The Great Escape

Hey all!

Back in Tully Cross, and let me just say that it’s great to be back home. We only have seven weeks left here. That’s so crazy and slightly depressing at the same time. But before I get all sentimental, let me tell you about the rest of my tour of Europe.

Tuesday evening we spent the night in the Barcelona Airport, which I can say without a doubt was the most miserable experience of my life. I caught a cold while not being able to sleep which made our plane ride horrible. We took off on time and landed in Rome early in the morning and we figured out our way to the hostel which took us almost two hours to get to by bus and Metro. We finally got there and our room wasn’t ready yet, so we got the lay of the land and then came back and crashed for four to five hours easily. We woke up feeling somewhat rested and made plans to meet up with some of the other AQ students who had been in Rome since the start of Spring Break. They took us out to a restruarnt they had been to near the Vatican and we got the biggest calzones I’d ever seen. After that we got delicious gelato; so much better in Italy than in Spain. Once we’d stuffed ourselves full of carbs and sugar and felt like true Italians, we parted ways and crashed at our hostel as we entered a food coma.

The next day we met up with a Seminarian that Brittany’s uncle was able to hook us up with. He met us in St. Peter’s Square which was definitely cool to check out. Kyle gave us some information on the city and some tips on getting around and staying safe, etc. He then invited us to the Seminary for a Vigil Mass on Saturday which we agreed to. After that we took the information he gave us and planned the rest of the week in our hostel, grabbed dinner down the road, got gelato and turned in for the evening.

St. Peter's Basilica from down the road.

We woke up in the morning planning to conquer a good portion of Rome. We started off at the Spanish Steps. It was weird because we were trying to find the Steps on the map and we turned the corner and there they were. It was slightly amusing. After checking out the steps and the church at the top of the Steps, we navigated our way toward the Trevi Fountain. I threw in a 1 Euro piece, so my wish had better come true; although there was someone fishing the coins out of the fountain. I hope he didn’t get mine… Anyway, after making our wishes we went toward the Pantheon. It was nice to put my Humanities knowledge to work. It was raining that day so the rain was pouring through the dome hole which was cool. After the Pantheon we also conquered the National Museum of Rome. Lot’s of sculptures in there and not much else. It was cool to look at, but I’m an art kind of guy. After all of that, we were extremely exhausted so we headed back to the hostel for a break. For dinner, we went out with Maggie and Jacquline who were still in Rome to a resturant that Alexa had recommended to me. The restuarnt had about 100 different types of pasta. It was so delicious and right near the Trevi, so we got to see that lit up at night and get some gelato too. Yum.

Saturday was our night out with the Seminarians. We started off by meeting Kyle at the college, which was somewhat difficult to find. Kyle gave us a brief tour of the Seminary and we got to go up to the roof and get some really cool pictures of the city. It was probably one of the best views of the entire city. After that we attended a vigil mass with some of the guys from the college and then four of them took us out to dinner near the college and treated us to a full Italian meal. We tried digestives at the restaurant for the first time, which was basically alcohol. I got Sambuca to represent the Abid family. It was strong and disgusting. Never again. After dinner the guys also treated us to gelato. We had an awesome night with them, not to mention a FREE night. We were all satisfied and slept easy that night.

Our very generous Seminarian friends after our night out on Saturday.

The next morning, Allen, one of the guys from the night before, sent us a tentative schedule of what we should try to hit up for the rest of our time in Rome. We had a pretty general idea of what we wanted to do already, but it was nice to actually have it down and planned out. We went to Vatican City and saw the Pope speak in the morning as he always does on Sundays. After that we went ventured to two of the four Basilicas that kind of surround Rome. We went to St. John Outside the Walls and St Mary Major. We had already seen St. John Lateran because it was right down the road from our hostel, so all that was left was St. Peter’s. St. John Outside the Walls was my favorite Basilica. I was so massive but not hugely overwhelming like some of the other Basilicas that we had seen. That evening we tried to meet up with some of the AQ students who were studying abroad in the Rome Program, but had poor directions and couldn’t make it out there, so we settled for pizza and gelato, of course.

Monday we finally made it to the Colloseum which was probably the highlight of my Rome experience. I was so utterly impressed to be standing inside of the structure that it hit me how lucky I was to be in Rome and experiencing everything that I was taking in. After we toured the Colosseum, we went across the street to the Roman Forum and the Palentine. There were some oranges in the Forum that we picked, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. They were disgusting. Serves us right I suppose.

I'm a fool.

After the Forum we had lunch back at the Seminary and then received a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica from one of the Seminarians, completing our tour of the four Basilicas. St. Peter’s was extremely impressive. The Dome stands higher than the Statue of Liberty if that puts it into perspective for you. We also got to go underneath the Basilica and see Pope John Paul II tomb, which was a somewhat moving experience. They’ll be moving his body up to the actually Basilica soon as he’s being Beatified on either May 1 or 2. After the tour we were worn out, so we spent the evening in our hostel figuring our Paris and catching up on American TV shows.

Tuesday was our final full day in Rome. We woke up early and made it back out to Vatican City to tour the Dome of St. Peter’s, a separate part than the Basilica. The Dome was, as I said, higher than the Statue of Liberty. It was a narrow path to get up to the top, so I began to get a little claustrophobic. There was literally one point where you had to bend sideways to make it through the stairs up. That freaked me out. But the views at the top were definitely worth the exhausting trip. After that we made our INTO Vatican City. We got to tour the museums and check out a lot of really cool artwork. We even found some of the pieces that we studied from Humanities. I felt cool actually knowing what the different pieces of art were. The high point of the museums had to have been the Sistine Chapel. The artwork in there was really impressive. You’re not supposed to take pictures in there (they typically take your camera away) but I managed to sneak one picture in of the wall. SCORE! The rest of the day was spent packing since we had to check out of the hostel early the next morning. We did have one last night on the town for a true Italian meal topped off with gelato and wine. Delicious.

The art in the Sistine Chapel. You're not supposed to take pictures because it ruins the art, but I wasn't using a flash so it didn't harm it, so it's all good. It was really crowded and loud in there, but it was still cool to see.

The next morning we were up at 5:00 to make it to Ash Wednesday Mass with the Seminarians on time. The morning was rough, and cold, but attending mass and seeing the guys one last time was worth it. They then gave us tickets to the Audience with the Pope at St. Peter’s. We ended up being about 50 feet away from the Pope. My camera was dead, but I got a few pictures on my iTouch before it filled up. The Pope spoke in about eight different languages, English of course being one of them. The entire event was cool; more or less an informal celebration than anything else. After the Audience with the Pope we headed toward the airport to depart Rome for Paris.

Upon arrival in Paris we were once again overwhelmed with a culture shock. We had to take over an hour bus ride to actually get into Paris and from there, figure out the overly complicated Metro System. There were 14 different Subway Lines that went throughout the city; much different than any other city I’ve tried to navigate. We got on the line we needed, only to have it shut down a few stops later. We transferred a few times and finally got off at the right stop and found our hostel. After a long and extremely tiring day, I was happy to find my bed.

We woke up in the morning well rested, but longing for our cottages back in Tully Cross. We finally had a hostel that served breakfast, which was extremely nice to have. After breakfast, we made plans to meet up with the other guys who were in Paris as well. Once we met up with them, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower and took some pictures and hung around for a little bit. After we got some crepes (DELICIOUS) the girls did some shopping and I went off with the guys who showed me around to some places they had already found. We went to some random touristy shops and then found Notre Dame. I was really impressed with the Cathedral. It was much different than anything we saw in Rome. I think I liked Notre Dame better than the Basilicas in Rome in all honesty. After Notre Dame, we met up with the girls again, grabbed dinner, and then we parted ways for our hostel and had a relaxing evening.

Friday was our last day in Paris, so we got up early and hit up the Lourve, the world’s largest art Museum. I loved it. The best part was the Italian and Spanish art. I could easily have spent a week in there looking at everything but we settled for the better part of the morning/day. And we got in for free, which is always a plus. After the art tour we went back to Notre Dame for a little while and then did some window shopping. We finally made our way to the Eiffel Tower again where we simply sat there for an hour or so before calling it a night and heading back to pack our things. The next morning we were up at 4:30 a.m. to catch our bus to the airport and head back to IRELAND.

We tried to hang around until the Tower lit up at night, but some of us got tired so we went back before it got dark.

As much as I enjoyed touring Europe, it has been very nice to be back in Tully Cross. The week has been fairly easy so far, just getting back into the swing of things. Today is of course St. Patty’s Day and we are about to head to the parade in Clifden before starting our Irish festivities. It’ll be a great time, I’m sure.

That's all I've got for now. Next week we take an overnight trip to Bunratty and then we have our extended weekend, which is still up in the air. I have a week to figure it out. Hah. Until then...

Peace. Love. Rome. Paris.

Rob

Hello World

Hey guys!

The whirlwind tour of Europe is half over. I'm sort of sad, but I'm looking forward to heading back to Ireland where they speak English. Spanish and Italian have not been good to me, and I haven't even tried French yet. Uh oh...

Our time in Spain was quite the experience. Saturday morning we departed the Globetrotter for the Dublin airport. Since it was our first time flying Ryanair, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get through the airport and deal with everything that we needed to deal with. Our flight was at 1:45 and we got to the airport shortly before 11 and had no problems with check in or security. I was PUMPED to see that my bag fit in the restrictions too; I was slightly nervous about the size of it, but it worked nicely. Our flight was delayed almost two hours, so needless to say our adventure was not off to the best start.

We finally got on the flight and landed in Barcelona and, after bridging the language barrier, figured out that we needed to head to City Centre and head down La Rambla to our hostel. The street our hostel was on was not numbered accurately. Our hostel number was "24." The numbers went 22, 23, 25...24 was down the street about a fourth of a mile for some reason. After about an hour or so of searching, we finally found our hostel and dropped our things off. We grabbed some dinner and then headed back to the hostel and called it a night early. We were all overwhelmed and in a huge culture shock, mainly because of the language barrier, and our hostel was not the best in the world.

We woke up the next morning with some better attitudes and a goal to find a Catholic Church to go to mass at. We found one right on La Rambla that was at 11, so we chilled outside until it was time for mass. The entire mass was in Spanish so we didn't understand a word of it until the priest broke into English briefly, and then returned to Spanish. After that, we found a place to get really cheap lunch, the Pita Inn. I had a lamb sandwhich, so good. In the afternoon we met up with the guys who were also in Barcelona for the same time that we were and we toured the city on foot with them. We went from La Rambla to the beaches to Port Olympico to Segrada Familia all the way back across town to the Magic Fountain. We walked for about 7 or 8 hours but we saw so much of the city, (especially some Gaudi Architecture) so I didn't care that my feet were about to fall off. We wanted to see the Olympic Stadium for the 1992 Olympic games but we didn't end up finding it. We later discovered that we were probably about two minutes away from it at one point. So close, but so far. By the end of our tour, it was time for dinner so we grabbed some cheap sandwiches at a restuarant not too far from La Rambla. After dinner, the six of us (me, Brit, Hannah, Ken, Jake, and Mike) went out with some other AQ peeps in Barcelona for some Sangria on La Rambla. We capped off the night with a trip to an Irish Pub (go figure) and some of the guys had a pint, not Guinness, and then we called it a night.

Monday was a day to sleep in from the exhausting yet very exciting and awesome day we had on Sunday. After grabbing some lunch, we took a siesta and then went down to the pier and enjoyed the view of the ocean for sometime. We grabbed dinner on La Rambla and had paella, the rice dish that Spain is well known for. Afterward we invited Bridget, Vaughn, and Rian over to our hostel for a "hostel party," which ultimately resulted in a late night trip to the Pita Inn and then McDonalds. Everybody came back to our hostel, since theirs was a long walk away, and crashed for the night.

Tuesday was our last day in Barcelona. I woke up with a strong desire for greasy Mexican food. I think I'm having Adobe withdrawals to be honest. After grabbing some breakfast (not a taco or burrito mind you) we met up with Jake, Ken and Mike and went to the Picasso Museum. After taking Humanities, I have a newfound appreciation for art, and I found the museum to be really cool and interesting. Still not a fan of cubism though...I could do without that Picasso. After the museum we grabbed some lunch and then went back to our hostel. The girls crashed but I wanted to see Parque Guell so I went out on my own and planned to meet up with everyone from AQ at 6. I unfortunately could not make it to the park and back in enough time, so I settled for grabbing some Gelato and walking around the streets for an hour while almost getting lost. It was a poor substitute, but it'll have to do. That evening there were 13 out of 20 of the AQ students in Barcelona so we all met up and attempted to have dinner together. I say attempted because Jake, Brittany, Hannah and myself opted out of having Chinese food and instead grabbed some sandwiches. After that we checked out of our hostel and said goodbye to everyone since we had a 6 a.m. flight to Rome, meaning we spent the night in the airport so we wouldn't miss our flight.

I didn't get to do a whole lot in Barcelona unfortunately. It ended up being a lazy trip, but it definitely gives me a reason to return. Despite the first night and not knowing a lot of Spanish, I really enjoyed Barcelona and would return in a heartbeat.

Here are some pictures:

Segrada Familia. Crazy architecture. It cost 10 euro to get in, so we didn't go inside, but it was still an awesome view from the outside.

The beach. Not quite the same as Lake Michigan, but I still enjoyed it.

The view of the city from the top of the Montjuic Barcelona Fountain. This fountain is a water/light show but unfortunately it wasn't playing on Sunday when we went to the top. The view was still awesome though.

That's all for Barcelona/Spain. I want to go back there so bad.

So far Rome has been pretty good to us. We're here until Wednesday and then we head to Paris. I'll have a Rome update/review for you then.

Peace. Love. Barcelona.

Rob

Don't Stop Me Now

Hey peeps!

It is March 2. That is so bizzarre. I seems like just yesterday I was getting on the plane at Ford Airport to head to Ireland, and now I'm getting on planes to travel around EUROPE! Before I get to that though, let me back up and update you on everything that's happened before Spring Break.

The weekend before we went to Dublin was a huge academic weekend, but everyone took a break to head down to Tully for a double 21st birthday which was a lot of fun, coupled with a few trips to the chipper which has essentially become our "Yesterdog" over here. Sunday, my cottage gave our presentations on the sites in Dublin; my topic was Kilmainham Gaol, the jail in Dublin which has a dark history. Ask me about it sometime. The presentations went well, but then we were off to study for our Literature Midterm later that week. Tuesday evening we kicked off our Spring Break with a party in Cottage 6 and a trip to Coynes. Overall, it was a successful evening and a great way to depart Tully Cross for two and a half weeks.

Wednesday we made our way toward Dublin. On our way to Dublin, we stopped at Newgrange. Newgrange is a monument constructed during the Neolithic era and is less than an hour outside of Dublin. The monument is significant because it identifies the winter solstice, meaning that every December 21, the sun shines through the small opening in the monument and fills the monument with light. They did a demo for us with a 40 Watt lightbulb, which was still very cool to see. They conduct a lottery each year for about 20 or so people around the world to be in the monument on December 21 at sunrise to experience it.

This is the entrance to Newgrange. We couldn't take pictures inside unfortunately, but you can definitely tell it's something from the Neolithic era.

That evening we arrived in Dublin and got settled in our hostel, which was a very nice hostel, the Globetrotter. From there we grabbed dinner and some of the guys and I along with Brittany, Hannah and Beth explored the town before calling it a night.

Thursday morning we went as a group to see the Book of Kels at Trinity College. The Book of Kels is a historic book which contains the four gospels in Latin. It is ornately and very elaborately decorated and was written by Monks around 1,000 AD. It was sent to Trinity College during the Cromwell era of the 1600s for fear of it being destroyed. The colors of the book were extracted from minerals and the book took an extremely long time to compose, but it was definitely cool to view. Above that room was the Long Library, which is just as it sounds. It is by far the biggest library I've ever seen and unfortunately, the library is only for show as you cannot check out books from it. It was definitely impressive to look at.

After the Book of Kels, we were on our own in Dublin. The guys and some of the girls along with Dr. Dawson made our way to the Guinness Storehouse. The Storehouse, or Brewery, is a seven floor building and is nicknamed the "high point of your visit to Dublin." Literally. The seventh floor is the Gravity Bar where you redeem your admission ticket for a pint and enjoy the 360 view of Ireland. That pint was by far the freshest and best tasting Guinness I will ever enjoy; we hadn't had much to eat yet that day either so one pint was plenty of Guinness for me to take in.

Honestly, best tasting Guinness in all of Ireland.

Brittany and Ken, all smiles at the top.

After the Brewery we went to Kilmainham Gaol and toured the jail, which was awesome to tour after doing my culture presentation on it. I already knew a lot of the information but I learned a lot of new facts as well, including some of the inmates that were kept there during its 130 years of operation. The jail in Dublin was the scene of brutal treatment of Irish prisoners and inmates while it was open. Conditions in the jail were terrible and sometimes it was uninhabitable. Going from an ultimate high at the Guinness Brewery to the jail was slightly depressing and startling, but very interesting nonetheless. That evening we had to ourselves, so some of us walked to the oldest pub in Dublin and had a pint there and then called it a night.

Friday we had the morning and afternoon to ourselves again, so there was more sightseeing including the National Gallery of Art and the National Library and Museum. In the library there was an exhibit devoted to Yeats and his poetry and included in the exhibit was a copy of Walden that Yeats had signed and used for inspiration for some of his earlier poems. Let's be honest, Thoreau is kind of a big deal.

That evening we went to a play at the Abbey theatre together called "No Romance." It was a three act play that had just premiered in Dublin. I'd try to explain it, but I'd suggest you look it up if you can find it. If it ever comes to the states, I'd recommend seeing it. After that we all said goodbye and packed our things as we were heading our separate ways the next morning for Spring Break.

That's all I've got for Dublin. I'll post about Barcelona soon, and look on Facebook for pictures!

Peace. Love. Ireland.

Rob

It Feels Like Today

Holler people. Can you say WEEKEND?! Can you say one week until SPRING BREAK?! Wowzers.

So much has been going on over here lately. We are slowly getting busier with school work and as I look at the assignments for when we get back from break, I’m starting to realize that some mild stress might be in my future. But hey, that’s what the pubs across the street are for, right?

The rest of the day on Monday was pretty tame. Like I said, we had a Lit Review for our Literature Class Midterm and we turned in our papers for the class. I’m so grateful that we can type our papers and that we don’t have to write them out. Makes things a lot easier. I took a walk down to Tully because it was a fairly decent day and bought a few minor items for the cottage. That night, Jake, Ken and I grabbed a pint at Sammons and chatted, and then we went over to Coynes for the usual Monday live music from Aiden in which Beth again participated. After a while we called it a night and went back to the cottage.

Tuesday during the day, we mostly worked on homework as we didn’t have anything going on until later in the day. Mike and I walked to Tully again to grab a few items in the afternoon. I enjoy that walk a lot. It’s an easy walk and it’s a good way to simply clear my mind or to enjoy someone’s company. Once we got back, we made dinner and then I went to the Study Cottage where I saw an e-mail from Matt that said Jenny was in labor. I quick called Matt to get the details and after a minor panic attack since Matt sounded like he was crying (he had lost his voice the night before) realized that everything was going okay. I got to say hi to the parents really quick and then headed out with everyone to learn some Irish Dancing. The dancing was a lot of fun, but my mind was of course back home with Chris, Jenny, and Carson. I called my dad at the end of the lesson and got some awesome news...I had a NEW NEPHEW! I was so overjoyed, and everyone was extremely happy for me.

After the dancing, we made our way back to the cottages and Mike, Ken, and Jake poured us some wine and we drank to Carson before heading to Coynes to celebrate the little guy’s birth. The three of them each bought me drinks and each cottage bought me a drink as well to celebrate me being an uncle, again. I made a few toasts and thanked everyone who was able to make it out. I think over all, I had at least 10, if not more drinks that night. I had a lot of fun and was so happy and blessed to be able to celebrate that night with my Ireland family. The roommates ended up having a few drinks as well, because later that night all of us went down. Carson John Abid single handedly took down Cottage 7. Kudos to you little man. I can’t wait to meet you.

The next morning was rough to say the least. We were all in rare form as we tried to pull ourselves together and people realized that yes, I was still alive. We pieced the night back together while we attempted to study for our History Quiz which was that afternoon. I think I managed to do pretty well on the quiz, all things considered. I spent the day trying to get information from home regarding Carson and simply trying to seek forgiveness from my body for the night before. That night was pretty low-key and spent studying for our Literature midterm the next day.

Thursday Ken had to wake me up as it was going on 11 and there was still no sign of me in the cottage. I think my body was making up for the lack of sleep the night before. I spent all morning and afternoon studying for the midterm, which I think I did fairly well on…we’ll see. After the midterm we finished the season of Scrubs that I had brought with me. The guys weren’t too happy since there was basically no resolution in the season. I might need to get the next season shipped to me (Mom and Dad ☺ ). After Scrubs we did some of our homework and then some of the students headed to Sammon’s for a pint after a long and academically demanding week.

Today looks to be a “work” day. I’m heading to Sammons for lunch with Mike and then I’m planning to get my presentation mostly finished which is due on Sunday and some other items for the Culture Class done. Saturday evening there’s a double birthday party down in Tully; there’s supposed to be over 200 people there, so that should be a lot of fun. Sunday we have our presentations, Monday is our History midterm, Tuesday is our Literature Class, and Wednesday we head out for Dublin for three days before we begin our Spring Break. I’m booked for Barcelona, Rome, and Paris. Aside from the fact that I have a lot of flying ahead of me and I don’t know Spanish, Italian, or French, I am so extremely excited. The language barriers might be a problem, but we’ll figure it out.

No pictures this time. I’m sure I’ll have another update either before or during Dublin.

Peace. Love. Ireland.

Rob

Cheers To The Freakin Weekend

Hey everyone! Happy Valentine’s Day (or Single’s Awareness Day, whichever you prefer to celebrate/recognize).

Long time no update. I’ll apologize in advance for how long this is going to be.

Going off of my last post, the rest of my day on Monday was pretty low-key. The roommates and I have taken to having “Family Dinner” together and watching episodes of Scrubs (I brought a season with me…go figure). We are slowly working our way through Season 6. After dinner we worked on homework and then went over to Coynes for some live music from Aiden, one of the locals. Beth got up and sang a few songs with him as well. It was a relaxing evening and afterward we all hit the hay.

Tuesday some of us wanted to go for a hike down near Kylemore Abbey. In the mountain behind the castle, there is a Jesus Statue that we wanted to go up and try to get to, so Vaughn, Bailey, Sarah Robinson, Allison (Dr. Dawson’s niece), Bridget, Heather and I set out on our mission. However, the staff at Kylemore Abbey told us that we couldn’t use their trail because it was being worked on and wasn’t safe to hike, so we had to find an alternate route. Heather and Bridget used their common sense and decided to head back while the rest of us hopped barbed wire fences and did some trespassing to get to the mountain. We finally did and we ended up having to hike through the Amazon Rainforest basically. It was a little scary at spots, but we eventually made it out of the forest and continued up the mountain. We couldn’t find the Jesus Statue, so we had to call it a day and resolved to try again another day because it was getting late. We again made our way through the frightening forest and found flat land. The hike took us about six hours and was easily 10-12 miles long. Overall, it was probably both the dumbest and coolest thing I’ve ever done.

That night we had a brief culture class and then Dr. Dawson had a paper workshop with us for a paper we had due for her in her class. We then did homework, or tried to. Most of the night was spent just relaxing in our cottage talking and then we called it a night.

Wednesday I slept in until almost noon because I was worn out from the hike the day before. My legs were extremely tight…no pain, no gain, right? Wednesday we had our history class and then afterward our cottage met with Dr. Duncan to discuss our history presentation. I’m presenting on the jail in Dublin that has been turned over into a museum. I haven’t done much research on it yet, but from what I’ve gathered it was the jail in which most of the people associated with the uprising were kept. We’ll get to see the jail when we go to Dublin next week, so I’m excited. After we worked on more homework, talked, and again called it night. (Starting to see a pattern here?)

Thursday was our Lit class. Nothing special there…We studied poetry from the “Cromwell period.” Cromwell was a ruler who came to Ireland and sort of exiled a lot of the Irish people and took their land from them. The poetry from that era is extremely depressing since it all revolves around Cromwell.

Friday was an interesting day/night. We started off our day hiking Diamond Mountain, something that I’ve been dying to do since we got here. The mountain is part of a national park, so we had a trail all the way to the top, but the hike was still a lot of fun. We reached the top and had a remarkable view of Connemara and the Ocean. After the hike we went to the pub in Letterfrack (where the mountain is located) and had a pint to reward ourselves. The hike took about 3-4 hours, and none of us had much to eat yet that day, so we were pretty well along after one pint. We walked back to the cottage and got things ready for the night ahead. Sammon’s was holding a disco for Gretchen’s birthday which was two weeks prior. That was probably her third or fourth birthday party; I’ve lost count. Anyway, everyone came over to our cottage before we went to the Pub, which was a lot of fun. Rian made another toast which everyone enjoyed. After everyone left our cottage, the roommates and I made our way to the Cottage Café and got some burgers and chips (fries) and then went to Sammons. The students were basically the only ones there, but we made the most of it and danced the night away.

Saturday was a very low-key day as everyone tried to recover from the night before and remember the night before. Most of us worked on homework. My cottage went to the Café again for dinner and then we invited Brittany and Hannah over for some card games and a chill evening.

Sunday I went to church across the road. It’s really convenient. I can wake up at 10:40 for 11:00 church and still be early. I do enjoy going to church over here. There’s not too much music included in the mass which I don’t like, but a different setting helps me to focus more on the mass, so I appreciate it more. After mass, we went over to Sammon’s for brunch. I had the full Irish Breakfast. So much food, but so delicious. After we let our food digest, we continued our Sunday tradition of playing a game of soccer, or football rather. Then we prepared for the Valentine’s Day party that evening at Cottage six. There was so much food; it was so delicious. My stomach was so full. We experimented with some drinks and discovered that Bailey’s and Ice Cream is awesome. Just in case anyone wanted to know. From there we partied in the cottage where too much fun was had and where Ken and I dominated at some games; and then finally made our way to the pub. Overall, it was a much needed night for everyone and a successful night.

Today has been spent primarily working on homework. We had a short review for our Lit midterm which is later this week, but other than that I’ve been doing homework and working on papers. This week and next will be a big test academically before we head on Spring Break. We have both of our midterms, a few papers and my cottage has its presentation due this week. Time to get down to business.

Here are a few pictures from the past week.

This was the view from the top of Diamond Mountain. Minus a little haze, it was a spectacular view. I'll definitely be hiking that again.

From the mountain behind Kylemore Abbey where the Jesus Statue escaped us. Drats.

Cottage 7 Picture during the Valentine's Day party. Note Jake's boxers and Ken's wife beater. We're classy like that.

Check Facebook for more pictures, and I'll have another update before we head to Dublin next week.

Peace. Love. Ireland.

Rob

Life In A Northern Town

Hey everyone! Today is the beginning of week five. We've been in Tully Cross for about a month now. Time really has started to go by rather quickly here.

Our time in the north was amazing. Friday we went to Belfast and saw the town. There were a lot of murals there as well which were interesting to look at. It's so interesting to look at these murals that contain so much history and really display the sentiments during the time of the troubles. After seeing the murals in Belfast, we did a quick loop in the bus of the city and then we had a few hours to explore. We found the mall and I found ANOTHER Starbucks, which accepted my American Gift Card that I had. Downside was that the barista apparently didn't understand that she needed to mix my Iced Mocha for me, so I shook it at her violently to mix it up. I think she got the message... After I got my fix, we went window shopping (I almost bought out an entire store, but I restrained myself). After that we boarded the bus to head back to Inch, had dinner, and then we had a class discussion about everything that we had seen and experienced that week. A lot of us are still trying to process everything. It was so much to take in that it was almost overload, but I can honestly say that I've never learned so much in one week. We had an awesome discussion and worked through some of our questions and general comments from the past week and called it a night.

Saturday we went to Giant's Causeway. It is without a doubt most beautiful sight I've ever seen. According to Irish Legend, there used to be a Causeway that connect Ireland to Scotland. There was a Scottish giant that wanted to fight an Irish hero. The hero duped the giant and scared him away, making him run back across the causeway and as he ran, the causeway crumbled under him and fell into the sea. The view was spectacular. I could have simply sat there and watched the waves crash on the rocks all day long. And, we were just 11 miles from Scotland. I could SEE the country across the ocean. It was awesome.

After the Causeway, we grabbed lunch and did a few more scenic stops on our way back to Inch. Those of us that wanted to go to mass did, and then we returned to an awesome dinner that Tony provided us. Candles, wine, table cloths, and a harpist. It was pretty stellar. I think we all ate our weight in food that night, and then some. The rest of the night was spent packing and playing Euchre until the early hours of the morning so we would be able to sleep on the bus ride back.

Sunday we left Inch around 9 and headed back to Tully Cross. We got situated in our cottages and had some dinner. The guys in my cottage hung out for a few hours before we made our way to Sammons where I spent way too much money, unfortunately. Lesson learned. They played the first half of the Super Bowl and then closed the pub so we didn't get to see the rest of the game, or any of the commercials. Bummer. We headed back to the cottages and called it a night.

Today I went into Clifden with Dr. Dawson, Beth and Heather to shop for our respective cottages. It was quite a mission; I really dislike not having a grill because I don't know how to cook otherwise, but I'm learning. We made our way back and I worked on some homework and then decided to walk down to Tully because the sun was back out! I saw an awesome rainbow over the OCEAN. It was simply amazing. No other words can describe it. After getting slightly rained on, I went back to the cottage, made fish and chips for us and we continued making our way through Season 6 of Scrubs. Tonight's episode was the musical which we found (and I always find) amusing and hilarious. I made a quick visit to cottage 9 and interrupted their dinner and we had some good conversations.

For the rest of the night, I'm planning to get my paper mostly finished that is due on Friday for Dr. Dawson on the novel we just read, and then most people are heading out to Coynes, where I'll be grabbing a cup of coffee so save myself from spending too much money again. Tomorrow a group of people are going for a hike down near Kylemore Abbey again, so I'll be joining them for that, and then Friday we are hopefully going to try to hike Diamond Mountain again. Friday is also Gretchen's Birthday party part three at Sammon's, so that will be a lot of fun.

Here are some pictures from the past week.

This is at the Causeway. Unfortunately, my camera died and this doesn't do the picture justice but I did manage to get a video, so I'll post that on Facebook eventually.

Murals in Belfast.

Our group got to meet the Mayor of Derry. He was the youngest Mayor in the town's history, 27.

That's all for now. I'll put more up on Facebook later.

Peace. Love. Ireland.

Rob

Give Peace A Chance

What up February? That’s weird…

I hope that everyone back home survived the “Groundhog Dump Day Snowpocalypse Death Storm of 2011” and enjoyed any snow days that resulted from the storm. At least the weather peeps got one thing right this year.

This week we have been up in Northern Ireland studying about the conflict of the past forty years and meeting with people who were involved in some way in the conflict or have studied the conflict.

A brief explanation for those not aware: Ireland was under British Rule until the early 1900s. The Easter Uprising occurred in 1916, and then Ireland opted for “Home Rule” which essentially meant that six Northern Counties in Ireland would remain part of the U.K and the southern part of Ireland would be the Republic of Ireland, an independent country. This, clearly, divided the country. The North was mainly comprised of Protestants, and the South with Catholics. The Catholics were mistreated by the Protestants in the North and severely abused. In the 1960s, the Nationalists who wanted a united Ireland took up arms again, and during the next thirty to forty years, Northern Ireland saw much unnecessary violence as Nationalists tried to unite the country and Unionists resisted their attempts. It was a war and it had a profound effect, especially on Northern Ireland.

We arrived in the North on Monday evening and we made our way to the Inch House on Inch Island in Donegal County, a county still part of the Republic. We had a full meal for once, which was awesome, and big rooms with HEAT and fairly good access to Wi-Fi. From there we got acquainted with the manor that we were staying in and went to bed for the night.

Tuesday was filled with lectures from people who lived during the “Troubles” as people in Ireland call the past forty years. We heard from Nationalists, Catholics, and Protestants, and even a man who fought in the war for the Nationalists. Their stories were incredibly moving and eye opening. There’s a lot of hurt and so many recent wounds in this part of the country. We quickly realized that we weren’t in Tully Cross anymore.

Wednesday, we went into county Derry, a county that is part of the U.K. They even use the pound in Northern Ireland; my wallet wasn’t happy. Derry is divided itself. Part of the county is called “Free Derry” because it is composed of Nationalists who didn’t want to be part of the U.K. but would rather have a united Ireland. Derry underwent a lot of Violence during the 1970s. Car bombings were a daily occurrence. Regular street violence was the norm, whether you were Protestant or Catholic. Free Derry built walls around its area to keep the British army out when they were invading the area. We walked around the walls with Jon, a Nationalist who was involved in the fighting. He took us to the area where the first shots during “Bloody Sunday” were fired. Bloody Sunday was a day in which the Catholics and Nationalists of Derry had organized a Civil Rights March, much like the Civil Rights March in America. Yet the British fired shots on the marchers and the Ireland Republic Army retaliated. Fourteen died. The Battle lasted less than half an hour. That walk and talk with Jon was one of the most moving experiences.

Today, Thursday, was spent in Lectures again. Today we learned again about the past century from a different perspective, one that said that the IRA was hugely out of line in their violent efforts for a United Ireland. We were given statistics that the IRA killed more Protestants and British than the Brits killed Catholics and Nationalists. It was interesting and eye-opening in a different way. We also learned about Irish Politics and how their congress and legislature is set up – I’m not going to try to explain that because I couldn’t understand it myself. We also met the Mayor of Derry who seemed like a very genuine person, although the Mayor in Ireland doesn’t seem to do much at all. He’s more of a figure head than anything else. The rest of the night was spent in our Lit class and simply relaxing.

Tomorrow we are heading to Belfast, another area that saw a lot of violence during the Troubles. I’m not sure of our agenda for that day, but if it’s anything like the past few days, I’m sure that it will be amazing. Saturday we head out to Giant’s Causeway, and then Sunday we return to Tully Cross in time for the Super Bowl.

Haven’t put the pictures from the North on my computer yet, so I’ll have pictures next time!

Peace. Love. Ireland.

-Rob