SHU In Ireland

Kayaking to see Fungie!

On Friday afternoon, we had the opportunity to kayak in the harbor out to see Dingle's local celebrity, Fungie the Dolphin.  Four of us and Sean went.  We arrive at the marina, and then had to change into wetsuits.  (which let me tell you, was an adventure all in iteslf!)  Once we are all suited up, we received out lifejackets, and then carried our kayaks down to the water.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and it was a perfect day to be out on the water.  We started paddling, and would take breaks every few minutes.  It is tiring to paddle constantly, and we were also going a pretty long way.  We got out to the first buoy and just relaxed a little bit.  We continued this all the way out, until we got to where Fungie hangs out.  The boats that go out to see Fungie were also out, and we were all able to see him!  He was jumping around, and seemed to be enjoying himself.  It was very cool to be able to see him to close. 

After we saw Fungie, we paddled over to a beach and had lunch.  We had packed sandwiches and we took a break and ate and relaxed.  After we finished our lunch, we got back on the kayaks and went over to a little cove.  On our way there, Fungie made another apperance!  He really enjoys coming out to say hello.  We played around in the cove for a little bit, and then began to paddle bak to the marina.  Halfway back, we all pulled our kayaks together, and just layed back and relaxed.  It was wonderful to be able to hang around in the sun, on the water, and just enjoy it. 

After our little break, we finished paddling back to the marina, and got changed back into nice dry clothes and headed home.  We had a wonderful day, and I hope everyone who participates in this program gets a chance to do this!

Blarney

Blarney Castle. It’s basically one of those things you HAVE to do if you come to Ireland. During the week long Religion course we were able to go to see it. We were really lucky when we got there – we had been driving for two hours, and in those two hours we had been driving in and out of rain storms. When we hit Blarney it was just starting to clear up, though it was windy.

Even though it was rather dreary, Blarney Castle is beautiful in its antiquity. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens, even though in March they weren’t completely in bloom. While there are a ton of visitors and the circular steps up to the Blarney stone can be daunting to most people, but there are a ton of rooms, and it’s fun to pop in and out of them to explore. It’s a bit of a head rush kissing the Blarney Stone to be honest – I nearly toppled over trying to stand back up, but it was a fun experience and well worth the side trip on our way to Killarney.

Spring Break March 6-15

During the spring break week, instead of staying in Dingle and taking part of the religion class, I went off traveling. I met up with a family friend in Prague and stayed in Prague for 2 nights from the 6t to the 9th. I saw some nice churches and other beautiful architecture and landscapes as well as went to a 5 floor dance club which had a different type of music on each floor. After Prague, we flew to Milan and had to stay over in Milan while waiting for our 6 AM train to Venice. We walked the side streets of Venice as the main streets were all water and we would have needed a boat to get around those. I took a gondola ride with 2 of the people I was with, it was an awesome experience. Walking around, seeing many buildings and the castle in Venice in the main square, right next to the basilica, which was beautiful inside, made us hungry. We had many meals with wine and pasta and pizza dishes, and gelato for dessert. We continued to Florence to see the art and sculptures, including the original 'David' sculpted by Michaelangelo. We had a huge group dinner, 11 of us and then 6 of us took off for Rome. We saw the Vatican with the sistene chapel and st peters basilica and then we went over to the colesseum. We also saw the trevi fountain, pantheon, popes area and the spanish steps. I made it home sunday night in time to get ready for classes and Saint Patrick's Day celebrations which began 6 AM tuesday morning with a parade!

Daffodils and Daisies

Dingle is absolutely beautiful in the spring. The lawn in front of the Diseart has little white daisies popping up all over the place, there are daffodils by the sides of the road, and, for the past two or three days anyway, the skies are bright, cloudless blue. The temperature has started warming up too - I only need a T-shirt underneath my coat now, if that. A couple of days ago everyone piled out into the backyard to soak in the warm sun and dance in the grass, and since I was working on my thesis proposal up in my room, I just threw open my window and joined in.  -Becca

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Ireland!

Last week was turbo-course week.  The class was really great, I really enjoy learning about the religion of Ireland because of the inclusion of so many of the pagan traditions in how they practice Christianity.  We went on a lot of really great trips and saw some great sites, including a visit to do rounds at a holy well.  We had been to one before for Anthropology, but this time I was prepared with coins to make an offering. 

One of my friends from home spent the week visiting, and I really enjoyed his visit.  He came on some of the trips with us and he also seemed to enjoy seeing the things we saw.  He practically jumped for joy at the ruins of one of the churches that we saw because he'd been hoping to see them.  We went out a few times towards the end of his trip and had a great time dancing as well, so it was totally worth it.  Now I am looking forward to the parade tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day.  The parade starts at 6 AM and it will so be worth it.  I'm not sure what else we'll be up to the rest of the day, but I'm pretty sure plans have been laid to go back to bed after the parade.  We'll just take things as they come.

Mary H

Ah, the Irish rain.

Okay, so Friday morning part of the group and I jumped in a van with John (our favorite taxi driver), Séan (he's... well, he's Séan) and Lenka (Séan's girlfriend) and booked off to Killarney. Kate ended up staying home as she wasn't feeling well and Mary had a friend visiting so she didn't go either, but the rest of us went along with the spring break group. Personally, I'm glad we did. The trip was short but fun and I would love to see Killarney again.

We were on the road for about two and a half hours and, instead of stopping directly in Killarney, drove through and went to Blarney so we could all see Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone. Let me tell you: kissing the Blarney Stone is not scary at all. I was really nervous about the hanging upside down part but it's all a sham, I tell you! :P The stairs up to the Stone were probably the worst; they were old stone spiral steps and they tended to get narrower and steeper the higher we climbed, but I managed it just fine. I wasn't even out of breath. Once we got up to the top of the Castle I saw that there were two very nice Irishmen there to hold on to you when you bend back to kiss the Stone. That's all it is, really: you lay on your back and drop your head down into a hole to kiss a brick. I was so stunned by what the real Stone looked like that I actually stuck my head up out of the hole and asked, "Well? Where is it?"It was really fun though (despite my own idiocy) and definitely nothing to be worried about. It's a memory I'll never forget.

After exploring Blarney Castle (make sure to check out the dungeon!) and the grounds a little my group and I piled back into John's taxi and headed back to Killarney for the night. Unfortunately, the weather kept us from leaving the hotel once we got there (mostly because none of us wanted to get wet in the famously miserable Irish mist) but we amused ourselves with... well, normal TV. I'm not going to lie: after a while, the same three television channels get old. It was nice to be able to watch three straight hours of music videos. Around 7 that evening Séan took everyone out to dinner (on SHU, of course) and then Becca, Jess, Kay, Rachel and I wandered the town in a desperate search for dessert. Our search ended in vain but (thankfully) the hotel restaurant was still open. We ordered dessert, took it up to our rooms, sat together in our pajamas and watched more music videos. It sounds boring but after a week of going out it was just what we needed. Yay girls night. :)

This morning was uneventful; we drove back from Killarney around 10 and got back to Dingle near 11:15. Ever since then I've been sitting in my pajamas and trying to work things out for my trip for next break. Things are wonderful here in Dingle and, as I noticed on the drive to and from Killarney, Ireland's really starting to look and feel like a home away from home.

--Steph

Farm Life in Dingle

I have been born and raised on Long Island.  Now, Long Island is rather lacking in the farm animal department.  If I wish to see animals such as sheep, horses, cows, and goats, I do not have many options.  I can go to the one farm in my town, with the one cow, a few goats, and no sheep.  I can go to the game farm out east, but I don't think many people go there past the age of 8.  Thats it!  Because of that, it is very exciting for me to be able to see all these animals daily.  I am a HUGE animal lover, and really enjoy that aspect of Dingle.  On any given morning, there are usually a dozen or so sheep outside of my window, as well as 3 cows.  There is also one horse that lives right down the road that we see everyday. It is certainly different than New York, and I will absolutely miss this part of Ireland very much when I go home. Here are some pictures of all the animals we have encountered so far:

--Kate

Fungie the Dingle Dolphin

Our first week here in Dingle, we went out to see Fungie, the dolphin that lives in Dingle Harbor.  Fungie moved here in 1982, and has sine made Dingle his home.  At one point, Fungie had a girlfriend join him, and it was thought that they might leave Dingle and make their home somewhere else.  Fungie & his girlfriend have parted ways now, and Fungie got to keep the house!  He remains in the harbor all year round, and sometimes other dolphins come to join him.  We took a boat out to go see Fungie, and he was feeling rather playful that day.  He would swim up and out of the water, allowing us to get a good look at him.  Soon we will be taking kayaks out to see Fungie more up close and personal.  I highly recommend this for anyone who comes to Dingle!  It is a really fun experience.  

--Kate

Galway roadtrip

After being here for three and a half weeks we have already done a lot! Hello, my name is Kyle Lewis and I am a junior at Sacred Heart University. My experiences in Dingle so far are amazing! Since coming here I have tried traditional Irish food, played some pool with the locals at the Droigead Beag (small bridge). Our group also joined in for a game of kings! I have eaten at many different pubs within the town with my group and with the January session group as well. We met a man named TP who led us on a walk on the beach coast. After taking part of the fast paced schedule of the January session with activities such as set dancing, going off to see Fungi the Dingle dolphin, listening to Irish singing, and enjoying some time at the pubs. Taking our four classes a week is a great experience to learn about the culture of the land and the language with Archaeology, anthropology, music and Gaelic. Being able to be a part of the crazy weather in Ireland with changes from rain to sleet to sun to actual snow has made our days outside minimum. On good days we have been able to go climbing and jumping off high platforms! During a day of sleet we went up to Connor’s pass to take a view from up top while our leader started a snowball fight. After 2 weeks of being in Dingle we took a road trip up to Galway and stopped off for pictures of the landscapes and to see the cliffs of Moher. With so much time still to see and experience many more things here in Dingle, or should I say Ireland as a whole. Coming soon to add to the already adventurous time is our trip up to Dublin and Belfast followed by our first weeklong break the week after we return from Dublin. More experiences to talk about as we continue throughout our semester here in Dingle are sure to come! Until next time, Slan!     

If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college...

I love horseback riding so much, and we finally got to go riding up a mountain in Dingle on Friday.  I had been feeling a little homesick lately, so getting to pet and snuggle with a horse like the ones I used to love to ride so much was very therapeutic for me.  The horse I got to ride was named Rangee, and he was a huge grey horse, which was perfect because I love big horses so much.  There is just something awesome about being so high off the ground on top of a very powerful animal that makes me feel free…  The horse they gave me was slower than the rest, so there was plenty of time to let him trot in order to catch up with the rest of the group.  Even though I haven’t ridden in four years, I was surprised at how quickly everything came back to me.  I think it is possible that over the summer I may have to pick up riding again, or find a way to ride more regularly while I am here.  So, in conclusion this has turned into a rant about how much I love horses and horseback riding.

The view from the top of the mountain we rode around was beautiful, and we could see the entirety of Dingle town and harbor across the valley.  The breeze was pleasant and the sky was clear making the ride fun for everyone involved.  Even the horses seemed to be enjoying themselves that day.  The only drawback to the entire thing is that my legs are sore today, but that is a very small price to pay for the pleasure of horseback riding through the mountains of the Dingle Peninsula. 

Mary