So, when I left ya last, I had mentioned the plans to go to Cork, and how I had hoped no one would flake.Yeah… plans changed, of course.When it came time to discussing the plans, no one could really agree on anything.Everyone had specific problems with the plan, and everyone was talking at once.People just got frustrated and left it at "we'll talk more about it later."Of course we weren't going to, because it's insanely hard for us to meet up with each other as none of us have cell phones here.Our rooms don't even have phones.I'm finding that's one of the more frustrating aspects about travelling with a large group of people.It's really hard to move 16 people from one place to the next, and to get all of us to agree on something.We're chronically late everywhere we go (thankfully, none of the Irish seem to mind).It makes me miss, Chris, my travel buddy.It's so much simpler travelling with him- we generally want to go to the same places and we make plans and stick with them.Even the instructor here changes the plans five times trying to accommodate for everyone.I was just worried I'd be stuck at home in the dorm this weekend doing nothing and wasting my time in Ireland, ya know?

Anyway, things happen for a reason, right?At first, Claire, Lisa and I made reservations to take a rail tour down to Glendalough and Wicklow.It was going to be much cheaper and easier since it was only the three of us.More about that later…

Friday afternoon a group of us met up to go downtown.The original plan was to go to St. Stephens Green (a big grassy park with statues or something…?), TrinityCollege (which contains a big library and the Book of Kells), and the Guinness Storehouse.We only ended up having time for Guinness, though.It was a pretty cool place- they have a tour that explains the whole process of making Guinness.The main four ingredients are: water, barley, hops and yeast.They keep a small amount of yeast in a safe somewhere just in case a freak accident happens to main supply of yeast.I believe all the barley is Irish grown, but the hops are imported because the environment in Ireland isn't suitable for growing it.They also have a "tasting room" where you get a small glass of Guinness and then at the end of the tour you get a free pint in their "Gravity Bar," which is on the seventh floor and has 360 degree views of Dublin.I was definitely buzzed when it came time for shopping in their big souvenir shop.I bought Chris' dad a souvenir, and some smaller ones for other people.

I've realized on this trip just how spatially awesome I am- it's why I'm a good navigator.At the pre-trip safety and healthy meeting, we were advised not to open up maps and guide books in public- it's just invitation to get robbed.This poses a problem in an unfamiliar city for most people.I've been browsing the maps in the guide book before we go somewhere, and have managed to find my way by remembering what was on the map without having to double-check it.Lillianna keeps saying she doesn't care who's leading- she's going to follow me anyway.Hehe.

After the tour, we grabbed dinner and then went looking for a pub playing live traditional music.With my handy guidebook from Lonely Planet (I LOVE this guide book company- they're my bible for travelling) it was easy.We ended up at a place called… crap… can't remember the name.It was "(Something) St. John Gogarty's"…Long name.The music was on the second floor with a small bar.The band consisted of a middle-age balding white guy playing the guitar and singing, a young long, curly brown-haired woman playing the fiddle, and a middle-aged curly gray-haired man playing the banjo.They were really good and I loved sitting their drinking my pint and listening to them!There were maybe fifty people when we got there, but thankfully we found seats early on because the crowd more than tripled over the next hour.As the crowd grew, the pub got louder- people singing and clapping along with the music.It was pretty damned awesome.I didn't know any of the words, but I recognized some of the music.One was called "Galway Girl" which I'm almost positive is the song the cute Irish guy sings in P.S. I Love You.The singer called out to our group at one point and asked where we were from.One of us said, "The U.S." and half the room cheered.Lol, it's nice to know we're being liked in Ireland.A lot of Irish people have given us positive comments in regards to Obama over the past week.Right before the singer sang "Galway Girl" he turned to our group again, and said, "Okay Americans- let's get this straight!It's 'GALLway Girl'… NOT GALway girl!You say it like 'gallbladder'!"lol, funny man.

Saturday ended up being my favourite day in Ireland so far.I woke up to find an old gray haired and bearded man in our kitchen talking to Mary Lou and Claire.His name is Alistair McAlister, and he's Mary Lou's cousin.She has a ton of cousins here in Ireland and he had come to spend time with her that day.Claire started telling him about our plans to go on the rail tour to Glendalough and then he said if we could cancel our tour with refunds, than he'd just drive us all down there himself.Obviously that's an offer you can't refuse- a tour of Ireland by an Irishman.So he called and cancelled our tours for us, and Alistair, Mary Lou, Lisa, Claire and I piled into his car to drive around southeastern Ireland!

I have to pause for a moment to explain why I drove off with a complete stranger, lol.Mary Lou, our instructor, was there for one.Two, if you ever met this man, he radiates patience and kindness.I later found out he was a monk for 30 years and taught at a Catholic boys school for the deaf (this explains the radiating kindness).He was so patient for travelling with four women- he didn't even look like he was annoyed when we would want to shop forever in each shop we came across.He also paid for almost the entire trip- the gas (they call it "petrol" here), lunch and snacks.He also took a million photos of us with his camera (which he plans on giving us copies of) and insisted on taking pictures with our own cameras of us in front of everything we visited.Lol.Why did he become a monk?Old school Irish had a tradition where the first born male stayed to work on the farm, and the second born male joined the monastic order.Being the second born, his life was sort of decided for him.But he loved it.He said he learned much more from the kids than he could ever teach them.Why isn't he a monk anymore?When he hit his 60s the order was nudging him to retire, but he didn't want to.He wanted to keep teaching.The problem is more monks were leaving than going, and so I guess support for the order fell.Maybe there just wasn't much room for monks in modern day society?Anyway, he went back to University so he could teach kids in the public school system- that's what he does now.By the way, the man looks like the fisherman in the yellow slicker on the VanKamp's Fish Fillet boxes.Oh!And lord does the man know his HISTORY!All day he explained the history and stories of the places we visited!I was so amazed!I don't know any American (except maybe Jamie) who knows THAT much local lore and history!

Back to the story… first we went to Powerscourt near Enniskerry.I will also mention that it poured buckets on us the sheer majority of the day… when it wasn't doing that, it was sprinkling, hailing or briefly looking like it would rain again in a few minutes.The rain was insane compared to the sunny weather we'd had all week, but I guess this is normal for the Irish.Powerscourt is a huge estate with lots of gardens (including a beautiful Japanese garden) and fountains.I don't know much of the history but I can tell you it was a pretty cool looking place.It also has some cute shops where you can buy ridiculously expensive things.I bought post-cards (I've begun to collect them everywhere I go).

Next we drove to Glendalough, which means something like "Glen of the Lake."It's a stereotypical Irish calendar/postcard location.It has a big cemetery from some centuries past, a large narrow stone tower, and a stone church.The stone tower has a pretty cool history.I believe St. Vincent started up his hermitage in the area (he liked to live in a cave at the UpperLake).The tower has a door that's 15ft above the ground.The monks who lived there would use rope ladders to get in and out, and if they were attacked they climb in their tower and just pull up the ladder so the invaders couldn't get in.They typically kept enough food to last a week or so in the tower.Even if the invaders got it, the monks also liked to bury a lot of their valuables on the property… making it pretty hard to rob them.Alistair was telling me that some time ago, a man and his son unearthed a chalice. He tried to sell it for millions, but the Irish government said, "hey, that's Irish history there, so it's ours."And they took it.I asked if the government bothered to pay the guy anything, because hell… he DID find it!He said he thinks the government paid the guy under the table… just not the millions he originally asked for.It was raining when we first arrived at Glendalough, so we stopped at the local Inn and I had my first Irish meal- seafood chowder, brown bread and tea.It was hella good, even more so because I was so cold.The weather was nice enough to let up for half an hour so we could explore the graveyard, tower and church.Then we drove down the road to the UpperLake to take more pictures.It started to pour on us again- =(.We didn't hang out at the lake long, but it was absolutely beautiful.The lake was flanked on both sides by steep green hills.=)Before leaving Glendalough, I had my first Irish ice cream.It's so freakin' good here!!!!!It's so creamy- it's addicting.

Then we drove on to Avoca, which means "Meeting of the Waters".First we stopped at a place where two rivers met- hence the name.It was still raining- I was pretty thoroughly soaked at that point, despite wearing Anna's snow jacket.My shoes were sponges from then until the rest of the night.Apparently some famous poet wrote about this place… but I'm not really into poetry so I don't know who or what poem.

We drove to the Avoca Handweavers next.All over Ireland you find scarves and clothing made here, so I bought some people some souvenirs.I even bought myself a really warm, brown, zip-up sweater that was on sale.And more postcards.On a normal day you can watch the weavers making clothing by hand, but for some reason they weren't there that day.Oh well.I have it on a postcard.Hehe.Then we drove back into Avoca (it's a small village) to Fitzgerald's Pub.Apparently it's famous for a TV show it's in called Ballykissangel.I've never heard of it, but I guess other people have because everyone has to take a picture in front of it and have a ceremonial pint.So we did both.The horse races were on, so we each other in a couple races.It was just good laidback fun hanging out there.

The last parts of the trip were more driving than anything else.We went to Arklow, but didn't get out.We glanced at the marina as we drove by and then headed up north to Wicklow, another seaside town.This time we got out at the ocean- the weather and Irish sea were insane here!!The wind was roaring, the rain was pelting, and the North wind was biting cold!We ran out, took pictures (of course the pictures make it look like a calm place), and ran back into the car, laughing the entire time at the craziness of it.Then we drove further north to Dalkey, a very expensive place to live.He took us to the neighbourhood Bono lives in.He used to know exactly where the house is, but he forgot.I asked how much the houses were here since just buying a house in Dublin will run you 1-2 million euros (so $3-5 million).He said, "if you have to ask the price, then you don't have enough."Lol, I love that answer.It's so true.We got out next to a cliff and took some pictures.We finally headed back to UCD around 8pm, but we stopped at the MarionInn for dinner.It has a pub, and I got my second Irish meal of the trip!I ordered fish and chips and they were amazing- better than any I've had back home.We insisted on paying for Alistair's meal, and he finally let us pay for something.The TV was showing a Gaelic Football game.Alistair was explaining the goings-on, and to me it looks like a cross between soccer, rugby and basketball.It was fascinating to watch.I definitely need to go to a gaelic football game someday before I die- it's on the to-do list.One interesting thing about it is the players are all volunteer- they don't get paid for it and they all have normal jobs.But it's a nationally televised sport that the Irish get hella into.Neat, yeah?Greedy Americans don't do that sort of thing.

Anyway, I'm hoping the rail tour gives me my money back.I had my dad check my credit card balance Monday and it's still pending.I'm gonna give it a couple more days, see if it's changed, and then call the rail company again.

Sunday ended up being my second favourite day this trip.In the morning I went with Claire and Mary Lou to Catholic mass in a stone Irish cathedral.I'm not Catholic, but I figure the best way to see a cathedral is the way the locals do- during mass.Unfortunately the mass started earlier than we thought, so we only saw the last 20 min of it.Then Mary Lou went up for the communion and Claire went for the blessing while I watched our stuff.After we went and lit candles and prayed for everyone back home.I'm not very religious, but it was a very comforting thing to do.

During the afternoon, a large group of us went on a daytrip to Malahide and Howth.The only thing we really did at Malahide was visit our first castle.It's pretty big and set on a sprawling immaculate green lawns.We took a tour of the inside, which was a little lame.The rooms were hooked up to speakers that played a recording of a small amount of history and the furniture.I think it would have been better with a human guide that you could ask questions.Mary Lou also felt the place was kind of falling apart- it had some mold and needed a paint job.Lol, in my opinion it's a few hundred years old… it's bound to rot eventually.I imagine there just hasn't been enough funding- the Irish have been hit just as hard as the Americans with the tumbling economy.

Then we went to Howth, which I liked a lot more.It's another small village on a peninsula.We went to the farmer's market, ate a snack at the café and walked out to he lighthouse, taking tons of pictures the whole way.Afterwards I bought more Irish ice cream and postcards.I've decided I'm going to come back to Howth to do some hiking.Claire seems interested in doing it with me, but I doubt that will happen.So I'm going to do it for sure, otherwise, when I have those days to myself after the study abroad program ends.There's a cool sounding 10km hike (like 6miles I think) along the cliffs that I really want to do.Apparently there's some cairns, a small castle, and a church up there, too.I bought a trail map for a euro, too.

Sunday night Claire and Mary Lou cooked pasta dinner and made a salad and we spent a couple hours just getting to know each other on a personal level.It was pretty nice.=)

Unfortunately Monday has not been so interesting.We had another seminar in the morning, and I tuned out for the majority of it again.Then we did a hospital visit to a MaternityHospital.That turned out to be pretty cool.Apparently babies are delivered mostly by midwives in Ireland.A doctor (which they call a "consultant") only delivers when there's a problem.Their C-section rate is also really low- they don't like people who are "too posh to push" as the nurse said.They only do it in emergency situations.

We all went out to eat salad, soup and brown bread after the tour.This evening we had to work on our presentations that we have to do in Sligo.It turns out I was completely out of the loop on this one.Not only had my group written the scripts, but they'd given out roles, too.Crap.So they added me in as the sign holder, or "Visual Designer", as I call it.My signs just introduce each scene, lol.Oh well.

Tuesday, today, is our last day of seminars and hospital visits.Because we finished the project stuff Monday, we have a whole free day on Wednesday (originally we were just going to do it that day).Tentatively, some of us are planning to do a pub crawl, which is basically a somewhat guided tour to various pubs (the one we want to do includes a free shot at each of the four pubs).I feel that to not get drunk once in Ireland is to go home in shame.(Chris and parents do not worry- we have a designated walker with us.Lol.).Wednesday we started talking about going to Cork again, but I'm doubting that will happen.I hope we do something cool, though.Thursday we drive to Sligo, which is on the opposite end of the island.

Sooo… that's my update!I love you all!

PS. I uploaded a handful of photos stolen from my classmates' blogs.

PSS. Responding to message boards:

-Mi: I have to dress professional when I'm at the seminars and hospital visits, which has been almost everyday. I can only dress in normal clothes outside of that time. When I'm in Sligo shadowing the nurse in ER, then I have to wear scrubs. They don't wear scrubs in Irish hospitals- so I'm really going to stand out. I took a picture of some nurses that I'll post when I get home. They wear "trousers" and "tunics". lol, thanks for taking me to your graduation, even if only in balloon form!

-Chris: I'm so glad you got back safely! I was a little worried, ya know. Probably not nearly as much as your mommy. I love you and miss you, tho! Travelling isn't the same without you, and I wish you were here.

-Galen: You're an absolute dork. I love you.

-Danny: Thanks for wishing me luck! =)