Study Abroad, Day 2

Today we got up at 7am, got ready, & then ate breakfast in the hostel. It was pretty good actually. We got yoghurt, a croissant, cereal, & orange juice. After eating breakfast, we realized that we weren’t starting our foot tour of Belfast until 10am. So me, Ang, & some other students (Kat, Jess, Leah, & Daniel) headed to the capital building. There was a store nearby that exchanged money, & that was what Kat needed to do. Afterward we headed back to the hostel, met our group, & hit the town.

We walked over 5 miles around the town stopping at murals, important buildings, a cemetery, etc. It was very interesting. One thing that was unexpected was how tense it was throughout the area we were in. People were staring at us, honking, etc. A few times when we stopped & our guide told us about a mural, a local would come over & listen to what was said. We were later told that those people came over in order to find out who we were & what we were doing there. Pretty creepy. One of the places we visited was Shankill Road, which is the road where over 40 people were tortured to death in the 70s. That was a pretty ominous street.

Well my feet are killing me! Luckily tomorrow will be spent at the School of Ecumenics, so there won’t be a lot of walking. We will be in class all day. Should be interesting!

Study Abroad, Day 1

I am currently sitting at a youth hostel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We woke up this morning, ate breakfast in the hotel, & then my parents dropped Ang & I off at the Dublin airport. We hung out in arrivals & waited for our school mates to land. We waited for quite a while & started to get a bit nervous, but they finally came through customs. We had to hang out at the airport until the bus arrived, & then we hit the road.

We first stopped at Drogheda & went to St Peter's Catholic Church & saw the mummified head of a saitn. Creepy! The church was beautiful though. After that stop we went to Monasterboice Abbey & saw two high crosses. They were amazing. Oh & I saw a cat while we were there. Adorable! It’s only the second cat I have seen in Ireland. Anyways, after that we drove straight through to Belfast. The hostel we are staying at is called the Belfast International Flagship Youth Hostel. Quite the mouthful. It is pretty nice. I have never stayed in a hostel, but I am told that this is way nice for one.

So we all walked over to a fish & chips restraurnt that, fortunately, served veggie burgers. It was pretty good. Then we wandered over to Queen’s University & now we are back at the hostel. Everyone is really jet lagged so most of them are sleeping right now. Belfast is an interesting place. It seems… Aggressive. Or something. Me & Ang both decided it was an intense place.

Well we stay here for three nights & then head to Inch Island. Should be fun! So far, all the people are pretty nice. I haven't quite got all of the names yet, but it has only been one day! That's all for now!

Ireland, Day 6

We are currently sitting in our hotel in Dublin. It is a pretty nice hotel. It is called the Shelburne I think... Anyways... We got up this morning, ate breakfast at the castle, & hit the road. We grabbed the ferry & then headed to Waterford Crystal. We looked around their store & actually ended up buying some stuff. A lot of stuff, really. We were going to go to a hand-blown glass company afterwards, but figured we would just want to buy more! So we headed straight to Dublin. It was about a three hour drive, which wasn't too bad. We got to Dublin, checked into our hotel, & then took a double-decker bus tour. It was a good way for us to get to see the city because we have such limited time. After riding the bus, we ate dinner at a pub called Captain America. I got another pizza! Haha. We are back at our hotel now & Ang & I are getting ready for tomorrow. I can't believe this part of our trip is over. It has gone by so fast. I will be sad to say farewell to the parents, but I am ready to move on to the next part of the journey. We are going to meet UVU at the Dublin airport tomorrow morning. Their flight gets in at 8:45am & we will be waiting to greet them at the baggage reclaim. I am nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine.

Anyways, that's about it. Last night Ang & I stayed up doing laundry until 1am. Slowest washing machine ever! But it is nice to have all clean clothes again. I was running low on socks! Well, I'll post again when I can. I should have internet so with any luck I'll continue writing every night. Not many pictures today... Spent most of the day in the car! Bye!

Ireland, Day 5

Today was a very long day. We ate breakfast at our hotel & then hit the road. We visited Charles Fort first, which was not far from where we stayed. It was pretty neat. It was massive & we spent nearly an hour wandering around it. After the Fort, we headed to Mizen Head. Mizen Head is the southernmost point in Ireland. It was amazing. You had to walk rather far & cross a bridge before you reached the outlook point. It was such a great view. I loved it!

After spending an hour or so there, we headed to our next hotel. Tonight we are staying in Waterford at the Waterford Castle Hotel. It took nearly 5 hours to drive here. It was a gorgeous drive. Every time we drive a long distance here, we have taken different roads & have been able to see so much. I love this place! It is so beautiful here. Anyways, our hotel is actually on an island near Waterford & you have to take a private ferry to get there. The ferry is fun for different! When we got the place to check-in, there were two big rabbits running around. Adorable!

The hotel is super nice. It actually is a two –level lodge. It has a living room, kitchen, three bedrooms (each with a terrace), four bathrooms, & a washer & dryer. It is definitely the fanciest place we have stayed so far. After checking in, we went back off the island to eat dinner. We ended up at an Italian restaurant that was really good. I got pizza… Again. I have honestly had pizza for dinner 80% of the time. There are not a lot of options for vegetarians, & I am a super picky one. Once I was able to get an egg mayonnaise sandwich (it was just egg salad…yum) & I also have gotten a couple of omelets for dinner. I hope I can find stuff to eat once we meet up with the school!

Well it is nearly midnight here, but me & Ang are taking advantage of the washer & dryer. The loads take forever! We thought we would only have to do two, but the washing machine is so small we have to do three. Hopefully it will finish soon because we are tired! Oh… I forgot to mention that I finally tried some whipped ice cream today. I saw it in London & in Ireland, but have never had a chance to try it. I grabbed some at a gas station, & it basically changed my life. It was delicious! It is just like soft serve, but lighter & richer. Yum. It was so good! Haha. Well, I’ve got to go cycle the laundry. Tomorrow we head to Dublin, & the next day we meet up with UVU. Scary! This trip has flown by. Until next time!