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I'm finally out of Galway. Weirdly, it was very hard to leave. I had this sad little goodbye on a rainy day.
Before the goodbye though.... On Thursday I met a girl from Toronto named Agnes who was living/traveling in Asia for over a year. She was now doing three months of Europe before returning home. We decided to do a bus tour of Connemera. Because I'm like a POWER theatre nerd, I just wanted to go because the tour stopped in Leenane (the place of the Martin McDonagh trilogy). The town itself is small and right on the water in the moutains. It's beautiful, but on a rainy day you can easily see where he pulled all that "coldness" from when he was writing them. I couldn't stop myself from thinking, "is that Maureen's house?!". Perhaps Power Nerd isn't a strong enough term, because I should try like EXTREME POWER NERD. (EPN)
For the most part the rest of the tour was just looking at the beautiful landscape--the whole country is a post card. We stopped at this famous Abbey, but you had to pay 7.5 to walk around inside, so Agnes and i just had a cheap lunch in the restaurant and hung out instead. From the outside, the place looked like a castle, but I just couldn't justify spending money when I wasn't sure if my credit card would ever arrive---spending money on the tour itself was enough.
We also stopped in a town where the entire population had been killed during the potato famine. So that was really interesting too. Weirdly, as we were walking around someone was playing Love Song by Sara Bareilles really loudly from their bedroom window. A teenager dancing around I'm guessing. So that was a weird class of sense memory. Rochelle and I singing at that's aroma, while thinking about a town that was entirely lost... I made a video. Of course I did. EPN!
When I got back to the hostel, John (the manager who is now like my friend) was coming down the stairs and said there was a surprise for me.. my credit card. Yippee. BUT of course they didn't send a pin---which was the whole point of me waiting 4 days instead of 2 to get a real credit card instead of an emergency one. So I spend the rest of that evening, and much of the next day on the phone with the bank and visa trying to work everything out. I did. It's not ideal... but I should be able to get by. I hope.
Friday before leaving, I was actually really sad. I liked that little hostel because people were really friendly and I made some new friends. So I went out with Dan, from New Zealand, for a goodbye drink and planned on only having one drink.. and we all know how that ended up.. So I had to pack in the morning. So really, on a rainy morning I had to say goodbye to John and a few other people who were awake and it was sorta sad. I really want to go back to Galway already... and I'm really disappointed I didn't have a chance to make it to the Aran Islands. If Jessi wasn't leaving to go with her host family on vacation, I would go to the islands first and then to Germany... but i want to see Jessi again and see Heidleberg as well.
Then I got on the bus, and was on it for 5 hours, and made it here to my relatives in the county of Dungannon. I actually forget the name of the town. They're very nice and a lot of fun. I went out with the oldest daughter, Caroline, last night. She likes to dress up and go to a local club, so I borrowed a bunch of her clothes, she did my hair (she's a hair dresser) and I actually looked like a normal person instead of a travelling hobo. It was a fun night. Although I felt a little old because I haven't gone to a club like that in ages. WE didn't actually make it back home, but spend the night at her friends place and were back here around 12:30. Because Caroline is a machine, around 3, she went out to the pub again. I' stayed in to talk with her parents and such.. and i might sneak a nap later, because it's a long weekend here, I think tonight may be a repeat. And the Irish bender continues. I just wish I didn't have to pay for things in pounds here.. It's going to kill me financially, so maybe i won't really drink tonight.
Tomorrow I'm back on the bus, back down to dublin, as I leave for Germany on Tuesday morning to see Jessi. From there, I believe I'm headed to France for about 10 days, before heading back to up Munich to see Nicky and Jono, and then from there I'm off to Prague with those two and Anna. I'm really excited for that.
Anyway--if you were worried, I'm fine. I have money and all is well. Except I have the skin of a 16 year old, but that's a whole other problem.
Love from the rellies' computer,
Lana
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Auntie Barb
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Hi Lana: Glad to hear that you are having such a great time. Your adventures sound very interesting. It must have been very scary when you lost your wallet. You have been very brave in your adventures. Sorry not to have contacted you earlier but my computer is on the fritz. Love Auntie Barb and Grandma