Ireland Adventures

Fall Break is over and I haven't wrote in ... a long time! Woops sorry (I kind of forgot that we would actually have to be doing schoolwork over here) I had so much fun with Mitch and Jeffrey on Fall break. My favorite  place we visited was probably Miltenberg Germany because it was such a cute little town and everybody there was named Faust!! I also like being in Ireland with the boys because I knew all of the main sights so it was kind of like showing them around my second home. It was nice to get back to Spiddal after a fantastic break, and get back into a routine of things. The day we got back, it was gorgeous and a group of us decided to go for a dip in the Atlantic! It was... Freezing, but So worth it! I didnt plan on going in past my knees, but JD of course came up behind me and picked me up and threw me 10 feet into the waves! It was definitely a memory that I will look back on  and be thankful for doing despite other people in our group saying we were crazy and staying back.

We have had a long two weeks of classes! We have not gone on any excursions since fall break, so it has been nice being able to stay in one place for a while, but that also mean 6 hours of classes a day! My favorite classes are literature and our Study Abroad class that our director teaches. We spend the days going to class, making dinner, doing homework, and then watching movies! We have been excitedly getting ready for Halloween which means watching lots of scary movies and making our costumes!

Our cottage decided to be Zombies for Halloween because it was the easiest to make! We got white t-shirts and fake blood in Galway and decorated them on Tuesday night. Yesterday, we had 6 hours of Theology and were all super antsy by about the 5th hour. We got done and started getting ready for Halloween!! At 9:00 our whole group went into Galway. We went to our usual pubs that arent usually crowded, but they were Packed last night!! It was A lot of fun and we all had a really good time!

Germany

We finally made it to Germany!! It has been a long day of travel and we are all very exhausted, but excited to finally be here! We left our bed and breakfast in Ireland at 7:00am and were instructed to just flag down the airport bus and it will stop... Never stopped, so we had to take a taxi to the airport . When we got to the airport,we already had our boarding passes on our phones so we just checked our bags and went through security! We got on our plane to Amsterdam, and it was only an hour flight until we were there!! We then collected our bags and found our train platform. The train to frankfurt was about five and a half hours and made about thirty stops along the way which was super annoying. As we for closer to frankfurt we realized that none of us knew which stop to get off at or where to go once we got there. I was kind of nervous, but throughout my study abroad experience thus far, i have learned that being flexible and going with the flow is an important quality. We got of the train at the central station, and went to the tourist information booth to ask what to so next. We got on a bus that brought us to our hotel, and checked in. We are staying at the meineger hotel which basically just looks like an ikea warehouse! Our room is soo nice too and we have a tv (although everything is in German). We then went to a little restaurant and I had a hamburger and Mitch and jt had schnitzel. We even tried some German beer. We can't wait to explore more of the city tomorrow!!

The fun continues!!

We have had a couple of busy days here in Dublin!! On Friday, we got up found coffee and then walked through the botanical gardens(there weren't actually any gardens there, just a big park). Then we went to the museum of natural history and then the museum of archaeology. We walked around in another park after that soaking up the beautiful day!! After that, we came back and had lunch at a pub near our bed and breakfast, and then went back and took a nap before the soccer game!! We found tickets for the World Cup qualifier that morning between Ireland and Germany, and were really excited to go. The game was at 7:45 and we left around 6:30 (having no idea of where the stadium was) halfway there, we realized that we forgot to write down our confirmation number for the tickets. Once we finally found a wifi spot, we read the email and found out that we had to pick up the tickets at this hotel which we had no idea where it was. After asking around, we learned that the box office was about a mile down the road and that it was closing once the game started!! We made a mad dash for the hotel running the whole way there, but luckily got there just in time to collect our tickets!! The game was really fun as it was in aviva stadium, which has a really cool design. Our seats were really good too, although there were German fans sitting by us and as the game was not going in the favor of Ireland, they were rather annoying! In the end, Germany won 6 to 1 with Ireland scoring the one point in the last few seconds. After the game we walked home and went to bed!
We woke up early on Saturday (5:30am)!! To go to the bus stop for our day tour of the cliffs of moher. Along the way, we stopped at st.johns castle in limerick, corcomore abbey, and the burren. Last time I was at the cliffs of moher, I stayed mostly to where the castle was on the right side, however this time, Mitch jt and I hopped the "danger" zone fence and went all the way to the left side of the cliffs. It was pretty scary as at some points there would only be a couple feet between you and the edge!! We had a good time and got some really good pictures. We got back to Dublin around 7:30 pm and found a pub called the boars head to eat dinner and have drinks in. We then went back to our bed and breakfast and went to bed!! Fun day!!!!

Fall break!!

Fall break is finally here!! I could hardly concentrate yesterday in the one class that we had. I woke up this morning at 4:30 and roary our taxi driver took me Amanda Abby and Megan into galway to catch the bus to the Dublin airport. About halfway into Dublin, Mitch messaged me and said that he had already landed! His flight was early by about an hour, so I was really anxious to get to the airport. By the time I got to the airport, I said my goodbyes to my other cottage mates and went looking for Mitch and jt. It only took about 5 minutes of looking around and then I spotted them! I was so excited !! It's crazy how I was just talking to them 10 hours before in the United States!! We got on a bus to the Dublin city center, and unfortunately by the time it was our stop to get off, started pouring rain!! We searched for our bed and breakfast for about 30 minutes and after being completely drenched found it! Our bed and breakfast is so cute, the old lady who owns it was taking a nap so her son showed us in and told us everything we needed to know about Dublin etc. We then got settled in our room and rested for awhile before going out in search of coffee. We found a cute little coffee place to energize us and then went to boojum burrito!!!! I went to boojum about 4 days ago when I was in Dublin and it was sooo good!! I was excited to take the boys there. After our burritos, we walked to the Guinness store house and took a tour. When we got to the gravity bar, we got a free glass if Guinness. I have yet to have a full glass of Guinness here and I don't think I will be having any in the future! It was still really fun and the storehouse was so cool. After that, we walked around in the city, and then came back to our hotel. I'm really impressed with the guys as they don't seem to have any jet lag! I woke up at 4:30 and am dragging! We are going to rest a bit before going out again tonight for dinner!!

Dubliners

This weekend, we went on our excursion to Dublin. My first impression of Dublin was the day that we arrived in Ireland and I was jet lagged and sick. I didnt like it too much at the time because I think I was just too tired to venture out as it was only our first day in a new country. This time however, I absolutely loved Dublin! We got to see all the corners of the city and being here for a little more than a month, I was not afraid to venture out into the big city. We arrived in Dublin on Thursday and visited the Rotunda Maternity Hospital. Our director Kathy is a nursing professor so she is really interested in health care. We toured some parts of the hostpital, but werent allowed to go into the actual ward. However, Kathy picked 6 of us to do a special tour through the ward. Since I love babies and kids and am always talking about Annie and Lucy, Kathy picked me as one of the 6. We got to see a baby that was just born named Jayjay, and even a baby that was the size of an iPhone in the intensive care unit :( I really enjoyed touring the hospital as it was a nice change from the museums that we always tour! We then got checked into our hostel the four courts hostel and went out shopping for the rest of the day. Dublin has a lot of the same stores that we have in America like Forever 21, Gap, and H and M. It isnt as fun to shop when you know you can get the same things back home so I didnt get anything. On Friday morning we met Brother Colman to take us around to a walking tour of the city. It was A LOT of walking! We saw the book of Kells, Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle. It was a fun day, but very exhausting! I was so tired when we got back, and took a nap in the hostel but was awoken by everybody getting ready to go out for the night. I didnt really want to go out to the pubs so decided to go to a movie with some girls from cottage 6. We saw the movie Taken 2!  I though I was going to regret seeing the movie afterwards being in a foreign country and all and what happened in the first movie, but the plot line was totally different and I wasn't scared at all after watching the movie! The movie was so good and now I can say I saw Taken 2 in a foreign country! On Saturday, we got up and went to some sights with portal tombs and early shrines. We didnt have a guide for the day, and there was no visitor center to tell us anything, so we were a little lost as to what we were seeing haha! It made for good entertainment however and the long bus ride to the sites allowed us to catch up on sleep. On Saturday night, I went out to a bar called the Porter house. The porter house is bar with rare beers (and High prices) I had a hollows ginger beer and it was really good! We had a really good time there and I cant wait to go back in a couple of days! On Sunday, we got up and headed back home. We stopped along the way however to go horseback riding. I said I was an 'experienced' horseback rider even though I have only ridden a horse maybe once in my life haha My horse was named tipper and he reminded me a lot of Rylee! haha He was really slow and lazy and loved to eat! When we were walking out in the field, he would stop every 3 feet to grab some grass or drink water out of the puddles. Every time he would reach down to grab something to eat, I would almost fly off the front of him! My arms are soo sore this week from pulling his reigns back to always re-direct him! It was really fun though and im so glad we got to do something besides going to museums!! In 1 day, I leave for fall break, and Mitch and Jeffrey fly to Dublin to visit me!! I am soo excited, it will be really nice to have a break and see my brother and cousin. We will be spending a few days in Ireland, Frankfurt Germany, and Amsterdam! When I get back from fall break, it will be the 22nd of October, and then there will only be a little over a month left until I leave! The time has gone by soo fast and I cant imagine leaving, but cant wait to get home!!!

On Friday, we got a 1 hour break to go have lunch on our own in Dublin. We heard of this burrito place called Boojum Burritos and after searching for almost the whole hour and half of the group that went with us giving up and going to McDonalds, Me Abby, Amanda, and Ben Finally Found it!!! So Greatt!!!! 

Me and Pat with our Hollows Ginger beers at the Porter house

Me riding Tipper

Northern Ireland, Trad on the prom, Galway

WOw! So Sorry I haven't been timely on updating this thing! Now that school is in full swing, it seems like I am writing a paper every night! Our last excursion was to Northern Ireland. We left on Wednesday (the 19th) and drove the long drive to Northern Ireland- about 5 hours. Along the way however we stopped in Sligo, and visited the tomb of W.B Yeats. Our literature professor is obsessed with Yeats, and our whole literature class is dedicated to him! We got to our Hostel later that night in Derry which was actually a house! It was so cute and we had the whole place to ourselves. We had dinner at a cute little pub and then finished off the night with some shopping. Northern Ireland is considered part of the United Kingdom, so we had to convert all of our money to Pounds for the weekend- which really sucked because the pound is so terrible right now! (For every dollar in the u.s the pound is about 1.60). On Thursday, we woke up and met Jacqui, our archaeology proffesor and she brought us around Northern Ireland. Jacqui lives in Derry so she has a lot of history behind all of the places she took us to. Being in Northern Ireland was very interesting because there is a long history of fighting between the Catholics and the Protestants. Jacqui showed us the Catholic part of town, but since this conflict still resides today, neglected to show us around the Protestant area. There is even a wall that divides the city in two and marches go on everyday by the Protestants in which they walk through the city singing anti-Catholic songs. Jacqui brought us to the Derry Free Museum which is a museum of all the people that died in the bloody Sunday massacre. Jacqui's brother was 14 at the time of the massacre, and his best friend who was standing right next to him was shot dead! It is crazy to think that this happened just 40 years ago! After visiting the museum, we walked the wall which divides the city, and Jacqui showed us the exact spots that she used to sit in protest. After dinner, we went out in Derry and enjoyed the night life! 
On Friday, we woke up and got back on the bus. We drove to Bushmills distillery and took a tour of the distillary. At the end of the tour, we got a free sample of whiskey- which is not my favorite! We then stopped at Giants causeway which was the spot of a volcanic eruption and all the rocks are shaped like hexagons. It was such a beautiful day and we had fun climbing on all the rocks. We then drove another 5 hours to Belfast where we checked into another hostel. Belfast is another area of Northern Ireland which is in conflict between the Catholics and Protestants, we were advised by our directors and bus driver to not tell anyone that we were a group of students from America studying at a Catholic College as this time we were staying in the Protestant area of town. On Saturday, we got up and took a bus tour of Belfast. It was nice not having to walk around as it seems like all we do is walk! After seeing so many museums throughout the trip (some boring) we went to probably the most exciting museum- TITANIC! Titanic was built in Belfast, and less than a year ago, they opened the Titanic experience museum. I've been looking forward to going to this museum since before the trip and was so excited to finally get there! We walked around the museum for about 2 hours and it was so crazy to visit all the exhibits and read all the accounts of the people who were on the Titanic. At the end of the tour, there was a section dedicated to the movie Titanic, and a guide told us that James Cameron visited the museum just 2 weeks ago to bring the costumes that Jack and Rose wore in the film! On Sunday, we headed back to the park lodge, and it felt so good to be back after such a long excursion!
This past week, we had a free week/weekend and it was so great to have some time to relax! On Thursday we went to a show called Trad on the Prom which was so awesome! It was a combination of traditional dance/singing/and instruments of Ireland. We all got dressed up and went into Galway for the show- it was a great night! 
For our free weekend, a group of us went into Galway. We did a lot of shopping and walked around a lot . It was nice to be in Galway for more than 1 hour at a time and not feel rushed to get groceries like we are every Sunday when we come back from excursions. On Thursday we leave for Dublin for an excursion, and in a week is our fall break! I cant wait for Mitchell and JT to get here and to explore Europe!!!!

Being a Diva at Giants Causeway hehe

The original Costume Rose wore!

Cooking Class with Geraldine : )

Kerry Excursion

This past weekend was so eventful and fulled with sights, scenes, touring etc. I don't even know where to begin! We left on Thursday morning and began our 3 1/2 hour journey to the town of Killarney. Killarney is such a cute little town, it only has about 5,000 residents and is sort of like a smaller more quaint version of Galway. We stopped at a little pub to have lunch called Tatler Jacks and walked around town for a little while until we had to be back on the bus to go to Ross castle. The day was absolutely beautiful and when in the sun it was actually really warm! Our group had fun climbing up the sides of the castle walls and taking pictures. For a castle, it wasnt all that great as it was pretty destroyed and was hard to imagine what it would have actually looked like but was fun nonetheless. We then drove back to Killarney to check into our Hostel 'Neptunes.' Hostels always make me nervous as there are so many people that stay in them and may not always be the cleanest, however our room was very clean, and we even got passes that we had to show to a security guard to let us in which made me feel a lot more secure. After we settled in, we went to Penneys down the street! I told myself that I was not going to back into Penney's for a long time as every time I go in, I end up spending way too much... I went in and 50 euros later came out with a new pair of shoes, jeans, a tank top, sweatshirt, and earrings! oops. We then went back to the hostel and made dinner in the kitchen and then got ready to go out for the night. We went to this bar called the Grand with traditional Irish music. There were surprisingly a lot of Americans at the pub and as we started talking with this group of golfers, found out that they were all from Minnesota! I talked with one man who lived only a few miles from my house haha! They were in Ireland on a golf trip as they were the founders of the store Golf Galaxy. It is crazy how small this world is and when you get talking with people, you can make start to make the strangest of connections. (I also went to high school with another mans nephew!) Our group then went to the back of the bar where the night club was and danced the rest of the night!!
On Saturday morning, we woke up and drove to the Muckross castle. The castle is most noted for Queen Victoria visit to it in 1843. We toured the castle and then walked around on the grounds which were gorgeous! The castle overlooked the lake with mountains on the other side. I definetely wouldn't mind living there :) We drove another 2 hours to get to the Skellig experience which was a 20 minute documentary about a mountain. It was really not worth the 2 hour drive, but at least the scenery along the way was beautiful.We then drove back 2 hours and stopped at a waterfall along the way which was so cool! We were supposed to stay only 10 minutes, but when we got there, another tour group searching for an 83 year old man that had been missing over an hour. We joined in the search, and after 45 minutes found the man who had wandered off and was deep into the woods. It was quite the eventful day and felt so good to be back at the hostel.
On Saturday, we got up early again and drove to the Tra li museum which was not overly exciting but still cool to see the exhibits. We then drove around the Dingle peninsula and encountered the most scariest thing on the way there. While we were driving through the mountains, we reached a point where the road was down to one lane with the mountain on the right side and a cliff edge with no guard rail on the left. Our bus driver Jerry, was driving very cautiously when another car came whizzing around the corner. I had started taking a video of the scenery about 20 seconds prior to this happening, and all of a sudden, my video camera flew out of my hand and to the front of the bus. Jerry slammed on the brakes as the bus fish tailed with the back of the wheels at the edge of the cliff. The other car was wedged in between our bus and the mountain and the lady driving got out screaming at our bus to back up. We tried explaining to the irrational lady that if we backed up, our bus would go straight over the cliff. At this time, we all moved to the right side of the bus to offset the weight as a precaution because we could not get out since the door (which is on the left) opened up straight on to the cliff edge. After explaining to the lady that we could not do anything and that it was her fault for speeding around a curve on a one way road, she had to keep driving her car, scraping the whole left side and taking off her mirror. After about 20 minutes we were all safe and kept on driving. We arrived at our destination, the Blasket museum and after another 20 minute documentary, were on our way once again. On Saturday night, we went to a show at the Kerry folk theater. It was a traditional Irish dance performance which I enjoyed a lot! We got back to our hostel at 11pm and I was so tired I went straight to bed!
On Sunday, our only thing on the agenda was the Cliffs of Moher! I was so excited as I have wanted to see the Cliffs for a really long time! We drove to Dooley and had lunch, and then drove down to the ferry port to get on a boat so we could see the cliffs from the ocean. At first, the ride was so much fun as our whole group was on the back of the ferry. But as we started getting deeper into the ocean, the waves came all the way over our boat and got us soaked. I started to panic a little as the boat started to get very tipsy and would lean all the way over letting in hundreds of gallons of water into the boat. When we reached the end of the cliffs, I started feeling queezy of course and had to close my eyes for the rest of the way back to shore. Overall, it was a memorable experience that I will remember for ever. We then drove to the top of the cliffs and I took a ton of pictures as it was the most perfect day! It was so crazy to look over and see the ferrys go by in the ocean, and see how tiny they are compared to the cliffs. After the cliffs, we headed back to the Park Lodge which felt soo good to be back after such a crazy fun filled excursion. I will post pictures as soon as I can but right now my computer isnt working and im not sure how to post pictures with my Ipad.
On Wednesday morning, we leave again for a long excursion to Northern Ireland and I cant wait!
: ) H

Limerick

Wow! It has been quite the busy past couple of days! This is the first time I have even turned my computer on since last week! This past weekend we had our first over night excursion in Limerick! We left early Saturday morning accompanied by our theology professor Bro. Coleman. Bro. Coleman is probably by far one of my favorite proffesor here! He is always cracking jokes and is so smart- different than a lot of the monks I have met before. We first stopped at Kilmacduagh which is a medieval monastic site associated with Saint Coleman Macduagh. There is a cemetery there with over 30,000 bodies buried at the site since the 7th century! As we walked through looking at graves, Bro. Coleman was collecting bones! Since there have been so many people buried there, lots of bone fragments get turned up in the soil which is weird/creepy to think about! In the center of the grave yard, there was also a huge tower which was used by the monks to escape from viking attacks. The tower is only implanted 16in. into the ground, and is leaning 5 feet to the left so it is crazy to think that it is still standing after so many centuries! We then made our way to the Burren National Park which is the site of a 12th century hermitage spot. We had to walk quite a ways into the mountain but eventually made our way to the most peaceful spot ever! No wonder monks would go on hermitage! There was a little waterfall stream and trees covered with bright green moss that people will come to tie notes to the trees. We then went to the Paulnabrone Portal tomb which is a neolithic burial chamber that dates back to 3,800- 3,600 BC. Its hard to wrap your mind around looking at history that is still standing after thousands of years! From there, we had lunch at a cute little restaurant and then were off to another site! Our last stop of the day was to Templecronan which was an early christian site dating back to the 12th century. Surrounding the church, there were these things called slab shrines which were basically old tombs with the top exposed. In one of the tombs, we could see a whole femur bone! Its so nice to be able to  see such cool sites that normal tourists would never think to have gone to. Definitely one of the many perks of our wonderful program!
After a full day of seeing sites, we drove to our hostel for the night, the "Jamaica Inn." There was not much to do at the hostel as they had no internet or anything, so we went out to check out the pubs. Although this excursion was called "Limerick," we never actually were in Limerick as our hostel was in "Sevenmilebridge Town," and we were out in the country while seeing the sites. Sevenmilebridge was a very small town that consisted of  one street! We found a cute little old pub however in which the locals were hosting a surprise 40th birthday party for a friend. They encouraged us to stay and help them celebrate, so we all waited for the birthday girl to arrive. The Irish sure do know how to throw a party as it was one of the most fun nights we have had in Ireland thus far! We danced the whole night and the birthday girl bought us drinks!
After our crazy night, we woke up early again to go to Bro. Colemans monastery "Glenstal Abbey." We went to mass and it was Very different than any service I have ever been to! Half of the service was in Latin/Irish, and when it was time for communion, it was just one mad dash to be first. All of us from CSB/SJU just sat in our pews not knowing what to do! After mass, we had lunch with Brother Coleman and then toured the woods which the Abbey is situated on. After a couple hours, we were all ready to go home, but stopped in a small town to watch  Galway vs. Kilkenny in the hurling finals. This is the first time in seven years that Galway has made it to the finals, but unfortunately the match ended in a tie and we will have to wait another 2 weeks until a rematch is scheduled.
Arriving back at the Park Lodge on Sunday evening was the best feeling ever! We have all made Park Lodge our home and although we love going on excursions, we cant wait to get back to our pink floral bed sheets!

Bro. Coleman and the leaning tower

At Burren National Park Hermitage spot

Drinks at the pub!

These past few days have pretty much all been classes as we leave tomorrow for another excursion, this time to Kerry!!

And we Danced...

Last night, J.P opened up the pub in the hotel for the first time for our whole group. It was so much fun! It was pretty much just one huge dance party!!! Even our study abroad leaders joined in! Here are some pics.

Amanda, Kate, and Me Dancing away!

Cottage 5! Atlantica

Pat, Megan, and Me drinking Breezers 

Roaming around in Spiddal..

Technically, the location of our stay is in Spiddal, even though our program is called "Galway." Spiddal is about a 25 minute walk from the park lodge hotel and can either be a wonderful short little walk or the longest most miserable walk ever! For instance, on Monday night a group of us walked to Spiddal in the POURING rain! It felt like the walk that never ended! Last night however, we walked to Spiddal with our usual group; the boys from cottage 3 or "the pride lands" and us girls from cottage 5 which we call ourselves "Atlantica." It was such a nice walk, the sun was shining and it was the perfect night! When we got to Spiddal we went to this little Italian restaurant, however we didnt look at the prices before we went in and ended up getting up and leaving right when we looked at a menu! We then went to the pub "The Tobber" because they had a pizza special that night. The cute little old bartender said that the pizzas weren't any good, but if we went down the street to the pizza parlor, then we could bring our pizzas back and eat them at the pub if we ordered a drink. We went to the pizza parlor, ordered our pizza and then came back to the Tobber and ate our pizza over a pint :) Having actual real food tasted sooo good as we have made buttered noodles for the past week and a half. After dinner, we went to Supermac's which is Irelands version of McDonalds and got icecream and ate it while we walked back along the beach. Last night was probably one of my favorite nights here in Ireland thus far as it was so relaxed and we had a great time! Just thought I would share that with you all. This weekend we go to Limerick on an excursion and will have lots more to share! Miss everybody at home, but I am having a GREAT time!!!
Love, H

Pictures

Gorgeous day in Ireland!!

Standing right beside W.B Yeats tower and bridge

W.B Yeats

Today we had another day excursion to Coole park which is where the poet W.B Yeats spent more than 15 years of his life. It was so pretty and there were so many trees that jutted hundreds of feet into the sky! Our literature Professor came with us and showed us around the grounds and stopped a few times to read us a poem. Last semester, I took a British literature class which focused on many poets from this era. We studied Yeats so it was interesting to be standing literally in the same place that he wrote most of his poetry in. It was a pretty quick excursion but was so worth it as the park was tucked away in a secluded spot that if I hadn't been on this trip I would never have gotten to see.
We started classes on Monday and already have quite the load of work to do! For our study abroad adviser Kathys class we needed to interview an Irish man and compare and contrast their life to ours. Abby was my partner so we hit up the pub and lone behold found an old Irishman to interview! He was very friendly and happily answered all of our questions.
Going to go to the pub so I will upload some pictures later :)
H

Aran Islands

Today, we went on our first excursion as a group! We left at 9:30 to go the Aran Islands. It was a 40 minute bus ride to the ferry dock, and another 40 minute ferry ride to the island. The ferry ride was not too enjoyable, as I have learned from the many planes, and buses I have taken so far that I do not do well with motion sickness! However, I thankfully did not get sick on the ferry ride even though it was VERY bumpy and the waves from the ocean were splashing up onto the windows. When we got there it was very cold! I wore my waterproof shoes (best purchase ever) and of course my rain jacket and was really glad that I bought gloves and a hat at Penneys the other day as they were much needed! Our archaeology professor Jacqui came with us and acted as our tour guide for the day which was very helpful because she was so knowledgeable. We had two choices as means to explore the island, we could either take a bus or rent bikes. I chose to rent a bike which at first was a bad idea as we had to trek over some pretty steep hills, but as the terrain became gentler I was so glad that I took the bike as the views were incredible and we got so much fresh air! We visited one of the highest points where over 3,000 years ago was used to defend the island from attack. We even got our first view at Irelands beautiful cliffs and got to hang our head over the edge (SCARY)!!!! And being the little mother that I am, I was pretty much yelling at all the boys for being too daring too close to the edge... (J.D Quinby). We stopped at the little boutiques along the way which pretty much all selled Aran sweaters for ridiculous prices (150 Euros)!! I didnt buy one as they were all wool and was not about to be itchy for 150 euros. The ride back into town on our bicycle was a lot smoother with  a lot of inclines which made for a much more enjoyable ride! We boarded the ferry and were on our way again!

View from the top! Beautiful

Me and Abs

Amanda and I looking over the edge! AHHH 

Where are all the clovers??

As I went on a walk this evening, I realized that I haven't seen a single clover growing!! At home there are all sorts of clovers growing around our house, but I still haven't seen one here! Hmm..!!
Today we had our first conversational Irish class and wow is the Irish language difficult!! Nothing is pronounced as it is spelled and it is so confusing!! For example, just the phrase "I want" is "ta me ah iarradah" and then try saying I want a beer it's like a whole paragraph!! After our conversation class we had a dance class which was sooo fun! Everybody in our group got into it and it was so funny to watch the guys try so hard to master the steps. Here are some pictures from our walk to the ocean tonight.

All Settled in!!!

So i'm finally here at the park lodge and have gotten all settled in. Its been a rough couple of days because I've been pretty sick. I think it is from jet lag, lack of sleep, the food etc. But after eating macaroni and cheese that my aunt Julie seal packaged and sent with me, I am finally staring to feel alot better! Yesterday after we arrived at the park lodge, the Foyles made dinner for us and then my roomates and I walked down to the ocean. It was only a short walk across the street from our cottage and then we were there! I guess I was expecting it to be a sandy beach but it is ALL rocks and we had to be very careful when walking as the rocks were really sharp and jagged. After our walk to the ocean, we came home and I went to bed. It was so nice to sleep in a bed and actually sleep the whole night! This morning we got to sleep in a bit and then woke up and went into Galway. We first took a bus tour on a double decker bus around Galway, it was pretty chilly but fun to hear all about the history and see the sights. After that, we went shopping. I had to ditch a lot of clothes to get my bag under 50lbs and was hoping that I could buy some in Galway. We went to this store called Penneys and they had such cute stuff and really cheap prices! I was able to get sweatpants, Flannel pajamas, mittens, a hat, a towel and more for under 30 Euros so it was a great deal! We then went grocery shopping at a store called Dunnes. There are alot of brands similar to that in America, but there are also a lot of different brands and weirder food! I haven't really enjoyed the food too much since I've been here, so today I bought pretty much all my faves I could find at the store like Oreos, ritz crackers, cheerios, milk, and yogurt! We pretty much have the rest of the day to ourselves so I am probably going to go back and take a nap and then we might go into spiddal tonight! Tomorrow we start our conversational Irish classes so it will be interesting to learn some Gaelic! 

Our Cottage with a rainbow over it.. Only in Ireland!!

H

Getting there

Wow its been quite the past 24 hours! Let me recap:
As I woke up this morning (or yesterday, this time shift has me very confused), I was crazy excited! Or as I call it, I had the " nervies" I was anxious, excited, nervous but most of all excited! I arrived at Minneapolis airport at around 11:45 and got in lone to check in and check my bag. However, there was a little problem with our tickets and the flight number had changed, but we got it figured out smoothly. My bag even weighed in at 48.5, something I have been worried about throughout my packing. There are 12 people that joined us on this flight and good thing because we needed everybody to navigate through the airport in Chicago as it was a bit confusing.
I got onto my seat in msp and sat next to a 5 year old girl and her mother. I started chatting with her and found that she has been to Ireland many times and even did her masters thesis on Georgian Irish architecture -I had no clue what that meant but smiled and went along with it. As I was talking, she would ask her daughter " now Stephanie, if Haley was studying on the west coast of Ireland what county might she be in?" the daughter responded "Galway" I was shocked by her geographical knowledge as she could also name all the country's that bordered Prague and there capitals! Our flight to chicage was only about 40 minutes and by the end of it, I started feeling a little queasy. Needles to say, -I was able to see my whole breakfast over again :) haha
When we finally got off in chicago we had to re-checkin and get a new boarding pass. One of the attendants at the counter was weighing our carry-ons and in even made Megan check her carry on! I almost freaked out that they were going to check mine as well and then I would have nothing! However, I was totally fine and was able to keep my carry on. I got on aer lingus just fine and found my seat for the longest flight of my life! I was really hoping to sleep the whole way there, but ended up sleeping maybe 10 minutes. After we got off the plane in IRELAND, We smoothly went through customs, grabbed our bags and were off to venture in Dublin! That's all I have time for right now, pictures to come soon as I will be settling into the park lodge hotel tomorrow and will be away from the craziness of the city!
H

Contact Information

Here is all my information in order to contact me while I'm in Ireland! :) 

Park Lodge Information- 
Park Lodge Hotel

                        Spiddal, County Galway

                        Ireland       

Tel: 091-553159  (country code is 353 if calling outside Ireland);

 (when calling from the US 011-353-91-553494

                        Email: parklodgehotel@eircom.net

Email address- Hsfaust@csbsju.edu 

Skype name- haley_faust 

Facetime- hayfaust53@gmail.com

Flikr address- www.flickr.com/haleysfaust (I will post the majority of my pictures here for those of you who dont have facebook)

Ireland 2012

Crunch time

A week from today I will be in Dublin Ireland getting ready to meet up with my other abroad mates and professors. It is crazy how fast time flys and how a countdown can go from 150 days to just 5 in what seems like no time at all. Yesterday my family threw a going away party for me and lots of my family, neighbors and friends came to wish me goodbye. It was so good seeing everybody before I leave and I will miss everybody so much! I have started to get serious about packing and have vacuumed sealed about 1/2 of my clothes which saves a lot of space in my suitcase, however I still have much more to pack!! It seems like every other minute a new thing pops into my head about what I need to pack, bring, or buy yet! I'm having a hard time keeping it all straight! I know I will be just fine though!

3 Weeks (8/5/12)

Well, it is official I only have 3 more weeks left in good ol' Minnesota. The summer has been busy busy busy! I have been working at the YMCA as a summer camp counselor for 1st-2nd graders and boy has it been a lot of work. However, when i'm not dealing with crazy kids, and chaotic field trips, I devote my time to preparing for Ireland. I leave on Saturday, August 25th at 2pm have a quick layover in Chicago and then it is smooth sailing to Galway, Ireland for four months! I have been picking up things for Ireland throughout the summer, so as the time draws near I'm hoping I wont be in a mad dash while packing. I'm sooo excited and hope you all enjoy following my adventures through the Emerald Isles.