Approaching

The end of our time here in Dungarvan is approaching, finals have been taken, papers are being finished, and plans for return - or how to keep from leaving - are being formulated by all. However, as much as we don't want to leave, I know I'll be glad to see my friends and family again.
The past few days have been a whirlwind. We've gone horseback ridding in the countryside, gone "pub golfing" for a 21st birthday party, a thank you reception, watched the sunrise and have had some quality craic and bonding time. In the last few days we have sort of come together as a group. It's still has it's little groups within it, but it seems that as the days are shortening, the bonds are strengthening. Now I'm not saying we're all going to be best friends after this trip, but there is definitely something special that will keep us together. Even if it's just a hello walking across campus, there's that certain knowledge that this new friend is missing Dungarvan just as much as you are.
I don't think any of us realized how attached we would become to this place, and the people we've met here. I think of this as a second home, and I'm terribly sad that I have to leave it. It pulls on my heart strings to think that I cannot say when the next time I'll be back in Ireland and in Dungarvan after this trip ends. I know I will be back, I just don't know when.
This trip and this town have changed me for the better, I've grown up a lot being here, and have expanded my view on the world. Whether or not I fully realize everything about me that has changed, I know that something in me has been altered, not on purpose, but not without realization. I am intrinsically the same, yet different and I love that feeling.
At our thank you reception last night we hosted town and county members and those people who have made this all possible for us. Our expressions of gratitude and thanks cannot do justice to how much we are grateful for this opportunity and their wonderful enthusiasm and hospitality. The friends we have made, the memories they have given us and the way they have taken us into their lives and homes and allowing us to be a part of their lives is amazing. I cannot express enough thanks to do justice to how much they have done for us. Thank You.

Future Professions and Lisbon

On Saturday we went to see a Portuguese bull fight in a neighboring town! It was so much fun! There was a lot of a lot of ceremony that went with the bull fight, which isn't so much a fight as it is a dance. What we think of as a typical bull fight is the guy with the cape waving at the bull and jumping out of his way. While this is a part of it, it is a small part. The biggest part of the bull fight involves the Pantalones who ride on horseback while attempting to jab the bull with an arrowhead attached to a brightly decorated poll. The idea is to get the arrow in the bulls back right near the target on it's back. This will not kill the bull, only make it upset from the pain. While he is ridding and while he changes horses, the bull is distracted or guided around by the Bandarilheiros, who are the guys with the capes. After he has finished his round the Forcados come out. This is a really exciting point in the bull fight because now 8 unarmed, unprotected guys come out to stop the bull using only their strength! They line up and the first guy provokes the bull to charge at him and he runs at the bull catching it by the horns and holding onto his head. The next guy behind him needs to hold onto him , and not fall down while the next five swarm at the bull's head and side in an attempt to immobilize him as quickly as possible. The last guy in line goes to the bulls tail and grabs a hold of it and doesn't let go. Then once the bull quits moving the other 7 quickly let go and move away and he holds onto the tail of the bull while the bull tries to get his tail and turns in a circle. It looks like a dog chasing its tail with a guy hanging on! After that, to get the bull out of the arena, they bring out a bunch of cattle and two cattle herders who move the bull and the cattle. There is one other way in which the Forcados immobilize the bull. This way is definitely harder, and more dangerous. This procedure is carried out with only two Forcados who sneak up on the bull using the cattle to hide behind. One grabs the head and the other grabs the tail. Each bull fight takes about twenty minutes to a half hour and there were seven bulls for that day. After each bull was finished, the Pantalone would walk around the arena saluting the crowd, and if the first Forcado did well, he would join him. The crowd would show their appreciation for him by throwing him a hat or a sweater, which he would catch and throw back. If they thought that he was really great, they would throw him flowers, which he kept. I threw a hat to one of the guys, unluckily he never caught it because the wind caught it about halfway there and blew it sideways. But he saluted and bowed to me to acknowledge my effort! I did get the hat back don't worry! The people in the crowd throw it back up to it's rightful owner. After watching the bull fighting, I have officially taken it off my list of future professions.
On Sunday, we drove into Lisbon from Evora to see the capital city. Lisbon is beautiful and has great history. Since we were at a port as we walked near the river we could see sailboats coming in and out of the bay and up and down the river. In order to see as much of Lisbon as we possibly could, we got tickets for the "Hop-on Hop-off" buses that take you around the city and tell you all about it. When we did our "Hop-off" we stopped near the bay to see the Tour de Bellem, Monument to the Discoveries and the National Palace. The Tour de Bellem used to defend the King and the city back in the 1500's when they built it. Originally it was built in the middle of the river so they could attack ships. Now, due to erosion and land shifting, the Tour de Bellem is on the right bank of the river! As we drove through the city we learned about the history of the city and how it came to be set up. In the 14th century there was a huge earthquake that brought the city to ruins. It was then quickly rebuilt so that another earthquake would not cause that much damage again. This is why the buildings in the city center of Lisbon look so similar, they were essentially built on an assembly line so that the city could be rebuilt very quickly. This time the city was built on a grid pattern instead of how it was before, without much organization. All the preexisting structures were taken down, except for a part of the old cathedral which remains standing amidst the new structures as a reminder of what had happened.

Portugal!

This past weekend, I spent my time in Portugal with a good family friend and his family. They live in a small town called Evora, which is about an hour inland from Lisbon and about two hours from Spain. I got in late Thursday night, and began touring bright and early Friday morning. Actually on our way back from the Airport, we drove by the two of the football stadiums in Lisbon, so my touring began immediately! I don't think I can even begin to describe the amount of things I saw this weekend. Fernando wanted to show me as much of Portugal as he possibly could. Needless to say I was exhausted at the end of the day! We toured around Evora on Friday, and saw a lot of cool things I didn't expect to see, like Roman aqueducts, or a Roman Temple for the goddess Diana! But Portugal is an interesting mix of things. It has been influenced by many different groups including the Spanish, the Arabs, the Egyptians, and the Romans. Making their cuisine, architecture and culture very unique. Not to mention they have a very unique language, although it is part of the Romance languages, it is difficult, and not widely spoken outside of the countries where it is the language. There are definite similarities to Spanish and French, but not close enough to pick it up well if you spoke either of those languages!
But the architecture there reminds you of something very Mediterranean or Grecian. The walls of almost all the buildings are a white plaster, and the roofs are the red terracotta tiles. It's really beautiful. The streets are lined with stones, and in some cities we visited, they are marble streets with beautiful designs in them. Marble is so common there, that they line their streets and sidewalks with it, while we pay tons of money for our marble sinks and counter tops.
While I was there I saw a ton of castles, and walled cities as well as the beautiful countryside and where Fernando works at Univerisity of Evora. My favorite walled city was Monsaraz, which was up on top of a hill overlooking farms on one side and a giant lake on the other side. The lake was actually a man-made lake that came about when they built a damn farther down on the river that used to pass through there. It was really beautiful and the city was very quaint. The houses were all washed white of course with the terracotta roofs, but the way the were laid out made it really charming. The view from the city of the lake and surrounding country side was really beautiful, I think that is what I liked most about it. We also stopped for lunch there and had lamb ribs, which were amazing. Lamb is really common to that area, and they fix it in all kinds of different ways. I got the impression from Fernando that eating Lamb in that area is like eating Pizza in Sicily. But hey, I'm it was great!
Speaking of delicacies, I also ate snails while i was in Portugal! That's right, I skipped the escargo in Paris, but had it in Evora. Why? I have no idea, but I had snails. It wasn't bad, its very salty, and with lots of seasoning, and they snails are hot when they serve them to you. The place we had snails at is actually a little cafe that really only serves snails and drinks. It is just like any small cafe you see with people sitting outside at the tables with drinks relaxing after a days work, except instead of enjoying a scone and tea, they are having a beer and a plate of snails! The weirdest thing was that they still had the antennas on them, and that instead of using a little fork to get them out, you just sucked them out of their shells! You only used a little toothpick to pry them out if you couldn't get them out. It was fun to sit at the cafe with Fernando, Noemia - his wife - and Margarida their little daughter. When they bring out the snails, it is just a small plate, with a pile of snails on it. It's a little daunting, but the snails weren't too big probably like 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch at the absolute biggest. However, you could order BIG snails - and those were HUGE they were like an inch big!! I definitely wouldn't have been able to eat those ones!
One of the really nice things about Portugal is the landscape. It varies depending on where you are in the country and no matter what it is beautiful. As we drove through the countryside, the fields were all in bloom with purple, and yellow wild flowers and red poppies. And among them were Cork Oak trees, which they use for making cork, olive tree vineyards, sheep, cattle and horses. Not to mention the occasional grape vineyard crossing the landscape. It was beautiful, I liked the driving and seeing the countryside as much as I enjoyed the cities, and towns we visited.