One of the cottages they have on the castle grounds. 
This is Ellyn trying to navigate the stairwells.
View of County Limerick from the roof
On the roof of the Castle.After we left the castle was when we drove the rest of the way in the pouring rain to Dingle. Here are some pictures of the beach i was telling you about. These pictures do NOT do it justice (although im sure my dad can photoshop some of them so that they do...right dad?)
Sheep on the cliff side....they are EVERYwhere. I'm surprised they can navigate some of the terrain.
Here it is.....in the pouring rain. I'm telling you...it was breathtaking. Of the to left just of shore is one of the Blasket Islands...its huge.
I didnt take many pictures of Dingle because it was raining so bad and i didnt want to take my camera out in it. So that is all you get so far!Now im going to just put up some fun pictures from the past couple weeks. These ones below are when we hung out with the band. They are the. funniest. guys. i've. ever. met (like the emphasis?). Yes....Banjo player is wearing a cookie monster shirt...Its cute :)
Michelle and i with David (banjo player from Hot Chicken Reels) and his friend Marcus....I have no idea what im doing/looking at.
Me and Michelle
This is Chris on July 4th, dressed up as an "american". Apparently we wear Nasa jumpsuits or something. Pilot maybe?So last week Michelle's friend from home, Jess, came to visit us for a while. On her last night here we went out (of course....its what you do in Ireland)....and ya....here are some pictures.
No judgments...
I have no idea....i'm eating a lemon after my Tequila shot....the eyes...well thats...um.....supposed to not happen. I wore a patch for crying out loud! (jk...its intentional im sure)
Michelle, Jess (Michelle's friend who came to visit us) and I...flashing the peace signs. We are hippies
The group at the Quays.
Hanging out at the Spanish Arch.
Sunset on the Arch.Anyway! So update from the last couple days. I've gotten nowhere on my papers. They are only three pages, so im really not stressing about them. But I probably should have started them a while ago, just for my sanity. But i havent, and we are going out tonight for Michelle's 21st birthday celebration...so tomorrow is going to be a wasted day. Hahaha :)
Pub Crawl with Ken (irish teacher) on Monday was fun. We went to some really local pubs and had a blast. I practiced my irish when ordering drinks, etc. (more like butchered the language). Ken brought some of his friends along with him and one in particular...Diver?....and i didnt get along so well. He called me Manchester (English soccer team....they are the bandwagon team that everyone likes...kinda like the yankees?...well one of their rival teams is Chelsea FC....so i get a LOT of crap from irish people because of my name. Some of the Irish arent to fond of the British....google Northern Ireland)
Anyway! He took a liking to me right away. And by liking...he figured out really quick that i'm.....opinionated? And someone...politics was mentioned. I had my first political discussion with a group of Irish men, as well as some republican american girls in our group (gross!... :). It was...intense. Once again...i was the odd man out and surrounded by a bunch of republicans talking about Obama and the U.S. I held my own, but tended to keep my mouth shut as much as possible. If ive learned anything here so far, its to NOT discuss religion or politics. Especially if you have opposing opinions. But it was a witty exhange and all in good fun. When the night was over and we had our 3am ice cream on the walk home, i was nowhere closer to speaking irish than i was the day before. Oh well!
Last night the NUI-Galway program people coerced (not really) us into see this play called Palace of the End. It was....inappropriate. The Galway Arts Festival is coming up, so they are showing a lot of plays and art exhibits, etc. Its going to be exciting. However, this play (google it) was very controversial. It featured three main monologues; each by a different character. The first one was a depiction of the girl from WV that was involved in the Abu Gahrib controversy about torturing and humiliating Iraqi POW's. It was from her point of view. It was terrible. I almost walked out, and one guy in the program who is in the military did. I couldnt believe it. She gave details and urg.....that play was a complete waste of my life. It pretty much made Americans look like in-sensitive, terrorizing, assholes. Why the school made us watch this play was beyond me. I asked David (program assistant) why after, and he said it was only because this was the only play the were able to get 160 tickets to. No wonder.....it was monsterous.
We had a seminar yesterday about Irish Sports and Nationalisim and i was so intersted in it, i decided to write one of my essays on it. :) Maybe ill post some of it when im done on the blog. Most likely not....though. I'm to self conscience to have other people read my essays. Only my dad :) He can edit a paper like a beast!
What else:.........i love it here and i never want to leave? I feel like i say that so often, but its true. This experience has completely changed me (cliche..i know). But it has. I am really dreading the idea that i have to go back to my regular life with my busy schedule and insufficient amount of breathing time. I'm going to miss it all. One of my main goals in life is to, in some way, change a part of the world. I know everyone says that. But i really do want to make a difference somehow, and i have deep desire to do that here in Ireland. I feel like i could make a difference here in some way. Oh well....we will see where life takes me.
P.S....i encourage everyone to watch the movie "The Wind that Shakes the Barley". It is a historical fiction movie about the struggle/fight/war in Ireland between the British and how Ireland was divided into the Republic (southern 26 counties) and Northern Ireland (northern 6 counties). It is really sad, but so good. Watch that movie and then tell me you dont want to move here and try to make a difference!
Okay....i suppose thats all for now. (now that its noon and i havent started my paper and i was supposed to have one of them done by now!).
<3
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