On the first day of Christmas

Today was the first Sunday of Advent. Though I haven't been going to Mass as often as I should here, the Catholic school girl in me still felt the need to drag herself out of bed and go witness the lighting of the first purple candle. Of course I should mention that though I did have to drag myself out of bed, it was not at a terribly early hour. The church I've been attending here has three Mass times, the earliest of which is 11:00 a.m. That's Ireland for you. And what's more, the 11:00 Mass is the equivalent of the 7:00 a.m. at my parish: there's hardly any singing, it's over in about 40 minutes, and the congregation looks more asleep than awake.

Catholic Mass in Ireland is pretty much identical to Catholic Masses I have experienced in America. Minor differences/peculiarities include: the congregation speaks very quickly so that even when I know the prayers they are saying I can hardly keep up, the Eucharistic ministers wear medals around their necks during Eucharist and take them off afterward, and there is a little pillow on the altar, but I have no idea what it's for. It's just a little white pillow leaning up against the chalice, in case the priest wants to take a little snooze during the consecration?

Also, all the little children of the parish run away during the readings and hang out in their Sunday school room, allegedly hearing the Good News kid-style. Today when they came back, they had a short presentation in which they hung paper ornaments on the Jesse tree and explained the significance of each. Even with said presentation, Mass was over by 11:45 and the priest had invited us all to the back room for tea and coffee. It's a shame I only have a few weeks left now that I know about this free coffee...

Almost Finished

Today is three weeks until I go home. It's so strange, thinking that this whole thing is almost over. I had been anticipating this trip since Freshman year of college. And now, it's almost finished and I'll go back to SJU. I'm finished all my essays and work. All I have left is two exams, one in Philosophy and one in Biogeography. Our biggest "vacation" of the year is coming up. On Monday, we leave for Portugal and Spain. We've been talking about it and making plans for it for so long that it's weird that it's actually happening. Very strange.

An American Thanksgiving in Ireland

When I came back from Dublin, I found that my friends in Niland House were in the middle of making Thanksgiving. We had everything: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green bean casserole, salad, sweet potatoes, and rolls. It was amazing.

Molly, Kirsten, and her boyfriend, Bob, were responsible for the turkey. It turned out very well. Heather and Kirsten presented the turkey to the table to sit among all the trimmings.

Here is our beautiful turkey. It really was awesome to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal even away from home. I think everyone had a really great time.

Molly and Kirsten were the two main chefs of the night (I believe). I only came in at the very end so I didn't see how hard everyone worked.

Lastly, this is a bird's eye view of our table. Look at all that beautiful food! We really had a wonderful time hanging out and sharing Thanksgiving dinner.

There was Guinness at the First Thanksgiving

I have had my third successful trip to Dublin! Aunt Kathy, Uncle Donny, Ally, and I arrived in Dublin around 2:00 on Wednesday afternoon. We found our hotel (it's becoming easier and easier for me to navigate the streets of Dublin...I can't take all the credit, though, Uncle Donny and I did consult the map a few times) and set off immediately for the Guinness Factory.

The tour was almost as good as ever. While it was shortened slightly because one whole section was closed off (and yet the admission was still the same price...thank you, Ireland) it was also enhanced by Christmas decorations:

There were only regular ornaments on the tree. I had hoped it would be Guinness-themed, but it was regular, which is still great.

In the Sky Bar, Uncle Donny got his free pint of Guinness while Ally and I used our tickets for soda. I got to see the shamrock in the Guinness foam for the first time. I had heard that some bartenders add that little touch, but I'd never actually witnessed it.

We took some photos in the Sky Bar because we got seats by the window...another first for me. Usually it's very crowded and we can't get anywhere near the window to enjoy the 360 degree view of Dublin.

Aunt Kathy and I had a great time despite the fact that neither of us likes Guinness all that much.

Uncle Donny tried Guinness for the first time and I believe he did like it. At least he was enthusiastic about it under the sign. Sorry for the blurriness. My camera was confused about the lighting in this place.

I know you're wondering, Dear Reader, if we did anything besides drink Guinness for Thanksgiving. In fact, we did!


This morning we went through Christ Church Cathedral. I absolutely love this church and could walk through the dungeon many times without getting bored. (Confession: it's because it reminds me of Harry Potter.) Above, Ally is standing between Christ Church and our hotel, Jury's Inn at Christ Church.

We also walked down to the courtyard behind St. Patrick's Cathedral for more photo ops. We really could not have had better weather for this Dublin trip (actually, they've been very lucky all week).

Ally and me outside of St. Patrick's. I'm not quite sure why I decided to look like that, but it's what I did, so that's that.

Happy Thanksgiving, America! Four weeks from this day to Christmas! (Yeah, that's right, I'm still compulsively counting.)

A Bright and Early Post

Good morning! I have my last section of Philosophy of Art (of Philosophy of Art and Literature) this morning from 9:00-10:00. After that, I'm hoping to catch the 10:30 bus to Dublin with my family. If I don't make it to the bus station in time, we'll just wait around for the 11:30.

We have the usual agenda for Dublin: Guinness Factory, cathedrals, etc. etc. I'm looking forward to doing it all again. As much as I don't like the four hour bus ride to and from Dublin, I really have come to like the city a lot. We'll be back in Galway tomorrow!

Craic at Cranes

Tonight after I was finished my classes and my family had come home from their tour (which they thoroughly enjoyed, by the way) we went out for a night out in Galway. First stop was Supermac's. We all had good meals (I had real chicken tenders for the first time in a long while...there's nothing like those wonderful things) and split an order of dressed taco fries...delicious as always.

After dinner, I wanted to take them to hear some traditional Irish music because that's an unforgettable experience anyone who visits Ireland should have. We went to Crane's, a pub that hosts traditional music on Tuesdays nights, courtesy of the Traditional Music Society (affectionately called "TradSoc") at NUIG. Even though the music took forever to get started, it was great as always.

Ally had her first bar experience...at age 11. What can I say? We start them young in Ireland. While we were waiting for the music, we talked about random things over a few pints. The Irish call this casual, friendly conversation "craic" (pronounced "crack"). The company was great, the music was beautiful, and the drinks were cold. A good time was had by all (or at least by me).

Last week of Classes!

Today I started my last week of classes. It's so crazy, I had my last Jane Austen class this morning. There's nothing left. No paper to turn in, no exam, nothing. We just said good bye to the professor and walked out. It was quite strange.

My aunt, uncle, and cousin seem to be having a good time so far. They visited Connemara today and had a great time with great weather, so I'm very happy the sun was shining for them. I was too busy in class to go (and I will be tomorrow too when they go to Inis Mor) but we're all going to Dublin on Wednesday.

Visiting with Family

This morning, my Aunt Kathy, Uncle Donny, and cousin Ally came to Ireland for vacation (and to visit me). We spent an enjoyable morning wandering the streets of Galway, though not many things were open for business while we were out...Ireland has a slow start on Sundays. We enjoyed breakfast in Galway Bakery Company and watched the raging river for a while. The Spanish Arch was delightful as always, though it became very cold, rainy, and windy.

We all took a little rest in the middle of the day, as is the custom for people who come for visits. We went to dinner at Busker Brownes and had delicious food. I think (hope) they enjoyed their first day in this beautiful city! Tomorrow I have class (starting my last week...yikes!) and they are going to do a day tour of the Connemara region and Kylemore Abbey. I hope they have fun!

Time well wasted

Today I should have been doing some more work. I have been incapable of concentrating lately, so not much got done. Last night I didn't get around to starting my paper until late, but once I started it, it didn't take me long to finish it. I'm hoping that when I start writing this last paper I'll knock out a first draft in one go. I'd especially like to have it finished tonight because my aunt, uncle, and cousin are coming to Galway for a visit tomorrow! They'll be here until next Saturday and I'm sure we'll have a good time.

Instead of working today, I went to the movie theater with Molly, Kirsten, and Heather. We saw High School Musical 3. It was a wonderful cinematic experience. I liked the first High School Musical but didn't like the second at all, so I didn't quite know what to expect from the third. My roommate Sam spoke very highly of it so I was pretty confident it would be good. It was better than good. I was quite impressed with everything the movie had to offer. The songs were great and the choreography was very fancy and fun to watch. I still have a problem with the fact that it's so unrealistic because no high school is ever like that, but if you can suspend your disbelief on that level, it's very well done. I would pay the 9 euro to see it again and I don't enter into 9 euro purchases lightly at this point in my study abroad experience.

It was true!

My friend Ally found this on the Internet. It seems Tommy Hilfiger was actually in Galway. Now we know. Thanks Ally!

Number Crunching

I love to count things. It's pretty much an obsession in my family, bordering on OCD a little bit. We should probably be worried, some more than others. Anyway, I've been thinking about counting lately because my days here are numbered (sorry about that). Today is November 21 which means:

1. yesterday was one month until I go home
2. today is two months until my 21st birthday
3. it has been more than one month since I went to Paris (feels like last weekend)

I have nine more classes to attend at NUIG (but ten class hours). I have two more papers to write but they only have a combined total of 3000 words (so why am I wasting my time blogging this nonsense when I could be knocking one of those babies out tonight?).

Happy November 21!

An EVENT in Galway City

Today I was wondering around Galway after class. I was half Christmas shopping and half avoiding my work. I was about to go into a bookstore, Easons, when I noticed a very large crowd of middle school students clustered around the Tommy Hilfiger store. Other people were stopping in their tracks and craning their necks to get a look into the store. I had no idea what was going on, but I eavesdropped on people's conversations while I too stopped what I was doing to look for the source of the commotion.

I heard a few theories, but the consensus seemed to be that Mr. Hilfiger himself was there at that very moment. If that is true, that's pretty exciting I guess. I couldn't see anything, so I gave up trying and went back to my shopping. When I came out of Easons ten minutes later, the crowd had grown in size and there was a Garda car and a black car that could possibly have transported the celebrity. It seemed that no one could say for sure what had happened or was happening, but I think people still agreed that Tommy was in the general vicinity. I continued on my merry way and finished my shopping and when I came out of the Euro 2 store ten minutes later, the crowds and cars were gone but the Tommy Hilfiger store was blocked off and inside I could see people with major video cameras. Maybe they were filming a commercial? But not on a sound stage? Hmmmm, interesting... But if something big did go down today, I WAS THERE!

A taste of home

Today while I was making dinner, I had my laptop out in the kitchen streaming music from 101.9 Lite FM. I try to do this sometimes, but usually my Internet doesn't like it. Tonight it went pretty well, though, and it only cut out a few times.

The music was only OK...they didn't have the best sets going on. My favorite part was hearing the commercials from home and the usual DJs and stupid things like the weather announcer. This was kind of a test run because I plan to stream their continuous Christmas music sometimes, as it starts soon. I wanted to see how long I could get out of it before it went out. It's still going now, though, so it's been pretty good.

Other than that, nothing interesting to report. I finished a paper today...woo-hoo! I still have two to go, but they're both pretty short, so it should not be too bad. Only one class tomorrow! I love Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Busy Day

Today was a very long day on campus. I've actually had worse on Tuesdays. On days when I had lab and global issues seminars was I on campus from 10 to 8, so today was not so bad. Between classes, though, I was in the library working on my paper for my Romanticism class, so it felt longer than it was.

It is hard to believe that I only have one and a half weeks of class left at NUI. I don't have class as much as I do at St. Joe's (only ten a week compared to fifteen) and I felt like it took me forever to get a routine down but now I can't imagine not going to these classes. It's weird how I was on this campus for only one semester, but it became a comfortable place to be. I learned the fastest way to get around, the protocol for waiting in line for a computer, and the best places to sit in the library. Last week I even branched out and went to a different PC Suite (computer lab) instead of the library...it was great. NUIG will never be my campus in the way that SJU is my campus, but it became a big part of my life here and I'll be sad to leave it when the time comes.

Dance Dance Revolution

Tonight I had another cultural experience, courtesy of the Arts in Action Program at NUI. This is the same group I saw Cripple of Inishmaan with in September.

On this bill this time was "Parallel Horizons" and "Under the Roof." It is a dance show that combines Irish dance with Korean dance. It was presented by Dance Theatre of Ireland and NOW Dance Company Korea. It was...interesting to say the least.

It really was quite interesting. The dancing and music were beautiful and exotic. The dancers also acted a little and while there was very little dialogue, the second half, "Under the Roof" was very vocal. People on stage were shouting in many different languages and accents. There was a long part in Spanish and a part in French...notably, nothing in Korean or Gaelic and very little English. It was very abstract, the dancers had props and at the end they all came together to build an igloo-type house (hence, "Under the Roof"). An enjoyable evening!

Food, glorious food

Today, Molly and I went grocery shopping and we hope it is our last big grocery trip for this year. It's such a hassle to walk all the way across town for the cheapest store and then haul everything back to our apartment. We'll still have to make a few more small trips before we leave, but we only have 2 more weeks in Ireland before we go to Spain and Portugal for a week, so we won't need many groceries for then. We'll be back for a week, then away in Italy for the better part of a week, and then we leave, so we really don't need to have a ton of food in the apartment.

I've noticed some peculiarities in the food here, so I've decided to post them here, as a matter of interest.


I bought pomegranates today as a Wintery treat, but I hope they taste better than they look. Pomegranates in Ireland are tiny and yellowish. I almost didn't even see them in the store because I was looking for the big red things. You can see in the photo, a pomegranate is about the size of an onion, and the same color too. I plan on trying one tonight, hopefully it won't disappoint.


After weeks of noticing this on the supermarket shelves, we decided to try it. "White lemonade" tastes pretty much like diet lemon-lime soda. If it was a little more sour and less sweet, it would be pretty good, or at least worth seeking out, but as it is I don't think I'll be drinking a lot of it.


I treated myself to Tropicana orange juice a few weeks ago (it's extremely expensive...probably a one-time thing). OJ with pulp here is called "with juicy bits." I've also seen it "with bits." Varieties without bits are called "smooth." Interesting. We had a debate at dinner as to whether "juicy bits" or "pulp" sounds more disgusting. What do you think, America?


This one is so Irish. Molly and I bought a very big bag of potatoes last week (and we seem to be making good use of them) and on the back there is a list of twelve different ways to prepare the potatoes. Categories are mashed, roast, and chip. Mostly we just fry them up with onions like home fries, but I'm not opposed to trying one of the Irish recipes.


Finally, with all the food we buy, it would be helpful if we had a big freezer. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Our freezer is teeny weeny. Our friends upstairs have a major freezer complete with pull-out drawers. They also have TWO panini makers, a coffee maker, and a large screen TV. I think that the people without all these luxuries should at least get a freezer that's bigger than a microwave, but I guess this is not the case in Niland House.

(And, yes, you do see two gallons of ice cream. No comment.)

Study Break

Today I spent most of the day writing my presentation for my Jane Austen class. I took a break around 4:30 to go the market with Molly and it was very interesting.


As we walked along Shop Street, we noticed these strange street performers. There was a group of 8 men, six of them were "dancing," one was playing the accordion, and one was doing something else, but I don't remember what it was. The dancers were dressed in white and they had bells around their legs and arms and as they skipped around, they jingled. They all held a long wooden stick and would stop skipping and hit them together in time with the music from the accordion. It was very interesting. I got a video too, I'll try to upload it next time I take my computer to school to take advantage of the speedy Internet there.


I also took this picture of a big Claddagh ring because I like it. There is a Claddagh museum in Galway, which houses the world's smallest Claddagh ring. I haven't been in to see it, but it sounds awesome.

I'm going to go watch a movie with my roommate Christina. Good night!

Buried in work

I have so much work to do next week it's not even fair. It's worse than usual too, because I've been used to doing NOTHING for two months. And now we're getting our essay topics for our English class finals. I know it will be so great when I'm finished with the papers and I only have to take 2 exams, but right now I want it to all go away.

On Monday, I have my Jane Austen presentation which needs some major work before it will be finished. I've got 3 papers for my other English classes which I have not started yet. They're not due until December 4, but because of some very exciting circumstances (another visit from family and a whirlwind tour of Portugal/Spain--booked last week, very exciting) I'm trying to get a major head start if not finish the papers by next weekend, soooo that means a lot of time glued to my computer. It's a very unhappy prospect, but when it's over it will mean very exciting things to come!

70 is the new 100

The grading scale at NUIG is very strange. The professors grade very harshly and consequently it is nearly impossible to obtain any grade over 70%. For this reason, a grade of 70 will earn you an "A" grade, which is quite nice. I got a grade of 70 on an assignment last week and my heart almost stopped until I remembered that it's actually an A.

The official grading scale is 70-100 A, 60-69 B+, 50-59 B-, and 40-49 C-D. It's very strange and a little disconcerting to receive grades so low. (Not that I get many grades at all. I've turned in 3 assignments so far and they were all for the same class.) For schools who only get Pass/Fail credits for study abroad courses, students really only need to aim for about a 45%. St. Joe's gives credit for all the grades earned, which means this semester affects my GPA so I still need to score as high as possible.

Just another oddity of school in Ireland.

SUAS Global Issues Seminars

Every Tuesday evening, I've been attending Global Issues Seminars, hosted by one of the societies I joined in September. They were extremely informative and interesting, especially given the wide variety of people that joined. Last night was our last session and we had a mini graduation ceremony. The host (a representative from SUAS who attended every session) called each of our names and gave us a certificate which was endorsed by Irish Aid. We posed for traditional graduation photos, each of us shaking hands with the guy. It was kind of a spontaneous, funny way to end the seminar. We all went for a drink in the college bar afterward and we had a good time. I enjoyed the conversation over a pint of Bulmers, it was just the way going out should be, to me. It was just relaxing.

Molly and I had not eaten dinner so on the way back to Niland, we stopped in La Salsa, a Mexican food place. We had not sampled this cuisine before and I have to say it was a little disappointing. Everything was overly sweet. I had nachos with all the toppings. The guacomole was good, everything else was mediocre. They use regular tomato sauce for salsa which is very strange to me. I'm glad we gave it a chance though.

At the Harp

After our tour, we were getting pretty hungry, so we decided to get something for dinner. Aubrey had recommended a place called Shenanigans, and, after getting no satisfactory suggestions (McDonalds? Really?) from our hapless hostel receptionist, we decided to give it a shot. It was a great decision. Shenanigans is a pub that happens to serve food as well so the menu was quite small, but we were all able to find a suitable dish. I had Bangers and Mash which was nothing short of wonderful. I think it's one of the best meals I've had in Ireland thus far, which, now that I think about it, is not saying much. The Irish are not known for their cooking. (I suppose this is unfair. The chips [fries] are always good. Seafood chowder is always a good bet. I can take or leave the burgers and most other meats and, surprisingly, the mashed potatoes never taste good to me.)

It was still early in the night but we were getting tired and still wanted to get a taste of Sligo's nightlife. We headed to the Harp Tavern in the hopes of hearing some live music.

It was only 8:30 when we arrived at The Harp, which is extremely early for going out in Ireland. Usually we don't even leave our apartment until 9:45 or 10:00. But, we were determine to have a pint in Sligo before bed, which was hopefully in our near future. The bar was almost totally empty except for a few amusing old men who engaged us in conversation for over two hours. The music was not due to begin until 10:30, so we sat around sipping our pints and shooting the breeze with all these old Irish locals who are friends by virtue of frequenting the same pub. They were all on first name terms with the bartenders who knew them as well. It was a very charming Irish experience. When the music finally did start it was subpar and we left, seeking thrills that could only be found between the cleanish sheets on a mattress that was comfortable enough (though best not to look at it too closely, no telling what those stains are) in White House Hostel.

We woke up on Sunday and departed the hostel (which did not serve breakfast...darn them) in search of breakfast. We searched in vain. Apparently, Sligo does not open anything until 12:00 on Sunday mornings. We peered in bakeries, restaurants, and cafes, hoping that something, anything, would be open. We succumbed to hunger and walked to McDonalds, knowing we could count on that to be open and found it closed. I have never known a McDonalds to be closed for breakfast hour in my life.

Instead of breakfast, we decided to tour the city to look for fun things to do that could not possibly be closed, like the Famine Memorial.

We found the memorial and took many photos but this was about all we could do. We walked slowly to the bus station with literally hours to spend and nowhere to spend them. Laura and I stumbled on a hot breakfast in a Spar (like 7-11) where we had gone in search of granola bars for nourishment. We enjoyed our potato wedges immensely while sitting in the bus station and watching the rain turn itself on and off every few minutes.

As it turns out, one day is the perfect amount of time for Sligo. We saw what we went to see and did what we went to do and it was great.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

True to his word, Aubrey was waiting for us outside the stable when we were finished with our coastal ride. We knew he wouldn't leave us stranded...we hadn't paid him yet!

We drove through Grange, the town where the stable is located, and took more photos. We pulled over to get a good view of the Benbulben Mountains, which are awesome. I really love mountains. I also saw this tree that looked good and ready for Winter, with all its leaves on the ground.

Here is the back of Benbulben across a lough. The clouds were thick but they cleared up a little and at least it had finished raining.


Here is another view of Benbulben, this time with less cloud cover. This side looks so green and there is a wee cottage in the distance.


We also went to see the Lake Isle of Innisfree. It was very cool but also freezing cold so I could hardly enjoy the scenery and photography.


Innisfree was a very important place to Yeats. Google the title of this post for his poem about the isle. If I ever become a high school English teacher (highly unlikely) this will be a wonderful story to tell my students. I doubt first or second graders will care about the Lake Isle of Innisfree so I'll have to tell them different stories of my travels.


Parke's Castle is at the lookout point where we could see Innisfree. It's very picturesque, especially with the backdrop of the lough and the island.


We had Aubrey take one last photo of us with Innisfree in the background. The tour ended up being a great value and the best way to see the area of Sligo. We could not have had a friendlier, more helpful tour guide and he really made our Sligo tour awesome.

Pony Express

Aubrey dropped us off at Island View Stables and we gathered in the stable, excited to meet our horses. After signing the necessary forms ("Riding is risk sport") and donning appropriate gear, we were excited to get going.

The inside of the stable was the typical horse farm/stable setting. On one wall there was a pile of saddles, ready for riders.


There was also a shelf full of riding helmets of all different sizes. Boots are required, so there were lots of pairs of boots as well. We had worn our rain boots in anticipation of wet weather, so we did not need to borrow boots. There was a dog and several cats around, as well as a few little kids who had just finished riding sessions.


We went outside and found a line of horses munching on hay and looking content, despite the rain that had been falling all day. Luckily, the rain stopped when we got outside, so we had a dry ride.

I met my horse, a beautiful mare named Kitty. As I got situated in the saddle, the employee told me that Kitty liked to go slow so she would need some nudging along the way. As I was wondering what I had done to get paired up with the slow poke, Kitty looked around a little bit and was probably laughing to herself as people clumsily mounted their own horses, as I had done a few minutes before.

It took us a good while to get to the beach where we were to ride, but once we got there it was so nice. Kitty did have a little bit of a hard time keeping up and she insisted on wading through the deepest areas of water, while all the other horses tip-toed over the little streams and barely got wet. It was such a nice ride, though, and we got to trot for a bit and then Kitty was able to keep in line with the other horses. She was getting a little territorial because the horse behind us (Molly's, named Henry) kept wanting to pass her and she was having none of that.


The coast was beautiful and we could see little houses on the other coasts, across from where we were. It did not rain the whole time and it was an absolutely amazing view.


This is a line of horses on the way back to the stable. This time, Kitty was not the horse that could not keep pace. The horse in front of us, Chippy, was the slow one. On the beach ride, Chippy actually laid down on the sand. The rider (a local boy named Evan) came running up and then there's Chippy just walking around, covered in sand. Evan got back on and we continued on our way, trotting a little here and there.


After the ride, I took a picture with Kitty, who was camera shy and preferred eating hay to looking at the camera. But, it's all right, she was a great horse to have and we definitely bonded over her slowness.


Back in the stable, I found Kitty's bridle on a hook and took a picture of it to remember her name. She's a beautiful horse!

Yeats Country

When Molly, Laura, and I arrived in Sligo yesterday at 11:30 it was pouring down rain. We hired a taxi to take us to our hostel, which would have been within easy walking distance in nice weather.

Once we had settled in our place (a somewhat sketchy little abode called "White House Hostel") we went out to explore the town. We were having a bit of a hard time finding things to do because a lot of places were closed for the weekend. We had never encountered this before because we usually go to cities that stay open, as opposed to Sligo, a very very small city.


We were directed to the Yeats Building, but the guy at the desk said no one was in because it was a Saturday. We trekked over to the Tourist Information building to find that it, too, was closed on the weekends. With nothing to do, we stumbled into a coffee place and defrosted over coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We ended up rescheduling our taxi tour (which we had cancelled earlier due to some confusion at the hostel) and went back to the Yeats building to meet our guide.

Our guide, Aubrey, showed us around the finer points of Sligo. He is a Scotsman, hailing from a small town North of Glasgow. He moved to Sligo eleven years ago and now owns a modest taxi cab and touring company, Zero Cabs.

The first place we stopped with Aubrey was Yeats's grave at Drumcliffe. The cemetery there is so beautiful and Fall was in full swing. The colors on the trees were vibrant and lovely to look at.


We drove around Sligo for a while longer, stopping at Lissadell Castle and this mountain waterfall. When we booked our tour, we were unaware that the tours are traditionally three hours, and we did not have a full three hours to spare, having reserved a 3:00 riding time at a stable in Grange. Aubrey was exceedingly helpful, however, taking us to as many places as we had time for, driving us to the stables and waiting there to take us back. We were pressed for time, but we still wanted to get a picture of the waterfall, so we all sprinted up a hill (all three of us slipping around in our rainboots, I'm sure it was comical to see) and snapped a few photos before sprinting back down to the cab.


This picture is not from the tour, but as it's Yeats, I thought it fit in with these photos best. This statue stood about a block from our hostel, in case anyone did not know they were entering Yeats territory. He only has one arm in the statue.

Later: horseback riding and the end of our Zero Cabs tour!

Up early

When I wake up on a Saturday or Sunday and it's earlier than any time I've gotten up for class all week, I have to ask myself, Why? That is the situation I find myself in currently.

At least it's for a good cause. Today, I'm going with Laura and Molly to Sligo, which is a county North of Galway. We're going to see what we can see, a little of Yeats Country, a little of Innisfree. We have reservations to go horseback riding this afternoon, hopefully the weather will be nice. It's freezing here now, and usually it actually gets colder throughout the day. My walk home from campus is invariably colder than my walk to it.

We're spending the night in Sligo, so I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a camera full of photos of a gorgeous horseback ride and Yeats' favorite places. Bye!

A dangerous trend?

It's impossible to live in a foreign country for any length of time and not notice peculiar tendencies. Some of the things I've noticed include: leather boots-in, wacky clothes-in, going to class on Friday-out, beer-in, early mornings-out, regard for personal safety-decidedly out.

Yes, you read that correctly. Twice in the past week, I have been in a building in which the fire alarm has sounded and no one has moved. In the cafeteria, students looked up, surprised, but made no move to get out of the building. The alarm continued to go off for several minutes but no one moved. I was at a table with Americans and, upon hearing the alarm, we dutifully stood up and assumed fire drill position. Once we noticed no one else cared, we sat back down and tried to talk over the shriek of the alarm. It was weird. If the building had been on fire, who knows what would have happened.

At a separate point during the week, the alarm sounded in my apartment building. I immediately moved to turn the stove off and was ready to grab my essentials (laptop, passport, etc.) but then the alarm turned off. The situation was over fairly quickly, but not so quickly that some people should have been halfway down the stairs already, which no one was. Again, this was a blatant disregard of a warning signal. I have no idea what the deal is, but I think the people here should think long and hard about their priorities. Is it worse to be trapped in a burning building or look like a fool because you went outside when the alarm went off? A question we all need to ponder.

Day of Sadness

Today, my thoughts are with my whole family as we mourn the loss of my Aunt Diane. She was truly a blessing in our lives and I know we all miss her and something will always be missing at family gatherings. I wish I could be home, but Perry Hall is in my thoughts and prayers tonight and for the next few days.

I miss you already!

Hey Galway, maybe you should look at a calendar once in a while

People outside of the United States do not celebrate our Thanksgiving Day. I knew this. I was completely aware that the concept of a huge turkey dinner with all the trimmings on the fourth Thursday of November would not even be on the Europeans' radars. I was not prepared for the fact that Halloween acts as a catapult, sending us hurtling directly to Christmas Season. Do not pass Go, do not collect 200 euros. As I walk through the streets of Galway, I now notice elaborate Christmas displays complete with trees, tinsel, garland, lights, the works. My roommate informed me this evening that some people were in the process of putting lights up in the streets. The 2 euro store has replaced all of its Halloween merchandise with Christmas things (I'll be making a trip there in the very near future...tomorrow after class, most likely).

This is not to say that I really mind this extension of Christmas. It's more confusing than anything. Part of me-a very big part that is getting bigger by the day-wants to celebrate with the Galwegians and Turkey Day can take care of itself when the time comes. The other part of me, however, wants to hold off and wait until Thanksgiving before going all Winter Wonderland on the apartment. As much as I want to be blasting Nat King Cole right now, I feel like it would be selling out, as I always force myself to wait. I am content, for now at least, to enjoy Christmas out in town, even if the Americans in the buildings are struggling with this age-old conundrum.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Erin and Zack!

Election Day!

Happy Election Day! It has been so interesting to experience the last months of the campaigning in Europe. The Europeans are as interested in American politics as the Americans are! They might even be more interested in some cases. They know all the facts, all the issues at stake, and all the stances of each candidate. It's impressive.

I've been attending a Globalization Issues Seminar on Tuesday nights and there are students from all around Europe that are there. They all study at NUIG and Molly and I are the only Americans. The first time we went we did not realize the diversity of the group but as we got to know everyone better, we began to hear the nuances in their accents and learn where they all are from. They are all more up-to-date on their American politics than I probably ever will be on theirs, which is another embarrassing, ignorant American moment. I'm just glad that I can keep up with them when we talk about America, because it would be truly terrible if I didn't have an understanding of my own country.

Anyway, these students all have their own, (very strong) opinions about the next American president. Tonight Molly and I were questioned by one young man who wanted to know how we Americans were feeling on Election Day. Yes, we were excited and dying for news. Yes, the time difference is killing us as we won't know anything until we wake up. And most importantly, yes, we voted by absentee ballot. It was so exciting to be the token USA students in this diverse crowd on this momentous day. I'm a little sad that, in what's shaping up to be one of the most precedent-defying and history-making presidential elections, I'm not in the country to watch and wait. It is really neat to have this perspective, though, and I'll definitely never forget that I was in Ireland during the 2008 elections.

Happy voting, America!

It's all in the presentation

Today kicked off my ninth week of classes. It was also the beginning of the presentations in my Jane Austen class. In that class, we are responsible for reading four Jane Austen books (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion). Each of us has to present on one book and take a quiz on the other three. Today there were three presentations on our first book, Pride and Prejudice. All three were given by Irish students. I was expecting the presentations to be like I have always known them: highly visual with a Powerpoint slideshow, maybe some class participation, and a loose, free-talking kind of feel, like you know what you're going to say but maybe not exactly the way you're going to say it until it's been said.

Instead, the presentations were essentially short, unmemorized lectures. Each presenter had a paper which they read word for word. The papers were not merely guidelines for the presentation, they were the actual words the presenters were saying, right down to the "I will explore this topic in a few minutes" section. The presenters sat at their desks and simply read their papers aloud. All in all, it was very strange. I'm used to thinking on my feet a bit during presentations, coming up with interesting ways to get my points across, fielding questions, and leading discussions. It seems like it's more interesting for both presenter and audience. To each his own I suppose. This seems to be the case with other people I've talked to in different classes as well. It was one of those rare things I noticed as a big difference between school in America and school in Ireland. Another thing is the way in which American students in elementary school learn how to write. We learn to construct a paragraph with a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. The Irish students had not heard of this practice at all. Our professor pointed this out to us. Even though he is Irish he knows a lot of American elementary school practices. He's a very interesting guy.

I am doing some homework tonight. I have a biogeography lab due at the end of this week, a couple of books to read, and some papers to get started on for the end of the semester. Better go get started!

"Bunratty Big Daddy"

Saturday morning, the family checked out of their Galway hotel and we all went to Shannon to be closer to the airport. The main tourist attraction around Shannon is Bunratty Castle so that's where we went. It was awesome. The castle is not open only by tours and guided walks. It's just a big building and once you're in, you can go anywhere. Rick, Katie, and I went up all four towers. Two of them led to open air and the view was amazing. Mom and Dad joined us for the first tower, but neither of them liked the cramped spiral staircases so they sat the other three out.


The castle is not very big, as far as castles go, but it's still awesome. They host medieval banquets there every night. There was a lady in costume in the Great Hall but we did not speak to her.

Katie sat in the head chair like she was some kind of royalty.


This is my papa and me on the top of the tower. The opening behind us was blocked off with bars but not all of them were. Some were open so we could look straight out at the scenery.



Here is Rick and me at the top of the other open tower. This was the last one we saw. It was connected to a lower part with a bedroom.


This is Katie looking out the Bunratty banquet hall window. The banquet hall also had stairs to the dungeon. It was a very small place between the stairs and the dungeon and down in the dungeon there was a spotlight on a rat. Pleasant.


Besides the castle, there was also a lot to see on the grounds of Bunratty. Everything was so beautiful, especially with the colorful leaves everywhere. There was also the aroma of peat fires in every cottage we explored.


We took some pictures outside the castle. If you look closely, you'll see that I appear to be holding a tiny Rick in my hand. It's not a perfect display of photo trickery, but I think you get the idea.


There were many animals in the area. We saw chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, sheep, Irish wolfhounds, cattle, ponies, and deer. The deer were really cool because the biggest one came up to the fence to eat ivy from our hands.


Above you can see Katie and Rick about to go deface some public property. That building is Bunratty Church which is very small but pretty.

After Bunratty, we had a late lunch/early dinner at Durty Nelly's. The food was great and the atmosphere was even better. It was the perfect way to end the day and my family's stay in Ireland. We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel and this morning were up before the sun. They caught their plane (I assume, I have not heard from them yet) and I caught my bus back to Galway. We had a fantastic week!