of old instruments, including the bowed psaltery, as seen below:

     Originally an instrument designed to be plucked, like a harp, it has a different string for each note, so adapted well to being played by the bow. I describe it as a cross between a violin and a harp, both of which I played in elementary and high school, respectively. I enjoyed both but became disillusioned because of my teachers, HOWEVER, I did inherit a psaltery from my Grandmother, and it was passed on to me last year for my 20th birthday. I've found it has all the aspects I liked from the harp and the violin combined into one instrument. It's a little known fact about me. I play an obscure Renaissance instrument called the psaltery, and I'm better at it than the guy who played it in the castle. To be fair, though, he had all sorts of obscure instruments to master. I just wanted to brag a bit.

     After that, we got some coffee, and I had yet another muffin. I think I had at least a muffin a day while in Scotland. Another fun fact about me . . .

     We finished with the castle and coffee, did some shopping (again, thanks to my parents! Who work so hard so we can go abroad and spend your money, it's appreciated more than you can know). After shopping , which I cut short, we went to the National Gallery. It's entirely free, and was almost surreal because until then, I'd never seen works by these artists whom I've studied and have written about. Super cool. I wish we had more time there, but they closed at 5pm (rather than 6 like I thought) so we only had 45 min to see it all.

The picture above is called "The Sisters" or something. I don't remember exactly who it was by, so don't want to miss quote it. Beautiful piece, and apt to bring up this week, I think. We were politely herded to the door, and we went without much of a fuss to experience the park at the base of Edinburgh Castle:

     We walked around and took pictures until it began to grow dark. I saw a squirrel, so of course chased after it and took as may pictures as possible. My sister laughed at me. That evening we went on an underground ghost tour. I posted the link here: City of the Dead Tours. Our guide was an INCREDIBLE storyteller. Truly fantastic. I love ghost stories and the Mackenzie Poltergeist is a good one, and apparently well documented. for more info click here. Sometimes, It's just more fun to believe. We didn't have any encounters, unfortunately, but it was still so much fun. We walked back with some girls who were also staying in our hostel (in our same room, in fact) and went to bed in preparation for our last day in Scotland.

     Our last tour had 2 main points of interest: Rosslyn Chapel and Gelnkinchie Distillery. Rosslyn Chapel is among the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. Made of sandstone, it's colorful on the outside, but grey on the inside as a result of a preservation process gone awry. Thankfully, the popularity of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code has brought more awareness to this building, and it was able to get the funding needed to preserve the building. Didn't find the Holy Grail or see any celebrities, but still, it was well worth a visit:

     Couldn't take any photos of the inside, and you can only kind of see the colored stone outside because it was slightly cloudy. . . now you have to go see it in person though, right?

     The distillery was cool because we got samples of whisky. Enough said. But I'm gonna say a bit more. The process was interesting, and I asked enough questions that our tour guide (I don't remember her name) didn't begrudge me and my sister a few samples. Good stuff, but not my favorite. Can't drink whisky straight. Nope, not for me.

Instead, it needs to be added to coffee and creamer.

The rest of our trip, as they say, is history. We got dinner, showered, and went to bed. woke up again at 3:30am to catch our 7am flight. Landed in Dublin, where my sister told them my apartment address, instead of her own, and had a 10 minute conversation. I went after her, and all the customs officer asked was "Was that your sister?"

     "Yes."

     He punched in a few things on the computer. "OK, you're good to go"

It literally took 90 seconds. Thanks sis!

 

     I'll probably have one more post, or perhaps two while I'm here. Otherwise, my final post will likely be once I get home. Just tying up loose ends these next two weeks, and preparing to finally go home



♥C

The Loch Ness Monster

     Still blogging about Scotland (because that is where Loch Ness is located), but for those of you who'd care to know how Ireland is, I'll begin with that.
     Galway has its rainy days, and its gorgeous days. My first written final happened to be on a cold rainy afternoon, over Celtic Mythology, Religion and Folklore. Students were directed into the gym at Kingfisher Sports Center on campus, and assigned a seat. The gym hosted two exams when we had our final, and out of the 850 seats and desks in the room, just over 760 were filled. It was a little crazy finding our spot, especially since they forgot to post seating arrangements for the visiting students . . . I think I conducted myself well on that exam. I know I passed it, which is all that really matters, if I'm being honest. Like I said at the beginning of my adventure: the experience is more important to me than the academics!
     Yesterday we took a break and went on a mini-adventure to find Galway's Holy Well. It was about a 40 minute walk from our apartments, a little further out than we usually walk. Credit for this photo goes to one of my close friends up here, not my sister (for once).

     The well is a freshwater spring dedicated to the order of St. Augustine, and is known for its healing power for eyes and ears during mid-summer. We also bought over-priced cupcakes that day in a cute little shop. We'll chalk that up to experience, I think.
     This week so far I've finished paper 1 of 2 for my Modern Irish Lit class (one for the James Joyce section, the other for Irish Drama) which are due this Wednesday at 5pm. My last final is Wednesday at 9:30am for my Archaeology class. Then I have 2 and a half weeks or so to enjoy Galway and tap into my inner artist. Do some writing, maybe draw some more, and drink lots of coffee. Looking forward to finishing finals and enjoying the rest of my stay here without school looming in the background.

SCOTLAND

     Moving on now (or back, as the case may be). Our third day in Scotland we took a tour up to Loch Ness. I keep meaning to make a bucket list, so when I do cool stuff like this I can check it off, but so it goes. Our driver commented (between his lectures on the historically incorrect Mel Gibson and Braveheart) that even 15 years ago a day-tour out of Edinburgh up to Inverness would have been impossible because of the roads. He proudly told us that all roads and bridges in Scotland are completely free: there are no toll booths. Even so, the day was long. We boarded the bus just after 8am, and didn't return until 8pm that night. I personally was grateful for some of the stops, because we got to hear and experience this:

     Yeah, that's a Scotsman in a kilt, playing the bagpipes in a Highlands pass near Glencoe, site of the 1692 massacre of the Clan MacDonald. Beautiful and haunting tableau. I personally love bagpipes. It was such a liberating feeling standing at the top of this pass, with the (cliché time) crisp and cool air and snow capped mountains. Seriously sweet.
          EVENTUALLY we make it to Loch Ness. Some background info on me really quick: when I was a child, I wanted to be a paleontologist. That was my goal: to dig up dinosaurs and live Jurassic Park. That was going to be my life. If you know my mom, I encourage you to ask her that story sometime. Think I was 3 or 4 or something like that when I was asking her for a dinosaur encyclopedia from the Denver museum instead of a picture book. Yeah. I was a nerd, even then. My point is this: I believe Nessie is, or a descendant of,  a plesiosaur, which is simply an aquatic dinosaur. OK?
     So, based on this info and knowing that I went with a touring company, I will admit that no, I did not see Nessie, for which I am thankful. I'm thankful because Nessie is smarter than to be spotted by a large group in the middle of the day. However, my brother thinks that he spotted her in one of the pictures my sister took. I posted the photo at the bottom. You'll have to decide for yourself if he saw her - or not!
     The ferry we took passed over the deepest part of the loch, which is where Urquhart Castle is located. My mother jokingly asked if this was were Nessie hung out and we told her no, after so many years of pursuit, Nessie is smarter than that.

     I love dinosaurs and I love the thought of Nessie and all the folklore and legends surrounding her. Not sure WHY she's called a monster. She (or he, I suppose) doesn't really harm anyone. At least not as much as we harm ourselves. For example, on our way to the loch, our driver told us about the man who almost broke the fastest water-speed record, had it not been for an unfortunate accident causing his boat to explode. Other stories, mysterious, funny, and peculiar surround the loch, and who am I to dismiss something that has not been thoroughly dis-proven? Silly or not, I'm a believer.
     We made our way back to Edinburgh after that. I fell asleep on the bus. The music and scenery was soothing, and I was tired. No regrets:

Again, an incredible day. Can't stress it enough. I know I sound like a broken record, but I think people forget to slow down sometimes and enjoy the truly incredible moments we have each day: small or large.

NOW, scroll just a bit further to see if you can spot Nessie or not. Like I said, my brother swears he can see her (or him) in this picture. I hope you're lucky enough to spot her!

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*Compliments to my brother who created this photo especially for me. Love you bro!*

  ♥C

Scottish Highlands

     Guess what? More about my trip to Scotland! As noted, I am back in Galway, but since I'm spending most of my days studying or working on papers (and getting distracted quite a bit by facebook and other media), I figured I should tell you more about my break. It's much more interesting, after all.
     Our second day in Scotland, we went on a tour of the West Highlands and my sister took so many pictures, it took me a solid 5 minutes of scrolling through them all to find the pictures I wanted:

Monty Python Castle

     Its not really Monty Python's castle. Obviously. It belonged to some duke or lord whose name I don't remember, and that you (my devoted followers) probably don't care about. BECAUSE, this was the castle where scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail were filmed. We spent the entire time there running around speculating which rooms and which angles were used in the movie and for what purpose. You'll see in the picture above a well and two stair cases. We think (though we do not have a lot of proof) that this is the court yard that was used for Lancelot's rescue mission during the wedding. We can't be sure though: clearly, we need to watch the movie again . . .
     In retrospect, had we gone with a group of our friends from NUIG, we may have acted out a scene from the film, and I may have attempted to post a video here, instead . . . oh well. More reason for a return visit, right?

Hamish, Hamish Dubh, Honey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Three of the simultaneously cutest and ugliest cows ever. Hamish, Hamish Dubh (Black Hamish) and Honey are highland cows, with shaggy long-haired hides, horns, and sweet dispositions. Hamish is the oldest, then Honey, then Hamish Dubh, as you can probably see from the size of the horns, which both male and female highland cows have. From a distance they're really cute, shaggy (like I said), and kind of funny looking. The only reason I call them ugly is because they're cows, so don't get groomed the way a cat, dog, or horse would. Meaning: they have dirt and grass clumps in their hair, and they drool like no one's business. Still, It was exciting to see them. Kind of like seeing a buffalo up close for the first time!

Duke of Argyll's Castle

 

     One of the Castles in Scotland that is A.) not a ruin and B.) inhabited. I always remember watching Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley and thinking it was SO strange that they would tour Mr. Darcy's house while they were in the area. I mean, who does that? The whole concept of going into a personal living space and touring their house like a museum is beyond strange to me. And awkward. Because the Duke of Argyll and his family actually live there for part of the year. I gave my sister some grief because I didn't want to go in at first. Still think its strange, but we went inside and did the touristy looking-at-art-in-someone's-castle thing like it was no big deal. I guess it wasn't too bad: only a percentage of the rooms were open, and it seemed more like a museum than an actual home with all the displays.
     I take pride in my home, even in my little apartment in Galway, but I think there's a point when you have to separate "home" and "tourist attraction," which is still a bit tricky for me. Beautiful castle. I know my sister was smug in our timing because they don't open it to the public until after Easter, so we were there literally the first day after its re-opening. My favorite room would either be the one that was decorated entirely with weaponry - floor to ceiling, it was everywhere - or the portrait room, which has some oil paintings that were easily 10 feet tall. Definitely something I've never  experienced in the states - at least not to that scale.

Scenic Lookout

     We had a number of other opportunities to stop and get out of the bus, mostly to take pictures of the highlands and stretch our legs. Our driver always had a story to go with the places we stopped, but the scenery in itself was beautiful (as seen above). After this picture was taken, we stopped at a small town for a coffee break, then returned to Edinburgh.
     By the end of the day, we were starving, so went to a little pizzeria. It was fantastic. Our waitress was really nice. She had a thicker Scottish accent than I was used to listening to, and was understanding when I looked confused a time or two, so repeated herself again slowly. The way you talk to a small child . . . or an exhausted college student . . .
     In all, another great day. Had some new experiences I couldn't have anticipated, and saw more of a beautiful country I would love to visit again.

♥C

 



Easter in Edinburgh

     It's been a while since my last post. I like to think that I was having so much fun in Scotland that I didn't have any time to blog. Which is true. What's also true is I left my computer in Ireland, and my e-reader is not the best for typing long blog posts and uploading photos. And every night I would go to bed exhausted. So, I hope the wait is worth it.
     My sister and I left Galway just after midnight because in our infinite wisdom, we booked our flight out of Dublin at 7-something am. which meant getting to the airport by 5am, which meant being on a bus from Galway at 2am. So why did we leave for the bus station at 12:15am? Daylight savings, which is different in Ireland and the UK than it is in America. So, for a while, I was only 6 hours ahead of my family in Colorado. Despite the confusing time change and early hour, we made it to the airport on time, with all the required documents and luggage.
     Those who know me know I don't like airplanes, so while it might seem silly that I'm smug about the airport going relatively smooth, its a major accomplishment for me. Anyhoo, it's just after 5am in Dublin, and I've been awake since 3pm the previous afternoon, we touch down in Edinburgh just after 8am, and check into our hostel around 9am. Unfortunately, we were told our beds wouldn't be ready until 2pm. Which was fine.
     It was Easter in Edinburgh, and we had a whole city to explore. The hostel (Castle Rock Hostel)was just below Edinburgh Castle, so we went to get breakfast (coffee and a muffin) and walked up the stairs to the stronghold.

 

     I know the picture looks a little chilly. It was. The mountains off in the distance had snow (you'll see pictures of this in my later posts) but luckily, all the bad weather happened the week before we arrived, so we didn't get any rain or snow during our stay. We decided to leave the Castle for our day in town on Wednesday, and meandered down to the National Museum of Scotland, because it was free.

     Please keep in mind, we're college students from the US, so the UK pound is stronger than the American dollar, which we don't have much of in the first place. So, free = good. A museum? Even better! I'm a nerd and proud of it! They had a massive exhibit on Scotland: from pre-history, to Mary Queen of Scots, to the contemporary cashmere industry. Very cool. I think it was close to noon when we made our way over to the "natural history" side of the museum. I'm not sure what the legal/moral implications would be if I uploaded a picture from this exhibit, so know that it is a picture from the museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh, taken by my sister. I'll post the picture below first, then explain what was going on. Probably one of my favorite museums ever because of this view and set up:

 

     My sister labeled it: the exhibit of animals and dinosaurs. I must add, it also had extinct animals that were not dinosaurs, such as the dodo bird and thylacine (a personal favorite of mine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine).  

     The dinosaur and wildlife exhibits at the Denver museum of Nature and Science were my all-time favorite as a kid (and still are) so the menagerie all crammed into this one little section of the Scottish museum was such an unexpected delight for me. The fact that it was also Easter, and there were kids and families and individuals and all sorts of people running around made it so special and exciting. Not something people usually stop by and see as tourists, but it was incredibly interesting for me to see how they set up their natural treasures. Also, we got to play some of the interactive children's games.

     One of them was a "create your fish and see if it survives the shark" type of game. So, while I'm looking at a stegosaurus skeleton, my sister makes a fish and throws it into the virtual ocean. Unfortunately, she did not read the directions. Hers was the ONLY fish NOT camouflaged, so it got eaten by the shark. Natural Selection for you. Sorry, sis, better luck in your next life.

     I quite enjoyed our outing. Until it hit 1:30pm or so and we needed to eat lunch. We arrived back at the hostel before finding something to eat and checked in at 2pm. We were put in the "currency" room: I was the "pound" bed, and below me, was the "dollar" bed, where my sister was assigned. Then we got lunch.

 

Next logical move would be to take a nap, right? 

I mean, we've only been awake 23 hours by this point.

 

 

     Nah. We decided to not waste the daylight and hike across the city, to the top of a hill instead of sleep. Incredible view that Easter afternoon. Behind one of the monuments, we heard screaming and giggling: kids playing games. Lots of people were up there that day, but by the time we summited, many were heading back home, so it was slightly quieter than It would have been.

 

     Centered WAY out in the distance is Edinburgh Castle, on top of a mountain. This picture was taken almost at the same height. We walked a long way. I'm glad we did, though, because we didn't have time to go back on Wednesday. Stunning city. If you ever get the opportunity to visit it, you should. Gorgeous, even in early April.

     Finally made it back to the hostel for the night around 5pm, I think. Alerted people at home we were still alive. Tired, but alive. Opted to take a shower and was asleep around 7pm. Given that I had been awake for 27 hours easily - almost 28 - I felt completely justified going to bed right before the sun did.

     End Day 1 in Scotland.

 

 

♥C

 

The End

     Well, its over.
          Classes, I mean.
               But not final examinations.
                     Though, I'm nearly done with two of mine.

     Enough of the gloating. Yes, the Irish college semester at Galway is now over. We go for 3 months, have two weeks off for Easter and spring break, a "study week" and then finals. Unlike most American universities, examinations are spread out over a month, instead of packed in to one week. As an english major, many of my classes assign a final essay instead of a test, so in that respect, I'm used to my final schedule.
     My last class finished at noon today, and I turned in my first final right after class to the department secretary. The paper I am currently working on is for my Seminar, and is due online at 6pm on Friday. I actually enjoy writing it. I was able to pick from a list of 6 questions, and have had a month or so to work on it. I guess the only down side is this: there's no excuse for not doing well! I have another essay due on 8th April, and 2 mini-essays due 24th April. My two in-class finals are essay questions as well, and I will have 2 hours to answer the prompts.

The school doesn't believe in making students "guess"

 

     I know exactly what is expected of me, and know what I need to study. For now though, I'm planning to focus on my essay. I'll deal with studying later in April, after our spring break trip to Scotland. YAY!

     Last weekend I went on a field trip with my sister's "Castles" archaeology class . . . along with another friend going to NUIG . . . and her friends that were visiting from the US over break. The professor was talking to them and was slightly surprised that there were two girls on his trip who didn't even go to school there!

     To be fair, he said his students were welcome to invite guests, provided they pay the 20 euro fee.

 

That 20 euro was well spent

 

     We visited 5 sites that day, and most of them were not open to the public. Pallas Castle was our first site and our bus driver (who knows the country very well) didn't even know it was there. A locked grate covered the entrance to the castle which keeps idiot tourists from straying in and falling off the tower top, or ruining the well-preserved buildings. Luckily, the professor (a licensed archaeologist, no less) has a key for many off-limit national monuments. WAY more legit than Nicolas Cage. The photo below is Pallas from the bawn (grassy courtyard out front).

     On the right side of the photo is the tower house, which we went inside. Up, up, the spiral staircase we go until we reached to top floor and were able to venture outside on the battlement, which is where the picture below was taken:

 

     There, you can see the gatehouse and to the left, a little plaque about the castle. The next site was a Elizabethan-era-style-bla-bla-bla castle. It's up for renovations, so not nearly as cool. Much more touristy . . . once the curator opens it to the public in a few more months.

     Then we had a 2 hour long lunch (the professor knew the owner of the pub we all had lunch at - that was pretty sweet. Food was great too!)

     We went to a monastery next. Pope John Paul II (I think) preached there. Also, the largest Celtic crosses can be found at Ciran's Monastic site. So yeah.

      The best part (aside from Pallas) was the professor ushering us along to a broken down ruin of a castle that looked like it was about to collapse. At any second.

 

     We had to circumvent one fence, then crawl under barbed wire of a second fence to get to the ditch at the bottom of the castle. All teacher-approved. From experience, I can tell you that the defensive structure is superb. Climbing almost verticaly out of a ditch to try and storm a stone castle? No thanks. The hill in the picture is significantly taller and steeper than it looks. You can hide almost the whole army in the ditch in front of it, though.

     Pays to have awesome (and legit) professors with keys and disregard for barbed fences. That is, he didn't let the wires stop us - he DID hold them up so we wouldn't scratch ourselves.

     College isn't for everyone. Study abroad isn't for everyone. But I know without a doubt the experiences I've had in college and in Ireland would have been impossible without pursuing higher education and having a grand sense of adventure.

     This will not be my last post in Ireland - I still have so much to look forward to! It is simply The End to weekly classes and waking up at 8am for my 9am class in a freezing lecture hall after a 20min walk. Oh, things to celebrate!

 

♥C

 



St. Patrick's Day!

Yes, what could be a bigger party than St. Patrick's Day in Ireland?

A lot of things, actually. But lets go back to the beginning of the week . . .

 

The Boyfriend is in town! Yay! And what was the first thing he did while on break in Ireland?

Go to class with me. I'm pretty sure he made a facebook post about that. 

 

     He even took notes on a handout we got in class on Thursday - so studious. I realized (after a confused email from my mom back in February) that my Valentines date and "relationship status" may be unclear to some of you. Long and short of it is: I've known him since 7th grade and it took him until I left the country for 5 months to make a move. He got here on March 10th, our 2-month anniversary. It's a silly story. I tell it at parties.

     After classes, I showed him the local sites and gave him the students' tour of Galway: where we go, how we get there, our favorite pubs, nice walks, the really really REALLY good doughnuts we get on Saturdays and generally what it meant to be going to school as a student in Ireland.
     Including skipping the occasional day of class to go on a tour and take some lovely pictures of the Irish countryside. My sister and I have already taken a trip to Connemara, but this time around we took a different tour that included other stops. The first one was a Friary, which was much bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. Below is a picture of one of the towers. It was surprisingly difficult to find a picture without any one in it.

     This tour (our bus driver was named Mike) focused a lot on The Quiet Man tradition, so we stopped in the town where much of it was filmed and found this jewel of a cafe: the Hungry Monk.

     The city of Cong has a beautiful river through it, and since its the first day of spring tomorrow, the rivers and lakes are in the process of being stocked. It made me want to grab my pole and tackle, but apparently the licenses to fish are crazy expensive. Some find it annoyingly contradictory that I enjoy fishing but hate eating fish. I just say, "hey - more for you, what's there to complain about?" or similar words to that effect.  

     At the end of the day, our bus driver Mike reminded us that Galway has an annual parade and that the theme was Irish heritage from the 14 tribes to the multicultural nation it is now. He also told us to look for him if we planned to attend - he'll be in the first row playing the trombone. And he was:

The circus was in town that week too (I think they might still be around until the 24th . . . ) so we saw horses, lamas, mini-horses, performers and clowns represented.

The parade had large trucks with open platforms (like the one to the left) where people would dance, play music and in one case, gave martial arts demonstrations. In this picture, you can see three boys on top of a building watching the parade. Couldn't decide if I should be impressed by their cleverness, or worried for their recklessness.

On St. Patrick's Day, Americans "more Irish than the Irish themselves" it seems. The majority of pubs were crowded by tourists first and the  tourists had the most flamboyant clothing - green tights, face paint, and large hats. If you weren't a tourist, and you were dressed like this, you were probably 10 years old or younger. My Irish roommates went home for the weekend and went out only that evening. But, I heard a story the next night from my friends about a guy who tripped and was so far gone he couldn't even get up until his wife found him and helped.
     A few of us wanted to spend the whole day in Dublin, but we didn't have enough interest to go as a large group, so stayed for the local parade. It was a good choice, I think, even though the general population didn't go out until after all the Americans left the pubs for the evening. I think it comes down to reality vs commercialized actuality. Reality is - its a bank holiday on Monday to go with the celebrations on Sunday, and a day to "be Irish" if you want. Yes, the day can be as commercial as people think it is, with the parades and good beer (er, I mean cheer), but its a celebration like any other. Huge spectrum, I guess.
      I realize it may be a bit pointless for me to avoid using names as much as possible, because most people who read this know everyone anyway, but I like to think I make an effort to keep identities private. I suppose I could just call everyone by there name but the semester is almost over, so why bother? We only have another 1 1/2 weeks left of class and . . .

What's that? Yes. Yes, classes here in Ireland end on March 28th.

     My calendar, however, becomes fuller by the day. This past week went by incredibly quick. Already it's Tuesday again and I know this week will go by equally fast. The cliche phrase "a picture is worth a 1000 words" is adequate in the sense that pictures record memories and catalogue the days. Writing does, too but for my purposes here, I'd like to note that all of the pictures I post on this blog are courtesy of my sister - all credit goes to her.
     Only 8 weeks left. The home sickness is starting to get to me a bit. It was hard saying "bye" to my boyfriend on Monday, and its slightly alarming that class is almost over, too. But, things to look forward to?

Spring break in Scotland.





♥C



Aran Islands

     Sorry for the delay in posting this next section. It's been a busy weekend, which I'm only now taking a breather from. Last week, I attempted to move my blog "due date" to Saturday but here I am again blogging on a Tuesday, so maybe its meant to be.
     On Saturday we went to the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland. To date, its been one of my favorite days while abroad. The weather (always a hot topic) was impressively nice out, too. If I had to choose between nice weather during the weekend trip to Kerry or Inishmore, I'd go with Inishmore.
     The largest of the three islands, Inishmore, is known best for its tourism and wool industries. You have to take a ferry to get out to the islands, unless you're able and willing to take an aerial tour (which looks really cool, but given my aversion to flights and bank account, makes it implausible) So, bundled up and expecting cold wet weather, we boarded the ferry only to realize the nice weather in Galway was going to follow us to the Islands.

     At which point we were advised to rent a bike.

    I had mixed feelings about biking around all day, but couldn't see any major hills we'd have to go up. There was a total of 14 of us from the college, so we were able to get a group rate on the bikes. So far, so good. My roommate had mentioned she didn't know how to ride a bike, and there was a discussion about just walking around and seeing what we could on foot.

     Then, we saw a tandem bike.

     We went and both got a ticket for the bike rentals, and were told we could choose any bike we wanted. The tandem bikes were locked up. And when I say "bikes" I mean the one adult, and the adult-child tandem bike. We were willing to pay a bit extra for the tandem, but were told that they weren't renting out any tandem bikes for the groups. We could only rent one if someone couldn't ride. We fit the bill.

     We decided it might be a good idea to practice in the parking lot, before going out on the road. I'm in the front, in charge of steering and balance, and my partner was the "power house" later in the day when we needed an extra push to get up a hill. 
     It worked out surprisingly well, aside from a few close encounters, until we got the hang of it. Because the bike was an older model, the frame is heavier than the single bikes, and the positioning of seat and handles meant i was leaning forward more than everyone else in out group. This translates as: going downhill, we were a juggernaut, but if we had to stop, we HAD to do so at the top of a hill. It took more energy to get that bike started forward than it did cycling uphill. The one time we had to push it was up a steep muddy incline, and everyone quickly passed us.
     At the end of the day, I was complemented on my graceful dismount in front of the rental building, and upon finding out we were Americans, was called a cowboy. Close enough.
      We stopped for breaks and photo-stops throughout the day, which included petting a pair of donkeys after my sister called them over to the wall. She also petted a cow at one point, I think. Halfway through the day we spent some time on the beach, drawing pictures in the sand, picking up sea shells, and enjoying the sun as much as one can in the middle of March.

 

The photo above was taken just a few minutes after our large group photo, and front & center is me with my with my jeans rolled up, strangely off balance looking at sea shells on the sand. The beach was the warmest I felt outside so far in Ireland. The nice weather was somewhat short-lived. Although still nice enough to not need a jacket, by the time we reached Oun Aonghasa (an old Celtic fort), the chilly weather was returning.

     The second highest point on the Island, the hike up to Oun Aonghasa gave us a break from riding the bikes, which was sorely needed. From the fort, you can look out west, and know that the next land mass you'd encounter (if you were lucky enough to make it across the ocean) is Newfoundland.

 

     

     Above is Oun Aonghasa, the stone fort atop the hill. We saw a few more sites, and some early Irish churches, but this stone fort was the most impressive. Eventually, we made it back into town. The clouds covered the sun, and I think most of us left the island with a warm woolen hat or scarf of some sort. Gorgeous day.

    

     The cherry on top though? My boyfriend was able to catch his flight out of the country despite the blizzard, and I had a message waiting when I got back that he'd be here the next morning.

     Perfect day.

 

♥C

Tripping over Skeletons

     Those of you who are my Facebook friends may have heard about the skeletal remains found during the construction of a pedestrian ramp on my way to class. The current count is at least 6 skeletons, some nails, and I heard a rumor about pottery.
     For the sake of clarity, I did not trip any over important archaeological remains (though my sister twisted her ankle while walking around town today). For the most part, I just wondered:

A.) what on earth are they building? 

B.) why did they stop construction?

 

     A.) The city of Galway is building a pedestrian/bike ramp connecting  Quincentenary Bridge and Dyke Road. Which is what I guessed originally, since the concrete pile of stone was too small to be a road (and would be a nightmare, given the traffic along Quincentenary Bridge already). I considered a skateboard park too, but it didn't make any sense given the location and demographics. But, once I determined what they were actually building, they stopped.

     Figures.

     B.) I was rather annoyed when they halted construction. I'd been having issues with rock-dust flying under my contact lenses and any reason for them not finishing the project sooner was not okay with me. Then people started digging in the dirt. And it started looking like an archaeological site. The scientists looked like construction workers with their hard hats and neon jackets, instead of stuffy professors in tweed (or Indians Jones), which added to my initial confusion. Then rumors started flying that they found bones. first one, then four, then six. Then it was pottery and coffin nails.

     There are a few theories on who was buried at this site. Terryland Castle sits between the site and the river, and may be connected to the exhumed burials.

Terryland Castle, 17th century

Above is a photo (courtesy my sister) of Terryland Castle. In the distance is the north side of NUIG's campus, then the river, the "castle" ruins and the dirt path students currently use to get to the bridge. About where this photo was taken is where the ramp and subsequent dig will take place in about a month . . .

 

 Again, the same castle, just from a different direction. To the far right of this photo is where the site bones will eventually be uncovered.

     Here are some fun facts surrounding the castle, and possible interpretation for the bones, courtesy of Galway Independent, from the article, "Skeletons discovered during city works" by Marie Madden:

• Terryland Castle was garrisoned during the rebellion of 1641
• Terryland Castle was garrisoned during the Cromwellian Wars in 1652
• A joint force of Irish and French troops defended the outworks of the Castle against the approaching Williamite Army in 1691

Madden finishes her article by summing up, "There is speculation that the burials might relate to one of the 17th century wars mentioned above or that they form part of a private burial ground for the owners of the Castle and estate. More details will emerge as the excavation proceeds and finds will be published as soon as possible."

    

     My next publication may not be as exciting as Madden's, but it will surely be eventful. This upcoming week I have a trip to the Aran Islands, and Sunday the 10th my boyfriend is coming out to visit.  

     Yeah, you read that correctly. It's a long story (6 years in the making, to be exact) and by chance, his plane arrives in Dublin on our 2 month anniversary. My roommate has a friend coming to visit the Thursday before St.Patrick's Day too, and her sister and possibly her cousin are coming out the week after.

     I think it's safe to say, March will be a busy month between showing the country to our friends, and our upcoming finals beginning mid-April. Looking forward to it!

 

♥C

 

 

"Raise and Give" Week

    "Raise and Give" Week, also known as RAG Week, is notorious here in Galway for excessive partying, drinking, and anti-socialism (as in "against being social" vs. "not being a social person"). I'll be the first to say this is not my preferred type of "College Week." However, I knew I had to go out and see what all the hullabaloo was about.
     Monday night, we stayed in. Mostly to get a feel for how the week was going to go. At our apartment complex, security guards stood outside the gates to check key cards because only residents were allowed in, to theoretically minimize the rowdiness. And to ensure the right for peaceful occupation by current residents.
     Tuesday morning . . . campus was quiet. Sure, classes were still in session; none were cancelled due to the diminished class size. One of my lecturers spoke about the tradition of RAG week when she was a student at NUIG, and lamented about what the week symbolizes now. But I'll get to that later. In contemporary times, Tuesday is also Donegal Tuesday and the drinking starts pretty early in the day (not as early as Tequila Sunrise in Flagstaff, but you get the idea). So, we went to an apartment that night to hang out and get ready before going to a pub. Played some games, met some new people - great craic. Then, in a group of 7 or so, we went into town. Originally, we were going to go to King's Head but it was full, so we went to Quays which is a favorite of ours. It was also surprisingly quiet - you could actually move around without much trouble, and hear the music and dance a bit if you wanted.

Where then were all the people?

 

     Supermac's. We saw this on our walk home and solved the question. They were all gathered outside Supermac's.  Though we planned to keep walking (it was late after all) we stopped to take in the sight. Then someone started climbing up a flagpole, so we waited and watched. He made it much further than we thought he could, but once he inevitably slid back down, he was escorted away by four Garda. I think there might be a video on YouTube . . . yep, first thing to pop up, though I believe this clip is later in the evening after we were all home, and I think THIS guy actually made it to the top. . .

     Wednesday is reportedly one of the craziest nights to go out. Luckily, I caught a cold so stayed in and drank tea all night instead.

     Thursday was much the same. Throat was sore, nose was runny, and the highlight of my day was my Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks. I also skipped fencing on Thursday - that's how awful I felt.

     Friday I felt much better by the evening, but everyone had left for the weekend. Again, I had a quiet night, which is reportedly abnormal during RAG week. My sister for example, got little sleep (if any) each night because of the parties. And no, not any she went to - they were in the apartments surrounding hers. She said that she was able to handle it a few nights a week, but all the time? No way.

But RAG Week didn't use to be this way.

 



      The lecturer of my archaeology class feels quite strongly about how RAG Week should be. Not to say that nobody else cares, but she was especially passionate about it. In 1997, she graduated from NUIG, and back then RAG Week was a week fund raising, donations, competitions and games. Students still went to their lectures and participated in the activities between classes, and the money raised was given back to the community. Back then, students still had good craic, but over the years it spiraled out into the city until the social aspect dominated - not the charity work.

 

The following information is pulled from NUIG's Student Union.

 



     In 2011, Class Representatives Passed a proposal to replace RAG Week. The Student Union received a number of concessions from the University President to replace RAG Week, including

• Support for a one-day concert/festival to replace Rag Week
• An extra €60,000 a year contribution to the Student Assistance Fund (SAF), which is used to help students who are at risk of dropping out due to financial hardship. This would almost triple the University's current contribution to this fund and keep an estimated 60 to 75 students in college each year who otherwise would have had to drop out. Compare this figure to the €22,000 raised for charity through Rag Week last year.
• A guarantee not to introduce charges at the Student Health Unit for visiting a doctor or nurse. This would ensure this heavily-used service remains free for students in future years.
• *I am personally thankful for this one, considering my allergic reaction back in January*
• The abolition of the current €2 Kingfisher charge for members of University sports clubs, who are not members of the Kingfisher gym, when they need to use the facilities there for club training.
• *Again, benefits me because of fencing*
• The provision of a number of prominent, permanent SU notice boards around campus. Not a big deal, but still good.

     Note that the proposal was passed back in 2011, which is why last years RAG Week got so out of hand - it was banned. While authorities and the school "allowed" an unofficial RAG Week this year, it is not a school or city sanctioned event. Galway RAG Week 2013 was more tame than previous years and though fun, held little of the glamour and good will of years gone by.
     Yesterday (once everyone was back in class after the events of last week), our lecturer began her class entreating students to think about the past year when RAG Week was something to be proud of, to boast about, not a week of hangovers. I personally think boat races, competitions, and games to raise money for charity sounds like more fun than discovering a twisted ankle or bad headache in the morning.
     But that's just me.

♥C

 

P.S.  In order to not be a complete Debbie Downer and/or hypocrite, I have to admit: The Irish student population KNOWS how to throw a party! Woo!



Killarney and Candy

     We left Friday morning just after 10am for Killarney, Co. Kerry. The bus my group boarded stopped in Limerick to pick up more American students, and our Weekend Coordinator shared a few limericks with us. Limericks, for those who are rusty on their poetic forms, are 5-line poems, with the rhyme scheme AABBA, and usually involve a character and an event/occupation. They're humorous and can be funny, bawdy, dirty, clean, you name it! Limerick also earned the reputation of "stab city" a few years ago, which is only interesting because A.) the media blew it out of proportion and B.) by American standards, Limerick's criminal activity is minimal. Also, when asked what we thought of first when we heard the word "Limerick" we replied first stab city, then the poetry.
     After we collected the remainder of our group, we departed for Muckross House in Killarney. Unfortunately, we were unable to take photographs inside the mansion, but the grounds outside were fair play. The house is beautiful though, and was luckily donated after the last owner passed away, in her memory. If you ever get out to Killarney, I recommend checking it out if you like history and old buildings.
     If you prefer the outdoors, the gardens and lakes are beyond beautiful. We (and when I say we, I mean a core group of 7 of us) got "lost" in a maze on top of a hill. If we were destined to stumble upon the Otherworld, that would've been the place. However, we just ended up getting in the way of some children running along the paths.
     Eventually, we made our way back in to town, and checked into Neptune's Hostel. Hostels are great if you have a large group and can be reasonably sure you're sharing a room with people you know, but if you plan to travel on your own, a hotel may be safer and more comfortable. The shower I took there Saturday night was among the most awkward experiences of my life. Like the sink faucets you press down on to run water, this shower would only run for about 30 seconds before turning off. It also went from freezing cold to scalding hot, and had no temperature control.
     We'll leave it at "it was an experience."
     The next morning, we left for the Gap of Dunloe and when we arrived, horse-drawn jaunty-carts were ready for us to board - 4 to a cart. The name of our guide was Jury, and our horse was named Starry. She is 22 years old, and had one baby (who passed us) in our caravan. Leg one of our journey lasted about 1.5 hours, and between the striking mountains and deep lakes, we felt like someone placed us in Lord of the Rings or something. Also, it rained the entire day.
     By lunch, we were ready to enjoy a nice cup of tea somewhere warm and dry. Somewhere inside. So of course, we had a picnic lunch outside . . . but at least we were covered under the patio. And we did get our tea, before we embarked on the last leg of the trip - on 12-passenger boats across the lakes. I think that everyone who took pictures that day commented on how their film didn't do Ireland justice. I can only imagine how beautiful the trip would've been had the weather been nice. I feel it's important to note that usually the horse and boat trips don't begin until the middle or end of March, so it's kind of our own fault for going so early in the year. Luckily, we had tarps to keep off the majority of the rain.
     At least, our group did. My sister ended up on a different boat than me, so her jeans were soaked. To keep warm while we waited for the bus to show up, a handful of students (including myself) walked around the ruins of a castle on the lake shore. There were canon reproductions, and intact stairs and doorways, so we just messed around and took silly photos. Most importantly, we kept warm!
     By then, it was about 4pm. We returned to the hostel where most of us promptly took a nap, only to be roused for dinner at 6:45pm. After we ate, we went out to a few pubs, but I don't believe any one had much - mostly we were just tired. Being the good sports, we decided to check out a Traditional Irish Music Pub, which was amazing. One of the girls who came with us (I don't know her too well) requested a song, and then was invited to play a song and sing, which was pretty cool. It was her first time for a live audience and the nerves got to her, but most every one was still impressed with her effort.
     The next morning got off to a slow start. By this point we were all exhausted (did I mention the pillows were thin and the beds rock hard? No? Well, they are). The last thing we did in Killarney was visit a candy shop and meet a consummate salesman who made a bundle off of us that day. He was great fun to talk to - and the homemade bonbons were delicious! That's what I call a win-win.
     Yet, however good the homemade candies are, they can never compare to receiving a care package from my Mom and Dad. Which was delivered right after I left on Friday.
     I think I ate the entire box of Samoas in about 4 hours. Totally worth it. So, thank you Mom and Dad! You are the best - love you!

     Thus ends the trip to Co. Kerry. This week is Rag Week in Galway, so I imagine you'll hear from me later in the week.

♥C