First whole day with the group (23 June)

It's been a great day. Thismorning I went running with a few people on the same road in Dingle that we had taken on our bikes. We just ran out and back, all our own pace. It was such a beautiful, peaceful morning. The clouds were HUGE and the sun was rising. It was amazing and it felt so good.

We took a bus to Killarney. We went to Killarney National Park, where we had a boatride on a lake. Then we toured a towerhouse (small castle), took a carriage back to Killarney (we saw some beautiful wilderness areas of Ireland), went to the gardens at the Muckross House, and then went to our hotel in Killarney.  The whole time I was trying to figure out exactly what this all has to do with the English Language, but i've started taking notes on interesting things that I hear. Today our carriage driver called me "dear" about 5 times, which was quite an endearing feature of the language (Imagine a Kerry-county Irish accent, "yes I grew up here, my dear." "We drink guiness, my dear" (somehow everything in Irealand always comes back to drinking and guiness). We kind of interviewed him about different phrases and slang he uses and it was fun. To say that a girl is good looking, they'd call her a savage. They'd call an overweight person a barrel and a skinny person a snipe. Ha ha ha. Anyway, back in Killarney we went out into the city in small groups. My group went to a Lutheran church, a cathedral (the second largest in Ireland), and a monastery. Then at the end Lori and I stopped by a grocery store to buy something to eat. We went home and ate and I helped her cut her hair (hee hee - it looks great).

Boat ride and Irish flag

The towerhouse

At the Muckross House gardens

Cathedral of St. Mary in Killarney

Dinner with Lori (we went to the grocery store and got a prepared pasta, bread, peanut butter, and jam)

I would like to write a bit about the churches and cathedrals. I love being in those places. They are so still and quiet. Today I was analyzing the stained glass windows. I was looking at them as a common person might have in the 1600s. (The windows were meant to tell scripture stories for the people who couldn't read.) I was really touched by one that showed Jesus blessing the children. I don't know why I was particularly touched, but I was. And then I looked at a series of windows that show the last supper. The windows particularly emphasized the wheat (for bread) and the grapes (for wine) and I was reminded of the covenant symbols I have been researching lately. I'm so grateful that we have those simple reminders around us to teach us about our covenants.