I have had an eventful few days since I last wrote on my blog. As you can see by the pictures, we have traveled to places extremely beautiful and learned a lot of stuff. Thursday we went to Glendalough which is situated in a valley of the Wicklow Mountains. The front of the valley holds 11th- 12th Century monastic settlement remains. This settlement was started by Saint Kevin. There are several interesting urban legends surrounding St. Kevin and this monastic settlement. One for example is that St. Kevin approaches the King of the Providence about a piece of land to build his settlement. The King not realizing that St. Kevin is a Saint agrees that if he heals a lame duck then he can have all of the land that the duck flies over. St. Kevin picks up the duck and throws him into the air and it takes off. The duck circles the Glendalough valley and comes back. The King sticks to his word and grants him the land. It was built long before the 11th century but until the 11th century wood was used to build the community and in the 11th century they began to use stone. After taking a tour of the monastic settlement remains we took a hike into the Wiclow Mountains. Beautiful beautiful beautiful!!
Friday afternoon we were given five Euro to visit two coffee shops by taking the DART to two different stops between Greystones and Dublin. My friend Bridget and I went together. We got off the DART at Booterstown because I thought the name sounded funny. We walked a little ways and couldn’t find a coffee shop. (We did find the Church of Ireland, it was so cool) So we stopped at a pastry shop to ask for directions to a coffee shop. The lady led us to a shopping center. We went into the first building we saw and looked around. We saw a McDonalds but no coffee shop until I looked up and saw people sitting on the second floor drinking out of coffee cups. I told Bridget we found a coffee shop. Come to find out it is located in the underwear section of this big department store. It was called Café Melt. Funny huh? Anyways, as we were leaving we saw a sign for the DART station. We followed the sign and it led us to a different DART station from which we had come, so that meant that we had walked into a different city altogether. We looked at the schedule for the DART and realized we would be able to get back in time if we got on the DART and found another stop. We decided to stay in Blackrock and find a coffee shop there. We did and when we approached it we saw another group of girls sitting there from Taylor. We stayed there and drank mango kiwi smoothies. Then we caught the DART and came back home.
The weekend was rather uneventful. I studied a lot. By Sunday I was ready to get out of here. I went to this really contemporary Church called Hillside. We sang songs we sing in America like “How Great is Our God” and “Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord”. After Church I decided to take a walk along the beach. It was a beautiful day! So many people were out with their doggies.
On Monday things got much better. We got to go on a hike up this mountain in Dalkey, Ireland. We got to take our pictures in front of Bono from U2’s house as well as Enya’s house. In fact when we raised our cameras over the tall fence to get better pictures of Enya’s house we realized there was a gardener working on the yard. Seeing it odd that twenty or so cameras were suddenly appearing above the fence the gardener began to smile for the pictures, only we didn’t know this until we decided to look at the pictures we took. Once we reached the top of the mountain the view was worth all the toil and sweat to get up the mountain. You could see the Irish Sea and the Wicklow mountains and sun rays were bursting through the clouds… so beautiful! A couple of us took pictures like we were Jack from the movie Titanic when he said, “I am King of the World!”
Today is kind of blah. It’s rainy, cold, and cloudy. So I think I’ll just stay in and study… tonight we are going to learn Irish Dance! YAY!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
January 23, 2008
The past two days haven't been too exciting. We were in the classroom learning about Irish History. Today three of us went into town. I wanted to visit the e-baby store because next month is my nephew's first birthday. Then we went to SuperValu to buy phone cards and pens. Then we ventured into the local library. I read a magazine called the Pheonix. It made fun of American politics. On the cover it had a picture of Hilary Clinton and another important looking person. The person had a speech bubble that said something like, "so I see you just cried" and Hilary's speech bubble says "well it looks like it worked for you this time". It made me laugh. Tomorrow we are going on a field trip so I'm sure I'll have lots to update you on tomorrow.
The past two days haven't been too exciting. We were in the classroom learning about Irish History. Today three of us went into town. I wanted to visit the e-baby store because next month is my nephew's first birthday. Then we went to SuperValu to buy phone cards and pens. Then we ventured into the local library. I read a magazine called the Pheonix. It made fun of American politics. On the cover it had a picture of Hilary Clinton and another important looking person. The person had a speech bubble that said something like, "so I see you just cried" and Hilary's speech bubble says "well it looks like it worked for you this time". It made me laugh. Tomorrow we are going on a field trip so I'm sure I'll have lots to update you on tomorrow.
Monday, January 21, 2008
January 21, 2008
Today we went into Dublin and did a scavenger hunt. It was very windy. So windy in fact that it almost blew me away. Anyways, we took the DART into Dublin which is an electric train. The view was I believe was a glimpse of heaven. On one side you had the view of the beautiful Irish mountains and the other side you had a view of the beautiful Irish Sea. I took some pictures and just sat in awe of it all. Once we got to Dublin, we visited Trinity College and got student travel cards. From there we started our scavenger hunt. We ate at the Aroma Cafe. It was yummy! Then continued to find things on our hunt. Several times while we were walking around we had moments of clarity that finally, as if we'd waited all our lives for that one special moment, realized that we were standing in the middle of Dublin, Ireland. Flat Stanley didn't join me on this adventure today. I was afraid, with all the running and rushing around we were going to do that it would be pretty easy to loose the little guy. He will certainly join me on another adventure to Dublin in the future. Oh, before I forget, I have an interesting difference I have noticed between America and Ireland. In public bathrooms, the lighting that is used is a black light. They say that black lighting kills more germs, but it sure does provide interesting ways of seeing what you're doing in the bathroom. ;) Now we're back home safe and sound and I just took a nap... even though it's 9:55pm here. :) I shall update later when I have more to say. Love you all! MUAH!
Today we went into Dublin and did a scavenger hunt. It was very windy. So windy in fact that it almost blew me away. Anyways, we took the DART into Dublin which is an electric train. The view was I believe was a glimpse of heaven. On one side you had the view of the beautiful Irish mountains and the other side you had a view of the beautiful Irish Sea. I took some pictures and just sat in awe of it all. Once we got to Dublin, we visited Trinity College and got student travel cards. From there we started our scavenger hunt. We ate at the Aroma Cafe. It was yummy! Then continued to find things on our hunt. Several times while we were walking around we had moments of clarity that finally, as if we'd waited all our lives for that one special moment, realized that we were standing in the middle of Dublin, Ireland. Flat Stanley didn't join me on this adventure today. I was afraid, with all the running and rushing around we were going to do that it would be pretty easy to loose the little guy. He will certainly join me on another adventure to Dublin in the future. Oh, before I forget, I have an interesting difference I have noticed between America and Ireland. In public bathrooms, the lighting that is used is a black light. They say that black lighting kills more germs, but it sure does provide interesting ways of seeing what you're doing in the bathroom. ;) Now we're back home safe and sound and I just took a nap... even though it's 9:55pm here. :) I shall update later when I have more to say. Love you all! MUAH!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
January 20, 2008
Yesterday was what past ISPers call the “hell” day. I didn’t think it was that bad. I did get dizzy at lunch and had to sit down or I would have fallen. We took a tour of Greystones, the city we are living in, yesterday. We found out that there are more dogs than people in Greystones and more Vets than Doctors in Greystones. Then my roommate and I decided to check out the room we were assigned. Sure enough we were the lucky ones to get the Anne Frank room or as someone once wrongly named it the Helen Keller room. It’s called that because the view from the window is nothing but this side of another building. The other rooms have views of Sugar Loaf Mountain and the other of the Irish harbor. But because we live in the Anne Frank room Vance Maloney will take my roommate, Courtney, and I out to a fancy dinner in April.
Now it’s Sunday morning. Courtney and I got up at 7:30am to watch the sunrise over the Irish Sea. After that Courtney left me there to go running. I did my quiet times there while the waves were literally crashing against the rocks. It was amazing. I had a dog bark at me for a long time, so after awhile I started barking back and he stopped. Lol. The birds played me a beautiful sound too. In fact there were a group of birds that fly over my head and they kept making noises and one of them sounded like it kept saying “hey, hey”. It made me smile. The temperature isn’t that cold here like I thought it would be. The only thing is it rains a lot, so the longer you’re outside the colder it gets because you start to get wet and the wind then takes advantage of it leaving you cold.
January 18, 2008
I’m sitting in the airport with Flat Stanley at gate K11 waiting for my plane to take me away to Dublin, Ireland. I finished saying my goodbyes and things unspoken. My new friend Whitney Cerak said that if I was boy that she’d hit on me (it made me laugh)….Now Katie, Bridget, and I are sitting here talking about Katie’s recent trip to Thailand. I read them a passage that Jane gave me before I left. Psalm 91
Now I’m on the plane sipping coke and tomato juice and nibbling on a lemon… I know what you’re thinking…”how can she eat all those things all at the same time…gross”. Yeah, well I’m enjoying it J. Flat Stanley is sleeping in my coat in the compartment above my head. I need to be sleeping but my ears are going crazy making it difficult to do so. I pray for some super natural strength tomorrow cuz I’m gonna need it! The flight is going to be 6 and a half hours long, which is shorter than I thought. They are handing out our dinner now so after I eat I’m going to try to get some zzzzs. By the way, I have many people are praying for me back home for a certain issue I was worried about. Well, I have really good news. God is answering your prayers!! I’m not that anxious or nervous at all. God has given me peace!! I love Him!!
Yesterday was what past ISPers call the “hell” day. I didn’t think it was that bad. I did get dizzy at lunch and had to sit down or I would have fallen. We took a tour of Greystones, the city we are living in, yesterday. We found out that there are more dogs than people in Greystones and more Vets than Doctors in Greystones. Then my roommate and I decided to check out the room we were assigned. Sure enough we were the lucky ones to get the Anne Frank room or as someone once wrongly named it the Helen Keller room. It’s called that because the view from the window is nothing but this side of another building. The other rooms have views of Sugar Loaf Mountain and the other of the Irish harbor. But because we live in the Anne Frank room Vance Maloney will take my roommate, Courtney, and I out to a fancy dinner in April.
Now it’s Sunday morning. Courtney and I got up at 7:30am to watch the sunrise over the Irish Sea. After that Courtney left me there to go running. I did my quiet times there while the waves were literally crashing against the rocks. It was amazing. I had a dog bark at me for a long time, so after awhile I started barking back and he stopped. Lol. The birds played me a beautiful sound too. In fact there were a group of birds that fly over my head and they kept making noises and one of them sounded like it kept saying “hey, hey”. It made me smile. The temperature isn’t that cold here like I thought it would be. The only thing is it rains a lot, so the longer you’re outside the colder it gets because you start to get wet and the wind then takes advantage of it leaving you cold.
January 18, 2008
I’m sitting in the airport with Flat Stanley at gate K11 waiting for my plane to take me away to Dublin, Ireland. I finished saying my goodbyes and things unspoken. My new friend Whitney Cerak said that if I was boy that she’d hit on me (it made me laugh)….Now Katie, Bridget, and I are sitting here talking about Katie’s recent trip to Thailand. I read them a passage that Jane gave me before I left. Psalm 91
Now I’m on the plane sipping coke and tomato juice and nibbling on a lemon… I know what you’re thinking…”how can she eat all those things all at the same time…gross”. Yeah, well I’m enjoying it J. Flat Stanley is sleeping in my coat in the compartment above my head. I need to be sleeping but my ears are going crazy making it difficult to do so. I pray for some super natural strength tomorrow cuz I’m gonna need it! The flight is going to be 6 and a half hours long, which is shorter than I thought. They are handing out our dinner now so after I eat I’m going to try to get some zzzzs. By the way, I have many people are praying for me back home for a certain issue I was worried about. Well, I have really good news. God is answering your prayers!! I’m not that anxious or nervous at all. God has given me peace!! I love Him!!
My Mailing Address
My mailing address in Ireland is to your left!! Just thought you should know... I'll post my real blog up here soon! Love you all! Thanks for praying!
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