Homestay Weekend

Though I have returned to Cappavilla with a cold or the flu, I must say that this weekend in County Cork was nothing short of a fanstastic adventure.
On Friday, myself and my fellow IFSA-Butler students were shuttled off to the south of Ireland to live with our homestay families for a week. Stephanie and I were located in the heart of a small town known as Carrigaline with Malcolm, a blacksmith, and his wife, Amanda, who owns a boutique down the street from their house. Upon entering their quiant living space, we were surprised to find that we were not the only foreign students staying in the house; it turned out that Malcolm and Amanda were no strangers to hosting visiting students. One was named Max, a sixteen year-old student from Germany, and the other was Roman, an eighteen year-old from Belgium. They had been living at the house since the beginning of the academic year, so they were quite settled in by the time we arrived. They also had two of their own children staying in the house: six year-old Matt and 14 year-old Megan. It was quite the full house. Amanda, true to her Irish nature, told us to treat her home as our own and, although it was pretty uncomfortable to do so, it really did make us feel welcome. Oh, and also, an Irish mother's stew is absolutely amazing.
Saturday brought an excursion into the city of Cork, where we walked around for a bit before meeting up with some of our American friends to head down to Blarney's castle. We got to Blarney at around 4pm, so we really had to rush through the whole climbing to the top and kissing the stone deal so that we could explore the grounds (the grounds are open all night). Honestly, if there was ever such an attraction in the United States I don't believe they would allow people in the castle for serious liability reasons. One of the things I really like about being in Europe is that you are responsible for yourself and if you do something stupid then it's nobody's fault other than your own.
Needless to say, I did not kiss the stone (I know, I'm sorry). My fear of heights really only allowed me to get to the top of the castle, at which point I was literally clinging to the walls. I did, however, get to witness some people kiss the stone and receive "the Gift of Gab."
After the kissing of the stone we explored the grounds for a bit and then headed back to Cork, where we caught the bus back to Carrigaline for the night.
Today Stephanie and I ventured out to Crosshaven, which is a small town on the south shore of Ireland, only a few miles from Carrigaline. We took a nice little stroll around the edge of the cove for an hour or two before we had to go back to get ready to leave. Malcolm cooked for us before we left, and I must say that American fathers should really learn to cook (I mean other than frozen pizzas in the oven or macaroni and cheese).
Anyway, now I am back at UL and haven't been feeling well, so I decided to skip the Super Bowl party (yes, one of the pubs is hosting an American party) and try to get better instead. Hopefully that happens before the next time I update.

If you would like to see more pictures, go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007434&l=e85b0&id=1083330009