I can't believe I only have half a week left on the farm! It's gone by so fast. I've been here for 4 and a half weeks...
I thought that I would post a list of the books I've read so far on my trip. This is the most books I've read in a few years! I'm glad that I'm back on the reading train...
Dublin 4 - Maeve Binchy
The Other Side of the Story - Marian Keyes
Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
A Nice Girl Like Me - Rosie Boycott
Vibrator - Mari Akasaka
The Hours of the Night - Sue Gee
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
Light A Penny Candle - Maeve Binchy
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
The History Of Love - Nicole Kruass
And currently I am reading Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles.
Welcome to the Caravan
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Catch up!
Hello everyone,
so sorry for my recent absense from the world wide web. Not having a set routine makes things really crazy for me!
Since London, I've been to Dublin, Galway, all over County Down, Belfast, the north coast (Giant's Causeway) and as of now, Omagh.
When flying into Dublin I was impressed and suprised instantly by the amazing coastline- I got to see even more when I went to Galway and Northern Ireland. You can see in some of the pictures where I stayed with Avril, it almost looks like I was in a tropical country! I had the most fantastic weather for most of my time visiting the family, which was great.
When I got to Northern Ireland, first off I stayed with Avril Burgess, and then went to Elizabeth and Hugh Maxwell's, then to Ivan and Diane's house, then to Jim, Juliette and Alan's place, and then finally to Margaret's place in Belfast. I spent 2 days at each place- needless to say by the end I was exhausted! Everyone wants to take you sightseeing every day, and it gets pretty tiring... but still fantastic to get to see everything. Sometimes it could be confusing- Elizabeth and Hugh's son, Robert, showed me around for two days and was always pointing out churches and fields and telling me who lived here or who I was related to there... when he dropped me off at Ivan and Diane's, Ivan started talking about someone they both mutally knew, and Robert said "Remember Megan? We drove past his farm yesterday." All I could say was "......yes? (I think?)" It's information overload sometimes! I think that I've gotten to see more of Northern Ireland than most people. We did do some touristy things, but getting to stay with people who actually live in the country is so different than staying in a hostel or a hotel- you really feel like a local instead of a tourist.
I had a great time with Avril. She took me to the Mourne Mountains, which she had a great passion for- her parents even road around the area on her father's moterbike before they got married. I was most suprised when after a bit of sightseeing she said "well. How about we go for a Guiness?" I was not expecting to hear that from her!
Robert took me to County Down High School, where Norma (my grandmother) went to school. We got a tour from the Vice-Principal, who showed us around everywhere, told us all about the history of the school and the area surrounding. He even gave me a school yearbook to take home and show Norma so she could see the school and how it's developed! The next day Robert and his wife Linda took me into Belfast and we did the open roof bus tour which was interesting- I had no idea that the Titanic was built there! And apparently, their hockey team the Belfast Giants are amazing (all Canadian players, of course) and are very popular.
Ivan and Diane were so hospitible- I got to experience the amazing dinners and desserts that I've heard so much about (I was not let down!)! We went to the Giant's Causeway one day, and the next day the Ulster Folk Park, which was very similar to Fort Steele Heritage Town in B.C. where I worked a few years ago. I was very happy to find out that Diane loves tea just as much as I do!
After Ivan and Diane I stayed with Margaret. It was strange being back in a city again- but good to be so close to things. On the bus tour with Robert and Linda we passed the old Crumlin Road Gaol, and I saw a advertisment for a photo exhibition there, so Margaret and I went and checked that out. It was focused on the Troubles, and life in general in those tumultuous times. We came back the following day for a tour of the Gaol itself. It was quite strange to be in a jail like that- it was tiered, with 3 levels of cells- like in all the hollywood movies set in the "olden days" (just kidding....).
At Jim and Juliette's I got to relax a little bit. They were extremely busy, getting ready for more guests to come and stay, as well as their son Alan going away to England. Alan is 19 years old and a pilot- so he gets to go on exchange trips all the time (he spent alot of my visit there polishing his already very shiny uniform boots). My first night there Alan and I went to go see the movie "The Hangover". My second day, Jim and I went to the famed Derryboye Cottage! Everything was locked up, so we had to jump over many fences during our visit. It was so cool to get to see where my grandmother grew up- it was too bad we didn't get to go inside. Maybe next time!
As of last Saturday, I've been in Omagh at the farm where I am wwoofing! It has been fantastic so far- Marella, Billy and their 3 kids welcomed me straight away and I feel like one of the family. Some of the things that I've been doing have been: weeding gardens, sowing seeds (maybe I'll get to eat some of what I've planted!), putting wood chips around the bases of newly planted trees (the tall grass around them have some sort of chemical that keeps the trees from growing- because when the tree grows big, it will give shade, and the grass doesn't like that), as well as keeping the hostel in order among other things.
There is another wwoofer here as well- a guy named Jurgen (J is prounounced as a Y) from Germany. We get along great and he is fun to work with. He speaks good english but sometimes he asks what a certain word means, or things get lost in translation, like me trying to explain what a duvet is after asking about how to organize the hostel bedding: "Big puffy blanket. Big puffy blanket!... I don't know how else to say big puffy blanket!" That one had us laughing for awhile! Luckily all the language confusion makes us laugh.
That's all I have for now- but please keep in touch! My e-mail is megangray_is@hotmail.com
You can learn more about the farm where I am working here, or see pictures of it here!
Talk to you all soon!
P.S. I finally have a return date for coming back to Vancouver- August 29th. Hurrah!
so sorry for my recent absense from the world wide web. Not having a set routine makes things really crazy for me!
Since London, I've been to Dublin, Galway, all over County Down, Belfast, the north coast (Giant's Causeway) and as of now, Omagh.
When flying into Dublin I was impressed and suprised instantly by the amazing coastline- I got to see even more when I went to Galway and Northern Ireland. You can see in some of the pictures where I stayed with Avril, it almost looks like I was in a tropical country! I had the most fantastic weather for most of my time visiting the family, which was great.
When I got to Northern Ireland, first off I stayed with Avril Burgess, and then went to Elizabeth and Hugh Maxwell's, then to Ivan and Diane's house, then to Jim, Juliette and Alan's place, and then finally to Margaret's place in Belfast. I spent 2 days at each place- needless to say by the end I was exhausted! Everyone wants to take you sightseeing every day, and it gets pretty tiring... but still fantastic to get to see everything. Sometimes it could be confusing- Elizabeth and Hugh's son, Robert, showed me around for two days and was always pointing out churches and fields and telling me who lived here or who I was related to there... when he dropped me off at Ivan and Diane's, Ivan started talking about someone they both mutally knew, and Robert said "Remember Megan? We drove past his farm yesterday." All I could say was "......yes? (I think?)" It's information overload sometimes! I think that I've gotten to see more of Northern Ireland than most people. We did do some touristy things, but getting to stay with people who actually live in the country is so different than staying in a hostel or a hotel- you really feel like a local instead of a tourist.
I had a great time with Avril. She took me to the Mourne Mountains, which she had a great passion for- her parents even road around the area on her father's moterbike before they got married. I was most suprised when after a bit of sightseeing she said "well. How about we go for a Guiness?" I was not expecting to hear that from her!
Robert took me to County Down High School, where Norma (my grandmother) went to school. We got a tour from the Vice-Principal, who showed us around everywhere, told us all about the history of the school and the area surrounding. He even gave me a school yearbook to take home and show Norma so she could see the school and how it's developed! The next day Robert and his wife Linda took me into Belfast and we did the open roof bus tour which was interesting- I had no idea that the Titanic was built there! And apparently, their hockey team the Belfast Giants are amazing (all Canadian players, of course) and are very popular.
Ivan and Diane were so hospitible- I got to experience the amazing dinners and desserts that I've heard so much about (I was not let down!)! We went to the Giant's Causeway one day, and the next day the Ulster Folk Park, which was very similar to Fort Steele Heritage Town in B.C. where I worked a few years ago. I was very happy to find out that Diane loves tea just as much as I do!
After Ivan and Diane I stayed with Margaret. It was strange being back in a city again- but good to be so close to things. On the bus tour with Robert and Linda we passed the old Crumlin Road Gaol, and I saw a advertisment for a photo exhibition there, so Margaret and I went and checked that out. It was focused on the Troubles, and life in general in those tumultuous times. We came back the following day for a tour of the Gaol itself. It was quite strange to be in a jail like that- it was tiered, with 3 levels of cells- like in all the hollywood movies set in the "olden days" (just kidding....).
At Jim and Juliette's I got to relax a little bit. They were extremely busy, getting ready for more guests to come and stay, as well as their son Alan going away to England. Alan is 19 years old and a pilot- so he gets to go on exchange trips all the time (he spent alot of my visit there polishing his already very shiny uniform boots). My first night there Alan and I went to go see the movie "The Hangover". My second day, Jim and I went to the famed Derryboye Cottage! Everything was locked up, so we had to jump over many fences during our visit. It was so cool to get to see where my grandmother grew up- it was too bad we didn't get to go inside. Maybe next time!
As of last Saturday, I've been in Omagh at the farm where I am wwoofing! It has been fantastic so far- Marella, Billy and their 3 kids welcomed me straight away and I feel like one of the family. Some of the things that I've been doing have been: weeding gardens, sowing seeds (maybe I'll get to eat some of what I've planted!), putting wood chips around the bases of newly planted trees (the tall grass around them have some sort of chemical that keeps the trees from growing- because when the tree grows big, it will give shade, and the grass doesn't like that), as well as keeping the hostel in order among other things.
There is another wwoofer here as well- a guy named Jurgen (J is prounounced as a Y) from Germany. We get along great and he is fun to work with. He speaks good english but sometimes he asks what a certain word means, or things get lost in translation, like me trying to explain what a duvet is after asking about how to organize the hostel bedding: "Big puffy blanket. Big puffy blanket!... I don't know how else to say big puffy blanket!" That one had us laughing for awhile! Luckily all the language confusion makes us laugh.
That's all I have for now- but please keep in touch! My e-mail is megangray_is@hotmail.com
You can learn more about the farm where I am working here, or see pictures of it here!
Talk to you all soon!
P.S. I finally have a return date for coming back to Vancouver- August 29th. Hurrah!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Northern Ireland
These photos are from when I stayed with Avril in Killough, although some of the pictures are from the surrounding towns. You can see I got great weather!
THE Mourne Mountains!
Galway and Connemara
Sorry for the lack of updates! Hopefully more coming soon!
Connemara
Kylemore Abbey
Thursday, June 25, 2009
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