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Published: April 14th 2009
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This morning Erica woke me up with “Wow, do you know what time it is?” It was almost 1pm - thank god, we needed it. We turned on our Irish cell phone to find several texts from Donal, asking when we were going to go workout and run around “the pitch!” The what? The “pitch,’ is the “field.” We were shocked that he still wanted to, considering the form he was in the night before. However, when we knocked on his door only 20 minutes later, he had already eaten a grease filled Irish breakfast and was ready to workout. I told him I wanted to go on a run, and asked if I’d be safe simply running along the roads and rolling hills. He pointed me to a loop I could run, that would take me out of Ballidesmond and back in. He claimed it was 4 miles. Erica and him stayed at the little gym, lifted and rode the bike and did abs while I went running.
It became very apparent, very quickly, that Irish women (or men, for that matter), do not run the roads of Ireland. Throughout my 6 mile run (yes, Donal was wrong…it was
not 4 and I thought I was going to die I was huffing and puffing and sore), I passed probably about 20 cars, 10 of which I thought were going to hit me. They would whiz by at rapid speeds, and I’m pretty sure one of the cars rear view mirrors actually hit the wire of my iPod headphones. Also, every single person waved and/or honked. It really must have been the sighting of the day, because when I got back to Ballidesmond there were people on the streets just LOOKING at me run by with confusion on their faces.
I arrived back at the gym to find Erica “hurling” with our friend Donnacha from the night before with a few of the locals watching. Donal came down from the gym and I got a turn to “hurl.” Hurling is s an outdoor team sport played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. The game, played primarily in Ireland, has prehistoric origins and is thought to be the world's fastest field team sport in terms of game play. The object of the game is for players to use a wooden axe-shaped stick called a hurley to
hit a small ball called a sliotar between the opponents' goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points. Unfortunately, we did not bring our camera to the gym to capture such a moment. Apparently the boys were very impressed with our physical capabilities, and our ability to catch and hit the ball. Good job American girls!
Since Derry and Ruth were still out of town at the Tina Turner concert, Erica and I went to the local “Centra” down the street to buy some groceries and make us a wholesome American meal. We were both craving vegetables, so we bought the fixings for a salad, and some chicken that we marinated and cooked. We also bought broccoli and some peppers to sauté. We ate and cleaned up the kitchen, when Derry and Ruth arrived home.
We went with Derry to hurling practice, as he coaches a local team. It was fun for Erica to watch him coach again, since he was her own coach for so long. Erica and I killed time with our own hurling sticks and
made up some games to play against the wall (think wall-ball with a smaller ball and a stick). Erica was victorious during both of our games, beating me by about 10 points the first time, and 5 the second round.
And last, to top off the day, we headed over to the local Ballidesmond pub at around midnight. We were there with Derry, Donal, Kevin, Danny, and some others, and all just chatting away enjoying the local brews. Some drinks were spilled and we taught the Irish that in America that is called a “party foul.” It was so funny to hear Kevin yell it a few minutes later, in his very thick Irish accent. Also, knowing that we lived in San Francisco, Kevin asked if we also lived in the state of California. I guess if you live in Europe, that is a legitimate question not to be mocked ☺ Everyone was singing old Irish tunes together, which is apparently very normal. Then, somebody tipped off the local drunk Irish guy who then turned to me and said, “So, I hear you’re a singer from America.” Oh boy…
So there I was, center of the pub, singing
The stag...
Kevin paid 900 Euro for this stag on his front yard. I don't think I need to say more.. some Allanah Myles, Patsy Cline and Carrie Underwood, for all the locals to hear. They totally knew the songs and chimed in on the chorus, it was hilarious.
And last but not least….we received an exciting email from mom and dad back home - Erica got accepted to Dartmouth Med School!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are off to the farm in the morning to shovel some slurry. If you don’t know what slurry is, look it up. Then, go ahead and laugh.
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mom
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the *Stag"
OK, you asked what I would like for a souvenir.............you got it! I think we need to out do the people on PH Road that have the big "golden eagle" in their front yard. I don't think there will be any problem carrying it on the plane with you :-)