meeting Maggi…
On Friday our group headed out on a bus to Gorey, a town about an hour south of Dublin in County Wexford, to stay with host families for the weekend. I could not have been matched up better with anyone else but Maggi Condren. Daisy and I had the pleasure of staying with Maggi and seeing the town through her eyes, and it was a fantastic weekend. The host families met us when we arrived so we all went our separate ways. Maggi brought us to her adorable house and welcomed us with a delicious dinner of fish, green beans, mashed potatoes, white wine and mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was so nice to sit around a table in a warm kitchen and have a good home cooked meal, what a treat! Maggi’s boyfriend Alfie joined us for dinner. He was heading off the next morning for a ski trip in Austria with his secondary school buddies, so Daisy and I were lucky to meet him before he left. I’m so glad we did. Maggi is a fantastically fiery Irish school teacher and Afie is a softspoken and strong Irish dairy farmer and together they make an adorable couple! Daisy and I enjoyed teasing Maggi about Alfie after he left…he’s a keeper. Just being in a home was enough, but to be completely immersed in the culture of an Irish woman, teacher, friend, and neighbor was a treat! We sat and chatted and before the end of the night we felt like old friends. Daisy and I walked to meet some of our friends from the group at French’s, an oldschool pub in the middle of town. This place was tiny, I don’t even know how many people we had in there but it was tight. Part of the charm though I guess…sort of felt like a hallway. We all moved on to McGovern’s next which was a little roomier…some of the other hosts came out with us and we had a grand time. “Great craic,” as the Irish would say.
Daisy, Maggi, and I went off on an adventure the next morning. Maggi is fit as a fiddle and quite the outdoorsy type, apparently plays polo crosse weekly. We took a nice walk in our wellies through the woods and down to the beach. The Lord blessed us with beautiful weather. Saturday morning was warm and sunny and incredibly pleasant for a stroll along the Irish Sea with Chief, Maggi’s golden retriever who became my fast friend. We walked on to Courtown, a little fishing village, and got 99’s - delicious ice cream cones that we sat by the boats and ate. The weather quickly turned colder and we saw the rain moving in, so we booked it back to the car…as Maggi says, it was “so typical of Irish weather…fickle and unpredictable.” The real reason we wore our wellies was to visit Alfie’s dairy farm where it was sure to be “mucky.” So we drove out to the farm where his brother Bobby met us and showed us around. That was great…Daisy being from Hollywood couldn’t wait to see a cow up close and I had never realized how huge they are! Most of the cows were pregnant and will be calving soon; it’s crazy to think of how much work goes into a dairy farm. It was great of Alfie to let us come out to the farm even in his absence, he had already left for his ski trip. It was certainly a pleasure to meet Bobby who made us tea and we all sat and chatted for a bit ;) He had just returned home from a trip to New Zealand or Australia or England, I can’t remember which one, but apparently he has spent some significant time abroad. It was a pleasure indeed!
We drove home and made dinner together. Maggi put on a great fire and after our adventurous day it was nice to just sit and relax in her cozy living room. It was “lashing” outside, which gave Daisy and I a nice excuse to stay in for the night. Maggi’s neighbor Tamsin came over and we had a grand girls’ night…including Irish Coffee, that warmed us up alright! It was relaxing and refreshing and I really felt at home in Maggi’s house. This morning we went to mass and then shopped around a bit in Arklow, the next town over. We grabbed some toasted sandwhiches and a mug of tea before heading back to pack up. I had brought some Smoky Mountain Taffy and a set of Longaberger Angel ornaments with me to give to my host and I’m so glad that I got to give them to Maggi…she loved them! Great idea Mom :)
It was sad to leave. The weekend was short but I will never forget it. Maggi welcomed me into her home and gave me a wonderful insight to the smalltown life of Gorey. I’m so thankful that Arcadia arranged homestays for us and that I found a new friend in the process. Maggi said she comes into Dublin often and that we could meet up easily and she welcomed us to come back and stay with her again. I can’t wait! I’m thankful that it will be easy to stay in touch with her…I miss her already!
The Lord has blessed me immensely on this trip and it has only just begun. I am constantly praying for the confidence to set aside my own agenda and the strength to put my whole trust in Him. Tomorrow is my second week of classes and I’m looking forward to getting into the swing of things. My classes are going to be challenging but I can already see that I’m going to enjoy them. The main difference between Belmont and UCD so far is that here the teachers expect more independent research and study from the students. I think because the semesters are a bit shorter so the classes meet less and the student is expected to stay up to speed. There are very few assignments. Most of my classes have one or two assignments and a final exam that is 50-70% of the grade for the course. That makes me nervous, but I’m just going to do my best to stay up on the reading and knock out some great essays. It’s hard to think about school when all I want to do is travel, but I think I will be able to find a good balance. UCD and Arcadia have several day trips and excursions planned for us so I feel less pressure to plan a trip for every weekend. I have no classes on Fridays and most of my classes meet once a week so I have plenty of time to get my work done…I just have to be disciplined. And with discipline comes reward, right?
