The first week of May was filled with a history test, an upcoming religion paper and a political geography test. So to break up the stressful week Kathleen and I went into Dublin for a cup of tea and Penny's shopping one day. On Friday afternoon I had my bags packed again for a trip to the Aran islands with the Saint Mary's girls. It was a our final trip as the next week was the last week of class. We all boarded the bus with our bags and additional bags of food for the weekend, and drove all the way to Doolin. We stopped half way in Monegall at the Barack Obama pit stop for some early dinner and then arrived in the small musical town of Doolin by nightfall to spend the night. As soon as we were unloaded I got put on dinner duty, so me and a few other Smicks cooked spaghetti. None of us had ever cooked enough food to feed forty people so there were definitely some technical difficulties including cooking the meat, boiling a huge pot of water and draining the spaghetti, but in the end we made a satisfying dinner. Even though it was raining we were encouraged to go out to the pub to have a pint and listen to some traditional music. It was packed, but warm and the Guinness was good.
Tea for me, please!
The next morning we awoke early to catch a ferry over to the island. It was a somewhat bumpy ride but I found a position that minimized my seasickness. Once on the island of Inishmor and checked into our hostel we were allowed to run free over the island. Although a few of my friends decided to bike around the island I opted to take my own walking tour of the island because the rain was impending and my asthma had been acting up all day. I walked the scenic route towards the seal colony and along the way I saw a horse in a field grazing. I went up to it and held my hand out towards it with grass held in it. Bad idea. The horse clamped down on my finger and I struggled to get it lose. Once free I kept walking because I thought I was fine, but a few steps later I glanced down at my finger to see it oozing blood. All alone, I decided to go back to the hostel, clean and bandage my finger up. With my horse bitten finger now cleaned up, but swollen I went back outside in the opposite direction along the beach. I stopped to collect some shells and jump along some rocks as the tide came in. After the ocean flooded the boulders I was playing on I went up the hill, which was a long rocky path that led up to the cliffs. I was alone at the edge of the world, gazing out at the Pacific Ocean in front of me, listening to the waves crash upon the cliff bases beneath me and shivering in the wind that enveloped me. It was a thrilling, yet peaceful place that allowed me to collect my thoughts and prepare myself for the month I had left abroad. As it started to rain I made my way back to the hostel to help prepare dinner and then relax the rest of the night watching High School Musical 3.
The ferry ride
The happy beginning of my walk
The horse that bit me
Incoming!
The rocky path I kept tripping on
The cliffs
The next day involved me finishing my religion paper that was due upon my return to campus, and a bike ride to the seal colony. The rain occasionally drizzled on us as we rode our bikes to the colony, but we made it, as the sun peaked through the clouds. We sat and admired the seals for a while before turning back. After a few hours of relaxing and then dinner Kathleen and I rode our bikes in a different direction and found a tucked away cove. The wind whipped around us and got colder as the sun began to set, so we went back to the hostel and went to bed early.
See some seals
Chilling at the seal colony
Our secret cove
Watching the expansive sky
Our last day called for us to get up early and catch the ferry back to the mainland. There was lots of confusion and chaos as 40 girls tried to get ready to leave, but we did it anyways. As we waited at the docks we said goodbye to the hostel dog that had basked in our company all weekend long and then boarded. After a rough sea journey that I slept through we drove to the Cliffs of Moher. We only got to spend 30 minutes there so even though the view was breathtaking it was all very rushed. Walking along the cliffs was thrilling. Soon we were back in Maynooth ready for our last week of class.
The Cliffs of Moher
I love the cliffs this much!
Bye cliffs!
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