Ireland Day 3 Ring of Kerry

Ireland day 3 Ring of Kerry

I slept really well in a very comfy bed.  The shower had great hot water even though there are 8 people staying here right now.  Eugene served toast, a poached egg, sausage, ham, tomatoes, and OJ.  I asked where I could buy a new umbrella since mine blew inside out multiple times yesterday – he said don’t bother.  Stick with the pancho because umbrellas are useless in the wind J  Our van picked us up at 9:30 to take us into town and we had some time to walk around before the coach left at 10:30.

The Ring of Kerry is a driving tour around the County Kerry.  The busses are only allowed to drive in one direction so that busses don’t have to pass each other on very narrow winding roads!  People were freaking out about how close vehicles were etc.  I am not phased by it!  Mumbai has made me immune!  It was a nice day, but we didn’t see anything major – just a lot of nice scenery.

We did get to see a sheep dog demonstration - they showed how a few dogs can control a whole herd of sheep - it was pretty interesting.

traditional Irish stew

I am enjoying the people on the tour and I’ve found of couples that are willing to let me eat with them etc! 

Ireland day 2 Cork, Cobh, Killarney

Ireland Day 2

I booked a 3 day tour with Rail tours Ireland so I had to be at the Heuston station at 6:35am.  There were lots of people going on different tours so at each train stop a guide got off with certain people.  I rode the train all the way to Cork.  I sat with a girl named Tracy from Oregon who was here visiting a friend (He is an American teaching in Kuwait and had her meet him here on his layover on his way home. ) I asked what kind of job she had.  None now – Her father had several strokes and has been in a care facility for 10 years, her brother is bi-polar and a drug addict.  Her mother died last year and she is taking care of the family now and just couldn’t handle the commute.  She’s been out of work for 6 weeks she said once she sells her mom’s house and finishes some legal stuff she’ll go back to work.  Whew!  You never know what other people have to deal with!  The ride to Cork was almost 3 hours.  We got on a bus and went to Blarney to see the castle.  It was built in 1446 for Dermot McCarthy.  There are 127 steps up to the top where the stone is.  The stairway is ridiculously steep and narrow!  It took forever because when people kiss the stone, they have to take off all their jackets, glasses, hats etc because they have to bend over backwards to do it.  There is a guy that helps people get down and up – what a horribly boring job!  I went up to the top to see the view, but did not kiss the stone.  I already have the gift of eloquence J  The grounds were amazingly beautiful – lots of trees and grass.  Besides the castle there is Blarney House – A Scottish baronial mansion and the residence of the Colthurst family since the 18^th century.  There is a “poison garden” behind the castle.  It’s an “educational collection of poisonous plants from around the world including ones from Harry Potter likes the Wolfsbane and the Mandrake.   I had lunch at the mill – a “bacon and egg pie” yummy!

We left at 1:30 and took a short tour of Cork in the bus.  It has a population of 140,000 which is the 3^rd largest in the country (Dublin and Belfast are bigger and Belfast isn’t part of the Republic anyway) After Cork we stopped at Clommel (Old Church) Cemetery.  There were incredibly old graves there including mass graves from the Lusitania. 

Next we went to Cobh – pronounced Cove. It used to be called Queenstown and was the last port of call for the Titanic.  The White Star Line office is now a museum.  There are still remains of the dock that people boarded the titanic from.  A lot of people Emigrated from Ireland especially during the potato famine.  3 million people left from this spot.  There are more people with Irish ancestery in the US than in Ireland. J  The population of Ireland decreased drastically during the famine and never recovered.  There are less people living in Ireland now than before the famine!  There is a memorial set up for Anne Moore – the first Irish person to register as a immigrant at Ellis Island (there is a statue there too) She was 17 and went with her two younger brothers to meet their parents – she received a$10 as a reward for being the first through Ellis Island.   Cobh is the home of the Irish Navy – there are only 15,000 people serving in the Navy.   We visited St. Colman’s Cathedral which was pretty astounding and there were some really cool houses nearby that the locals call “the deck of cards”

We caught the train at 4:15 and went to Mallow, then switched trains and went to Killarney.  I sat with Ed and Marie – a couple from Bolingsgreen KY.  He is a professor there but took a year sabbatical and has been studying in the UK – they have two weeks left before they have to move back to the US.  His arm is in a sling because he fell 3 MONTHS ago down some stairs  - they are staying in a gatehouse of  a castle or mansion or something. 

A van picked us up to take us to our B and Bs or hotels.  Killarney is adorable!  I am staying at Noraville B and B run by a guy named Eugene.  I have a cute little room with a bathroom.   I walked to Killarney National park – it was gorgeous!  I walked for 5 or 6 miles and visited a castle in there called Ross Castle.  It was closed but I wandered around.  I walked back to Killarney city center and it was deceptively late –aabout 9pm and a lot of the restaurants stopped serving food.  After another place told me they were not serving food she suggested I go to Burger King.  Augh!  But it was 100% Irish Beef and the fries were Irish potatoes so does that count as an Irish meal?!  I had asked Ed and Marie on the train if I could eat with them but we got separated at the B and Bs – maybe tomorrow I can eat with someone.  I did listen to some live Irish music in the courtyards.   I got back to the B and B at 10:15 and it was still light out.  I can hear rain falling and I am exhausted.  Going to call it a night and get ready for another adventure tomorrow.

Off to Ireland

On Sunday a bunch of family members had lunch at my Aunt's house.  I haven't seen most of them in 18 months - last Christmas.  We had a great time catuching up.  There were lots of questions about India.  My cousin kept asking "when you say there is garbage everywhere, what do you mean?" I just reply with "There. is. garbage. everywhere."  He asks "like there is garbage bags full of garbage everywhere?"  NO!  it's like people get done with something and just throw it on the ground!!  Most of my family are firmly resolute in the fact they will never come to India!

My dad hurt his leg lifting 100 pound beams (go figure)  so we took it easy and watched Northern Exposure the last couple of days.

I picked up Jimmy Johns to eat on the plane.  My flight from Bloomington was delayed so I was the very last person to get on the flight at O'hare.  whew!  Sat next to a very nice Irishman who gave me the aisle seat when I asked :)   It was a pretty turbulant flight but we made it to Dublin at 8am on time.  There were hundreds of people in line at immigration and I flashed back to the same line at US immigration and the HOUR I spent in it.  this was the fasted immigration line EVER!  The Irish just said "Hi!"  and let every person in without a fuss!  sweet.  I got a very chatty cab driver to take me to Dublin City University.  I was supposed to drop off my big suitcases so I don't have to haul them around.  I was misdirected several times and finally just took them with me to my hotel for the night.  I got on the internet to contact someone to see where I was supposed to leave the bags.  Found a different   cab to take me back there to deliver them.  Those cabs cost A LOT.  I am not in India anymore!

The first cab driver was awesome.  The Irish people were so nice and I see American flags waving like I did in Israel (the countries that start with I seem to like us!  Iran needs to jump on the bandwagon!) He said "If America sneezes, Ireland gets pneomonia!"  ha!  He asked me how many US presidents I've seen - not on TV but at an actual event or something.  I was running in River Oaks when Bush Sr. left his house and drove by me.  Does that count.  He has seen SEVEN American presidents speak - whenever they come to Ireland everyone whats to see them!  He gave opinions on Romney and Obama.  He told him how bad the economy is here - places shut down - no work available.  He said that people are leaving, but no longer for the US because they are in the same situation.  They are having a drug problem - heroin etc.    He said "In India they have sacred cows, right? If one gets in the road people just wait for it and go around, right?  Well, here we have sacred vehicles.  (He points to a Guiness truck unloading on the curb) Anyone else would get a ticket, but these truck are allowed to do whatever they want.  They are our sacred animal"  HA!!!

When I was in Israel 95% of the men were HOT! Here, many are hot, but they all SOUND hot.  Seriously an Irish accent is to die for :)

I got to walk around the main downtown part.  It is cool here - high 60s and I only brought one pair of jeans.  I have capris I hope it is enough.  should have brought more, but I was trying to save room in my suitcase for bringing things back from the US.  Hopefully I will get a better handle on this packing thing....

lllinois and Kentucky

My Dad met me at the airport and took me to Avantis to get a Gondola :)  We went for a walk and I enjoyed the quiet country cornfields.  The next morning we went for another walk and while dad worked on the house, I worked on sorting out my suitcase disaster.  I bought a lot of stuff in Texas - spent over $1000 in a WEEK.  I had to got to the eyedoctor.  I had to get medicine that I have a hard time getting in India and my insurance wouldn't pay for 90 days so I had to pay like $100.  I bought workout shoes, 4 pairs of dress shoes, dress clothes, workout shoes, toiletries, etc....


On Wednesday Dad drove me to Indianapolois where my brother-in-law Ben was going to meet us and pick me up to take me to Lexington KY.  I got to spend 9 days with Ben and my sister Brianna and my niece Charlotte.  They live in a quiet residential neighborhood in Lexington - I went on a lot of long walks and a few jogs :)  I'd get up and play with Charlie before her morning nap.  Then we'd play again before her afternoon nap.  In between, Bri and I would run errands with her.  She loves it when aunt Bob sits in the back with her! We played in the park, went swimming, read books, etc.

Bri and Ben have been so sweet letting me stay for over a week at their house!  They live in a section of Lexington KY that is beautiful and very close to rural areas. 

Bri and I went to a Shaker Village nearby.  Tons of Shakers lived there for 100 years.  One Shaker village still exists in maine.  There are only 3 Shakers left. 

Bri and I also took a morning to see a movie - What to expect when you are expecting - she said it is the first one she's seen since having Charlotte.

Visiting Texas

Visit to Texas
On Monday Stacy took me to the eye doctor and we ran some errands- took things to goodwill, sold some books at half price books and went to the teacher store. I saw all these cute hall passes and realized we don't need them at our school.I let kids out of my room all the time and never worry about them doing anything bad! We went to papasittos so I could get some  Mexican food and meet with some friends - Toni, Tracy, Stacy, Dawn, and MaryKay. Afterward Stacy and I went to see Melissa and her son Liam.   I passed out at 8pm again! 
On Tuesday Karin picked me up to go shoe shopping at the outlet mall.   I was supposed to stay with her parents but they have whooping cough!   But they let me borrow their truck and I stayed with friends of theirs. So Tuesday through Friday I stayed with the Auxiers. They have three fun kids so I would eat breakfast with them and talk about their swim lessons and they would ask questions about India. Then I'd go over to karin's to play with my nieces Melody, Melissa, Hope, Olivia, and Addison! Love walking in the door to choruses of " hi aunt Bob" they loved watching Elmo on my iPad :) I'd play with them in the morning then go shopping then play with them in the afternoon.  I had dinner with them on Tuesday. The Moores had me over for burgers on Wednesday, and on Thursday I had dinner at karin's again. The CDC declared that her parents could leave the house so they came, and her sister Krissy (who is due with baby boy any day now) and her husband Cole came. Her sister Kim brought Olivia and Addie over. So much fun. They are all from Illinois and I would spend thanksgiving and Easter with them. They are my Texas family!  Karin made tortilla soup and it was amazing :)

On Friday I got to see jamili and her son Tariq. He is getting so big!  Jamili and I started working at Camp Tapawingo together in 1996 and have stayed friends while each of us moved to different states and countries :)  Norma came and got me and I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday night with Norma. I wish everyone could meet Norma! She giggles about everything and is so much fun! She has a ton of dogs but surprisingly my tolerance for dogs has gotten much better since living in India! On Saturday I got to run with my Team in Training group! Coach Jeff and Paula have been with me through a lot of races! Theresa, christy and some other former teammates were there. Running with the group in Terry Hershey park was one of my most favorite things to do while I was home.  Wish I could do it for multiple weekends!  Norma, Stacy and I went to see Snow White and the Huntsman on Sunday.  Movies are so much cheaper in India :)


Norma took me to the airport on Monday and I made the journey to Bloomington, Illinois  :)

Flying to the US

Flying to the US

On Saturday June 2nd I got up around 6 am like usual and did normal Saturday things. I went for a really long walk, had lunch with a friend, and packed. I took a 1.5 hour nap. Not nearly as long as I'd hoped! Lawrence, one of the school drivers came to get me at my flat at 10:30 pm to take me to the airport. I was on a British airways flight and got checked in really quickly and they allowed me to take two bags for no charge. I then went to the Air France area to wait for my friend. She had to pay 75 Usd for her second bag and it took forever! We saw a fellow ASB teacher at At the AF counter. We went through immigration fairly quickly but two lines over there was a big commotion. Indians causing commotion. They ushered us past the really long security line to the women's line. I was excited until I realized they had ONE conveyor belt for the women and ten for men. They think women don't travel?? As soon as we got down the escalator we see bryan who is also going to Houston, but he is on the air France flight.  On our way to get food, we ran into preya. Prey a, Bryan and I all live in the same building. So does Karen and I know she was at the airport too!  My flight took off on time and there was no pushing or shoving. Even though the flight was full of Indians I am attributing it to the fact we were flying to London. The Indians that go to London have more western style standard for etiquette :)

They didn't have any aisle seats left so I got stuck in the middle. I like the aisle because I am more likely to get blood clots due to my lupus and my sister has has dvts. Also I don't sleep on flights so I like to stand up occasionally and I can go to the bathroom when I want.  We were on that flight for 9.5 hours. The guys in the aisle did not move. He slept every minute except for breakfast at the end. He didn't stretch or go to the bathroom or anything!!  So my are you talking an aisle seat???!?!  I held it for 4 hours!!! Then finally had to ask him to get up!

They gave us a snack at the beginning that was a little too Indian for me but I had the non veg breakfast that was good = eggs, a roll, fruit, potatoes, chicken sausage and dahi! I was happy.  It was cold and rainy in London 11. C.  Its in the 30s in tx! 

The flight from London was better. I had an isle seat and the couple next to me were flying to Houston so they could go to Galveston to cruise on the ship their son worked on.  I was so tired on being on a plane! I can see why people stayed 3 or 4 days at their layover city before continuing on to the US!

It took forever to get through customs! I waited for 45 minutes for Norma to pick me up. It was weird not being able to call her on my cell. I asked about 8 people if I could borrow their cell and none of them had one that worked either!

After she picked me up we went straight to walmart where I spent 120$ on meds,toiletries etc that I can't get in the US.

We bought panera and went to Stacy's  house where I was spending the night.
I passed out at 8pm! 

Car trouble in Kentucky

My fantastic brother - in - law Ben drove up to meet me in Indianapolis (my father drove me there) and then drove me to Lexington Kentucky.  My sister Brianna and my niece Charlotte were waiting on the steps for me!  Charlie loved me immediately!  She likes to give me kisses and hugs.  I feed her dinner while her parent make adult food.  On Thursday we took her to the park and Ben left to drive back up to Illinois for a band camp gig.  On Friday we attempted to go to Garden Ridge.  Charlie was screaming bloody murder in the car so we pulled over at Bob Evans to calm her down and so I could get in the back seat with her for the rest of the ride.  We went to leave and the car wouldn't start.  I entertained Charlie while Bri called someone to come and jump the battery.  I took Charlie to the bench in front of the Bob Evans and she charmed and delighted the patrons going in and out.  Everyone cooed about how pretty she is.  She loved waving at the baby in the window - I kept trying to tell her it was her reflected image - she's not ready for that yet!!

While we were waiting for the car, we went to Arbys and Charlie had mac and cheese :)

Luckily it was just the battery so we got it replaced and were on our way and Charlie was a champ the whole time.  We never got to Garden Ridge though!!