I wish I were like Constance.

When I first got off of the plane, I went through customs. This customs officer was much nicer than the one I met in Heathrow. That guy there wanted to know everything I was doing.. including an itinerary from my study abroad program. Bizarre.

I then sat in Shannon Airport for awhile. I was dying to buy an Irish Times, but I had no euros with me and the currency converters were closed, but when I left with Joe (our driver) and Kali, I was too excited to care about the newspaper. 

First entering a country is probably my favorite feeling. You never know what to expect because honestly, what do pictures do? They certainly never do a place like this any justice. Seeing the street signs, the advertisements, the cars, the grass, everything, just made me feel like I was finally doing what I am meant to do again--travel. And hearing accents.. well, that is what I live for. Accents. 

We talked to Joe for awhile about Irish culture. It was amazing to talk to a native about things, not that I do not appreciate historians. He is originally from Galway, where Gaelic is the native tongue and the first language taught to students. English comes second to Gaelic in Galway, unlike the rest of Ireland. I find this fascinating and I wonder just how much longer Gaelic is going to be around. 

Joe moved to Sligo for his job and never left because he would never take his kids out of the life that they have created in Sligo. He showed us a little village made up of primarily Brazilians, which was very interesting to see. 

Another excited part of being in Ireland is the fact that I can see sheep wherever I go. I just love them!

When we got to St. Angela's, I was absolutely surprised at how nice the apartments are. I looked at all the pictures on the website beforehand, but I am just not used to getting what I see in online galleries. 

When we took the little bus ride around Sligo, it was a bit hard to take in all that was said about things like the Constance Markiewicz statue because I was paying so much attention to the little town around me, but after learning about her at Lissadell, I have decided that I would truly love to learn more about her--and Irish women in general. 

We then visited the Lissadell house [from the outside] and Drumcliffe. The Lissadell house is very pretty, but I find it peculiar that someone who is not related to the Gore-Booths actually owns the property. 

W.B. Yeats' grave was just another grave, which is exactly what he thought himself. 

Back at St. Angela's we met a few of the people from the Lehigh University group on campus over dinner, then we headed to Aras Michael for a lecture from Stella Mew about the Gore-Booth family. Their history is so interesting, especially Constance's story. 

Stella is such a passionate person that she talked for 1 1/2 hours on this family. Even though this was hard to stay awake through after the amount of traveling we did, I am amazed at what she knows.

Oh, and we met Jeremiah Lynch, too! He's a very nice man, but leaving for Korea tomorrow..

Pictures are not working for Blogger right now, so I'll have to update that later.