Cheers!

You know you're in a good place when "cheers" means please, thank you and anything else that needs to fill an awkward moment. Maggie had a ball on her birthday. We woke up and took a hike up to Kilinney Castle, which has a breathtaking view of the coast from the cliffs we climbed. We met an older woman who designated herself as our tour guide, and pointed out winding pathways and celebritie's houses. We even met an orange-bellied sparrow that kept hopping closer to us after we stopped to say hello. (I have pictures of all of this, but I'm not quite sure how I'll get them up without a laptop of my own..no worries, when there's a will there's a way.)
Saturday night we got ready and headed to the pub, meeting up with another american girl, who actually goes to Clarion. 2 pints of Guinness later, an elder local named Tony had bought us our third and was singing Amy Winehouse with us and asking about American politics. We kept reassuring him that if we were easily offended, we would have stayed in the states. Grand night.
On Sunday we woke up (a little later than we had hoped) and walked to the pier and farmer's market the next town over. Lovely January day. And here's the thing: everyone was out, with their children, dogs, loved ones, even sailboats. You would never see that in the states! I can say this because I would be one of those bums to lay around inside on a Sunday afternoon... especially during a Steelers game. Nonetheless, it was refreshing to get out and enjoy the day.
Today was our first day of class. How luvely to be back in a classroom learning! Today we had Irish history and society, which will be more fascinating as the days continue.
We learned that we have a week off for Easter..we're thinking a trip to Barcelona... you can get tickets here dirt cheap, even for 1 euro. Insane. I tell you what, my time spent in Ireland will definitely give me a lesson in time management and budgeting, if nothing else.