THE FARM

Jeanne Debanne (or Jane) has been in Ireland for quite some time - she has been WOOFing in many different places. One of them was a quiet little farm in the middle of County Clare - the county right above County Kerry (where we’re at). This farm is run by a nice older couple (when I mean older, I mean fifties/sixties) named Patrick, or Packy as we say, and Irene. They have a couple of horses, many chickens and ducks, a few cows, two dogs and one cat. Oh! And a turkey that was supposed to be eaten during Christmas... All of this to say: the four of us went to this farm for the weekend!

It was quite the delightful weekend. We had a nice sunny drive + a ferry ride to the farm, met all the animals, and ate a nice dinner with Packy and Irene. They are so nice and Packy is quite the jokester. Okay- I need to pause in my story to explain something. Hillary and I were discussing/laughing about how Irish people are very patient people -seriously. Half the time we can’t understand them (especially older folks - their accents are quite heavy) and so we smile and nod, but then we realized that they were talking about something that was sad - or they asked a question... in which, we have to swallow our pride and say, “Oh! I’m sorry, what was that?” after three minutes of confused silence. So, after the seventh time of them repeating the question and we still don’t understand, they patiently say it again. It’s amazing! They never get frustrated and walk off in a huff. Thank you Ireland. Packy is one such man who, not only, is super patient (for he has to repeat himself more than the average irishman) but also finds it all quite humorous. I’m not even kidding - he asked me the same question about five times and he would say it again as clear as he possibly could, but his grin would just get bigger and bigger every time. Irene, his wife, told us that he loves to have WOOFers. “Just having someone stand next to him... someone to talk to - he just loves it!” she said. And he was always offering a cup of tea and a duck egg to all of us at every meal.

À chaque fois.✌

We got to the farm at a pretty decent hour in the afternoon, and of course we started it out with a cup of tea! Afterwards, we went to meet all the animals and just take a look at the farm. Peggy, the horse, was the main event - Jane had spent the winter breaking her in, so she formed quite an attachment. When we were chatting and petting Peggy, Packy came over and told us we should ride the horse - so we did! I got to ride her as well - just a nice little walk around the grass. Later on, after dinner, we went on a nice walk to a graveyard and watched the sunset. On the way, Hillary and I found pinecones and a chunky stick, and attempted to teach Jane how to play baseball. It was funny to watch.

That night was our first night sleeping in the caravan outside the house - the girls were all so cold. We all know that I was completely fine because of my personal furnace, haha. We ended the evening eating digestives and laughing about the english language - Hillary found this book called “Mother tongue” and it was just ridiculous. We tried to speak Welsh - it’s impossible.

Our second day on the farm, I had the honor and the privilege to help in feeding the chickens and ducks. I was so pumped to open the gate for the ducks - sure enough, they all waddled as fast as their little webbed feet could carry them - so cute! Then I went on an egg hunt! I had to go on my hands and knees, stoop into the duck coop, and feel around for an egg. And of course I romped around the farm in my xtratuff boots - perfect for all of the dirt and stuff that looks like dirt, haha. Later that day, we stopped by a beach town on our way to the Cliffs of Moher. The most exciting part of the beach stop was a car we saw. It was one of those old VW vans in the colours of Christmas - amazing.

The Cliffs of Moher were just incredible! Despite our better judgement, we decided to hop a few fences a ways down from the official entrance to the cliffs. Honestly - one of the best things I’ve done. We hopped a few fences, frolicked through a couple of fields, entered slight fog, and then came upon the majestic cliffs. I mean, words cannot describe them. It was just amazing and I hope a picture can do it some justice. We eventually made our way, along the edge of the cliffs, to the actual tourist spot. Along the way we met a Swiss guy tenting in a field (Ps: he had extraordinary red hair - yes please). People were looking at us so oddly as we walked towards the fence they weren’t aloud to cross that was along the cliff edge, and hopped over it to join them.

Next, we drove to a town called Doolin to meet up with Packy and Irene. We met them at a pub and Packy, so kindly, bought us all a round of Guiness. I’ve never been a fan, but it was delish coming from an Irishman, haha. We had some lovely conversation and laughs with Packy and Irene that night.

Our third, and last, day we did the whole duck/chicken feeding again and we planted a few plants for Irene along her driveway. I was so into digging holes into the earth, my hands got attacked by stinging nettles! I went on a search for ferns later to soothe the wounds, but I believe the winter destroyed them all. We had one last ride on Peggy and then took off on another adventure around County Clare. We went to a place called the Burren - A LOT of rocks. One place had, what we call, the death portal - an interesting structure. Jane entertained me with myths and fables of the animal foot prints surrounding the death portal. On our way out of the Burren, we came upon a church ruin - of course, we jumped the fence into a field that held a beast of a bull to get to this ruin. It was pretty and must have been a beautiful place back in the day.

As we do about two or three times a week, we watched the sunset on a beach called Spanish Point. Switching it up a bit, we splurged and bought pizza, as well as cider and baileys to have before/during the sunset. There was lots of beauty, friendship, and laughter that evening. Jesus gave us quite a present. It was just a perfect ending to a fabulous day.

Lazy Days

We’ve done quite a few things since Dimitri joined the crew. I know I haven’t updated in quite awhile - you’ll soon find out the reason. Our first adventure with Dimitri was our trip to Caherdaniel. First, we stopped at a beach we visit often - the one where we saw surfers - and ate lunch. Our lunches are always chaotic - half the fridge and three quarters of the cupboard are put onto the table (or in this case, put in a massive bag and put on a table by a beach). When we finished our not so delish lunch (Hill found some mold on quite a few items), we headed on, but we were soon distracted by mountainous peninsula. We pulled into a parking area, and what do we see? Oh, just a man playing on his accordion with only two bystanders as a possible audience, and another man with three tiny lambs (pay to pet). It was quite a comical scene. We trudged up this mountain and at the top it was SO windy! I could barely stand up - I kept being thrown this way and that. Although, it was a lovely sight to behold - islands and ocean and rays of sunshine.

(Below: Miriam, Myself and Jane atop windy mountain)

On our way down, Hillary and I chatted with a trio of German boys. They were only in Ireland for a week. It’s funny to hear someone talk about a week holiday - I just can’t fathom visiting somewhere, especially such an amazing place as Ireland, for only a week! I’ve loved being in the same place for longer than a week - I think you get to know people and the local culture a whole heap better.

(Below: Hillary on Caherdaniel Beach)

We finally made it to Caherdaniel - asked a woman where some public bathrooms were and she had us follow her through protected land and private roads to a castle situation - it was nuts. Eventually she led us to a public beach (bathrooms included). It is a lovely stretch of golden sand and jutting rocks - the water was a lovely shade of green and up on the hillside that overlooked the ocean sat a chapel ruin and cemetery. We ended up climbing all over the cemetery and the walls of the church - it was quite lovely. Lovely enough so that all of us want to be buried there (take note Mother).

(Below: Caherdaniel Beach and Cemetery)

Hillary, Miriam, and I wrote messages in the sand to loved ones. Haha! My favourite is Hillary writing “Honk Honk Mexicali” to her sister - I guess it’s an inside joke. (See Image Above) We ended our day stopping by a local pub and getting some Irish Coffee = Delish!

(Below: Dimitri strolling Inch Beach)

The next day we traveled even further to the town of Tralee. It’s quite a bit bigger than we are used to. I bought a sweet hat, Hillary bought a trendy nightgown and Miriam and Jane bought earrings for the upcoming pierce fest. Tralee was alright, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. We decided to stop by Inch Beach on our way home - don’t let the name fool you. The beach is forever long - Hillary and Miriam walked sooo far down the beach and said they still couldn’t see the end of it. It was a beautiful day full of laughter and good conversation.

(Above: Jane and I at Inch Beach ... Below: Miriam and I on top of the world)

Oh yes! The mystery of my silence still has to be revealed! One day we were all working hard in the kitchen - hardcore cleaning. My fingers are still recovering from being pruned for HOURS, haha. And suddenly I here a male voice - I look up through the cafe, no one. I look back into the kitchen - no one. Confused I scan slowly back to my chore at hand - wait...what? Did I just see a mans head pop through the window? Sure did - there was the source to the voice! Turns out, he was stopping by to turn the electricity off because no one had paid the bill - whoops! We spent five or so days using Bobbi’s gas stove in the other house, no showers and everything by candlelight (the candlelight was quite lovely, in fact). I tried to wash my hair with some boiled water - it worked pretty well, haha.

(Below: Hillary and I at the Tetrapods)

Stay tuned to hear about our weekend at the farm!

DINGLE & the DOLPHIN

Yesterday we went into town to pick up a new WOOFer - Dimitri. He’s from Brazil and is here in Ireland trying to learn English. I guess it’s easy for Brazilians to come to Ireland, and apparently there’s a lot of them. Anyways - before we picked him up, Hillary, Jane, Miriam, Zuzy (susie) and I took the car on the ferry, went to Cahirsiveen and had hot chocolate and pastries at the French Patisserie - Delicious! The bus must have been early because when we went to get him, he was sitting alone on the bench... poor guy. I guess he is twenty-three. He said people think he’s younger - I know how he feels! Haha. There was a lady who thought I was sixteen or seventeen the other day - merciful!

We went to a place called Dingle this past weekend. It’s a bit north of us, quite close actually, we just have to go around water to get to it, so it takes two hours - you could probably get there by boat in a half hour or so. Anyways, the town has been in lots of movies and is known for the dolphin - called Fungie. Fungie is famous because he has stayed in the same waters near Dingle for about twenty or so years. We didn’t really know what we were going to do when we got there, but hey - do we ever have a plan? Haha - We checked into our hostel. Scott, an Aussie, was in charge - a very nice man (and he wasn’t wearing shoes!). We got our room and headed out to check out the town. Our hostel was about a mile out of town - then, we walked around the main part of town in about ... oh, 20 minutes. We decided that, despite the wind and random rain, we were going to walk through people’s yards and cow pastures to get to the lighthouse. On our way, we met a dog (whom I ran with for a bit until he ditched me - probably for a lady friend), and we were surpassed by an older man. He was just having a nice brisk walk around the place. He was quite fast despite the wind that was pretty much blowing me over! He was chatting about this white bird that had just dive-bombed into the water to catch a fish, “Watch, he’s going to do it again - just keep your eye on him! Oh, and I’m sure Fungie - you know Fungie, our famous dolphin! He’ll be right over here, right near the cliffs. I’m sure of it. Oh! There he is!” Before we knew it, we had just saved ourselves twenty euros each to take a boat ride to see the famous dolphin. It was nuts! The next moment the old man was practically at the lighthouse in the distance, haha.

Eventually, we made it to the lighthouse - took a few jumping photos near the cliffs and each took to our own corner of pasture to ponder life, love and other mysteries. On our walk back, we were passing through some cow pastures and one herd decided to move from one big square to the other. In doing so, they had to use the same path we were using. We saw them walking onto the path and meandering onto the desired area of grass (we kept on walking towards them - we were closing in on them, but they’re just cows, right?) - when lo and behold we see a massive bull bringing up the rear. We all said things at the same time: Miriam - “That’s a bull!”, Jane - “(insert profanities)”, Hillary - “What does this mean? What does this mean?”, Me - “It’s half lion, half bull!”. And we lunged to the rocks that dropped off into the ocean. Trying not to fall down into the ocean, hiding oneself in rocks, and not getting killed by a beast is quite difficult. Don’t worry - it passed by in peace and we were once again on our merry way.

The next day we got things to have a picnic and we made our way out of town and up a small mountain. Up at the top, while we were making our lovely lunch wraps, we literally saw this dark cloud rush over to us and start dumping rain. We tried to take cover with this round stone structure - it helped a little... After a bit, it lightened up and we made our way back down the mountain and to the Catholic Church.

This church was lovely! Lot’s of trees and flowers around in, an old convent nearby and the inside was beautifully done. Hillary, Miriam and Jane ran into a retired priest and had a nice chat with him (he was quite the jokester, so I’m told). I was unable to meet the man because I had wandered earlier into the convent and was being shown some famous mosaic windows and wall paintings. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel for a little nap in the sunshine that had decided to grace us with it’s presence. I bonded with the hostel cat after my nap.

We ended the day with a little dinner at a local pub. When we were about to be on our way out, three men came in with a banjo, guitar and mandolin - all the makings for an awesome show. We decided to stay for a bit, and I’m sure glad we did. The three men soon had everyone singing famous Irish pub songs like Dirty Old Town, Irish Rover, and my favourite - Galway Girl. It was a great ending to a great day.

Our ride home was quite the trip - We had gotten a ride from a guy we met from town. Meet Tommy - a twenty-five year old with a degree in accounting; working in Cahirsiveen at Jessica’s Discount Shop, but from Dingle. (Ps: He also thought I was 18 years old - so wrong. I’m the oldest and wisest of the crew, haha). Anyways, we had been driving for about half an hour or so and suddenly their is a garda (policeman) directing traffic off of the main road onto a country road (not that there is much of a difference). We go around for a while - searching for a way back onto the main road, but all roads are blocked. Why? Oh, because Kerry County decided to have a rally that afternoon. A modified car race around country and main roads. There were parked cars everywhere, people hopping fences and running through pastures - it was nuts. Basically we were stuck until the race ended. Poor Tommy was in all sorts of stress - but I feel like we all enjoyed the rendezvous. All in all, the trip was lovely!

The Amazing Maracas Player!

I found a local community church! Got the phone number and decided to give them a ring to see what time the service is. When we showed up on Sunday morning we were greeted with such kindness and love. In a few minutes time, Hillary was holding the newest born child of the church and we were being given the run down on everyone who came to the church. Haha - most of the people, though, were late or just didn’t show up because of the time change. This created some chaos - the piano player wasn’t there (we all know how important a piano player is in church - MOM), the heat wasn’t turning on, the internet wasn’t working properly, etc etc... We had a lovely time of singing - Hill was dubbed the best maracas player in the country. Apparently the pastor is from Michigan and is a pastor for a few churches in County Kerry, so he comes for Thursday night services. I had talked to him on the phone earlier that week (Pastor Barry) - so when we showed up, everyone had heard of a girl named Ericka. Haha - oh Ireland. My favourite lady there is Eileen. An Englishwoman with the craziest life story/Jesus moment. It was a lovely experience and we hope to become chummy with this community.

Yesterday we stopped by an old castle ruin on the other side of Cahirsiveen. Our other housemate, Zuzy (from Slovakia), came with us - She is usually working, at a garden, everyday, so it was fun to have her accompany us.

You know, Jeanne and I were just talking about how we go on all of these adventures and how it can be difficult to portray to others the incredibleness of it all. There are so many details that can go into one story that complete it, but are very minor by themselves. So, I am going to try to explain this little adventure in a different way (with some help from my friend, Jane).

We have found one CD that works in our car that is neither classical piano nor non-authentic native american music, and that we can mostly agree with. We arrived at our destination having listened to the seventh song of the CD for the thirty-first time. It has a slight electronic style to it, but a laid back sound that had put us all into a melancholy mood. After dodging a barbed-wire fence and walking up a grassy hill, we were in the shadow of a massive ruin. It had ivy growing the whole of the west wall and the afternoon sun was putting a golden glow on the entire setting. As always, I was coming up in last - it has it’s advantages. I am able to pick up on people’s tendencies. Miriam is always trying to scale a wall; Jane tries to do something daring but hesitates halfway through (Miriam yelling at her to keep going); Zuzy takes lovely photos; and Hillary assess the whole of the situation, usually by going to the top straightaway or walking all the way around first. Today though - Hillary was already through the ruin to check the grounds on the other side; Jane somehow made it to the outside wall first and was already climbing up it to a hole; Miriam was right behind her; and Zuzy was taking a photo of the whole ruin. I went through a ground level hole in the wall, scaled a wall to another hole where I met both Jane and Miriam. We found Hillary at the top of the structure. The back of the ruin being gone, we took in the green fields with the sea behind. And because it is an extraordinary moment, I took a picture of Jane and Hill jumping (I hope you all don’t get too tired of our jumping photos. It’s the only thing that makes sense in an epic moment). I joined Hill and Zuzy in a room - they were discussing, in a sarcastic tone, about how the nine by five foot room was the perfect place to live; the hole in the ground serving as both the toilet and garbage. I looked to the south where a wall should have been and saw Jeanne running down the grassy field, Miriam’s camera in hand -

meanwhile Zuzy left the room and had been replaced by a couple.

This moment will now be captured and translated through the eyes of Jeanne Debanne:

Not knowing what to do, having explored the entire castle (or almost), I went down into the large grass field dominated by the ruins. When I looked up, I chuckled: Hillary and Ericka had found fellow Americans, a couple in their fifties visibly travelers. They were chatting, all four in a corner of the castle, as if they met in the living room of a mutual friend's house on a sunday afternoon. Zuzana was wandering aimlessly on the crooked paths inside the castle, and Miriam, as usual, had scaled a wall at the far end of the ruin and her silhouette told me she was absorbing the view and was quietly marveling.

Waterville and Other Escapades

Sometime in the last week or two: we decided to take a day trip to Waterville - a lovely seaside town. It’s known for being the holiday hot spot for Charlie Chaplin, back in the day - we took many photos with the statue of him. My favourite part of the day was: we were on the way and stopped at a beach we thought was in Waterville (see photo above). It was a lovely sandy beach with a castle ruin next to the water. We spent some time there -- Miriam and I tried to boulder on some big rocks. Miriam loves to climb! And she's great at it. I’ve lost some of my skill though, due to my wrist fractures.

<- Hillary with Charlie Chaplin

At a random beach ->

A couple of days after Waterville we decided to go to another beach we had seen coming back from Waterville. It had a California feel to it - mainly because there was a surfing sign. Surfing in Ireland? Who knew? We got there and sure enough, there were a few surfers out in the water. It wasn’t that warm of a day, but I suppose when the waves are calling you, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do!

Here we were on the beach - Jane and I playing soccer, and Miriam and Hillary flicking sand at a dog who would jump at it (apparently his favourite game in the world). I decided to get a little mischievous ... I stopped the soccer fun and went over to where Hillary and Miriam were preparing to put their feet in the water. Miriam was slightly in front of Hillary, but I thought maybe my plan would work. I then sunk my foot into the sand and flicked it out, which flung chunks of sand straight into the side of Hillary’s face - IT WAS AWESOME (perf).

So, of course it became an all out sand fight, which then turned into a water fight. Jane completely took me out into the water - Hillary, Miriam and I, in turn, ganged up on Jane ... but somehow Hill and I still found ourselves completely drenched in the sea water. To my defense, I did successfully get both Hillary and Jane covered in sand. It was fun, yet slightly cold...

We went back to the car, decided we needed a photo, so I asked this dude who was just chillin’ in his car.

Me - “Hi, could you take a picture of the four of us please?”

Dude - “Uh, sure...”

Me - “Sweet - thanks, you’re a champ.”

Dude - “Uh ... okay. Heh.”

<- The aftermath ... you can't see the ocean and sand on us, but it was!

Now, the girls make fun of me for calling a complete stranger a champ and how I tend to talk to every stranger we pass by (I just like to strike up conversation, okay. Plus, that way you meet people!)

THEN, we stopped by a coffee shop - hoping beyond all hopes that they would let us order some coffee/hot chocolate despite our wet and sandy attire. I pulled up, got out and saw a man that looked like an owner of a coffee shop.

“Hello! Do you work here?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh, great! As you can see, we’re completely wet - we decided to jump into the ocean today.”

“Well, that was silly!” (he said this with a smile in his eyes and laughter in his voice - PS)

“Haha, yes, but it was fun and not too cold.”

“Okay, right.”

“Well, we were wondering if it’s possible to get some coffee drinks to go. We don’t want to get your furniture all wet and sandy.”

“Oh, right. Yes - of course!”

What a delightful man! We ended up stopping by the place a few days later to have a picnic behind his house/cafe where some cliffs can be seen by the public. Met the man’s wife, Mary, and his name is John - They were so interested in what we were doing in Ireland. I told them about WOOFing and how they could set something like that up. (They leave their home sometimes after the Summer season, and need someone to watch it for them - maybe I will do that after Alaska!)

<- Our picnic by the cliffs (we eat well!)

The next day we went to town! Why were we excited? Because the ferry finally started! A nice Spaniard, Mariano, collects the money and another man sails the thing. We were the only ones on it going to Cahirsiveen; however, on the way back we had the company of two other cars - Not that you have time to converse... It takes a total of seven minutes to cross to the other side.

While in town, we visited the French Patisserie. I finally got a cappuccino to drink and Jane ordered delicious goodies for us in French (much to her embarrassment - why was she embarrassed to speak her first language to another french woman? We’ll never understand...) We also stopped by this random discount store to look for blank CDs and ask about a guitar - here we met a nice guy called Tommy. He asked if we’d been around more of Ireland. We told him we’d love to and are planning on it; and we’d especially love to go to Dingle. Well, it just so happens that he is from there and is going there this Friday. He offered us a lift! We'll see if that happens...

Ta ta for now!

<- The owner of the cafe let me take a mug of coffee + baileys to the cliffs with me