HI WORLD! It has been so long since I have gotten on this blog, and I have definitely been neglecting a lot of the writing and artistic things I hoped to cultivate while in Ireland. However, I spent the weekend making beautiful day trips through lands I had never seen before, and walking across stone that had flowers spitting out of its cracks, and eating at restaurants painted pink and yellow and blue, and listening to traditional music about the 1916 revolution that touched my heart in ways I had never felt before. Needless to say that feeling of inspiration came back so quickly, and words and colors and ideas flooded my mind like a hurricane all week. Now it is time to pour them into this blog that I love so much.
I think it is starting to settle in that this is not a vacation. I mean… I actually LIVE in Ireland. I have to wash my clothes, scrub my toilet, buy my groceries, take the trash out, the whole nine yards. I mean, I’m not complaining, but it feels different than you expect it to. I mean its studying abroad! You expect it to be travel every weekend and going out every night and living life on the run. But 5 months is a long time, and in order to make this place my home, I have to do all the chores, all the errands, all the budgeting, all the schoolwork; just like normal. Sometimes I wake up and I have to remind myself where I am and how I got here. I have found that these chores and errands are a grounding practice, making me feel more tethered to this environment and this world, and thus allowing me to integrate further. Without them I just kind of float, waiting for the next adventure. Luckily there is always an adventure around the corner, so any insipid, day-to-day life never lasts too long. This weekend we hopped on a bus to Kinsale. This was my second time going. Kinsale is this cute little fishing town that sits just south of Cork on the southern tip of Ireland. Its full of rich history such as battles and old forts and Viking attacks. But now it is populated by kind, vibrant people that paint the sleepy town with a colorful smile. I went to Kinsale alone my first weekend here, at the suggestion of my boyfriend who had visited before. This town did not disappoint. I mean every single road is tiny and walkable and all the shops are brightly coloured. My friend and I wandered around with our cameras tasting candy and touching trees. We wandered through an old church and graveyard where we found a memorial for fishermen who had died recently in an accident at sea. Everything was dead, except for the blooms in that memorial. The next day we went to Blarney Castle. This tourist trap had me scared with all the gates and shops and charges to get in. But once we made it into the gardens, there wasn’t a soul in sight. It was just us and our wandering minds, trying to cover every inch of the gardens. The trees were so old and the stones were so carefully placed! Each structure had some supernatural meaning, whether it be fairies or witches, one had to walk through the garden with caution of these creatures. We strolled beneath waterfalls, through caves, climbed rocks, swung on trees, and tripped on their strong roots. As you will be able to see from some of the pictures in the gallery, I discovered that celtic art and celtic knots were likely inspired from the way these tree roots grow. They intertwine creating a beautiful patterned connectedness in the earth. We kissed the Blarney stone and wandered through the whole castle, visiting every bedroom and tripping on every brick on the spiral staircase. With each stepped we took we wondered, “who else was here? What untold stories are trapped here?” And then you start to think, “My god, we don’t have anything even close to this old in the States.” The history here runs deeper in the environment and in the people than you can even imagine. It inspires everything, and you can feel that ancient pulse with every step in a place like Blarney castle. It gives you goosebumps. CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FOR PICS OF THIS INSPIRING WEEKEND!! Megstakes: -Left the house without my key on daytrip to Kinsale -Found my key in the bottom of my purse later that day #blessed -French girl said "Bon Appetit" to me, I awkwardly responded, "You too!" -I spilled hot soup all over my hand in the school restaurant. Burned myself pretty bad. But I played it cool so its fine. -Wandered for about 30 minutes in the store looking for eggs. (they keep them with the peanut butter???)
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