(My front yard)

Life at Park Lodge Hotel, Spiddal, Ireland:

The Park Lodge Hotel is in the middle of no where. It is 12 miles outside of Galway, hugging the coast and entrapped by rolling hills and small farms. Spiddal the town is 2 miles away and sits on top of a sandy beach, a stereotypical town made up of a church (mass is said in gaelic, not english), a butcher, a grocery store, and four pubs. The area we are in is beautiful. The ocean is a 5 minute walk and I make it daily to watch the tide change or the stars appear. Tonight the stars are out and the waves are calmly lapping against the rocky shore. As I walk back from the ocean, I cross the deadly two-lane street, thanks be to God there are no cars zooming around the corner tonight, and immediately see the front of the Park Lodge Hotel.

(Side View of Park Lodge Hotel... the pub is the glass rotunda on the left, wedding hall in the middle, class room on the far right, and hotel rooms on the second floor)

The Park Lodge Hotel is run by the Foyle family, with three of the seven Foyle siblings living and working here full time. The hotel consists of a large reception area perfect for the weddings that are held nearly every weekend here, or the weekly Wednesday Spiddal Yoga class led by Jimmy Fitzgerald. Turning the corner I see a group of students checking emails in the computer lounge (two computers, a flat screen T.V., and a couch). The classroom which I am in every Monday through Thursday is full of students using the wireless internet to Skype or finish homework. I'm still looking at the stars somehow defy the clouds while walking around the side, as the six cottages that the students live in and the director's cottage are tucked around the back of the Hotel, and I say hello to a fellow student walking to the lounge with their computer going to blog.

(My Cottage, front view)

I cross the parking lot that is in the back and make my way to my cottage, a stone's throw from the the main building. I chuckle a bit looking at the playground on the other side of the parking lot, seeing the basketball hoop set at eight and a half feet surrounded by a six foot area of cement, for those that don't know basketball thats less than half of the way to the free throw line. I walk into my cottage and think about taking a hot shower before bed, but decide not to because I haven't taken a hot shower at the cottages yet. The cottages are run on an energy machine powered by 2 Euro coins, and any leftovers of the 14 Euro weekly energy allowance is saved is split between the group. I'm used to cold showers, so I heat up some Tesco Ravioli in the microwave (valued at 35 cents) and hit the hay in preparation for the next day of classes...