Our "Spot"

So after being here in Ireland for about 20 days we officially have a "spot". It is where we go whenever we are bored, or want to get out of the house, or just want to see the ocean. It is close to 2 miles away from our cottage, which is about a 12-15 minute bike ride depending on how fast we pedal. Since our last week has been entirely lazy and lame, we found ourselves needing to get out of the house often. We went to our spot a couple of times this week. The first was on Thursday afternoon/evening, and I decided to run it while Jared pedaled really slow behind me smoking a cigar. Classic. We actually got to the shore about the time the sun was going down. The second time we went to our "spot" was this morning.

Despite the mundane week of work and nothing but it, one of my favorite memories of the trip comes from it. Today we did our ritual of waking up whenever we want to and laying in bed for about thirty more minutes after that all snuggled up. After that was over, we decided to actually do something with our day - it is Saturday, after all - and we packed two backpacks, one full of firewood and the other full of snacks and a camera and a thermos full of coffee made from our NEW percolator. We pedaled out to our spot at a casual pace just enjoying the brisk air. We said hello to Boo and Nola on the way out (our cows down the road) and then we made cow noises to get all of the other cows to look at us. Jared's cow impression is much better than mine... mine is terrible, actually. It would make any one of you laugh. When we arrived at our spot we found a dry slab of limestone far enough away from the waves that our fire wouldn't get splashed, but close enough that we could see them hit the rocks and hear them make their calming noises. I started taking pictures almost immediately because that is what I do, and Jared started the fire. Let me tell you, I was like SUPER impressed at his fire building skills. He made a little circle out of smooth rocks and then built the fire in the middle. On his first try he got it lit. In that moment I was feeling exceptionally proud of my husband. I had a "caveman" moment. Let me explain that statement a little. I felt like we were back in ancient times when people lived in caves, you know - and I was looking for a mate or something, and there he was, getting the fire lit in the first try. I would have picked him over all of the other cavemen. Like Phoebe would say, He is my lobster. Yeah.

Back to reality. After Jared wooed me with his fire-building skills, we got out our muffins and cheese and crackers and warm coffee and sat by the ocean for a couple of hours with our fire going and had a really great conversation. Talk about romance ;-). Jared and I spend every moment of every day together here in Ireland, so you would think all of that time is quality time, but sometimes can just be time to annoy each other or maybe even be the kind of time that is too much time together if you know what I mean... Today was not that kind of time. It was the kind of time that really builds up a marriage and makes lasting memories. I love that kind of time :)

Other than our fun and enjoyable morning, there is really nothing else exciting to write about. I haven't broken anything or tried any crazy food this week. Oh, I know. I have been miserably homesick. To all of my dear friends and family, it is so true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I miss you all so much. I have been spending a lot of my time thinking about how I am so grateful for all of you.

Turnips, Sour Candy, and Good Conversation

It is midnight here. Jared is snuggled up beside me in bed probably feeling really annoyed at the clicking of my keypad hoping that I will take out my contacts and put down my computer and snuggle up with him, but I am determined to complete a post before I allow myself the bliss of sleep. We have had a really lazy day anyway, and I have lots of energy to use up considering I have not left the house even one time today. I actually have probably only left the bed two or three times to use the restroom or grab a snack. What is today, anyway? Wednesday? This is the wonder of living elsewhere with no deadlines and nowhere to be with no one you know expecting you to be anywhere. We woke up today at about 9:45. That is 3:45 am where you are. I literally leaned over the side of the bed and picked up my laptop and headphones and started to work. The reason that the laptop and headphones were beside the bed in the first place is because long after Jared was sleeping I was working. Work has consumed me for the last few days. It is now midnight here, and I just decided that I would put away work and start on the blog. I worked today from 4 AM to Midnight with a small break for Julie and Julia and also a small break for a chess game with Jared and a couple of episodes of Friends. Other than that, I have been glued to my computer trying to meet this month's deadlines. Joy.

Enough about our last two lazy days. I want to tell you about Monday! We woke up with Katherine knocking on our door (our wake-up call on weekends) at 8. We got ready, had a cup of coffee and some brown soda bread with butter and marmalade and then headed to Limerick with Brian. He goes to college there, so he dropped us off in the city before class and said he would pick us up afterward at 3. We went to St. John's castle and just looked at it, basically. Another really cool, old building with loads of history. It definitely was neat to see. From there we walked around to the shopping center of the town across an old bridge. I had to run an errand for Katherine so we went into a really nice department store where everything looks really shiny and nice so that I could buy her sister a shirt that she had shown me before I left with Brian. I looked around the shop and found a dress that I LOVED, but then I saw that it was 540 euros... nonetheless, it was really fun running an errand for our Irish mother figure. I felt like she had trusted me with something, which was a really sweet thing to do. After the fancy shop we kind of just walked around. I wanted to go into about every store, but to save Jared the misery I mostly window shopped. We did go into a candy shoppe though (go figure) and it seriously was like we walked into Willy Wonka's factory. Tall ceilings, shelf after shelf of candy all the way to the highest level. There were clear glass canisters with pretty much every kind of candy you can imagine. I made the mistake of asking the store employee what was good. He gave Jared and I a couple of lemon balls out of a canister and said "these are our best sellers." Have you ever had a WarHead? Well, imagine that kind of sour times 10. I am not exaggerating at all. It was so sour it hurt. The cashier guy kind of had a slight smirk on his face. I asked for the trash can. Jared stuck it out. We ended up buying two, but I will get to that later. We also bought lots of other random candy and then we left. We had a nice lunch on the patio of a restaurant and then it was time to find a pay phone and call Brian to see if his classes were on schedule.

After trying about 5 pay phones that were not operating we weren't really sure what we were going to do. We decided to try one more. Luckily, we figured it out... I don't think the other one's weren't working. I think we are just pay phone illiterate. We got a hold of Brian and he said he was really sorry but that he went home. He has an infection close to his heart that he just found out about the day after we flew in, actually. He was in and out of the hospital and he had 10 days of bed rest. Monday was his first day back at school, and I guess it didn't go so well. He was feeling really light headed and sick and so he had no way of getting a hold of us so he had to leave. We were stranded in Limerick!! Okay, I am being dramatic. We actually got a bus and went back to Ennis as soon as we spoke with him. It cost us 18 euros for a 30 minute bus ride! Talk about overpriced.

After arriving home we went into our room at the Fitzpatrick's and decided to work. We worked until Katherine knocked on our door and told us to come out of our cave for dinner. We had lamb, mashed potatoes, brown bread, and turnips. Katherine is like mega housewife and she cooks three meals a day and dotes on everyone. She is pretty much my idol. Anyway, It was my first time ever eating a turnip and I was really impressed with them. They are so good. Jared on the other hand, didn't really touch his... ahaha. After dinner we had tea and biscuits (so good) and ended up chatting a bit. We also gave Pat and Katherine some dessert in the form of little yellow lemon balls. It was SO funny because they took them to be polite and didn't want to offend us, so they pretended to like them at first! After the dessert, Pat decided that he wanted to take Jared out, so they left for town. I was over in my corner thinking about how cute it is that Jared is going on a man date with our landlord, getting to know a 60-something year old Irish man. It is so out of his comfort zone, and so good for him. Anyway, I stayed behind and had a girl's night with Katherine and Granne. We had some wine, cheese, and good conversation. We laughed a lot, and talked about woman things. I really needed that. Granne left at about 11 because she had to be at work early in the morning, but Katherine and I stayed up until 1 am just getting to know each other. It was so great to hear about her life. We talked about the differences between Catholicism and Christianity and why I believe what I do. We talked about things like why we don't believe we have to go to a priest to speak to God and how I believe Jesus' blood is sufficient to cover all sins so there is no need to work them off. At the end she said with a huge smile on her face "Well, I think I am just about ready to become a Christian!"

Nothing really touristy and exciting has happened since the last blog, but we had some really great experiences with people. We continue to be blessed with the companionship of each other and the company of a wonderful family. I may complain about the non stop work I have been doing for the last few days, but honestly I should be joyful because God is providing. We feel so grateful for all of the blessings in our life.

I will continue to blog, but nothing too exciting will be happening until this weekend. Jared has plans to go golfing on Sunday with Katherine's brother on a private golf course. Her brother is a member and can get him in, lucky Jared. While they are golfing I am going out for tea with Katherine and her sisters. We will also probably go to Mass, which I am looking forward to for the cultural experience and for the knowledge. I will keep all of you updated! Hugs! Goodnight!

Galway and the Aran Islands

We started our weekend waking up in Liscannor and packing our bags. Katherine came and picked us up at 11:15 AM and drove us to her home in Ennis once again. This time I made it a point to get my own coffee (from their ultra cool espresso machine) so that she would know we don't expect her to wait on us. She is so sweet that she offers everything to us every time and makes it a point to go out of her way to take care of us. It is the kindest thing, but I just wanted her to know that we don't require her to dote on us. She took us to the bus station after we had a cup of coffee and some brownies and cake that she cut up into squares and put in front of us. So delicious. We almost missed our bus because the ticket machine was not taking cash. I walked up to the driver and said something about how I was sorry for the delay and that my husband would be right there with the tickets. He looked at me with a scolding look and said "You are much too young to be married." Here in Ireland, 25 is young to be married. 28 to 35 is average. We saw a woman today with three children. Her youngest was probably 3 and her oldest probably 6 and she was probably in her upper 30s, maybe 40. I was just thinking that when my mom was 40 all of her kids were out of the house. Such a difference. Anyway, I think people here think we are crazy for being married, but after all, some people in the US think that as well.

We took the bus from Ennis to Galway - about an hour and 15 minute ride. We got off of the bus around noon and got a taxi to our Bed and Breakfast. The taxis here are really expensive. We learned that from experience. It was probably about an 8 minute ride and it cost us about 11 euros. The B&B was a lovely place. Our room was small, but with a nice view of the ocean with free internet and really nice, hot showers. The people were so friendly and helpful. We are starting to notice a trend. We left our room and walked into the "Latin District" of Galway. It is about a 5 mile walk. We also walked it back. It is a really nice walk along the coast, but I am really sore today because I was wearing boots with some heel. At least my calves will be looking good. We did some shopping some more walking. We got really excited when we saw McDonald's so we ate there. It was just about as good. Less options, but they do have two options for fries: regular or curly. Jared really enjoyed the curly. I really enjoyed the regular. After McD's we went to The King's Head pub. I had the best brownie of my life and some cappuccino. Can't tell you what Jared had. ;-) The pub is called The King's Head because the building used to be a castle that was given to the man who took the King of England's head in the 13th century. They used what was left of the castle to shape the pub. The walls are the original stone walls. The fireplaces are original as well. It is super historic, and super good.

The streets of Galway are really awesome. They are narrow with loads of tall buildings side by side. Each pub or shop is a different color. There are about as many pubs are there are shops. Literally: pub, shop, shop, pub, pub, pub, cafe, shop, shop... etc. You get the picture. They really like their pubs here. We walked back from our shopping in the cold, but once we got going it was enjoyable. We got back, worked for about 4 or 5 hours, watched our nightly Friends episode and then hit the hay.

We had a wake up call at 8 am. We went down for breakfast. Trisha, the lady who was taking care of us, asked if I would like "The Traditional Irish Breakfast." I asked what that was, and she told me. Something we keep seeing on the menu is black and white pudding. Jared and I assumed it was chocolate and vanilla since they do serve all sorts of sweet things for breakfast. Well, this kind of pudding they were serving at the B&B as part of the traditional breakfast. I finally just asked her what it was before she took my order. It is blood pudding, made from coagulated pig's blood. Where the white comes from, I don't know. Sick. Glad I asked. I just ordered bacon and eggs. After breakfast, we discussed our options for our day in Galway and decided not to spend it in Galway after all. We took another bus to a harbor and got on a ferry that took us to the Aran Islands.

The ferry ride was about 30 minutes and it was enjoyable. We got off the ferry and onto another tour bus. We spent our afternoon on a tour around the island. Our tour guide was hilarious and very knowledgeable. He spoke about every language. His first language is Gaelic (traditional Irish) and his second English and then he knew multiple words in multiple languages. Of course he knew super random ones like donkey and rabbit in like 7 languages. ahaha. First we went to see the seals, which are native to the island. There were about 15 out at the shore just flopping around. After the seals we went to the fort and the cliffs on the island. The fort was really huge and just awesome to see how people many years ago had all that time to stack loads of rocks together to build a fort. Interesting fact, there are so many rock walls on the island that if you put them all together in a straight line they could reach to the US and back. There are over 7,000 miles of rock walls. The island itself is 9 miles by 2 miles. Can you imagine how many rock walls we saw yesterday? After the fort and the stunning cliffs we did some shopping at the souvenir shops. I got the cutest ear-warmer in the world. You may have seen pictures. If not, you are just missing out. It was hand made by the locals on the island out of 100% wool yarn. The population of the island is about 840 and there are a total of 14 villages on the island. There are 3 pubs, two schools (one that teaches Gaelic to the children from the main island we know as Ireland), three doctors, and a couple of grocery stores. They did not get electricity until the 1970's and some of the homes still have thatched roofs. Despite all of these things, because it is such a lovely place to live, a beat down house with a thatched roof and only a couple of bedrooms is over $200,000.00. After the cliffs we saw an ancient graveyard known as "The Seven Churches" although there are only ruins of two churches within the graveyard. The other 5 buildings are the homes of some of the first islanders. There were lots of really interesting gravestones and some super-cool Celtic cross ones. It was a lot like every other graveyard in Ireland: fascinating and ancient. They have to bury their own dead on the island - no funeral homes to do it. If a family member dies they hold the wake in their homes and then bury their family themselves. All of the people are buried in the same graveyards. The tombstones all face East because that is where they believe the gates of heaven to be.

The Island was beautiful and made a day well spent. We were exhausted when we got back on the ferry and then on the bus that took us to the B&B where we picked up our bags and walked to the bus stop where we waited 10 minutes for another bus that took us on a 20 minute ride to the bus station where we got on another bus that took us back to Ennis. We got back into Ennis at about 10PM. We stayed the night in the Fitzpatrick's home without them because they are spending the weekend in Dublin. They gave us a key and trusted us with their home. Once we got into the house we had to to our days work before we could go to bed. We didn't wake up today until about 10, and we walked into town to find that everything is closed on Sunday. We finally found a coffee shop that was open and we had giant muffins and cappuccinos. Yum. We went back to Penny's where I couldn't resist the cheap clothes and I bought a couple of super-cute dresses and a jacket (only spent $15). I got to talk to my Mom and Dad today which was really wonderful. Miss you two. Now Jared and I are just relaxing in bed. It is going to be a lazy day much needed.

A Quiet Week

Sorry to all of you faithful readers who have had to wait some time for this post. We have just had a really not interesting week to write about. Here is a recap. Basically from Monday until Wednesday we slept in, relaxed by the fire place, skyped with friends and family, worked, played cards, watched multiple Friends episodes, talked, read, ate real food, and even more junk food. I hardly left the house. Jared took a bike ride to Lehinch on Monday without me to see the town and the sandy beach. On Tuesday the most interesting thing we did was our brunch on the coast. We packed our bags in the morning and rode out the the rocky shore where we sat and drank instant coffee from our thermos and ate mini muffins and crackers and cheese from Aldi. It was really enjoyable. On one evening we went to see the sunset in the West over the ocean.

You know how I broke the percolator? Well, I also broke our pitcher a few days later... yesterday I think, when I was making tea. I am really used to a plastic pitcher, and not a glass one. I boiled the tea, and poured it directly into the glass pitcher, and it shattered in my hand. Got tea all over the counter, coffee mugs, bowls, and our bread. It took me longer to clean up the mess than it will for me to type this entire post. Jared's words from the other room: "Did you break the pitcher too?! Cooking 101: Don't put boiling liquid into a glass container." I felt pretty dumb, but mostly really annoyed because now we have to buy a new pitcher as well.

Last night we went on a date, if you want to call it that. We are kind of on a date for the next seven months anyway, so I like to call it a date date. We went to a local pub/restaurant called Vaughn's. It is a cozy little place with short tables and a fireplace and only one waitress. I ordered fish and chips and got a HUGE fish, skin still on it, covered in batter and then fried plus some home made french fries. Jared got a B.L.T. with no T, which also was huge, loaded with the B. and three pieces of bread stacked up. Huge meal: huge bill. We paid with our debit card and didn't realize there would be a mark up for using it. Our $30 meal turned into a $40 meal. We learned a valuable lesson: Always get cash from an ATM. We asked our waitress where there was an ATM and this is what she said "In Lehinch there should be a hole in the wall. Probably the Bank of Ireland has one. Just go up to a hole in the wall and stick ye card in." The Irish refer to an ATM as a "hole in the wall." We got a kick out of that.

This morning the roads were covered in frost, but we got up and rode our bikes to Lehinch, which is only about a stone's throw away (it actually is 7km), and went to the hole in the wall to get some cash. Then we walked to a coffee shop and got real coffee with real milk and whipped cream and caramel and caffeine!!! It was absolutely the best part of my day. We drank our coffee as we walked the beach. The tide was really low because there hasn't been any rain surprisingly, sunshine all week. We walked and window shopped and bought a few random things for the house. We stayed long enough to enjoy lunch at a little place with good prices and good food. I got a kids meal. I said, "I'll have the chicken tenders and fries... I mean chips." and she said "You mean Chicken Groujons?" What a weird word for tenders. Nevertheless, they tasted just like the American ones.

After riding our bikes back from Lehinch we are at the cottage we call home and working for the rest of the evening. The fire is going, and the house is warming up and we are settling down. It has been a really relaxing and enjoyable week in Liscannor. We aren't sick of each other yet, surprisingly. ;-) We have plans this weekend to stay in Galway at a B&B, which is something I have always wanted to do. It only costs $48 for both of us to stay and that includes a full Irish breakfast. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon and coming back Saturday evening. We are staying Saturday and Sunday evening in Ennis with the Fitzpatricks and going on Monday to Limerick with Brian. Looking forward to our weekend. Hopefully it makes for more interesting reading than this.

Missing everyone. Love.

"They say it's one of the most beautiful drives in the world."

Today we went on that drive with the Patrick and Katherine. Patrick drove, Katherine was in the passenger seat (which is our driver's seat) begging him to "slow down!" or "be more careful!" for the majority of the trip, which gave us a good laugh. We didn't really know what to expect out of our drive because the details weren't discussed at all. We started just by driving through town and then out into the country where we saw sheep grazing on the green hills. We ate lamb stew the day before (which actually is really good), and I started to feel a little sad about it when I saw the fuzzy sheep looking so cute. After the sheep, horses, and cows (which are spotted and look just like model cows in a milk commercial) we pulled up to an ancient graveyard and church from the 7th century. That is before America was discovered. The graveyard is called Kilmacduagh Monastic Site. Simply wondrous.

We then drove along the Barren region of Ireland. It is like their desert, but instead of sand they have rocks and boulders and limestone for miles. The land is pretty much impossible to settle so it has been untouched for years. It was interesting to see. Just beyond all of the rocks is the rocky shore. We drove along a winding road at 100 km/hr. Katherine was gripping her seat and looking a little frustrated. I had to pee soooo bad that all I could do was sit tight and bounce up and down for distraction... and of course there was no bathroom any time soon. They stopped so that we could take a few photos of the waves and the ocean. Jared took the photos, I snuck behind a rock and pretended like there was something to see over there. Feeling much better, we got back in the car and drove along the coast for about an hour. It was a stunning view. Cliffs and boulders and waves bigger than I have ever seen. We drove past a run off (Jared called it "Swan Pond") that had about 50 swans in it, one was black. They are native to Ireland and so beautiful. I have never seen so many swans in one place. It was cute to see their heads go under water and then their butts would pop up.

We ended our drive up the coast and through Doolin where they showed us the dock where the ferries depart to head to the Aran Islands. Katherine wrote down the phone number for us so that on a clear day we could catch one and head out to the islands where the natives only speak Gaelic and the view is spectacular. We went from Doolin, past the cliffs, and back to our home. The drive lasted about 3 hours. I was feeling so grateful for their sacrifice, and also really terrible that they never let us repay us when Katherine said "We will have to do this again when your friend gets here!" The giving never ends!

The day was fantastic, now we are winding down, catching up on work, and enjoying the company of each other.

Weekend in Ennis - Random Entry

This weekend has been delightful. Let me start by saying the Fitzpatricks just keep getting more kind. Katherine came to Liscannor on Friday evening to bring us to her home. We arrived and shortly after she had prepared a delicious meal. Chicken and veggie casserole with mashed potatoes and french bread. Yum. During dinner most of the conversation was about the differences between the US and Ireland. They spoke a lot about their travels to the US and their shock at the size of the people there. I guess we have a reputation for obesity. Go figure. Everyone we meet also seems to have an interest in how Obama is doing. After dinner Katherine's daughter took us into the city where she showed us around. Told us about the good shops and the lively pubs. We finally got to meet Mr. Fitzpatrick. His name is Patrick: Patrick Fitzpatrick - talk about an Irish name. He is a man of few words, but whenever he does talk it tends to be something really hilarious. We have our own room in their house now. Katherine said we can come and stay any time we would like. Sometime in the next couple of weeks they are going to take us to Limerick and possibly to Galway as well.

Today Jared and I went shopping! Yes, Chelsea - shopping. The clothing here is really adorable and also about half as expensive as it is in the states. I got a pair of boots for four euros and a scarf, a sweater, a tunic, and a pair of tights for only 30 euros total. It was fantastic. We are going shopping every weekend! As soon as Jared reads this I am sure that he will rain on my parade, but for now I will keep on thinking that I can get more clothes each week. The only store that Ireland has that is the same as the US (that we have noticed) is Aldi which really surprised us. We went in, and it happens to be way nicer than ours, but just as cheap. We noticed a McDonald's and a Dominoes as far as food goes, but mostly there are just pubs. The people here refer to the food at pubs as "pub grub". Catchy. They also refer to the TV as the telly and where we would say "jank" or "ghetto" they say "pobbly-wobbly". I happened to love that phrase. We were talking a walk with Granne (Grahn-ya), Katherine's daughter and she was talking about the location of a shop and she said "it is just a stone's throw away." As soon as she left that was the first thing Jared and I talked about... a stone's throw away. We love it. I am making an effort to use that phrase in all of my sentences from now on. Well, not all of them...

This afternoon Patrick dropped us of at a famous castle that has been made into a hotel. I guess President George W. Bush stayed there during his presidency. The Irish don't have many nice things to say about him... They definitely don't like his foreign policies. Anyway, the castle was huge, ancient, and gorgeous. Surrounding the castle is a famous golf course and lots of beautiful land. It would have been wonderful to take a walk about, but it was pouring - just like every other day here! We stood under our umbrella instead and watched all of the cars pass. Almost every one was a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi. We definitely could not afford to stay at that hotel, but it was definitely worth the visit.

Tomorrow they are taking us on a drive along the coast and through some beautiful parts of Ireland. We have been looking for churches, but it seems we can only find Catholic churches. 95% of Ireland is Catholic and finding a Christian church in a small town is unlikely. It seems we are going to really be missing being around the body of Christ. I have a feeling this is going to teach us to really appreciate what we left. If you think about it, say a prayer for us.

A couple of random things I would like to include:
Today Jared found a Lily hair on my leggings. That was the saddest part of my day.
Also, we have a sandwich press here and I find it simply amazing. Someone remind me to buy one when we get home. It makes life much more simple.

Beautiful Day

The last two days here have been a really great opportunity for some quality time for Jared and I. Yesterday was rainy so we stayed in all day - literally, we did not leave the house - and we worked, cooked, ate, slept, watched Friends online, and broke the percolator (put it directly on the burner, but how are we supposed to know how to use on of those? We have coffee pots in America). Breaking the percolator was the most interesting thing that happened all day. But we did it with the company of each other, which is wonderful in itself. When the evening came we spent our time cozied up by the fire place. We played about 5 card games and just talked for hours. Finally we decided to go to bed, which didn't work. Ultimately we decided to pull an all nighter because we just need to adjust to the time here. We carried the flat screen into the bedroom from the living room. Jared hooked up the cable and we decided to watch some TV. We learned that flipping through channels in Europe can be a disturbing process. Half of them didn't work. 1/4 of them were totally inappropriate - like, I can't believe things like that are on TV. We finally settled on Hell's Kitchen and then Bonanza. ahahah. This plan worked really well until 6 am came around (midnight in IL) and we gave in to the temptation of sleep. Today though, we woke up at a decent hour anyway due to the sunlight which is lucky because we have no alarm. Hoping to purchase one this weekend. Maybe we will fall asleep tonight?

We got dressed, ate some breakfast, and then made instant coffee (since we broke the percolator) and headed out on our bicycles. We went to Bill's house first to return the phone. We left him shortly because he was watching bingo. He gave us some directions to the Cliffs of Moher and we took off on our bikes. One thing I have learned about the people here is that they under-exaggerate. They told us that the airport was 10 minutes from Ennis. It took about 20. They said our house was not far from Ennis - That drive was about 45 minutes. We were told that the cliffs were only 5 Kilometers away (3 miles). We probably rode 8 to 9 miles round trip. He also failed to mention that about a mile of that is a huge hill. I think they under-exaggerate because they are such kind people they don't want to discourage.

The bike ride was stunning. Green hills, ghostly castles, sheep, pubs, rock walls lining the roads, and lots of mist surrounded. It was pretty chilly, but completely comfortable because we were working hard. The roads are narrow with no sidewalks so every time a car came we had to switch to the other lane or pull over. We also had to walk the ginormous hill. Seriously. It was huge, but on the way back it was a blast. After about an hour or so we arrived at the cliffs. We had to park our bikes, but we had no locks. We asked a worker there named Mickey if he thought it would be safe to leave them. He said "I could tell you yes because we have never had anything bad happen, but the day I say yes one will get stolen. But I don't want to tell you no because most likely they will be fine." He kept talking... "How about we just take them into this building over here. You aren't allowed in here but just tell them that Mickey said it was okay. This way your bikes will be safe." I am telling you, the people here are spectacular... or maybe they just like us. Anyway, the ride was definitely worth the work. I will let the picture speak for itself, although they hardly do it justice.

After we had spent about two hours there we headed back. The ride back was much easier and much quicker, as the way back always is. We stopped at a cafe on the way home and I bought a latte. Jared bought pop and a candy bar. Go figure ;-) We arrived home and decided to sit on the back porch and just look around at the beauty. We talked for 30 minutes or so and then settled down for the evening, which was really about 11 AM for us! We have been on our laptops since - Catching up on work, facebook, uploading photos. We did take a short break for a friend's episode and some fried fish sticks and potato wedges (I was feeling greasy, fried, American food). Overall today has been spectacular, plus I have another date night by the fireplace to look forward to.

Vocabulary learned today:
Tyres - Tires
Hobbs - Burners (on the stove)

Learning Experience in Ireland

I am just in shock at the kindness of the people in this country. I am also in shock at how many things have gone wrong today. But, if it weren’t for all of the craziness we would not have been in vulnerable situations that have allowed us to experience the gifts of the Irish.

This morning at 6 am (12 AM in Illinois) Jared and I were lying in our fluffy bed still trying to fall asleep. We headed to bed at about 4 PM Illinois time in hopes that we could fall asleep at about 10:30 Ireland time and then get acclimated to the time here. If you do that math – we laid in bed for 8 hours. Jared was really trying to fall asleep. I knew better, so I got my kindle out and began to read. A couple of hours later, Jared was still awake so we decided to try to rent a movie on Netflix. We signed up for the unlimited DVDs and then realized that they obviously can’t ship them to Ireland. So, we had to unsubscribe to that. We tried watching free movies, but they weren’t really free. We finally decided to watch some episodes of Friends. When we got bored with that we got on Skype and talked with some family and friends for about two hours (still lying in bed). We decided to buy a movie after Friends, so we ordered Dinner with Schmucks on itunes. As it was downloading we got a notification that we had used 100% of the internet usage we had purchased for the month. Crazy. So we couldn’t watch our movie, and we were without internet – which is terrible because we have to have it for work. We didn’t realize that Broadband is measured not in time, but in the amount of uploads and downloads done. Then, we still couldn’t fall asleep. So, at 6 AM (Ireland time) I gave up, got out of bed, and cleaned the house. The whole thing - So. Like. Me. Finally, at 7:30 I fell asleep… the sun came up at nine, and we got out of bed. We walked to the “grocery store” which is really a gas station that has some really overpriced groceries. Purchased some, and then walked home. We saw two cows on the walk. Jared named one Boo and I named mine Nola. They really liked us.

So, we got home, still no internet. No phone to call anyone (because our only means was Skype). I had a conference call at 4 and it was noon. I wasn’t panicking or anything, but I was a little worried. We were expecting our landlords at some point during the day. They would have a phone and I could call the internet company and reload our simcard when they got here. With no internet and no transportation we had nothing to do, so we slept. We woke up at about 2:30 and still no landlord. We realized they may not be coming at all. We had to take action (this is where it gets interesting). We brainstormed for a bit, tried to get online multiple times (cheat the system, you know). Time was getting slim so we did the only thing we could think of. We walked to the nursing home next door and asked to use the phone. They really wanted to let us use it, we could tell, but they couldn’t because they are under inspection. We discussed knocking on random people’s doors for a minute and then decided to give it a try. The first house was a no answer even though we could see people moving about inside. The second house was a large home, with a bunch of dogs in the front yard. We were talking about if we should try it when an older wrinkly man in a black bath robe walked outside. We approached. His name is Bill. Very kind. He told us that he was a German Soldier for 20 years, and then (of course) talked all about it for a few minutes. It was wonderful to hear. We told him we needed to make a call. He gave us his cell phone. Literally. He said, “Here. Take this. I have two. It has about 70 Euro on it and you can use as much as you want, as long as you bring it back to me before you leave Ireland.” We stayed and talked for about 20 minutes, and then headed home with a cell phone and a happy heart.

To make a long story short: We got a hold of Brian who had e-mailed us earlier that day and told us that they would be unable to come. We were waiting for nothing! Stupid European Internet! He said he had a plan though, and not to worry. A few minutes later a Mercedes Benz pulled up with a jolly man inside who said Brian had called him and he would take us to his home to use his internet. His name was Patrick. We were so shocked at the kindness he showed us. He was extremely friendly and loved sharing the history of Ireland with us. His wife, Eleis (Pronounced Ee-leash, Gaelic for Elizabeth), was just as wonderful. She invited us for tea and coffee after we were done working and then for dinner after that. We had fish cakes, pork chops, salad, puréed veggies, potatoes, and good conversation. During our time there we had some discussion about the expensiveness of the groceries we had purchased and how few we had, and so he drove us to the next town so that we could shop. We loaded up, and should be good for the rest of our time here. He then drove us home, and of course, like everyone else who has been so kind to us, would not let us pay for his gasoline.

To top off the day, we finally figured out how to pay for more internet, and got it working at our house again. We also talked to Mrs. Fitzpatrick who invited us to stay the weekend at her home in Ennis so that we could be in the city and do some shopping. She is picking us up on Friday. She is also bringing bikes by tomorrow so that we can ride to the surrounding towns and to the cliffs of Moher (only 3 miles away).

During our day we learned some interesting things. Take vocabulary for instance.

Shopping Cart – Trolley

Garden – Vegetable Patch

Trash – Rubbish

We learned that European internet is ridiculous, expensive, and that it is measured not monthly, but by how much internet we use.

We learned a lot about the culture today - two different kinds of meat at dinner.

Most importantly, we learned that the people in Ireland are the kindest people in the world.

Enchanting Ireland

The start of our day actually was not all that enchanting. We arrived at the Shannon International Airport after a 16 hour day of traveling. It was dark, so we couldn't see any of the beautiful surroundings. We were both pretty exhausted and showing it. It didn't help that the line to go through customs was long and our carryons were really heavy due to the crazy amount of things we couldn't fit in our checked bags (that we had to stuff in our carryons). My back was aching and I was so tired and I was just so ready to go to bed. The old man who stamped our passports put me in a little better spirit because his accent was just so adorable, and because he told us "You are most truly welcome in Ireland" and he said it with the most sincere tone.

We got our baggage, and then went out to the exit of the airport. We were expecting a man to be there waiting for us (our landlord) with a sign or something with Greer written on it, but there was no sign, and about 20 different random men standing around. We had no clue which one was Brian Fitzpatrick. We made the mistake of not sending a photo of ourselves or really even communicating about how we were going to identify each other. I started to blame Jared in my head for not communicating better with Brian. So, being my typical friendly self, I asked Jared "Should I just go around asking each man if his name is Brian Fitzpatrick?" Of course, Jared was like "Uh... no." So, we were awkwardly making eye contact with all of the different men trying to figure out which one looked like he was looking for someone... Eventually we had narrowed out most and the rest were gone and I started really getting terrible thoughts. "What if he doesn't come?" "What if he gave up because he didn't see a couple that looked old enough to be renting a house?" "WHAT IF we get stranded here and DIE?" ahaha. Not really that last one, but you get the point. Anyway, a few minutes later a young man walked in and walked right over to us and said "Are you Jared?"... then he said "Lucky guess. I didn't really want to go around asking everyone." I was doing all of that worrying for nothing. And of course, the whole time Jared was totally chill. Glad I have him to balance me out.

This Brian fellow was SO NICE. He loaded our luggage up in the back of his car, wouldn't let us pay for gas, and then he offered to come and get us from the house on weekends so that he could drive us around Ireland and show us the country. I was expecting a hello, a ride to the house, a key, and then a goodbye, but Brian drove us to his home (and the home of his parents) and invited us inside. Such a nice home. As soon as we walked in he offered us coffee and tea and breakfast. We declined because we had just had coffee and breakfast on the airplane, but he still offered about 5 more times. His mom came home and as soon as she walked in the door she was so welcoming and sweet. She didn't offer us coffee and tea, she just put it down in front of us with some toast and marmalade. As soon as we starting talking she was asking us about our needs, if there was anything she could get for us, giving us groceries from her own pantry to take to the home we were paying them to rent. She called some friends, arranged for us to have free bicycles during our time in Ireland because she didn't want us paying for them. She also took us around the city and then to the grocery store that her family owns so that we could meet her daughter and get some food for our first few days. She is the kindest person I have ever met. During the drive to the house (about 45 minutes) she filled us in on the different historical ruins that we saw. She told us which restaurants are good. Then, she took us to a lookout so that we could see the ocean from above. It was as if the most important thing to her was to make sure we had an enjoyable time. She went out of her way to be helpful and kind. I thank God for this woman.

We arrived at the house at 10:30 AM. Our plane landed at 6:30 AM, so we spent a good 3 hours with this wonderful family. She came in with us, showed us around, made a list of things we might need (then went to the grocery store and purchased them for us), turned on the heat and hot water, and then found a big puddle of water coming from the dishwasher. So, for the next hour or so we had plumbers in the house working on fixing the leak. She stayed for everything. Finally at about 1 PM we settled down and took a nap.

The house is big. Really old and historical. Fireplaces in the living room and in our bedroom. Really cool wooden doors and shutters on the inside of the windows. All of the floors are tile or marble and the house is stucco, so it is a pretty cold place. Other than the fireplaces there aren't many other forms of heat, so we are dressed warm. The showers are kind of cold. They don't have a coffee pot because everyone here uses instant coffee. That is going to be a hard adjustment for us. Our house is up on a hill, and we can see the ocean from the front door. We have about a 15 minute walk into town for groceries, church, pubs, etc. We are kind of in the boonies. I have a feeling it will be kind of lonely, but also peaceful and beautiful. I will post photos tomorrow.

The Fitzpatrick family is coming tomorrow to drop off the bicycles and a telephone (I fried mine when I plugged it into the wall because of the voltage difference). Hopefully they don't come too early... because right now it is only 4:30 in Danville and 10:30 PM here in Ireland. I won't be ready for bed for another 5 hours or so... Definitely won't be getting up early, but that is okay because the sun doesn't rise until after 9AM here.

Already Ireland speaks to my heart. It's beauty is truly enchanting. The beauty of the people we have met is inspiring, and our first impression of Ireland is: Exceeds all Expectations.

In Limbo

A week from today Jared and I will on a plane and flying to Ireland. Crazy. It seems so unreal still. I don't think it will actually hit me until the plane lands and we get into our landlord's car and head to our little house on the shore. I just keep waiting for something to go wrong because it all seems too good to be true. Young married couple travels to Europe, funded by unrealistically great jobs that can be done from anywhere in the world, to make all of their wildest dreams come true. I mean, come on. Something's bound to break. Or maybe not. I think I am just being a pessimist.

We have been living between parent's houses for the last 3 days and will continue to until we leave in 7 more days. I am deathly allergic to cats, and both homes have a cat living within. I spent $20 on Zyrtec yesterday. Feeling slightly better today. I just have to keep telling myself "Only ___ more days..." I am just going to stick it out and when we get to Ireland I will sit on the coast and breathe in fresh air for hours and get all the cat dander our of my system. Kitties sure are cute, but that just makes them all the worse for me because I can't even cuddle them.

All of our possessions are stored away in an attic, and I must say it is really freeing to not be surrounded by our material belongings. I used to think that I found comfort in those things... now I know I found false security in them. Although I will be living out of a suitcase for the next 7-8 months of my life I feel more secure than ever. Of course, it really helps knowing that I will be with Jared; my life, and my best friend. I am confident that the adventure we are about to depart on will be a splendid and overwhelming experience, even if something does go wrong. The comfort that I feel from taking this leap is comfort that cannot come from possessions or from excitement - it is comfort from within that was granted to me by a loving God. He is with us wherever we go.

Today was our last service at Connexion before we leave. It hit me that I take the people that make up our church for granted. I am really going to miss the conversations, encouragement, and support that is granted to us continually. You will all be in our hearts. It is funny how sometimes I find I just really need a break from the whole church routine, you know, to switch things up a bit. I am now realizing that I am really going to miss that routine. I have a feeling that I am going to have some interesting encounters with churches during our time in Europe. By the time I get back I should be nice and ready for a little routine again. But then again, routine can be a bad thing. Time for me to find a balance, and that is what I plan to do.