Funny Little Things

 This is Kinsley and I at our Halloween Party planned by Levi, one of the students here. We decided to be Faith and Learning because we enjoy both and it also happens to be Taylor University's motto. We also had little to work with here people. It was such a funny night, we had people dresses up as Mitt Romney all the way to Bob Marley. We carved pumpkins and Faith and Learning went head-to-head in a bobbing for apples competition. Of course, faith prevailed.

 This building is where we eat all of our meals, watch the news, play games, read books in the library, watch movies, and just hang out Red Room.

This is the Red Room. It is called that even though the only thing that is red are the curtains. This is main hang out place. It gets so crowded and I think everyone has a love/hate relationship with it.

Northern Ireland - A Divided Land

Northern Ireland is actually not a part of the country of Ireland. It is a colony of the United Kingdom with Great Britain and Scotland. Our bus driver, Brian King, grew up during the "troubles" in the North. Walls were built, gates were shut, neighbors violent against neighbors. The troubles were the Irish Protestant Loyalists fighting against their own Irish Catholic Nationalist brothers. Our first day we spent in Derry, a city that is divided in half by a peace wall. On one side there is the Union Jack flying and painted on every sidewalk and on the other is the tricolored Irish Republic flag. Murals and memorial gardens cover the city. Both sides still blaming the other under the surface. "The walls will come down only when the people want them to come down." The violence has decreased but the underlying tension was evident. 

Our second day was more of a run around free day. We went to the castle you see below us and also to a World Heritage Sight- The Giant's Causeway. The third day were in Belfast and heard three different sides to the divided Ireland. We got tours from our bus driver (a nationalist who was involved in the IRA-Irish Republican Army), a man named Noel (a loyalist who was in prison for 16 years for being involved in murders of leading IRA members), and from a man from America who has lived in Northern Ireland for about 30 years.

This was my favorite trip out of all of them. I loved the place we stayed and the tours and the Counties up North were very thought provoking. The stats in the North right now are 52% Unionist, meaning they want to stay united with Great Britain, and 48% Nationalist, wanting to become one nation with Ireland. The issue is still very real and prevalent today.

 The Giants Causeway

 Down Hill Hostel by the beach

 The living room in the hostel where we played games and whatnot.

 A mural in Derry- a city divided in half by Unionists and Nationalists.

Lots of pictures, places, and beautiful people.

 Okay everyone, I know it's been a while since I've put some pictures up. These past few weeks have been busy with traveling, ER visits, and the Rousselow-Winquists. The picture above is from our Parent's week trip to Glendalough, a monastic city in County Wicklow. There are thousand year old ruins of churches and monastic buildings, a round tower, and great hikes to the Upper and Lower lakes.

This is the stunning Japanese Gardens from Powerscourt. This was a great trip because of the famous desert from Avoca. Oh, and it was great because my parents were there too :)

This is Powerscourt Estate, not too shabby eh?

On our last free day my parents and I made it up to Howth (a town about half an hour north of Dublin) to eat lunch and see this lighthouse. It rained, but what else is new.

One big happy family at Blarney Castle: Zach, Baili, and I.

So, the Rousselow-Winquists are our Art As Experience teachers. They are the cutest, most strange married couple in the whole world. They were here for the week so we endured many lectures and presented two paintings at the National Gallery and the Hugh Lane Gallery. This pictures is from a day trip to Nowth. These are passage tombs.

So many buildings on the Rousselow-Winquists architectural tour..

Sorry about the lack of updates, I've had a busy and interesting past few weeks! A few weeks ago I got to spend time with my wonderful parents and the same day they left the group of us left for Cork and Killarney (Southern Ireland). On the way back I started having a sharp pain in my lower right side that wouldn't go away so I ended up in the hospital (classic) and stayed for two nights while the doctors did blood work and tests and whatnot. They decided it was most likely a large cyst that burst because of the liquid and blood in my stomach that showed up on the ultra sound. 

ANYWAY, I'll be uploading pictures of my adventures, excluding the hospital, very soon. Less than 6 weeks left here in Ireland. Miss and love all of you. 

Nicole

Venice

Day 1: Arrived at Camping Jolly. Many jokes were made about Camping Jolly and the white mini van that picked us up from the airport, but the Bungalows were a dream. We took the shuttle into Venice and spent the day walking around the streets and looking at shops and whatnot. We ate dinner and had gelato, but not without finding a beautiful alley to sit and look like hobos.

Day 2: We were exhausted from traveling and slept in and had a relaxing afternoon reading by the pool. We went to Venice for dinner and to see San Marco Piazza at night. Venice is stunning at night.

Day 3: When we got into Venice on Sunday we went to a Catholic Italian mass service in an exquisite cathedral on the Grand Canal Street. It was surreal because we couldn't understand what they were saying but the service was so reverent. Afterwards we had nutella crépes and shopped around San Marco Square. The streets were full of designers: Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc. So I basically just drooled and kept walking, don't worry mom and dad. We took a gondola ride though the water streets and the Grand Canal of Venice. It didn't even feel real.

Day 4: Travel went smoothly and I'm back at home in Ireland! Great trip but I'm glad to be back in a bed that doesn't shake when semis go by on the highway!

Fall Break-Venice, Italy

Fall Break Friends

 This is Erin! She's adorable and so fun. But she kept touching the slug because she's weird.

 This is Kinsley and I. She's my roommate and one of my closest friends here. She has a beautiful spirit and is a English Lit major. She reads our room poetry every night before we sleep haha.

These are some of the best guys you'll ever meet and they're going to be our protectors over fall break. This is Charlie and Austin, they are roommates here and just decided they're going to room together back at Taylor.

So all these wonderful people (plus Baili) make up my fall break group! We're headed to the airport at 2:00 AM Friday morning and will be back Monday afternoon. We're staying in Bungalows right outside of Venice. We don't really have a plan except that we'll be attending a Mass service in Venice.