A Little Overdue

So I apologize for such a long delay in a post.  The past week was hectic with tests and having fun.  I just did not get around to it.

I will go back to last weekend when we went to Kerry/Dingle with one of my classmates, Ellie. This is on the very west coast of Ireland.  We went there by train after our classes on Friday.  The train ride was four hours and then it was another hour by car.  Her dad picked us up and took us on some crazy curvy roads around the mountain.  The deeper into the country you go, the more narrow the roads become.  It was basically a one lane road, so if another car was coming, one driver has to pull over on the side and let them pass.  On the way back you just kind of had to guess if a car was coming because it was so foggy.  (No worries, mom, I'm still alive!)

It was the best weekend I have had since I've been in Ireland.  It was so beautiful!!!!  If I was going to move to Ireland to live, I would live somewhere along that penninsula.  Dingle is a small town near Ellie's house. Dingle is one of the few towns left that is Gaeltacht, which is an Irish speaking community.  Ellie lives in Kerry, which is basically back-roads and wonderful scenery.

As soon as we arrived on Friday evening, we had amazing pasta and garlic bread along with a fruit & meringue parfait.  It was delicious.  Ellie's mom made us amazing food all weekend; it was so nice to have good home-cooked food.  I am pretty sure I gained weight over that weekend, but the great food was well worth it.  Friday night was a chill night.  We watched a movie and some Irish TV shows like Tallafornia (the Irish version of Jersey Shore...just as trashy)

From Ellie's house we had an amazing view.  She lives just about a ten minute walk from the beach, so we went on a walk there Saturday morning.  We had beautiful weather; people kept telling us, "Oh this isn't normal weather here.  You guys really lucked out."  Ellie and her boyfriend, Jack, took us around Slea Head and the whole mountain, they took us to see Fungie, the famous dolphin in Dingle.  People travel to Dingle to see this dolphin that has been there for years and years.  Some Irish think that the people of Dingle replace the dolphin time after time, but I'll believe the people of Dingle. We did actually see him too.
Saturday was a jam-packed day; we did more sight-seeing, and Hannah and I both got a hair cut and ice cream.  Saturday evening we went to mass with Ellie, her mom, and sister.  Apparently, they do not have hour long masses like we do in the States.  Around 35-40 minutes is the average length.

On the beach

A view from the beach looking back towards Ellie's house

A view near Ellie's

Ditto

Greenness

Slea Head

Cliffs off of Slea Head

Beauty

Our last event for the day was going to a pub and night club.  It was a good time.  Ellie also informed us that we wreak of American.  We were asking her if she saw us without speaking, would she know we were American.  Her instant answer was YES.  She explained because our complexion, eyes, and teeth mainly.  Not five minutes later this random guy came up to us and was like, "Hey, are you guys from America?"  How ironic, yes we are.  Later in the night we were asking some of Ellie's friends where we look like we're from or whatnot, and apparently I look more American than Hannah.  Bottom line: I WREAK American.

Sunday morning I went on a run on the beach and came back to a homemade Irish breakfast: eggs, toast, beans, tomatoes, and meat (which I obviously did not eat).  The rest of our day was mostly traveling back to Dublin.  It was a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday we had our first exam and that was in Professional Practice.  I thought it was going to be more specific than it was, so hopefully I did okay.  The girls in our course said that we may not ever know what we got on our exam?? weird, I would like to know my progress in the class. One of the lecturers for that class just retired, so we had a surprise fairwell party for her.  She is the sweetest lady!

Tuesday it was Blair's birthday (one of the guys from Purdue), so we celebrated.  Colton, Hannah, and I made him dinner and had a small cake for him, and then we met up with some other people and went to the a pub and club.

Wednesday I had my microbiology lab practical assessment.  I am so glad I am basically done with that class.  I only have a theory test in April for it. The lectures are over because it is half microbiology, half immunology, and I do not have to take the immunology section of it!!! So grateful for that.

One of the two guys in our class, Dόnal, is big into marathons and working out in general.  We went on two morning runs around the city.  It was so nice to see the city at that time, along with the sunrise.  I am wanting to do a half marathon while I am here, but I need to look more into the dates and places and whatnot.  Saturday I went on a run in Pheonix Park.  There are deer that just hang out in the fields, and I ran literally ten feet from some of them.  It was such a great morning to run.  The sun was out and it was decently warm, so perfect...for Ireland.
However, today (Sunday) it was hailing, while it was sunny.  It was kind of comical.

This past weekend we stayed in Dublin and just kind of hung out.  It was nice to have just a weekend here in Dublin.  Today for dinner Colton and I went to get sushi.  We lucked out and it happened to be all you can eat for 20 euro (for two hours).  There were plates just revolving around the bar and you just grab whatever you want.   There is one catch though, if you take a plate, you have to eat it all or you get charged extra. We probably ate about 120 euro worth of sushi; it was kind of ridiculous.  Towards the end Colton grabbed a plate of crayfish and it was awful.  We tried to find ways to get rid of it, like putting some of it a napkin, dropping a few pieces, & hiding a few pieces.  We left and could barely tolerate the walk home because we were so full.  (one of those had-to-be-there kind of stories...much funnier in real life).

Okay I am so tired of typing.  Hopefully I covered everything....I'll add more pictures later.  I can't even handle it right now.

2 weeks until St. Patrick's day!!!