A Trip to Ireland

* WARNING* This post is ridiculously long.

You may remember I wrote a previous post about a trip I was planning to take.

Here’s the story of what happened on my journey to Ireland…

Before I even arrived on the Emerald Isle, I knew I would be exposed to a lot of differences from my home country (and by home country I mean Texas, of course). However, I didn’t expect the differences to begin at the airport and I certainly didn’t expect them to begin in the bathroom…

That’s right, the first picture I took on this trip was of a toilet in the Dublin International Airport. It just looked, well, strange to me. So I took its picture. And now you know what a toilet in Ireland looks like.

After taking the above picture, I changed into more appropriate attire. Dublin was a good 40 degrees cooler than San Antonio and let’s just say, it was a welcome change to walk down the sidewalk and not feel like it was sautéing me. At the same time, walking around Dublin in the normal uniform for Texas in the month of May (t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops) would have sent me into hypothermia within three steps outside of the airport, so a change of clothes was definitely necessary.

Then came the hell that is known as currency exchange. If you think you’re financially strapped in our country, then I don’t recommend a trip to any country within the EU anytime soon (or the UK). I seriously had to pick my jaw up off the exchange counter when the $100 I handed over came back to me at a much lower denomination and minus a processing fee. It was like being at a gas pump when gas was almost $5 a gallon – that kind of feeling (you know, the bent over one). Taken advantage of doesn’t even begin to cover how this experience felt.

Once I semi recovered from the sticker shock, we were on our way to locate the bus that would take us to Cork. I was pretty disappointed when we were told we would not be taking this one…

…cause, come on, how fun would it be to ride around Ireland in this bus? But alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

I wish I could tell you the bus ride to Cork was breathtaking, magical, and filled with awe at the beauty of the natural landscape. I’m sure it was every bit of those descriptions, but I fell asleep and slept pretty much the whole way there (thanks a lot jet lag). All I managed to stay awake for was this…

In case you forgot what that is, that’s rain. Don’t worry, I had forgotten what it looked like too.

We did stop for lunch on the way to Cork and you know I did wake up for that (those that know me best know I don’t miss a meal).

And so, in the sweet little town of Cashel we weary travelers stopped for a bite to eat and to take in some of the sights…

A street in Cashel

An old castle, the Rock of Cashel

 The cemetery at the Rock of Cashel

Street sign in Gaelic and English

Lunch!

I took this one because it made me think of my sister Jodi. Looked like a cool salon.

The Irish clearly have their priorities in order. I’m seriously considering opening one of these in San Antonio.

Although we only spent a couple of hours in Cashel, I really enjoyed the visit. It was the beginning of a dream come true.

With a heavy heart, I got back on the bus (I seriously could have stayed there the entire trip – it was like Jewett, only much more charming) and promptly fell back asleep. Waking up to the vision of our hotel both startled and relieved me.

Believe it or not, I didn’t take any pictures of the hotel (oops). So in lieu of personal pictures, here’s a link to The River Lee Hotel:

http://www.doylecollection.com/locations/cork_hotels/the_river_lee_hotel.aspx

The rest of this first day was pretty uneventful.

I ordered room service.

Was not expecting my 7-Up to come in a glass bottle, but it was a pleasant surprise.

The next day…

…we went to the University of College Cork. Quite possibly the most beautiful college campus I’ve ever visited.

The students attending this university really make the most of their campus. I saw many of them sitting outside studying, reading, talking to friends, riding bikes on the paths, etc. I really could see myself coming back to Cork one day to teach (they have an American Lit department, so it wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea).

We spent each weekday morning on the campus listening to mini-lectures from various faculty. And each weekday afternoon we took mini-field trips.

The first was to Blarney.

Yep, you guessed it, home to the infamous Blarney stone.

What you don’t know about said stone until you go to Blarney…

…it’s at the top of this castle.

No problem, right? Yeah…this place was built over 800 years ago. The stairs 1) wind up for about 8 flights and 2) are so narrow you have to walk up sideways.

Needless to say, I was not enthusiastic about kissing the stone by the time I got to the top. And I was even less enthusiastic when I saw the Blarney stone:

There, above and to the left of the man’s hand – where the stone is noticeably darker than the rest of the wall – is where you plant your lips.

Given my history of illness (apparently, when I get sick, I GET SICK) and knowing about half the world had been there before me, I declined to kiss the Blarney stone. My inaction caused a lot of reaction back home. I was told I would regret not doing it. I’m happy to report I’m very glad I didn’t.

I did, however, get some pretty nice pictures of the castle…

Other than visiting Blarney castle, we visited this place:

Blarney Woollen Mills – the largest family owned business in the Republic. The current CEO is the daughter of the founder. When she was 16, her father put her with a cart full of knickknack type of souvenirs at the base of Blarney Castle and she sold these goods to tourists. When the mill went bust in the 70s, her father bought it and turned into a much larger version of the cart. It was highly successful from day one. About 10 years ago, the current CEO visited the U.S. and impressed with the way stores such as Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn were laid out, she changed the entire layout of the mill. Along with souvenirs, she incorporated goods marketed toward the locals of the area, such as bedroom furniture and kitchen staples. She also turned part of the mill into a cafeteria type restaurant, similar to what IKEA stores have – only they serve traditional Irish food. If you want to learn more about the store, check out their site:

www.blarney.com

We went back to the hotel after the little adventure in Blarney. Here’s a shot of the city of Cork from my floor:

And a swan in the river that runs right in front of the hotel:

The next day we again had a mini-lecture and a mini-trip. This time we went to the Tyndall National Institute. It’s a research facility owned by the university. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the place, but I gotta say, as someone who is not scientifically inclined, I was seriously impressed by the work they do there. What made the trip even more cool -  the Queen of England had been there only a few days before us. Here’s a link to their site:

http://www.tyndall.ie/

Not sure if the site explains what they are researching, but may be worth taking a look at if your interested in any type of scientific research. Oh, and a Texan is running the place and has been for over 15 years.

And the day after the visit to the Tyndall institute, we took a trip here:

For those working in the computer industry in any capacity, the name should ring a bell. And for my fellow Aggies, please note I HAD to change the block marked Company (and also note they wrote T.U., priceless).

Without photos the details of the visits to Tyndall and EMC2 are pretty boring, so I’ll move on.

On Thursday, we took a day trip to Kinsale.

Sweet little town.

 With a harbor full of ships…

 …and old buildings…

 …and signs of home.

If you’d like to learn more about Kinsale, yep, here it is – another link:

http://kinsale.ie

Our next field trip took us to what was probably my favorite place, Killarney. Why was it my fav? Well…

 

 …we went here…

 …and I fell in love with this little lady.

I met this barn kitty…

…and this one.

Despite the mean faces, they were both friendly barn kitties. Kinda made me miss these two:

For those who follow me on Facebook, you know I refer to Jenna’s two cats as the Bad Kitty Brigade. These two are a mess. Fun, but a mess.

Did I mention how green Ireland is?

There are literally so many shades of green, you cannot count them all.

After making our way back to town,

we took a cab to a working farm.

As I was walking alone through the farm, imagine my surprise when I came across this:

If you are a fan of the book Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland, you’ll understand why I was fascinated. For a moment I really wondered if this was Dinah looking for Alice. Turns out, she’s just a good mama cat, waiting for dinner to come out. A worker at the farm told me she hid her kittens in the roof here:

She had them hidden in there to keep them away from the resident fox. Smart lady.

It took me a long time to make my way through the farm. And with views like these, you can see why…

Then I met this kid:

It followed me the rest of the journey. I was all set to think Bad Kitties only existed at my house. But then, we came across this little guy:

And the chase ensued. Poor little bunny. I have no idea if it survived or not.

At the end of my tour, I went back to the front to wait for the others.

I have no idea who is supposed to take caution here. Is it the person walking across the road? Is it the driver of the car? Both? Who knows.

The last two days of the trip were spent in Dublin.

We stayed at Trinity College. I do not recommend staying on campus. Beautiful to look at – not the best accommodations. I’m pretty sure cruise ships have bigger showers than the ones they have here.

The entrance to Trinity College

Say what you want about our President – he was extremely well received in Ireland. It was a very humbling experience to watch this country welcome the leader of ours.

Went all the way to Ireland and saw – the Alamo?!?! P.S. A plate of nachos was $14 Euro.

A street performer. I really thought he was a statue.

An extremely fun place to visit. FYI, you get a free pint on the top floor.

Mr. Guinness was a smart man. 9000 year lease to make beer. Genius.

The President of the Republic of Ireland’s house. Oh, and their President is a woman. With a Ph.D. Kinda puts some perspective on the history of our presidencies.

Oscar Wilde’s house. Now a part of Trinity College. The Irish American department holds classes here.

And that folks was my trip to Ireland.

The next day we went to Dublin International, where once again I cried about the exchange rate and changed back into clothes more suitable for the desert.

And was I ever glad I did.

The moment I stepped onto the gangway in Austin, a heat filled gust of wind came over me. Yuck. I immediately missed the 50-something degree weather and spontaneous rain showers I become accustomed to. But, as a little girl once said, “There’s no place like home” and I was happy to be back in mine.

To the few that actually read this blog, this is possibly the last one I post on this site. I’m looking into changing over to another site. One that doesn’t jack the pictures around (as you witnessed above) and hopefully has a more user-friendly app for my iPhone.

Hope you enjoyed my little story.

For me the opportunity really was a trip of a lifetime…

Absent

I could give a million or so reasons for my absence on here and on Facebook, but they won’t change the fact that I’ve been MIA.

Let’s just say while I’ve been absent, life has been happening…

Going to school as a full-time graduate student is nothing like being a full-time undergrad student. Someone should have slapped me for thinking two less classes equalled a lot less work/stress/time lost.

Somewhere among the chaos of mid-terms, teaching projects, and final papers, I managed to have a much better second semester in grad school than the first (and I have 2 As to prove it). The best part of course was boarding a plane in Chicago and stepping off it in Dublin. My experience in Ireland could AND will take up several posts and I do plan to share it on here, but one thing a time.

While walking the streets of Cork, Kinsale, Killarney, and Dublin, I thought about why I am pushing myself to go through school at such a rapid pace. And the more I thought about it, looked at the calendar on my phone, and talked it out with classmates, I discovered I will not graduate any sooner by being a full timer. So…

Instead of taking two courses this summer like I planned, I am in only one and I am in it because it is required for my degree plan and they will not offer it again for at least another year. And before I bore you with any more details, all I will say about my future plans for this grad program are to take 2 classes next semester and figure out how to line up my 2 thesis courses and final classroom course in order graduate in Dec. 2012. I cannot graduate any earlier than that, so there is no need to be stressing myself out over it.

I don’t know if it was the strange new land I was walking around or the fact that by the end of this summer my age will start with a 3 instead of a 2, but I’ve thought a lot about life and what I think it should be about since my trip to the Emerald Isle.

While I don’t have it all figured out, I do know this:

1) I want to spend more time with my family and friends.

2) I don’t want to feel so overwhelmed all the time.

I have one week of summer school left and then I will get somewhat of a break. I use the word “somewhat” because I have to take a graduate exam in August and I must read Jane Eyre (how terrible! – note, sarcasm). However, I will be free to spend more time with loved ones and do the things I’ve had to put off doing, i.e. unpack the boxes in the closet I still haven’t gotten to since we moved almost a year ago.

And I will do my best to not be so absent…

Interesting

Life is funny, isn’t it?

I mean, one day you’re in your bedroom with your favorite radio station softly streaming the latest hits as you study for an exam 30 minutes before bed and the next day you’re wearing a polyester blue cap and gown as you grasp your high school diploma in one hand and shake your principal’s with the other. Then you spend a summer hanging out with friends and family you know you won’t see much of once you go away for college and you try to make the most of it.

Suddenly the sweltering days and humid nights lead you to the day you carry and unpack boxes into a sardine can of a dorm room. You say good-bye to your mom and meet new friends for pickle chips and burgers. The days then turn into an endless parade of going to class, study groups, and parties with strangers. You make some good grades and some bad ones too. You date some guys who turn out to be wrong for you. You some meet people who will be your friend ten years after that incident that almost got you arrested.

You make some bad choices.

You try the best you can to make up for them.

You work two jobs to pay your bills.

You watch as a tragedy unfolds before your eyes in a cloudless Tuesday sky.

One week later you find yourself in the last place you would ever set foot in, signing your life away. Three months later you say good-bye to your family and friends again.

You make it through the beginning.

You make your way to a new life.

You’re tired of being alone.

You meet someone new.

You convince yourself they are the right one for you.

They break your heart.

You stay anyway.

Then you are given a blessing.

Then it’s taken away.

You watch as the unthinkable unfolds before your eyes in the early morning hours of Middle Eastern sky.

Heartbroken, depressed, and confused, you make the choice deep down you know is only temporary.

The euphoria is bittersweet. The world makes less and less sense.

You are given another blessing.

Nine months later she’s yours to hold.

To protect.

To love.

Things go from bad to worse.

The rollercoaster never stops.

Your only option is to jump off. Who will catch you?

With arms wrapped tightly around your baby girl, you jump and run. Run into the unknown. Run into the future.

Day after day the world becomes a little brighter.

You make another wrong choice.

Then another.

And another.

Dreams slowly become close enough to touch.

Finally, you make one more wrong decision and then you make a better one.

And a better one.

And a better one.

But all the good decisions, the hard work, and the faith cannot prepare you for the words you know aren’t fair to hear. You become sad, angry, and upset. Your hard work should count for something. Didn’t someone once say it was never too late to change your fate?

Then you find yourself walking the thin line between acceptance and indifference. You become grateful for what you have and leave your future up to a higher power.

Then comes the phone call that changes your life, only you don’t know it at the time.

Then comes another call.

And another.

Before you know it, you’re on a second first date with a guy you never wanted to break up with but had to because your lives were going in different directions.

You laugh about barbecue pits and gardening tools.

You pick out wine and drink it together.

You go to a club and make the first move because if he was too scared to make the first move the first time around, why would he do it the second time?

Several months of dating go by.

You accept a proposal while freezing in a downtown hotel courtyard.

You put your heart, sweat, late night and early morning hours into finishing a dream you started only a year before just to get your 30 second walk across a makeshift stage to accept the piece of paper that says your dream came true.

You pack your life into boxes.

You move for love.

You accept a position in graduate school because it’s the only offer you’ve received since graduating.

You marry for love.

You struggle with fitting in, making friends, and still trying to find yourself.

And after all of this…

…there are people who will put you down. Intentionally and unintentionally. Some are doing it out of spite and because they are so unhappy with their own lives, they have to put someone else down in order to make themselves feel better. Some do it unconsciously and because they are so unhappy with their own lives, they have to put someone else down in order to make themselves feel better.

After all I have been through in life, it’s interesting to me that I still come across judgement.

I know I took the long way around.

I know what I have done may not be popular or right in the eyes of others.

I know I love what I have and I’m grateful for my life.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the choices I have made.

I’m a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a student.

I know some people have no idea about what makes me who I am.

I love.

I feel.

And I hurt.

Before you decide to pass judgment upon others, think about how you would feel if someone thought ill of you because you chose to be a stay at home mom, not to have children, or any other system bucking choice people love to criticize others for making.

We all get one shot at life.

I’m out to make mine count…

Place

Knowing my place was much easier when I was growing up.

A small town begets a small school district, which in turn becomes a breeding ground for cliques. Those who weren’t in a cool group desperately wanted to be in one and those in one subjugated themselves to do whatever it took to maintain the status.

I was not in a cool group.

I was outwardly strange and inwardly seeking acceptance. The people who hung out with me did so because they pitied me; not because they thought I was worth knowing. Even within the small circle I was allowed into, I was ridiculed and made fun of. I was bestowed with the label of ‘quiet’ toward the end of my high school years and it seemed to puzzle many in the favored group. It was no mystery. I wasn’t a member of a cool group. In that environment I was no one. An insignificant brick in the wall.

It was my place. And I knew it.

Almost

This past weekend was different.

Different for many reasons. Different because we’ve been living in a rut and decided to break free. However, fleeting feelings and temporary change rarely have lasting effects.

This past weekend, I almost made peace with the city. Almost.

Envy

It’s one of the seven deadliest sins.

Sitting between Lust and Gluttony, it’s perhaps the most embarrassing one of the group.

And I’m guilty of it.

Welcome to my affiliation with Envy.

Dreams

This is my example of a big dream coming true

And like most people, I have other dreams – ones I label “How Nice” and file in my Dreams cabinet. Unlike most people, I have been fortunate enough to pull a file or two and lived them.

Reconnecting with Cody was one.

Graduate school is another.

It is because of graduate school that I get to pull yet another file and this is the book that started the dream…

Changes

It has been several days since our big marriage melt down and my husband has agreed with me that some changes need to be made. Changes that should have been in place before I moved to be with him. Changes that should benefit all of us. Changes that should make us BOTH happy.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of the changes he will make; this is my place to ramble about myself. What I will say is I recognize I should have been doing some things differently all along…

Moving away from home didn’t mean I had to give up everything that made me happy. It’s true I couldn’t bring my family, friends, and favorite places with me, but I didn’t have to stop doing the things that can be done no matter where I am.

Like working out everyday.

Searching for new music.

Taking a drive through the country.

Napping on the couch.

And countless other little things that keep my happy meter set on full. It’s also important I keep a happy environment for my daughter. Kids are resilient but are perceptive as well. She can sense my unhappy state without me telling her. My daughter doesn’t deserve to deal with it.

So, some changes have been made. Some changes will be made. My happiness is slowly coming back and so is my husband’s. We are recovering. We are moving forward. We are changing…

Truth

Truth is a tricky word.

It’s one we as human beings strive to live by. Our laws are made to uphold it. We vow to tell it to our loved ones. While we foolishly tell ourselves we live the truth, well, the truth is, we spend a good deal of time avoiding it. Myself included.

A few days ago, I was forced to face the truth I’ve been avoiding and to be cliché, brace yourself folks because it ain’t pretty…

New

I’ve done my best to come up with something witty and captivating to sum up my 2010. The truth is, there’s nothing about my life that even comes close to living up to those words. Being a former single mom isn’t glamorous. Neither is grad school. Or getting married. They are all average life occurrences. What I will share are things 2010 has taught me…