Life on the Aran Islands: Field Trip #1

Last weekend we travelled to the Aran Islands. Before heading over there we got a little background on what life was like on the Island. We watched the movie Man of Aran, that was filmed on the Island in 1934. This really helped to give us some perspective of what life used to be like compared to it now. Life was quite difficult there. We found out from our short amount of time there that the weather definitely makes it even harder. 

To get to the main island of the three that make up the Aran Islands, we took a large ferry. It was one of the roughest boat rides I had ever been on. It was a lot of fun to ride on the top, in the open, even though it was rainy. Coming from being land locked, I could get used to being surrounded by water. Maybe I need to move to an island?!

On top of the ferry ridding back to the main land.

While we were on the Island some interesting facts that I found out was that they didn't actually get electricity until 1975. Also unlike on the main land where people use peat to heat their houses, they only use oil or coal here. I also found it quite interesting that because the ground is mostly limestone, they aren’t able to grow much on the Island. Before goods were shipped from the main land, they would break up the limestone, haul seaweed from the ocean to cover the rock, and then what soil they could scrape up or find they would put that on top of the seaweed. It was a lot of work to create even just a small area to grow any crops. One advantage of all the limestone on the island is they don’t have to pour a foundation for the houses. As you can see in the photo the limestone is quite smooth. They also use it to build the stone walls. 

The trip to island was a wet, windy, and memorable time. I really enjoy connecting what we are learning in our classes to the actual places we visit. Having some background to the area helps me to appreciate and be more knowledgeable about what I am seeing. 

Had to leave my mark on the island!

Dia Dhuit (Hello)

Compared to my last study abroad trip to the Czech Republic, there really isn't a big language issues here especially when it comes to communicating with locals. Ireland is primarily an English speaking country with only about 35% of the people still speaking Irish today. Where we are living in Spiddal is located in a region that is filled with many Irish speaking people and they speak it on a daily basis. Many of the primary schools located in the area taught in Irish. So even though the language appears to be dying out there are many people still trying to keep it alive and bring it back. You can see rock/signs around and in Spiddal that are only in Irish. I wasn't sure what they said but I found them interesting and took a couple pictures of some that I saw.

Signs in Irish down by the harbor.

Marking a path near the harbor.

When traveling throughout the country you will find signs that have both Irish and English on them. From our little trip to Cork we also found out that the buses and trains use both names of the cities on their signs as well. This was slightly confusing for us at first because we weren't aware that Corcaigh and Cork were the same city. We thought we were going to get on the wrong bus! No worries, we didn't and we make it to Cork. There we had a great weekend exploring the city, visiting with locals and even speaking and learning some Irish from them.

Photo credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Twomileborris_signage.JPG

From my language class I am finding out that the language is very hard to learn because words don't look anything how they are actually pronounced.  Dia Dhuit ,which means hello, is pronounced gee-a-hutch. Many other phrases are hard to say just by looking at the spellings. Thank you for example is pronounced go-ra-ma-aw-got but is spelled go raibh maith agat. It really is a beautiful language with many religious meanings in the phrase but not a language you can learn a lot of in a short amount of time.

Notes from language class.

Something else I noticed that even though they speak English the Irish speak very fast which makes them hard to understand especially if they have a very thick accent. I've visited with many locals and have to have them repeat themselves because their English is hard to understand. One man we sat next to on the bus home from Cork admitted that he talks very fast and that's why he is hard to understand. So if you visit Ireland you won't have any problem getting around and communicating with people but be aware that you might have to ask them to repeat what they say.

Line Dancing with the Locals

I have officially been in Ireland for over a week now. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. We are officially all settled into our cottages and attending classes three days a week. The weather hasn't been the best to us raining almost everyday. Luckily today we had almost a full day of sunshine. A few of us headed out for a jog and made our way down to the ocean. It was so beautiful and peaceful. It was great to just sit on the rocks and put my feet in the water. Down by the ocean is a great place to sit and just listen to all the sounds around you and take in the smells. I could have sat there for hours or at least until the tide came back in.

Sitting by the ocean shore.

"I've got my toes in the water..."

Throughout the past week we have made several trips into both Spiddal and Galway. Thursday evening a group of us went to Spiddal for supper and hung out at a couple of the local pubs. It was quite an eventful night meeting lots of the locals. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met. They even make you feel safe here. Unlike in most places back in the states when your out you typically only visit with the people your with. Very rarely do you go out and meet someone and have a genuine conversation with them. Here they will walk right up to you and start a conversation. Typically you don't even know the persons name until about halfway through. Many of the owners were quite inviting as well telling us that we were welcome anytime. It was a great feeling for someone who is a stranger to feel welcomed in a new place. 

The streets of Spiddal.

The next evening we had a planned trip into Galway to experience the night life in a little bit bigger city. After arriving in Galway we hit the streets, wandering around to find our hostel for the night. After dropping off our bags we enjoyed some Irish food. From there we headed to Thigh Foxes, a pub that the locals in Spiddal told us to go to to enjoy some local Irish music. They certainly didn't point us in the wrong direction! We spent our entire evening there dancing and visiting with the locals. One elderly lady even taught me a new line dance, which I am excited to teach people back in the states. By the end of the night we had also taught them how we line dance and swing dance. Some of them told us we should teach dance lessons. It was really one of the best nights out I had ever had. 

This weekend we are going to explore Cork! I can't wait to see what treasures await us there. 

SHMME

I'm sure all of you are wondering what SHMME stands for. Well here in Park Lodge Hotel, located two miles outside of Spiddal, 17 UNK students are living in four separate cottages. Cottage #4 is my home for the next three months along with my four other roommates; Sara, Hannah, Miranda, and Emily. Together we are SHMME our own little cottage family.  Since day one we have already started to bond, unfortunately being the oldest one I got deemed Mom. Our cottages are quite roomy and have everything we will need; small kitchen, dining area, living room, bathroom and three separate rooms. I was the lucky one to get the single room. :)

Cottage #4 home of SHMME

If we happen to be missing anything we can more than likely find it in town which is two miles away. If we want to go to town we walk. It takes about a half an hour to get there but it's such a great view all the way there that the time just flys by. We are right along the Atlantic Ocean. This is something most Nebraskan's have never seen, such as myself until I visited Ireland last year, but here we are living right across from it.

The ocean right outside of Spiddal

I love that with this program I have the opportunity to live with and get to know fellow students I wouldn't have met just attending my classes back home on campus. I'm looking forward to the many great friendships that will come out of our three months in Ireland together. 

SHMME