Day 1 posted by Day 11

Aye to all from the Northern most county in Northern Ireland. I know after an abrupt exit followed by no means of communication for the last week and half have gotten some people worried- and I'm informing those who weren't. This blog is what I found to be most efficient in communicating the sights, smells, interactions, and experiences 6 hours in the future. My access to modern conviences is limited (microwaves and computers both included) and I'll also be nomadic so blogs may be few and far between, but nevertheless keep checking and maybe you'll find something useful/comedic/spooky/or even relevant. So I'll be brief and to point with some posts so as to not waste your self proclaimed 'valuable time' or mine for that matter.

Dawn on January 25th, 2007 brought a parade of colors alongside a plane carrying a 21 year-old scrawny white American into the Emerald Isle. The scenery is breathtaking: my words nor pictures will do it justice (I will include some pictures on later posts once I figure this jazz out...and more words too). For the first night, five of us went to the local pub to celebrate my 21st b-day on the 24th and Eileen's on the 25th. Despite being a couple decades younger than anyone else in the place and the skip of a record, the place was pretty hospitable. A few guys brought their guitars and a bass into the pub and played an amazing show while drinking beer at the table next to us. After some professional proformances of James Taylor, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and other classic songs; they came to our table and asked Eileen and I to play with 'em. She's got a lot more talent than I do so she ended up jamming a couple of songs out with them and I reluctantly got on and played a bluegrass tune which they caught onto and joined in on. These lads had a wee bit o' talent and they played a mellow environment every thursday night at the local pub.

Celebratory Whiskey shots

Andi, Christine and I --->

The group I'm with includes 10 other students: 2 from Dennison university in Ohio- Matt and John, 2 from the University of Minnesota- Alice and Joanna, 1 from St. Olaf -Abby, 3 from Gustavus Adolfus- Andi KT and Christine, 1 from St. Kates- Eileen, and 1 from Carleton College- Avionne (originally from Trinidad/ Tobago)- she promised salsa dance lessons. We're all a melting pot of personalities and have been getting along swell. Mafia is the role playing game of choice (just like werewolf)- so far we've played with our director Nigel, a few Germans and a couple of natives; I'm really developing some good lie techniques and a better poker face.

I'll stop this post short since it's the intro and I'll try to catch up to date during the course of the week. Exciting upcoming events include, but are not limited to: a trip to Giant's Causeway on the North coast, field trip to Corrymeela and internship placement, Bushmills distillery visit, the beach and group bonding. The generic sign off here is Cheers- they're big Ted Danson fans. So Cheers.