Two weekends ago, my roommate Jordan and I took a trip to the Comeragh mountains in County Waterford with the mountaineering club for a day. They do day hikes every sunday! We just paid 7 euro for transportation and packed our own lunches/snacks etc. And, it was absolutely stunning!! The pictures don't do it justice whatsoever, but they will give you a good idea as to how beautiful it was! The hike itself was actually quite challenging at points but thanks to my experience in climbing mountains (Philmont :) It was no biggy for me! Some of the people that went were a little surprised I think and kind of lagged behind but it was great fun to meet a bunch of people as well. Jordan and I were singing Disney songs up and down keeping some of those around us entertained (or annoyed...not sure..) But, what we did was actually go up one side of this mountain/crater...which was created by a glacier and then the glacier moved on out however many years ago and left a beautiful lake which you can see in the pics...then we walked around the top of the mountain surrounding the lake and came down the other side. It was awesome!! Good day! Then, on the way home I had my first Irish coffee in a pub...a little strong for me but an experience!
Last week was full of fun things and settling in to the semester classes even more as my Gaelic class and my tin whistle lessons started up!!! Yes, I said tin whistle lessons! Look out, I will be surprising everybody when I get back! And, the Gaelic class is going wonderfully...we are learning a ton really fast. However, the language is quite difficult to learn...you pretty much have to throw out all pronunciation ideas because most words sound nothing like they are written! and i mean NOTHING! but its great craic learning! haha! I have also gotten into a routine with going to a couple things such as a discussion group with the Chaplaincy on Mondays, Christian Union meetings on Tuesday, and Bible study on wednesdays followed by music in the pub, etc... In other words I'm keeping busy! I have also been able to play piano at the music building a few times in the past week or so which has been great!
Last week was a good week that culminated with a retreat to West Cork with the Chaplaincy which turned out to be quite an amazing weekend! There were about 25-30 Cork students (15 of which were international students: french, chinese, malaysian, American) that went...and then the University of Notre Dame has about 30 students studying in Dublin this semester and they joined us! It was a great weekend of getting to know a bunch of Notre Dame students as well as other Cork students both international and Irish! The theme of the weekend was Journey and it was quite a journey. We got to see a variety of Christian/pagan sacred sites such as Drombeg stone circle, timoleague abbey, a Mass rock (where they said mass in secret during the times it was forbidden - this mass rock was in gulley right next to a stream = Beautiful), Skibbereen (Place where the potato famine hit hardest), and finally Gouganne Bara (The birthplace of St. Finbarre supposedly). I can't really say enough about the weekend, other than it was great! On Saturday night, we got to listen to some traditional music and learn a couple dances in the hotel which was great as well. Overall, a great weekend!
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| Mass rock!! |
And, the last couple days have been busy busy! I finished up and turned in my two papers for my early start class, and then took the 3 hour written exam yesterday so I am officially done with that class! woohoo! The discussion group was great on Monday and so was CU yesterday...now my focus has shifted to getting ready for my trip to Lancaster tomorrow evening to visit Connie! Woohoo! The weekend should be a good time to just relax and see a bit of Northwest England as well as a day trip to Edinburough, Scotland on Saturday! Two countries in one weekend? You bet! It should be great!
In conclusion, I must say that the last couple weeks have flown by, and I know they will continue to fly by even quicker. Every day, I just remind myself to take it one day at a time and it all works out! The opportunities that I am constantly being offered are absolutely astounding if I take a step back and think of it, so I am working on just taking it all in! Cork is a great place! Alright!
p.s. Ran out of time so sorry for lack of pictures! more to come later!!! Off to Lancaster!
you look a little red in that "irish coffee" picture. sure that was your first one?
ReplyDeletelooks like you conquered that rock, too...
-benja