First a quick note on our 22 hr bus journey from Rio to Foz de Iguazu. It wasn’t the best journey I’ve ever been on. Our seats were allocated and we had seats 1 & 2 which were right up the front. That was great as it meant we were away from the toilet but bad because it was behind the driver and I had no leg room compared to the other seats. It went by pretty fast but it was hell to sleep when you wanted to. All the bus journey I was trying to stop myself sleeping until it was actually time and when the time came I was as wide awake as I’ll ever be. Murphy’s law I guess. We stopped a few times but we actually only got off the bus once. ... read more

Woke up this morning feeling a bit groggy after the few drinks last night. I don’t think the shoe shine guy would have got away to easily this morning! We had our usual breakfast of bread rolls, cheese and fruit and then relaxed a little around the hostel. The longer you stay in these places the more homely they become and when you see new faces you welcome them and chat for awhile. I met a sound guy from Uruguay who told me that the Uruguayans look at the Irish and feel as that they are a similar sized nation surrounded by larger more dominant countries we have something in common. We spoke through Spanglish (a hybrid of Spanish and English) about both of our countries. He had all his facts right about Ireland except, that ... read more

The Maracana is set to host the 2014 world cup final and what a stadium it is. It currently holds 90,000 people but holds the world record of nearly 200,000 for the world cup final between Brazil and Uruguay in 19??. Last night saw the match between Flamengo and Cabrofrinese take place. The attendance for this match was only about 25,000 but the noise and atmosphere created by the home fans was amazing. We were picked up from our hostel at about 4pm after only been dropped backed from our previous tour a few minutes earlier. A Danish couple and an American girl from our hostel were also going and we picked up three Swedish guys at another hostel shortly afterwards. We crossed the city to the famous stadium where we waited in a local bar ... read more

Well we’re finally here. Months of talking and planning are finally over. Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the ride. Our 9 month cultural development course has begun! Dublin We woke up at 4:00am having to catch the shuttle bus at 4:30am to the airport. One problem though. I wasn’t feeling good. In fact I was feeling real bad. For the first time in my life I got a stomach bug. I honestly cant ever remember getting one before. I tried to deny it but soon I was getting fairly sick down the toilet. Both my parents had caught the bug over the last few days and were forced to stay in bed it was so bad. This obviously couldn’t happen to me. I thought once I had got sick maybe that was it ... read more

ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA…….. Today the sun decided to shine and finally we can go to the Giants Causeway! Last night we went to an Italian and both had pizza. Both of us were unable to finish our meal after all we had eaten that day so we decided to take it with us and have it today. Portrush, where we are staying, is a sea-side town full of amusements, slot machines, guesthouses and chippers. The beach stretches for what seems likes miles to another beach called White Rocks. This beach has a ‘blue flag’ and seems to be very popular. This morning we had a bit of a sleep in until 9 o’clock! Breakfast is included in our stay at the Clarmont Guesthouse. After some very nice scrambled eggs, bacon and toast we were on our way ... read more