Blog- Week 6

Kelli Monheiser

Blog- Week 6

Westport Field Trip

Being the last week here before spring break, the week has been filled with last minute planning and getting organized. When initially making commitments to study abroad, spring break was the deciding factor. Since we had planned for my dad to come over and visit Europe with me in this time, we used a travel agent to help organize the trip. Because a majority of this planning was done before I had even gotten into Ireland to get a feel for what traveling was like, it was necessary to change some things around. In this sense, I wish that I would have waited to be here a week or two and then planned the trip on my own. There are a lot of things that I know now that I wish I would have known when she was planning. Although a travel agent may not have been the best way for us because we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to see, an agent may work better or come in more handy when he can give suggestions on what to see.

Boy, did I think the Aran Islands were pretty, until our weekend trip through the countryside up toward Westport. We stopped at the Connemara National Park where we were able to hike up a mountain for beautiful views of the country. Although the skies were misty and the wind was ferocious, not allowing us to see much, it was still an adventure. We then went on to the Kylemore Abbey that we had all heard so much about. Although many would say that it is just another castle in Ireland, this one seemed to hold more significance. While most other castles were built for protection or a public display of wealth, the Kylemore was built by a man who wanted to treat his beloved wife. It was one of the neatest things that I have ever seen, and not because it has been the only castle that I have ever seen, but because he put so much thought into the castle, great garden, gothic church, and mausoleum after she had died. I also found it very interesting that he planted nearly all of the vegetation around the expanse by various plants and trees that he imported from various countries or collected from areas within Ireland. We also drove by some very neat landmarks such as The Falls and St. Patrick’s Craoch. We were advised to stay the night in Westport because the nightlife was suitable for our group, if you know what I mean. The next day, we visited the Ceide Fields where we walked through the fields and saw some of the remains of the Great Stone Walls. However, my favorite part of the trip came at the end where se visited the Knock Shrine in the small town of Knock. This was the location where fifteen spectators had seen the apparition of Mary, St. Joseph and St. John. It was neat to stand in the exact place where the apparition and to touch the original stone of the Gable.

Field trips have become one of the best parts of the study abroad experience. It allows for a neat and organized way of visiting the country, and our supervisor is always willing to take suggestions as to what one may want to see. I look forward to the next four trips that we have after spring break including Dublin, Dingle, Northern Ireland, and The Ring of Kerry. 

Blog- Week 5

Kelli Monheiser

Blog- Week 5

Locals

I plan to keep this weeks blog short and sweet, because, well, week five has simply been short and sweet. Although this was our first four day weekend to accompany everyone’s travel plans, I decided not to go anywhere too far. On a last minute, instantaneous decision, a group of four of us decided to get a cheap bus ticket to Doolin, Ireland, a small down only about two hours away, where we found a cheap apartment like house to stay in. Although the weather was not the best, we still managed to do a little adventuring where we made a seven and a half mile hike to the Cliffs of Moher. It was cold and wet and tennis shoes quickly became one of he worst decisions we had made. However, it was well worth it. Much to our surprise, and luck, you could say, there was a music festival going on all weekend at the pubs in Doolin. They had everything from traditional Irish music to a group of high schoolers who had been one of the most talented groups that I had ever seen.  It was a good opportunity to see a little bit of the culture shine through in Ireland. I would advise anyone to attend a music festival of any sort during an off weekend.

            One of the things that I was worried about when coming to Ireland is the kind of people that I would encounter, or the locals. Being away for three months is a long time, but it will feel even longer of you are centering yourself around a bunch of rude people. Here in Ireland, I promise that you don’t need to worry about that. The people are some of the most thoughtful people I have ever met and throughout all my encounters so far, I have yet to meet someone who has treated tourists unrightfully. With the small town of Spiddal being the nearest source of life that we have, you will get to know the bar owners, restaurant waiters and waitresses, Texico clerks, post office staff and everyone else very well. They seem to enjoy having “the Americans” staying close by. Also, Jane Marie and John Paul are some of the nicest people I have met not only in Ireland, but ever. They would do anything to make sure that we are comfortable where we are staying, and that is one thing that I am very thankful for. Having parent figures here when mine are so far away.

            Overall, the first month of the trip has possessed many learning situations, great memories, breathtaking scenery, hard and lonely nights of missing home, bonding with new people and more. I have mixed feelings about saying that we are a third of the way done; both sad and happy, complete and unsatisfied, cultured and ignorant, and more, but I look forward to the rest that the trip has to offer in the next two months.    

Blog- Week 4

Kelli Monheiser

Blog- Week 4

Daily Life

It is crazy to think that we have been living here for a month already. It has been an experience in itself, and after building a small home and family out of my cottage and cottage mates, I can honestly say it has made me feel at ease while living nearly four thousand miles away from home. The constant moving around and traveling is a great opportunity and one that should be taken full advantage of, but understand that it does make the time fly. This last weekend we had our first group organized field trip to the Aran Islands, and though I am glad that we didn’t have to stay in the rain, the island was very interesting and I wish we could have enjoyed it just a little bit longer. We left on a Saturday morning, like most planned fieldtrips, and came back early Sunday morning. The trip consisted of taking a ferry to the island where a majority of us stood on the top deck in the rain, which was well worth it. When we arrived, we grabbed some lunch at the deli and headed to get our bikes. I really enjoyed the fact that bikes would be our way of traveling for the trip because it allowed us to stop ourselves and enjoy the beauty at our own pace. We first visited a goat farm where we all gathered around admiring the baby goats. The owner, a young man new to the business, explained to us the process of how Goat Cheese is made. We then got back onto our bikes and traveled along the edge of the ocean up toward a historic Fort known as Dun Aonghasa. It was one of the neatest things when we were heading up the mountain and we looked back and could see one end of the island to the other. It was also something else to look off the cliff from about 330 feet high to see the waves crashing against the limestone rock. After the fort, we went to the Wormhole where our guide explained to us that there was a natural phenomenon of shifting causing a perfect rectangle to be formed along the base of a cliff about thirty feet deep. I have yet to decide if I buy it or not. From that, we began the long trek back to the hostel that we were staying at. It was a lot of walking and a pretty physically enduring trip, but if I had to go back and do it again, I would. To me the great landscapes, breathtaking views and historic structures were well worth my time.   

I feel like this week would be a good time to cover the daily life here at the lodge. During the week, we begin class at around ten o’clock and take a break at noon for lunch. When we come back for class at one, we go through till about 3. Because the Wi-Fi situation, a majority of us stay in the schoolhouse where we either make spring break or weekend plans, upload our pictures, send emails, watch Netflix or any other Internet needed task. Trip planning is something that can be handled early, or last minute. It is something that you will catch on to once you get here and understand the system. A good portion of our time is spent in the schoolhouse. At some point during the week, some of us will make the 30-minute walk into Spiddal where we will get our feel for the pubs that week, grab some groceries, or treat ourselves at Supermac’s.

Upon arriving, it is nice to get the food situation organized. For the start of the trip, we were doing our meals together, but because we are all different in our eating habits, we found it best to fend for ourselves. We do, however, purchase butter, sugar, soap and toilet paper together taking turns each week. This has come to work out for us pretty well.

Because every weekend that we have been here, I have went on a personal trip or a fieldtrip, I have yet to be around the cottage for a weekend. I do know that the group that does stay around has always managed to keep themselves busy by taking the free Lally bus trip into Galway or spending the weekend exploring the Galway bay. There you have it, the daily life in Ireland from the Park Lodge Hotel; an easygoing way of life allowing for all sorts of activities. 

Blog- Week 3

Kelli Monheiser

Blog- Week 3

Out of the three weeks that we have been in Ireland so far, I can honestly say that this weekend has been the most experiencing yet. As we set out on a weekend trip to Brussels, Belgium and Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Thursday afternoon, the fun began early. We did our usual planning about a week and a half early making sure we had a trip to Galway, taxi to Dublin, and this time, a flight to Brussels, Belgium. Being the first group to fly out using Ryan Air, a very cheap airline within Europe, there is some advice I can offer both students looking to take the Ireland Study Abroad trip, and those who are currently on it planning trips. First off, take a small bag because first off, there is a full cabin at all times, and second off, because you are probably going to be luggin’ your bag with you at all times. Also, oddly enough, you don’t check in at the airport, but instead you check in online with your passport number prior to even going to the airport. Don’t forget to this or you may get charged 70 euros. They are very stingy about the size of shampoos and lotions, so make sure you have read the rules and have them in a clear bag when going through security. Also, using a screen shot on your phone to access your ticket is a joke. Simply go to Ryan Air’s customer service desk and print your boarding pass. It will make life a lot easier.

When we got to Brussels, we stood in the airport for about 15 minutes pondering what we were going to do from here. The language barrier was a task that we found very challenging. There is something a little discomforting about the fact that on trains, planes, taxis, trams, busses, menus, and about every other document, they spoke in Dutch. We got by, to say the least.

For dinner, we walked up and down downtown streets to find the last place they were cooking dinner. Publico. Here, we got to know our pubtender and waiter, who happened to attend UNL as a college student. CRAZY!! After talking to them a little bit and collecting a list of fun bars to go to, they bought us a round of shots and sent us on our way. We stopped at the Bizon pub where I made it about a drink in and fell asleep on the table while the others carried on. I woke up about twice to find that the two guys from the restraint had met us at the pub. After they bought rounds all night for the other, I came to conclusion that simply talking and getting to know those from that area will not only get you an insight to what the country and city is like, but it may get you a night of free drinks. So be friendly and put yourself out there with an open mind to take in the different types of people and cultures.

Throughout the trip we found getting around the cities to be a task and what I learned from getting lost and found and then lost again is to take taxies. If you need to get to a specific place, simply show the cab driver an address and get to where you need to be. Between five of us, splitting the cost was worth it. However, if you can simply get a train ticket or a tram ticket to get to a general location like central city, do that. It is worth it to save time and to save temper.

Going to three different countries in three days, I would say that this week is a good time to talk about the language issues and the barriers that it possesses. In Ireland, depending on where you go, the accent may seem a little strong, but when you travel to an area where English is not the first or even the second spoken language, a whole new door of challenges opens. We walked out of the gates in the Belgium airport thinking that we got this, but as we worked our way out of the airport, and to the train station and on to the train, I think we all were a little more worried. As we sat on the train hoping something would come over the overcome telling us to get off, we looked for clues telling us it was central station. Lucky us, in our group of five, we had two that had at least a class or half of Dutch allowing us to get the basics; on, off, open, close, right, left, central station and so forth. It worked out fairly well. After we managed to maneuver our way to central station by train, we found a group of men and asked them for direction. Most conversations will begin ‘do you speak English,’ and the response you will most likely get is ‘a little’. This became routine through our trip, but for the most part, everyone helped us as much as they could which we give thanks too.  

     To make our walk and rides and getting directions a little easier, we managed to get addresses and walking directions to all places that we wanted to go screen-shot on our iPhones. With this, if we found someone who could only speak a little English, we could show him or her the address and they could point us in the right direction. It was a very good way of going about it because we planned to not have much Wi-Fi. The step-by-step directions also came in very helpful only when we knew direction. Being a farm girl, I am pretty aware of directions, but once I was put into a city, I lost that sense. We found it more helpful to ask a group of women over men, and to ask a group over a single person, and to make sure we were on the right track before going on any further and getting ourselves lost.

So overall, in response to the different languages, I think that we got along fairly well by being well prepared and knowing our destination, being courageous enough to ask for help, and smart enough by knowing the types of people to ask and the situations to avoid. It was a good and experiencing trip. Hopefully they wont all be like it, but for the most part, it was a very good learning experience.