So I woke up feeling alright…I got out of bed early and got ready. Then since I had a bunch of extra time, I decided to write in my journal. A little before 9am I noticed that everything was really quiet in the hallways. Usually about this time everyone is leaving to go to breakfast and head to our meeting location. Not today…so I walked over to breakfast and no one was there either. Now I started to freak out. I thought we were meeting at the train station at 10am…maybe it was at 9 am?!
I booked it as fast as I could to the train station and thank goodness the class missed the original train and had to get on the 9:35 am train. We were supposed to meet at 9am and I just didn’t get the memo. Here I was sitting leisurely journaling and I am supposed to be down at the train station! My heart was racing all the way down to the station…I didn’t want to miss the day trip. Thank goodness I didn’t!
So I got a coffee and calmed down while waiting for the train with the class. We got on the train and went out to the Ulster Folk Museum. It is essentially a recreated old Irish town. It has different shops, markets, farms, etc made to feel like old Ireland. My personal favorite was the basket weaver. He could make these amazing masks out of the branches collected nearby. They have to soak the branches for hours and then strip them of the bark before they can be bent and woven. It was really impressive! (and it is very time consuming work actually) I also just loved walking around the rural area. There was a farm- complete with sheep, chickens, and a very friendly cat. As we walked, Lindsay and I decided to have a sing-a-long including tunes from Pocahontas and Fiddler on the Roof and First Wives Club. Amazingly fun…
We walked around into the afternoon, so by the end of the outing we were pretty cold and tired. Our group decided to look for an open house to go into with a fire going. Megan and I found a house with a wood fire burning and we went in to get warm. These 2 men walked in and just started talking our ears off. They loved that we were from California…and apparently they LOVE Santa Barbara! After getting warm (and trying to escape from the 2 old Irish men who wouldn’t stop talking) we went outside to find a wedding party. Apparently at European weddings all the women wear awfully unattractive neon feathers on the side of their head. It looked ridiculous…it was like a zoo and not a wedding. Oh and there was a man in an all white suit and stunna shades. That made my day. Ireland has an abundance of interesting people. Great for people watching…
As we were waiting for all the class to leave the folk town bees started to attack our group. We had been eating delicious honeycomb which apparently wasps love. Jon, another classmate, is very afraid of bees. So I went up and gently tickled his hair. He thought it was a bee and screamed like a little girl. He fell for this not once, but twice…it was so funny.
After we took the train back to Belfast, a big group of us stopped at the Globe for 5 pound meal and free pint. I have been trying to save money, so I just got something to drink. I had already had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I have to say these meal deals come in handy though. Dublin was great, but it was a lot more expensive!
A big group of us (Casey, Megan, Lindsay, Devon, Jon, Daniel, Megan, Maggie, and myself) all decided to go out tonight. Tonight was the first night I actually made an effort to look cute for going out. I even curled my hair! Our group cleans up nicely. We went down to Lavery’s pub (one of our favorite spots) to get a pint and just play the night by ear. We stayed there for a little while and then Lindsay, Megan, Jon and I went across the street to M Club. What we didn’t realize was that it was “Groovy Train” night. That meant there was disco music with people dressed up in 60’s and 70’s outfits. This place was nuts…there was neon everywhere. I was not feeling it (especially for the 6 pounds it cost to get in) so after a little while I couldn’t take it anymore and I went back to Lavery’s. That was a good decision because I ended up meeting a lot of really fun Irish locals and had a great time! I even ran into Paul (the guy from the first day in Belfast). What a small world…
The night was a lot of fun and I had a blast getting to talk to people from Belfast. It was very nice people and very interesting to talk to them. (Although I might want to be careful about what I say until I get an idea of how “loyal” they are to their opinions and beliefs.) You can still get into trouble up here…
All in all…amazing day!
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