I know I haven't written in a while, but I haven't had much going on!
It's so hard to believe that I will be home in 5 weeks!!! Where has the time gone?
I don't know where to begin, so I guess I'll just start with Mandy and Mary Alice visiting me. It was so good to have them here and to see a face form home and to hear a southern accent again haha! All of my Boston and Irish friends loved their accents! Once they finally got here, after their very eventful trip over, I took them around the city center and showed them my apartment. We also went to Galway Bay and walked around. I really liked having them here because I was able to eat out and get a real meal for once haha! It was much better than my bread, pasta, cheese, and nutella diet! They were able to see what my life has been like over here, which pretty much consists of going to class and going out. It's been a hard semester haha. It was nice to have them meet my friends here so that when I come home and start telling stories, at least 2 people will know who I'm talking about!
Then 2 weeks later, this past week, my mom and my cousin came to visit. It was so great to see family and have them here for Easter with me. On Easter Sunday, we went to a United Methodist and Presbyterian Church. It was not the kind of church we were expecting...the service started at 11:30, so we got there around 11 and the door was locked! Then about 15 minutes later, this lady and a bunch of kids get out of a cab and unlock the door. This lady was wearing a very interesting outfit! She had on this long, yellow, African, looking dress with a huge yellow headdress hat thing, it was hilarious! And as more people came in, the women were all wearing the same kind of clothes! Before the service started the preacher came up to us to ask us where we were from and to say that the service lasted about an hour and a half...As the service started, they turned on an overhead projector to show the words to praise songs, not hymns... We sang a few songs and then the preacher had all of the visitors stand up and introduce themselves and say where they were from haha! We finally sang 2 hymns and then when we went to take communion, the bread was just cut up white sandwhich bread! It was not the kind of Easter service we had hoped for, but an interesting one none the least! That night, my mom cooked Easter dinner for my friends and me. They were all really excited to have a real home cooked meal for once! It was delicious! Then on Monday, we rented a car to start our travelling around Ireland. Mom drove for the week and she actually did a pretty good job driving on the other side of the road! We first went to the Aran Islands and we stayed on the island Inis Mor. It was really windy, rainy, and rough going across Galway Bay by ferry to get to the island. Once we got there, we got settled in our B & B and then went to get something to eat. We ate in this little thatched roofed cafe. They still speak Irish on the island on a daily basis, so pretty much every sign and name of building was in Irish. Then we went on tour of the island and saw lots of thatched roofed houses, an old lighthouse, some heads of some seals! The next day, the weather had finally cleared up, and we walked up to Dun Aegous, which is a really old fort built in like 1100 or earlier. It overlooks the Atlantic and the view was absolutely amazing! You could see the water splashing up against the cliffs and you could see almost all of the island. The island was so quaint and really beautiful place! I want to go back for a day with my friends and rent a bike and ride around. Then we headed to Clifden, in Connemara, where we spent 2 days. On our way there, we ended up stopping at Kylemore Abbey, which is an old castle that a man had built for his wife. It was beautiful. Then we headed to Cfifden and settled in our next B&B. Then we went and walked around to explore the town. It was such a cute town, with buildings that are all different colors and all look different. The next day, Wednesday, we walked along the coast and then we came back and got the car and drove out to the Atlantic on the Sky Road. The view form this road was amazing! We had the mountains on one side and the water on the other, it was gorgeous! On Thursday, we were back in Galway and dropped off the car. We went shopping around town and went down to the bay and the Spanish Arch. Then on Friday, we took the bus to Ballyvaughn. This was also a really cute quaint town, but it was the smallest town we had been to. We spent the whole day walking around by the water and watching sheep and looking at the country side. Again, we had the rocky mountains surrounding us along with water, it's beautiful! Then mom and Issy left at 6 am today to get to the airport and I headed back to Galway.
Now I get to get back to doing school work. I have 2 essays and exam to do. It's not much, but it's hard getting back into the swing of things after I have done nothing all semester haha!! I just need the motivation to get it done. And there are still things I want to do! I want to go horseback riding, got to Cork and kiss the Blarney stone, and go see the Ring of Kerry. Hopefully I'll have the time, and the money haha, to do all of them!
I can't think of anything else at the moment. I miss you all!!