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.