Hello hello!

After being here for almost 3 weeks, we are feeling very settled in!

On Sunday, Faith and I took a trip in to Bantry, a quaint little town (but what isn't quaint here?) to the west of Clonakilty. After driving for less than an hour we watched the landscape change from farm land to a more tree covered landscape. Bantry is a peninsula right on Bantry Bay, and though the weather wasn't 100% in our favor it was still a wonderful day. We got lunch, spent time walking around, went to a beautiful estate with fabulous gardens... And in typical Rigel and Faith fashion (we go by 'Faigel' now, by the way) ended up in a cafe reading our books.

Faith's best statue impersonation!

The gardens

Feeding the swans

After a full day of flowers, coffee, reading, and cobblestones

Lydia came and picked us up. We went home and spent the night with our lovely family.

Tomorrow, we have a beach day! Thursday will be full of picking flowers, and Friday will be preparation for a wedding on Saturday! All hands on deck for this one.


- Rigel

Exploring Cork City...and settling in

It's sort of a lazy Sunday in Clontakilty today...we're all drinking tea and trying to keep warm. It's 15/60 degrees, but the wind makes it feel a lot colder. Brrrr.

Rigel and I went to Cork City this past weekend, a beautiful place an hours bus ride from where we are full of rivers, bridges, steeples, and plenty of Irish accents. The city centre itself is actually an island! It was voted the kindest city in the world a few years back, and is the second biggest port in the world. It's also our new favorite city in the world. Basically, it's fabulous.

We stayed at a hostel, and did plenty of exploring. Unfortunately we found a store called Penney's which is basically the cheaper, European version of Forever 21...that's no good for my bank account--steering clear of that general area in the future. We went to a cafe for breakfast, walked down the skinny streets, explored some of the gigantic churches that are squeezed oddly between both old and modern buildings, and took way too many pictures. Then we broke down and got subway because apparently nowhere else outside of city centre sells warm food...and it's cold here! We've made the decision from here on in to avoid chain restaurants from the US...sorry subway.

City slang: langers=drunkards

Anyways, we're getting used to the schedule here:

8:00: stumble out of bed, take care of the chickens, eat breakfast, help edie find a mismatched outfit
9:00...well....we try: Take Edie and Noah to School and go to the "tunnels" to pick flowers or weed and     do maintenance

Lydia's roses

1:00: FOOD! Bring buckets of flowers inside and make lots of sandwiches. Play with Edie. Shower (maybe). Hoover...or vacuum. Read. Get a rugby lesson from Noah. Pick tomatoes and peppers from the garden outside. Do laundry...basically whatever.
4:00: the daily walk! Everyone (except for me) power walks to who knows where for a good 45 minutes and comes back and stretches. Edie and I have a good time being bums and watching Dora!
7:00: Make dinner, which usually includes potatoes in some form. Yum!
8:00: Eat together, talking about anything from Becc's tardiness to Edie's excessive chatting habit.
9:00: Watch tv by the fire with Cougar and tea

Home

Our Backyard

The castle down the road...

We'll take it over essay writing for the time being...

A picture from Skib!

A trip to Skib

Yesterday Faith and I took a day trip to Skibbereen, the capital of West Cork! Skib was one of the areas most affected by the Great Famine (or, 'The Great Potato Famine') and in it there is a mass grave called the Abbeystrewery Cemetery where between 5,000-8,000 were buried.

On a lighter note... We had a great time! Many of the shops were closed since it was a Sunday, but regardless there was still plenty to do and look at. We had lunch at a place called 'The Church,' which is a very traditional Catholic church that has been transformed into a restaurant. It is amazing how much smaller the portions are here! Faith got an Irish coffee which was delectable. Then we got the best desserts of our life. Faith got a toffee pudding ("pudding" means dessert) and I got a banana... Graham crackery crust... Something. With ice cream!!! I forget the name of it but pictures will follow and that's all you need.

To travel around we have been taking the Eireann bus. Luke, who is Lydia's stepson, and his girlfriend Ella were with us for the past few days so we spent time with them. Ella is diabetic so she travels for free (bus, train, everything) and gets to take one helper with her for free as well on each ride. Faith and I were not quite so lucky. The cost of living is really quite high here!


Some commonly used slang:
Mank - Gross
Trousers - Pants
Knickers - Underwear
Get off it! - Get over it!

Here.

Hello, it's Rigel for now!

It's 13:08 in the afternoon. I have to get used to this sort of time.
After 2 buses, buying tracphones, hauling massive suitcases all over the Irish countryside... We are here! This place is phenomenally beautiful. This morning (or actually I suppose it was afternoon... I slept until noon! Wonderful!) I went for a run and would take about 20 steps before stopping and being in awe of what I was looking at. Where we live is lush with greenery, cows, landscape, narrow streets, stonewalls... I feel as though I've stepped into a fairy tale.

Our family is wonderful. There is Lydia (our "mum"), Noah who is 9, and Edie who is 4. Edie and Noah are both adorable and Edie can't remember either of our names, but she loves to sing and climb us as well as play dollies. Also - Her nickname for me is 'Fibby.' Why? Not sure. But I like it! Lydia is also equally as great! We are also staying with one another girl named Rebecca (Bec) from Australia who has been here for several months, and another help-xer named Hannah will be coming in a week. She is dutch and this is not her first time staying with the Bushbys!

Alright... More from me later. Faithie is just starting to wake up...

Oh, and by the way while we were walking all over Dublin I was wearing new boots that I was very excited about but they gave me godawful blisters. As Noah would say, "Those are MANK!"

Pictures on the way!

ASK YER ARSE!!!

It's Rigel... AND FAITH!!!!!

We're sitting in Logan Airport in Boston, MA right now. Things are exciting. Jersey Shore won't buffer, but our spirits remain high.

After a flight cancellation and brief moment of panic we are now flying on Aer Lingus! Gracie (Faith's sister who is going to Mali, Africa) also had some flight issues. These hurricanes are out of control. Aer Lingus is an Irish airline that will take us directly to Dublin! We will be arriving there at 5:40am their time, or 11:40 Eastern Standard time. Breakfast in Dublin, then off to Clonakilty!

Last minute things we have discovered:
1. We are not "gaeligoeurs" aka we don't speak gaelic
2. This is Clonakilty!!!!

3. THIS IS ALSO CLONAKILTY!

See you in Europa :))))))))))

Faigel

ONE DAY MORE

Hello, it's Rigel again. Surprised?

I had my last dinner with my family tonight before heading off to the land of greenery and potatoes. Both Faith and I met our monetary goals for the summer, and I have promptly spent some of it on "Mom"jeans and lots of wool socks.  I look forward to spreading some New Hampshrie sexiness all over the countryside.

Our flight will be leaving at noon from Boston. From there we will be in North Carolina for 3 hours, and then off to Dublin. We have Student Traveler Discount cards, Russian Visas, passports, tickets, bus schedules... It's all very overwhelming. Luckily, there are more lists going on in my life (thanks to Mary Maxfield) than I care to share so I think we will be okay. Faith is also great at memorizing schedules and keeping track of things, and I'm really good at asking for directions.

We will be meeting Lydia in Clonakility after spending some time in Dublin. Jet lagged or not, we WILL be the most enthusiastic members of that bus ride.
Here is a picture of Faith and I during our first trip to NYC together during sophomore year...
This vacation lasted 2 days. Three things are evident from this photo:
1. We enjoy travelling.
2. We enjoy each other.
3. We both may have unhingeable jaws.
These things are all still true.

   Мы идем к европе!

Wir gehen zu Europa!

We are going to Europe!