Where has time gone?

So I’ve been out of commission on the internet as of late. With the final week of classes, preparing for my family to come, and then spending a week with them, I’ve been busy, tired, and unmotivated to really do anything on the internet.

Then enter Finals Week. That will really motivate you to get on the internet and avoid hitting the books.

These past two weeks have been wonderful though. Although we spent the last week of classes worrying the ash cloud was going to severely hinder my family’s trip to Ireland, all ended up working out well. As for classes, they came and went. School is just so different here.

The time with my family was wonderful. We spent the first weekend in Dublin hitting up the major sites: Guinness Storehouse, Jameson Factory, and more. Then we spent a day in beautiful Limerick and took my parents out to Dolan’s that evening. The rest of the week was filled with the real Irish sites: Blarney Castle, the Cliffs of Moher, and the Ring of Kerry.

When they left of Friday, May Bank Holiday Weekend begun here in Limerick. It was full of entertainment, markets, and best of all: the BBQ Competition. Never in my life have I been to an event with so much free food. Each BBQ Team was supplied with meat which they were to make and give out for free to the people who came to taste test. There were a few different categories, and Phillip and I tried as much as we could fill ourselves with; different kinds of pork cuts, sausages, chicken, steak and burgers were all served up all day Saturday. For us poor Study Abroad students, the free meal was warmly welcomed!

And now it is time to buckle down for my Abstract Algebra final tomorrow. After that I don’t have another final for over a week, so Phillip and I are doing our final trips in Ireland. This Wednesday, we’re going to Dublin to go to all of the National Museums (which are free) and Grafton Street for some window shopping and hopefully live entertainment. Thursday, we’re making our way up to Galway, the fastest growing city in Ireland, and Friday, we’re hoping to FINALLY get to go to the Aran Islands! (Pray for good weather!) We’ll spend the weekend in Limerick going to the Milk Market and our other normal activities, and then on Monday, we’re going to Cork, my favorite city of the trip thus far and making our way to the Jameson Experience and Factory nearby. After that, we’ll only have one week left in Ireland, all of which we’ll spend in our Irish hometown of Limerick.

It’s hard to believe we have just over two weeks left, and I think that neither of us are sure how to feel about that right now. I'm not sure where time has gone.
All of us in Killarney! [See the Rainbow?]