My First Irish Weekend

Hello again friends and family! Orientation has wrapped up and now we are on our own to make it in Ireland! Ha, not completely true, but orientation is done and today is the first day of classes.  I do not start until Tuesday, consequently I have this fabulous day to myself.  The Irish sun is shining and all the students are finally here, making the campus feel much more awake and alive.

Recap on my weekend: Saturday I had an organized adventure to the coast and three major tourist attractions: Dunluce Castle ruins, The Giant's Causeway and Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge. Saturday morning I woke up with quite the cold and sore throat (from lack of sleep I assume), however I refused to miss this opportunity.  Dunluce was beautiful and our Greek tour guide was a great storyteller and he recounted the tragic tale of the castle's inhabitants who all fell to their deaths in the sea when the castle walls gave way.  While we wandered through the ruins, the rain started its daily onslaught, which ended up continuing through our whole trip.  The Giant's Causeway, which is the number one attraction in this part of Northern Ireland, lived up to its great reputation.  Folklore asserts that an Irish giant named Finn MacCool built a huge bridge of basalt columns so a rival Scottish giant could visit and they could have a battle to determine who was the strongest giant.  When Finn saw how big the Scottish giant actually was he ran back to his wife.  She decided to disguise Finn as a baby and when the giant of Scotland saw Finn as the baby he grew greatly afraid and thought "If this is his baby, how big is the father?!" And he ran back to Scotland, but in his panic he ruined the bridge leaving only some leftover columns.

The columns were very unique, but honestly, my favorite part was the view of the sea.  Stunning. And the rain let up for a few minutes so we could enjoy the scenery in peace :)

Next, we bussed to Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, which was also on the coast.  More luscious landscape to feast our eyes upon, and a rickety wooden/rope bridge to cross. I have a slight fear of heights, which usually never rears its ugly head, but oooohhh my, this bridge was super high up and did not look stable whatsoever. But I squelched the screaming voices in my head and held on tightly to the railing. My perfect reward for my efforts was seeing DOLPHINS!!! If you know me at all, you know that I have an obsession with them.  I might have done a little screaming and girly clapping---I just couldn't help it.

Saturday also happened to be my friend Shamos's birthday and so of course we had to celebrate that night.  Picture dozens and dozens of international students packed into a small flat living room. Very chaotic and fun. On Sunday I went to my first Catholic mass with my friends Erica and Maureen. We went to St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church. I was nervous because I didn't know what it was going to be like, and even though I didn't understand anything that Father McCullough said, it was a new cultural experience. The sanctuary was marble, lofty and cavernous and the service was very solemn and reverential. I enjoyed the beauty of it all, but it was definitely a big change from my community church back home.

Tonight my new Irish friend Cat is taking myself and some girlfriends out to a pub and rugby night and I'm so excited! Monday nights to the Irish are like Fridays, it's so funny.