-Kenton
Today I woke up early and went to Mass. Now I have to say I'm not Catholic. I have been to Mass a few times in the states but I was raised Baptist so I'm no expert on how a regular Mass goes down. But the one I saw today was lot less organized than what I've seen before. There was no organized way of getting in line for communion everyone just jumped in. It also started at 11, the protestant sermon started at 12, which tells me that these really are't morning people. It really is a laid back way of life here, my favorite saying I've heard so far is that there is no "late" in the glean.
On the way out I saw Julie and Ryan. They had come to Mass too we had ust all sat in different places. We decided to have breakfast at the cafe across the street with a couple of new people at the school. I finally got to have my first full Irish breakfast blood pudding and all. It was delicious. It included beans, 1 egg, a tomato, sausage, black and white blood pudding, and bacon. It really hit the spot. I washed it down with a big pot of tea.
Then we went back to the girls place and just sat around and talked. Joe (not our Joe, the guitar player from the session on friday) decided to stop by. He was telling us about the bluegrass festival in a nearby town that was happening today. The only problem is that with no readily available transportation avaiable to us it's impossible to make it there with out sweet talking into someone taking you and all the students with cars that we used to know are gone now replaced with new ones.
At 2:30 it was time for the new weeks orientation. We got the same speech as last week and we understood a lot more of it this time. We were all moved up to level two. We got the same teacher we had last week, Andrew. A couple of new faces in the class; a woman from belfast, a guy fron indiana, and an english teacher who lives in dublin. It was pretty much a quick review of everything we had done the week before. It made us all feel more confident about being moved up a level because for the first time we were responding to a lot of things without having to look them up.
After class we went to a gaelic football game. It took a while to figure out was going on. I have no idea who won of what the score was because there was no scoreboard but it was still exciting to watch. It was like a combination of soccer, rubgy, basketball, and american football. When the game was over we headed home to our respective cottages. I'm been comming down with something so I'll going to stay in tonight. If I don't feel any better by tuesday I'll be going to the doctor. He only comes into town once a week andif he gives me a prescription I still have to go to a pharmacy. The nearest pharmacy is 20 minutes drive away but luckily there is also a van that leaves every tuesday for that town a about 1. If I plan it right I can make it to the doctor the the pharmacy in the same day.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
July 18th, 2008 (Odeas Gael - Week 1 Day 5)
-Kenton
Today was the last day of level one. We did a lot of review but more importantly we got ready for the talent show tonight. Andrew(our teacher) decided we should sing an easy Irish song. It was called .......? It was pretty good but definitely not the hit of the night. The best was Professor Gleason's group (fashon show). I have links to all the video I took below. Wait till the end of the fashon show video to see professor gleason bust out the moves.
After the talent show we all went out to biddy's to listen to music and say farewell to the students that were leaving. It was agreat night. I even did a little singing myself durring the session. The lead of the duet was Joe. He had a girl playing tin whistle with him while he played guitar and sang. he songs ranged anywere from traditional irish music to Johnny Cash and some southern Rock. All the locals were there too. It was really a great time. Most of the crew headed to Julie and Sarah's cabin to continue the party, including Joe the musician and the whistle player. I stayed behind to continue my talks with Martin and Paddy. But on their way out the door I was handed two full untouched glasses of whisky. I was not planing on drinking heavily tonight....but man did those whiskies take me out. Around 2 o'clock the gharda (police) came in and busted up the fun at Biddy's the he went to the other two bars in town and did the same. I guess this only happens about once a year but everyone took it very seriously. But it didn't stop Mark(actor), Paddy(farmer), and Martin(lobsterman) from heading to the girls cottage with me.
We carried on the party till 4:30 in the morning when we had to start kicing everybody out. It was really a good time. I met people from australia, I mean I don't remeber much about them and I havn't seen them since but I remember meeting them. There was dancing and singing, all kinds of good fun. Of course with good fun comes payment and I have a feeling I'll be paying for it in the morning...
Today was the last day of level one. We did a lot of review but more importantly we got ready for the talent show tonight. Andrew(our teacher) decided we should sing an easy Irish song. It was called .......? It was pretty good but definitely not the hit of the night. The best was Professor Gleason's group (fashon show). I have links to all the video I took below. Wait till the end of the fashon show video to see professor gleason bust out the moves.
After the talent show we all went out to biddy's to listen to music and say farewell to the students that were leaving. It was agreat night. I even did a little singing myself durring the session. The lead of the duet was Joe. He had a girl playing tin whistle with him while he played guitar and sang. he songs ranged anywere from traditional irish music to Johnny Cash and some southern Rock. All the locals were there too. It was really a great time. Most of the crew headed to Julie and Sarah's cabin to continue the party, including Joe the musician and the whistle player. I stayed behind to continue my talks with Martin and Paddy. But on their way out the door I was handed two full untouched glasses of whisky. I was not planing on drinking heavily tonight....but man did those whiskies take me out. Around 2 o'clock the gharda (police) came in and busted up the fun at Biddy's the he went to the other two bars in town and did the same. I guess this only happens about once a year but everyone took it very seriously. But it didn't stop Mark(actor), Paddy(farmer), and Martin(lobsterman) from heading to the girls cottage with me.
We carried on the party till 4:30 in the morning when we had to start kicing everybody out. It was really a good time. I met people from australia, I mean I don't remeber much about them and I havn't seen them since but I remember meeting them. There was dancing and singing, all kinds of good fun. Of course with good fun comes payment and I have a feeling I'll be paying for it in the morning...
July 19th, 2008 (Donnegal)
-Kenton
Today we headed to Donnegal town and we almost missed the bus....Well Julie, Sarah, and I actually did miss the bus but luckily Liam, the director of Oidaes Gael, was there to give us a ride to catch up with the bus and wave it down. I'm really glad Liam was there to help us out because it was a great trip.
I was so thankful when we finally arrived in Donegal. The night before was rough and the bus ride was not helping me recover. I think Sarah was nice enough to take pitty on me and keep me occupied by practicing the Irish that we've used so far, just so I wouldn't focus on the weaving and bouncing on the bus.
The first thing we did in Donnegal was have lunch. I don't know if it was because I was so hungover or if it was just because the food was really that good, but that was my best meal to date. I had Lamb meatballs with all the fixings and a huge pither of water at a local pub. It really hit the spot. I was feeling better and ready to go as soon as I was finished eating.
Then we went to donnegal castle. It was really interesting and theu tour included a lot of history about Ireland that I really didn't know. I even got a chance to prented that I was "King" of the castle for a bit. Once we were done there we headed to the old monostary ruins in town. This was the home of the "4 masters" who wrote the six annals of Ireland that are some of the greatest resources of Irish history. It has since then become a graveyard due to it's status as holyland.
Besides those two historical sites there isn't much more touristy stuff today. We spent the rest of our time walking around town buying necessaties and gifts for friends and family back home. For some reason we all, including professor gleason, had a craving for subway and we grabbed some subs before heading home. It was nice to have a realatively cheap meal for a change.
Once we got back I went to the grocery and headed home. I've taken pretty easy tonight finishing up postcards and catching up on the blog. The weather has had it's toll on me. I would recomend to anyone comming to bring as much cold medicine and whatever other over the counter stuff you like. Once you get here it's hard to get anything with a doctor's perscription and the office visits are expensive, about 35 euros, Not only that but the doctor only comes to town once a week. Tea and honey has been helping me tons.
Today we headed to Donnegal town and we almost missed the bus....Well Julie, Sarah, and I actually did miss the bus but luckily Liam, the director of Oidaes Gael, was there to give us a ride to catch up with the bus and wave it down. I'm really glad Liam was there to help us out because it was a great trip.
I was so thankful when we finally arrived in Donegal. The night before was rough and the bus ride was not helping me recover. I think Sarah was nice enough to take pitty on me and keep me occupied by practicing the Irish that we've used so far, just so I wouldn't focus on the weaving and bouncing on the bus.
The first thing we did in Donnegal was have lunch. I don't know if it was because I was so hungover or if it was just because the food was really that good, but that was my best meal to date. I had Lamb meatballs with all the fixings and a huge pither of water at a local pub. It really hit the spot. I was feeling better and ready to go as soon as I was finished eating.
Then we went to donnegal castle. It was really interesting and theu tour included a lot of history about Ireland that I really didn't know. I even got a chance to prented that I was "King" of the castle for a bit. Once we were done there we headed to the old monostary ruins in town. This was the home of the "4 masters" who wrote the six annals of Ireland that are some of the greatest resources of Irish history. It has since then become a graveyard due to it's status as holyland.
Besides those two historical sites there isn't much more touristy stuff today. We spent the rest of our time walking around town buying necessaties and gifts for friends and family back home. For some reason we all, including professor gleason, had a craving for subway and we grabbed some subs before heading home. It was nice to have a realatively cheap meal for a change.
Once we got back I went to the grocery and headed home. I've taken pretty easy tonight finishing up postcards and catching up on the blog. The weather has had it's toll on me. I would recomend to anyone comming to bring as much cold medicine and whatever other over the counter stuff you like. Once you get here it's hard to get anything with a doctor's perscription and the office visits are expensive, about 35 euros, Not only that but the doctor only comes to town once a week. Tea and honey has been helping me tons.
Friday, July 18, 2008
July 17th, 2008 (Odeas Gael - Week 1 Day 4)
-Kenton
It was a rough morning for the girls, they were a bit late for class. Thier roommate didn't even show up for the morning session. Nobody really seemed to care though, I think they saw it comming. Class was great as usual, I learned that a lepherchaun is a deaone beaga (deeny bugha). At lunch I headed out and deiced to tr battered sausages...not too bad. They would have been better with mustard.
After the 2nd seesion of class we went to the beach. The girls wen swimming, I climbed up on the dunes and took some great pictures. We went to the pub again later. Just one or two pints though and I left. I had a good time talking to one of the hillwalkers while I was there though. I think I'll definitely take atleast one day of hillwalking my last week here.
It was a rough morning for the girls, they were a bit late for class. Thier roommate didn't even show up for the morning session. Nobody really seemed to care though, I think they saw it comming. Class was great as usual, I learned that a lepherchaun is a deaone beaga (deeny bugha). At lunch I headed out and deiced to tr battered sausages...not too bad. They would have been better with mustard.
After the 2nd seesion of class we went to the beach. The girls wen swimming, I climbed up on the dunes and took some great pictures. We went to the pub again later. Just one or two pints though and I left. I had a good time talking to one of the hillwalkers while I was there though. I think I'll definitely take atleast one day of hillwalking my last week here.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
July 16th, 2008 (Odeas Gael - Week 1 Day 3)
-Kenton
It's Sarah's Birthday today! The first thing we learned in class was how to tell Sarah happy birthday. Class is alway's fun. It's great to be able to learn a different language without constantly worrying about being judged on how well you doing. It's nice to learn a language just because I want to.
After Class I walked into town and ate at the cafe. I decided to try the hamburger with pinapple. If I had my choice again I wouldn't have bothered. I mean it didn't taste bad but it was just a frozen patty with canned pinnapple at on it. I could have made that at home better and cheaper. But as always the chips were delicious, it's really hard to screw up fries though. I also made a stop by the post office and picked up stamps, I found out where the laundrette is two. It's was hidden befind a fork in the road. If you were comming from the school towards town you need to take the left at the fork and it's on the left die of the street. We had only been taking the right because that's the way to town.
I ran into Ireland Julie and Sarah along the way. I-Julie was destracting Sarah so Joe and our Julie cound finish icing the cake. When the cake was done we went and got Joe and A-Julie and we all went to Biddy's. We stayed for a little while but the we went to Rhaorty's... Completeing the trinity tour of pubs in Glean Cholm Cille. By the time we were at Rhorty's we had a good sized group including two instructors at the school who played electric guitar and fiddle.
Slowly we all started to drizzle out and head to the girls cottage to setup for Sarah. When Sarah finnally made her way home we all surprised her...I was surprised she didn't expect anything. There was great music, dancing, and even a little bit of harp playing...You'd be surprised the harp is a great party instrument. I left around for but it was still going when I left so I'm not really sure exactly how long it lasted. I have some videos, Links are below.
It's Sarah's Birthday today! The first thing we learned in class was how to tell Sarah happy birthday. Class is alway's fun. It's great to be able to learn a different language without constantly worrying about being judged on how well you doing. It's nice to learn a language just because I want to.
After Class I walked into town and ate at the cafe. I decided to try the hamburger with pinapple. If I had my choice again I wouldn't have bothered. I mean it didn't taste bad but it was just a frozen patty with canned pinnapple at on it. I could have made that at home better and cheaper. But as always the chips were delicious, it's really hard to screw up fries though. I also made a stop by the post office and picked up stamps, I found out where the laundrette is two. It's was hidden befind a fork in the road. If you were comming from the school towards town you need to take the left at the fork and it's on the left die of the street. We had only been taking the right because that's the way to town.
I ran into Ireland Julie and Sarah along the way. I-Julie was destracting Sarah so Joe and our Julie cound finish icing the cake. When the cake was done we went and got Joe and A-Julie and we all went to Biddy's. We stayed for a little while but the we went to Rhaorty's... Completeing the trinity tour of pubs in Glean Cholm Cille. By the time we were at Rhorty's we had a good sized group including two instructors at the school who played electric guitar and fiddle.
Slowly we all started to drizzle out and head to the girls cottage to setup for Sarah. When Sarah finnally made her way home we all surprised her...I was surprised she didn't expect anything. There was great music, dancing, and even a little bit of harp playing...You'd be surprised the harp is a great party instrument. I left around for but it was still going when I left so I'm not really sure exactly how long it lasted. I have some videos, Links are below.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
July 15th, 2008 (Odeas Gael - Week 1 Day 2)
-Kenton
Today after class we got ready for Sarah's 21st Birthday. We got drinks, crisps, ad other party esentials. We got all the ingrediant for a cake. We headed back to Joe's and I's cottage to mix and backe the cake. That was an experience, converting to the metric system.....no one had baked a cake before.....we didn't know how long to bake it. It was a mess, but the cake came out ok, a little dense but ok. Then we packed some extra glasses from our cottage, radio, and some music and took it down to the girls cottage to hide it for tomorrow.
I have to mention tat for lunch I had the Seafood Chowder at An Cristin...It was awesome. If you are ever anywhere near here I recommend you stop by and have a bowl. t's basically the best soup I have ever had. The second best being My Mother-in-law's Quahog Chowder.I didn't do much else today I deicided to tke it easy and have a break from all the excitment. I stayed in and looked at the view from our cottage for a while. I wrote some postcards and watched some local TV to see what the weather was going to be like. It was nice to take a rest and gear up for some more excitment later.
Today after class we got ready for Sarah's 21st Birthday. We got drinks, crisps, ad other party esentials. We got all the ingrediant for a cake. We headed back to Joe's and I's cottage to mix and backe the cake. That was an experience, converting to the metric system.....no one had baked a cake before.....we didn't know how long to bake it. It was a mess, but the cake came out ok, a little dense but ok. Then we packed some extra glasses from our cottage, radio, and some music and took it down to the girls cottage to hide it for tomorrow.
I have to mention tat for lunch I had the Seafood Chowder at An Cristin...It was awesome. If you are ever anywhere near here I recommend you stop by and have a bowl. t's basically the best soup I have ever had. The second best being My Mother-in-law's Quahog Chowder.I didn't do much else today I deicided to tke it easy and have a break from all the excitment. I stayed in and looked at the view from our cottage for a while. I wrote some postcards and watched some local TV to see what the weather was going to be like. It was nice to take a rest and gear up for some more excitment later.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
July 14th, 2008 (Odeas Gael - Week 1 Day 1)
-Kenton
This morning in class we learned numbers and how to tell time. We also learned some more greetings and went over some verbs. In the middle of each morning and afternoon session we have tea. Tea is great! it always seems to come just at the right time as my brain is turning into jelly. We go down to the main building and all the other classes are gathered. You can have tea or coffee, I've been having tea with some cream and sugar. Then they set out cookies and you can talk with and meet new people or just practice Irish with your classmates and other advanced students.
For lunch I went into town to a small cafe and had chips and beans. Basically baked beans ontop of fries. it was pretty good. Later I was talking to professor Gleeson and he said that was a kid's meal. After the afternoon session of class I ate at the restaurant next to the school, An Cristin (The Kitchen). They have an earlybird special for student from the school. It was mashed potatoes topped with ham, turkey, stuffing, and gravy. It was real good.
That night they had singing at the school....It is really, and I emphasize, REALLY hard to sing in Irish if you don't know irish. Then I went back into town and saw Professor Gleason outside Biddy's having a pint and joined him for a bit. It was then that I met James, The owner of Biddy's. He was a great guy, he showed me upsairs where he has an old statue of Jesus from one of the chapels in town and if you make a wish on it's supposed to come true. I'm not sure if it works though because Noel hasn't showed up in town yet.
Afterwards I walked around a bit more and took in some of the countryside. But it wasn't long before I was back in Biddy's later that night with everyone else. This night I happened to meet a wonderfully interesting couple. Since I've been here in Ireland I've been really interested with Northern Ireland and the recent history they've had. We always tend to here the bad things about the conflicts and I wanted to go and see Belfast for myself and learn more about those recent times and if it really is resolved. Well I met a couple tonight named Liam O'Carso and Lynn Corken from Belfast "Beal Feaste". Liam works for the Gas company and Lynn work for the tourist information center at Queen's College. We talked about many things: being on holiday, the local area, work, weather, everything...tons of the great stuff you get to talk about when you first meet someone. Then we talked about being married, They had together for 27 years, I found that kind of hard to believe because they didn't hardly look old enough. But then I found out that one was Catholic and teh other Protestant, truly a love across battle lines story. A real Romeo and Juliet ad never throughout the conflict did it effect their feeling for each other. I just wanted to make sure I meantioned them because they were such a truly nice couple and it was such a pleasure to meet them. They left me their names and some saying in Irish on this Coaster. They mean ??????
This morning in class we learned numbers and how to tell time. We also learned some more greetings and went over some verbs. In the middle of each morning and afternoon session we have tea. Tea is great! it always seems to come just at the right time as my brain is turning into jelly. We go down to the main building and all the other classes are gathered. You can have tea or coffee, I've been having tea with some cream and sugar. Then they set out cookies and you can talk with and meet new people or just practice Irish with your classmates and other advanced students.
For lunch I went into town to a small cafe and had chips and beans. Basically baked beans ontop of fries. it was pretty good. Later I was talking to professor Gleeson and he said that was a kid's meal. After the afternoon session of class I ate at the restaurant next to the school, An Cristin (The Kitchen). They have an earlybird special for student from the school. It was mashed potatoes topped with ham, turkey, stuffing, and gravy. It was real good.
That night they had singing at the school....It is really, and I emphasize, REALLY hard to sing in Irish if you don't know irish. Then I went back into town and saw Professor Gleason outside Biddy's having a pint and joined him for a bit. It was then that I met James, The owner of Biddy's. He was a great guy, he showed me upsairs where he has an old statue of Jesus from one of the chapels in town and if you make a wish on it's supposed to come true. I'm not sure if it works though because Noel hasn't showed up in town yet.
Afterwards I walked around a bit more and took in some of the countryside. But it wasn't long before I was back in Biddy's later that night with everyone else. This night I happened to meet a wonderfully interesting couple. Since I've been here in Ireland I've been really interested with Northern Ireland and the recent history they've had. We always tend to here the bad things about the conflicts and I wanted to go and see Belfast for myself and learn more about those recent times and if it really is resolved. Well I met a couple tonight named Liam O'Carso and Lynn Corken from Belfast "Beal Feaste". Liam works for the Gas company and Lynn work for the tourist information center at Queen's College. We talked about many things: being on holiday, the local area, work, weather, everything...tons of the great stuff you get to talk about when you first meet someone. Then we talked about being married, They had together for 27 years, I found that kind of hard to believe because they didn't hardly look old enough. But then I found out that one was Catholic and teh other Protestant, truly a love across battle lines story. A real Romeo and Juliet ad never throughout the conflict did it effect their feeling for each other. I just wanted to make sure I meantioned them because they were such a truly nice couple and it was such a pleasure to meet them. They left me their names and some saying in Irish on this Coaster. They mean ??????
Monday, July 14, 2008
July 13th, 2008 (Odeas Gael Orientation)
-Kenton
Today Joe and I got up at about 8 and decided to walk into to town and try to get some breakfast. The only thing open however was the grocery. The store is about the size of a gas station convience store back home but stocked much better. I got some butter and soda bread and Joe got some groceries of his own and then we headed back to eat.
After we had something in our stomachs we headed back down the hill to the girls cottage to see what they were up to. They were up and about, they had a power problem the night before and they could not figure out what it was. It wasn't a fuse, not a breaker, what it turned out to be was an actual coin operated power meter that had run out. Pay as you go type of thing. 2 euros is usaly supposed to last a week.
Joe and I had met thier roommate the night before. Her name is Julie, for the purpose of this
blog we'll call her NI(North Ireland) Julie seeing as how she's a teacher from North Ireland. We all headed out that morning to explore the area. NI Julie had her car so she drove us. We headed out to Malainn Mhor to see what we could see. On the way we some some loose sheep and I thought it would be fun (or a good craic as they would say here) to see if I could catch one. I wasn't very good at it and it turns out they are a lot faster than I thought. As you can see in the next picture I fell and all I got was a knee full of sheep poo...or hopefully mud....we weren't really sure which it was.
After the sheep chasing adventure we went to the woolen mills. They had tons of great sweaters and scarfs. I ended up with a hat and a scarf myself. I really like the hat you probably see me wearing it a lot in future pictures. After the mills we drove further down and saw a an old tower and a light house. We drove as close to the tower as we could. There was also a harbor in the same area so we checked that out too. I would of called it more of a boat dock than a harbor. There were tons of people geting ready to go diving. I asked later and aparently there are several wrecks and tons of sea life in that area.
After that it was time to head back. Our Orientation and class level assigning was at 2. The orientation was giving by the head of the school Liam. It was a mix of english and Irish. All of us from UWM were put in level 1 of course and that was when we noticed Ryan. A Student from UW-Stout we thought had decided not to come. He had made it all the way to the school without anyones help. Professor Gleeson didn't even know he was here.
Once classes were assigned we had out first class. Our instructor was Andrew, a local teacher who was from the Glen. We went over introductions in Irish then and introduced ourselves to our fellow classmates. Then we went over how to say please and thank you and some other phrases and basics.
After class I went to go see a play in town that was being done by the locals. They do 2 or 3 a year and this was going to be the closing night of this particular play. I have to say it was really good. It was a comedy called "I do not like thee Dr. Fell". The others had stayed at the school to learn how to set dance.
Afterwards we all met at Biddy's on of the local pubs in town. It
was a great time. We stayed out untill about to. I talked to a local lobsterman (Martin), One of the actors in the play in town (Mark), The bartender (Paddy), and a local farmer (also Martin). Farmer Martin tiped me to how to catch a sheep. You need to use a plastic bag because that's how they are fed. I will definitely try this later. AFter that we headed home but before we got there we ran into this glowing mother mary you can see over Ryan's shoulder...Nice.
Today Joe and I got up at about 8 and decided to walk into to town and try to get some breakfast. The only thing open however was the grocery. The store is about the size of a gas station convience store back home but stocked much better. I got some butter and soda bread and Joe got some groceries of his own and then we headed back to eat.
After we had something in our stomachs we headed back down the hill to the girls cottage to see what they were up to. They were up and about, they had a power problem the night before and they could not figure out what it was. It wasn't a fuse, not a breaker, what it turned out to be was an actual coin operated power meter that had run out. Pay as you go type of thing. 2 euros is usaly supposed to last a week.
Joe and I had met thier roommate the night before. Her name is Julie, for the purpose of this
blog we'll call her NI(North Ireland) Julie seeing as how she's a teacher from North Ireland. We all headed out that morning to explore the area. NI Julie had her car so she drove us. We headed out to Malainn Mhor to see what we could see. On the way we some some loose sheep and I thought it would be fun (or a good craic as they would say here) to see if I could catch one. I wasn't very good at it and it turns out they are a lot faster than I thought. As you can see in the next picture I fell and all I got was a knee full of sheep poo...or hopefully mud....we weren't really sure which it was.After the sheep chasing adventure we went to the woolen mills. They had tons of great sweaters and scarfs. I ended up with a hat and a scarf myself. I really like the hat you probably see me wearing it a lot in future pictures. After the mills we drove further down and saw a an old tower and a light house. We drove as close to the tower as we could. There was also a harbor in the same area so we checked that out too. I would of called it more of a boat dock than a harbor. There were tons of people geting ready to go diving. I asked later and aparently there are several wrecks and tons of sea life in that area.
After that it was time to head back. Our Orientation and class level assigning was at 2. The orientation was giving by the head of the school Liam. It was a mix of english and Irish. All of us from UWM were put in level 1 of course and that was when we noticed Ryan. A Student from UW-Stout we thought had decided not to come. He had made it all the way to the school without anyones help. Professor Gleeson didn't even know he was here.
Once classes were assigned we had out first class. Our instructor was Andrew, a local teacher who was from the Glen. We went over introductions in Irish then and introduced ourselves to our fellow classmates. Then we went over how to say please and thank you and some other phrases and basics.
After class I went to go see a play in town that was being done by the locals. They do 2 or 3 a year and this was going to be the closing night of this particular play. I have to say it was really good. It was a comedy called "I do not like thee Dr. Fell". The others had stayed at the school to learn how to set dance.
Afterwards we all met at Biddy's on of the local pubs in town. It
was a great time. We stayed out untill about to. I talked to a local lobsterman (Martin), One of the actors in the play in town (Mark), The bartender (Paddy), and a local farmer (also Martin). Farmer Martin tiped me to how to catch a sheep. You need to use a plastic bag because that's how they are fed. I will definitely try this later. AFter that we headed home but before we got there we ran into this glowing mother mary you can see over Ryan's shoulder...Nice.Sunday, July 13, 2008
July 12th, 2008 (En Route Glean Cholm Cille)
-Kenton
Today Julie and I decided to get up early and grab breakfast at the hostel. That way we would have some time to go out and do some sightseeing on our own before we met up with Joe, Sarah,
and Professor Glesson to catch the bus for Glean Cholm Cille. The bus was leaving at 1 and we had told Joe and Sarah we would try to meet them at the bus station where they get dropped off from the Airport between 9 and 10.
The first place Julie and I visited after breakfast was Steven's Green. Professor Glesson had showed us Steven's Green the day before but we didn't get a chance to walk through. Our walk through the park this morning was great. The Green reminds me a lot of Central Park in New York.
After the park we headed over to Trinity College again to see if the Book of Kells exhibit was open. Unfortunately it wasn't so we decided to head out for a long walk through the city to the bus station. We got a little last along the way but once we were on the main road we had no problem finding our way around. We got to the bus station and waited untill a bit after 10 for Joe and Sarah. Since they hadn't showed up yet we assumed that their flight was delayed and decided to head over to take the Guiness Brewery tour.
We had another great really friendly cab driver on the way to the brewery. He gave us some great information about the history of the area we were heading to and a little about Guiness itself. Once we got inside the brewery we were amazed by the tour. Don't expect to get to see any of the actual brewery itself. The Gusiness tour is more a multimedia and museum experience. There a waterfall, tons of video. a simulated batch initiation, and lots more to see. Give your self at least 2-3 hours. Longer if you want to relax when your having your free pint of beer in the gravity bar on the
7th floor. The best view of Dublin we experienced while we were there.
After we left the Guiness tour we grabbed a cab and headed to the bus terminal to meet up with the others. This cab driver was special however...We turned ou to be cousins! My wife(Noel) has family in Louisburgh, County Mayo. I was talking to the cab driver about my trip and how I was planning to stay with some of my wife's family and the more the driver and I talked the more started to realize he knew who I was talking about. He was actually able to call up Mary B. (my wife's cousin) and let me talk to her. It's a really small world.
At ther bus terminal we met up with everyone and got on our bus. It was about a 4 hour ride with a break mid-way to Donnegal. The ride was beautiful with lots of scenery. I wish I had grabbed something to eat either at the break point or while we were in Donnegal because we didn't get to Glean Cholm Cille untill about 8 and the we had an orientation at 9. So by the time we got all settled and were ready to eat everything was closed.
We ended up going to a local pub called the Glean Head and had pints with some crisps...not a very filling meal. but besides the food situation everything is wonderful. Joe and I are staying in a cottage about 10 minutes walk up the hill. The girl's cottage is right next door to the school. I would say the girls lucked out but they don't have this view to wake up to and got to bed to every night. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and I'm super tired so I'm going to bed.
Today Julie and I decided to get up early and grab breakfast at the hostel. That way we would have some time to go out and do some sightseeing on our own before we met up with Joe, Sarah,
and Professor Glesson to catch the bus for Glean Cholm Cille. The bus was leaving at 1 and we had told Joe and Sarah we would try to meet them at the bus station where they get dropped off from the Airport between 9 and 10.The first place Julie and I visited after breakfast was Steven's Green. Professor Glesson had showed us Steven's Green the day before but we didn't get a chance to walk through. Our walk through the park this morning was great. The Green reminds me a lot of Central Park in New York.
After the park we headed over to Trinity College again to see if the Book of Kells exhibit was open. Unfortunately it wasn't so we decided to head out for a long walk through the city to the bus station. We got a little last along the way but once we were on the main road we had no problem finding our way around. We got to the bus station and waited untill a bit after 10 for Joe and Sarah. Since they hadn't showed up yet we assumed that their flight was delayed and decided to head over to take the Guiness Brewery tour.
We had another great really friendly cab driver on the way to the brewery. He gave us some great information about the history of the area we were heading to and a little about Guiness itself. Once we got inside the brewery we were amazed by the tour. Don't expect to get to see any of the actual brewery itself. The Gusiness tour is more a multimedia and museum experience. There a waterfall, tons of video. a simulated batch initiation, and lots more to see. Give your self at least 2-3 hours. Longer if you want to relax when your having your free pint of beer in the gravity bar on the
7th floor. The best view of Dublin we experienced while we were there.After we left the Guiness tour we grabbed a cab and headed to the bus terminal to meet up with the others. This cab driver was special however...We turned ou to be cousins! My wife(Noel) has family in Louisburgh, County Mayo. I was talking to the cab driver about my trip and how I was planning to stay with some of my wife's family and the more the driver and I talked the more started to realize he knew who I was talking about. He was actually able to call up Mary B. (my wife's cousin) and let me talk to her. It's a really small world.
At ther bus terminal we met up with everyone and got on our bus. It was about a 4 hour ride with a break mid-way to Donnegal. The ride was beautiful with lots of scenery. I wish I had grabbed something to eat either at the break point or while we were in Donnegal because we didn't get to Glean Cholm Cille untill about 8 and the we had an orientation at 9. So by the time we got all settled and were ready to eat everything was closed.
We ended up going to a local pub called the Glean Head and had pints with some crisps...not a very filling meal. but besides the food situation everything is wonderful. Joe and I are staying in a cottage about 10 minutes walk up the hill. The girl's cottage is right next door to the school. I would say the girls lucked out but they don't have this view to wake up to and got to bed to every night. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and I'm super tired so I'm going to bed.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
July 11th, 2008 (Dubin, Ireland)
-Julie
After leaving the airport, Kenton and I took the Dublin bus to the city center bus station. Upon arriving we realized that we did not know how to get a bus to take us to our hostel. Therefore, we hailed a taxi and found ourselves in more than just a regular cab ride. Our driver was a gregarious Dubliner who immediately informed us of such happenings around Dublin as vicious magpies and the Oxygen music festival. By the time five minutes were up we knew that a shotgun was the best way to eliminate magpies, the Irish language is taught to all official Irish citizens, and if we want to survive Oxygen we would need a tent. After this educational journey, we were dropped off on Aungier Street to fend for ourselves.
Our first order of business was to check in at the hostel. This was quickly done, and then free of luggage, I could take on the second order of business - coffee! After 12 hours without caffeine this coffee connoisseur was in need of some strong joe. Aungier Street provided a perfect spot and the need was completely satisfied. Besides coffee, Kenton and I also explored the area for an ATM and food. A friendly sighting was made at the ATM (see picture). This Miller encounter would be the first of many as we soon discovered that Dubliners really like Miller beers (although Guinness is the clear favorite).
After leaving the airport, Kenton and I took the Dublin bus to the city center bus station. Upon arriving we realized that we did not know how to get a bus to take us to our hostel. Therefore, we hailed a taxi and found ourselves in more than just a regular cab ride. Our driver was a gregarious Dubliner who immediately informed us of such happenings around Dublin as vicious magpies and the Oxygen music festival. By the time five minutes were up we knew that a shotgun was the best way to eliminate magpies, the Irish language is taught to all official Irish citizens, and if we want to survive Oxygen we would need a tent. After this educational journey, we were dropped off on Aungier Street to fend for ourselves.
Our first order of business was to check in at the hostel. This was quickly done, and then free of luggage, I could take on the second order of business - coffee! After 12 hours without caffeine this coffee connoisseur was in need of some strong joe. Aungier Street provided a perfect spot and the need was completely satisfied. Besides coffee, Kenton and I also explored the area for an ATM and food. A friendly sighting was made at the ATM (see picture). This Miller encounter would be the first of many as we soon discovered that Dubliners really like Miller beers (although Guinness is the clear favorite).
Friday, July 11, 2008
July 10th, 2008 (En Route Dublin, Ireland)
-Kenton
My wife drove me to the O'hare airport today and dropped me off. We said our farewells and I went inside. I met Julie at the ticket desk, her father dropped her off, she had arrived shortly after I did. We were flying continental because they had the cheapest tickets at the time we were looking. The woman at the front desk said flights to Newark(where we had a layover) were running late. It was too early in the trip to be already getting bad news. After we checked in we headed towards our gate.
We got to our gate and took a seat and started to wait.... and wait... an wait... then finally our plane showed up! But they had a small technical issue that needed to be looked at, so we waited...... and waited.... and waited.... then they were ready! So we got on the plane and started to head towards the runway, then we stopped... and we sat.... and sat..... and sat... for about an hour before we finally took off.
Luckily we had planned for this and choose a pretty long layover in Newark so the delays didn't affect us catching our connecting flight to Dublin. In fact our flight to Dublin was about an hour an a half delayed so we had more than plenty of time. We were able to grab one last American meal before we left. Julie had a fillet o' fish, I had a hot dog with kraut. Soon after we were on the plane and headed to London.
The flight there was pretty good. We got dinner and breakfast. Neither were great but they weren't horrible. he best part of the flight was a personal on-demand entertainment screen that everyone had on the head rest in front of them. You had lots of movies, television shows, and games you could choose from. I watched "Be Kind Rewind" and "Drillbit Taylor" while Julie watched "Run Fat Boy, Run!" and "Catch Me If You Can". I don't think she mea
nt to have a theme about her choice of movies but the titles definitely go together.
It was about 8:30 in the morning when we finally touched down in Dublin. We went got our passport stamped and head to get our bag and go through customs. We were expecting a big search when we got to customs but we just got waived on with no questions or searching at all. Then after talking to a friendly attendant outside who showed us where to catch our buses we were on our way to Dublin Town Center.
My wife drove me to the O'hare airport today and dropped me off. We said our farewells and I went inside. I met Julie at the ticket desk, her father dropped her off, she had arrived shortly after I did. We were flying continental because they had the cheapest tickets at the time we were looking. The woman at the front desk said flights to Newark(where we had a layover) were running late. It was too early in the trip to be already getting bad news. After we checked in we headed towards our gate.We got to our gate and took a seat and started to wait.... and wait... an wait... then finally our plane showed up! But they had a small technical issue that needed to be looked at, so we waited...... and waited.... and waited.... then they were ready! So we got on the plane and started to head towards the runway, then we stopped... and we sat.... and sat..... and sat... for about an hour before we finally took off.
Luckily we had planned for this and choose a pretty long layover in Newark so the delays didn't affect us catching our connecting flight to Dublin. In fact our flight to Dublin was about an hour an a half delayed so we had more than plenty of time. We were able to grab one last American meal before we left. Julie had a fillet o' fish, I had a hot dog with kraut. Soon after we were on the plane and headed to London.
The flight there was pretty good. We got dinner and breakfast. Neither were great but they weren't horrible. he best part of the flight was a personal on-demand entertainment screen that everyone had on the head rest in front of them. You had lots of movies, television shows, and games you could choose from. I watched "Be Kind Rewind" and "Drillbit Taylor" while Julie watched "Run Fat Boy, Run!" and "Catch Me If You Can". I don't think she mea
nt to have a theme about her choice of movies but the titles definitely go together.It was about 8:30 in the morning when we finally touched down in Dublin. We went got our passport stamped and head to get our bag and go through customs. We were expecting a big search when we got to customs but we just got waived on with no questions or searching at all. Then after talking to a friendly attendant outside who showed us where to catch our buses we were on our way to Dublin Town Center.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
July 9th, 2008 - (Milwaukee, WI)
-Kenton
Hi everybody and thanks for comming to read our blog! This blog will cover everyday of the
Odieas Gael Study Abroad trip. Julie, Joe, Sarah, Ryan, myself, and Professor John Glesson will all be posting entries of our faorite stories from each day. Today I'm packing and getting ready for my big trip. It definitely gives me a feeling of excitement and anticipation knowing that I'll be in a forigen country far from home for the next four weeks. You also start to feel the dread of leaving the comfort of your friends and family behind for so long. But having a loving wife and dog supporting me helps alot.
Well my bags are almost packed and I should try to get some sleep for the long trip ahead ofme tomorrow. Even though my mind is racing and I probably won't get a bit of shut eye.
Hi everybody and thanks for comming to read our blog! This blog will cover everyday of the
Odieas Gael Study Abroad trip. Julie, Joe, Sarah, Ryan, myself, and Professor John Glesson will all be posting entries of our faorite stories from each day. Today I'm packing and getting ready for my big trip. It definitely gives me a feeling of excitement and anticipation knowing that I'll be in a forigen country far from home for the next four weeks. You also start to feel the dread of leaving the comfort of your friends and family behind for so long. But having a loving wife and dog supporting me helps alot.Well my bags are almost packed and I should try to get some sleep for the long trip ahead ofme tomorrow. Even though my mind is racing and I probably won't get a bit of shut eye.
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