Update

Last Wednesday we arrived to Carlow. The student who went last year told us that Carlow was not that much fun until their last night when they discovered that there was a downtown area. We had a short meet and greet with the students at the Institute of Technology-Carlow and they introduced our project to us. Our mission was sustainable design and each group had a different category to work in-ours was growing food.

On Thursday we arrived at school at 9:30 and got to work on our project. My group was made up of three Irish students (I could only understand one of them) and one of the Auburn students. We worked almost all day until 7 that night on a rooftop gardening system aimed towards people in larger cities who do not have that much access to green space.

Thursday night we went out with some of the Irish students to see what it was really like there. We started off at Shane’s house conveniently located next to our B&B and then around midnight we headed downtown to the Foundry, which was basically a Euro dance club with loud music and crazy lights. It was fun, not my normal cup of tea, but a different experience that I will take with me.

Friday morning we went to school to present our concepts to the professors. We finished around lunchtime and then left and walked downtown. I went out to lunch with Chelsea, Taylor, Ryan, and Jerrod at a place called Dinn Ri. After that we walked to Carlow Castle, which is one remaining wall from a castle that used to be there. After that we went to the Cathedral of the Assumption, which was absolutely beautiful. Then we went to the contemporary art gallery. After that I decided it was nap time.

By the time I woke up it was time to eat dinner, so I got ready and then we walked to a pizza place. After that we went to a pub called Scragg’s Alley. There was a bachelorette party going on this same night and these women were going crazy. It was very entertaining to watch. Eventually everyone in the group got there and we all had a great time. People left at separate times and by the time I got back to the B&B everyone that was still awake was in the girls room. They left after a little bit and I was able to get some sleep.

Saturday we took a train from Carlow to Gaulway where we then got on a bus to head to Ballyvaughan. We stopped at a mall for lunch and to get some groceries. After that we got back on the bus and I put on some Ray LaMontagne and went to my own place and took some pictures. We pulled up to some little Irish cottages and were divided up into our new living groups. Being that there are only three girls in the group, it is not very hard for us to figure out whom we are living with. The cottage has three bedrooms, two with two twin beds and one with a full. I lucked up this time and got the full, which also has a heated blanket (almost a necessity here).

Sunday we took a bus trip to the Cliffs of Mohor with several stops along the way. I found out that the O’Briens are from the Burren, which was neat because my great-grandmother was an O’Brien. The original Gaelic name for the Burren means Rocky Place because it is covered in exposed limestone. The Cliffs were amazing, very windy and cold, but absolutely gorgeous. A not so nice O’Brien built a tower there and if you go to the top you get a much better view of the cliffs. On our way back we stopped at another cliff where there were campers and repellers. Then we headed back to the cottages. Kata and Chelsea made an excellent taco dinner for everyone.

Today we went to school at the Burren College of Art, which is a very small rural art school. It was so beautiful though. We had a tour around the campus, which includes a castle tower and then went to the studio space they gave us and we told what our projects would be. We are only working with our Auburn group this time. My group is working on a redesign of a donkey used for life drawing. Another group is working on an entertainment cabinet, and the last group is making a cathouse for the campus cat.

Tonight was low key, I went for a short run after we got back from class and then made a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I went to one of the other cottages and sat for a bit. Then we went to the other cottage and put the movie “Snatch” on. I could not stay to finish it because I did not really know what was going on and I was tired from the day.