Ordinary Update

Cat, Bat, Pacifist Pumpkin, Supermac (her name is Makenzie - clever!), and Cowgirl

Last week was my first "ordinary" week here at the Park Lodge, so I guess that alone makes it unusual! It was the first time we have had an entire week without any planned travel, excursions, or cancelled classes. As much as I love our busy travel schedule, it was so nice to relax here for a full week.

I gave my first (and only) presentation of the semester last Thursday. It was for Senior Sem. and entailed me having to review the chapter we read in Guns, Germs, and Steel and then posing a discussion question for the class. Tough, I know, right? Still, it did give me something more to do than usual!

I registered for classes for next semester this week, so that added to the things I needed to do. I figured out that I have room to pick up a Communication major, so I juggled my schedule and added some Comm classes. I'm really looking forward to them! I figured I might as well take advantage of the extra space I have in my schedule - it can only make me more marketable.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Cottage 5 had everyone over for a Halloween party on Thursday night and then we all went into Galway afterward. All of the college kids go out on Thursday night here, so we got our costumes on and joined them. I went as a bat - you can see a picture of my roommates and me above. On Halloween, then, JP opened the pub here and our directors even joined us for some Halloween celebrating! The funny thing was that Chuck and I had the same costume - he bought a bat hat, too! You just can't resist the 2-Euro store here!

The day after Halloween, a group of us walked into Spiddal for an All Saints' Day mass...or what we thought would be. We walked into the church just before mass was supposed to start and slipped into a back pew. Alex leaned over to me after a few seconds and said, "There's a coffin up there." Yep - we walked right into an Irish funeral! Then we thought that maybe it was symbolic, seeing as how it was All Saints Day, but I looked outside and saw the hearse and then saw how the pallbearers were struggling to carry the casket, and we figured out that it really was a funeral. It was different than our funerals, though. A few family members sat in front, but the rest of the church seemed to be normal mass-goers like ourselves. There wasn't any special time for family members to get up and speak or anything. Then again, the whole thing was in Gaelic, so we really didn't know what was going on anyway. Needless to say, it was a really awkward situation, but kind of funny looking back. Here we were, just trying to be good, Catholic kids and going to mass, and look what happens! But I can say I've been to a funeral in Ireland, which I'm pretty sure is not something most people who come on this trip are able to say.

Yesterday, we went into Galway and watched a hurling match. It was so much fun! Dad - I finally figured out what sport they use those sticks for - it's hurling! My roommates decided that it is a cross between hockey, baseball, soccer, and rugby, with a little tennis thrown in as well. We didn't really understand what was going on, but the atmosphere was awesome and it was cool to see a live Irish sporting event. Naturally, I forgot my camera, so I can't even share pictures of it. Take my word for it, though - if you ever get a chance to see hurling, take it. It's a lot of fun.

Oh, yeah. And my computer has a virus, so I am trying to find a place to take it and get it fixed. Grrr...

Take care, everyone!