the "townies": from left, Danielle, Sarah, Nikki, and Lauren

Fun times at the Anchor Bar!

From left: Mackenzie, Suzanne, and my main man Tom Keith from the night before at Merry's. He's wearing the Irish national rugby team jersey. I kid you not, he is an Irishman who has never had a sip of alcohol in his life!

Maire and I at Merry's. I'm drinking Bulmer's Irish Cider and she's drinking the local Dungarvan bitters(?) that's what I heard Dr. Reed call it anyway.

Third Day

Last day of rest before it's back to classes for the MU students.

After a late night last night, I slept in as long as I could since I won't be able to do the same tomorrow! I will be winging it as far as alarm clocks go since the one on my phone from home won't work here and the vodafone I want doesn't get restocked at the store until Tuesday so I'm kinda outta luck. Anyway, the rest of my housemates and I made our way over to the bar at the Park Hotel at about half twelve (aka 12:30) to get some lunch/breakfast. None of us were showered, we threw on some clothes, and when we got there, we realized we were rather underdressed. OH well, nobody complained. You should have seen the menu for lunch; I hardly recognized anything! I'm ready to try new things here and step out of my comfort zone but I'm starting off easy....really easy. I had a potato, carrot, and basil soup with apple pie and tea. The Park has been kind enough to give us one free meal a day with packets of vouchers, worth up to 12 euro. During our lunch, the owner of the hotel, Pierce, stopped by to talk to us several times. He is yet another great guy with a great sense of humor! He asked us all where we were from (he had no idea where the Finger Lakes Region was) and he told us about when he met Maureen O'Hara right in the bar at the Park. Since they'd both lived in Los Angeles/Hollywood for a time, they had something in common to discuss, and she was shocked to find out that Pierce was straight, since she had never met a straight white man who wasn't an actor who lived there.

After my breakfast had settled a little, Sarah and I went to the fully equipped gym at the hotel to work out. When we came back, our housemate Nikki told us that the Irish really do observe the Sabbath for the most part. Nearly everything in town was closed except for Dunnes the larger supermarket. It's pretty gloomy today and rather chilly outside, with a strong wind blowing. When Sarah and I went to the supermarket, the cashier told us that this is the longest time it's gone in Dungarvan without rain for a while, since we've shown up, but it's also the coldest it's been. She asked us how we were coping with it, but we let her know we left a cold and snowy winter back home.

Other than that, there hasn't been much activity, its just another lazy Sunday afternoon. Although I have to say the notebooks here are pretty expensive, which is frustrating since I'd decided not to pack my own. So much for trying to save my money for what really counts, like the booze! (just kidding....). I also have to say that even when it's gloomy, everything is still so green. The buildings are painted all different bright colors, the water that sits in the quay, which is basically right next to my townhouse is a nice blue. The view when you walk out in front of the hotel is amazing because the Comeragh mountains are right there in the backdrop! I'm hoping my classes aren't TOO difficult so I can find some time to hike them.

Just as a final note for today, if anyone has any questions about something in particular here or something I've written about/experienced, or even something I've forgotten to mention, just post a comment or send me an email!