Canisius College

September 2006
#2 Wheels keep turning, days go on

So school has finally started here in Galway, although we haven’t officially registered for classes yet- we do that this Friday. Until then, we attend the classes we think we’ll like to go to. All of my professors have already started giving notes, though, so I’m glad I’m staying with these classes and not planning on changing any time soon. The class sizes are a lot bigger than the ones I was used to at Canisius- most of them are lectures, in lecture halls (or "theatres," as they call them here). Sometimes it’s hard to hear the professors in such a big room, but I’m getting better at it.

Me in a tree at Blarney Castle.

Last weekend, five of my roommates and I went to Blarney Castle, which was such a blast! We took a bus from Galway to Cork, spent the night in a hostel in Cork, and then took a morning bus over to Blarney, which was only about 10 minutes away. I had been to Blarney before, a long time ago, but this was so much more fun. This time, I was with friends and we had all the time in the world on our hands and nowhere to be. So my roommates and I explored the castle grounds for a while, and found this really cool place called the Rock Close. The Rock Close is a kind of rocky area that was supposedly a place where witches used to reside- there was a Druids Circle, a Fairy Ring, a little cave called the Witches’ Kitchen, and these things called the Wishing Steps that granted you a wish if you went up and down the stairs backwards with your eyes closed. Places like this remind you of the magic in Ireland, and how awesome it is to be here. Well, that’s about it for now. See you in next time!

The River Corrib in Galway.