"I have to be in this lane, right?"

Sometimes I cheat when I’m searching for a more intelligent or descriptive word when I’m writing. Most of you probably know about the “synonym” option available on Microsoft Word when using the typing machine we call a computer. It conveniently helps you sound like you have a vast and eloquent vocabulary. There again, I used it for eloquent. So when I tried the word “surreal,” one of the options that really struck me was “dreamlike.” Dreamlike, yep…that is what I am currently feeling. I just shipped my parents and sister back home to the states after a fantastic week, and I am writing this on an airplane headed for Rome. Seriously? What an incredible feeling and an even more incredible opportunity. Granted, I’m not quite there yet, and I have a few more hoops through which to jump in order to get to my residence for the week; but it’s really hard to grasp what is happening in this dreamlike state of being. I know, like a dream, my week long mid-semester break in Rome will be over before I know it; but hopefully, unlike most of my own dreams, I will be able to remember and appreciate all of the amazing experiences I will have over the next 7 days.

First, however, let’s recap this past week with my family. I was in Dublin from October 9th through the 12th and Mom, Dad, and Monica were scheduled to arrive in the Dublin airport at about 09:00 and we both understood that I had a tour around the city with my group that day and I was unsure when I would be finished with that and able to be on my own for the rest of the night.

*Sidenote: I will be the first to say that the amount of dependence society places on personal electronics is becoming unhealthy. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice to be able to have the world at my fingertips with the click of a few buttons; but sometimes I wish it was just me against my environment. Last Saturday was not one of those times.*

I would have given almost anything for both my parents and me to have a cell phone so I could find them. Long story short, I may or may not have spent 2 hours total waiting in a hotel lobby, worrying, waiting, and writing. There was no one at fault; we just kept missing each other! I did find humor in the irony of the situation—this time it was my turn to wait patiently for those rascals to come home, while worrying about what trouble they could possibly be getting themselves into in the bustling city of Dublin. When they finally did come back, they felt far worse than they needed to, but Dad made up for it by buying me dinner and each of us a pint…buy someone a Guinness and all is forgiven.

Monday I had class for three hours in the afternoon so we had dinner together in Galway. It was a great meal, and a good start to the week. Tuesday I decided to take them into Connemara National Park—a picturesque place full of a beautiful mountains and streams. How did we get there you ask? Did I mention my family rented a car for the week? Yes, they do drive on the “wrong” sides of both the road and the car itself. It was an adventure all week to say the least, and just as Dad started to feel comfortable, the trip was over. Wednesday I didn’t see them at all because I had class from 10 in the morning until 8 at night, with few breaks in between. They survived the gorgeous Cliffs of Moher and we met up again on Thursday. We took a ferry out to the Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, one of my favorite places in Ireland, and spent the day on the island. I was really thankful we had a perfect day for it, and all of us mustered up enough gumption to army crawl to the edge and peer down the 300 foot cliffs. As Dad described, “The Cliffs of Moher were beautiful, but these cliffs are breathtaking.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. That night we (a couple of us reluctantly on account of being exhausted) ventured into the nightlife of Galway city. We stumbled (no we weren’t drunk) upon Taaffe’s, a pub that has live Irish music on Thursday nights. We got there early enough to get our own table, and I have to admit, it was a blast. The place was packed but the atmosphere was unbeatable.

So, they departed this morning, and Dad was nice enough to drop the three of us travelling to Rome at the bus station this morning at 05:20. Alright, we’re about to land so I have to pack this thing up, but take care of each other, and I’ll say hi to the Pope for all of you back home.

Whoa...For The Longest Time...

I feel it's necessary to apologize for the tardiness of this post. I first looked at when my last post was (September 24th) and thought to myself, "Oh I better do another because it's been about a week." Well, a week turned into two, and, well, here we are. So I'm sorry for those of you who are legitimately interested in my life. (Thank you to the half dozen of you.) But seriously, as I reflected on my failure as a blogger, I came to the realization that I've been busy as hell the last two weeks and I had absolutely no time during which to blog! I've been writing a lot in my personal journal, which is good, and I've found it therapeutic in a sense. However, it's unfortunate that a couple of my professors don't agree that freelance writing should be the only type of writing. I have heard from a few of you that were curious about my role in academia. Yes, I actually do have classes! I guess I neglected to mention this aspect of my trip because...well that's the boring part. But I'll briefly touch on my classes.

My first class, taught by my director, is called Senior Seminar. If you didn't catch the irony of the name of the class, I am actually a Junior, not a Senior, but I need to take this class to graduate. I'd like to lie to you all and say that I'm just ahead of everyone else, but I knew none of you would buy that so it wasn't worth trying. My other three classes are taught by professors from the University in Galway who come to our living quarters to teach us. Monday's class is Irish Catholicism which is interesting because the many places of religious significance we talk about in class, we have seen or will see during our excursions. On Wednesday I have an Anglo-Irish Literature class which is probably my favorite class. Right now we're reading Yates and we'll be reading Joyce and Seamus Heaney in the next couple weeks. I'm really excited. My other class on Wednesday is my Irish History class. I just finished a paper for that class about an hour ago on Irish immigrants, specifically those who immigrated to Minnesota. So all in all classes are really good, but I can honestly say that what I learn in the classroom doesn't compare to the amount I am learning through our excursions and listening to people who are a part of this rich history of Ireland.

In light the journey on which my parents and sister are about to embark (to Ireland, to see their handsome son and brother), I feel this is necessary...
"Please fasten your seat belts for takeoff and remain fastened until the seat belt sign is turned off."

Two weekends ago, that would be September 25th through the 28th for those keeping score, we took a weekend excursion to Northern Ireland, specifically Belfast and Derry. This was an amazing trip and one that was no doubt very different than any of our previous excursions. We were able witness first hand the hostility that once existed in the two cities, and that still exists to a certain extent. The wall in Belfast, separating the Nationalists (who support British control over Northern Ireland) from the Unionists (who support Northern Irish independence from Britain) still exists, but is no longer a wall of separation; rather it is a wall that is a constant reminder of the British presence in Northern Ireland, and the differences that plague the people of the country. I've been in the country for a mere month, yet it was quite an experience to see an Irish city with red, white, and blue curb paint representing the British colors, and the flag of Great Britain flying on every building on the Unionist side. There are so many beautiful murals in this city; each making profound political and social statements. Speaking of beautiful, if you look at the dates closely you might notice that the 25th was a very important date in Minnesota history. Some of you might say it was all for not, but I watched the most beautiful Twins game I've seen in my lifetime. I stayed up until 5am to watch my boys come back from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Sox. I won't say anything more about them because it bring tears to my eyes, but I saw a beautiful, beautiful game that night.

From Belfast, we traveled to Derry, which is about an hour or so from Belfast, also located in Northern Ireland. We had an emotional tour around the city led by a man we just happened to run into who was a former tour guide. He was really able to tell us a first hand account of his experiences. The murals here, like Belfast, were so profound, yet powerful to the point that we could still feel the tension present not long ago on the streets we were walking.

This past weekend, we traveled to Kilkenny for just one night. This Medieval town is still bustling with tourists (that's me!) and visitors from all over the world. My favorite thing that happened to a group of us took place on Saturday night. We arrived in the evening and just after six o'clock we went looking for a church to find out mass times. We found the Catholic church (which was built in the 1600s) at about 6:08, we looked at the time of mass and...it started at 6:10. I was in awe. I'm pretty sure the reason that mass time existed was simply because someone knew we were going to be there at that exact time. 6:10? When has there ever been a mass starting at an obscure time like that? Sorry, I was befuddled. We also visited a castle the was conquered by Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century; that's it in the background. "You may now unbuckle your seat belts until further notice."

So, now you're caught up! We're off to Dublin on Thursday morning, and I'll be meeting Mom, Dad, and Monica there on Saturday night! I'm really excited to see them--I'm also excited for the food they're bringing me; but don't tell them that. So, as they say in Irish...

Slainte! (To your health!)