Strands of Doolin

Hello all. Again, so much has happened that I hardly no where to begin. Although matters most fresh on my mind are how I need to replace the DVD Everything Is Illuminated to the school library before march 15th or else I'll be fined $75 dollars. See, I rented it the last week of last semester to have some R & R in the midst of packing and moving out/ finals. And see, I usually refrain from renting movies from the library due to my utter forgetfulness of returning them which results in a fine of a dollar a day which results in me getting lots of fines which finally resulted in me relinquishing my DVD renting privileges. A self inflicted punishment. Responsible, if you ask me. However, flash forward to me ultimately forgetting to return the ONE DVD I rented the entire semester (I actually returned the box, but left the dvd in the dvd player which belongs to Liza, which she packed and brought home, which her parents now can't seem to find, which leaves her and I in Ireland and me incapable of producing said DVD and the school library emailing threatening emails about outrages fines). However, of course I can count on dear old Dad to simply buy a new one, mail it to SMC and laugh at my endearing mindfarts.

Also fresh on my mind is how I REALLY need to find time to write my final papers which aren't due until the end of April-ish yet I really cannot seem to find anytime to write them. Life is so hard isn't it? I've had VIRTUALLY no work to do at all, and now that work is upon the horizon I already can't find time to do it. You see, this week is RAG week (Raise a Grand) which means that from now until the end of the week, every student in Galway wakes up, greets the day and drinks all day and night. For the entire week. The clubs are open at noon, pubs are even more filled than usual, and every dollar they make is donated to charity. Drinking for a cause. Oh those Irish. And although I can't even PRETEND to keep up with them, I don't think I'll be getting any school work done. The week after that my Best Friend Sarah Cunningham (alter ego Scott Cunni) will be visiting, and then immediately after that Mom and perhaps and hopefully Ben and Lizzie will be visiting for eight days. And then after that is spring break which I was planning on spending in Spain and Italy and then after that my papers are due. And so there lies my dilemma.

But anyways, this weekend I went to Doolin with Brenna, Liza and Isabelle. A small town of about 500 people, three pubs and many cows, it's only about an hour bus ride away. We got there Friday night (during the day I walked to Salt Hill with Audrey and had ice cream cones, and a nice chat beside the water while people/ dog watching, and then went to a cake contest in the museum where we got to sample every cake fo free! Teal and I go to a cooking class every Thursday and our teacher is a local baker and invited us to it. And as if we would pass up free cake) and whipped up a quick meal, drank tea and lounged by the fire and then went to one of the pubs which is famous for its live music. The next day we woke up and Matty, the owner of the hostel, drove us to the market so we could buy milk and cheese, and after a fast breakfast, his wife Carmel drove us to the Cliffs of Moher which offered exquisite views and fun photo opportunities. It also wasn't too crowded so it was even more enjoyable and even peaceful. Then we walked the seven miles back into town along the water and farms. We stopped by one of the farms to talk to the cows make make googely eyes at the bb cows. I don't think they enjoyed our company too much because they would make eye contact with one of us and then proceed to unload what looked and sounded like 30 pounds of urine and cow pies. We walked onwards and stopped in to one of the pubs for some soup and browsed in the few shops that were around, and stopped off at the Clare Jam Shop to buy some homemade jam. Of course I got one for Nonnie, I know how she loves her jam. I bought myself Blackcurrent and Port and Nonnie Strawberry Champagne. Nothing but the best for my girl.

On the way back to the hostel we passed a beautiful white friendly horse who I had a moment with, and then we took a glorious nap, woke up for dinner (I made my famous Riceotto) and then we sat by the fire with tea in hand while Matty whipped out his projector and slides of photos he's taken of the area over the past 15 years and explained every slide and answered our questions. I was so impressed with him- he fixes the roof/renovates the hostel by day, and somehow finds time to work for the coast guard and take beautiful pictures and learn/ teach about the history of his home to passing by tourists. He also has a lot of work cut out for him as the coast guard because the Cliffs of Moher has the highest suicide rate. Although its a beautiful place, its also so sad and almost creepy because of all the signs urging people to call for help and there is a memorial on one of the cliffs. That night we went to one of the pubs where a 21st birthday was taking place, and then this morning we woke up to watch the sunrise and went for another walk to an old graveyard and then went to feed the horse down the street.

Oh also this last week Brenna, Isabelle, Zach and I threw Liza and Teal a 21st birthday surprise party which went perfectly according to plan (except for the part where Zach was supposed to have them over for dinner/distract them while we got my house ready and I ran to the store to buy birthday candles. Good ole Zach lets them out of his sight so they could run to the store, so I had to hide in the frozen fish isle for 15 minutes so they wouldn't run into me) we had the homemade vegan red velvet cake we made at my house, went to a house party as Isabelle's and then went out dancing. A good time had by all.