Full.

The past couple days have continued to be as good as the last. More orientation stuff last wednesday and thursday. However Friday we had our first Irish Studies field trip. My professor, Gordon D'Arcy is awesome. I am so excited for this class. We traveled all around Connemara, which is about 8 miles across Galway Bay from Ballyvaughan. WE were on the bus for most of the day but we got to see so much of the land. The landscape is incredibly different from the Burren. They are almost opposites. While the Burren and Connemara both have their fair share of rock the Burren is made up of limestone while Connemara has igneous and metamorphic rock. This actually makes the soil more acidic, not basic like the limestone, and so vast boglands are found in connemara. That is where they did the peat from. Which by the way Noonie I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the smell of the peat fires. It was on my to-do list to write about it on here but I was away from the computers for a bit. And we saw this cool neo-gothic abbey which is behind me.We also visited the beaches in Connemara which mom tells me that some of you that are reading this may have also been too. Let me know if you recognize any of the names. THe first one was Mannen beach. I think. I might not have the names quite right. BUt the sand was formed of the fossilized bits of parts of the algae in the sea. It was pretty cool. I had a bag with me so I was the dork with the bag of sand. Love it. :P And then we went to Dog's Bay which was totally different. 

THere was gorgeous fine white sand and crystal clear water. I wanted to dive right in. THe pretty much wrapped up the field trip. We all jsut slept on the coach on the way home. Haha.We were tuckered out. 

Today we had kind of a shopping day in Gort. BUt first we passed through Kinvara and they had these boats name Galway Hookers. We all got a kick out of that one. BUt this was one of the regular boats by the little pier.

Gort (a very silly sounding name. rhymes with wart and fort) had cheaper groceries and wonderful panninis so it was worth the trip.

 This is Eliza with her groceries. Haha. And these are all of mine. Granted that bag is totally stuffed. :)

When we got home though and loaded up the fridges to the brim (imagine 10 kids and two small fridges), the sun was shining like it had been for the most part and I couldn't waste it inside. Two of my housemates, Matt and Ryan, were headed up the burren (the rocky hill/mountain behind the house) and so I joined them. It is now the third time that I have been up the burren and it is getting easier and easier. We have been training well. :) 

Matt, above, had one of those old four by five cameras that you have to have a blanket over it to keep the sunlight out and he was taking some photos and then we got to the top. It was gorgeous. I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

And then MAtt wanted to do one last photo at the top and wanted to do a portrait so I was the lucky model. I cant wait to see the result. He is so talented I can't even imagine how sick it is going to be. If I can get my hands on a print if its good I would love to. So that kind of brings me to now. Its Matt's birthday tonight at midnight so we will have to see what how he wants to celebrate. Time to walk back before the sun totally sets. Love all of you and I'll be back on again when school starts monday. :)

Empty.

No worries. I'm not feeling empty. I'm actually quite the opposite but my studio is very empty. I've never quite had a space designated for work and only work so I am excited to see what options it opens for me over the semester. I just wanted to get a post in before registering with the police (which is just alot of paperwork and no fun for you guys to hear about). So I'm off. Just snapped a few pictures of my studio. 

This is my space. So here is the official before picture and as my studio progresses, and fills, and becomes a mess I'll update. THis blog has kind of become a record of not only where I am and where I'll go but I guess a little commentary on thoughts but I'll try not to be boring. :) THough really, how would you guys ever get bored with me. 

Anyway, this next photo I took of the chair just outside my studio in the drawing room and I thought it was probably written by another past american student being a smartass. It made me feel like I fit in. Hahahaha. 

I'm here to get an education?

Just kidding! I'm in school now, on lunch break of course. We are doing mostly orientation stuff this week and will get into the swing of things next week. Yesterday we toured the Burren and I am pretty sure I have landed in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I am throroughly amazed everytime I look out outside. THere is so much history dating back thousands of years that you can't help but feel the weight of it every time you pass by some kind of ruin, which is almost always. Also on our journey, we stopped so many places I could type forever, we stopped in Doolin and climbed some of the Burren. It is a little north of the cliffs of Moher and we could see them in the distance. Doolin is also the gateway to the Aran Islands which I'm sure I'll have a whole other post about in the near future. The small cliffs though in doolin were very fun to explore. We had to be careful though that no waves swept us away.

So I've been here less than a week and have had some fun climbing adventures. I hope to have more. And who knows? Maybe they add some inspiration to my work and how I am responding creatively to the Burren. School will definitely be the biggest challenge of the trip. Especially since there are only 26 students, including graduate students in the entire school. Quite a population change from what I am used to. I'll have pictures of the house up soon. I think once I get settled in and have a bit more time to use the computer (don't want to be on it too much) I might set up a Flickr account or something to that nature. Anyway, here is a picture of the castle at my school and the courtyard, and now I'm off to schedule and register my classes. Love you all!