The End

I’ve put off writing this last post for no other reason than denial, which suited me quite well for the past two weeks. First, I was in denial during my last week in Limerick. I went to lunch dates, drink dates, and final performances without labeling any of them as “lasts”.  I was in denial when I spent an all-nighter with my only American friend the night before her flight back to The States, just like I was in denial when Elle spent an all-nighter with me the night before my flight left. Then, once I touched down in Chicago and made my way to Ann Arbor, it was easy enough to pretend I was on holiday. I saw friends from high school and college, exchanged big hugs, and caught up as best we could. Still on holiday – not back for real – I haven’t even changed the time zone on my laptop clock.

I still haven’t changed the time on my laptop, but the reality that I am not in fact on holiday is beginning to sink in. Being home is completely bizarre. I was warned by multiple people how odd it would be, and everything they said has proved to be true. It’s like I’ve been inserted right back into my old life, even though I’m a completely different person than I was 5 months ago. Living in Europe only validated my previous suspicions that American life was not for me. It’s not good to be back. It’s horrible. My friends have expectations and projections of me that I don’t fit into anymore, and it feels like no one understands where I’m coming from anymore. (I fully realize and understand how emo all of this seems, and trust me, I hate how whiney I sound, but I’m just telling the truth.) I think that going abroad with someone would have been beneficial, so I could come back and still have a friend who “gets it”, instead of seemingly starting over with everyone I’m coming home to, while drinking loads of coffee to stay awake during my inconveniently timed skype conversations with friends scattered the world over. I’m fairly certain that the only thing keeping me sane right now is that the majority of my Irish friends are in America for the summer and I can text, call, and visit them. 

Everyone asks me “What will you miss most about Ireland?” Well, even thinking about this brings me close to tears (it’s a bit too soon still), but I’ll attempt to get as much of it out as possible. I’ll miss:

-The people. I think it goes without saying that my friends are what I will miss the most.

-Practical academics. U of M classes are based on theory and fluff, and that will be really frustrating to return to.

-The cows. This may seem funny to anyone who doesn’t know me very well, but it’s fairly common knowledge that I am obsessed with cows.

-The fashion. European > American

-The food. Kebabs, chips, Irish chocolate and beer

-Traveling

-The pubs and clubs I frequented and have tons of memories in – Scholars, Stables, Molly’s, Smyths, Flannery’s, Cobblestone Joe’s, Charlie’s, Locke Bar, Angel Lane, Trinity Rooms

-Public transportation and the ability to walk most places

-The language. Words, phrases, and accent I get made fun of for in America

-Lifestyle. Anxiety and stress are for other countries.

-The music.

Obviously there are many other things that I will miss, but as of right now these are at the forefront of my mind. At this point, there isn’t much else I can say about the past semester. It feels a bit like a dream that I just woke up from. All I am focused on now is planning my next escape – grad school.

I made 2 videos to commemorate the two major aspects of my time abroad. Here are the links:

Study Abroad

Dance UL 

Scared by the Make Up Monster

Last night I experienced probably the most culture shock I’ve had since I’ve been in Ireland. This occurred when I went over to a friend’s house, where she and her friends were meeting up before going out. Her friends rolled in with cases of makeup larger than my stage makeup box. They stripped down to their underwear to apply fake tan to their entire bodies, while singing along to the new Jennifer Lopez songs they had turned on Youtube. A minimum of four hair straighteners were in use at a time. Little did I know that you straighten your hair before you tease it, curl it, insert hair extensions, and spray the crap out of it with one or more products. They broke out sets of makeup brushes and every possible color and shade of powders, creams, and sticks, applying layer upon layer until I barely recognized them. All of this occurred in a whirl of talk about diets, workouts, master cleanses, and celebrity bodies.

I sat watching in amazement. I felt like I was backstage at a beauty pageant. “So THIS is what sororities must be like”, I thought to myself. I was terrified, but fascinated. I was quite literally observing something completely foreign to me. My friend came over and asked me if I was alright. I looked at her, with my air dried hair, lacking any sort of product (save some lotion to calm the frizzies), and 5 minute makeup job, and whispered, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” One of the girls turned around and half joking asked me if I thought they were vain. It took everything to hold back the resounding YES!

 And then there was me....

Finally, (AFTER 2 HOURS) I went out with them to the club. Eventually, I met up with another American there, who had gotten ready in a similar manner as I. I told her about the freak show that had preceded the taxi ride and how uncomfortable I felt being in the club surrounded by such made up girls. She paused for a second and said, “Jenna, how many guys have asked you to dance tonight?”

“6….”

“Right. And how long have those girls been standing in a circle together dancing and trying to attract guys?”

“The whole night…”

“Guess they wasted those two hours getting ready, huh?”

It was perfect.

Study Breaks/Cultural Exchanges Part 2

Yesterday I shared the sacred time I spend drinking my Starbucks venti Americano with a few of my favorite Dance UL friends. (A note about Starbucks – I still do not support this company, and as soon as I return to the States, I will refuse once again to give them my business. However, when I’m over here, I NEED a coffee that is larger than my pinky finger, and there is literally no other place where I can acquire that necessity.) Christelle is a French Canadian in her third year of med school. Elle is an Irish vocal major, and was spending this semester abroad in Mexico, but had to return midway through because the town she was in became too violent. We discussed our postgrad ideas, summer plans, Christelle’s volunteer work in Africa, and of course the Dance UL gossip. 

After lunch, Christelle drove us into town, so Elle could get her visa pictures taken for her Summer in America. They took an hour to get developed, so Elle and I occupied ourselves with smoked salmon and dreamy strolls through boutiques in which we would never be able to afford anything. On the bus home, she invited me to dinner later that evening.

I forced myself to study (it’s getting REALLY hard at this point) for a while, but then walked (in the pouring rain) over to Elle’s house. She had made pasta from scratch, the way she was taught by her host mother when she spent time in Argentina. 

We shared the meal with our friends Ariel, an American who spent the last semester studying in London and now studies in Limerick, and her visiting friend, Lisa, an Italian who is studying film in London. The food was delicious and the conversation was good, so naturally we decided to move the dinner party to a pub and continue talking over a few pints.

When I finally got home, I was ready to dive into studying again. But, as every college student knows, you have to check both your e-mail and your facebook before doing anything productive. To my delight, I had a message from a very good friend I met over here, who just moved to Melbourne, Australia over the weekend. It was really good to hear from him.

I always thought that I am extremely lucky to have grown up in such a diverse community and had a splendidly international group of friends. But, when it comes down to it, they all live in America now. The great thing about the friends I have met over here is that they actually live in different countries. What a fabulous excuse to visit!

Study Breaks/Cultural Exchanges

As I trudged through my second week of exams, the need for sanity breaks greatly increased. This, coinciding with my love of celebrating holidays that I really have no business celebrating, gave me a perfect idea. Cinco de Mayo celebration – Ireland style! On May 5^th, I went out to lunch with a group of friends and threw out the idea. I’m not quite sure why, but I assumed that everyone knew what Cinco de Mayo was. Wrong! Seven blank Irish faces gawking at me…I turned on the charm and described it in the best way that I knew how, “You know…it’s a Mexican holiday that Americans commandeered and turned into a day of drinking tequila and eating tacos.” The response was overwhelming, and the night out was a go! The best part was that they completely got into the holiday. I was receiving “feliz cinco de mayo” texts all day/night, the girls tried to accessorize appropriately, and they tried to keep the drink orders “traditional”. I found this completely hilarious and had a great time.

In turn, I was invited to watch the Chelsea vs. Manchester United soccer match yesterday. This may have well been a holiday to the guys I went with. We arrived at Hurlers, a popular pub near campus, an hour before the game because “it fills up quickly”, Rob warned me. Two hours of screaming, shouting, and cider completed, half of the guys walked out soaring, while the other half hung their heads in shame. 

We headed for “victory pizza”, which apparently seemed like the perfect time for them to give me a tutorial on everything I say “wrong”, and how to correct it.

Soda = fizzy drink

Comforter= duvet (regardless of it being a duvet or other type of comforter)

Trash can = bin

High school = school (college should not be referred to as school)

Gas = petrol

The list goes on for ages, but you get the point. I’m told that these vocabulary quirks are to be fixed by the time I visit them this Summer. I’m working on it.

One more week of exams ahead of me… I can’t imagine what sort of study breaks we’ll come up with.

Limerick Riverfest

A citywide festival, Limerick Riverfest, occurred over this past bank holiday weekend (yeah, they have a bank holiday for the first of May…what?). I only made it down to the festival on Saturday evening, but I had an incredible time. There was a free open air rock concert, BBQ, a huge street party right outside the Locke Bar, and a firework show over the River Shannon.

 I went to the festival with Dance Club friends, but by the end of the night we had made loads of new friends. The town was filled with people and after the fireworks, we went from pub, to pub, to club, just to meet up with all the other friends we had out that night and inevitably make more. It was fabulous. I think this has been one of my most memorable days in Ireland.

I’m so excited that most of these dancers will be in the States this Summer for school or work, so I can visit them. And, I'm banking on coming back to Ireland to visit them too.

Easter and Exams

Coming back from spring break to be smacked in the face with exams was jarring, to say the least. However, I allowed myself a study-free weekend to recover and celebrate Easter with family. We spent Saturday walking around the milk market, city centre, and campus,

and Easter Sunday in Blarney, with a pit stop for an oversized Easter feast in Cork.

Then, the rents went on their way to Dublin and I hit the books hard. Having not done any “real” studying in, well, 4 months, I wasn’t really sure where to begin. The concept of not having exams or homework all semester, then having exams worth the majority of the module grade at the end of the semester is completely foreign to me (no pun intended). I’m not entirely sure how I did it, but I ended up getting 2 out of my 6 exams out of the way, to enjoy a final dinner with my parents in Limerick before I had to run to a birthday party and they prepped to fly back to the States. Listening to them talk about Ireland was so bizarre, because it made me realize how much of a culture shock it’s going to be for me when I go back to the States. All of the surprising differences they mentioned seeing during their travels all seemed completely ordinary to me, for better or for worse.

I have two more weeks of exams, and I’m finally beginning to figure out the best way to avoid “hitting the wall” while studying. This technique includes getting up early and taking lengthy naps, having lots of skype conversations with friends (shout out to Ionut for allowing me a straight 4.5 hours of conversational stress release), listening to Afro Celt Sound System albums on repeat, occasionally running to the campus Starbucks or to my neighbor’s flat for much needed dancer talk, and watching South Park episodes whenever my eyes stop being able to focus or my writing hand cramps up.  

It's not all fun and games anymore, but I can't imagine it being over.

Irish Stepdance Recital

A few weeks ago, my Irish dance class had a recital, and the videos have just surfaced online. We performed a traditional 8 hand jig and then a "contemporary" piece to Flo Rida's "Club Can't Handle Me Right Now". To me, these videos are hilarious, and it's fairly obvious that I'm laughing during both of the performances, but I couldn't help it! During the 8 hand jig I got a debilitating charlie horse in my calf, causing me to limp my way through the steps. And, during the contemporary piece, well, really, how was I not supposed to laugh? Anyway, I've decided to share the wealth. For your entertainment:

Spring Break Part #2 - Spain

Fun Fact: the bathrooms in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport actually close after a certain time. Josh and I spent an uncomfortable night in the airport, in preparation for our early flight. Finally, after hours of restless napping in various locations (dictated by floor cleaning machines, construction, and gate openings), we made it on the plane to Madrid.

My visit to Madrid is all a blur to me now. I remember arriving and thinking that the city was beautiful. We went to some art museum that had lots of fabulous Picasso, spent far too long lingering at a record shop, and sat down to a leisurely dinner of paella. About two hours later, my dinner was revisited, beginning my 36 hour stint of food poisoning. I know that in my semi-conscious state, the only thing I found pleasant was the music and tap dancing on the street that I could hear drifting through my window.That was the end of Madrid.

When I was finally able to get out of bed, we hopped a bus to Barcelona. Eight and a half cramped hours later, we actually arrived in Barcelona. I hadn’t eaten in two days, so our first priority was food. We settled on a little tapas restaurant where we had, what Josh proclaimed was the best meal he’d had yet in Europe. Then, we headed back up to the hostel and met up with my friend Justin and a friend he came with. We spent the night in the packed hostel bar, watching the Barcelona vs. Madrid soccer match. I was whole heartedly rooting for Barcelona, based on their food, but sadly, they lost.

The next day, all of us got up early and went to Gaudi’s famous church, La Sagrada Familia. It was absolutely amazing.

Not being able to get enough Gaudi, we made our next stop Park Guell. It offered a spectacular view of the city and a glorious fusion of architecture and nature. While we were there, we also visited Gaudi’s house museum. 

Next, we walked around Las Ramblas, just taking in all of the sight – vendors, street performers, tacky tourists, etc. 

At this point, it was time for Josh to go back to France, but I stayed behind with Justin. Most of the city was closed that evening, because it was holy week, but we found a café to hang out in until it was time to call it a night.

On my last day in Spain, we made a quick stop at the Museu de la Xocolata. It was filled with loads of impressive chocolate sculptures depicting everything from cartoon characters to famous works of art. Unfortunately, I had to rush my way through, so I could catch a taxi to my hostel, to catch a bus to the airport, to catch my plane back to Dublin, to take a bus to Limerick, to take another bus to campus.

It’s good to be home.

For more photos of Spain, click this link: Spring Break Part #2 - Spain

Spring Break Part #1 - Paris

Paris! When I checked into my hostel I could not actually believe that I was in the city of cheese, wine and romance. Then, I had to carry a week’s worth of luggage up four floors of a skinny spiral staircase. All things quaint and classic are not always practical.

The plan for the 4 days I had in Paris was to get as much touristy sightseeing out of the way on Thursday and Friday as possible, so I could spend the weekend catching up and doing more local activities with my friend Josh, who is studying there this semester. So, Thursday night, after mastering the spiral staircase, I went straight to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with an evening bike tour. We rode all around the city to see the buildings lit up; stopped for ice cream at a famous homemade ice cream shop (I got melon and mango); and took a boat tour that included bottomless cups of red wine. It was a fabulous introduction to the city.

On Friday, we tackled the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and picnicked in a park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. 

By that night, Josh had finished all of the papers he’d been working on, so we met him down by the canal, where over cheap bottles of wine, he got to know my friends, and we got to compare life in Paris versus Ireland.

The next day, my travel companions went to Disneyland (seriously), and I met up with Josh. We spent a while sitting outside a café, sipping espresso and making up stories about the people passing by on the street. Then, he took me to Sainte-Chappelle, an absolutely breath-taking church built to house the crown of thorns. It’s virtually all stained glass and if you visit it without getting a crick in your neck, then you have either missed something, or have exceedingly strong occipital muscles.

I also got to see the tiny little apartment he lives in, and he showed me around his neighborhood, Monmarte. In the heart of the red light district, his place is about four blocks from the Moulin Rouge. I’d probably have to say that my favorite part of the Paris trip was when we trekked all the way up the hill (Monmarte – mon – mountain – get it?) and looked over the city. It was stunning and photos really can’t do it justice.

On Sunday, my travel buddy and I got up much earlier than Josh would ever dream of on a Sunday, so we went around town ourselves. We ended up eating an indulgent breakfast in a very posh part of town, followed by window shopping everywhere from Dior to Tiffany’s. 

As we moved from shop to shop, our sticker shock never seemed to decrease. €2,500 for a handbag, €800 for sunglasses, €4,000 for a dress…. *sigh* It seemed the only thing that could pull us out of our we’ll-never-be-able-to-afford-high-fashion funk was falafel. Good falafel. We met Josh in the Marais, a part of town known for its homosexual Jewish inhabitants, hip shopping, and fabulous food. He took us to an apparently famous falafel shop, where we waited in a huge line to get our hands on our own pitas filled with tiny falafels, salad, magical eggplant, and a mysterious combination of sauces. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, taking everything in. Finally it was time for me to start packing up my things and head to the airport with Josh.

For more photos of Paris, click this link: Spring Break Part #1 - Paris

Berlin Bust

I just finished my last week of classes here. It came as one big slap in the face. I don’t want this to be over. I’ve spent the majority of my week whining to people in the States about how I don’t want to leave, and commiserating with my friends here about the end looming in sight. It’s difficult. I’ve become really close with the dance club, and I’m not sure I’m ready to leave this group behind. I just have to remember that a lot of the members visit the States and Canada fairly frequently.

I thought that going to Berlin last weekend would be a nice way to take my mind off of all my final projects, papers, and impending exams. But it didn’t. I didn’t have a very good time in Berlin, a sore subject that I do not want to delve into, or remember. I found myself wishing the whole weekend that I could just go back to Ireland. 

I feel I should at least mention a few highlights from Berlin though:

Our hostel room was ridiculously nice

The graffiti was fabulous

I pulled an Anthony Bourdain and ordered an extremely traditional meat plate for dinner one night and ate the whole terrible lot of it (even the raw hamburger ball in the corner).

Pretzels

Beer

German chocolate

 Pretty Buildings

I didn’t get to go to the top of the tv tower, or visit any of the famed vintage shops, or see the museums I wanted to go to, or go on the pub crawl I was so looking forward to. A sunburn with crazy tan lines added insult to injury. I suppose I learned the value of good travel companions, and how dreadful a trip can be with unsatisfactory ones.

I leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning for my Easter break, which HAS TO make up for last weekend. I’m going to Paris from April 14^th-18^th and meeting up with my friend Josh, who is studying there. Then, we’re going to Madrid, Spain together from the 18^th-20^th. On the 20^th, we’re going to Barcelona, and meeting up with another one of my friends, Justin. I could not be more excited! :)

P.S

My Irish dancing debut performance was tonight. We performed an eight hand jig and a "contemporary" step dance to Flo Rida's "Club Can't Handle Me". I got a giant charlie horse in my calf and limped through the whole thing. It was fun though.

Dance UL Recital

This past Tuesday was Student Race Day. This is a huge event where all of the students go to the racetrack for the day. So, while the whole campus dressed up and day-drank, in a sloppy manner (contrasting sharply with their deceivingly classy formal attire), I dressed up in my costume and headed to dress rehearsal. Story of my life.

Last night was The Dance UL Recital. It featured all of the Intervarsity pieces, the dance class routines, and other clubs (Irish dance, Trad Society, Salsa Club, etc.). In addition to the intervarsity piece, I got thrown into the jazz class piece last week, to boost numbers. I suppose that before agreeing to dance a piece, I should ask for more specifics, because last night I ended up dancing AND SINGING on stage in 3 inch heels and very little clothing. I. Hate. Musical. Theater. Why can’t we just have some good quality Fosse without all the singing?!

All in all, the show was a lot of fun. Some friends came to watch me perform, backstage bonding was great (as always), and the buy one get one free ticket at the pub for the cast party was perfect.

 

 

Press Coverage

I just found out that An Focal, the school Newspaper included an article covering the Intervarsity Dance Competition (click on it to see it full size):

A Weekend in Limerick

I wasn’t particularly excited for this past weekend, seeing as it was my first time staying in Limerick in a very long time. However, it turned out to be a bit more eventful than I had expected.

On Friday night, I performed the intervarsity jazz piece at Queer Bash. This event took place in downtown Limerick, at a pub called Dolans, famous for their traditional Irish music. Completely out of place in our makeup, we walked to the back of the pub, into the rented hall. 

Suddenly, we were surrounded by people in crazy makeup and costumes, so we fit right in. The theme of Queer Bash this year was “goth.” The opening number consisted of a hefty drag queen dressed in a garbage bag and tinfoil, twirling large sparklers around the stage to Lady Gaga’s latest hit. 

As the next act took the stage, a guy wearing a corset with giant feathers, it was time for us to head backstage and warm-up. Eventually, we danced, on the smallest stage I have ever danced on, literally, which included a 5 foot dead drop off the front of it. Not to mention, there was an entire drum set in the middle of the stage as well. The performance was not as horrible as expected, although we ended up covered from head to toe in brown gunk and sticky liquid from the stage. The guy filming us later revealed that the brown gunk was in fact chocolate ice cream that a drag queen in a previous act had produced out of the nether-regions of his costume, and the sticky liquid was from a bottle of vodka that had been thrown around stage (also explaining the numerous shards of glass we worked to avoid throughout the performance). That night was an interesting experience, to say the least.

On Saturday morning, some friends and I got up bright and early to go to the Milk Market in downtown. This is a giant farmer and artisans market featuring many of the same vendors from our campus farmers market. We were all starving, so we had to stop at the crepe stand for breakfast, where I had a delicious Greek crepe, complete with pesto, feta, olives, tomatoes and baby spinach. Then, we decided that the best way to tackle the market was to start at the outside and work out way in. It was so much fun to just walk around and see all of the unique stalls. 

 

We came upon a shop, called Indianisque, that sold primarily Indian jewelry, but also lots of other things, like incense and healing remedies. The jewelry was absolutely beautiful, and very reasonably priced, and as we picked out what to buy we got to talking with the owner. We spent a good ten minutes talking to him about traveling and everything, and when he rang us up, he gave us a generous discount and also let each of us choose a ring (of which there were 3 filled baskets) to take as a gift. It was such a nice gesture, which he inevitably chalked up to karma.

When we finished exploring the market, there was a unanimous vote to go back to the cheese stand. There were so many unique cheeses that we couldn’t decide on one to taste, so we ended up purchasing a wedge of both the sun-blushed tomato with basil and the pesto cheese. They proved to be a delicious snack that inspired me to start early plans on the Christmas Eve appetizer menu.

The rest of the day was spent shopping (girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do) for spring clothes at Penney’s, not to be confused with JC. We also had to stop at the Moody Cow to try their famous milkshakes. I realized (too late) that the secret behind the shop’s popularity was the variety of toppings and sauces you were able to have mixed into your milkshake (read: Yogobliss). Anyway, I went for a milkshake with a shot of espresso and bailey’s cheesecake pieces blended into it. I have to admit that it was a perfect ending to a day out.  

Sunday was spent making up for lost time in terms of spring-cleaning. 4 loads of laundry, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning every surface of the bathroom…I even made my bed (this is epic). In any case, it’s provided me with a fresh start to a new week.

Irish Stress v. American Stress

Savoring the sweet crunch of my sugar snap peas, while listening to my favorite meditation playlist on youtube, I look over my schedule for the week. I have three term papers due Friday, along with a dance performance that evening, which I have rehearsals for every night. Breathe. Look out the open window.

Just twenty minutes ago, I was walking through the student center farmer’s market. The temperature is in the low sixties (no coat necessary) and there is barely a cloud in the sky. A student with a microphone and a guitar is singing my favorite Beatles song, Blackbird, to an audience of snacking students. The farmer smiled at me as she unloaded my basket, overflowing with organic ginger root, oranges, apples, bananas, and of course sweet peas. She knows me now. On my journey, I stop to talk to a passing friend; I pass a field covered in new, tiny blooms; I pick up an Americano to sip on.

I have never had to write three papers in a week. I’m not really sure how this is going to go. If I was at Michigan, I would be absolutely freaking out right now, spending hours working in the ref room and pulling numerous all-nighters. But here…well, I researched and wrote one of the papers yesterday and still managed to get to bed before midnight, despite my 4 distracting skype calls. I plan on doing the same today and tomorrow, and not even work on them the day before they’re due. I can’t really describe how or why the stress level is lower here, it just is…for the same reason that classes never start before 9, everything closes by 6, and a cup of tea is served with an entire tray of milk, sugar, and biscuits.

This will be one of my hardest weeks here. But, I’m going to get through it just fine.

Síochán.

St. Paddy's Day Weekend

5:00 AM. Time to wake up! The bus for Dublin leaves at six.

St. Patrick’s Day is all a blur to me now. It was quite overwhelming. In my mind’s eye it goes something like – crowds, green, parade, crowds, funny hats, crowds, Irish flags, crowds, lots and lots of people.

The streets were absolutely packed. It took forever to get from one place to another. The parade was really hard to see, because the majority of it was on street level, and I am short. I caught glimpses of only the biggest floats. We were all so excited to go out that night, but by eleven o’clock, the sensory overload was too much for us and we went back to the hotel.

The next day, my friend Caroline and I went to Sligo for the Só Sligo Food and Culture Festival. In the afternoon, we walked around and explored the town, then made our way to an adorable B&B, called Glenvale. We spent the evening in a nice Italian restaurant, in which we had the best dessert that either of us have ever had. It was called the B.C.C.C, belgian chocolate cake and cream. It was heaven. The  rest of the weekend, we didn't go more than two hours without mentioning it.

 Then, we went to a pub, where we met lots of friendly colorful characters celebrating their graduation, by buying rounds for everyone. Money saver. They kept telling us how happy they were that Obama is coming to Ireland, and how upset they were that the Queen is coming. I guess they've never heard of not talking about politics in a bar.

On Saturday, we started out with a traditional Irish breakfast at our B&B.

 

Then, we walked around collecting as much free food as possible. Our favorites were the tea and chocolate tasting at a café, and free stew at a pub (served on a Singer sewing machine).

The streets were filled with vendors, musicians, and irish dance school showcases. It reminded me a lot of Dexter Daze, when I used to dance on a small wooden floor in the middle of a park. It was a fun and quaint small town atmosphere, perfect for the relaxation we desired. We meandered around, visited with birds of prey and tiny ponies, dropped a euro at the make-your-own-sticky-bun tent, watched the Ireland v. England rugby game at a pub, got a spontaneous haircut, etc.

  

Overall, it was an enjoyable weekend.