The most American thing to do on a Saturday night in Ireland

The past week has been another week focused on homework and papers, but as usual, Ireland came through with plenty of fun interruptions. After 6 hours of class on Monday, Jess, Kathleen, John, Kyle and I decided to relax with a game of cards. After the first few hands, we found out some local musicians were playing in the Park Lodge Pub so we decided to move our game in there. Pfeffer in an Irish pub listening to traditional Irish music—life doesn’t get much better.

Our major excitement on Tuesday occurred when Kathleen looked out her bedroom window to discover a cow wandering around the Park Lodge parking lot. We went out to investigate and alert JP, who came to chase the cow back over his newly planted hedges, into the pasture.

After the success of our potluck the previous week, on Wednesday night all seven cottages once again came together for a chili feed...Delicious. We were also happy to expand our family to include Joan and Kevin Joyce, Nancy and Sparky McLoone, and Mollie’s cousin Kelsey. Having a few sets of parents and extra relatives here really made me feel like home. Later that night, I changed into a t-shirt and leggings for our pajama party in the pub. The decks of cards were brought out again, and although Kyle and John were undefeated for the night, I had a lot of fun getting my pfeffer-fix for the night.

After class on Thursday, we said goodbye to Mollie and her cousin, and about 15 other members of our group who were going on various adventures for the weekend. Those of us who were left behind were given a chance to go into Galway for the nightlife. King’s Head provided us with some traditional music before we met up with some of the local Spiddal kids and went to one of their favorite clubs, Halo.

I spent the majority of Friday and Saturday being productive and working on my Interpretive Essay for Seminar. One Saturday night, program funds provided a trip for our entire group to go bowling at City Limits in Galway. Although I’m not sure bowling is a traditional Irish past time, it was a great way to start our night! Our group took over 6 lanes that were connected to the bar and enjoyed two hours of Cosmic Bowling! I learned that a little alcohol significantly improves my bowling performance, as I doubled my score from one game to the next. J After bowling, I headed into Galway and spent the rest of my night at Hole in the Wall, a student pub, and Cuba.

Katie and I were in for a wonderful treat on Sunday morning when the McLoones picked us up for church and breakfast at their flat in Salthill. Nancy even brought homemade banana bread…delicious! It was wonderful to spend time with Patrick and his parents and it reminded me of Sunday morning breakfasts at home. The sun was shining, so after breakfast Katie and I walked along the ocean into Galway, where we met the rest of our group for our regular Tesco grocery run.

On Sunday night I got to Skype in to an early Thanksgiving dinner at home—so great to see and chat with everyone! I especially liked seeing the “Pie Eating Champion” belt; congrats to Wyatt for winning that one!