St. Patrick's Day in Ireland (I know a little late..)

 Well, lets just say it is quite the experience to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. It is one of those things you say you will only do once in  your life, like going to New York for New Years. 


The day before March 17th, we spent the evening as if we live in a monastery. We had shorten hours, but we worked, prayed, and ate for the evening. It was nice to do and have some reflecting time on what St. Patrick's Day really is about.  Did you know.... 
St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest. In 432,  he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianize the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on March 17th 461, and was buried at Downpatrick. Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church. This is really why we celebrate. 

But for most of the people in Ireland, it's a day to wear green and get drunk. We went to Dublin for the day. We saw the parade, which was kinda creepy if you didn't know the story (I didn't know the story and was very confused). But we were on a roof top so that just made it all better! After the parade we went to see some Gaelic games. It was crazy in Dublin, packed with people and the smell of alcohol. We went to a pub for dinner and heard some live music. But by the end of the night, things were getting out of control and it was time to leave. 

This week has been crazy with Irish Literature and I'm glad it is almost over! I only have 6 more weeks here, which is crazy to think about. Time just flies by, but once it hits time to go home I know for sure I will be ready! 

Spring is Here :)

The flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and the sun is out!!! Spring in Ireland is beautiful :) The grass is so green and people already are mowing. The days are getting longer and it has been perfect weather. I'm enjoying this a lot more than cold snowy days!!

Our Spring Break was March 10th through the 14th. I was able to travel to Brussels, Belgium to visit a long lost family friend from when we lived in China. I had some troubles getting to the airport and thinking that I was going to miss my flight. But I made it! It was my first time doing all the airport stuff by myself.  When I got there I felt like I was at home. The Hollows were awesome as well. It was great catching up with them. One day we went to a University town, which is a typical town is Belgium. We had lunch there and just walked around. Another day we went to PARIS!!!

Paris is awesome! Just what I thought it would be like. We had a very busy day. We pretty much saw all the huge tourist attractions in one day. The weather was nice in the morning, so I didn't bring a jacket...huge mistake! It got pretty cold, windy, and rainy. But I still had a blast. We went to the Notre Dame, The Louvre, Arc De Triomphe, we walked and shopped on the Champs-Elysees, took a boat tour of Paris, and last but not least went to the Eiffel Tower. We were able to go up to the second level, it was so amazing but cold! This is a very short version of this day :)

On Sunday I went to church and then we toured around Brussels. I had a Belgium waffle :) so good! I love the towns over here. So many old building and they have little squares in the middle of the major streets. I loved my break and it was much needed.

On the way back I had to go through immigration again to get back into Ireland. I got stopped and questioned for 30 minutes. Long story short, I had to tell them I was visiting when I came in January to get my 90 stamp. But when coming back in they had a problem that I was "visiting" again. I couldn't tell them that I was a student because of my story before. So after a lot of questions and being scared that they were going to send me back that day, I got 1 month stay. Which means I had to go the the immigration office and see if I would be able to stay longer. At first they said they could do nothing for me, but then they came back saying that I could register and be able to stay till May 7th. Thank the LORD! Many prayers were answered.

This week we have our Irish Lit prof here to teach us. We are traveling to Donegal and some other day trips. It will be a long week.

I would just ask for prayers as I need them with this week and some decisions I have to make. 

Northern Ireland!

We took a three day trip up to Northern Ireland. So far this have been my favorite trip :) We spent our time there learning about the troubles, hearing from those who lived in them and were willing to share their stories and experiences. We got to see the two streets that all the troubles were about. We heard about the perspective of the troubles from a republican Catholic, as well as a former para-military member who is a protestant unionist. We heard the perspectives of those who want a United Ireland, and those who want to stay connected with the U.K. We saw the murals and learned the history or the troubles and the IRA. We heard testimonies of former drug addicts who are now serving the Lord at a church in Belfast. We saw the peace wall, and also spent time visiting the memorials of those lost during the Troubles, and of course we spent time seeing the city of Belfast. We had a tour of Stormont, the parliament building. We didn't stay long because there was a meeting in session. There was so much information, and not much time to digest all of what we were hearing, but thankfully we were able to talk through all of the emotions and understand what this country has been struggling with for so long. We have had many talks about the issues and learned more with dates and the Good Friday agreement (Peace Treaty).  

We took a day to be outside! Our hostel was right on the beach and it was beautiful in the morning. We traveled to Giant's Causeway, and hiked around there. We had out lunch right on top of Giant's Causeway. It's so amazing how those rocks can be formed like that. We then went to Carrick-A-Rede, a rope bridge and hung out on the island there. We spent the nights hanging out in the hostel and having a grand o time!

This was the last week before spring break, we again, where very busy with homework and reading for Irish Lit. The professor for that class is coming March 18th and then the time will be packed with lectures...so not looking forward to it. It's crazy to think that I only have 7weeks left, but still thats a long time. I had spring break this weekend and will write more about that later :) 

The beach! 

Giant's Causeway 

Carrick-A-Rede

The group at Giant's Causeway