Quintessential Ireland

A little summary for those who want to read about my life:

The many fields of Inisheer.

Last weekend, Molly and I went on a field trip to Inisheer (the smallest of the three Aran Islands) for our Folklore class. The island itself was fairly small, with a population of around 700, and by the end I was definitely experiencing cabin fever and ready to punch my 34 other class mates. Yet, it has definitely been my favorite trip thus far! The entire island was my ideal Ireland, all the cliche things you think of when you picture the Irish countryside were present (plus a ridiculous amount of rocks. Even if you imagine a multitude of rocks in the first place, I assure you, there were far more then you thought possible). First of all, all the land was split up into small fields by man made rock walls, the only parts that weren't fields were the small town center, the 4 roads, and right along the coast line. Speaking of the coast line, IT WAS SO TOTALLY WICKED! Parts were cliffs, there was a light house and a ship wreck, but the majority was just a lot of rocks, but still really cool. Other great sites included the ruins of a castle up on a hill and the wild life (and by wild life, I mean the random apperance of domesticated animals). The castle was cool, not to mention totally climbable, and the view was quite spectacular. The animals were always entertaining. There were horses, and cows, and this sheep that fell off a wall, but the best were the dogs that would follow you around!
Besides forcing Molly to hike around the island approximately 2 1/4 times, we spent way too much time cramped in a hostel with 34 other people. We took over the hostel (HOSTILE TAKEOVER!) so there was no one else to worry about, but still, there only so much of other people that I can take. We played a lot of cards and bananagrams.
The ferry ride there was awesome 'cause we got drenched and saw a seal. The ferry ride back sucked 'cause I got sea sick and then had to endure about 3 more hours on a bus. But overall it was awesome, and I shall post more of the fun little stories and pics from the trip in another post...'cause i'm lazy and this post is getting too long!