Gone Hurlin'

So I’ve caught a bit of slack the last few days or so for not blogging lately, believe it or not I kinda like that, lets me know that someone besides me is actually looking at this thing.
Right now I’m sitting in my window wondering if the River Lee is about to overflow it’s banks…we’re experiencing a “gale” or the Irish version of severe weather. Lots of wind, lots of rain, very high tide. Not fun! It was a long walk back from the bus stop tonight.

So, that said I suppose the bright sunny picture to the right doesn't make a whole lot of sense? Well...we spent the weekend in Connemara with the wonderful Devaney family (Beth is one of my fellow Hawks in Ireland, Siovhan is her roommate and her family lives in Connemara.) We got to be “really” Irish for a weekend. Friday we took a fantastically awful four hour bus ride up to Galway (Connemara is about 45 minutes outside of Galway) and our mom for the weekend met us there. Siovhan’s mom played tour guide during the drive to their house, I’ve officially seen the first house built in Connemara, but the coolest part? They get to see the ocean EVERY DAY! We were driving alongside the water the whole way to the Devaney’s house, which means they get a lot of rain…but also means they get a very scenic drive home.
Friday night the Americans conquered the local pub, Hughes’…or rather the pub conquered the Americans. Saturday we went into Galway to do what girls do best, shopping! Galway has a really cool market every weekend with food stands, crafts, all that kind of stuff. One of my friends (whose name I won’t use for fear of inflating his ego) has his very own crepe at the crepe stand in the Galway market, which made me laugh...and shake my head at the same time. You can get the Big ____ or the Vegetarian ____ (editing out friend’s name in order to keep his ego in check, although Siovhan tells me there is probably no chance the crepe was actually named after my friend in particular, he just has a very common Irish name.)
My one purchase from our shopping excursion, which I’m very excited about…is a Claddagh ring I found in an antique shop in Galway. If you’re not sure what that is…the Claddagh is two hands holding a heart with a crown on top, which is supposed to represent friendship, love, and loyalty, “let love and friendship reign”. You wear the ring on your right hand facing out if you’re single or your “heart is free” and facing in if someone has “captured your heart”. The Claddagh ring originated in Galway, so Beth and I now have Claddagh rings right from the source, pretty cool right? The picture isn’t my ring…but looks a lot like mine. The ring in the picture (and my ring) have the Irish holy trinity where the hands would normally be, same meaning, just a slightly different, less common design.
We went back to Connemara and walked down to the ocean (a whopping 10 minute walk from their house). I forgot how pretty the Atlantic is while the sun is going down.
The Devaney’s made a HUGE dinner for us Saturday night, which Siovhan swears is just a normal Irish meal (yes, there were multiple kinds of potatoes). It was absolutely wonderful, and I now understand why the Irish kids go home on the weekend so often. Saturday night was a concert/birthday party. The music was amazing, but the dancing, oh my gosh the dancing. Real, traditional Irish dancing is amazing (forget Riverdance here folks, that’s not real Irish dancing, it’s a pretty modern invention, and the Irish don’t want you to forget it.) Real Irish dance is very close to tap dancing, which means I was in heaven all night long. Only tough part of the night…Connemara is a mostly Irish speaking village, no English road signs, pubs have Irish names, shops have Irish names. So the introduction to the concert…all in Irish. I know that at some point the lady introducing the group said welcome, music, friends, and thank you. Past that I’ve got no clue.
We woke up Sunday morning and experienced our first full Irish breakfast. I’m not sure I’ll ever need to eat again. Again, so that’s why the Irish kids go home for weekends so often, I don’t blame them! It was SO nice to have a real bed, in a real house, and real food for a weekend. The Devaney’s even have a dog! Lassie walked down to the ocean with us Saturday afternoon.
After the marathon that was breakfast we went to a Galway hurling match. Picture soccer with football goal posts and baseball bats and something close to a softball and you’ll about have the idea. It’s one of the oldest Irish sports and the people in Galway LOVE it, after today I think I’m falling in love with it too! Still not quite sure what all of the rules are…but we’re going to attempt to get tickets for the Galway/ Dublin hurling match in Dublin on St. Patrick’s day. Hooray!
One minor complaint…next time I’m in Galway I want a better back story. All of Connemara now knows me as “one of the Americans the Devaney’s have”. Can we please come up with something a little more exciting? Can we be part of the witness protection program? Discovery channel reporters? Beth has suggested we call ourselves the Bobbsey Twins…but unfortunately they never made it over here, so no one really gets the joke. We’re working on it though, and when we’re up in Connemara over Easter we’re determined to have a better back story for ourselves, so that we can be called something other then “the Americans”.
Well…that’s the most recent news from Ireland. I’m going to attempt to keep the blog more up to date…especially after Friday when I’m done with my Gaelic final. Funny thing about the Irish kids we were with in Connemara this weekend…they’re good Irish teachers, my Irish is slightly improved thanks to them, but I have a feeling I’m failing my final if I repeat most of what they taught me to my teacher during the final.

Oh. And my favorite picture from the weekend. Lassie on our walk by the ocean.