Ireland must have realized that we were weary travelers because we have been welcomed with warm weather and warmer people.

To start from the begging of this trip seems like recalling a months worth of events but I will try and hit the main points. My friend Mollie Land and I left the Minneapolis/ St. Paul airport at 2:00 p.m. While waiting at the terminal we recognized two other fellow Ireland travelers and were able to talk and hang out with them. Boarding the first plane the Continental steward, a white man at least in his 40’s sporting full grey dreadlocks and a New Jersey accident greeted us saying, “Welcome to Continental, watch your head.” For some reason I thought he said, “Welcome to Continental, whatcha name?” So I set down bags and said, “John Murray, thank you very much.” The first five rows of the plane burst into complete laughter. Hopefully this was a good omen; maybe good things can come of my idiocy. Our 4-person travel crew arrived at Newark and boarded our plane to Shannon easily. We arrived at the Shannon airport at 6 in the morning Irish time and had two wait until 12:45 in the afternoon to catch a bus to the Park Lodge Hotel, our Irish home located about 20 miles out of Galway in a town called Spiddal. Needless to say it was a long day, I felt sick and went to bed early.

The next day we woke up early and I was somewhat back to a normal state. Our entire group spent a day walking the city of Galway. It was absolutely beautiful. The Irish have put up with literally an entire summer of rain but within three hours I had waded into the Atlantic ocean and walked the crowded and colorful streets of Galway worrying only about the early signs of sunburn. We talked to some locals and eventually caught the bus back to Spiddal. The Park Lodge Hotel is about a 30-minute walk into the quaint downtown Spiddal. This wouldn’t be a big deal but the walk in is lethal. Cars zoom by the sidewalk (in America it would only be considered a small shoulder of the road) at incredible speeds on the wrong side of the road! This doesn’t seem to faze my fellow students, but I seem to jump into a bush of prickly nettle bushes to avoid what I see as certain death every time a car passes. No worries, I’ll survive. Spiddal has a beautiful sand beach that I had to jump in after picking up my first groceries. No worries once again, I made sure one of my fellow students, a certified lifeguard came swimming with me.

Everything was perfect and refreshing after the long day of travel. But things were only about to get better…

That night most of the 27 students were planning on staying in the cottages and just hanging out but I was set on going out. I’m in Ireland right now! My friend Matt Reeve had the same mindset. We had been told the night before that a wedding was going on Saturday at the hotel and the bar would be open on Friday night. Our cottages are about 100 yards from the hotel that consists of a bar, reception room, and hotel rooms. Note: from now on I will call the Park Lodge Hotel the PLH. There were only 5 people in the bar but John Paul, the maintenance manager, bar tender, and part owner of the PLH, greeted us and offered us a drink. We stayed and chatted with him and immediately realized why he is legendary with students who have been on the trip in the past. He is hilarious and very animated but near impossible to understand. After talking for some time with John Paul we started talking with the other guests there. They were all from the groom’s side in Donegal. After another drink and at least an hour of conversation I felt like old friends with all of them. Apparently they did too, because they insisted that we came to the wedding reception the next night, which was also to be held at the PLH. The offer was incredibly nice but we didn’t take it too seriously because we had an excursion planned at the Aran Islands the next day.

The next 24 hours must have been the best day of my entire life.

The Aran Islands are breathtaking. We rented bikes and went around the island. We stopped at a Gaelic football match and watched a team march onto the field led by a bagpipe playing “When the Saints Go Marching In”. It was a little cheesy but still gave me goose bumps. We biked to the fort Dun Aengus, which is an old rock fort that sits on a terrifying ledge and is actually slowly falling into the West in the Atlantic Ocean. The day was once again full of sun. The Aran Islands are indescribable. Hopefully my pictures can do what I cannot do with words. If not I will soon get pictures other people took.

We got back to Spiddal at about 6 and cleaned up and prepared a meal. The wedding party was already in full swing. My plan was to walk into town and go to a pub at about 9. I started my walk with about 5 other people but only got as far as the teenagers smoking cigarettes outside the dance. We started chatting and in no time they convinced us to go into the reception. I ran at full speed back to my cottage with my friend Thomas Joyce and we changed into the nicest cloths we had and went to an Irish wedding.

Wow

The first person I saw I recognized from the night before. Her name was Paula and she was either in her late 40’s or early 50’s. I sat down and she was delighted to see us there. I insisted on buying her a class of wine and of course she was saying no I didn’t need to but I got up and did and got myself a Guinness. Many people saw this and all immediately welcomed me. Needless to say, I wasn’t allowed to buy a drink for the rest of the night. Soon one of Paula’s friends came and sat next to me. She had been drinking since possibly before the 11:00 a.m. church service, as we were told that many people had. I started talking to her and we immediately became great friends. I had known that she was from Donegal and lied and told her that my family was from Donegal. In a stroke of pure genius I stopped and said to her, “Wait a second… I think you are my long lost mummy!” Her eyes lit up and she agreed and gave me a giant hug. We talked and laughed and had a great time and the mom joke continued all night. But love ya real mom!

Next we hit the dance floor and were dancing with a few students from the program that had also found there way into the reception. I talked to all the Irish young and old, especially my friends from the night before. The whole wedding felt like a line from an Irish Poem, The Rebel, I have memorized:

I have yearned with old wistful men, and laughed and cursed with young men

The Bride and Grooms first dance was “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban. Everyone sat down and made a circle around them. I was sitting in the very front with my Irish mom. They also played “Galway Girl” and “Brown Eyed Girl” which were crowd favorites. There was a DJ and a full band that played until 1 a.m. I left at 4:30 a.m. towards the end of traditional and heartfelt Donegal songs sung by my new friend, Connell. The night was perfect and I felt so at home and must have talked to at least 30 Irish people about anything from Minnesota to an upcoming Irish referendum to the Irish TV show Father Ted. It was absolutely magical night.

The next morning I woke up at about 11:30. Our group went to Coole Park, which was about a 45-minute drive and was a major inspiration for the poet W.B. Yeats. We meet with our Irish Literature professor and read poems in what is now a nature reserve overgrown with trees that must house leprechauns. Once again the sun was shinning. Once again a perfect day.

That night we walked into Spiddal to go see traditional Irish music at a pub called Hugh’s but we missed it. At about 11 p.m. the Spiddal Gaelic Football team came in cheering and yelling. They were all pissed (drunk). They had just won a playoff match and had a huge trophy to show for it. The first thing they did was open a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of hard cider and pour them into the trophy. Some how they saw us in the corner and ran over and insisted that we each take a sip from the trophy. We obliged them but soon walked home to avoid getting caught up in their wild night, as we had class the next morning. In two weeks they have another big game and we promised we would be their American cheerleaders. On the walk home we saw an old man with a large box, and started talking to him. It turns it was an accordion so we stopped and walked to the beach and he played for a half hour at 11 at night. He finally said, “Good night, the craic (Irish for good times) was good!” and we were off to bed.

Today was the first day of classes, which consisted of Irish history from 10-1, and Irish Catholicism from 2-5. The classes were interesting and the professors are very knowledgeable. It was long day especially after writing this blog. I needed to write down these memories before I would start to change or make up the story. So far it’s all true. The pictures aren't working tonight, everyone is on the their computers so check back soon, I have some priceless ones!

I am alive and very well,

Love,

John Murray