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.