Final excursion (and other fun stuff!)

Last weekend we went on our final group overnight excursion of the semester. First stop: the Rock of Cashel, a  group of Medieval buildings including a 12th century round tower, High Cross, and 13th century Gothic cathedral. 

After a walking tour of the town of Kilkenny, we checked into the hostel we were staying at for the night. We had an included group dinner at a place called Kytelers Inn, where our meal of chicken, potatoes, chips (because there couldn't be only one form of potatoes), vegetables, and Bailey's cheesecake was delicious. That night we found some fun pubs in town 

The next morning we left Kilkenny and headed towards Cork. On the way we stopped in the town of Cobh and visited the Cobh Heritage Center, a museum that commemorates the thousands of emigrants that left Ireland from the Cobh harbor during the Great Famine. 

We arrived in Cork in the afternoon and were given a walking tour of the main sites. My favorite area was the English Market, a covered food market with a huge array of different vendors. There were many interesting sights and smells to experience there. 

A building at University College Cork. 

The colorful streets of Cork. 

The next morning we visited Blarney Castle, located just outside of Cork. My favorite part was that at 9am on a Sunday morning, we had the place totally to ourselves, so we were like a group of little kids exploring the castle, making our way up the narrow, winding staircase to the top. 

(Photo courtesy of the wonderful Tommy O'Loughlin) 

We each kissed the Blarney Stone (yes, I know it's rumoured Irish pee on it on dumb Americans feel the need to kiss it anyway), which was actually more treacherous than I had been expecting. You can't really tell from the photo, but you have to hang down really far to reach it. Luckily there is a nice old Irish man who sits up there all day to assist people like us in achieving this goal. We are now all full of Blarney! 

Monday through Wednesday of this week were very busy and a little stressful as the "study" potion of "study abroad" was in full force. We had our Experiential Learning Projects due, and I presented on the topic of the Irish-language television channel TG4. I also had a history paper and and another paper for our Seminar class due. But I really can't complain, because by 2pm on Wednesday I was already done with class for the week. Going back to having class on Thursdays and Fridays next semester is going to be a rough adjustment. 

A big event we had been looking forward to for awhile was "Poteen Prom", which took place on Thursday night. Poteen, pronounced "po-cheen", is basically an Irish version of moonshine, something we may have sampled earlier in the semester. There wasn't any poteen actually involved in Poteen Prom, but it just had a nice ring to it so that's what it was called. A few weeks ago, each of the boys picked a random name out of a hat and asked that girl to prom. It was quite the source of entertainment over the past few weeks as the guys came up with their creative ways of asking their dates. My date was Drew, and he and two others arrived before the dance with newly-created mohawks, which sadly they have since gotten rid of. 

We took pictures beforehand in Cottage 6, then braved the rain on the short walk to the main lodge for the dance. JP opened up the large banquet hall and bar for the evening and a very fun night was had by all. 

A few of us and our dates

Joe and I 

Bethany, Me, and Ellen 

All of the guys

All of the girls

Earlier in the week, I heard from Alex, one of my friends from high school who is studying in London right now, that he and a friend were coming to the Galway area for the weekend. They needed a place to stay, and the Park Lodge is very accommodating of our friends and family so they stayed here. They got in late Thursday night during the midst of all of the Prom craziness, but Alex was unintimidated by the group and joined right in on the fun, busting out the dance moves with the rest of us. 


On Friday morning we had our final music class at the studio in Spiddal. We all had been dreading getting up and going to class, but it ended up being really great. The focus of this class was singing, and we learned a few songs, one of them in Irish. It really is such a bizarre and difficult language, so it was pretty comical hearing all of us try to pronounce the words. When it came time to participate and sing along, I had been expecting everyone to be pretty unenthused, considering it was early in the morning after a late night at prom the night before, but to my surprise the whole group sang along with gusto. It's a moment from the trip that I think will stand out in my memories of my time here. I looked around the room, this beautiful, spacious recording studio we were in, and took it all in. I remember thinking, Here I am, singing this song in Irish with these amazing musicians accompanying us, with this crazy group of incredibly fun people that I am blessed to have gotten to know so well over the past three months. It also kind of hit me then that we have so little time left now, and I want to make it an unforgettable couple of weeks.