10 Days left

I hate that i have to say goodbye to Ireland. I know it sounds crazy but it's starting to feel like home here. You know the cliche saying "home is where the heart is", well...ive lived several places, so my heart is easily adapted. And it seems to have built a very strong rapport with this country.

This past weekend, we stayed on a little penninsula south of Galway called Dingle. It is located in County Kerry. We left friday morning and returned Sunday afternoon. And despite the downpour of rain that inhibited our visits to archaelogical sites from the medieval period, it was still fun. I heard several times before we left that Dingle is one of the most traditional Irish locations as far as old culture and language goes. Not to mention, the landscape was stunning; especially in the rain. Its amazing how something can be so green that not even dense fog cover can rid it of its color. I was a little upset that we werent able to stop more often to take pictures because of the weather, but i managed to get some good ones from the bus window. I'll post them as soon as i can (im on campus right now and dont have access to my pictures). So driving there in the thunderstorm was intersting and a little intense at times. Imagine being on a huge tour bus, navigating its way through one-lane, irish roadways that are right along giant cliffs. Literally. At a few moments, there was a steep drop on our left-hand side straight into the ocean with only a rock fence outlining the side of the road. And on our other side was rocky walls that nearly scraped the bus. I have bruises on my legs from where i was digging my nails into them. But our bus driver was awesome and never let us down :) (speaking of which... Michelle and i ended up drinking with him and the program assistant, David, at one of the bars in dingle. Hilarious guy).

So on our way there, we stopped at some medieval, beehive house structures as well as the most beautiful beach/cliff/hilly scene ive ever seen. Seriously...it is byfar the most beautiful place ive ever been. It took my breath away. Ill post the really crappy pictures i have, i promise. We got to Dingle around 6pm and finally got situated into our "hostel". Michelle and i got lucky, however, and got to stay in the "hotel" part...which means we actually were provided towels to shower with and a door that locks. :) It pays off being David's "two favorite girls". Thats right...i've got skills.

That night we went out to dinner and spent way to much money and a small meal (very common here....annoying); went out to a pub with the group and ended up leaving early to get ice cream and go to sleep early. We were tired and cranky...and we really missed Galway. It was sad....and hard to explain how much we wanted to go back home. NO were not ungreatful...its just...different! We LOVE it here! We woke up the next day, had breakfast and got back on the bus in the pouring rain to visit a Museum about the Blasket Islands. (wiki them.....stunning..). We got back to town that afternoon and went out downtown to partake in the authentic Irish experience. Dingle was great fun, although not the same, and not nearly as populated. But Michelle and I had drinks with David and the bus driver which resulted in great fun :o). Not to mention, they had a jukebox with a TON of Beatles music on it....so we spent a lot of money to dance.

OH! i got the cutest, most flattering compliment ever this weekend! Michelle and i were walking to the "toilet" as they call it here, and i was a few feet behind her. These two guys close to my age are walking towards us and the first one stops in a very abrupt manner and says "oh my heavens! You are stunning! What a georgous face!" And i blushed a raspberry red and stumbled "thank you!" out. It was so genuine. It made me smile...even if i disagree. :)

The next day we woke up and left and got home...(yes.."home") at like 4 to a beautiful sunny day. We got off the bus on campus so we could walk home and take pictures of NUI-Galway (the school were studying at). And that about sums up the trip to Dingle! Lots of rain.

We have papers due on Friday and a lot of stuff going on this week, so i'm going to be so busy...which means time is going to go by fast. I hate that thought. Today a group of us is going out with our Gaelic (irish) language instructor, Ken, who is probably 25 years old and funny as can be. He is leading us on our first "pub crawl" to all of his recommended locations. He gives us crap everyday for going to the wrong places. He seems to be the type to prefer "old man" pubs where you meet old irish men that tell funny stories. Which i enjoy as well, but i have become quite partial to traditional irish music which is played at a lot of the bigger, more "american" bars. So this ought to be interesting!

Tuesday is dedicated to writing my papers so that we can go see Harry potter at the Midnight showing (YAYAYAYAY!) and then Wednesday we are celebrating Michelles 21st birthday, including seeing the band Hot Chicken Reels at the Kings head. THAT is going to be an interesting night. Thursday is Michelle's actual birthday and hopefully a day to recover and finish some more work. This weekend was going to be London, but i think thats cancelled (which were kind of excited about). It will be my last weekend here, so i hope to make the most of it.

I have met some of the most genuine, sincere people here that i'm really sad to have to say goodbye to. I have to admit...on the bus ride home from Dingle...i was coming up with everyway possible in which i could move here. If only the un-employment rate wasnt so bad here. I would move here in a heartbeat if i could find a job. (my dad too....because my family would have to come with me). I considered taking a year off after i graduate to come work here....but since it woudl be to hard to find a job, i thought about coming here for my Master's degree then going to lawschool after that. But....that is a LOT of school i cant pay for. So i'm not sure what to do. If only i could hit the lottery.

Its going to be a hard transition back to America. I am very nervous to drive. I'm so used to the left hand side thing now...that it feels natural.

So...with only 10 days left...here are my lists:

Top 10 things ill miss:
1. The people (in general)
2. The lively irish culture
3. Not working (i have offically not worked for the longest period of time, ever, since the DAY i turned 16, including when i went away to school. 20 days!)
4. Being away from everything i wanted to get away from in America. (i'm not ready to come back....)
5. Potatoes...(they are simply amazing here...i cant explain it)
6. Suibhne (and his friend Patrick)....amazing people.
7. Being made fun of for being english..(My name is Chelsea Sherman...do you GET anymore English (as in England) than that?) Not to mention...there are some hard core anti Chelsea FC football fans. Hahaha. My name always starts converstations!
8. Seeing live music every night.
9. Michelle :(
10. All the stray puppies that roam the streets. They are adorable..and everywhere!

Top 10 things i miss about America:
1. the sun
2. $1.00 cheeseburgers at McDonalds (rather than the 2 euro cheesburgers here)
3. My guitar
4. all of my clothes! I'm so tired of wearing the same clothes over and over
5. Daily Grind coffee
6. Earning money rather than just spending it
7. Socks
8. Having a working cell phone
9. the food
10. Cheap prices for everything!

Well i suppose that will be it for now. I'm going to *try* and write everyday for the last 10 days im here, but we'll see how that goes. If you have any questions or want to yell at me for my bad spelling, email me! I miss having people talk to me that love me :) (ChelseaMSherm@gmail.com). And i suppose if you have any requests for stuff you want me to bring back for you, feel free to ask!

P.S. I recommend everyone visit Ireland if possible. But it has to be a situation were you become a part of the culture for a period of time (a week isnt enough). This place is amazingly simple and unique.

Totally my style.