Right off the bat, I want to thank all of you who have been commenting on my posts - I love hearing from you!
I'll keep this post short, for the simple reason that we just didn't do much today. I, along with about 10 other students, went to church this morning in Dublin. It was the church Fergus used to teach at before he retired. It was a really good service, and the music was great. I really enjoyed it.
After church, we booked it to the bus station where we caught the 1 o'clock bus to Belfast. I'm in Grandma's city! We walked about a mile from the bus station to Arnie's Backpackers (our hostel - it's really small, we basically took it over!). After we got settled in, we took a little walk around the city and had a class meeting. Then we went out to dinner at this cute little Italian restaurant, and we came back to the hostel where one of the Bethel guys taught me to play Rook (I'm really awful - it's a bummer it's a team game haha! My poor partner!). Now, I'm calling it a night a bit early (1am, I rock!).
So now for the best part of the day - while we were walking around Belfast, we came across a bar called Lavery's! I don't have a clue if that is the same Lavery we're related to, but even if it's not I think that's just awesome! I'm definitely going to have to spend some time there :) I can't help but wonder, as I walk around the city, whether I might be walking where Grandma Terry once walked or if she had been to the places I'll be going to. I have a feeling this is going to be a very emotional leg of my trip.
No pictures today, I don't have time to upload them before I fall asleep. I did get a couple good night shots of The Queen's University in Belfast, so I'll add those tomorrow.
Good night!
Love,
Amanda
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Cold, Windy, Rainy, Awesome
Today was full of bus rides, walking, and sightseeing. We took a bus tour around County Wicklow and saw a lot. We only stopped a couple places and got out to take pictures. the first place we stopped was Avoca, which had this really old textile mill that is still in operation today. It was really cool to see all the old equipment they still use, and it was fun to kind of learn the process by which they weave the yarn into different things. I bought a scarf and a hat that was made in Avoca when we stopped at the coffee shop/general-store-type-thing next door, they're SO SOFT!
After Avoca, we stopped at Gleann Da Loch, which translated means "Valley of the Two Lakes" and is exactly what it sounds like. We got to take about a 40 minute (freezing cold) walk around the valley and we got a lot of good pictures. It was really pretty, even if it was cold. I'm glad we were able to see it.
Then we continued our bus tour, and our last stop was a hill overlooking Guinness Valley. It was SUPER windy, I almost got blown right off the cliff! (Just kidding, mom!) We were able to see the house (more like mansion) that the Guinnesses still live in. The whole valley was just breathtaking. Our bus driver told us that the Beatles once stayed at the Guinness mansion, and that the valley was actually where Paul McCartney came up with the song "Yesterday".
Our bus driver was absolutely hilarious, and he kept singing random Irish songs (with some Elvis thrown in for good measure)!
After the tour, we got back to Dublin and had a light dinner at the hostel and me and two other girls (Sarah and Emily) went to The Celt, which is a pub near our hostel. I was told that it was basically the IRA bar, and I could definitely see that in the people who were there, as well as the types of things they had for decoration (Think a memorial to the United Irishmen and a "United Ireland" plaque on the wall...among many, many other things). There was a band playing there when we got there and they were really good. I could have definitely spent a lot more time in there talking to people and just hanging out. It was a great atmosphere!
So now I'm back at the hostel, attempting to get in bed by 2am (not going to happen, since it's 1:59 right now! Oops!). So that's my spiel for the day. Tomorrow we head to Belfast, which I'm REALLY looking forward to. I'm interested to see what the contrast is between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I'm not sure how internet will be while I'm there, I hear the hostel doesn't have wireless, so I might have to find a cafe somewhere. Either way, I'll post more from Belfast eventually!
Love,
Amanda
After Avoca, we stopped at Gleann Da Loch, which translated means "Valley of the Two Lakes" and is exactly what it sounds like. We got to take about a 40 minute (freezing cold) walk around the valley and we got a lot of good pictures. It was really pretty, even if it was cold. I'm glad we were able to see it.
Then we continued our bus tour, and our last stop was a hill overlooking Guinness Valley. It was SUPER windy, I almost got blown right off the cliff! (Just kidding, mom!) We were able to see the house (more like mansion) that the Guinnesses still live in. The whole valley was just breathtaking. Our bus driver told us that the Beatles once stayed at the Guinness mansion, and that the valley was actually where Paul McCartney came up with the song "Yesterday".
Our bus driver was absolutely hilarious, and he kept singing random Irish songs (with some Elvis thrown in for good measure)!
After the tour, we got back to Dublin and had a light dinner at the hostel and me and two other girls (Sarah and Emily) went to The Celt, which is a pub near our hostel. I was told that it was basically the IRA bar, and I could definitely see that in the people who were there, as well as the types of things they had for decoration (Think a memorial to the United Irishmen and a "United Ireland" plaque on the wall...among many, many other things). There was a band playing there when we got there and they were really good. I could have definitely spent a lot more time in there talking to people and just hanging out. It was a great atmosphere!
So now I'm back at the hostel, attempting to get in bed by 2am (not going to happen, since it's 1:59 right now! Oops!). So that's my spiel for the day. Tomorrow we head to Belfast, which I'm REALLY looking forward to. I'm interested to see what the contrast is between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I'm not sure how internet will be while I'm there, I hear the hostel doesn't have wireless, so I might have to find a cafe somewhere. Either way, I'll post more from Belfast eventually!
Love,
Amanda
Friday, January 7, 2011
Finally, RAIN!
Today was kind of low-key. We went to see a presentation on Celtic spirituality by Father John Joe at a hostel down the street. I was so exhausted, because we had some roomie bonding time last night...until 2:30 am. And then were out the door of the hostel by 9:20. Sleep deprivation and a lecture in a warm room are bad news when you're trying to stay awake, as it turns out. Good news though, I stayed awake!
After the lecture, a couple of us went out for lunch at this adorable little cafe called The Pantry and I had shepherd's pie and some AWESOME hot chocolate (Made out of Aero bar chocolate!) WITH MARSHMALLOWS! Win! At lunch, it was me, 3 other students (Mindy, Bryce and Neil) and one of the professors (Christian). We had a good long conversation about theology stuff where I basically smiled and nodded, and then had a little bit of politics talk - it's pretty fun when people disagree with you, but you're not worried about getting beat up or having your car keyed (Lookin' at you, St. Kate's!).
When lunch was over, we went back to the hostel and did some presentations on different chapters of one of our books. Luckily, I got the chapter with all the statistics and random facts (I LOVE random facts!). Our chapter was "Land and People". Apparently they couldn't narrow that down at all, because our one chapter was like a quarter of the book (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating A LITTLE BIT, but not by much!). It was pretty fun listening to all the presentations, I love picking up little tidbits of information.
Then after the presentations, about 15 of us went to a rugby game! It was Leinster (the good guys) versus the Ospreys (from Wales). I learned 2 things: 1) Peacoats are not waterproof, and 2) Neither are Pumas. Holy cannoli, that was cold. About 20 minutes in we got ponchos, but not before we were all soaked to the bone. 2 pairs of socks, jeans, 1 tank top, 2 long sleeved shirts, 1 sweatshirt, 1 coat, and shoes...not enough. I couldn't feel my toes the entire bus ride and walk home. But we won 15-10! Ha..."we". I keep referring to the Irish like I'm one of them. Man, I wish. Kind of. I can't imagine living here though, I love the USA and my family too much.
So then, dinner. We went to some kebab place right near the hostel and had...hamburgers. Haha, they were the cheapest thing on the menu! Budgeting is getting interesting. They were good burgers though!
I think I'm really going to enjoy being with these people for the rest of the month. This class has kind of been a shock to my system - it's so laid back, I don't know what to do! I kind of miss the structure of poli sci classes because I kind of thrive on structure, but at the same time it's kind of a refreshing experience to just be learning with a group of people who love what they do and seem to love each other. Everyone is so close! It's like a family here, and I can tell they're going out of their way to include me. It's really nice to know that people like that exist.
Love,
Amanda
After the lecture, a couple of us went out for lunch at this adorable little cafe called The Pantry and I had shepherd's pie and some AWESOME hot chocolate (Made out of Aero bar chocolate!) WITH MARSHMALLOWS! Win! At lunch, it was me, 3 other students (Mindy, Bryce and Neil) and one of the professors (Christian). We had a good long conversation about theology stuff where I basically smiled and nodded, and then had a little bit of politics talk - it's pretty fun when people disagree with you, but you're not worried about getting beat up or having your car keyed (Lookin' at you, St. Kate's!).
When lunch was over, we went back to the hostel and did some presentations on different chapters of one of our books. Luckily, I got the chapter with all the statistics and random facts (I LOVE random facts!). Our chapter was "Land and People". Apparently they couldn't narrow that down at all, because our one chapter was like a quarter of the book (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating A LITTLE BIT, but not by much!). It was pretty fun listening to all the presentations, I love picking up little tidbits of information.
Then after the presentations, about 15 of us went to a rugby game! It was Leinster (the good guys) versus the Ospreys (from Wales). I learned 2 things: 1) Peacoats are not waterproof, and 2) Neither are Pumas. Holy cannoli, that was cold. About 20 minutes in we got ponchos, but not before we were all soaked to the bone. 2 pairs of socks, jeans, 1 tank top, 2 long sleeved shirts, 1 sweatshirt, 1 coat, and shoes...not enough. I couldn't feel my toes the entire bus ride and walk home. But we won 15-10! Ha..."we". I keep referring to the Irish like I'm one of them. Man, I wish. Kind of. I can't imagine living here though, I love the USA and my family too much.
So then, dinner. We went to some kebab place right near the hostel and had...hamburgers. Haha, they were the cheapest thing on the menu! Budgeting is getting interesting. They were good burgers though!
I think I'm really going to enjoy being with these people for the rest of the month. This class has kind of been a shock to my system - it's so laid back, I don't know what to do! I kind of miss the structure of poli sci classes because I kind of thrive on structure, but at the same time it's kind of a refreshing experience to just be learning with a group of people who love what they do and seem to love each other. Everyone is so close! It's like a family here, and I can tell they're going out of their way to include me. It's really nice to know that people like that exist.
Love,
Amanda
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Hello :)
Today was pretty awesome. Our group went to Fergus (our tour guide from yesterday) and Sarah's (his wife) house near the coast, on the outskirts of Dublin. It was gorgeous!!! They call it Narnia - that's even how they get their mail! There is no house number, it's just "Narnia" haha. Hilarious! Even if I didn't really like those books...oh well. While we were there Fergus gave us a seriously in-depth lesson on the Ireland conflict from the Protestant perspective. Hello, 5 pages of notes! I had a migraine during his presentation, so I kept kind of nodding off and then the guy sitting behind me would smack me in the head with his notebook to keep me awake. Ow! I guess that was probably for the best though, since I was sitting on a REALLY comfortable couch in the very first row...snoring during a presentation is probably seen as offensive in Ireland. At least, that's my guess! (And NO, I do NOT actually snore!)
This is Fergus and Sarah:
After Narnia, we went to Malahide Castle, which is beautiful! (Fergus told us not to go there because it's "rubbish". I think he just has impossibly high standards.) It was amazing. We couldn't go inside because no one wanted to pay to get in, but the outside of the castle and the surrounding grounds were AMAZING - well worth the trip. Here it is :)
And a couple shots I love from the grounds:
My most commonly used phrase while we were walking around the grounds was "IT'S SO GREEN!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, IT'S JUST SO BRIGHT GREEN!!!"
After we got back, we had "dinner" (reheated spaghetti, bread soaked in butter, wilted salad with some sort of vinaigrette - can you guess how much of that I actually ate?). After "dinner", me and a couple other people (Jacque, Stefan, Emily, Caroline, Hannah, and Chuck) went to a pub called O'Shea's and had real food. It was a fun place - it was pretty slow when we got there because it was only about 9:30, but by 10 they had live Irish music playing - and THERE WERE IRISH DANCERS! It was so fun to watch. I can't believe people actually do that, I thought it was just a stereotype! Awesome nonetheless :)
I ended the day with a great talk with both Mike and Andrea - I love them both! I can't imagine what I would do without them. Ireland is great, but honestly, talking to them was probably the highlight of my day!
I've gotta go, we have to be up by 8:30 and it's almost 2 here - whoops! How do I keep missing bedtime?! Oh right...pub life :) Love it!
Love,
Amanda
This is Fergus and Sarah:
After Narnia, we went to Malahide Castle, which is beautiful! (Fergus told us not to go there because it's "rubbish". I think he just has impossibly high standards.) It was amazing. We couldn't go inside because no one wanted to pay to get in, but the outside of the castle and the surrounding grounds were AMAZING - well worth the trip. Here it is :)
And a couple shots I love from the grounds:
My most commonly used phrase while we were walking around the grounds was "IT'S SO GREEN!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, IT'S JUST SO BRIGHT GREEN!!!"
After we got back, we had "dinner" (reheated spaghetti, bread soaked in butter, wilted salad with some sort of vinaigrette - can you guess how much of that I actually ate?). After "dinner", me and a couple other people (Jacque, Stefan, Emily, Caroline, Hannah, and Chuck) went to a pub called O'Shea's and had real food. It was a fun place - it was pretty slow when we got there because it was only about 9:30, but by 10 they had live Irish music playing - and THERE WERE IRISH DANCERS! It was so fun to watch. I can't believe people actually do that, I thought it was just a stereotype! Awesome nonetheless :)
I ended the day with a great talk with both Mike and Andrea - I love them both! I can't imagine what I would do without them. Ireland is great, but honestly, talking to them was probably the highlight of my day!
I've gotta go, we have to be up by 8:30 and it's almost 2 here - whoops! How do I keep missing bedtime?! Oh right...pub life :) Love it!
Love,
Amanda
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
WOOHOO!
So today, a lot of stuff happened - but it's 1am and I have to be up at 8, so I've gotta be quick.
First, we had breakfast at the hostel - mmm, toast! Haha there was not a lot to choose from, but hey, it was free! Then a guy named Fergus came to the hostel and picked up our group for a walking tour around Dublin. It was amazing! I'm falling in love with this city. We went to see the outside of Dublin Castle (GORGEOUS), and we saw some REALLY old illuminated Bible manuscripts (like, 150AD old) at the Chester Beatty library.
Then we went to a cafe for lunch (right next to the hotel where Handel's Messiah was performed for the first time EVER. That cafe had the absolute best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life. After lunch, we got to take a guided tour of Dublin Castle! That place was amazing. So many gorgeous rooms, paintings, and beautiful architecture! The chandeliers in particular caught my attention. There were so many, and they were so pretty!
And then, GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!!! Dublin Castle has a complete listing of Irish Coats of Arms...and I got ours! It's being sent to the house - Mom, Dad, Liz, DON'T OPEN IT BEFORE I GET HOME!!! I cried when I found it, obviously. But they were happy tears, so it's ok!!!! I still almost can't believe it. My work here is done haha! Also, Liz and Andrea, I got you presents from the castle!
Then we celebrated the Laverys by doing an Irish click or two (that no Irish person probably ever does):
We're naturals, no?
Later, we came back to the hostel for dinner, and then about 7 people and I went to the Temple Bar - not just the area, the actual bar! It was awesome. Completely packed, but awesome. There was a band called Ladlane playing and they were amazing. I bought their CD, if anyone's interested in hearing it.
After the pub, we came back to the hostel and just hung out for a while, and now here I am! Time for bed...hopefully. These mattresses are like sleeping on concrete, and the pillows aren't much better. But I still love it here!
Love you all,
Amanda
(P.S. Pictures won't load, so I'll add them once I've had a chance to charge my computer. It's almost a goner!)
(P.P.S. Pictures are up, if you haven't noticed! 1/7/11)
First, we had breakfast at the hostel - mmm, toast! Haha there was not a lot to choose from, but hey, it was free! Then a guy named Fergus came to the hostel and picked up our group for a walking tour around Dublin. It was amazing! I'm falling in love with this city. We went to see the outside of Dublin Castle (GORGEOUS), and we saw some REALLY old illuminated Bible manuscripts (like, 150AD old) at the Chester Beatty library.
Then we went to a cafe for lunch (right next to the hotel where Handel's Messiah was performed for the first time EVER. That cafe had the absolute best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life. After lunch, we got to take a guided tour of Dublin Castle! That place was amazing. So many gorgeous rooms, paintings, and beautiful architecture! The chandeliers in particular caught my attention. There were so many, and they were so pretty!
And then, GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!!! Dublin Castle has a complete listing of Irish Coats of Arms...and I got ours! It's being sent to the house - Mom, Dad, Liz, DON'T OPEN IT BEFORE I GET HOME!!! I cried when I found it, obviously. But they were happy tears, so it's ok!!!! I still almost can't believe it. My work here is done haha! Also, Liz and Andrea, I got you presents from the castle!
Then we celebrated the Laverys by doing an Irish click or two (that no Irish person probably ever does):
We're naturals, no?
Later, we came back to the hostel for dinner, and then about 7 people and I went to the Temple Bar - not just the area, the actual bar! It was awesome. Completely packed, but awesome. There was a band called Ladlane playing and they were amazing. I bought their CD, if anyone's interested in hearing it.
After the pub, we came back to the hostel and just hung out for a while, and now here I am! Time for bed...hopefully. These mattresses are like sleeping on concrete, and the pillows aren't much better. But I still love it here!
Love you all,
Amanda
(P.S. Pictures won't load, so I'll add them once I've had a chance to charge my computer. It's almost a goner!)
(P.P.S. Pictures are up, if you haven't noticed! 1/7/11)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Day 1 - Dublin
Today was our first day in Ireland! We arrived in Dublin at about 6:40am local time. The plane ride was bad - I'm of the opinion that there is no possible way to get comfortable enough to sleep on an international flight. As I write right now, it is about 7:40pm in Dublin. I've officially been awake for 33 hours! When we got into Dublin, we had a little adventure trying to find our hostel, Jacobs Inn! We may or may not have circled it several times before we figured out where it was.
Once at the hostel, we dropped our bags off in the rooms and were set loose to wreak havoc on the city (just kidding! We were on our best behavior, I promise!). I, along with about 7 other people from the trip, took a really long walk around the city - we basically did a huge loop around all the fun places. We found cute little shops, saw the River Liffey (the river that divides Dublin into north and south), and a bunch of other random stuff (there will be pictures!). While we were out, we found the best little pub called M.J. O'Neills. We spent a few hours there just hanging out, warming up, and eating lunch. I had shepherd's pie - and I actually kind of liked it!
After lunch we saw a memorial for the victims of the Great Famine and walked around some more.
After a little rest back at the hostel, 10 of us went to see the Guinness Storehouse! Super cool - everything you ever wanted to know about how Guinness is made and its history is in that one 7 story building. On the 7th story is the Gravity Bar, which is round and has glass walls so you can see the city surrounding the brewery. We went at night so we saw all the city lights - they were beautiful! Then we came back to Jacobs and had dinner.
I really love it here. It's kind of cold (mid 30s) and I don't have a lot of really warm clothes (darn it, I'm going to have to go shopping!), but the city is so amazing. It's a big city, but the pace is a lot slower than what I expected. One thing that came up while we were eating lunch at O'Neills was that no one around us was distracted - they paid attention to their friends and conversation, and we didn't see even one person check a cell phone. I thought that was pretty interesting. The architecture really got my attention too. It's so beautiful! We saw the Temple Bar area which is just south of the River Liffey, which was adorable with its ornate buildings and cobbled streets, and I absolutely loved the style. A lot of the other buildings in Dublin are also really gorgeous.
All in all, a really, really, REALLY long but awesome day. 33 hours so far...and it's only getting longer. I'm about to keel over from exhaustion, but I'm so excited to be here!
Love,
Amanda
Once at the hostel, we dropped our bags off in the rooms and were set loose to wreak havoc on the city (just kidding! We were on our best behavior, I promise!). I, along with about 7 other people from the trip, took a really long walk around the city - we basically did a huge loop around all the fun places. We found cute little shops, saw the River Liffey (the river that divides Dublin into north and south), and a bunch of other random stuff (there will be pictures!). While we were out, we found the best little pub called M.J. O'Neills. We spent a few hours there just hanging out, warming up, and eating lunch. I had shepherd's pie - and I actually kind of liked it!
After lunch we saw a memorial for the victims of the Great Famine and walked around some more.
After a little rest back at the hostel, 10 of us went to see the Guinness Storehouse! Super cool - everything you ever wanted to know about how Guinness is made and its history is in that one 7 story building. On the 7th story is the Gravity Bar, which is round and has glass walls so you can see the city surrounding the brewery. We went at night so we saw all the city lights - they were beautiful! Then we came back to Jacobs and had dinner.
I really love it here. It's kind of cold (mid 30s) and I don't have a lot of really warm clothes (darn it, I'm going to have to go shopping!), but the city is so amazing. It's a big city, but the pace is a lot slower than what I expected. One thing that came up while we were eating lunch at O'Neills was that no one around us was distracted - they paid attention to their friends and conversation, and we didn't see even one person check a cell phone. I thought that was pretty interesting. The architecture really got my attention too. It's so beautiful! We saw the Temple Bar area which is just south of the River Liffey, which was adorable with its ornate buildings and cobbled streets, and I absolutely loved the style. A lot of the other buildings in Dublin are also really gorgeous.
All in all, a really, really, REALLY long but awesome day. 33 hours so far...and it's only getting longer. I'm about to keel over from exhaustion, but I'm so excited to be here!
Love,
Amanda
Sunday, January 2, 2011
TOMORROW!!!
My flight leaves for Ireland (by way of Atlanta - what???) tomorrow at 11:35. It's so close! As most of you know, I'm a little bit of a procrastinator, so I'm still packing! Oops. Next international trip I'll be better, I promise! Don't worry, all I have to do is cram all my clothes into a carry-on (Almost done, right? Haha).
Well, I don't know anyone going, since I'm one of two non-youth ministries majors on this trip (PoliSci, yeah!). It's completely uncharacteristic of me to go anywhere without knowing anyone. Oddly enough, I'm not really nervous at all for the trip. I'm SO EXCITED to finally get to Ireland! I've been saying I'd go there for years and years and I can't believe I'm actually doing it!
I suppose I should go finish packing. I'll leave you all with my favorite verse: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
My next post will be from IRELAND!!!
Love,
Manda
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