Irish History Field Trip

Fri. March 1, 2011

Holy shit. It is so hard to believe that it is already March! I have basically been gone for 2 months and it has flown by soo fast. I already don't want to leave. I mean obviously I miss everyone, but seeing all these new places, and learning all of this new stuff is really really awesome. Studying abroad is really a once in a lifetime opportunity and I couldn't be happier that I actually took advantage of it. Finally I did something right!
Today I went on a field trip with my Irish History class. Lately we have been learning about the very first people who came to Ireland. We have spent time looking at the differences between the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze ages. One of my teachers favorite things is massive burial tombs and things like that that were left behind that we can still see today. Ireland is full of historical sites, literally there are thousands and thousands of passage tombs, and she couldn't bring us to all of them so we visited some of the biggest and most accessible ones. First we went to Newgrange. My teacher kept stressing the idea of just how massive these things are. People had to create these thousands of years ago with there bare hands, they had no big machines like we have now. It would have taken a very long time and been very hard work. She also kept making us think of how important the people must have been who were buried there. There were only a few peoples remains found there and this tomb can be seen for miles and miles. We actually got to go inside of this one and that was really interesting. There was a bunch of art etched into the rocks for decoration. it was pretty cool
After that we went to the Hill of Tara, which basically looked like a big golf course to someone that doesn't know better.

Adventures

Fri. Feb 25, 2011

Today was our horseback riding adventure, put on through the school. A group of about 10 or so of us got up early and got on the train to Bray. As the plan was supposed to go a bunch of guy friends of mine were supposed to be going, but people got too drunk and couldn't make it, figures. But Kyle pulled through surprisingly, so he was the only guy horseback riding with like 9 girls. haha, it looked a little funny I have to admit.
When we got to the riding school we were given riding boots and helmets for safety, then we were paired up with our horses. They tried to pick the more experienced people for the horses that were a little more wild, and the really slow ones to the beginners. I have only been horseback riding like once or twice, so I really had no idea what I was doing, but they still insisted on giving me the horse that wasn't even allowed to stand next to the rest of the horses, Gracie. I was already nervous and then they told me that she doesn't really like the other horses, she had a bit of an attitude and that made me even more nervous. Once I got on her, the lady that worked there was trying to adjust the saddle, and Gracie tried to kick her. It was kind of funny, but then I got worried that she was just going to go crazy while I was on her.
Since Kyle was a beginner they gave him the oldest horse there I'm pretty sure. His name was Chucky.. he had a gray mane and was drooling when we first saw him. He was a sweetie though, but also a slow poke.
Amber was given a pretty sassy horse. When we were walking apparently it kept getting really close to the horse in front of it and biting its ass trying to get it out of the way. haha. I would have freaked out.
One we got on the trail Gracie was fine. I was starting to get a little comfortable on her, and then a dog ran out of the woods onto the trail in front of us and spooked her. She started to trot for a second and scared the shit out of me, but then she was fine. We walked the trails for probably an hour and a half. We climbed up part of a mountain and got a gorgeous view. By the end of the trip we were all very comfortable and attached to our horses and didn't wanna say goodbye. We had so much fun. I seriously wish that I could go riding every day. I absolutely loved it.

Northern Ireland

Fri. Feb 18, 2011

Today we are headed to Northern Ireland for the night. It is technically a school trip, but we had to pay 50 Euros and had an option as to whether or not we wanted to go. Of course, everyone decided to go. We rode 3 hours on a coach bus North of Dublin to Belfast. I did not know this before, but apparently Northern Ireland is a different country. It is owned by the United Kingdom, so we had to get our Euros converted into Pounds again (same as London). Changing the currency isn't really the problem, the problem is that the euro is more expensive than the dollar, so I lose money there. And then the Pound is even more expensive than the Euro, so when I look at my bank account, the money goes a LOT quicker than I think it is. Which sucks but what can you do...
Anyway, when we reached Belfast our bus parallel parked in between two other buses, it was pretty amazing. He was a good bus driver. The entire bus applauded him. When we got out we were met by a bunch of Black Taxi's. Northern Ireland has this thing with there taxi's.. it's like a tour. There were 6 of us to a car and the drivers brought us around to different important sites and told us all about them. It was kind of interesting, except it was freezing and rainy and every time we stopped to get out and look at things, we just wanted to hurry up and get back in the taxi.
Next we went to a neighborhood where there are murals painted on the ends of all of the buildings. They were pretty cool. They were commemorating people who had lost their lives in the wars and stuff like that. One mural had a picture of a guy with a sniper rifle, and in every direction you walk it looks like he is pointing at you. Like the Mona Lisa's eyes. That was probably my favorite mural of the day. Another place the taxis brought us was to the Belfast Peace Wall. This is the wall that separates the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. The wall was interesting because so many people have graffiti-ed on it from all over the world. People commonly put quotes about peace on it. It was actually pretty cool, and yes I signed it. After we left Belfast one of our teachers thought he should tell us what a dangerous place we were just in. He told us that if we had been out touring on our own with our cameras there is a good chance that we would have gotten beat up or shot. They really aren't good people. Apparently they really don't like tourists in their business and what not. Nice of him to tell us that AFTER we went there. haha.
From Belfast we went to a very small village called Ballintoy. This village was seriously small, it has about 10 houses, a hostel, and 2 pubs along one main road, then nothing but farms and ocean. It was beautiful there, but definitely the kind of place where everyone knows everyone and their sheep. <- picture taken across the road from the Hostel we stayed in. It was definitely nice to get out of the high speed of Dublin craziness. Seeing this place was just like WHOA this is Ireland. It is crazy how green everything is, and just how pretty the open fields really are here. We had dinner at the Hostel, and since there wasn't much to do in the small town, basically everyone filled up the two pubs and just got real drunk together. It was nice. We all made it to bed at a decent time in the early morning. lol.

Sat. Feb 19, 2011

Everyone woke up bright and early to start the days adventures. We walked just down the road from where we stayed, and walked toward the coast, and suddenly it felt like you were in a different place. The water was a really pretty bluish green and the cliffs were amazing along the Antrim Coast. We found lots of sea shells and had fun climbing around on the rocks.
After that we moved just a little bit up the coast and did something a little more entertaining. We went to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. They specifically told us before going that it was not for the faint of heart, and we did not have to do it if we didn't want to. However, to my knowledge, I think every one of us did cross it. It was very very scary. When I was walking up to it, it didn't looks so bad, but once I was standing in front of it about to step on, I got real nervous. It was definitely a lot more stable than some rope bridges that I have been on, which was a good thing. But believe me, it still wobbled quite a bit. It was hard because, you don't want to look down because its so high up, but you want to look where you are walking so you don't trip, so it was a little challenging. Even though it was wicked scary it was very worth it.
Next we went to another place on the coast. We went to the town of Bushmills, Northern Ireland, and visited the Giant's Causeway. This was unlike anything I had seen in my life. It was basically made up of thousands of rock formations coming out of the ground that were shaped like hexagon pillars. It was so cool, and 100% natural. It looks like it should have been man made, because it is so strange, but it was really neat and fun to walk on. Rocks like that <- stretched across the whole coast right here. My teacher, Stephen is obsessed with rocks so he took this as an opportunity to teach us about the formation of the rocks, how they were created from rapid cooling magma or whatever. It was pretty neat.
After Giant's Causeway we went to Dunluce Castle and walked around the remains. At one time the Castle must have been very beautiful. Today all that is left is some walls and a tower for remains, but it was still interesting to walk around. After that we got back in the bus for a long ride home.