Ireland

June 13, 2010

Well hello to everyone!

Here I am in Ireland! Today was my first day actually doing something instead of sleeping the jet lag away! We woke up to the smell of warm scones and a cup'o tea. So far, I love that about Ireland, scones! Yum! Mary asked us if we would like to attend church with her and we thought "why not?!" So after breakfast she drove us to church. Having grown up catholic I didn't know if the mass would be the same as what I was used to. It absolutely was EXCEPT it was like a fast forwarded version. First Reading... Second Reading... responsorial... bam... bam... bam! The church that Mary attends is quite beautiful. The cemetery is in the front, which Mary says is unusual for Irish church's.

After our little church adventure we, meaning Mary, decided that we would go horseback riding the true english style. We didn't have any plans so we agreed it would sound like fun. We went to meet Mary's husband Michal who had just picked up two new students Elle and Kirsten. They flew in all the way from Australia! A really, really long flight! But they were both willing to jump into anything... that is after their tea and scones. Michal would take them and meet us at Kelly's Equestrian Center.

After Mary, Melissa and I picked up, Emma and Megan from The Dairy we met our instructor Caroline. The lesson was only an hour but I'd say we got our money's worth! (25 Euro by the way). We learned how to do the standing trot. Kirsten had ridden before and was the star of us all but I think I did pretty good! The 1..2.. up and down in the saddle was a little challenging if you lost your rhythm with the horse. My horses name was Teddy and I don't think he liked me being in control of his reigns because he kept trying to pull them out of my hands. I just reassured him that I was only on his back for an hour and he would have to endure! Kirsten did do a small jump and as she said, having not jumped in 7 years she did well! Melissa also took a chance on a small... very small jump and fell off the first time! But she totally fell like a pro! She just rolled off the front of her horses neck and didn't get in the way of his hooves. She was a champ too and got back up and tried again :) I was NOT brave enough to jump but Kirsten said usually you'll have to do 8 months of training before you can really jump so I didn't feel like such a wuss. I wasn't the only one who didn't try either. Elle didn't ride but took some brilliant pictures!

So after the horse back riding, the nice host and hostess at Kelly's Equestrian Center served us scones and tea (yum!) and returned us to The Dairy. Elle and Kirsten needed to get groceries and I wanted to go into Trim, so we all decided to take a short trip via bus. The buses in Ireland are great, you just find which route you need, stand on the road and wave your hand out as you see them coming. You don't even have to be at a bus stop, only on the route! :) So we waited (in the rain) for the 3:20 bus and took it into Trim. Unfortunately, everything was closed! Everything except the SuperValu store which we had to wonder around all of Trim to find. After finally asking directions, we discovered we were on the wrong end of town! The day trip wasn't a total loss as I was able to take some lovely pictures of Trim Castle!

So we waited for the return bus to Trim missed Mary's house (as it is right off Dublin Road at the Hat Hire sign) and stopped right after at Jack Quinn's Pub. (Those are our landmarks). When we got back we were greeted by Mary's neice Maeve. Maeve is 13 years old and has such a great personality! She is smart and funny and loves to just laugh at our quirks. She was trying to have us do an Irish accent and just giggling :)

We also met Gwen, our new roommate who will be staying with us for the week. She's originally from Pennsylvania but is going to college in Aberdeen, Scotland! After dinner we all stayed up for a bit talking to Maebh and turned in for the night. If I forgot to mention, the days here are very long as the sun doesn't disappear until about 10:30 or 11! And it rises around 3 or 3:30! So, needless to say, you have to have good curtains!

Well that's it for tonight! Tomorrow is my first day of field school!!