Class: Before I arrived here several friends told me that, based on their experience from the past year, we wouldn't really have a lot of homework. This has proven to be untrue. Every session is different and has different teachers so I think its important to note that there are only so many things that will be the same. Let your experience be your own and don't try to think you've got it all figured out based on what someone else has told you. It'll will be more fun that way. As with any school, some classes are more exciting than others. This week we learned how to do a traditional Irish dance in Jane Marie's class. It was very fun to learn something that many Irish people learn when they are still in grade school and although it felt very difficult at first it got easier and was very interesting to learn! We also learned a few of the rules to Gaelic football and Hurling. I've noticed that even if there is no game playing, most people take a lot of pride in the traditional Irish sports and will continue talking about it even after the game is over. (Sound familiar football fans?) Also if there is a game playing, finding a public place to watch it is a great way to meet a ton of new people! Galway has a stadium that hosts matches. Its only 15 euros for a ticket and you don't have to reserve them early. We hope to go to a game soon. It would be a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon! For our Irish Lit class and the Irish History class we had quite a bit of reading homework with attached questions. It took us a few hours. I would suggest starting it early so you don't have to scramble the night before or read it together with a group of people to make it go faster. Some of the material is pretty hard to follow.
Laundry: Trying to do laundry here has been quite the experience. You do have to go out of your cottage and down towards the main part of the hotel to do laundry. It's not an extremely far distance but its much different for me to not be able to throw something in quickly that I want to wear later that day. It costs 3 euros to wash and 3 to dry so only doing laundry that really needs washed is also something I'm learning to deal with. Don't worry about laundry detergent as they provide that but it would be a good idea to bring some kind of mesh laundry bag for dirty clothes. I didn't bring anything so I stuff everything into my empty carry on bag and walk it down to the laundry. I also wish I would have brought some kind of command strip hooks. There has been a few things that I'd like to hang up and even just a couple of those could have been helpful. Most things at the Park Lodge run on 2 euro coins including the laundry and electricity. I would suggest saving them when you get them so you don't have to go to other cabins looking to borrow some!
Laundry: Trying to do laundry here has been quite the experience. You do have to go out of your cottage and down towards the main part of the hotel to do laundry. It's not an extremely far distance but its much different for me to not be able to throw something in quickly that I want to wear later that day. It costs 3 euros to wash and 3 to dry so only doing laundry that really needs washed is also something I'm learning to deal with. Don't worry about laundry detergent as they provide that but it would be a good idea to bring some kind of mesh laundry bag for dirty clothes. I didn't bring anything so I stuff everything into my empty carry on bag and walk it down to the laundry. I also wish I would have brought some kind of command strip hooks. There has been a few things that I'd like to hang up and even just a couple of those could have been helpful. Most things at the Park Lodge run on 2 euro coins including the laundry and electricity. I would suggest saving them when you get them so you don't have to go to other cabins looking to borrow some!
Music: Most nights of the week you can find live music somewhere in Spiddal or Galway. In Spiddal 2 of the pubs have live music on Saturday and Sunday. The owner of Tigh Giblin plays on Saturdays in Spiddal. They play more fun and relatable and new age music. On Sundays in a different pub (which I'm not sure how to spell) they play traditional Irish music on traditional instruments. It is really cool to see the contrasts in musical style. If you're at the Park Lodge for the weekend, I would suggest checking it out!
Good Eats!: The last things I've learned in week 2 is that Galway has crazy amount of places to eat. There are several tradition food places on shop street as well as many of the side streets. The fish is really fresh and the food has been fairly decently priced at some of the smaller cafe's. One place you absolutely have to try is Riordains. They give you so much food and its always under 7 euros (which is a pretty decent price comparably.)
If you do go to town to eat make sure that you find a place and order before 6. Most shops close at 7 which is much earlier than back in the states and a lot of the smaller cafe's also close 6. The ones that don't, bump up their prices up considerably after 6 and you will end up paying quite a bit more for the same food!
Week 2 was a learning adventure full of good food, good people, and good fun. On to week 3!
Week 2 was a learning adventure full of good food, good people, and good fun. On to week 3!