First Few Days in Ireland

Wow! What an incredible last few days I have had. I am sorry.. I haven't had a chance to blog because I have honestly been very busy. Let's see... o yes... I was last in Prague, about to take off for Dublin...

SEPTEMBER 10

The flight from Prague was fairly easy and hassle-free. We caught an early morning underground to the far west side of Prague, and from there took a bus to the airport. On our way, we met a woman in her 50's that h

ad lived in Prague for the last 10 years, teaching. She was from Minnesota (perhaps even Saint Cloud!) and her son went to Saint John's University and graduated in 2003! It is quite a small world, I suppose. Anyway, we made it to Dublin Airport by 12:30pm. We took a bus from Dublin Airport to downtown Dublin (on the way passing O'Connell Street... which brought back fond memories of 3 years earlier). In Dublin, we grabbed a lunch and caught a bus at 3pm from Dublin to Galway. While I slept most of the way, I was able to see a lot of the irish countryside. It was a beautiful day (it hasn't rained since I arrived here, in fact) and the cattle grazed lazily in the fields as we hopped from village to village.

We arrived in Galway around 7pm. Seeing as all buses were done operating past 6pm, we needed to call Rori (the Park Lodge "cab" of sorts). He gave us a mini-tour of Galway on the way to the Park

Lodge Hotel. Rori is quite a character, and I look forward to conversing with him more..

We arrived at Park Lodge Hotel at around 8pm. All the students had already left to go explore Spiddal. We checked in with Dr. Julie Davis (our Program Director) and Allison Page (Assistant Program Director), and got comfortable in our cabin. A day of traveling certainly wears you down! After briefly meeting with my cottage mates and discussing my adventures over the last week, I went to bed, excited to start a brand new day in IRELAND!

SEPTEMBER 11

We were welcomed this morning with an absolutely delicious meal from the Foyle family. The meal consisted of cereal, delicious bacon, sausage, biscuits, eggs, etc. Absolutely delicious! We got a short orientation from Jean Marie Foyle and Dr. Julie Davis, and proceeded to Galway.

Today was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day. Sun, sun, sun, and hardly a cloud in the sky. We first visited Salt Hill by Galway and walked the beach along Galway Bay. The water was cold (I only put my feet in), but it was a great time. We stayed there for an hour or so, and then moved on to Galway City.

Galway is a great little town. Most of the city is walking distance, and the city is inhabited by mostly a young crowd. Lots of irish hippies (gypsies) sunbathed next to the incredibly dirty river that flowed through Galway. We spent 4 hours in the city as we wandered up Key Street

(shops, restaurants, basically "The Strand" of Galway), walked through a park located in the middle of Galway, and even walked over to the National University of Ireland, Galway, and St. Nicholas Cathedral (13th century, see photo). Along the way, I saw a lot of shops with the name "Joyce" on it. There were even a bunch of banners with family crests and surnames on them, and "Joyce" was, of course, included. Galway is known as Joyce country, so I guess I've found the right place.

After visiting Galway, we came back to the PLH and got a bit more settled in. When everyone was ready, we took a walk to Spiddal, the local small town nearest to the PLH. It is about a half hour walk from the PLH (10 minutes too long), but a refreshing walk nonetheless. We went down and picked up some drinks at the local 'SPAR,' and made our way back to the PLH. Before returning, however, a bunch of us decided to take a dip in the Gaelic Sea. It was COLD, but really fun. You can't really swim for long because its so cold, yet the whole experience is definitely worth it. We ended our day with a trip down to the waterfront by the PLH. Our whole crew went down (all the guys and girls) and talked, laughed, hung out, and generally got more familiar with each other.

I should probably say something about my cottage mates. I live with four other guys, all of them fantastic gentlemen. John is my roommate. He is a hilarious, fun-seeking individual who goes to the beat of his own drum. He's awesome and I'm honored to be rooming with him.

Kyle, Kris, and David are my cottage mates. Kyle is a quiet and caring guy. David is an AWESOME cook, and is very generous in showing all his cooking tricks with me. Kris is a great guy who (like me) loves music. I am very blessed to be living with these great guys.

My experience today was wonderful... it makes me very excited for the semester!

mahalo...

Thomas