home?

Well, I hardly know where to begin! Maybe I'll just list some things in order.....
1. I sincerely apologize to whoever reads my blog that I stopped posting and failed to keep up with it.1
2. I'm home now
3. I like being home
4. Ok back on subject. The last couple weeks of Ireland were amazing and tiring!!!!
The very last week we were going from B&B TO B&B every single night. No two nights were spent in the same place. I guess the most important things to tell you is that my sister and brother and law came to visit, then my cousin Tiana and finally my brother Isaac and family friend Jessica. It was crazy!!!! But I saw some amazing things like the Galway races, The cliffs of Moher, Connor pass, etc etc. It was truly an amazing experience. But of course I'm tired now!
I came home last night, and the plane trip was bearable. My first flight into New York (the longest one) was awesome because we got a random upgrade to first class. that definitely made things easier. ;) The next flight was to Salt Lake City, and finally to good old Albuquerque!!! I am sooooooo happy to be back. To top off my day of travel, my wonderful friends and family planned a surprise greeting for me at the airport!! They even went so far as to make a sign, T-shirts, and give me presents!! They are a silly bunch to do something so nice for me, but I loved it and it was so amazing!!
Today I woke up at 6:45, and amazingly enough, feel great! Taking an actually hot (not too hot) pressurized shower is SO AMAZING. It's a small thing, but I appreciate it so much now that I have experienced less than perfect showers (cold, burning hot, no pressure, etc...)
I'm going to unpack now, and may keep writing about celtic stuff on this blog. My trip was the chance of a lifetime, and I'm so glad I took it.

The land of the Bodhran...

This is what I have been attempting to master. It is called an Irish Bodhran, and yes it is a drum. You can play with different sticks, but the bodhran stays the same. My teacher has been pressing me to learn in faster because we are leaving in a few short weeks for the states. Right now, I am trying to do a succession of three even notes called a triplet..... at about a million miles an hour. It's not working. Help!!! My hands don't move that fast!!
Here's an example of how fast it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMI4X8OOMOg&feature=related
And if that doesn't look too hard, then why don't you come out here and give it a try. ;)

Shrimp on the barbie?

So........ today we had dinner with an Australian family!! It was............... an experience! There was also an American family who is living here for 2 years. Well, lets just say that the Aussie mom, who is pretty young and can relate to me really well, is the most lovely person ever! She is so funny and outgoing, but sweet and nice too! She made it easy for everyone to talk to each other and get along. The dad is from New Zealand and they have two kids, who are adorable. I love their little Aussie accents!! That is definitely going to be the next accent that I work on. Anyways, then the American family showed up, and I ended up being really squashed by my mom and the American dad. Well the dad is quite a character, but then............... my grandparents showed up. Not that that's a bad thing, of course! I love my grandparents, but when they figured out that this American was a raging Liberal, the sparks began to fly. I quickly relocated myself to talk quietly to the Mums, while my parents and grandparents took on this other guy in a political debate. I tried to just ignore the shouting, i mean loud remarks. But the evening ended well, i suppose, we all went back to our house for ice cream, and are planning to meet up again at dance camp, and the Aussie mom has made a plan to go walking with me along the cove. There's something she wants to show me, but I'm still not sure what. I guess i'll find out! But yes, I really feel as if I have some friends now, even if their kids are all younger (there are 5 kids total in the 2 families) The evening was quite pleasant, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I'm just glad I stayed out of the politics. For a minute, when I was squished between the liberals and the republicans, I felt almost like a shrimp on the barbie ;)

Thursday blues and blahs (and hats)

Well, having been back from Dublin for a few days, I thought I was due for a new post. I'm really terrible about posting every day. Anyways, yes, back in Galway, my home for the time being. I haven't been doing a whole lot except exploring some more of the city, and reading the wheel of time series. I know, sounds kinda boring. You're probably thinking "what? you're in IRELAND and you're aren't doing anything???? Well my answer is: yes. I'm in Ireland but my dad has to work to whole week. We can see things in Galway, and go around a little bit, but we have to stay here and do normal things until the weekend. Then we tour around the country! So really, It's pretty normal. Mostly I'm just soaking up the culture. Even though I'm not seeing all the exciting monuments and tourist attractions, I'm still learning about what a cool country Ireland is from the other side. Anyways, my accent has reached a blockage, and I can't get it over this proverbial roadblock. My family are the only people I ever talk to, as we haven't made many friends here, and they keep on talking in their American accents!! So it's their fault. Back on subject, we are going to finish some chores at home (yes, I still have chores. And leftover math. yuck) then we are going to find some "charity shops" which are basically thrift stores. It's too expensive here to buy anything from the real stores!! Except "Tesco" which is like Wal mart. and Those clothes are not exactly something you would want to wear, unless you're a baby or a man. AND I am determined to find a hat. For race week, you know. I want a hat like from that scene in "My Fair Lady" where they go to the races and everyone's in black and white. But all the hats in the department stores or boutiques are at LEAST 50 euro. for a HAT???? sheesh my SHOES don't even cost that much, and I wear them almost every day. And if you know about the current exchange rate, then you're looking at 60 to 65 dollars there. For a fancy hat, that you could probably make. (there was even a HEADBAND for 40 euro!! insane!!) I know I'm overdue for pictures, but my dad is the one who knows how to work the fancy camera he has, so I have to get them from him. Sorry. but i do have 5 weeks left. Anyways, this was a pointless ordinary post, nothing exciting. Oh well, life's not all sugar and roses. Or whatever.

Dublin

Well, we have been in Dublin these few days. Today we're going home to Galway. Dublin is a big bustling city, with high fashion and lots of Guinness. Yesterday was my sister Sophia's 12th birthday, and we celebrated by taking the "viking tour"! This was a crazy bus tour with a bus decked out like a viking ship, and we all wore viking helmets and yelled at passers by. It was quite an epic adventure. The bus was originally a world war 2 vehicle that crossed the English Channel. And part of the tour was, the bus driving into the channel and going around the water!! It was like the magic school bus all over again!! Let's just say, I'm glad I didn't see anyone I knew! Argggh!!! It was fun though. We also saw a statue of Oscar Wilde and his houses. We now have my grandparents with us, adding to the fun! We are going back today to the small town of Galway, but I'm sure we'll find some more adventures there!!

The Aran Islands

Today we took a day trip out to the Aran Islands. It was about an hour drive to the pier, and then after that we took the ferry out to the islands. on the island, we ate lunch, and then took a tour bus around the island. It was too late to rent bikes. It was so beutiful, with green and lush. The Irish say that they are undergoing a drought!!! hardly a drought, in my opinion. It was quite sunny, and wonderful. We saw an old cemetery and churchyard, which was really beautiful. All over the island, and much of Ireland are these fences and walls that go across the entire countryside in grids and squares. The walls are made up of simple stone stacked on each other. It reminds me of a fairytale,a dn medieval times. We took a walking path (more like a hike) up to a fort on a cliff. The fort was made up of rings of rock walls against a cliff. The cliff was a HUGE drop off one side of the fort, and there were no rails to keep you from falling!!!! I finally got enough courage to go on my stomach and look down over the edge. Let's just say that you don't want to get puched off of that cliff!!! (It went down into the sea, but even if you survived the fall, you would get dashed to pieces on the rocks) It was an amazing fort, though, with hug impressice rock walls. It was open air, but still an amazing sight. We also saw some seals lying on the beach!!! It was really cool. We finally got back around 8 tonight and made a quick dinner. We decided to have tea after dinner, and had earl grey tea and scones! We have been having tea at various cafes around the city every afternoon. It's very fun. Anayways, we will try to go to church tomorrow, and we'll see how that goes. By now it's finally dark at 11:15 pm. It stays light really late here. Oh, and by the way im not allowed in any pubs after 9 o clock. Darn. So we've been going early to watch the soccer games, but unless you're 18 the pubs close at 9. Oh well, I'll have to just come back when I'm 18!

Green..........!!!???!

"Wow" I thought, as I peered out of the window on board the airplane. What I saw as the clouds cleared was a mass of.......... GREEN!! I knew Ireland was going to be green. Why else was it called "The Emerald Isle"? It looked incredible from up in the sky, different patches of green, like a quilt. It was breathtaking. I stepped off the airplane, and all the time was thinking about how beautiful Ireland was going to be. I couldn't wait. Now that I'm here in Ireland, I can see how beautiful it is. It is very cold compared to what I am used to, but wet and humid, so the plants are thriving. I have never seen so many flowers in my life!!! The rolling hills, the beautiful flowers, the meadows with cows and sheep grazing. My hair is curly and frizzy because of the wet weather!!! I don't need to worry too much about sunburn. AND I get the workout of my life from walking for hours each day. Life is interesting, all the Irish people are kind and fun to listen to. I think I'm picking up an accent without even trying! So far the trip has been satisfactory. So beautiful, and I haven't even seen the pretty places yet. It will be hard to go back to brown and dirt. But I think I like both places. Ireland may be a beautiful, green place. It is unlike anything I have seen. But it is still not home. I'm still a stranger. I love my old, brown New Mexico every bit as much as I love Ireland, the land of green.