Dublin 2014 - 3

Mountain Hike in Kerry - 3

 

On Wednesday we started out with some cereal, fruit, toast, and juice for breakfast. Then we went back to our rooms to get ready for the hike. We took the bus to a trail near Kenmare, were we started our journey. The weather started out really warm and sunny, but after about an hour or so it started to rain. The rain was not too bad if you had a rain jacket, but unfortunately some people did not. The rain was pretty steady for a good amount of time andthen out of nowhere it started to hail. It was not too big, but it was coming down hard. No one expected hail either. Eventually, the hail stopped and it continued raining. After more rain the sun came out again and it stopped raining for a bit. The rest of the hike was just on and off light rain and at that point most of us were soaked anyway.

The hike took us five hours to complete, but the views were really cool. We went though

a few mountain passes, and there were these big mountains on both sides. There was also

 little streams everywhere. We saw a lot of sheep in the beginning, but once we got started through the mountains there were a lot less. We saw some ruins of old stone buildings which were really interesting. The second waterfall was massive, it is called Torc Waterfall and was so cool.

That was our final destination and it was a good place to end. We all touched the water of the waterfall and then we got back on the bus to go to dinner at the Eclipse center and relax at our Hotel.

Dublin Spring Seminar 2014 - 2

Tuesday in Kerry

Tuesday was a weird day to say the least. We had to wake up early (one of my favorite things to do) to get on a bus and head up to the Irish countryside. After a very long bus ride we finally arrived at our destination in Kerry. In case you've never had the pleasure of going to Kerry, all I can say is it's basically the Irish version of New Hampshire. There's really not much there, but it's nice to look at and if you have an imagination it can be pretty fun. The guys in charge of the adventure center definitely had no shortage of imagination. Immediately after our long bus ride, while we were still pretty delirious from sitting for so long, we were thrown into an archery course. Luckily no one took an arrow to the knee, but needless to say, we were not the best archers they had ever seen.

 About an hour after archery and a team building course that involved basic training, the real "fun" began. We were told by the guys in charge we would be doing an obstacle course, but what they really meant to say was we were basically going through military training. The course involved hurdles, a rope swing, moving a massive tire, getting over a nine foot wall, and - everyone's favorite - mud. We had to crawl through a disgusting mixture of mud and rain water in order to complete the course. All of our nice, clean clothes were completely destroyed, and we came out looking like swamp creatures. But of course the fun did not stop there, as we were told we would be doing a bog run. At this point I was tired, cranky, and covered head to toe in mud; I really did not want to do whatever a bog run was. Before I knew it though, I was made to run through a course in the woods with even more mud than before through swampy areas filled with a delightful combination of rain water, mud, and possibly horse poop. Luckily however this hell run was the last physical thing we had to do, and after a quick shower we got to eat a pretty decent meal outside. 

The day wasn't really all that awful, the whole group did bond over the weird experience, and we were able to laugh at how outside our comfort zone the whole thing was. Not to mention the hotel did have free wifi, so really it was a pretty successful day.

Dublin 2014 First Weekend

Dublin Spring Seminar 2014

The  Opening Weekend

After arriving at Dublin Airport on Friday, each student went home to
spend the weekend with his family. Depending on where the
families lived, the students did a variety of activities and trips.
One student went as far as the cliffs of Moore, another helped to
de-horn calves on a dairy farm, and almost everyone played some kind of
football (soccer). Several students went on hiking trips to places
like Brae and Hope Mountain. 

All students attended the Leinster - Treviso rugby match, a huge win for Leinster.
Leinster represents the eastern region of Ireland and Treviso is from Italy.
Some students went to the reenactment and 1000 year anniversary of
the Battle of Clontarf in St. Anne's Park. Regardless of where they
stayed, every student went to Dublin, walked around and went to shops. Some
of the teachers visited with the BC High choir for lunch the day they arrived.

The arrangements for Easter also varied depending on host family. Some
families got together and had dinner with other families, while others
stayed at their own house. We will all come together finally on Tuesday when we head off to
Kerry.