Newry River

Alright alright back to give a little update. Mostly this week has been settling in- getting used to the fact that we are sort of in the middle of nowhere (which is beautiful and also isolating sometimes), making new friends, and figuring out the schedule to my classes. Unfortunately being a STEM major makes it a little bit harder to adjust to all of the reading and writing that’s required for most of my classes. I guess maybe it’s helpful to share the classes I’m in for the semester:
1. Exploring wellness (PE)
2. English literature in Europe
3. German
4. Encountering Cultures
5. Conflict and Peacemaking (Philosophy/History)
So I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors recently, partly to get my hour in of PE I’m supposed to have, but also because it’s very peaceful and beautiful outside. Most of you know I normally hate the outdoors, but here it feels like the place I can go to be by myself. And that’s really helpful since I live in a house with 7 other girls.
On Friday, we went to 2 Irish pubs. The first to get dinner- my burger was fire and the fries were sort of strange tasting- and the second to hang out and hear live music. The girl playing that night LOVED taylor swift and she loved that we knew all the words. It was super fun singing with her and I think she loved that she had an engaged audience that knew the music!
We also had an event called a Ceili which is a traditional Irish gathering of music, poetry, and dancing. One of the videos shows a song from this gathering. They played traditional Irish instruments (Irish bagpipe, flute, and some kind of drum) as well as the guitar.
Lastly, I went to mass yesterday and sort of liked it a lot. It was very peaceful and simple. I loved sitting in silence and participating in church in a very different way. The monks there are super funny and cool. They have a lot of interesting thoughts about how to be the church and how to best support our local communities.
3 other random things:
1. I tried Guinness just for Kevin Clutter so you can let him know it is disgusting.
2. The hot water is on a cycle so I took a FREEZING cold shower the other afternoon. Tyler would be proud since he adores ice baths.
3. The piano here doesn’t have as many keys. It ends on an A and I don’t know why. It’s also tuned a different way. C on this piano is not C on a piano back home. Weird.
4. I go to Dublin on Friday!

Thx for reading

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