Days 11, 12, and 13: Before and during the homestay

Alright, Friday was a good day if for no other reason than I got to sleep in! I didn't wake up until 10:30 or 11 and then didn't really have much to do, which seemed strange! But I showered, organized my room (now it's a mess again), and packed for my homestay. After lunch, a bunch of us had to walk to the history department office to register for our Irish History class. (The history, music, and applied psychology departments are so popular that you have to both register with them and the registrar to get credit!) We were planning to leave at 2 to head up there, but of course, 2 turned into 2:15 and then 2:30, so we made it there by 2:45 or so. The office is tiny; the six of us could barely fit. But we all registered no problem, and then headed back to Deanshall. Of course, we stopped on the way back at a convenience store to get some snacks (in case our homestay families didn't feed us, I guess), which took awhile, but was fun! We finally made it back to Deanshall about 3:30 or so. Then, it was time to repack, as I had forgotten to pack warm boots (which I was really glad I threw in). Anyway, by 5, I was "ready" to go, but as soon as I got on the bus, I realized that I'd forgotten my camera. So I ran back to get that (though I really didn't take many pictures there) and then we headed out. It took us forever to get out of Cork, considering it's a small city. We had to drive pretty slowly because of ice on the roads, but we stopped after about 45 minutes to drop the first people off. Most of us then figured that we would soon follow, but we were mistaken. After dropping those two off, we drove for at least 45 more minutes until we got to Charleville (known for its cheese), where about half of the group got off. Then, the rest of us headed to Killmallock, where we were all to be picked up by our host families. So Kat (an Arcadia student, staying at the same home as me this weekend) and I were picked up by Sheila, who is a friend of the family we're staying with. She lives close to them and was also hosting girls, so she drove us the nearly 40 minutes to Emly, Co. Tipperary. It was (sadly) dark, so we couldn't see any of the (I'm sure) gorgeous landscape. We eventually arrived at Margaret and Liam Burke's. Of course, it was dark so we couldn't really see much and freezing so we didn't piddle outside. But we met Margaret, her two sons (Brian, 5, and Conor, 9), and Liam before dropping off our bags. Liam and Conor left to go to the pub, while Kat and I ate some "traditional" food-- pizza and chips (well, fries). But Margaret was really nice, and we had good conversation. When the boys got back, we went into the game room and played pool and foosball (they call it soccer). Both Kat and I got beat by 5 and 9 year olds, but it was fun all the same. We also found out that there was no hot water because of the intense cold and ice. But we accepted the news well, despite the lack of showers to come. After games, the boys went to bed, and Margaret, Kat, and I watched television. A bit after midnight, Margaret went to bed, but Kat and I stayed up to finish watching a movie. We headed to bed a bit after two and slept in until 10 the next morning. When we went to wash our faces in the morning, we discovered that there was no water, which made some normal activities (like flushing the toilet and washing hands) much more challenging. So Kat and I got ready as best we could and went into the kitchen for breakfast with the boys and Margaret. We had toast with nutella (YUM!) and porridge (eh, I mean, it's porridge), and then the boys showed us their animals-- two dogs, a cat, a rabbit, and some hens. They were all really sweet (well, we didn't really meet the hens), but I felt so bad that they were outside when it was so cold! But we decided that it was a bit too cold to be outside, even with the animals. So we went back inside and basically did nothing for the rest of the day-- watched assorted television, played board games, etc. At one point, Kat and I went into Tipp Town (Tipperary) with Liam, just to see it. I wish it hadn't been so miserable outside; I would have loved to look around and shop, but I'll do that on another trip. That night, we had a fantastic dinner-- ham and cabbage with potatoes (of course). It was so delicious; I could have just kept eating. After dinner, we watched "Hotel for Dogs," and then the boys wanted to watch another movie. Brian would pick one and Conor wouldn't watch it, and vice versa (about 50 times). So Kat and I went through literally every movie in the house, and no one could agree. So we made an executive decision and started "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (the original), which of course made Brian cry. But he got over it, and Conor was actually excited because he'd never seen it. After the movie, the boys went to bed, and Kat and I found "Van Wilder" on tv, which is incredibly inappropriate, but no one seemed to mind. Then, we went to our lovely warm beds! The next morning (Sunday), we got up around 9 to pack, eat breakfast, and head to mass. We had a trickle of water coming out of our bathroom sink. So we washed our faces, brushed teeths, and attempted to clean ourselves as well as possible. Anyway, we had another fantastic meal-- bacon (more like ham, less like American bacon), beans, toast, tomatoes, and eggs (not me!) with tea (of course-- The Irish drink more tea than anyone else in the world, for real). We then washed dishes and Liam dropped Kat, Margaret, and me off at mass. I'd never been to a Catholic service before, and this was definitely an experience (nothing too exciting, just very different from what I'm used to). First of all, no one dresses up for mass, so I seemed almost overdressed in a jean skirt. Secondly, the priest and passage readers talked so so so fast; I could barely understand them and no one in the congregation could recite anything as fast as the priest did. Also, Catholics stand and sit and kneel and stand and sit and stand and kneel and sit and kneel and so on... It's a good thing they have a kneeling bar in front of all the pews, and I hope that all Catholics have good knees. Anyway, as a non-Catholic, I also was not allowed communion, which was fine, especially because a lot of people didn't take it either. Mass lasted only 40 minutes or so, and then we waited so Margaret could talk to some people. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was snowing, starting on Saturday evening. Basically, it doesn't snow in Ireland; it rains (a lot) but never snow, so I don't know what was going on. But after mass, we said goodbye to the boys and Margaret and then headed to pick up the girls staying at Sheila's. The ride to the bus was pretty uneventful, but that was not a bad thing with all the ice and snow on the roads. By 1:15, our homestay was over and Kat and I were back on the bus, ready to go back to Cork. It was a fun weekend (might have been better with water), and if possible, it would be great to visit the Burkes again.