this is all anyone here asks me about

Photo courtesy of the Financial Times

"Ohh were you here when Obama was here?"

This is the question I always get when I tell Irish people that I'm from America (and ESPECIALLY when I tell them I'm a politics major working in the Dail - makes me a perfect target).

I always tell them, "No, but I did watch it on the news." To which I always hear some anecdote about how they tried to go see him, but the streets were too crowded, or they saw his car drive by, etc.

Ireland has caught a case of Obama fever.

It's understandable. If all you see is the media highlights of a young, inspiring man who is spouting the dream of "change we can believe in" and "yes we can." If you know the history of racism in America and this is our first African American president. So to anyone abroad, yeah, you would be excited that this kind of man was coming to visit YOUR country.

But maybe if they looked closer as to what was actually going on. Maybe if they saw that all he did on his visit was giving an inspiring speech with no real substance, no meat and potatoes (which the Irish love by the way), drank a pint of Guiness (and then declared that "the President pays his bar tab"), and played around with a hurling stick with Prime Minister Enda Kenny.

It was a whirlwind of a visit that was surrounded by the smoke and mirrors of excitement, press, and traditional Irish past times. Drink a pint of Guiness, wave around a hurling stick, and chant "yes we can" in Irish, and you got yourself a political visit.

But where was there any real policy discussed? Maybe a firm shaking of Kenny's hand, as Obama promised the United States will have a closer relationship with Ireland? But actions speak louder than words, and Obama's actions that day in Ireland left little to be trusted.

As this presidential rock star jetsetted away to another country, he left Ireland with some exciting memories, but no good 'ol fashioned meat and potatoes.

Father break my heart for what breaks Yours

Photo courtesy of Flickr

During my time in Ireland, I decided that I wanted to try to volunteer. I've always been interested in the plight of homeless people: how people become homeless, how do they survive, what are the stereotypes of homeless people and are they true?

My heart breaks when I see a homeless person asking for money on a street corner, and living in a city, you see that everyday. But then there is always the debate, well will they just use your money to go buy alcohol and drugs?

I honestly don't know. But I also don't think it's our place to judge that. We especially can't judge those outside of the faith. God can be the One to judge. He is the One who is omnipotent after all.

And how much am I really going to miss that loose change in my purse? Whether that homeless person uses it for alcohol or not, I'm not the worse off without it. But he might be that much better off with it.

God calls us to love. To love Him, and to love His creation. Who did Jesus spend most of His time with here on earth? It wasn't those who were socially considered to be the "right" kind of people. If so, he would have been hanging out with what we now see as the over-legalistic Sadducees and Pharisees. No, he spent time with prostitutes and tax-collectors. The lowest of the low. The poorest of the poor.

It's hard to see that God calls us to do the same. It's hard to step outside of our comfort zone. And it's not any easier for me, even though in my head, I know these people need my help and deserve my compassion.

So now I volunteer for an organization called Depaul Ireland, which runs several homeless shelters. The homeless shelter I work at is called a "wet hostel," meaning the residents are allowed to consume alcohol while they live there.

It's an interesting, innovative approach to combat homelessness that is also controversial. Most homeless shelters turn away the people Depaul Ireland accept. But maybe those are the people who need our help the most? Depaul puts their residents on a drinking plan and controls the amount of alcohol they consume every day. Their belief is that you have to lower the threshold and work with these people, understanding that alcoholism is a disease, instead of talking down to them.

My responsibilities are administrative work. I don't work directly with the residents, because you need a police background check, and I am not here long enough to really build relationships with them. But I have witnessed their interactions with other residents and volunteers.

It's so upsetting to see people get to the level that these residents are at. They do nothing with their lives except drink. It's amazing the lack of motor skills, daily functions, and mental capabilities they have. I saw one woman struggling to put gloves on without the help of a volunteer. Another had to be told to "hold it in" before she made it to the bathroom to pee. You have to coax them into taking a shower, and they wreak of alcohol and cigarette smoke.

My best summarization of them is they are honestly just "out of it." They really have no sense of how normal people live, what is socially acceptable, or what to even do with their lives. I hear the worst racist slurs being thrown at people, and fights over the most childish things. It's so sad to see people get like this. You just think: you all are supposed to be adults.

It's also extremely discouraging at times. You know that most of these people are so far gone that they will never leave this wet hostel, and they will be alcoholics for the rest of their lives. I feel suffocated at times with the smell of alcohol and cigarette around me. I feel dirty being surrounded by dirty people, and it makes me wish I could be back in my nice, professional office in Parliament, where everyone wears suits and greets you with a smile.

But there are the success stories. Like the men who sober up and are living in apartments on their own. And I also know this is meant to be an eye opening experience for me, and it's forcing me outside of my comfort zone.

I don't know what the answer is to help these people. But I thank God for people who have the patience to show them love and compassion day in and day out.

And I wouldn't have known any of this, if I hadn't stepped outside of my own little world.

Stopped at a red light looked out my window

Saw a cardboard sign said "Help this homeless widow"

Above that sign was the face of a human

I asked to myself "God, what have I been doing?"

So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye

Oh how many times have I just passed her by?

So I gave her some money then I drove on through

And my own little world reached

Population two

Blog post title - My Own Little World by Matthew West

what if there's a bigger picture? what if i'm missing out?

Two weekends ago, several of us took a tour bus to Northern Ireland for the day! We had to wake up really early, so early in fact that even the Dublin bus system didn't run early enough to get us to our tour bus, so I had made a reservation for a taxi van to pick us up that morning.

As we were all getting ready, the taxi company called me and asked if it was ok if they sent two taxi cabs instead of one van, to which I responded, sure! But Brian, one of the guys going with us, didn't realize this, and he immediately calls me as one taxi cab pulls up.

"Hey, there's only one taxi here, I thought you ordered a van?" he says.

He doesn't listen to my response as I try to explain to him the situation over the phone, and instead just turns straight to the taxi driver and bluntly says, "Hey. You're supposed to be a van."

I knew it would be a fun trip from right there.

As we arrive at the tour bus, they had trouble getting us all sorted into our right buses, because we all wanted to sit together. When the bus driver asked us where we're from, and we told him Virginia, he responded with "Ahh, the virgins!" and proceeded to call us that all day.

Thanks, Mr. Bus Driver. Thanks.

Our first destination was Carrick a rede rope bridge. While what the tour company highlights about this destination is the bridge you cross over, the real draw is the beautiful coastline. It's absolutely gorgeous! The water is so blue, similar to the Caribbean actually, which I couldn't believe!

Now the pictures from the tour company kept making a BIG deal outta this bridge. Like it was a huge, scary, rickety bridge that you crossed over open water to get his BIG thrill, to make you feel like some super adventurous world traveler.

Not.

This bridge was VERY underwhelming, and quite small. Clearly the pictures had been taken from far away for the brochure, to make it look like a long, scary bridge.

James, me, and Caroline crossing the supa scary bridge

Caroline said, "This has gotta be a joke."

To which I responded, "Can someone say TOURIST TRAP!?"

Which I think sums up that bridge well. But again, you're really there for the scenery, which is definitely worth it!

Next stop was Giant's Causeway - a natural phenomenon caused by volcanic ash that make the rocks by the coastline form perfectly geometric shapes. Or, if you'd prefer to believe the other story (which we did), the giant Finn McCool laid out the rocks to cross over to Scotland and defeat his enemy.

Creepy right?

As James aptly summarized, "Yeahhh, I'm believing the giant story over volcanic ash."

Me too.

Afterwards, we got to go into Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. We only got to spend an hour there though, because we ended up being pressed for time, but it was still cool to be able to see it!

Taking a quick shot from the tour bus of city hall

I later found out that right after we left Northern Ireland, several riots occurred throughout the country. It was due to the upcoming July 12 celebrations, which commemorate the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when William of Orange defeated the Catholic King James II of England, meaning England was now under Protestant control. That has always been what has come to be known as "The Troubles" between Ireland and Northern Ireland: Ireland is predominantly Catholic and wants to be independent,while Northern Ireland is predominantly Protestant and wants to be a part of the United Kingdom. Some groups, like the political party Sinn Fein, want a united Ireland, and the whole issue has been contested over for centuries. July 12 is a controversial celebration, causing the riots from the other weekend. It is interesting to see history come alive while I was there.

I had such a wonderful time exploring Northern Ireland, getting to see more of the Irish continent, experience more outside of my own little world of Virginia, as well as learn more about political issues in other nations.

What if there's a bigger picture?

What if I'm missing out?

What if there's a greater purpose, I could be living right now?

I don't wanna miss what matters

I wanna be reaching out

Show me the greater purpose

So I can start living right now

Outside my own little world

Blog post title - My Own Little World by Matthew West

be careful what you wish for cuz you just might get it

Source: thepurplebow.blogspot.com via Karlita on Pinterest

As I've mentioned before, my boss is very busy at work. His constituency is 3 hours away, and he has a parliamentary assistant, so it doesn't make sense for me to be doing constituency work from Dublin, even though it constitutes most of the work a TD has in Ireland.

That means that sometimes I am left in the dust. With so much on his mind, I think he tends to forget that I'm there, ready and willing to work. He doesn't necessarily have time to show me the ropes if he were to give me more work, so at times I felt stuck in quite an odd predicament.

One day I showed up to work with him nowhere to be found. I knew he was here, because his coat was here, but I didn't see him the whole day, and I had no work to do. I tried calling his constituency office to see where he was/what they wanted me to do, but no answer.

So I sat. and waited. read the news. read some blogs. just killing time.

I was thoroughly frustrated. I didn't come all this way and spend all this money to be sitting at a desk all by myself with nothing to do, I thought to myself. I was jealous of other interns' stories I would hear when I came back home. How they had made friends with their co-workers, went out to lunch with them, and were learning so much in their jobs and getting lots of experience.

In my frustration, I tried to calm myself and said a prayer. Lord, I don't know what You have in store for me with this trip, but I'm just gonna trust that You have it in control.

Not 20 minutes later did my boss come in a flurry of words, telling me that he had been away at a training course for new TDs all day, but he had done a lot of thinking about what he wanted me to do. He said he wanted me to get a valuable experience out of this trip, to be able to go back to America with something to say.

I just sat there stunned as the words spilled out of his mouth. It was like he was saying every. single. thought I had had all day.

During my time there up to that point, I had been doing a little research for him, and he told me that he decided he wanted to turn that into a big research project for me, which I would then present to other TDs in a 15-2o minute presentation.

My first research project is on childhood obesity, finding out what other countries are doing to tackle the issue, and trying to prove to the other TDs that Ireland needs to take action as well.

My second research project is hospital uniforms. There has been research that cuffs from white coats and long sleeve shirts, as well as jewelry and watches actually carry bacteria and pathogens, meaning doctors are giving patients hospital acquired diseases. The UK has implemented a "bare below the elbows" initiative, requiring all clinical staff to only wear short sleeve shirts and no jewelry or watches. My boss believes a similar policy should be implemented in Ireland, and it is my job to help him convince others the same.

Talk about God answering prayer!

Now I am buried under report after report as I sit at my computer day after day, researching these two topics. I'm finding it hard to sit at my desk all day focusing on one task, but it is much better than having nothing to do!

It's just like they say...be careful what you wish for! ;)

The session for the Dail ends next week, and my boss will go home, as will every other TD in Dublin, once again leaving their interns in the dust. I admit I'm concerned that I won't have any work to do and won't find my time at work rewarding in those last 2 weeks. Especially since my boss admitted to me yesterday, "To be truthfully honest, Alicia, I have absolutely no idea what I'll have you do when I'm gone. That's something I need to think about."

Gulp.

But as with all of my other experiences here in Ireland, I'm learning to trust God in these circumstances.

just own the night like the 4th of July

it's blurry...that's ok!

So what does an All-American girl do for the Fourth of July when she's in Ireland?

Hang out with other Americans and eat cheeseburgers of course!

One of the things I've really liked about our program coordinator EUSA is they always provide us with information about events going on in Dublin. So for the Fourth of July, they told us that Baseball Ireland was hosting a barbeque at Grafton Lounge that we all decided to go to.

I know...Baseball Ireland. Who knew, right?

And to top that off, our program director, Tom Kelley actually plays for Baseball Ireland. Tom is an American, Irish heritage, from Cleveland who now lives in Dublin, and as we have all come to realize does a lot more here than just run EUSA.

He owns property in Temple Bar (the touristy strip of Dublin).

He owns the Dublin pub crawl.

And apparently he plays baseball for Baseball Ireland.

It has become a common joke among us whenever we are out that "oh yeah, Tom Kelley probably runs this place too," because from now on we would not be surprised to find his hands involved in other stuff!

Sheesh...us over-achieving americans....

Anyway, I was sooo excited to go to a bbq! I was imagining pulled pork, potato salad, baked beans, some sweet iced tea!

Mmmm mmm! Charlottesville was gonna come back to me that night!

Only to get there and realize, yeah...Ireland has no concept of what bbq is. When they say barbeque they just meant a backyard grill with burgers and hot dogs.

Oh well...that's ok!

It was still nice to eat yummy cheeseburgers and down a Coca-Cola.

Cause baby you're a firework

Come on show em what you're worth

Happy Fourth of July from Ireland y'all!

the only time i would don an obnoxious american outfit abroad - on the fourth of july!

Blog post title - Firework by Katy Perry

oh baby you got me workin' day and night

Source: flickr.com via Zapallos on Pinterest

Two weeks ago, my boss' parliamentary assistant was in town for a training course, and while he was here, I got to work with him in the office and learn more about what it is like working in Parliament and being a Parliamentary assistant.

Now my boss is really nice, but he is also extremely busy. He is a new member of Parliament and his only staff is his Parliamentary assistant John, who is normally based in Limerick. That doesn't leave much time for him to show me the ropes and explain to me what he is doing in Parliament.

So I was so appreciative to have company in the office while working, as well as learning more about Irish politics and culture through John!

John told me that representatives in Ireland spend much more of their time on constituency work, and in his opinion, on work the constituents could do themselves. Whenever someone has to work with a governmental body, they prefer to go through their representative. It would be like us having to call the DMV for a test we needed to take to get a license, etc, but the representative would help you through the process.

This leads to voting behavior becoming more of "What has the candidate done for me?" and less about the policies. Furthermore, politicians then become busier with constituency work, both because of the demand and rational political ambition (aka to get re-elected).

I like the idea of helping your constituents and staying in contact with them more, but I question the motive. But I am not willing to put any weight on that statement, because I did not grow up learning about Irish politics or the Irish people, and I only derived this from one conversation. I do not want to criticize where I am not knowledgeable enough to, this is simply my opinion from my experiences thus far.

So on Tuesday we found out that the Prime Minister would be visiting Patrick's constituency, Limerick, for the official opening of his constituency office there on Friday. With little time to spread the word, we scrambled to get mailings together and sent out.

Now for any of you who have had experiences on campaigns, you are familiar with the time honored tradition that is folding, stuffing, and labeling mailings of campaign literature. I dare you to find one politics intern who has not sat down to a heap of letters and envelopes in front of her to assemble...

...only to have a brand new, hot off the press stack to do in the morning!

So I knew when it came time to tell all those Irish people their Prime Minister was coming that this was what those loooong hours of folding. and stuffing. and labeling. had alllll led up to.

This was my finest hour. And I was ready...to stuff like there was no tomorrow!

I told John that he was in luck, that he had a professional enveloper stuffer on his hands. Don't ya love the fancy skills I've acquired with all this political experience ;)

We successfully got all of the post out in time Tuesday night, and I had volunteered to stay late after work. John was kind enough to take me out to dinner after! Then we went back to Parliament to see a live vote, because I had never seen how it was done before. Much ado about nothing if you ask me, but it was still an educational experience.

On Wednesday, I started calling constituents to let them know that the Prime Minister was coming. That's right folks, I did some phonebanking! Again, I dare you to find a politics intern who hasn't done some good 'ol cold calling strangers, aka phonebanking. As John hurried off to his class, I told him not to worry, I was an old pro.

As well as informing them that the Prime Minister was coming, I was also to ask them if they would like to come into Dublin to tour Parliament. I talked to a lot of old people that day, and naturally, since senior citizens are notorious for being the most active demographic in politics. And as I've mentioned on this blog before: Irishmen. love. me. So here is how one conversation went down:

Interrupts me as I'm talking: Are you American, girl?

Yes, I am.

Oh, whereabouts?

Virginia.

Ohhhh...they have beautiful women in Virginia.

Why thank you!

Will you be there for the tour?

Yes, I will still be working here then.

Oh well then I'll definitely come! I can't wait to meet you! Bye bye my love!

See, I'm tellin' ya...these Irish men...sheesh! My boss rolled his eyes when I told him this story. "They may be old, but they're still hormonal," he said. "Duly noted, sir."

But there's an interesting point to this story. The fact that we had to send letters and call people, that we were trapped by that as our only means of communicating to them in short notice. I asked why we didn't blast it out on Facebook and Twitter and e-mails, to which I learned that social media is not as prevalent here.

Source: designspiration.net via Marcus on Pinterest

Especially with senior citizens, most don't even have internet, let alone e-mail. And those who do have e-mail don't view it as a legitimate source of communication with third party organizations. They would use it to e-mail with a friend, but if they received an e-mail from their representative, they would consider it spam.

By the end of the week, even though I was so busy and didn't get home til 9pm at times, it was so rewarding! Like the good feeling of a hard day's work.

Blog post title - Working Day and Night by Michael Jackson

let the rain fall down and wake my dreams

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

So the weather here in Dublin is very unpredictable. It is either a lovely day (and all you need is a nice jacket! - sorry I had to put that in there. Miss Congeniality anyone?) or it is cold and rainy. You always have to be prepared for both!

So while all of you back in the good 'ol US of A are gettin' that summa sun and nice, golden tans, us Dubliners here are wearing trench coats (but mine is mighty cute i must say) and carrying our brellies (what they call umbrellas).

Except for yesterday.

I always bring my coat and umbrella to work, but rarely find that I really need it, and it just becomes one more thing I have to carry. So yesterday I decided to just bring my sweater and forgo the coat.

And of course that is the day when I step outside of work and it is a pure whirlwind! There is rain going in every direction because of the strong winds, and me and my new Calvin Klein dress are getting soaked.

But you just gotta laugh at it all! I'm sure I looked quite pitiful walking back to my apartment with my umbrella being pulled by the wind and soaked through.

Oh, Dublin, you always keep a girl on her toes ;)

And Calvin Klein? He's fine too :)

Blog post title - Come Clean by Hilary Duff

she works hard for the money...well, no money

As you know, part of my time here in Dublin is an internship, but it is to also receive college credit. We have weekly assignments that are meant to help us digest what we are experiencing during our time abroad. This weeks assignment was to write an e-mail to your parents all about your internship, including pictures. And since I haven't posted about my work yet, I thought this would function as the perfect blog post as well! So here goes:

Dear Mom and Dad,

As you know, I am working at the Irish Parliament. All of Parliament here is called the House of the Oireachtas, and oireachtas comes from the Irish word meaning “assembly.” The House of the Oireachtas is split into two chambers, the Seanad Éireann and the Dáil Éireann, meaning the Senate and the House of Deputies, which is similar to our Congress that is split up into the Senate and the House of Representatives. I am working for a TD or Deputy, which is a representative’s title here. TD stands for Teachta Dala which is an Irish word generally meaning “deputy,” and is most closely equated to our Congressmen. While the set up of the Irish Parliament is similar in this way to the United States Congress, it is also very different in that their Prime Minister, here called An Taoiseach (pronounced tee-shock) works directly in the Dáil. The current Taoiseach is Enda Kenny. While our head of state is more of an executive administrator working from within the White House, the Taoiseach debates in the chamber of the Dáil with the TDs, answering their questions directly. It would be like turning on CSPAN back in the States to see President Obama in the Congressional chamber debating with the Congressmen. Including the Taoiseach, Ireland also has a president, currently Mary McAleese. The president functions more as a figurehead and the spokesperson for Ireland, performing primarily ceremonial duties. Ireland’s president is most similar to England’s Queen.

At work, I do not have co-workers as other interns might have at other jobs here in Ireland. It is simply me and my boss, TD Patrick O’Donovan in his one room office at the Dáil. This is because he is a new member of Parliament and chose to have a one room office. It is also because he has a constituency office back where he is from, in Limerick. His parliamentary assistant manages the constituency office, which deals directly with the constituents as well as with the press for O’Donovan.

The House of the Oireachtas is located in Leinster House, on Kildare Street. Leinster House was originally the home to James Fitzgerald, the Earl of Kildare, built between 1745-1747. It is modeled after Georgian architecture, which can be seen in several other places around Dublin, proving it to have been a popular style during the time. Fitzgerald wanted his house to be the “stateliest of Dublin Georgian Mansions” to show to everyone his prestige in Irish society. Fitzgerald later became the Duke of Leinster (a province that both Kildare and Dublin are situated in), and therefore the house became Leinster House. After the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the Government bought Leinster House to be the place for Parliament.

Leinster House is such a beautiful building, and I love walking into it every day. I have included some pictures of it below to show you. Also, as aforementioned, Leinster House is located on Kildare Street, which is right in the city centre. Across from Kildare Street is St. Stephen’s Green, which is most equivalent to New York City’s Central Park. Dawson Street and Grafton Street are the two streets parallel to Kildare Street, which have numerous cafes and shops to go into; Grafton is known as the shopping center of Dublin! At the corner of St. Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street is the St. Stephen’s Green mall as well.

Leinster House – the left wing houses the Seanad, and the right wing houses the Dáil. I walk straight through that front door every morning!

This is the chamber for the Dáil. In the center is the court callier who runs parliamentary procedure. The government TDs sit on the right side, meaning the TDs from the political party that is currently in the majority. The opposition sits on the left, meaning the TDs that are in the minority. Currently, Fine Gail is in the majority, and Fianna Fail is in the minority, after Fianna Fail was in the majority for the past 14 years but just recently lost in the February midterm election. The curtain above covers a screen, which is shown when the TDs are voting. They vote electronically, and on the screen is an image of their seats, highlighted green or red for yes or no for the vote. The seats below the curtain are for the press, and the seats above the chamber, behind the glass, are for the public, called the gallery.

The chamber for the Seanad. I have only been in here once, since I do not work for a senator, but it is very beautiful!

This is the staircase in the Dail, and one of my favorite parts of the building. I get to walk up these beautiful stairs to my office everyday! Once you go up the stairs, the doors right in front are the doors to the chamber, where the TDs enter.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny – Fine Gail political party member. I have seen him in the Dáil, and therefore have been closer to him than my own president!

President Mary McAleese – Ireland is the only country in the history of the world to have two women serve consecutively as president! The former president was Mary Robinson.

Me and my boss, TD Patrick O'Donovan for Limerick

Blog post title - She Works Hard for the Money by Donna Summer

i don't live for glamour, and i don't care for fame, i'm in this for the love of the game

On Sunday, we all went to the Leinster Final, the hurling championship in Ireland. EUSA had reserved tickets for us, and the best part...they were FREE and some pretty awesome seats!

It was a really neat experience to get to learn about this sport, because I had never even heard of it before. It is basically a cross between field hockey and lacrosse, where their sticks are like paddles. They can use the paddles to hit the ball far across the field, pass it to their teammate, or balance the ball on top of the paddle. They can only take 4 steps while holding the ball in their hand, then they have to pass it or balance it on the paddle. They get 1 point for getting the ball through the field goal and 3 points for getting the ball into the goal.

The craziest part about this game is that even though it is a national championship and the entire country follows the sport, the players are not paid! It comes across just like any professional sports, tons of sponsorships, huge stadium, crazy fans, but they all work regular 9-5 jobs on top of playing hurling.

Just think of how awesome that is...money and ego doesn't get in the way of the love of the game for these men. I think American culture could take a lesson or two from Ireland when it comes to how much we over glorify our professional athletes. It takes away from the love of the game.

I think you can learn a lot about a culture through their sports, at least I definitely learned a lot about Ireland when I went to their hurling championship! It is obviously going to be similar anywhere you go that you will have tons of crazy fans arriving to the stadium to cheer on their team. But I don't know, maybe I just don't get out much in the States, but I honestly think the Irish are more intense and rougher when it comes to supporting their home team. I was talking about this with the other girls I was with and they all agreed too. Irish temper, I guess.

Also, during half time while waiting in line at concessions, we saw soooo many children waiting in line by themselves! I don't know any parent at home that would let their child run around a national stadium by themselves. Maybe everyone here is just more trusting, maybe they don't have to worry about crime as much as we do? An interesting point nonetheless.

So back to the game - the teams don't play in their county teams all year. So there isn't a "Dublin" team or a "Kilkenny" team that always practices together. The players play all year with their local club team, then the best players from the club team form the county team to play in the championships. So those players become real local heroes for the people back home.

Sadly, Dublin did not win (*whomp whomp*), but apparently Kilkenny is always the "king" of hurling. It was beautiful weather and a great day to learn even more about this country I have been living in for - wow a whole month now!

Blog post title - I Made It by Kevin Rudolf

and heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss

On Saturday, Ariel and I woke up at the awful-awful hour of 6am to go see the Cliffs of Moher! Seriously, I don't know how I woke up at 5:45 every morning for high school.

We took a tour bus to go see the cliffs, which in all honesty was part good, part bad. I really liked that the tour stopped at several locations along the way and back, so we got to see more of the area, than just the cliffs. But what I didn't like was sometimes they would charge you extra for the places they were taking you, and they didn't mention that on the website, so you were stuck.

For instance, we stopped at a cave along the way, which was really cool, but they charged us an extra 5 euro for it. Oh well! It reminded me of when I was in 4th grade and went to Lurray Caverns, and Ariel said the same. (Thinking back to 4th grade, I think my major concern was whether or not Anne of Green Gables was actually a real person and if we would become best friends, ahem kindred spirits).

We also stopped at another site that has to do something with some rocks. I'll be honest, I don't really know. It was something about a burial site and if you get in between the rocks you could connect with the dead, and that's when I stopped listening. Ew. Just looks like a mini-Stonehenge to me.

I just don't get the hype. It's just a bunch of rocks.

Sorry for being so un-cultural right now! But I just don't get those rocks. At least now I know I don't have a burning desire to go see Stonehenge before I die.

But now, the cliffs...the cliffs I can appreciate :)

They are just as breathtaking as in the pictures you see online, and they are one of the most visited spots in all of Ireland. (And yes, they are the background of my blog! Funny thing is, I just picked that background when I started this blog, because I thought "hmm, that looks Ireland-y.) I was rockin' my UVA shirt while there, and I even got a couple of wahoowas! Clearly, everyone just loves us cavaliers ;)

But on a more serious note, I just can't believe how beautiful the earth is that God created! It truly proves how the Bible says that God is an artist and a painter.

Doesn't it just make you want to worship?

Doesn't it just make you want to praise Him in thankfulness?

The earth he created is so beautiful! And I feel so blessed that I've had this opportunity to see more of it.

And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss

And my heart beats violently inside of my chest

I don't have time to maintain these regrets

When I think about the way

He loves us

Blog post title - How He Loves US - David Crowder Band

it's a big, big house

On Sunday, me, Ariel, and Brian, went to Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, which is right outside of Dublin. Think of it as the Biltmore (Asheville, NC) of Ireland. It is an absolutely beautiful estate with tons of pristine gardens to roam around in.

On the way there, we stopped in Bray, which is a cute seaside town. There are actually several towns in Ireland that I end up describing to people as "a cute seaside town" which I LOVE! It all reminds me of the movie Charlie St. Cloud and the vintage town by the sea he lives in. So Ireland just keeps increasing my desire to live in a charming town like Bray.

We got some fish and chips (a staple here in Ireland) and enjoyed our lunch as we sat by the sea and people (and dog - much more exciting) watched :)

On the bus to Enniskerry, an old Irish man got on and looked at me and smiled and said, "Are you going to Powerscourt?" I said yes and he was kind enough to let us know when our bus stop came up as well as telling me, "You look lovely darlin'!" As we got off of the bus and thanked him, he said, "Have a great day love!" Hehe old Irish men love me ;)

While walking up the road to the actual estate, we passed beautiful scenery and the golf course that is also owned by Powerscourt. Aaaaand we passed by some beautiful horses! They were below us, and I don'ttt think you are necessarily supposed to jump down to pet them, but that's exactly what we did! I just had to have another encounter with some Irish horses, a-la deja vu of the Aran Islands :)

Once at the Estate, we just walked around the estate and enjoyed the gardens. I will say that I was disappointed we didn't get to go inside the Estate and see the house (umm excuse me, Ireland, you get to do that at the Biltmore in America). But here are some highlights of the beautiful scenery we saw!

Powerscourt also had a rose garden, and the rose is my favorite flower, so you know I was an excited little girl being in an entire garden surrounded by roses! Once again, Ireland just enforced another one of my desires: I need a rose garden in my house y'all.

Blog post title - Big House by Audio Adrenaline