BES Reflective Journal, Week 5

This weekend me and a group of eight other people (6 girls, 2 boys) journeyed to Wexford, Ireland. We embarked on the 12 hour journey through England, Wales, and the Atlantic Ocean to arrive at this coast town set in the south of Ireland. The ferry made me pretty nauseous so I tried to sleep the five hours we were on it. We arrived in Wexford and started walking to the house we were staying in for the weekend. The first person we met was our neighbor, drunk...at 7:45 am...talk about typical Irish stereotype. He kept yelling, "I'm leaving Ireland!" among other things. We spent the next few hours exploring the town. Everyone was so friendly the entire weekend, it reminded me a lot of Iowa...except the people's accents were more difficult to understand.



The house we stayed in was adorable and great for the price we were paying for it. Since we had a kitchen we could cook meals instead of always going out to eat. There were two downsides. First, we only had one shower, and with 9 people (7 being girls) that was a bit of a challenge. Second, I think the house was previously inhabited by leprechauns and I hit my head quite a few times on doors and ceilings. The price of food was a lot cheaper than it is in London, well everything is cheaper than London. It was my first time using the Euro currency, I accidentally gave our waitress a 2 Euro tip because I thought it was 20 cents...whoops! The only things we really had to spend money on were taxis, food, and souvenirs. Most all of the things we did were free or fairly cheap. Throughout the weekend we went to: The National Heritage Park, Johnstown Castle, Curracloe Beach, shops in Wexford. We also explored the nightlife by spending time in pubs and a popular local nightclub. All offered different glimpses into Ireland and Irish culture. I come from Irish descent so it's always been a dream of mine to see Ireland...I definitely wasn't disappointing. My favorite part about the whole trip was sitting on the top of the sand dunes at Curracloe Beach, looking out over the Ireland countryside. It was so beautiful. It sounds corny, but it was the first time in my life that a sight really "took my breath away." I took tons of pictures and a video but I don't think they do it justice. I wish I could have stayed there all day, but we eventually had to pack up and make the long journey home.

This trip gave me insight into Irish culture, and allowed me to compare it to both my American and London observations. Like I said, the people there were much more friendly than they are in London, it reminded me of small town Iowa. People could tell we were tourists, but actually liked that we were American, unlike sometimes in London. All of the old men seemed to love us ladies. Our taxi driver, John, gave us deals on rides and pulled over when we saw sheep because he knew I wanted to take a picture of them. At one point I said, "Hey John can I ask you a question?" and he replied, "Of course love, I will marry you!" That seemed to be the theme with the older men in Wexford, they all call women "love." In addition, I saw the Irish nightlife. For some reason I was expecting the pubs and clubs to be more casual than London, people wearing jeans and t-shirts, but boy was I wrong. We went to a local favorite pub called Maggie Mays, and I swear I've never seen so many girls look like hookers in one place. Not to mention that we were outside on the beer garden and it was freezing outside, but it didn't seem to phase them. Even walking around young girls (13) looked like they were ready for Playboy...it was awkward.

Overall, I loved Ireland. The journey there was long, but I got to visit my "homeland" with a great group of friends. The people were friendly, the sights were beautiful, and we were blessed with three sunny days!...which is pretty unheard of, maybe it's the luck of the Irish? :)