Hello friends, family, devoted fans and followers!
We are in Galway for the weekend, on the Western side of Ireland. As far as we can tell it’s purely a “there are beautiful things here to see” kind of trip. Here’s a picture of Galway Bay, which we can see from our hotel room windows!
No actual official English classes have happened. But we did take a day trip to Innish Moor, the largest of the three Aran islands yesterday! Population 800 people. Home to lots of cattle, gorgeous views, ancient monastic ruins (this seems to be a theme of our time in Ireland), and wool sweater makers. A couple of us indulged in that last one! Here’s a view from the cliffs on the island overlooking the ocean:
Today we visit the Cliffs of Moher, (aka “The Cliffs of Insanity” from The Princess Bride!). It’s supposed to be rainy and freezing but we are going to rough it because this is not something that can be missed!
Our main location for the last two weeks, and the next week after we leave Galway tomorrow, Rostrevor, has been wonderful! We are staying in our own little cottage. It’s pink. We have three bedrooms, and a washing machine, and a kitchen, living room, fireplace, etc. A large part of the enjoyment of this living space is due to Morgan, who has faithfully planned out our meals each week-- breakfast, lunch, and dinner too, and even sometimes dessert! And these are not just any meals. Homemade pizza with goat cheese and apples, Asian stir fry, pumpkin pie, banana bread, omelets with bell peppers, the list goes on and on! We are happy in Rostrevor!! Here’s the view from our kitchen window, of the Mourne Mountains covered in morning fog:
Another awesome part of the Rostrevor stay is the neighboring Holy Cross Monastery. Morgan alluded to this a little bit in her last post when she talked about attending the cycle of 5 services there during our first week. The other great part of the monastery is Brother Thierry. He’s a monk from France that has a relationship with Westmont because of the various study abroad programs that visit and stay at the cottages. We had two lectures from him and even a tour of the monastery! All of the students are so encouraged by his wisdom and hospitality. The motto he always repeats is “You are Christ to me,” so that’s a very nice thing to hear all the time, especially from a man that has devoted his life to God in such an intense way. Here is the monastery website if you want to learn more about it and see some pictures:
Finally, the highlight for last week was a “ceili” (pronounced like Kayley) night that Liam, the owner of the cottages had us all participate in. A ceili is a traditional Irish gathering where everyone comes together and performs a song, or recites a poem, tells a joke, etc. Everybody in the group is expected to share something. He had some of his friends, excellent Irish musicians, come and give us all a concert at the beginning, and then we all shared. There was a singer-songwriter named Colum Sands (check him out on iTunes!), a cellist, and another guy who played every instrument from the banjo to the bodhran (Irish drum). Morgan was of course a featured performer and she played the fiddle with the Irish musicians. Which was a real thrill for the other three of us who had the “Oh my gosh, our friend is so cool!” moment! Here's a quick video clip of her skillz!
I think that covers everything! If you don’t see a blog post for a while, don’t be too sad because of our sketchy internet in Rostrevor. Next week we will be back in London (woohoo!) and will have more regular updates from then on!
