It seems that Ive fallen a bit behind in blogging. It's been what, two weeks? but a lot has happened since Galway. Shannon, MaryBeth and I traveled from Galway up to Banbridge, Northern Ireland to spend a week with her family. I have to admit, I am completely jealous of the fact that she has extended family in a foreign country. Even though they've never met this 22 year old cousin of theirs, they welcomed her with open arms and treated her as if she'd been coming once a year all her life. And good thing too, because a combination of broken water filters at Finlough and late nights/scattered meals in Galway caught up to us and as soon as we stepped into their beautiful home all three of us collapsed into illness. Ann, Shannon's cousin (that's their relation I think, but she is a 50 some year old woman) was so kind and took care of us as if we were her own children. It was so nice and refreshing to be in a real home, with someone making all the meals, access to tv and electronics, and the ability to wake up when we wanted and for the most part do as we pleased. The sunny weather held up, and most of the time while Shannon was still sweating out her fever, I worked on my tan. Unfortunately, MaryBeth decided that she felt too ill to stay in Ireland, and left. So, by the end of the week, it was just Shannon and I, and quite fortunately, she was well enough to go to the "Glorious Twelfth" parade.
How do I describe the Glorious Twelfth? It's what I would imagine a mix of Fourth of July celebration with Southern Pride zealousness would look like. Except its not Southern Pride here but Northern. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, not a part of the Republic of Ireland, and the people who gathered in the town of Scarva (all some 100,000 of them) were proud to show it. The red white and blue for the Union Jack was everywhere, and part of the parade was shooting down a green flag and waving orange. Bands from all over the area and far away, even as far as Scotland, came to march and commemorate some ancient 1660 battle. But really, it was a Northern Ireland pride thing. It was really fun to see, but also so interesting to think that even though we were on the island of Ireland, and could hear Irish accents around us, it was not technically Ireland. Or at least, not the same Ireland that we had been in. Also, there is still a lot of animosity between Protestants and Catholics - Protestants being the Northern Ireland UK people, and Catholics the more traditional southern Irish. Every year, there are clashes in
Belfast for the Twelfth, but Scarva was perfectly safe. And things have gotten better, since the "Troubles" really ended around the new millennium, but after speaking with Shannon's cousins, it sounds like the two groups still have a long way to go.
It was a very fun time with her family; it was just another example of the greatness of Irish hospitality. I swear, I could not turn around if my glass was less than half full without another one appearing before me. And once they realized I liked Guinness - aka the Black Stout, aka Liffey Water - I was a goner. But who would have thought a one year old's birthday party could be so much fun?
After the North, we had to travel aaaaaaaall the way to the South. As in, we're ten minutes from Baltimore, the southernmost town in Ireland (if you don't count the islands). Once again, we lucked out completely and got seriously the nicest and most generous family in the world as our hosts. We have an apartment attached to the main house all to ourselves, and complete access to a kitchen stocked with food, a library stocked with books, and the biggest movie collection I have ever seen. It is amazing! We just work from around 9 in the morning until 1, helping in the gardens around the house and cleaning up the sheds and such.
Elaine is an incredibly busy woman, and no matter the weather takes her three dogs with her to go swimming in the nearby lake. We've had the opportunity to swim in this lake/lagoon, and while the water is very cold, it is absolutely beautiful. In our free time we've sort of lazed out and taken to watching movies/getting addicted to Game of Thrones, but at first we explored into the nearby woods and went swimming, went into the pubs in Baltimore, and climbed over hills searching for a rock pool. We just had a break and went to Sherkin Island, which was gorgeous and also gave us the chance to relax by a beach all to ourselves. West Cork is absolutely gorgeous, with its many islands and huge cliffs. Hopefully sometime this week well be able to visit some of the old Druid ruins in the area.
Man, it's hard to believe, but we only have one more week here and then it's so long Ireland! Probably should start working on my Chinese...
No comments:
Post a Comment