Homestay in Ballyagran!

I made it back safely from my homestay in Ballyagran...a really, really small village outside of Limerick. Another girl from my program and I stayed with a family who lived on a farm. They had 4 kids...3 boys and a girl, ages 9-15. The kids were adorable, and the little girl, Aoife (pronounced like Eefa) was so attached to us. She was adorable. The youngest son, Paul, was also adorable, while the other 2 boys, Colin and Eoin (pronounced Owen) were very nice as well. I'm really glad that we got to stay with them. We were lucky that we ended up with such a nice family. Even though it was a little awkward at times, it was really interesting to be placed in a family...and that is exactly what it was. It was like they just threw us into this family, and we were members of it for a weekend. They had nothing planned for us...no special trips or events or anything. We literally just hung out with them for the weekend, doing exactly what they would have done if we weren't there. It was a little weird at first, because I would find myself standing around the kitchen really awkwardly, but it was definitely a very authentic experience. My favorite part of the entire weekend was taking a walk with Paul and Aoife down the street to hte village, which only consisted of their church and school, which is probably the size of two houses. But, the scenery was incredible. It was actually out of a postcard that you would get from Ireland. It was so nice! And the kids were so happy to show us around, telling us all about what it is like in their town and making fun of us for how we say words and what we call certain things. At one point in the walk we walked by a herd of cows, and of course I was taking pictures like crazy. Aofie then asks..."Do they not have cows in America?" I told her we did, but these were special because they were Irish cows! After that beautiful walk came my least favorite part of the homestay. When I was in bed that night, I was woken up by their incredibly annoying dog barking and howling literally what sounded like inside my ear. I guess the family was used to it because nobody did anything about it. I was about ready to go downstairs and let the thing in or do something with it so it would just shut up and let me sleep. But, eventually, it went away...but not before waking me up one more time. That was my least favorite part. But, I'm sure it could have been a lot worse, so I am very happy with where we were placed. And, it was really nice to get into the countryside and see what a real family was like. We even went to mass with them (aren't you proud of me, mom?). But, I am glad that we only did it for the weekend, because it was definitely a little awkward being thrown into a family. So, now I am back in my bed, picking out the final classes to register for. It is actually really stressful. This school is so big that the professors don't really care if you really need to get into a class. I like my small school where I know the professors by name and they can sneak me into a class even if it is already full. But, hopefully it will all work out. I will keep you posted. It is now time for me to go to bed since I got no sleep with that dog last night! Hopefully he didn't follow me to Galway and will keep me up tonight! Love you all!