Housing & College Photos

So I'm finally posting photos from my housing, school and my studio!!

this is the view from my window this morning. 

all of that is frost on the ground and roof

my room. did you actually expect it to be clean?

i do have a single, there's just an extra bed in my room 

for some reason.

my bed and window

my closet, bathroom and door

kitchen and dining area

sunroom

frosted leaves

another room

living room

front of the house

back of the house. the upper middle window is my room

my poor, white, bland studio

my studio from the outside.

our tower

the cafe...obviously.

they make the most delicious food and it's all fresh

key to the tower

view from the top of the tower

those lakes are the turloughs (temporary lakes caused by flooding)

the campus cat, T.C. (top cat), chilling out in the studio

these are the cows that ran away from me

this is the cow that chased me

Saturday night, Storytelling and I can't believe I forgot to tell you this

This Saturday that just passed one of the pubs downtown, Logue's, threw a little shindig for the students of BCA (Burren College of Art). It was pretty fun if I do say so myself. There was even a DJ and let me just say he was way better than any of the DJs at the Holtville High School's dances. He played current, popular music that we could all dance to. Except for the fact that the dance floor turned into a slippery, hot, sweaty crowd of people, it was pretty darn fun. Also, they provided little finger foods for us to eat which consisted of chicken finger type things, little sausages and fries--all of it was sooooo delicious. The next morning all of us were wanting to go back to Logue's just for the food! Oh and it also happened to rain the entire day on Saturday-literally. It never stopped raining once. This causes temporary lakes in the Burren called turloughs because the ground is basically rock (not mud like other places) so instead of the rain being soaked up and creating mudslides, it just floods and creates lakes (pictures will be provided later). This whole thing is pretty amazing and changes the landscape dramatically-it's so gorgeous!

Today, the 17th, was my first day of actual class. It was pretty uneventful and easy going, but I went for a nice walk which ended in me being kind of chased by a cow, which is a different story altogether. Anyway, last week during orientation we were supposed to have a storytelling night which was cancelled because the storyteller got sick so it was rescheduled for tonight. It was so amazing! The storyteller was this adorable old Irishman with frizzy hair and a glorious beard (glorious might not be the right word considering his beard was actually kind of scraggly--but he was still so adorable). He told the most amazing stories about ferrets and hungry grass. Plus, the storytelling was held in the castle on campus and there was a fire which completed the entire mood. It was definitely the highlight of the day.

Anyway, my last story is one that actually happened like a week ago and I completely forgot about it!! I don't know how I forgot since it's probably been the highlight of my entire trip thus far!! At the beginning of last week when all students were arriving, we walked into town to eat at Logue's and get some groceries at the store. As we were nearing Logue's this adorable old Irish lady walked out of the pub, walked over to me and guess what she said. She asked me to help her across the street because she was too afraid to cross by herself!!!!!!!! Isn't that the cutest thing you've heard in your entire life? I was more than happy to help her and she put her arm through mine and I walked her across the street. It was so amazing!!!! Hands down, one of the best stories of MY LIFE!! HAHA!

That's all for now. In my next blog I'll be uploading pictures of my housing, school and studio so just enjoy these stories for now!!

Connemara

Yesterday (the 14th) we took a field trip to Connemara. This entire place was so gorgeous and a completely different landscape from the burren. Thankfully the weather was so beautiful and we only experienced a quick rain and we just waited it out on the bus. The first place we stopped was called the Forge (I think, that's what some people told me because I can't remember so if it's wrong blame them) This place had a fairy tree!! This tree was different from the other two I had seen in Ballyvaughan. This one had pieces of ribbon and cloth all over it (people would tie pieces of cloth on the tree after offering up a prayer).

fairy tree

After that we went to Kylemore Abbey aka my castle. We couldn't go in and look around or see the infamous gardens, but what we did see was absolutely beautiful! 

i'm gonna move here 

We stopped for lunch in a town called Clifton and I had a delicious toasted ham and cheese sandwich (I would've taken a picture but it was too dark and I hate flash so use your imagination)! 

the pub where we ate

just a cool alley 

We then went to a beach that had the weirdest sand I've ever seen. It looks like little bones or coral instead of tiny grains.

weird sand!! 

Our last stop was called Dogs Bay and was definitely the most gorgeous place I've ever seen. It made me think a little of the beaches on Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea. The beach, the hills, the sky--everything was so picturesque.

...and a trailer park which just made me think of Mickey O'Neil from Snatch (dags! oh dogs!) 

 

We also saw some of the famous Connemara ponies...

 

this is just a cupcake one of the grad students made for us. it was delicious!

That's all for now! Tonight Logue's Pub downtown is throwing a welcome night for all the students so that should be some great craic!!! Then classes officially start on Monday so we'll see how that goes!!