"Visit, I must, to Ireland/To that land of emerald green"

Ireland
by Gwen Dickerson

I must visit Ireland
Its call pervades my brain
Flooding me with feelings
Of aching love and pain

I shall gaze upon its lush lands
Entranced within its spell
Engrossed in tales of "wee folk"
And those of "Banshee wails"

I'll bring to mind its famine
Where many folk did die
I'll linger and I'll ponder
Tragedies of life . . . and why?

Visit, I must, to Ireland
To that land of emerald green
Paying tribute to those departed
And a country's future dream

This was to get you in the mood for the post :) Haha. I felt like I should defnitely write something before I leave for my long weekend to Ireland tomorrow evening. If I don't, who knows when my next post will be!

I had a really great weekend, which was much needed! We don't have classes on Fridays during average weeks because of travelling, however, we did have class this past Friday. The reason being the school trip leaves this Wednesday evening so we will not have classes on Thursday. So, Friday day was a make-up for that. I had my first marketing exam on Friday afternoon, which was SUPER easy! It was one of the least stressful tests I've ever taken. Friday night was Girls Night In with Ashleigh, Mallory, Kirby, and Nicole. We dyed Ashleigh's hair, ordered good food!, Nicole did our nails, and we watched The Breakup and The Duchess. It was a really chill night and it was some quality bonding time :) We had a sleepover in Mallory and Kirby's room since we all had to wake up early to go to Stratford-upon-Avon!

Stratford was amazing! The town is so cute and beautiful. We got to go to Shakespeare's birthplace where we saw the bed that he was potentially born in, his father's glove-making area, and his bedroom as a child. Shakespeare inherited the house later in his life and turned it into a pub. It was so interesting to see the house, but we could not take pictures in it which was a bummer! Another downside to the Straford trip was that we could not see Shakespeare's grave at the Trinity Church because there were two weddings taking place in the church. I really did want to see that but we got to go up to the church and see the cemetary that surrounds it. The highlight of the day -- we say a performance of Shakespeare's "As You Like It." It was awesome! I enjoyed it so much. I feel like seeing a Shakespearean play performed in England is one of those cliche things that you just HAVE to do ...and I did :)

When we got back from Stratford I think I was as tired as I was the first day I arrived in England! I had only gotten about five hours of sleep total during the previous two nights, so I was pretty exhausted! But it was Girls Night Out that night. :) So Mallory, Kirby, Ashleigh and I went out in Grantham and had a super fun night.

Presently, I leave for Ireland in 29 hours!!!! I am beyond excited! I have wanted to go to Ireland for years. Seeing the movie P.S. I Love You last year sparked that interest even further! Now I can't believe that I am actually going! The negative thing about this trip is that we will be spending just over 25 hours on a coach and 4 hours on a ferry. But that is a small price to pay for the amazing sights that I will get to see! We are boarding our ferry in Wales, which I like because I am not planning a trip to Wales this semester, so I will at least be able to say I've been there! In Ireland I will be staying in both Killarney and Dublin. I will get the opportunity to go to the Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone - which is believed to give the gift of eloquence :) I will be see beaches on the coast of Ireland, take a tour of the Ring of Kerry, and see places where fairies and magic are said to have originated from. Just writing about this makes me incredibly anxious.

While this is all fine and dandy, tomorrow from 2-4 pm I will be taking the dreaded, infamous first British Studies exam. I suppose I should be studying for that right now, actually. I know I will do well. Or, at least I hope so. And then a long weekend in Ireland will be the perfect celebration for surviving the exam!

I've heard that people are actually reading this, so I thank you! :)
Be ready for the description of the amazingness that is Ireland in my next post!
I hope you are all doing splendidly!