Scenery

Our last weekend of all of us travelling together was one to remember.  Dingle was a wonderful experience and personally the best trip we have been on.  The weather was in our favor so that’s always a plus.  On our way to Dingle we stopped at W.B. Yeats’ house and it was beautiful.  We had class there and it was really neat to see our literature professor shine while reading some of Yeats’ poetry.  It was beautiful. The weather was really dreary, so eventually we took off to Coole Park.  Again, our literature professor shined.  The weather was a lot better there, not as cold.  We all stood by the calming river as our professor read poetry to us.  It was so relaxing.  After that we headed to the Cliffs of Mohr and that was absolutely stunning.  After being at the Aran Islands it was kind of disappointing because the cliffs are much much higher, but it is still worth going to see.  It was not rainy at all, so seeing the sunlight shine and glisten on the ocean and cliffs were just so incredible.  It was a little bit scary because I could see where the dirt has fallen off, so it was clear that going to the edge of the cliff was not a smart idea.   

 

Finally, after a 12 hour bus ride we reached our destination, Dingle.  Most beautiful scenery surrounding the town.  All of us stayed in this house outside of town in a remote area.  It was almost like a condo.  It had a feel of a reality television show that you would watch.  The house was grand.  The owner even supplied us with food, which was super sweet. To make this trip more enjoyable we celebrated two birthdays of two special people, Alexis and Shane.  It is truly amazing of how close all of us are with each other.  The whole crew bought a card for them and we celebrated with lots of food, drinks, and games.

 

 

 

As we headed back to the cottages we went to the most beautiful castle, called Blarney Castle.  There a lot more to it than the Blarney Castle, although the most popular thing to do is to kiss the Blarney stone for eloquence and you are dang right I kissed it.  I enjoyed every minute I was there.  Also, wishing steps are a big thing.  You walk down the steps eyes closes, and walk them up eyes closed and make a wish.  Either way, I would definitely recommend it.  Besides, there is a poison garden and a fairy park there as well. It was really cool to see it. 

 

 



 

Building Bridges

As many of you know I volunteer as much as I can in the states. Luckily, I had the opportunity to build bridges here in Ireland as well.  I think it is very important to volunteer and to build bridges in not only your own community but others as well especially if you live in another country for three months.

  Two of my friends and myself thought that helping cute little children would be perfect for us.  And it was.  There is a day care right along the street about a fifteen minute walk from Park Lodge.  It was weird actually, because all of us just walked into the building without anyone stopping us.  Let’s be real, if we were to do this in America the workers would have a hay day of some strangers just walking into the building.  It was just weird.  Anyways, we walked into the day care and we find the office of important people we need to talk too.  The lady was very nice, her name was Ashley.  She was interested in knowing why we were there.  Although, she wasn’t quite the lady in charge.  We waited about 10 minutes for the boss and her name in Jane Marie. 

It went well.  She gave us dates of when we could help out with the kiddos.  We decided to help out on March 28^th and March 29^th because they were having camps on these days.  It was perfect. The children were five years of age to ten years of age.  During the camp we did some pretty cool crafts with them.  They were about Easter and St. Patrick’s Day.  The kiddos absolutely loved it.  Although, the older kids were not too thrilled because they thought it was kind of boring.  All in all, it was good craic and we connected well with the staff and children.  They are all super nice people.

Field trip to Westport

Last weekend all of use went to Westport.  On the way there we stopped at Croagh Patrick.  It is a beautiful mountain, and the hike is insane.  It is more of what professional hikers would hike.  I made it half way to the actual half way point. The view is breath taking, but it also takes your breath away as you climb it.  I thought it was harder to walk down the mountain than it was to walk up it.  I literally had to watch every step so I would not fall.  Also, it takes about two hours to get to the top of the mountain and an hour and a half to get down for the normal person.  All I can say is be mentally prepared, dress accordingly, bring lots of water and bring a walking stick for the climb.   

 

 Finally, we arrived in Westport. The town has been nominated for tidiest town numerous times.  Quite frankly, it is the cutest town I have been to yet.  Small and well put together.  The people are extremely nice, but the guys are very flirty.  Which was annoying.  The day I arrived I did not do a dang thing.  My friend Alexa and I went out to eat to a Chinese Restaurant and it was a bit expensive for fried rice. Not cool.  The next day which was a Sunday, I went to the Westport House.  The walk there had the most beautiful scenery I have seen.  Nature is soothing for the soul.  I did not go into the house, I walked around it.  My favorite thing about the house was that I met Humpty Dumpty and I saved him from falling.  He is a great guy.

 

After I finished with the house, I went back into town.  On the way back I saw this van that said “MATTHEWSON” on the back.  It is my last name, so I went up and talked to the guys because I am a curious and friendly person.  They were cool cats.  FYI do not mention Northern Ireland to anyone who lives in plain Ireland because they do not take it well.  Hard pass. Other than that Westport was good craic.  I would definitely go back for a day or so.  Just not on a Sunday because almost everything is closed.  Keep that in mind.

Ireland Fam Bam

The social life Ireland has to offer is spot on.  I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else except for my great people I now call family.  Galway is grand.  Taffes, Kings Head, Quays, and Karma are all great pubs to go too.  Live music is a thing at every pub, it is good craic.  Even on the weeknights they have live music.  At the mandatory meetings we had to attend before the trip, I was a bit skeptical about everyone I will be spending the next three months with.  Turns out they are pretty cool humans.  All of us are pretty close to each other, within 3 weeks all of us knew quite a bit about one another.  I thought that was fairly fast but these are the only people I have for 3 months.  Everyone with me on this trip are my family.   My friend Regan celebrated her 21^st birthday here in Ireland, and the crew threw her a surprise birthday party in the cottages.  She had no idea, when she walked into the cottage she was almost in tears.  She was thrilled.  All of us had party hats on and it was simply a great night. 

Also, just this week we threw a hen party for Miranda.  Not every day does your friend get proposed to in Madrid, Spain.  Seriously how cute.  I am so happy for her and Tiff.  Buying the hen party supplies was a lot of fun.  It was my first one I have ever been a part of.  We definitely celebrated the Irish way. 

 

I love all of them so much, but after spending every minute together, I find that I need to give myself space.  We breathe the same air, we attend class together, we basically sleep together, we eat together, we travel together, we literally do every single thing together.  So sometimes it is nice  to take time out for myself. 

BUT I would not have my journey be any different.  I love Ireland, and the people I am experiencing it with.  It is definitely the best decision I have ever made.  Long friendships all because I decided to study abroad.

 

Language Barrier.. yikes

Language is weird. All it is is sounds.  It is crazy to think that Europe is so incredibly different than America.  We speak English as a whole and the majority of the American people do not know how to speak any other languages fluently.  Europe on the other hand speaks more than their own language for the most part, whether their first language is Irish or German they know  some English as well because it is also taught in schools.  In Cologne, Germany was a shock.  I was expecting signs to be bi-lingual.  But… everything was in German.  It was rough ordering food because I had no idea what the menu was telling me so I went off of pictures instead.  Kebabs were life in Germany because I knew what exactly I was ordering, especially at 2am.  

 

The second day we went on a free walking tour.  Not very many people showed up but I met an awesome American who spoke a little German.  His name is Dexter and I promise he is not a killer.  After the tour he went out for lunch with my friends and I.  He helped us a lot with communicating with the locals there.  Paying would have been such a struggle without him helping us communicating with the server, because paying separately is definitely not a popular thing. 

 



 

My friends and I also went to Sculpture Park and Rheinpark.  Getting there was not easy.  The ticket machines are all in German, everyone spoke German for the most part.  Even the workers at the information desk were not helpful in trying to figure out what ticket to purchase for public transportation.  After 30 minutes we finally figured it out.  Asking strangers is necessary and having the first thing that comes out of my mouth is “do you speak English?”.  It is quite weird asking that question to anyone who I speak too. 



One thing that stood out to me is not every young German knows English. I had to go to the pharmacy and grab medicine and every young worker I asked did not speak English.  Maybe a little bit but not enough to understand what I was asking.  Finally, I talked to an older lady who spoke fairly good English.  I thought it was strange that out of all of the people working the oldest lady knew English.  It was quite the adventure on figuring out what was going on.



Cultural Comparisons

As I boarded my plane to Ireland I did not know what to expect from this place. When I arrived everything was different but in a good way of course.  The people here are absolutely the nicest people I have ever met.  They will do anything for you with a smile and their arms out.  On the bus ride to the hotel I was terrified.  I was expecting a speed limit and speed limits do not exist here.  AND they drive on the opposite side of the road which confuses me to no end. So I literally have to look both ways when I cross the road so I am not road kill.   

 The first time my roomies and I went grocery shopping, our advisors told us to bring shopping bags with us.  I did not think anything of it until we were checking out.  Ireland is big on recycling so therefore they do not give us bags to carry our things in like Wal*Mart does.  If you do want a bag it costs 20 cents.  The other day we were in Dunnes which is the grocery store in Galway and as we were checking out I was observing the other people around me and this family beside me brought in two medium size suit cases and loaded that up with milk, juice, and other foods.  It was pretty cool.  Second thing that is different than America is that their cattle is grass fed instead of corn fed.  I thought the meat would taste more gamey but it is actually really good, and I do not think there is much of a difference.  Third, some places have their own home grown vegetables and fruits that they make into delicious soup.  Soup is the best decision I can make if I go to a small café.  Fourth, Ireland has different processing laws when it comes to food.  Ranch is not a thing in stores.  Sometimes restaurants will have it for wings but it is a little watery.  They eat healthy here and it is a lot cheaper to do so.  In Dunnes you can get three kinds of meat for 10 euro or two kinds of fruit for 3 euro.  It is a great deal! 

Also, another comparison that I have noticed which makes me love Europe even more is that everyone looks well put together when they are in public.  Pajamas are not a fashion statement at all.  Europe keeps it classy. People in Ireland are very hard working and caring.  I respect that.  They also enjoy life everyday instead of being so busy that they forget to.

One last thing that I will compare are there gardas. I figured out ride alongs with gardas (police) are not a thing at all and it disappoints me.  Volunteering in the station isn’t much of a thing either.  Mostly gardas are not in a vehicle anyways, they are mostly on foot and not armed.  Which really surprises me, it is actually pretty cool to know that they feel protected enough to not have weapons on them.  If only America was like that. 

Academic Life.

How oddly it may seem I am taking classes here in Ireland.  Although I do explore a lot there is some adulting to be done. The classes are not hard at all and quite frankly they are really interesting.  Sometimes we have homework but not very often.  I have learned so much about the Irish culture.  Classes begin from 10am to 2pm.  Irish culture and Language are on Mondays and Jane Marie who runs the Park Lodge Hotel teaches us Irish while her sister Fiona teaches us culture.  Irish language is fun to learn!  We know the basics such as hello and good-bye; what the weather is like; and hobbies.  Sometimes the pronunciation is hard to get but eventually it gets better.  I think it is bizarre that not many people know or speak the language anymore.  AND it is even taught in primary and secondary Irish schools, and English is forbidden, and still barely anyone speaks it… crazy.  Literature is on Tuesdays and that course requires reading from poetry to short stories to plays.  So far I have enjoyed all of the readings we have had to do.  History is on Wednesdays and that class is always interesting.    We have had several debates and the others who are in my class LOVE debating.  It is quite the show.  Today we had a debate about Oliver Cromwell at the King’s Head in Galway.  Let’s say the debate got pretty heated but surprisingly not out of control like I was expecting.  Oliver Cromwell is basically hated in Ireland, so never bring his name up.   The Kings Head is a historical place, and now is a pretty cool looking pub about Charles I.  What we learn in history reflects a lot on our field trips.  Ireland has so much history behind every stone.

Aran Islands

Last weekend we went to the Aran Islands.  It was about a 45 minute ferry ride to the island.  It was really cold, windy, and rainy for the two days we were there.  Before I finally left to the island I told some other locals here in Galway, and Spiddal where I was going and all they said was have fun with the weather.  Should definitely take notes from them.  I was bummed out that I could not ride on the bikes because of the awful weather.  As I got off of the ferry, I walked to a grocery store and waited 30 minutes for the bus to come pick me up.  After that I went to the frigid hostel to leave my belongings.  All of us hiked 6-7 miles and I saw the worm hole, and cliffs galore.  I am very scared of heights, so for those who stood very close to the cliff terrified me because of the crashing never ending ocean below.  It was a beautiful view, but terrifying at the same time.  The first part of our tour was a bus ride and we saw the whole island.  The whole entire island is nine miles long and 3 miles wide.  Everything about it was wonderful.  However, I felt really secluded because many buildings were closed and I did not bring a lot of warm clothes.  This is the off season of the year so not too much to do.  After our hike, we went to the hostel expecting it to be warm and it was freezing.  The owner made all of us food and it was delicious!  Later that night all of us went down the block to meet some of the locals.  They are very nice and welcoming to new people.  Even the bus drivers are friendly.  So now if I ever make it back here I know to come during the summer and be prepared for the extreme.

Daily Life

It has been about 3 weeks since I have arrived in Ireland and each day gets better and better. Monday through Wednesday I have class from 10am to about 2pm.  It is a long haul, but the breaks keep me going.  I usually don’t get up until about 9:20 and then I slowly make my way out of bed.  Definitely not a morning person, but each day is getting better.  It rains literally every day, or hails.  When it is sunny outside, I cherish it because it rarely happens.  The weather is beautiful either way though.  The cold bothered me at first but now it is fine.  After class, I usually go to Spiddal with my friends.  The 2 mile walk is a breeze, the scenery will never get old, and it is definitely on point.  The ocean is beautiful, I cannot get enough of it.  If it was warmer I would go swimming.  Also, I am in love with all of the rocks, stone, and houses that Ireland has to offer.  It is nothing that I have seen before.  Walking to Spiddal is a great way to clear my head and it makes me super happy, especially on beautiful days we rarely have. Ha. Uh, Tigh Giblin is an amazing restaurant and they have the best queso dip.  Might be better than Qdoba if that is possible.  As were in Spiddal we go to Texaco to grab a few groceries.  I do cook, and my cooking skills are definitely improving.  The other night I made my cottage, baked chicken, sautéed peppers, and rice. It wasn’t too fancy but it was mighty delicious.  Also, in Galway is where my cottage mates do our real grocery shopping at.  Dunnes is an excellent store with excellent prices.  Galway has a harbor and when I first saw it I was amazed.  I have never seen anything like it before.  It makes me want to go deep sea fishing just to get more of an experience of being in Ireland.  It is truly amazing how much Ireland feels like home minus cornfields and familiar faces.    

Ah, Locals. (:

The locals here in Ireland are absolute sweet hearts.  When we all travel to Spiddal or Galway and go into the pubs or a small café the people are so nice.  They are interested in where we are from in the United States, and ask us what brings us here (school).  If they think we are interesting, I would say they are very interesting in general, especially their accents.  The locals make you feel safe in all ways possible, and they are not shy to come up and talk to you either.  Although, their driving scares me a bit.  I guess I would fit in just right for those of you who know how “safe” I drive.  Last weekend all of us went to Galway, and a group of us went to the King’s Head.  It was awesome, they always have live bands so it is really cool.  Everyone has a great time and they dance. On 9 February it was Pancake Tuesday, and it is quite the big deal here.  It is the day before Ash Wednesday... Ireland is very religious.  Any who, six of us walked to Spiddal while it was raining pretty well, keep in mind that Spiddal is two miles away from where we are staying all for AMAZING pancakes at Tigh Giblin.  Literally the best pancakes I have ever ate.  So the walk was well worth it.  Usually I do not eat them at all in the United States, but I am so glad I did.  I ordered mine with apples, and when my plate came out with three small pancakes, melted dark chocolate, diced green apples, and maple syrup, my heart was so very happy.  Our waiter was the nicest guy and did everything he could to accommodate us.  One thing I love about this country is that the taxes are within the prices. (;

Week 1 of an Adventure

On January 30th, 2016 I boarded a plane to Newark, New Jersey and after the four hour layover my group and I was off to Ireland. My thoughts on the plane were normal I would say although I was not scared at all, maybe just a tad nervous.  I was excited more than anything. I have never been to such a beautiful country until now. I was amazed of how cold, windy, and rainy it is here.  Reading about it and experiencing it are two different things.  If I can handle this weather and having to walk miles in this sort of weather  there is no excuse for me to complain about Nebraska weather.   We finally arrived at the Park Lodge Hotel and that's where we saw where we would be staying in an adorable cottage. Jet lag is a real thing, this week has been rough considering I have been going to sleep around 7am and having class at 10am.  Six hours does not seem like a big difference but it truly is.  On Sunday, my roomies and I took a walk to the Atlantic Ocean.  It is beautiful there and very salty. On Monday we had our first class.  Jean Marie teaches us Irish!  So far I have learned multiple Irish words.   Later that day we walked two miles in eighty mile per hour wind to get to a tiny town called Spiddal.  Took a tour of the place and finally found a coffee shop.  I was amazed by how cheap it is and how delicious it is.  WAY better than American coffee.  Classes are going well for it being the first week. Ireland makes me not want to go back to America.