Again

the Cliffs of Moher

Me and Morgan at the Burren

The Burren

Me on the cliffs of Dun Aengus

Me at the coast on the Aran Islands

The Aran Islands

This is the group of girls that went to the Parade


This is the money that was handed out at the parade.

Coming to a Close--

Oh my goodness, I am so horrible at posting on this. My appologies. Well, since my last post I have been to Galway, the Aran Islands, Sligo, and went to County Clare to see the Burren and Cliffs of Moher.

We'll start with Galway:
We left Dublin at 10am and got on the road for about a 2 hour bus trip to Galway. On the bus ride, I definitely did my share of sleeping but we also watched "The Crying Game"...an interesting movie--kinda strange. Anyway. When we got to Galway, we were taken straight to where we would be staying--Corrib Village. It is a little bit outside of the city centre but it backs up direction to NUIG (National University of Ireland-Galway). We all got settled into our rooms...most of us had singles which was really nice. I had a single with a double bed which was amazing! After sharing a small room for the past three weeks it was definitely nice to have my own space and be able to spread out in a big girl bed. :) After we got settled me and a couple other girls too the shuttle into town (Corrib Village provided a free shuttle every hour into the city centre). We went to the grocery store to get food for the week--a much cheaper way to go. We had little kitchenettes that were equiped with a fridge, sink, stove, oven and plenty of cups, dishes and silverware. So we stocked up for the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a smart decision. When we got back it was later, so we made ourselves dinner and then got ready and a big group of us decided to head back into the city centre and check out what the Galway Nightlife had to offer. It was definitely a different scene than Dublin--it was kind of crazy and a little intimidating. All of the bars were overflowing onto the street and there were people everywhere. It was nuts. We found a bar called The Quays (pronounced keys) and found a low key area in the basement where we could all fit which was good.

On Sunday, we woke up and two of the guys were making us 4 of us girls breakfast! It was a pleasant surprise and delicious...scrambled eggs and then peanut butter toast and bananas! After breakfast we got ready and a group of us went back into town to check out a parade that was going on. The Galway Arts Festival was starting this week and the parade was the kick off. It was very interesting--there were a lot of mini-vinettes rather than floats and bands like we were used to. Everyone was in costumes and basically performed the entire duration of the play. Very neat. However, there were a lot of cuts made at America which was weird. They were handing out fake money--which resembled the American Dollar and on it said various things like "In Cash We Trust" and something along the lines of "You wont finish what you start, but it doesn't matter". Very strange... After the parade was over some of us girls walked around and went shopping for a little while. We decided to catch the 5:30 shuttle back and make dinner. Took it easy that night and stayed in Corrib Village, hung out and got a good nights sleep.

Monday we headed off to the Aran Island, InisMor. We took a bus to the port and then a ferry over to the island. The ferry ride was absolutely gorgeous...little did we know the beauty we were about to encounter once we got to the island. We got there and had lunch at a cute little B&B which an incredible view. Then we all rented bikes (kind of like mackinac) and we took an amazing bike ride all around the island. We saw so many beautiful views and then we ended up at a cliff called "Dun Aengus" It was incredible. The view from up there was amazing (I will try to post some pictures if I can get it to work!). We had a beautiful day for all of this riding. It was amazing. It was definitely one of my favorite things that we have done so far. The bike ride back was seriously a work out- so many hills- I never thought it was going to end. (Charlevoix group- you would have been so proud...I went on a bike ride. An intense one at that!) We were all exhausted after the trip (most of us fell asleep on the ferry ride and the bus ride). There was definitely no going out for me that night...I think almost everyone stayed in and just passed out right after dinner.

Tuesday, we had class-well we had a guest lecturer. He was very entertaining. He talked to us about Irish theatre...and you could tell he was very involved in theatre himself. He was really interesting and keep us listening for sure. After his lecture, I'm pretty sure it was about lunch time--went back and made some lunch. (All of the days are running together, and i have been just as bad which my journal as i have been with this...whoopsies! i'm doing my best to put the days together correctly). After lunch I went shopping in the City Centre with Sandy and Caitlin. I splurged and bought myself a GORGEOUS sweater. Its beautiful..I can't wait to wear it during the cold Michigan winters. The two girls got themselves Claddagh rings. It was a successful day! We came home for dinner and then went over and hung out with some other people in a group. A group of us decided to go out to a famous Galway bar "The King's Head". It was a very low key night, which was good--we had a smaller group, which always makes things easier.

Wednesday: We woke up did breakfast and had to get to the university to see "The Field" at 10. It is a famous Irish film, but it is slightly bizzare. After the film we had a guest lecturer on the history of British settlement in Ireland. I'm not going to lie, he was pretty boring. His topic just wasn't very interesting and he really did not try to make it interesting. Oh well...you win some you lose some. We have had very good lecturers, so I guess we can deal with one boring one. After the guest speaker, we were all starving so we went back to Corrib to make some lunch. We had a little down time after that and went on a Walking Tour with a student of NUIG. He took us around the City Centre and told us some good places to eat and then of course showed us what pubs we should check out. When that was over, some people stayed in town and ate, but to save money I went back with Caitlin and we made ourselves dinner. Then it was time to get ready and we went to another low key bar called "The Living Room". We had a bigger group that night but it was a lot of fun. Our group is really meshing together well and everyone gets along so well. It will be really sad when this is all over.

Thursday: We had another guest lecturer in the morning--I swear with all these guest speakers, my prof is getting off easy on the teaching department! This guy was a little more interesting...He talked to us about Irish film..and he had a lot of clips from films--if he hadn't had those it would probably have been really boring. At 1:00 we went to a bar called Roshin Dubh for a traditional irish music performance. It was 3 guys...probably in their mid-20's called Gannon and Friends. They were phenominal--it was so cool to listen to them and watch them play. At the very end one of their friends came up on stage and he did some irish dancing which was really neat to watch as well. After that was over we had some down time and then Caitlin, Sandy and I went to dinner at "The Spud House". Wow it was soooo good. It was basically a intensely stuffed baked potato with an awesome salad. It was sooo good. We then walked to another music performance called Music at the Crossroads. It was amazing. It was 7 musicians and 2 dancers. Each of the musicians played at least 3 different instruments...a bunch of people bought their cd so we can all listen to it! The dancers were amazing...I cannot imagine how strong their leg muscles have to be. They move so fast! After the performance I went back with a few people and I was able to talk to Janell on the phone for a bit which was really nice! I miss everyone from home.

Friday: We were up and at 'em and on the road by 10:15. Today was a long tour to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. It was incredible. The weather was not as clear as I had hoped, but it was still awesome. The Burren is really cool because you are standing on these coral looking type rocks, that used to be the ocean floor. Its really pretty amazing. And then the Cliffs of Moher..well they were just breathtaking -- I took a ton of pictures and hopefully will be able to share on here and of course when I get home. After we all got back, I had some dinner with one of the girls and then we all started getting ready for our last night in Galway. It was a blast...made for a rough bus ride the next morning though.

I'm going to end this here...give you all a break and go write a paper and I'll come back and post again about Sligo. I've been having a blast in our travels...but oh is it good to be back in the Dub!
Miss you all and will talk to you soon!

Here are a few pictures!!

Charles and I enjoying the playground we found :)

The statue of Oscar Wilde, we were so excited to see.

Throwing a 1cent piece into the fountain for good luck!

Me in St. Stephen's Green

My Roommate, Rosemary, and I behind bars!

The Irish Flag flying to remember the men who were executed in that courtyard

Another shot into the newer section of the jail

Me inside one of the jail cells...Kind of creepy--and I look slightly awkward! haha

Inside Kilmainham Jail

Beautiful flowers in Hyde Park...I thought of you, Mom, when I saw these---the Purples are gorgeous!

The Tower Bridge...Taken from our river cruise!

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Me in front of Buckingham Palace

Kelsey and I...in the London Phonebooth!

Lots of Updates!

Oh my goodness! I am so awful at keeping this updated frequently! My appologies to anyone who checks this hoping for updates on my adventures and then sadly have nothing new to read. I will do my best to update you on the past week, without it being terribly long or terribly boring (although I don't know quite how it could be!).

London was a blast! I'm so happy I went and experienced all that I had the opportunity to. There was a group of 7 of us in the hostel that we were in. 6 girls and 1 guy, poor Ross put up with a lot that weekend. He was a trooper thats for sure! We all got along really well, and got to know each other a lot better. It was sort of a nice little bonding experience for us and I think we all really had a good time. We did the touristy stuff....Buckingham Palace (we got to see the Changing of the Guard), Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment...then we went on a boat tour/river cruise and saw the London Eye, the Tower of London and the Tower bridge, the Monument, the London Bridge and all of that good stuff. We had amazing weather that day (and yes, lets be honest, I got a little sunburned! haha). The sun was shining and it was gorgeous to be out on a boat for a little while. That evening, all of us girls went to go see Wicked. It was very good. I have wanted to see it for a while, and I'm really glad we decided to go while we were there. I mean, if anyone asked where I saw Wicked, I get to reply: "Oh in London!". Very cool. At the same time it made me a little sad, because my Mom and I had always talked about going to see it, so it made me think of and miss her. And also the song "For Good" definitely made me think of all my girls back home. I'm not going to lie I definitely got the chills when that song was sung and my eyes for sure welled up with tears. All in all it was worth it though and I'm glad I went! The next day we went shopping on Oxford street, which was cool just to get the feel for London Shopping...didnt really buy much...but like I said it was just a cool experience. We also went to see Hyde Park, which I loved. It was so well manicured and the rose gardens were stunning. We all got an ice cream cone of delicious ice cream and sat by the lake and enjoyed ourselves before we had to rush off for the airport to head back to Dublin.

This week has been pretty low-key, which I slightly regret because there is truly lots to see in Dublin. I got home on Monday evening, so there wasnt much time to do anything on Monday...so I just got unpacked and settled in and tried to catch up on some sleep. I swear I do not sleep nearly enough here...its nuts! Tuesday we had a movie in the morning and class in the afternoon. After class, I did a little laundry and caught up on some reading and then was conned in to going out that night. They all said that I was so productive during the day that I should allow myself to go out--so I did! It was a good time...the Nightlife here is a blast! There is always somewhere to go...usually multiple places in one time. There are so many different types of atmospheres to choose from that you always have a different experience each time you go out!

On Wednesday, we had another movie in the morning, and then at 2:30 we went to Kilmainham Goal (which is a jail). It has been turned into a tourist place...Our professors orgainzed this trip and the majority of our group went. It was a very interesting tour...slightly creepy to think about the fact that people were actually kept and killed in the exact places that we were walking, but it was a place that had a ton of history. It was a jail under British rule and it was where many of the men involed in the 1916 Easter Rising were sent. I'm really glad that it was an organized tour--our guide was very informative and it was extremely interesting. When we got back to our rooms, we had just enough time to get ready and then we were going to a stand up comedy performance. It was quite different from American Stand-up...but again, the experience was a good one. The jokes were extremely different from that of, hmm, lets say...Dane Cook. Haha, oh well It was sufficiently entertaining. That night I got 10.5 hours of sleep that night...and oh let me tell you it was INCREDIBLE! I was very refreshed on Thursday, people did not know what got into me!

Thursday was a very easy day. I got some reading done in the morning and we had a guest lecturer during our 1:30 class. It was a professor from Texas, who is a scholar on Irish history and culture. She was interesting and very knowledgable. She talked a lot of about the scandals of the Catholic Church in Ireland, which to me was really interesting to hear about. After that was over, we replayed the film we watched on Tuesady-"Bloody Sunday"--- when we watched it on Tuesday the sound reel was broken..and we only heard certain sounds and dialogue. We all thought it was supposed to be that way and were trying to come up with deep significance for the silence and really thought it was quite powerful. And then our professor told us that it was just broken and all our brilliant ideas when down the drain! Oh well...so we rewatched the film and heard it with sound and understoood it quite a bit more easliy. Its a very depressing film and really upsetting to know that it was a real event that really did happen and 13 people were killed during it. Anyway, Thursday night, almost every person in our group went out because it was kind of our last night in 'The Dub' (as we fonding refer to dublin). We leave tomorrow, Saturday, morning for Galway.

Goodness, this is getting long--i'm sorry bear with me!
Today, We actually went around and did some things. We definitely did not get an early start--I hate to say that we were all moving slow from last night. Rosemary (my roommate) and I would have slept until all hours, if our friend Ross hadn't come and pounded on our door at 9:45. I didn't show up to breakfast, like I said I would, so being a nice guy, he came to check on us. And rudely woke us up! Oh well, it slightly got us moving. A group of us went to Pizza Hut for their all you can eat buffet (I know...American food...blah blah blah, but it was definitely necessary this morning. I was able to get a Fountain Drink with Ice that I have been so desperately craving!!!!!). After our delicious and filling lunch a group of us went to go see the Book of Kells. It was a little built up for what it actually is, but I mean...its one of those things that you need to see. It was very interesting to read about and then actually look at, and see how ornate and detailed the pages are. Its crazy to look at something like that and think that a person sat there day in and day out and wrote it---we're just so used to technology doing it all for us. So I'm not sure if it was worth the 7 euro, but it was definitely a must see. By the time we got out of there it was getting close to 5 and most all the tourist things shut down by then, so early. So we walked down to St. Steven's Green (which is kind of like a Central Park type area)...walked around there and got some pictures..then we walked to another Park to find the Statue of Oscar Wilde. We were all getting kind of slap happy at the point and were really working this statue up to be really awesome that by the time we got there we just went crazy with pictures and laughing. I mean its really not that impressive...it is a very cool statue don't get me wrong, but I think we may have been a little TOOOO enthusiastic about it! We also found a playground in that park and were rather excited to go play on the playground...until it started down pouring on us!

So we got back, i fell asleep for a little bit, then did some laundry and had to pack everything up. We have to be checked out and ready to get on the bus by 10, so I'm going to call it a night soon. Afterall, it is 12:12 am here. Yikes! No wonder I'm tired all the time!

Well I hope you were all able to bear with me during this...I've been told that we might be able to get internet in our rooms in Galway...so keep your fingers crossed and hopefully I will be able to to many of you. I hope you are all doing well and are safe and enjoying your summers. I truly miss everyone...I got a little sad last night when we were out because I wanted all my friends to be there with me experiencing it all. You guys are constantly in my thoughts and on my heart as I do each thing over here. I'll talk to you soon.

Love always,
Jenny

Greetings from London!

Hello everyone!

I am actually in London right now! I got in last night... me and two other girls flew into Luton Airport yesterday. Luton is basically in the middle of no where...I'm pretty sure when we landed and were taxi-ing to the gate I saw a cow, or two...actually an entire herd. Needless to say it wasnt what we expected flying into London to look like. I cannot complain though becuase our flight was about 36€ which comes out to 50 USD which is pretty darn good. So we got a shuttle bus to the train station, and took a train to the King's Cross tube station. Then took the tube to where our hostel was. One of the girls broke away from us because she was meeting up with some other people and staying with a friend. So Amber and I had an interesting time trying to find our hostel. We rode the tube a bit too long, and switched onto the wrong line once or twice but we eventually made it. When we got up to the street we kinda started to freak out because we had no idea what part of London we were in or where we were supposed to go. We went into a store and asked for directions and eventually found our way--there was a nice couple walking in front of us that asked if we were looking for the Ace Hotel and told us we were in the right direction. The place we stayed last night was very nice and very clean. We got there and were able to get on the internet so I could telll my mom and dad that I had arrived safely. Then we found a vending machine and got some snacks because we were starving haha. We were pretty tired out so we went to bed soon thereafter. I was kind of bummed out because I wanted to meet up with Nick to see him, but we really didnt feel safe roaming around London trying to find him. Two girls, first night in London, no idea where we were going--my intuition told me better. So I called him and he understood, he actually told me that we were really far away so it was probably for the best. Its a bummer that he's going to Scotland this weekend, I guess I'll just have to wait until we get back to State to hang out!

The past few days in Dublin have not been too exciting. We have all kind of realized that we actually need to do school work too, so we've been reading and working on assignments so there has been a lull in the sight-seeing. However we have seen two incredible movies for our classes. The first being "Michael Collins" and the second being "The Wind That Shakes the Barley". They both are about the Anglo-Irish war, in which the people of Ireland ban together and form the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and begin their efforts to make Ireland a republic. "Michael Collins" takes place in the heart of Dublin and really its more of a hollywood version of the whole situation...just like any of the hollywood war movies we would see regarding the US. "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" however took place in rural Ireland. It was such a heartwrenching story line that allows you to identify with the characters more.

On Tuesday we had two guest lecturers. One spoke of Irish literature in comparision with other nations--It was fairly interesting. The second of the two, however, was very cool. It was two women who were not from Dublin. It a mother and her daughter--They both are fluent in Gaelic and are Irish Gaelic Reel Singers. They sang a fews songs for us and actually attempted to teach us a song. They forced us to try and sing along....each person having to sing a line so we each could say we did it. It was a very cool experience. Their voices were absolutely beautiful and the sounds and tones that they sang in were so soothing.

On Wednesday evening we went on a tour called the "Easter Rising Tour". Easter Rising was the Irish people's first attempt to rise against the Brits in 1916. It was a failed attempt, but it was the intro to the Anglo-Irish war which eventually led to the Civil war. The tour was fairly interesting, I think I had been expecting it to be longer and to have taken us to more historical sites, but it was still very interesting and informative. It was perfecting timing because we had just viewed the two movies and done quite a bit of reading regarding this time period and these issues.

So as you can see, I am learning lots while having a great time. I am really looking foward to this trip in London. I think we will see lots and have a great time. We need to be mindful of what we spend though, because the exchange rate here is AWFUL! It is like 2.28$ for 1£. Which is insane. We just went and bought a water for 89pence, but in reality thats over 2 dollars. Oh goodness, I am positive I will be broke by the time I make it back to GP.

I hope everything is going well with everyone back home. I am bummed that I do not get to talk to many of you as often as I would like, but I am doing my best to try to stay in contact with people. It is difficult when I don't have internet access at the drop of a hat...and phone calls are expensive. Yikes. Well I would love to hear from everyone...E-mails are great...facebook messages/posts...Keep them coming. Keep calling my home cell phone and leaving me voicemails, I do check it and it is so nice to hear some voices from home. I love and miss you all so much and would love to know whats going on with all of you. Well my minutes on this computer are running out, and this has been a long blog post so I am off to explore the amazing city of London!
Take care, and I'll be talking to you soon.

Love always,
Jenny

Enjoy some Picturessss!

Hello Everybody!!
Those are a few of my pictures from our hike in Glendalough. It was by far the favorite thing I have done so far. It was so gorgeous and we had amazing weather! The past two days have been very laid back. I decided to do some of my reading and catch up on my school work, yes I have to keep reminding myself that I have school work to do and not just all fun and games! I'll post some more pictures as I take them. But its getting late and I have class tomorrow so I better hit the sack! Night night!

Where the streets have no names...

So I've decided that U2 wrote the the song "Where the Streets have no names" based on dublin because there are hardly any street signs here. We just spent a good 25 minutes getting lost due to the lackage of street signs.

Anywayyyy. I havent posted on here for a while...I've been so busy this weekend trying to be good about going out and see all that is Dublin. On Friday I went on a bus tour around the city with a girl named Caitlin and we saw where a lot of things are. We didn't get off at any of the stops, but it was still good to get a chance to see things. We met up with a few other people and went to Christ Church...which is amazing. It was very cool to go through a large gorgeous church like that, thats not Catholic. I took plenty of pictures, probably too many (of course) and will try to post a few so you can see what I'm experiencing! After that we tried to find St. Patrick's cathedral and got lost. stupid street sings. We're going to do that on Monday, when all of the lines go down. This city is CRAZY on the weekends. I mean its crazy during the week, but its absolutely NUTS on the weekends...so many people, but its fun! We met up with some other people in the group and grabbed some dinner and then headed out for the night. The party scene is even more ridiculous on the weekends, there are so many pubs, bars and clubs but still everything single one is jammed packed. Definitely a good time though.

Now Saturday is what I'm really excited to tell yall about! We went on a 'hiking' type trip!!!! We found a bus that would take us to Glendalough for 18€ to a visitors center. The bus ride was about an hour long and a little bumpy in the back of the bus. We were feeling pretttttty car sick by the end of it. 18 of us unloaded out of the bus in front of a gorgeous landscape of the Irish hills and mountains. Oh my goodness it was breath taking. We got a trail map and just went off along the trails. Waterfalls, cliffs, forests, rivers, lakes, you name it it was there. And it was greeeeen. And it was absoultely amazing. Again I took a million pictures, dont worry. I was way camera happy and I got quite a few good shots. I will try to post some of those soon too! We were there from about 12:30-5:30...so a good majority of the day. We had originally thought that the bus left at 4:30, and a lot of the girls were kind of sick of the nature thing, so we turned in early. But when we found the bus schedule, me and one of the guys, Ross, went off for another hour or so. We decided to go a different way and kind of off the beaten path. It was great. We found a water fall and followed it down to see where it emptied out. We then walked along the river for a while and ran into an older Irish woman. We talked to her for a little while about the mountains and then she helped us find our way out. It was a really cool experience. Got back just in time. The weather was great all day. We could not have asked for a better day to do it.

AHHHH JANELL JUST CALLED I HAVE TO GO. WRITE MORE LATER!