Its Been a Week!

Greetings to all Canadians!
As of today I have been in Ireland for one week. Amazing, isn't it?? It seems like forever since I have seen any of you, but the last seven days have also zipped by really, really, fast!
I apologize for the lack of blogging. I'm sure you're all dying to know my news :P
Well, I was dying to blog. I really was. I just realized this week how addicted I really am. I kept shoving thoughts in the back of my mind, and being like "Remember that so you can blog about it later!". Pretty sad, huh? Unfortunately I have had minimal opportunity to unload all those thoughts, so they're a bit jumbled and some of them have been lost.
I'll just ramble a bit and see what comes out...
After saying goodbye to Mom and Dad at 8PM Monday, I went through security, and I didn't even beep when I walked through the beeper thing (which always gives me a heart attack). I was wearing my ring though, so I don't know what's up with that. Maybe silver doesn't set it off? I guess.
Then I walked for a million miles through the airport until I found my gate, and waited for about an hour and a half. That was boring, so I just journalled a bit.
I had a window seat on the plane and I was very curious to see who would be sitting next to me. Turned out to be a huge, cussing, 20-something Irish guy, who I think bought all the alcohol available on the plane....hahaha! Pretty funny. He was actually very nice.
The plane took off just after 10 PM and that was fun. I looove take-off. Watching all the buildings grow smaller and smaller, and the lights dissapear beneath the clouds...it was super cool.
I thought I was going to go to sleep right away, but I actually probably only slept about 3 hours of the 8 hour flight.
I saw some Northern Lights, but it was not very good...just looked like a green cloud. I'll have to go back some day and see some better ones.
Also crossed over Greenland. By that time it was light out, so you could see the miles and miles and miles of snow and ice. That was very neat!
Coming into Ireland was cool....very green! And the whole landscape was sectioned off into little squares and rectangles of land like a big patchwork blanket. The pollution over the country is terrible though. It was like flying through a big murky gray cloud.
Getting off the plane was uneventful. Mom, I was totally capable of pulling my huge suitcase off the conveyor belt :)
I had no trouble until I got to Passport control. The lady was very suspicious of me, and made me feel pretty stupid haha. She drilled me about what I was doing and stuff.
"You're going to live with people you have never met before, for three months?" she wanted to know.
By the end of it I'm pretty sure she was convinced I had met someone on an online dating service, and yah you know the rest of the story...
So she only issued me a vistors visa for one month. Don't panic Mom. I'll be going into Dublin sometime this week to apply for a volunteer visa that will allow me to stay for longer. And if that doesn't work out...well, I guess I'll be travelling the world, and catching my flight home after my birthday.
A friend of the Mawhinney's picked me up from the airport. Her name is Maggie and she is the sweetest lady ever. She and her husband David live in the cutest little cottage imaginable and they've made me feel right at home. The little spare bedroom I'm staying in is all done up with popourri and antiques, and an electric blanket on the bed. haha..
That night they had Karen MaWhinney's sister and her husband over for "tea" (read: supper) and they are such a delight! Arlene and Noel. Seriously the funniest, friendliest, most fun Irish people ever.
The next day Arlene took me out to see the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, and the town of Portrush. It was such an amazingly fun day! She spoiled me rotten.
On Thursday Helen Bruce (coordinates the SWIM program) picked me up and took me to Belfast to attend the Full Time Youth Workers meeting at Church House. I met a whole bunch of people, and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards I walked around Belfast a little bit and did some shopping and stuff.
Friday I met Sam and Karen Mawhinney, and their three little boys (really cute!). Also met up with the 3 other leaders and the youth group of 10. They are all absolutely crazy, but a lot of fun! Most of them are 12 or 13, but the three boys are 15&16.
We drove to the MAD weekend in Coleraine that night. It was fun, but my jetlag was finally catching up with me, so I feel like I was dead the whole time. My highlight was the worship times led by Andy Flannagan and his band, and the speaker whose first name was Marko, but his last name remained mysteriously anonymous. He was from California I think, and his nice normal North American accent was music to my ears! Never thought I would appreciate it so much, but it was a nice little taste of home.
Some of you may remember me telling you that I tend to mimick accents unconciously. Well, its begun. Hearing the Irish lilt day in and day out is taking its toll. I'm starting to talk like them! Its kind of sad really. I mean, Oma and Opa came to Canada from Holland when they were about my age, and they still have their accents. And here I am, a week into my stay and I'm already losing my Canadian-ness. Haha....unfortunately for you guys, I will probably lose it within a week of being home.
The MAD youth rally ended Sunday at noon, and then we went to Portrush and walked along the beach there. It was very nice and I got to chat with a lot of the youth, so that was good. I took lots of pictures, which I will hopefully get up sometime next week.
Yesterday we drove back to Antrim here, did some shopping, went to Belfast and went to a science centre called W5 (who, what,when,where,why). It was cool. Kind of like a miniature Science World.
After that I tagged along with Karen and her boys as they went for dinner at a friend's house. We all squished into their tiny little dining room (they lived in one of those cute European townhouses where the houses are all only as wide as their door haha). The couple had two sons, Gavin (12) and Owen (20-something?). Funny story: halfway through the meal Gavin turns to his brother and says,
"So is she here with them or with you?"
I guess the two of them don't communicate much!!!
So all week I have been on the go, hopping from one place to the next...and I'm pretty tired. So today is my "Chill out" day. I am doing nothing. Except this.
Tomorrow I'm going to Ballycastle with Karen visiting her family there, and the next day we will drive down to Fermoy. And I can finally settle a little bit. It will be good. I'm excited for it :P
Whew! This is quite the report. I wish I could make it more entertaining or something, but I'm fairly braindead.
A few impressions I have of the country:
* They drink tea like none other! At home I have tea maybe once a week. Here it is 3+ cups a day!
*They wear their shoes in the house. That was a difficult transition.
*The nice days are brilliant. The rainy days are gloomy. The cold is COLD. Not our dry Kamloops cold, but a chill-to-the-bone kind of cold.
*Its very rural. Unless you are in the heart of the town, you will be driving past fields of cows or sheep (no sheep herders though guys...sorry to dissapoint) or llamas.
*The housing is my dream come true! It is so european...every house has quaint bay windows, a little sunroom, rock walls surrounding, many are made of red brick, and they all have gabled windows. It isn't just the high-end places either. Everywhere they are all so quaint. Even the townhouses or "flats". They all look like they grew out of the ground and have been there forever. I love it.
*I don't have to worry about eating weird food. Everything I've had so far is "normal", and they say that they don't eat a lot of fish or seafood. I've had A LOT of potatoes, lasagna, and chicken. This past weekend I don't think I ate one healthy thing. Chocolate, "crisps" (potato chips), "fizzy drinks" (pop), and "chips" (french fries), and white bread. And I'm feeling it. I need to start eating healthy again.
*Distance has a different meaning here. Everything is very close together, but it takes long to get anywhere because of traffic.

I've done a fair bit of driving around since I got here, so transport gets a little blurb all its own!

First of all,

The Irish are CRAZY drivers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They go FAST! 80 MPH on every little road. And the lanes here are very, very, narrow. If you go walking along the side of the road (as I have done) you need to be careful because they zoom past you soooo fast and so close! Its fun if you are in the car though. Its like you are on a rollercoaster because you zip along these windy roads that kind of roll up and down over the hills. And the scenery is amazing.
It was/is a bit of an adjustment getting used to driving on the other side of the road. I keep walking to the drivers side when I get in the car, or panicking because we're taking a right turn and it feels wrong to be pulling into the left lane.
They have very few light-controlled intersections here. Instead they have these big roundabouts where you just yield to traffic on the right. It seems to work well, and you rarely have to come to a complete stop.
Karen was telling me the other day that if I want, there is a family in the church that has an extra car that I can use while I am here!!! Haha...I don't know what to say. I would have to learn to drive standard, AND learn to drive on the left side. Kind of sketchy.
On the other hand it would give me a lot more mobility...we'll see how it goes.
I could make a pretty good crazy Irish driver :P

Anyway, I've been on here for a pretty long time now, so I should go. It would be grand to hear from you all, so leave a comment! Like I said I will try and get back on here once I get settled. And I will put up some pictures.

IF you comment. muahaha....