Sept 13th

Today I woke up to a bowl of Cherrios, cashed the rest of our milk supplies, and packed my bag for a day of adventure. We bussed to a small town called Cong. All the of us students filed off the bus and went to the left to raid the bars for some hot coffee. I started to go with the mob, then slapped myself and remembered that I was a seasoned traveler. So, I fought the mob and went against the grain. I had a small following and made my way to the public bathroom. The rushed over to the toilet and did my duty. The toilet had been spoiled by its previous occupier, but this didn’t faze me after using the wholes of the Middle East to relieve myself this May. I exited the stall with a welcome from Chuck, my Prof, and worried that he might be a little more concerned about the condition of the bathroom and my sanity. I left the public bathroom in a tizzy and marched up the stairs of the Abbey Church with a graveyard encompassing it. The tombstones were sprayed with vibrant green moss and felt of a sandpaper-like eroded texture.

This is a picture of the graveyard and ruins of the Cong Abbey.



Feeling parched, I stopped in a butcher shop to see if I could find a cheaper drink than at the tourist trap shops. They had a liter of OJ for cheap. I picked it up and the middle aged jolly looking man behind the meat counter warned me that the juice had bubbles. I picked up water instead and in an Irish tone he informed me that I wanted the blue capped water, because I picked out the only sparkling water on the shelf. I thanked him, pulled out my Euros, and told him that something smelt great. He smirked and told me, “I’m roasting some pig butt downstairs…” I awkwardly gave him a fake laugh, wondering if he was trying to be funny or literally was roasting pig butt. He continued, “Bacon and cabbage is a grand meal …” I walked out feeling like an imbecile.

The next stop for the group was Westport village. Once again I stepped off the coach bus and left the mob. Nick, Emily, and I grabbed a bite at a fair trade hippy sandwich shop. I asked the lady at the till how to order and she told me in a sarcastic Irish voice to look at the menu and tell me what you want to eat.

After eating we headed toward the tourist info center. They directed us to the Heritage Center, which was according to them a 20 min walk from us. We whizzed through the Church on our way for a quick Hail Mary and started on our 20 min trek. Thirty mins later we were still a good 5 mins out according to our map. I started to see a pattern. Not only are the Irish sarcastic, but they tend to exaggerate. (Wonder where Caroline, Mark, and I get it?) We got to the river, took some pictures and booked it back to the bus.



Picture on our way to the Heritage Center...

A small fishing boat parked on the river...

Our next stop was Croagh Patrick, the mountain which Saint Patrick fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Before arriving, we passed through a couple more quaint towns and watched the cow pastures turn to hills and mountains peppered with sheep. The bus driver informed us in an English accent that. “This is where Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland…so we don’t have snakes—well that’s not true, we have lots of bloody snakes, they take our tax money and live in Dublin.” We all laughed and walked up the mountain part ways to see a monument of Saint Patrick with the back drop of green covered mountains and trickling streams. I said a quick prayer and rushed back to the bus.

This is a picture of me dipping my hand in holy water at the statue of Saint Patrick on the Croagh Patrick Mountain.

Before you knew it we were back to Spiddal for some Spaghetti. Following supper, I went to each cottage to organize buying meat from the butcher shop in bulk. I figured we could save a couple Euros, drink a bit more Bulmer’s, and take a few more hot showers if we can get a discount on our meat. I’ll get to the butcher in the next couple days, give him our order, get prices, and report back to everyone to see if they’ll accept. I’ll collect the money and order the meat.

Cottage 1
4lbs. Ground Beef
5 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts

Cottage 2
4lbs. Ground Beef
5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Cottage 3
4 lbs. Ground Beef
Price Check the Bacon

Cottage 4
2 lbs. Ground Beef
6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Cottage 5
3 lbs Ground Beef
6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Cottage 6
5 lbs. Ground Beef
6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Cottage 7 (Chuck and his wife’s cottage)
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

GRAND TOTAL INDEED:
- 22 lbs. Ground Beef
- 32 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Possibly Some Bacon

The part I didn’t think about was how I’m gonna get all this back to our cottages. I can pay the taxi guy 1 Euro to take me into town and 1 Euro to get back to the cottages. So, I need to factor in that expense and the headache this may give me trying to figure out everything. I am considering a service charge. What do you think?

A) I should collect a fee and buy Jinette a gift (Jinette is my very attractive girlfriend)
B) Pocket the money and put it toward my education
C) Buy the guys complementary showers and Bulmer’s for the semester
D) Donate my time and services for the good of the community