19 September 2010

September 18

            Today, I almost cried.  Why would I cry when I was in such a wonderful place having a fantastic time?  Well, we went to go visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral on our last day in Ireland.  We all got up early to go see it so that we could catch our ferry later on in the day.  It was a drizzly morning, one where it was kind of raining, but not hard enough to really have a legitimate reason to use your umbrella…the annoying kind of rain.  Anyways, I was taking a picture of a plaque built in honor of James Joyce (Mrs. Jay, in all of her English wisdom, would have appreciated it.) when I felt a rain drop on my hair.   I reached up to brush it off, only for my hand to come back white.  Yes.  A bird had pooped on my head.  I think you might have cried, too.  I stood there just in shock for a few seconds until Mrs. Organ, one of our sponsors, came over and got it out with hand sanitizer and a tissue.  Needless to say, I was not pleased.  I ended up giving washing my hair later with a hand-sanitizing wipe that I had in my purse.  However, the cathedral was beautiful.  We didn’t get to go inside, but I got to see what flying buttresses look like in real life, so that was cool. 
            After the cathedral, we all wandered around Ireland for an hour or two before we had to catch the ferry to Wales.  It’s freeing to wander around aimlessly, not really knowing where you’re going or if you know how to get back to where you’re supposed to be.  Freeing and slightly terrifying.  But, I figure that part of the experience is getting lost.  As an added bonus, I’m getting a crash course on how to actually read a street map and figure out where I need to go.
            At about 11:45 in the morning, we loaded up all of our stuff onto the bus and drove to the ferry.  The ferry was actually very nice.  There was free wifi, so I was able to get on the internet for the first time since I had been overseas.  It was nice letting everyone know that I was still alive.  The ride lasted about two hours, and by the time we got to Wales it was raining pretty hard.  We weren’t in Wales very long; we actually were just driving through until we reached England, which is where I am now.  Wales, despite the storm, is really pretty.  There are rolling hills everywhere, rocky beautiful beaches, and random castles hidden in the mountains.   I must say though, I think there are more sheep than people in Wales.  They were everywhere!
            I am sad to say that I fell asleep on the bus.  Apparently I didn’t miss much though since it rained the whole time we were driving.  We arrived at Ambleside, England at almost 8:00 p.m.  It’s a really cute village that attracts a lot of tourists, and all the stores close at 9:30.   Therefore, our nightly exploring excursion was basically just us walking around until we got too cold.  But, out of the nasty weather came a blessing.  Tonight one of the girls and I talked for quite a while and had a bonding experience talking about boys (haha of course).  Although I’m feeling really lame saying this, I was actually pretty scared that when I got here I would have a hard time talking to people.  I’m pretty shy if I don’t know anyone and I’m not in my element.  However, this group of people that I’m with is so great.  It feels like you can hang out with any person and not feel awkward.  I know it’s only three days into the trip, but I feel like we are going to get along really well.  Plus, I found out that several people like The Office and 30 Rock, so we definitely have a similar sense of warped humor.  I’m thinking that it’s going to be pretty freaking awesome.

No comments:

Post a Comment