Great Craic!

           The title of this post means ‘Great Fun’. It is already week 3 and I find myself using Irish terminology and using some similar pronunciation. The accent although is easy enough to seemingly pick up because I never realized how similar it is to some of the pronunciation of certain words in Bahamian English. In Irish Gaelic the ‘h’ does not exist so many words that have the ‘th’ sound; those ‘h’s are not pronounced. Instead of ‘three’ ‘tree’ is said. So I am slowly reverting from my American English to my original Bahamian English.            Many of...

Read More

Battle of the Boyne site

Fought in 1690 by 2 claimants to the Scottish, Irish and English thrones. King James who was a Catholic and King William who was a Protestant and King James's son-in law and nephew. (Talk about bad blood) Despite the two fighting for their places on the throne it was ultimately a turning point that would keep Ireland a predominately protestant country for years after. King William had won which ensured the Protestants having a higher place in society. Catholic Irish had their lands and titles stripped away and in the decades that followed...

Read More

Filming

So we are going to be on the History Channel. Yes we are getting filmed this week on a episode on burials. You might be able to see me in the background somewhere, 15 minutes of film anyone? About to jump start my film career. WHAT!!!! But I won't be in the foreground, this one girl found an infant burial right when the film crew was around so now she gets to be filmed. You might see me walking around in the background somewhere, walking to and from my cutting to the office/tool shed/cante...

Read More

Mellifont Abbey

On Thursday we went to Mellifont Abbey which is the first Cistercian abbey in Ireland founded in 1142.  Founded by St. Malachy, with the same ideals and architecture as the abbeys in France. The little chapel that is still standing from the ruins, it is protected by the tarp and is going through some preservation work. Map of the Abbey This was on top of a massive hill and is the location of the old grave yard The lavabo: it is the only surviving in Ireland. It is where the friars would wash their...

Read More

Fight for clean clothes

I would like to dedicate this post to the washing and drying machines in the U.S for they are much simpler to use. Let me talk about for a post about the debacle that Americans and Canadians who are here for the dig are having with the machines here. So we have a washing/dryer combo at my house. The washing part works great but the drying part, not so much. It just becomes a wet hot. I am not sure if there is a secret mechanism , or if having fully dried clothes fresh out of the dryer is something unheard of. Most houses I have seen line dry their clothes which is what we ultimately have done. It takes a couple days to dry,...

Read More

Newgrange and Knowth

A few days ago I went to Newgrange with a bunch of people to check out the mounds which were interesting. The day was cold and rainy but the sun would come out every so often and I was able to capture a beauty of the landscape. Here are some pictures. The main mound with the fertility stone. If you touch this rock you are granted fertility and the part to be touched is the back which feels glassy and smooth which means that for centuries people have been traveling to touch this stone. The sundial rock that was possibly...

Read More

First week

So this week is coming to a close and it is all about come into the weekend. I honestly am falling in love with this country, at first I was wary and I wanted to go home to the US because I missed everyone and the culture. Mostly the culture. Everyone in this town is so kind and I feel at home because 1. It is a small town, so it feel like home. 2. It's European and it feels like I am back at home in the Bahamas. While the scenery is very different, the type of people are similar and the words in grew up with and used as a child are used here. For example the accent, they don't really pronounce the 'th', and neither do Bahamians....

Read More

Abroad Life

I have used the title of my blog in a post. I think I deserve a pint of Guinness! hahaha So it is a good thing I began to line my sleeping schedule with it here, because otherwise I would be in terrible shape. I am exhausted mind you but it is bearable. I can't begin to tell you how gorgeous this country is, although I expected it to be greener but it is nice. The weather has been wonderful and every citizen is walking around and enjoying the beauty. My feet are so swollen, yesterday some people from my hostel and hostels nearby when...

Read More