Whoa. What a day Sunday was. Woke up early, and Hanna(h)2, K-evan, Andy, and I made for Gaol’s cross. There was about 40 or so people that showed up. This one girl showed up wearing shorts and like a trenchcoat! We called her “Shorts Girl” from now on and it was awkward. We drove through Youghal and stopped there. Thang the funny Asian paid for a bathroom, the hannahs and I just went to the hotel to pee for free. We drove and drove and got to Waterford, drove through Dungarvan. We got to the hill, and there were sheep everywhere! They had their asses spray painted. I am not sure why. The group split into three groups. One group went east and took the river route, one went north and took the waterfall route, and we went west and went up a hill. Shorts girl was in our group, and we had to wait while the leader grabbed her some pants. We later realized Shorts Girl is in our religion class, and she didn't forget her pants for that. Andy said “She dresses warmer for class than she does to climb up a frickin mountain”. It was hilarious. I giggled about it the whole class.
Anyways about the hike- The first part was the toughest! It was very tiring, and we probably walked about 1000 feet up. There was no real trail, and the rocks were hard to step on. Every step was difficult. I was winded when we reached the top. We then walked around the mountains in a U shape. The wind was howling. I kept taking pictures. I talked to this one irish guy about mining, power sources, Minnesota, and the economy and politics of Ireland. He was really interesting to talk to. We both agreed that rural and natural Irela nd was way better than cork city. He also said “Get to da Choppa!” and it was funny. The hardest part of the journey was getting through bog country. It was wet, muddy, and hell. Kevin got stuck in the mud, and we all got our shoes soaked and covered in mud. There was water everywhere, and it ran in streams and stuff. The Irish guy told me not to drink it "because it has sheep shit in it". There actually were piles of sheep shit everywhere, and sheep. They liked the cliffs. We had to jump and forge across streams. Most of the hike on the U part was mainly level, but the going was still hard. I talked to a girl name Katie that was an accomplished hiker. We made many LOTR references, especially when frodo and sam had to cross the bogs with Gollum. Some dumb guide was the one who led us on this bog route. We were so high up that the clouds were even with us. Apparently this area freezes and thaws during the winter. They brought us to these really scenic overlooks. There were no trees, just grass. Very open, and no people. Even the farms were few on the bottoms of the valleys. I took a ton of pictures and made a ton of lotr jokes! Seriosuly, the terrain reminded me of middle earth. We even sang the darn song. It was exactly the type of thing I wanted to do in Ireland. The short guy that was a guide told me that I was in pretty decent shape at the end. They said we walked 14 kilometers. Holy crap that was the most exercise i got since the mile run in 5th grade.
We went back to Youghal for dinner. I had to walk around Youghal in socks because my boots were in the back of the bus. Luckily i avoided the piles of dog crap that are everywhere.
Woke up today still tired from that hike. I was debating all day if I want to go on the retreat, or do Ballycotton/Hiking club this weekend. Still debating. CC was extremely boring today, as well as FL3010. But button accordion looks like it will be epic, and the instructor said that if I put in the effort, he can teach me advanced techniques by the end of the semester!
Well tonight was sure fun! I went to iona and joined the debate about prostitution. I thought that it was supposed to be about the morality involved, but instead it devolved into jen debating with the monk. Jen kept laughing at what the monk was saying. I do not know if I like how she argued, because it seemed disrespectful. Then mattie and I went to the nerd soc and joined matt and watched a movie. It was pretty good. Then when we got back to leeside, I said to go to marybeths room. Everyone else was there! It was like a surprise party! Mattie and Chelsea baked me a chocolate cake, and it was really cool. Apparently mattie was there to steer me towards going to mb’s room, and she was supposed to suggest it had I thought of doing something else, but I made her job easier and decided to go up there firsthand! We ate cake and sang me happy birthday and then we all went to the fran well. The guy there made me a mix of Rebel Red and pale ale, and mattie paid for it. We sat there for a while and then went to the spalpain fanach. We ran into tim and Richard when we were walking there! I went in and the first person I saw was Tom Barry! He recognized me and gave me a fistpound, and I said its my 21st birthday, and he said “Kiss me you bitch!” and I got my picture with him. Then we sat down and talked to him. He was talking about going out “for his injection” which meant cigarette, for about half and hour. I said “you roll your own!” and he said “I was rollin’ my own back in the 60’s too!” I asked him about the British and he did the arm version of middle finger and said “Fuck the Brits” and proceeded to talk about the Black and Tans coming to Cork, and he said “They burned down this fucking city. They raped and pillaged, the bastards” and then he talked about being a priest for 5 years in the Franciscan order and then quitting. He would swear and then say “ on my father and mother and grave of my brother Micheal” and give himself the sign of the cross. It was funny. He also put his glasses on and looked for the color of mattie’s eyes. He kept commenting on me stealing his hair and andy stealing his cap. He called Andy a “fucking space cadet”. He also said 50% of us will come back and live in Ireland in the future. Interesting. Then he talked about being open minded and accepting other peoples beliefs and so forth, to be happy. He said pick a job you like, and do not be concerned with money. He basically gave us life advice, and then recited a poem about killing a robin. It was hilarious. We bid our goodbyes to Tom Barry and then headed to the Crane Lane, where I got some whiskey, and we danced for a while. I proceeded to walk back to leeside backwards, marching band style. Tonight was an excellent birthday. I love you all.
