I'm not sure about internet access over the rest of the trip, so this might be my last post. I am so happy that I was able to have this experience. I've learned about education, sure, but I've also learned a lot about myself. Maybe not all of it great, but things that I can take with me to become better.

The best part was probably (nerdy as it sounds) the lectures. We truly got to meet and learn from some of the best, and their passion is something I hope to emulate. I'm including the tours as part of the lectures because those, too, were part of the learning process. I feel like it was an entire cultural experience, and probably even more than I was expecting.

If I can post from Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, and/or Dublin, I will. We're staying at one of the most famous hotels in Dublin thanks to Sarah's reward points, so I'll let you know if there are any celebrity sightings.

Looking forward to my last few days on the old sod.

More pictures

These come from all over - Giant's Causeway, outside Sligo, and Inisbofin.

Northern Ireland

Well, I am back in Galway after a quick weekend trip up to Northern Ireland. The main goal was to see the Giant's Causeway, and it was very cool. We had perfect weather, and I took a zillion pictures. I haven't uploaded them to the computer yet, so you'll just have to wait a bit for those.

We stayed both nights in Belfast. One of the people from my program who went with us knows people from Belfast, and we met a few of them for dinner. The guy, Sean, took us back to our hotel and gave us an impromptu tour of some of the areas that have been heavily impacted by the fighting. I guess I didn't realize quite how real the feelings still are and it was eye opening. Not all of my thoughts are probably good to share on a public blog, so if you want to know more, we'll just have to talk.

Tomorrow we head to Inisbofin, an island north and west of here. It's supposed to be a strenuous hike, and I think my clothes will soon be falling off of me. I'm eating, but I've been walking so much that it doesn't matter. Not that I'm really complaining!

I promise more pictures sometime soon.

The papers are done! Now on to the non-work stuff.

Last night, I attended the theatre. We saw The Gigli Concert by Tom Murphy. It was superbly acted, and typical dark Irish drama. The two male characters were in a weird co-dependent relationship as psychiatrist and patient. And there's a political message about Ireland and England, and the breaking apart of the Irish family. You know, light fare, particularly after a two hour lecture about the Famine. :-) I did enjoy the experience though.

Today, after handing in my papers, I went shopping and bought myself a Claddagh ring - the one with the heart, hands and crown. The Claddagh is actually an area here in Galway, so I thought this was a fitting souvenir. Since I never wear rings, it feels a bit awkward, but I'm trying to get used to it.

I probably won't be updating again until late Sunday night for me (early afternoon for the CO foks!) because I'm heading to Belfast tomorrow. My friends Moe, Kathleen, Ann and I are going to go up, see the city a bit, and go to the Giant's Causeway on Saturday. That is one of the coolest geographical features on the planet, so I can't wait! I'll post a picture when I get back. I think we're going to stop in Sligo on our way back on Sunday, and I'd like to see Yeats's grave. A bit nerdy, but that's me.

It's hard to believe I've already been here for two full weeks. I'll be back home two weeks from today. But it's been a fabulous time so far, and I'm sure it will continue to be fabulous!

Today was a rather boring day of regular classes, but I did attempt knitting, and failed miserably. I think I'll stick to embroidery. I am procrastinating, as usual, on my assignments. The deadline was moved back, which might be the worst possible thing that can be done to a procrastinator. Instead of working on them tonight, I had some of my new friends (how corny that sounds!) over for dinner and we talked until 10:45. Now I'm catching up on important internet stuff rather than looking at the other open window on my desktop, the comparative paper I'm writing on my school vs. the schools here.

Yesterday we had a church field trip. That's not what it was officially called, but that's certainly how many of us felt by the end! I didn't mind as much as some because I love the architecture of old church buildings and the history piece. Plus, I like the spiritual aspects of houses of worship. The first part of the trip was to Clonmacnoise, the monastic settlement of Saint Kieran (Ciaran). It was destroyed in the sixteenth century, so it's just the ruins now. It had an interesting history, and some cool high crosses. The monastery is on the bank of the Shannon River, so I got some pretty scenic pictures. From there we went on to Clonfert Cathedral, which has an incredibly intricate doorway. Donal (see previous post) was our guide, and he's such a hoot! He loves churches, and would have taken us to about seven more if he could have.

I continue to be Bee Girl. It's a strange nickname because I'm not quite sure how it came about. I was talking to one of the TAs (for lack of a better descriptor) about photography because he was giving me a hard time about taking lots of pictures. I told him about my flower picture obsession, and about how I managed to capture bees on some flowers at Versailles. Then we talked about bees for awhile (as if I know anything!) and then I took a picture of a bee on a flower at Kylemore Abbey. I told him about it, just as a joking (flirtatious?) way of continuing the conversation, and now I'm Bee Girl. So I made sure I got a picture of a bee yesterday too. And then today, when I asked him about the dress code for the theater, he told me I didn't need to wear my bee tiara. He's quite attractive, so I'm more than willing to continue the flirtation.

Tomorrow, it's off to class and then a tour of the Nora Barnacle house. She was James Joyce's wife. Then the theater on Wednesday. Hope all is well for all of you.

As mentioned yesterday, last night we had a lecture entitled "My Ireland" by Donal Taheny. Donal is a former Latin and Irish teacher at a secondary school in Galway. He's 92 years old. I've jokingly said that I'm in love with him because he's so adorable. One of my friends here got a great picture of him last night, which I'll share at some point.

Donal is an accomplished photographer and showed us slides (using the old fashioned slide projector) of some of his pictures and telling us stories. The stories were fascinating and funny. He's just a hoot. On our bus ride around Connemara, Donal told stories about many of the places we passed and then just random stories and jokes. I don't know if it's from being around people of Irish descent or just my natural Irishness coming out, but I loved his humor. It's a bit dry and direct, kind of like British humor, but there's something not British about it that I can't quite explain. Anyway, I think everyone should meet Donal or someone like him at some point. He even came out to the pub to have a pint (though he had a glass of wine) with us all after the lecture. I hope I'm that spry and lucid at 92!

Pictures at last! The first is of Lough Inagh in Connemara - will probably look familiar to those of you who have been. The second is a flower shot, obviously. I think it's a bit artsy fartsy as my family would say, but that's what I do! And then the last is clearly of me. I'm on one side (goodness knows which!) of Omey Island. Refer to previous post for more details on all of these!

So much to catch up on in just a few days!

First, the pictures – I’ve tried and tried to upload some, but it’s not working. Aaargh technology! So I’ll try again some other time.

On Tuesday, after a day of lectures about secondary education which included a very lovely time looking at an English teacher from Galway (and learning a bit too), some of my classmates and I went to Story Night at the Nun's Island Spirit Centre. The night is run by Clare Murphy, the daughter of a friend of my mom's. It was great. Some people were looking for "traditional Irish stories" and I think were slightly disappointed, but that's their problem.

Yesterday was a LONG day! We began with a bus ride out to Clifden, on the far west coast, where we had tea, then we continued on to Omey Island. It's a tidal island, meaning that we could walk to it because it was low tide, but would have been stranded when the tide came in. It was a good two and a half hour walk around the island, seeing interesting historical places that dated back to at least the Bronze Age. We then got back on the bus and headed to Kylemore Abbey. Sarah and I had stopped there five years ago, but we didn't go in. This time, I did go in (I'd already paid as part of my tuition!) and saw the restored walled gardens where I took a ridiculous number of flower pictures. I don't know what I'm going to do with them all! Then we went into the abbey, which is now a girls' school, and it was pretty disappointing. Finally, we ended at the gothic church on the site, which has been restored and is awe inspiring. I love the work that went into old churches. After we left Kylemore, we made an unplanned stop at a Manor House across from Lough Inagh for a pint. I decided to forgo the pint, but did enjoy the setting. Overall, it was a beautiful day and I continue to love Connemara. It really does remind me of home in many ways.

I was going to write more about Donal Taheny, the 92 year old man who accompanied us on our tour (without doing all of the walking) but don't want this to go too long. He's giving us a photographic historical tour of Ireland tonight, so I'll write more about him tomorrow.

I'm having a great time, and now should go write the paper I've been putting off for a few days. It's not due for another week, and my procrastination gene is trying to kick in while I'm telling it to stop.

Rain

Okay, so it's not always a "nice, gentle" rain in Ireland, judging from my experience yesterday. By the time I got home from my walk, particularly the last bit when I had a bag full of groceries, I was soaked through. But it's been more gentle today, which is more tolerable.

I had a nice walk yesterday, by myself at my own pace. I saw a great Beleek china teapot in one store, but the 180 euro price tag deterred me a bit. There wasn't anything I had to have yet, but some idea of what I might want to get to commemorate my visit.

Today we visited a primary school (elementary) here in town and heard from several teachers. It was interesting background, but unrelated to me in so many ways. I did talk to the deputy principal (in between the principal and the assistant principals) about some of the technology they have and some evaluation practices. It was interesting. Then we heard about the history, language and literature of Ireland in a lecture this afternoon. What I've loved about the lectures so far is that they all sound like stories.

Not much else to report. There are so many stories to tell, but they're not really easy to share in this way. And they may not be as amusing to people who weren't there.

I did go to the football match (Galway lost to Cork, 2-0) and then out on Friday. It was a late night, but it was fun. Ended up talking to some Irish guys and dancing to some good old AC/DC and Bon Jovi - yes, I danced to "Livin' on a Prayer" in Ireland! It was a blast!

Yesterday (Saturday) we had a walking tour of Galway, led by this man who probably knows more about Galway than anyone else. He's literally written a book about lots of the history of the town. And he was a charming storyteller who loved his subject. Very much old-fashioned in many ways, including hating the main street in town ("that awful street") because of how commercial it is, particularly on a Saturday.

Then a group of us searched out a pub for dinner and some Irish music. We settled on a place that we were told had "some form of Irish music" and were teased a bit for not wanting to hear American music on the 4th of July. The two guys started off with some great Irish songs, and their voices were so lovely. Eventually, they moved into covers of "The Gambler," "Country Roads" by John Denver (not sure that's the name of the actual song) and something else I can't quite remember because that's when we decided to head home. It was an early night, getting home at 12. Things are definitely different here.

Today I'm planning on looking around town a bit, doing some grocery shopping, maybe some other types of shopping. I just want to get a sense of the place. Lots of people have gone to different places like Cliffs of Moher and even Dublin for the day, but I want to stay here more. I'd rather see the city when it's open rather than just late at night.

I do have a roommate now (well, more apartment mate since I have my own room, with two beds which will be nice when Sarah comes for the one night). Her name is Amanda, and she's also a high school English teacher. She's from Maine. Her difficulties getting here make my lost luggage seem trivial. She's friendly and outgoing, so I think it will be a great situation.

I'm posting a picture of "the archway" to the oldest building on the campus, where we will be meeting when we go on bus trips. It's without a doubt the coolest building on campus. The others are more modern and quite ugly, to be honest.

Day 2-3

Visited some popular Galway pubs last night after a reception and Independence Day bbq sponsored by the school for all of the visiting Americans. The reception/bbq was held at the college bar and included free drink coupons. Several people left without using theirs and gave them to my table. So we used them. I, of course, started off with a pint of Guiness and then had a few Smithwicks. Then we proceeded to the city centre and visited a few pubs. No traditional Irish music, but a good band at one that covered a bunch of Americans like Kenny Rogers, CCR and Bob Dylan. The hilarious part of the Dylan cover was that last time I was here, Sarah and I couldn’t find a B&B in Galway because they were all booked due to a Dylan concert.

This morning it was up bright and early even though class didn’t start until 10:30 because I needed to get some clothes. My lost bag had been put on the 10:30pm flight from Dublin to Galway, but a 30 euro round trip to the airport last night wasn’t on my agenda. Before class started, I was pleased to learn that my bag had been delivered to my residence.

It’s been a bright and sunny day so far (meaning there has only been a little bit of rain), but it looks like it might be clouding up more. I might turn in early tonight; we’re getting a tour of the city tomorrow, and I’m not sure my knees and feet will be able to withstand a ton of walking both tonight and tomorrow. We’ll just have to see. I’m trying to go with the flow and follow my instincts.

No pictures yet. I’m sure I’ll take some tomorrow on my tour and Monday we go into Connemara, so that will be picture time for sure.

Arrived!

I have never (NEVER) arrived at a destination without my luggage, so leave it to the time I fly to a city across a country from my final stop for one of my bags to be "on the next flight" due to some hangup at security. The thing is, all that's in the bag are ALL of my clothes, which I don't think are a security hazard in any way. Oh, well. Because of that, I'm blogging much earlier than I expected since the bus has free wifi and I'm kind of keyed up. I'm currently riding along the River Liffey in Dublin. Kind of cool, I must say.

My flights were fine. I did two good deeds on the flight to Dublin, swapping seats with a guy so he and his friend could sit together which meant I didn’t get to sit by the hot friend and instead sat by a large teenage boy who gave me even less room than I normally had. Then I let an older man with intestinal problems use the facilities ahead of me. I used it as an opportunity to do some extra leg stretching.

Anyway, the adventure has definitely begun. Once I’m out of Dublin, I think I’ll try to catch some sleep, and I’ll trust in the fates that I’ll actually have fresh clothes to wear by the end of the day!