We found some good craic!

This past weekend was our Belfast-Derry excursion. We made the long drive into Northern Ireland, switched our Euros into pounds, and soaked up the incredible history of a heartache-ridden region.

On Thursday, we stopped on our way at Strokestown Park House in Strokestown. It was designed to be an old farm house, so it wasn't nearly as fancy as the Muckross House we saw last week. It was, however, filled with authentic and original furnishings from the 18th century, which is unusual for a house like that. It is privately owned, so the upkeep was not super, but it was still a cool place to see. They also had a Famine Museum there, so I learned a little bit more about what they call "The Great Hunger." Fittingly, I had a baked potato lunch after that.

The drive to Belfast was a long one. We arrived at our hostel at dinnertime, found a great, cheap place to get food (Spice Island), and then explored the city of Belfast. It was a little sketchy at night, especially since we didn't know where we were going, and all of us knew that it was not the safest of cities. We ended up getting a tip from a guy at a pub that there was an awesome blues concert going on, so six of us went over to "The Empire," an old converted church, and listened to some great blues music.

On Friday, we took a tour of Belfast. Our tour guide filled us in on the history of some of the conflict. We visited both Loyalist and Nationalist areas, walked along one of the Peace Walls that divides the city, saw lots of murals (for which Belfast is famous), visited the dry dock where Titanic was built, and saw some of the now-developing areas of the city. Even 10 years ago, we wouldn't have been able to walk around some of the places we visited. It is incredible to think that people were literally living in war zones, and even more incredible to think that they are now living semi-peacefully.

After the tour, a bunch of us found some lunch at Wetherspoons. Our archaeology professor Jacqui O'Hara gave us a tip-off about this place - she said it was the cheapest food in town. Not only was it cheap, but it was delicious! They had a special two-meal deal: two meals for 6.69 (pounds). We assumed that the two meals would be smaller in portion size - NOT SO! I ate a full-size meal of both fish and chips and lasagna! It was delicious, but I regretted it afterward. How can you go wrong for 6 pounds, though? After lunch, the girls spent the afternoon shopping. I indulged (a little too much!) at H&M. I haven't been shopping in so long because I have been saving up for this trip. My aunts Sheila and Julie know all-too-well how much I love to shop, and Belfast was no exception!

That night, 12 of us met up to see "The Jungle Book" at the Grand Opera House. We saw a big banner for it and decided to check it out. We got a student discount (half price!), but we really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We assumed it would be like "Lion King." Turns out, it was actually a children's show, complete with audience involvement! We were definitely the creepy 20-year-olds in the balcony at a children's show. Oops! The funniest part, though, is that they did a song called "Jungle Boy," and it was full-fledged remix of "Soulja Boy." I'm pretty sure we were the only ones in the audience to get it! Needless to say, that provided plenty of joke fodder for the rest of the evening, which consisted of pub-hopping and more Spice Island (gotta take advantage of cheap food on these excursions!).

Saturday, we left Belfast and headed to Derry. On the way, we stopped at the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, which is erected every year by fisherman to get across to an island. We made our way next to Giant's Causeway. It is a huge geological site with some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen yet. It consists of hexagonal rocks that were supposedly created by giants. For full lore, click here: Giant's Causeway

We didn't get to spend nearly as much time there as I wanted, but I am glad we visited.

Once we made it to Derry, we were supposed to have a tour of the city. Our tour guide never showed up, so instead we got a tour from a former professional tour guide who knew the people running our hostel. He was awesome! His name is Rory O'Hara, and he just happened to be the nephew of our archaeology professor! He took our whole group around the city and gave us a personal (and highly biased) view on the conflict during which he grew up. He is from the Bog Side, an area that was heavily attacked during "The Troubles." Now, like Belfast, Derry is more peaceful, but murals and underlying hostilities still fill the town. He said that people in the North can tell a Protestant from a Catholic just by looking at them. He also said, though, that it was never a Holy War - common misconception. It's about the land and identity between the Irish and the English. Heavy stuff. We went and ate at Wetherspoons in Derry for dinner (burger and drink for 4.40!) and then went to mass. Going to mass in Northern Ireland was pretty sweet! We talked to the priest a little bit afterward and he welcomed us very kindly to the city. We actually met up with our tour guide at a pub later that night, too, and got to talk to him a little bit more. Overall, Derry was a great city.

Yesterday, we made our way back south. It was a long bus ride, but we broke it up nicely by visiting Yeats's grave and Sligo, a town that has made its way to the top of my Favorites list. Funny thing: I heard "High School Musical" at a little French cafe in Sligo. You just can't get away from it! We also visited some more megalithic tombs, and I got this awesome photo that summarizes so much of what this trip has been:

It felt good to go back to Galway, get groceries, make our own dinner, and sleep in our own beds again last night. Today, it is windy outside and I have class in a couple of hours. I hope this long entry kept you at least semi-entertained! There is just so much going on that I want to share with everyone! We only have a 2-day weekend this weekend, and it will be nice to experience a full week of class and at the cottages.

Take care, everyone! As always, I love hearing from you!

P.S. In reference to this entry's title: In Ireland, "craic" (pronounced "crack") means "fun." We American college students kept hearing about "good crack" and were getting a little confused as to what it meant!

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Buses, Birthdays, and Beaches

Hello, everyone!

I fear this is going to be another long entry...get ready! I just returned back to the Park Lodge after a four-day excurions to southwest Ireland. It was a lot of fun and we got to see some amazing scenery, but I am definitely glad to be back at the Park Lodge and off of a bus for a few days! We started early on Thursday morning and took off through the Burren for the Cliffs of Mohr. I don't know that I need to give much background on the Cliffs, other than the fact that they may very well be the most stunning part of Ireland's incredible landscape. They are five miles of absolutely phenomenal bluffs along the coast. We walked along them for a good distance, crossed the "Do Not Cross" line, and walked some more. At times, the only thing between the ocean and me was a couple feet of wet grass. Our bus driver told us to remember that if we fell off, just swim right - that's the direction of Galway. Comforting, huh? After we explored the Cliffs, we stopped into the little cafe and had the most delicious vegetable soup and soda bread. For me, this trip is just as much about the good food as the good scenery, so I had to note this great meal! Thursday night was my friend Alex's 21st birthday, so we explored the town of Tralee (where we stayed the three nights) and found some delightful little pubs at which to celebrate. We even met a couple of locals and ran into one of them the next night, too! It was a great day followed by a really fun night.

Friday morning we loaded the bus once again and took off for the Ring of Kerry. This is a beautiful drive along the western coast of Ireland. I don't know how many more times I can tell you how beautiful the landscape is - you just have to look at my pictures and then come see it for yourself. We stopped in the small village of Waterville where we saw a statue of Charlie Chaplin in honor of all the time he spent in Ireland. We stopped in a lot of great little towns and villages along the way to stretch and take more pictures. I don't remember the names of all of them though - that is one thing I am going to work on this week. I have seen so much of this country, but I don't know exactly where I have been! It seems that we usually just end up getting on the bus and follow blindly. It hasn't let me down yet, but I'd really like to know exactly what I'm doing. After the Ring of Kerry, we toured Muckross House - a Victorian mansion that Queen Victoria visited in 1861. It was so cool! The furnishings inside the house are amazing! No pictures were allowed inside, unfortunately, but the house had 25 bedrooms alone! I've never been in a place like that before. Here is a picture of part of the outside as well as the grounds of the house. It is situated in Killarney National Park, an absolutely beautiful area:

When we got back to Tralee on Friday, a few of us went to "Town and Country Bar" for dinner. I had my first taste of Irish stew in Ireland, and it was awesome. We even got to enjoy some live Irish music there. You can't really beat that, can you?

Saturday was the Dingle Peninsula! Again, it was a lot of driving on the bus. That is one thing I've learned here: while it is a relatively small country, traffic is awful almost all the time, and none of the roads were designed for the kind of traffic they handle. As a result, it always takes longer to get places than it should. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since I'm never in that much of a hurry, but when you spend 8 hours a day on a bus, getting to destinations faster and off the bus for longer is definitely a plus! We got so lucky on Saturday, though. We stopped at this great little beach, took off our shoes, rolled up our jeans, and waded into the ocean. It was a gorgeous day and felt so good to get some fresh air and play in the water.

After the beach we stopped in Dingle and had a delicious lunch of fish and chips (smoked haddock, to be exact). Dingle is a fishing town right on the coast, so the meal was extra-authentic and therefore extra-delicious. We stopped at some ancient beehive huts made by monks in the 12th century. Once we made it back to Tralee, a bunch of us went to mass (where they said the "Our Father in Gaelic!) and then we all went and saw "Tearmann" at the National Irish Folk Theatre. It was an interesting show. They had traditional Irish music and step-dancing, but there was no dialogue. It was an interpretive story about the Famine. They did sing some, but it was all in Gaelic. It was an incredibly creative endeavor and really fun to watch. It was a moving show and I'm really glad that I've already gotten to see a show in the first week and a half! After that, we took our directors, Chuck and Suzanne, out to Turner's (we became locals in the three days we were there) to chill at the pub for a while. It was a busy but fantastic day.

Today: Sunday. We got up again and headed to Ross Castle in Killarney National Park. The castle was awesome! We took a tour and learned a lot about medieval defensive methods. I still can't believe sometimes that I am actually in Ireland and touring real castles! It is still surreal. We got on the bus again after that and made the long trek back to Galway. We stopped and got groceries (and lots of digestives!) and then made our way back to the Park Lodge.

As you can see, it has been a very eventful weekend! Next weekend, I anticipate just as much happening as we are heading north to Belfast. Before that, though, I have three days of class to complete.

Take care, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying autumn in the States!

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Sweetmeal Digestives

Cottage 6 is proving to be an absolutely wonderful place to live! I have officially been in Ireland for a week and I am already completely at home and settled here. It feels longer than a week, but in a good way! Here are a few pictures of the place I now call home:








Last night (Tuesday) we had our neighbors over for dinner. Our neighbors, of course, are the program director and his wife, Chuck and Suzanne. We made a delicious meal of penne pasta with meat sauce (we went to the butcher to get fresh hamburger!), tossed salad with fresh carrots and green peppers, bread with olive oil, and for dessert, chocolate-covered digestives. For those of you who don't know, digestives are the greatest treat here! (You can see them in the package on the table in the picture above.) When we arrived in the cottage, the staff of the Park Lodge had started us with some basic grocery necessities - bread, milk, butter, cereal, and these funnily-named after-dinner cookies. Everyone on our trip was hesitant to try them, but I was not able to resist anything even remotely resembling a cookie, so I dove in...and they are good! They're kind of like crumbly graham and animal crackers, but more cookie like. It's hard to explain, but they are 30 cents per package and we have gone through 4 packages in the last 3 days in Cottage 6. Yes, we have a problem. But they are so good! I think Chuck and Suzanne appreciated that classy dessert last night after a hearty student-made meal. It was fun to just sit around with them and get to know them a little better outside the hustle and bustle of excursions and class.

Speaking of class: I am done with class for the week! Here's a breakdown:

Mondays: Irish Catholicism with Mary Clancy. This class is 3 hours every Monday, but it is going to be a lot of fun. she was late for class because she pulled over on the way and walked down the beach - she said it was just too nice of a day not to! We talked a lot about Ireland and very little about Irish Catholicism. Our homework? Read 11 pages as a cottage...for next week. Quite a bit different from CSB, but a work load I can definitely get used to!

Tuesdays: Senior Seminar with Chuck. We will meet for 45 minutes every Tuesday morning. I think his is going to be the most difficult class. We are focusing on morality and how some societies thrive and others do not. For next week, we have to read and write a paragraph-long response to two different right-to-life scenarios. It is going to be a very interesting class, and I am looking forward to some great discussion. As you can tell, though, the work load for the "hardest" class is still quite minimal.
Also on Tuesday is Gaelic Lit. with Jacqui O'Hara. Well, we thought it was going to be Gaelic Lit. It is actually an archaeology class! We have no textbook and no homework. At the end of the semester, we are going to have to write a paper. She is an absolute riot and is completely passionate about this topic she literally stumbled into one day at university!

Wednesdays: Ango-Irish Lit. with Gerard O'Brien. We have a fair amount of work for this class - we have to read 5 short stories for next week. He is very interested in knowing what we think about the different literature we read, and he is incredibly knowledgeable about his field...your typical English professor. It's really great, after so much straight history of Ireland, to experience the history of Ireland through fiction and story. It's a different twist on a fascinating subject.

Thursdays: Sometimes, we will meet again for Senior Seminar for another 45 minutes, but on weeks like this, we will be taking 4-day weekend excursions.

As you can see, my class load shouldn't be too difficult! I will still be able to experience lots of the culture here, but I am excited to get into a little bit of a routine with my days. I already feel like I have learned so much! The culture here is so rich and varied, and every Irish person I meet is well-versed in the history of the country. And everyone is so proud to be Irish here - so much moreso than in the United States. It's really cool.

I had the afternoon off today, so I made my way into Spiddal and explored a little bit. I walked into the completely Gaelic-speaking church to check out mass times, wrote a letter down by the bay, stopped into some little shops (Carol - I found a scrapbooking store!), and ended up having a muffin and coffee at a great little coffee shop, a place I am sure I will frequent often. It is another absolutely gorgeous day here; I need to finish up this blog post and go sit outside and soak up a little bit more of this fleeting sunlight.

Take care, everyone! As always, I love hearing from you!

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West Coast Adventures

"In Ireland the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs."

~Sir John Pentland Mahaffy

So far, this quote has proven to be true in spectacular ways! I got up early this morning to blog for you all before heading into Galway for my first Irish mass, and it seems as though this is our third morning in a row without rain! Hallelujah! Of course, I can tell by the dark clouds that have filled that sky that this will not be the case all day, but at least I get to wake up to birds singing, right?

The last couple of days have been packed full of adventure! On Friday, we got up early and headed right to the coast to catch a ferry for our day at the Aran Islands. We decided as a group that the best way to explore Inis Mor, the main island we were on, was on bike. So, we rented bikes (paid for by the school...thank you, CSBSJU!) and took off down along the coast. We had a group of about 6 or 8, and unfortunately, we ended up going the wrong direction for about an hour! We hit a dead end on one of the most beautiful islands in the world - just our luck! The scenery was beautiful, but we were a little upset that we went so far out of our way. We went back to the village (Kilronan) and grabbed something to eat while we regrouped and figured out where exactly to go next. We ended up biking atround most of the island after that - we explored an old lighthouse, rode along the beach, and rested at the seal lookout. We were rushed for time, but we made it back to the village with enough time to spare to look around the world-famous sweater market. And yes, I bought my Irish sweater! Last night, I wore it around the cottage, and it is almost miraculous how warm it keeps you! We had about 10 minutes for 5 of us to purchase our items and run around to the other side of the bay and hop on the ferry, so on a whim, I also grabbed a wool scarf. So far, I love them both!

After returning to the Park Lodge that night, we took our alotted one shower of about every 3 days (not as bad as you might think!) and got ready to head into Spiddal for some time at the pub. It was a beautiful night and about 7 of us made the 20 minute walk along the bay at night for an evening in Spiddal. We went to a couple of different pubs, one of which had real Irish music! We're pretty sure they were having a jam session with a banjo and a flute - it was so great!

On Saturday morning, we had to get up early once again, but this time we weren't entirely sure what for. You see, Chuck just called the Lally bus company and hired us a coach and requested that they do the same thing as last year - except, he wasn't sure what they did last year. Adventure ensues! We loaded the bus, headed into Galway to get a different bus driver, and embarked on what turned into a tour of almost all of western Ireland. It was so much fun! We spent a lot of time on the bus, which could have been awful, if it wasn't for our hilarous bus driver. I snuck a shot of him right here. :) He is your classic Irish hippy, we decided - earring and everything. He literally did not stop talking for the 6 or 7 hours of our tour! We seemed to know the history of everything, beginning every story with, "Let me just give you a brief history of this," or "Allow me to get off subject for a minute." He was more than entertaining! He reminded me of when my sister Amanda told me grandpa drover her around Great Oak, pointing out all sorts of things to her. You never quite know what to believe, because you know all Irishmen are full of bullshit, but part of you knows that they might actually know what the hell they're saying about this. My favorite line of the day came when he got to a newly-built intersection on a road he hadn't traveled in a couple of years: "Well, this is new then, isn't it? I was listening to the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" last night, so I don't know where the hell we'll end up!" Classic!

We stopped in the towns of Cong and Westport and drove through Connemara. Again, it was beautiful! I don't know how many more times I can say that about the landscape, but it's true! We went up to Croagh Patrick, and I decided that I will do that pilgrimage someday - it was such a peaceful place. We ended our journey back with a little Enya as we drove through the hills and valleys back to the Park Lodge. As I got off the bus, I said "Thank you," and he corrected me and taught me what I should say in Irish (they don't call it Gaelic here...they call it Irish). Naturally, I forgot how to say it already, but it was still pretty neat!

Well, I better go grab some breakfast and put on my rain gear. Since I sat down here, it started to rain, naturally.

Take care, everyone!

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Park Lodge, Spiddal

I took this one at Galway Bay - so beautiful!

The stone walls are my favorite.

This is Galway Bay - I live practically right across from here!

Well, it seems as though I have safely arrived in Ireland and am finally getting settled in. There are 29 students from CSBSJU staying at the Park Lodge Hotel in Spiddal, right outside of Galway. I am living with 4 other girls in a quaint little 3-bedroom cottage. The people on this trip are great and really easy-going, and we have all become fast friends. I know that only great things will continue to happen.

Yesterday, we went on a tour of Galway. Unfortunately (but not unusually), it rained all day, so we had take the tour in a coach bus. It was neat to drive around town and see all the different parts of the Irish city. Naturally, I forgot my camera on my way out the door, so I can't show you any pictures of Galway, yet. After the tour, we were given about four and a half hours to just walk around and explore. First item of business was getting more Euros, followed quickly by lunch. I had a delicious roast pork with lots of vegetables and mashed potatos and the self-proclaimed oldest traditional Irish pub in Galway. I dined with four of my friends from the trip, and the food was definitely reminiscent of home. Good thing my dad fed me so well growing up!:)

After that, we walked around Galway and just sort of soaked up the place. It definitely does not have the feel of a city. We went down this sweet walking street and explored an Irish bookstore and saw lots of places to buy Irish sweaters. Then, we hit the jackpot: a 2 Euro store - the equivalent of a dollar store in the US! I got toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, and toilet paper at bargain price. I will definitely be returning there. The only downside? They use Colgate in Ireland, and I am definitely a Crest girl. I guess I can adjust.

It is cold here! I had to buy another sweatshirt yesterday because it is so chilly! Luckily, though, I have my rain jacket now, so I have stayed relatively dry. In the cottages we're living in, we have to pay for the electricity we use. That means we never have the heat on much or too high, and we have to turn the water heater on about 25 minutes before showering. It actually has been much less of a burden than everyone said it would be. It's kind of nice to live simply. And since I usually where a blanket around me all the time anyway from about October through March, it's really not that different than I'm used to!

Last night, the girls in my cottage and I made a wonderful dinner of pasta and alfredo sauce and had a nice family-style dinner. Afterward, we had a group meeting and found out that JP - one of the owners of the Park Lodge - was going to open the pub for us. That's right - there is a pub RIGHT HERE at the Park Lodge! Otherwise, we have to walk about 20 minutes into Spiddal. And JP gives us much better deals. :) He is the funniest guy and has the thickest Irish accent I have ever heard. Our whole group of 29 was there last night, and even our director Chuck for a little while, and needless to say, it was quite a bit of fun.

Today was a free day, so we just kind of putzed around all day, Skyping and getting caught up on things that we haven't been able to do in the past few days. I think I am finally caught up on blogging, adding photos, and e-mail. A bunch of us walked down to the Galway Bay this afternoon - it is literally right across the street and takes about 2 minutes to get there. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been! The coast is absolutely breathtaking. Tomorrow, we are headed to the Aran Islands, and I expect to be equally amazed.

The Irish are by far the nicest people I have ever met! They are so willing to help and always like starting up conversations. Grocery shopping was an adventure yesterday, figuring out hwo the Irish package everything! And it was sunny all day today, and just started raining. I think that is my cue to go start dinner and cozy up with a book.

Thanks for all your well-wishes! I love hearing from you all!

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Paris Photos

Hello from Ireland!

I want to post some Paris pictures on here for you all, but I took so many! Here are the links to my 3 albums of photos from Paris. I uploaded them on Facebook, but you can see them here:

Paris #1

Paris #2

Paris #3

Enjoy!

I will be writing about my time so far in Ireland and posting some pictures of the beautiful place I am staying very soon. Until then, enjoy the City of Lights! :)

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"Cead Mile Failte"

Bunratty Castle, Bunratty, Ireland

We made it!

I successfully landed in Shannon, Ireland this afternoon at aroud 2:00pm and made it to Spiddal just a few hours after that. The last few days have been quite the whirlwind, as I'm sure some of you have found out. This entry is going to be a long one. Feel free to breeze through it; I would if I were you. If you have a few minutes, though, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy what is really an unbelievable story.

Last Wednesday, my mom and dad drove me to the Minneapolis airport and I boarded a Northwest fight to Boston. The flight was great, really smooth sailing, no problems. We (the "we" being Lindsay - my traveling buddy and fellow Marshallite and Bennie - and myself) were given some incorrect information by a Northwest employee in Minneapolis regarding where to get our boarding passes, and, being the unseasoned travelers that we are, took her advice to heart. We ended up at the gate about an hour early, ready to get our passes (this is where the NW girl told us to go), but no one was there. We had to switch to Aer Lingus at this point, and the Aer Lingus people were running all kinds of behind. We finally got to talk to them about 20 minutes before the flight left as they were beginning boarding. They told us the flight was closed and we would not be able to get on. We tried to explain the situation and tell them we were given incorrect information, but it was no use. After a quick phone call home to tell our parents we were not on our way to Shannon, we talked to the Northwest people in the Boston airport and they got us on a flight from Boston to Amsterdam to Dublin to Shannon. It was leaving in literally 10 minutes, so we ran down the hallway and got into our seats just as they were ready to leave to the runway. It was a restless flight as I racked my brain and tried to think how we would get this all figured out.

We made it through Amsterdam to Dublin with no problems. Once we got to Dublin, though, we got held up in a ridiculously long immigration line. We ended up missing our connecting flight to Shannon. The Aer Lingus people were so gracious, though - they ended up getting us a taxi to Shannon! So, we got to drive across Ireland in a taxi with this great Irish taxi driver named Terrence. He was hilarious, and it was especially nice of them to give us a private ride. Once we got to Shannon, we tried to figure out what we were going to do because we missed our RyanAir flight to Paris that was supposed to be at 11:30 that morning (this is Thursday now). We had to pay to change it to the next one, which definitely sucked, but it was the first expense of our crazy mishaps that actually came out of our pockets, so it wasn't terrible. There is only one flight to Paris each day, though, so we talked to an accomodations lady in the Shannon airport and she set us up with this wonderful little B&B just a few miles down the road in Bunratty. As it turns out, a couple of Murrays have already graced Bunratty - pretty cool, huh Aunt Sheila? We had a great dinner at the Creamery, enjoyed our first Irish pints of Guiness, and slept so well for the first time in about 36 hours. The breakfast the next morning was great, we walked around an Irish castle, and then headed for Paris.

We flew into Beauvais airport that day, which is about 40 miles north of Paris, so we had to take a bus in. Naturally, as soon as we got there, the bus "conductor" (I love how the Irish speak!) had to take an hour and a half dinner break. So, by the time we got to Paris and figured out the Metro line to our hostel (good thing I have navigated the "L" in Chicago - thanks, Alyssa!), it was 9:00 at night (this is Friday now). Well, since we were supposed to be in Paris on Thursday and we didn't show up (and couldn't get a hold of the hostel), they gave away our room, so here we were at 9:30 at night with no place to stay in the middle of Paris. (This is the part our parents don't know yet...oops!) We walked a couple of blocks and found another hostel - this guy spoke English and had one room left - thank you, Lord! (And all of you who were praying for us!). So, we rested there for the night and made plans to tacke Paris.

The next day we had to meet up with our friend, Ron de Haan, from the Netherlands. We were supposed to meet him at the hostel, but since we weren't staying there, we decided to meet him at the train station instead. The train station was nuts! It was way more difficult to figure out than we thought. We found him, though, and then found an Internet cafe were we could try and find a hostel. We just printed off a list of a bunch of hostels in one area and headed that direction since we couldn't make same-day reservations online. We ended up in the Montmarte area, which turned out to be my favorite part of Paris. It is, however, a little sketchy at night. We knocked on one hostel door and were turned away, but were greeted with open arms at "L'hotel Angleterre" - "English Hotel." Alleluia! After that, our Paris adventures began.

We saw Notre Dame, ate crepes and croissants and drank limonade, saw L'Arc de Triomphe, walked down the Champs-Elyssees, bought from vendors on the Left Bank (several times), ate (and drank - wine) in the Latin Quarter, rested in parks, took nighttime walks along the Seine, rode down the river in a boat, toured Sacre-Coeur, bought art at Montmarte, saw the Moulin Rouge, laughed in Le Centre de Georges Pompidou, gazed reverently at the graves of several famous French writers and poets, were overwhelmed by the Louvre, amazed by Musee d'Orsay, and astounded by the Eiffel Tower. It was a busy and wonderful adventure. I would love to go back someday, but this trip was definitely satisfying for now.

Luggage: missing for 7 days, magically turned up in Spiddal when we arrived today. What? I am convinced it is those Irish relatives looking down on me. Thanks, Delores and John P. Now that I have put on clean clothes for the first time in weeks, I am unpacked and settling into my cottage in Spiddal. It was cold and rainy today, but it was exactly what I was hoping for.

I will post more pictures later. Good work to all of you who made it through this entry! For the rest of you, I hope you did something equally enjoyable.

Take care, all! I just love hearing from you!

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until we meet again...

Hello, everyone!

Right now, I am sitting at the Daily Grind, the local coffee shop in downtown Marshall, making final preparations for my semester abroad in Ireland. I am cleaning up my inbox, double-checking my flight information, and making sure everything is ready to go. I leave for Ireland tomorrow at 1:10pm from the Minneapolis airport. I can't believe the time has come! I started preparing for this almost a year ago, attending information sessions on the application process as I whittled down my destination options. Once I chose Ireland, I had to fill out an application, write a personal statement, get letters of recommendation, and go through an interview process. I received news of my acceptance on February 13, 2008, and ever since all of my plans and thoughts have focused around this trip. Now, I am actually going to leave! I can't wait!

I am pretty much packed, although you wouldn't be able to tell from the mess in my bedroom. I have been working with the logistics of packing everything I will need for an entire semester in two suitcases, taking care to follow the rules on weight limit and dimensions. It has gone quite smoothly. Luckily, I started all of the packing well in advance (which is very unlike me - I am the ultimate procrastinator!). Now, I am just final additions and adjustments.

I will arrive in Shannon on Thursday morning at 6am, if everything goes according to plan. After that, I will fly to Paris for five days of adventure with a couple of friends. I will be back in Ireland on September 9, when my semester abroad officially begins. I will do my best to update this regularly - maybe one or two posts a week. I won't have my computer in Paris, so be prepared for a long entry when I get to Ireland!

As always, take care, and please keep in touch! I would love to hear from you about the things you are doing. Feel free to leave comments or send me e-mails, and I will do my best to respond.

Au revoir!

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