A Note on Travel

Hello all! This weekend many of my American crew (and one of our Irish friends!) and I will be skipping on over to Edinburgh for the weekend! Needless to say, next week’s blog post will cover all the places we went and people we met. However, I actually was just in Edinburgh last weekend with mom and dad! I thought I’d take a moment to note that when I blog about a place I’ve traveled to, I will be combining my experiences into one big happy post. It would take me forever to post about all the cities that I traveled to with my parents. Plus, I think merging my two visits—once where I am properly fed and can enjoy touring in the company of family, and once as a college student trekking with a too-heavy backpack—provides a more holistic view of a single location.

That being said, I want to include some pictures of my parents and I together in Ireland! I was elated by their visit, and so very happy that I got to see them and that they got to see where I am and what I’m experiencing abroad. (Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, I love you!) Cheers!

Mom and I at the Cliffs of Moher

And Dad and I as well!

Walking at Blarney Castle.

Is that bigfoot? Nah just my dad okay

I didn't trust him to hold me...

Had to kiss the Blarney Stone!

Don't we look good ;)?

Sun, Rain, Clouds, and Showers

At this point in my experience living abroad, I thought I should give the Irish weather its due explanation. In fact everyone here tends to revere the different kinds of weather rather like the pantheon of gods of the ancients, and when the sun breaks free of the heavy clouds here, you really do come to feel like the sun god has arrived and is shining down on Ireland!

THE SUN IS OUT EVERYONE QUICK GO OUTSIDE

I'm typing this now from my apartment's balcony. This is the first occasion I've even been able to use it, and I sprang out here as soon as I woke up and felt the sun streaming in through my window. You see, sunshine is precious here. One learns to appreciate sunshine in a whole new way--it becomes a lovely treat and marks certain days as special. This is because most of the time the weather here is a capricious, fickle friend: A local saying claims that "You can experience all four seasons in a single day in Ireland." And that's no overstatement! In the course of a single day, the weather can change from cloudy, to pouring for 3 minutes tops, to glaringly beautiful sunshine, to 40 mph winds, and then return to cloudy and raining. The only thing that actually doesn't ever seem to change is the temperature, which typically varies only about 5 degrees throughout the day (due to being a coastal town). It constantly hangs around 40 degrees like a sulking child, refusing to dry off and get warm.

A much more accurate depiction of the weather, at the Inch Strand.

As such, the outfits day to day must follow a strict standard. I call it "Be prepared for everything." This involves closed-toe shoes, long pants, a sweater, and a raincoat. You might have expected me to say rainboots or at least water-proof shoes, but the Irish have an extraordinary knack for pretending it's not raining (while complaining about it all along). They wear normal, non-waterproof clothes and wouldn't do any even if a hurricane was barreling straight through Galway. I find this amusing because NOTHING, and I mean nothing, ever dries here. The ground, the patio furniture, my towels, the streets, my clothes, my hair--everything is damp, all the time. I've heard that in March and April, the rain begins to let up, and things start to get a little warmer. Who knows? For now, I don't mind the weather, and it's only looking up from here.

A Trip through the Burren to the Cliffs of Moher

Hello all! While trying to look inconspicuous and waiting for my “Ancient Celtic Mythology” lecture to begin here at NUI Galway, I thought I’d write you all a post about my recent weekend trip with Galway Tour Co. to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. Much to my delight, a member of our study abroad group up and decided Friday night to join a €25 tour for Saturday morning. What a great spur-of-the-moment decision that turned out to be! Bright and early on the blustery morning, a bus came to pick our bleary-eyed student group up, and we began our tour narrated by the most chipper man, American or Irish, that I have ever encountered. Starting from Galway, we made our way through the Burren towards the Cliffs and stopped numerous times along the way through County Clare, a southern neighbor to County Galway. 

Our first stop was the famed Dunguaire Castle near the town of Kinvarra. Stunning against the blue of the sea and sky, it sits snugly on the shoreline and looked even a bit cheerful to have the sunlight shining on it.

Dunguaire Castle

Kinvarra

After bumping up and down small hills in our little bus, we stopped next at the Corcomroe Abbey. The stone remains of the monastery, which was founded in the remote, fertile valley in the late 12^th century, consisted of most of the monastery building and a small graveyard. Each were equisitely beautiful in a very quiet, tranquil, isolated manner.

When discussing the introduction of Christianity to the island nation, our tour guide delved into a delightful tangent about the prevalence of superstitious and magical beliefs of the people of Ireland, especially in the more rural and traditional areas of the west. We stopped in what was called a ring fort, in which indigenous people of pre-Christian Ireland lived in a small cluster of buildings surrounded by a earthen wall of sorts. If attacked by people of a different region, inhabitants could escape through underground tunnels that led out of the ring fort. It is these small pits and tunnels which fairies are said to live in, and to avoid the bad luck of fairy mischief, one should never cross a ring fort. (We did though, for the sake of seeing it! Whoops!)

Fairies and wee people be here

The last stop on the way to the Cliffs was the Poulnabrone Dolmen. Called a “portal tomb” due to its shape, this tomb was erected by early peoples that lived in the Burren. The Burren itself, by the way, is a collection of tall hills that are completely rocky with rare flora (the word Burren derives from an Irish word which means “a rocky place”).

And finally, we arrived at the much-anticipated Cliffs of Moher. They definitely did not disappoint!! Towering over the Atlantic sea and breaking its white-capped waves, the rocky Cliffs are a perfect example of the raw beauty of Ireland. The harsh, rugged cliffs were softened only by a slight mist and long flowing grass. After trekking to various points (and along perilous edges) we were able to see a rare Irish sunset over the Cliffs to the west. 

My friend Brittney and I all bundled up against the wind!

A small pond of rainwater collected at one of the cliff edges

A perfect end to a perfect day!

Howiya from Dublin!

It’s still hard for me to believe that I am typing from Dublin, Ireland right now, and what a past few days it has been getting here!  I suppose the luck was on my side in getting to the green isle, because all my flights were (mostly) on time. The approach to the wild beauty of the coastline was a wonder to see out of the airplane window I had slumped and slept against for the past six hours. A pounding in my sinuses became concomitant with every miniscule dip the plane made, due a poor combination of a bad cold and even worse windy weather. My Irish plane neighbor said something to me while we were looking out the window. “I’m sorry?” I said. “Rough sea,” he repeated, gesturing towards the ocean below. After blinking, I finally understood what he was saying. And that, so far, has been a pattern for my interactions here in Dublin. As our advisors told us in orientation, you thought you came to an English speaking country, eh? Not quite. I’ve had to be all ears to understand the Irish accent since I’ve arrived, and have had to ask many questions about the meaning of words that I have no inkling of an idea about (Smiling and waiting for someone to take pity on the clueless American doesn’t quite work in this do-it-yourself kind of culture). However, that is an entire topic in itself for another time and another post.

What struck me the most as soon as the plane landed was the green. Everything you’ve heard about the flora of the country is true, and even in the winter, packed between the cement of the runways, think tumbling tufts of green grass were rippling in the wind.  Now the city of Dublin itself is much less green and much more industrial. After going amazingly quickly through customs, as well as after getting over the shock of drivers on the right-hand side of the cars, I was able to take a look at the city on the taxi ride from the airport to my hotel, the O’Callaghan Mont Clare. I barely had time to drop off my bags in my room before our first “activity” began. In the basement of the hotel, all of the students in the Institute for Study Abroad, Butler University program gathered in the Yeats room. Before we all had much of chance to meet each other, we were immediately immersed into our first introduction to Irish heritage. A loud, hilariously aggressive, stout woman named Helen plunged us vigorously into a beginner’s lesson on playing the bodhrán. Pronounced boh-ron, this circular drum is one of the oldest existing Irish instruments. Here we are with them:

I'm either laughing or thinking "this is impossible"

To play it, I had to sit, place it on my left knee, “hug” it a bit under my left arm, and place my left hand on the back of the stretched leather. With my right I held the stick used to play it, holding it like a pencil. It required practice and a great deal of wrist dexterity to hit the rum just right, swinging the stick like a pendulum facing yourself while simultaneously moving it toward your left to strike the drum. However, once I got the hang of it enough to try basic rhythms, it made a lovely sound in various combinations of striking as well as in combination with taping the wooden frame on the bodhrán sides. We laughingly played to jigs and reels, and some were even made to sing tunes in the style of traditional lilting (using nonsensical words to sings out rhythmic songs) much to their chagrin. But all in all, it was a lovely experience.

Following breakfast, our advisers gave us a morning chock-full of information about budgeting, class registration, lifestyle of local students, and so on (the less glamorous yet extremely pertinent info about studying abroad). What was much more fun was a visit to the famous Guinness storeroom and brewery. We walked for a bit through the dreary weather to the enormous buildings, and stepped inside to find a beautifully modern interactive museum space that spanned seven floors. On our own we toured through tons of various aspects of the Guinness company, from the extensive and highly-regarded brewing process to advertising and exporting.

Some of the traditionally and not-so-traditionally labelled barrels

Perhaps because I do not know much about beer, I was pleasantly surprised at how in depth and intricate the museum was. But one also must taste, and pour! On one of the upper levels was a pour room, in which bartenders held training sessions to teach us the proper way to pour a perfect Guinness pint. As explained to us by some of the professionals, it takes exactly 119.5 seconds to pour and serve Guinness draught, and should be done as follows:

1. Inspect the Guinness-labeled pint glass for any smudges or blemishes. It must be sparkling!
2. Tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle towards yourself.
3. Pull the Guinness handle towards yourself as well, and allow the glass to fill 3/4ths of the way before releasing the handle.
4. Set the glass on a drip tray to settle, waiting for the color to change completely to dark brown.
5. Holding the glass straight up, top up the pint to the rim of the glass. This time, push the bar away from you. And remember—no overflow!
6. Serve the perfect pint on the bar with the golden Guinness harp facing outwards.

And there you have it! We are supposedly “certified to pour the perfect pint” now. Yeah, sure.

I'll not be pouring that again... that was the heaviest, darkest beer imaginable.

It’s been a great introduction so far to this country. My next post will be coming from my new home in Galway! Until then, cheers!