July 11, 2016

Monday we had class in the morning, then a lunch break, and then another class. We came back to the apartment to work for a little bit before going to meet our group for dinner. McDonagh’s supposedly has the best fish and chips in Galway and Tom has been talking it up so we all went there. 6 of us had gone there previously and really liked it so we were excited to go back. It was a beautiful night and got to eat outside which was amazing! That’s one of the best things of Ireland there aren’t really bugs here like not many flies. There are no screens on any windows and there is nothing wrong with that. It is probably one of my favorite things here. I haven’t seen any mosquitoes, although there are lots of gnats by the creeks and in the woods, but I can live with that. After dinner, we walked around the city and stopped at this gelato/crepe/waffle place for dessert, which was delicious. I got gelato, but I have to go back at least two more times to try the crepes and waffles.

The city was busy tonight with everyone enjoying the weather, even the buskers were out to play. It was so much fun walking around. I am loving this city more and more every day! The 5 of us and Laurie walked into this one store that was very earthy. Ryan had wanted to get his Tarot cards read so we left him there and explored down closer to the harbor for a little bit. We ran into some students from William and Mary who are studying abroad here, too, but they are leaving to get back to the States in the next couple of days. We went back to wait outside for him 30 minutes later. He came out and explained the readings he got. It was interesting hearing all the predictions. We made our way back to the apartments so Stuart and I could pick up our cameras before the parade. On our way back we ran into the rest of the group so we all headed over there together. We were told this was a must-see event and everyone comes to the parade so we were very excited. It was a parade of giant insects. That’s right, giant bugs powered by volunteers pedaling their way through the streets. And the entire city came out to watch. It was so cool, a little different, but cool. Definitely something I’m glad I experienced.

 

July 12, 2016

As you know I went to Croagh Patrick. Please see previous post for details.

Update: My feet are pretty much healed at this point. Still completely worth it.

 

July 13, 2016

We had a group meeting this morning to go over our final week together. It made me realize we only have 7 days left here and that I have to use it to my full advantage. To start the final countdown off, I went home after the meeting and made myself some lunch (aka heated up leftovers) and went through all my pictures the last few days. We were doing a group activity in the afternoon that included getting locked in a room and then trying to escape with the given clues. We were such a big group we had to split in half. My group got the pub room. It was tons of fun and were able to solve it with 15 minutes to spare. After this bonding experience, we all made our way to the market for some snacks and shopping. The sky started to grow dark and we headed back to the apartments right when a nice drizzle started. We have a paper due tonight so we decided to motivate each other by creating a “group work room.” This resulted in watching YouTube videos, listening to all the best throwbacks, and eating some more. I eventually did split up to get things done and worked for a while. Our schedules finally lined up and I was even able to Skype my mother in between! (Hi mom!) We regrouped after everyone was done with work to go out and check out the town with the others, before coming back home and going to sleep.

 

July 14, 2016

We had a big group play in the afternoon, so some of us got a semi-early start to meet up for breakfast and go to one of the Arts Festival events. The event was a series of pictures revolving around a building being torn down. The photographer started with women dressed in the 60’s and then jumped a few decades to some onlookers and the building being destroyed. It was an interesting exhibit. I like the continuity of all these different pictures revolving around the same theme and telling a story.  We took our time walking back to the apartments, but still got back early. However, that ended up  being perfect because they changed the meeting  time  to  earlier,  which we wouldn’t have  known if  we didn’t come back and connect  to Wi-Fi. We all walked to Salthill, where the play was being held. This one was called Arlington and it was about a dystopian world. Once again it was pretty dark, but the company wanted to emphasize it was a love story. The entire stage was a blank room with very little furniture where they would hold people. We didn’t really understand why because they didn’t give programs, but we assumed it was population control and they were of lower class. The most interesting part of the play I thought was that there was a small piece on the side stage that was separated. This was designed to be the control room of the overseers watching the captive. This is where the love story comes in. The overseer and captive can talk to each other through an intercom and end up falling in love. The overseer wanted to help her escape, but hinted at a higher supervisor. He did help her, but ended up in the room. I liked the play, but I wish it was explained a bit more. We went to get ice cream afterwards and then stopped into the aquarium.

This is the national and biggest aquarium in Ireland. It was cool, but also different than America. Maybe it’s been a long time since I’ve been to an aquarium, but I feel like the ones in the States are a lot bigger. My favorite tank was filled with sting rays and little sharks and flounders and you could reach in and pet the sting rays. We ended up getting kicked out of the aquarium so I can cross that off my bucket list. Don’t worry it was just because the aquarium was closing and we stayed too late.

On our cold, walk back to the city, we stopped by this seafood restaurant, Hooked, across the street from our apartment. We wanted to grab some pick up before the Irish movie we were going to watch. I got the seafood chowder, which was a lot bigger than expected and very good. Galway is known for their fresh seafood and it definitely tasted fresh. We watched In the Name of the Father. This is an Irish film about a family that is wrongly accused of a bombing in England. I don’t want to spoil it because you should all watch it, but just know it was an amazing film and I highly recommend it.

July 15, 2016

This was our last day in Galway and we wanted to make the absolute most of it! We each had a few things we wanted to get done before the day ended. We stopped at a café first, which was really cheap. Definitely wish we discovered this place sooner. Everyone who worked there was super nice and would talk to us for a bit on our hometowns, their home, and Pokémon Go because why not. I thought it was funny though because they knew where the hubs and whatnots are yet they can’t even get the game to play. After we headed to an Arts event called Rooms. This one was really unique because we traveled room to room for each of the performances. Instead of actors they used one voice for every room being played over the speakers. The lights dimmed as the story went on, bringing you deeper in the story. The stories were tough with their struggles, but the voices almost put you to sleep, while making you want to listen. If that makes any sense. It felt like you were in a trance until all the lights turned on the voice shut off. My favorite was about a little girl who ran away, but realize too late that her home was good compared to others and she shouldn’t have left. We continued walking around the city and stopped in a little diner for milkshakes and a quick break. I wanted to make it around the whole city so I could finish getting all the pictures I need for my final project, which will be a photo essay. After going through the market and park one last time we made our way home. Everyone wanted to work on their homework a bit because as much as we’d like to deny it, we only have a few days left to finish it all. I wanted to go through all my pictures just in case I had to run out and take a few more before we leave. We made a dinner that included some Chinese pickup and everything else we had in our fridge we had to get rid of. Afterwards we went out around the city for the last night here. It’s always a shock to see a priest in a pub here, especially when he is double fisting (aka holding a drink in each hand), but I guess it’s pretty normal or at least no one else acted surprised. I packed as much as possible before I went to bed. I’m going to miss this place a lot more than I expected. This past week flew by! I feel like I didn’t have time to finish anything, yet I also did so much. I can’t wait to see what Dublin is like, but I’m not excited this is our last city we are staying in. It makes me really sad to think about, but it has also been the greatest trip and I’m excited to see what the last few days will hold.