back in galway

I'm back in Galway. I just booked a week in the Barnacles hostel dorm room.

I dropped my parents off at the Shannon Airport at around 11am this morning. We had a fantastic time traveling together for the week. They both seemed to love Ireland. How could you not? The country grows more beautiful each time I travel its precarious highways. They also both loved the Guinness. One of my favorite quotes from the week was from my mother.

As we were nearing the end of a day driving to a new town, we were all becoming a bit stressed. This is bound to happen when you start each day not entirely sure where you will spend the evening. Navigating can be difficult when traveling throughout Ireland as roadsigns are an often uncommon sight. The frustrations we were all feeling was summed up when my mom said, "I'm ready for a pint of Guinness and some Bacon Fries!" (Bacon Fries are delicious, bacon flavored, rice snacks found in many an Irish pub)

As we were preparing to say our goodbyes at the airport, I was having conflicting thoughts on my current situation traveling. A small part of me thought it would be a good feeling to again have some sort of normalcy in my life. A permanent address. A normal job. A closet to put my clothes in. The other part of me was thinking about how free I was (I'm in Galway as I quit my job with face2face, more on this to come). I had all of my possessions on my back. I had a strong urge to book a cheap, last minute ticket with RyanAir and head to some other part of Europe for a couple days. I decided it would be in my best interest (namely, financially) to come to Galway and look for work.

So, as of right now, I'm unemployed. I quit my job with face2face on Sunday afternoon. I was nearly certain this would happen sooner or later. Even with all of the advantages of the job, I decided it was time to move on. Thursday is November first - this marks the halfway point of my time in Ireland. I'm ready to have a job that doesn't require 60 hours of my time each week. I have the rest of my life to put in those kind of hours at a job. Where will I be working? I'm not entirely sure as of right now. Hopefully, I'll be able to give you more of an idea by the end of this week.

Speaking of work, I've decided we do to much of it in America. From my understanding, when most people begin full time work in the states, you get two weeks vacation. In Ireland, with most full time positions, you're given at least five weeks off. There are also eight bank holidays in Ireland. When the banks take a holiday, so does the rest of the country. This essentially means that in addition to your five weeks of vacation, you also get eight long weekends. As a man we met at a pub in Westport Quay said, "Work to live, don't live to work."

updates

Hello from Portmagee, Ireland. Portmagee is just off the Ring of Kerry in County Kerry. Today is Wednesday. I've been lucky enough to travel since last Saturday with my folks. It has been great to spend time with them (and, the B&Bs have been much more comfortable than the hostels!). I quickly influenced their travel plans. By this, I mean we haven't really had our days planned out until we get into our rental car in the morning.

I've been our designated driver for the left side of the road. I'm not sure if I've posted about this until now, but for the last three weeks I worked with face2face, I was the driver for my team. I'm amazed at how quickly I've become acclimated to driving on the right side of the car on the left side of the road.

I met my parents north of Dublin in Howth Saturday morning. It had been (according to my Dad's count) about 51 days since we last said goodbye in the parking lot of Jordan Creek Mall. I'm sure we'd gone this long without seeing each other before, but it was great to get off DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) in Howth and see their smiling faces.

I'll fill you in later on more from our travels. This morning, we're going on a ninety minute boat ride to the Skellig Islands.

back in courtown

Greetings, friends. Believe it or not, I'm back in the same internet cafe in Courtown that I was 11 days ago when I posted on the 8th of this month. So much has happened between now and then - my apologies for not having posted since then. I also, unfortunately, haven't done any writing to keep you up to date with my adventures.

I spent the last two weeks working towns in the area around Dundalk. The team I was transferred to was wonderful. I was sad to see them go today as I dropped them off in the streets of Dublin. My old team leader (Danny) and his girlfriend (Bec) decided they were ready to be done with face2face. Bec is from Australia and will be heading home within the next couple weeks. Danny is from Galway and is heading that way to work for a couple months before moving to Australia with Bec. They were heaps of fun to work and travel with for two weeks.

The three of us and Brian (who also moved to Galway by the way to find different work) spent last Saturday driving to the Giant's Causeway (I don't have time to describe the Causeway in its entirety, so check out this link!). The drive through Belfast and along the Causeway Coastal Route was spectacular. By far some of the most breathtaking coastline I've seen in Ireland. I'd love to post pictures, however Brian and I didn't mind the crashing swells at the Causeway. As I was turning around to take a picture, a giant wave soaked my jeans and thus, my camera.

Last Sunday, Brian and I hiked a slieve (Irish word for mountain) that was just outside of my place in Carlingford. We started late and didn't reach the modest 581 meter summit until nearly dusk. We ended up making our way back to our car in the dark - the only thing that saved us from sleeping on the side of the mountain was finding a stream that we knew led to our car. Only would Brian and I find ourselves in this scenario.

I will work tomorrow and then head to Dublin to meet my folks. They arrived in Dublin this morning. I will be traveling with them all next week. When they leave, I'll either come back to face2face for a couple weeks or head to Galway to find a different job.

Only time will tell.

I'll do my best to try and write more in the next week. I hope you are all well.

All the best,

mdk

courtown

Hello all, I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Gorey, which is 5kms away from Courtown, which is where I will be living for the next two weeks.

I left my hostel yesterday and had a chance to look around Wexford in the daylight. I decided I was going to hike outside of town to the Wexford Wildfoul Reserve - this was about 5 or 6kms outside of Wexford. As I was making this walk, I began to question my decision to hike to a place where 1,000s of birds go to spend the winter. As I was walking down the country road that led to the reserve, I passed cottages which had names like, 'Raven Ridge' and 'Raven Lodge.' Some of you reading this may realize that I'm not a huge bird fan - in fact, I'm somewhat freaked out by the creatures and their potentially deadly beaks.

I was pleasantly surprised. The bird reserve is right next to Wexford Harbor and actually sits 4 or 5 feet below sea level. It was a cool, cloudy, day and the reserve was nearly empty with the exception of myself, a couple small groups of visitors, and thousands of birds. Thousands of Greenland White Fronted Geese - nearly a third of the world's population - fly to Wexford to spend the winter. I was shocked to read that an occasional Canadian goose somehow ends up at the Reserve as well. It was a peaceful place to spend the afternoon.

I walked from the Reserve to the highway which leads into Courtown. Within five minutes of putting my thumb out, I was picked up and given a lift. Courtown is a nice enough little village - during summer months, Dubliners make the drive to spend weekends here. Yesterday afternoon, the town was nearly empty. I spent the afternoon in a cozy pub and enjoyed a lunch of a traditional loin of Irish bacon, potatoes, and cabbage - and, of course, a Guinesss.

I met my team late yesterday evening and we attempted to check into our accommodation. For whatever reason, the manager of the holiday home complex had no record of our reservation. After an hour of phone calls, we were able to check in and spend the night. The only stipulation was that we get the problem ironed out in the morning. This headache lasted until about 11am today. I wasn't worried, I only imagined this would potentially shorten my workday. I was elated when I found out that we wouldn't be working today - and, shortly thereafter, frustrated when I found out we would be making today up on Saturday.

This, is when we decided we would drive to Gorey to eat and get some groceries. As I was writing this blog post, not five minutes ago, my team leader received a phone call from his boss. It turns out that a fundraiser on the team in Dundalk (my friend Lyndon from last week) decided he no longer wished to fundraise for face2face. Guess who now gets to hop a bus and head to Dundalk?

Yes, one Matthew Kyhnn.

cheers, and I'll keep you updated,

mk

finally, more pictures

enjoy.

First shots of Jameson in Ireland at a Doolin pub.

Hostel in Doolin, above. Allie River, below.

beginning of our cliffs of moher hike

If you turn your head sideways, you can see me from a distance. This shot somewhat illustrates how massive the cliffs were.

Celebratory pints, post-hike. Below, hitching into Ennis.

Kells. House where the Book of Kells was stashed for approximately 600 years.

Mrs. Carpenter, unlocking the house.

Hitching to Loughcrew.

View from the hills of Loughcrew.

Old cemetery in Donegal town.

Datmond, Brian, Ralph, me

Cork (I think)

Enjoying a Jameson before the tour of the distillery

Lastly, a short video clip midway through our hike along the Cliffs of Moher.

take care everyone. mk

(briefly) on the road again

Good evening, everyone. As I write this, I'm sitting on a bench in Wexford, County Wexford. I'm right on the banks of the River Slaney where it empties into Wexford Harbor. After six hours on a Bus Eireann coach, I was ready to relax. I was pleasantly surprised as I opened my laptop to find I had a wireless internet connection.

As I continue to travel throughout Ireland, I realize how extremely difficult it would be to decide on a town to actually live in. Whether I'm taking in a town such as Wexford on a park bench next to old fishing boats, or working one main street of a town with face2face, or simply driving through a town on a bus, I quickly fall in love with each place. I've only been in Wexford for thirty minutes but can already tell I would be happy here for three or four months of my stay in Ireland.

I left Dromineer this morning. I didn't know until I finished work yesterday evening where I would be working for the next two weeks. I am moving to a new team that will be working this Southeast area of Ireland. Our accommodation is actually about 20 kms up the road from Wexford in a town called Courtown Harbor. I will be working with an entirely new roaming team. The people on my team from the last two weeks again went to Galway today. There was yet another roaming party that was being put together for an employee who was leaving face2face. I decided I was not going to attend this going away party for some guy I didn't know. While I enjoy Galway, I was ready for something new. More importantly, I was ready to free myself from face2face for a short weekend. As I've told you, my life from Monday - Friday revolves in some way or another around face2face. I was ready for a break.

My team dropped me off in Nenagh on they way to Galway. It was a refreshing feeling to get out of the car, put my pack on, and realize I didn't have much of a plan. I only knew that I wanted to somehow get to the Wexford area. Six hours later, I've arrived. When I publish this post, I'm going to find my way to the lone hostel in town and hope they have beds available.

Before I went out last night, I was again talking with my friend Lyndon about his love for the Midwest. I had been reading my Lonely Planet Ireland book as I wanted to see what the Wexford area had to offer Matt Kyhnn. Lyndon introduced me to his Lonely Planet United States book. I went straight to the index to check out what Lonely Planet had to say about the Iowa/Iowa City area. It was interesting to read the author's synopsis of Iowa City. The good places to eat: Baldy's, Malsala. Good bars to visit? Not the Summit, not the Airliner, not even Quintons. Nope, Lonely Planet directed visitors of Iowa City to (drum roll) The Foxhead Tavern!

I'm currently reading the Alchemist. It is a brilliant book - you should all read it. Written by Paulo Coelho, it is the story of a boy who travels the world in search of a treasure he has dreamed of. Along the way, he learns to listen to his heart and follow his dreams. It is full of wonderful quotes, and I wanted to share the following with you.

"I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that the tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now."

With that, I'm going to go find my hostel. It is getting dark and my hands are getting cold.

And, for anyone else who was worried, the trash bags I referenced in my last post did not stay on the streets of Dromineer. On the way home from The Whiskey Still, I picked them up and brought them back to our place. My roommates were shocked that after about two hours, I still hadn't thrown the trash away, as this was my original intention.

mdk

updates

Hello all. I'm in an internet cafe in Limerick right now. Below, you'll find three blog entries that I've written in the past week. Thanks for continuing to stop by, I'm sorry for the lack of posts recently. I'm writing as often as possible and will do my best to post when I have time and internet available. cheers

monday the 24th, 2007 – dromineer bay, county tipperary

Welcome to face2face fundraising - UIF Telefund part deuce. Really, the similarities between the job I just signed on to and my job of four years in Iowa City are quite amazing. Instead of making warm calls to alumni of The University of Iowa, I’ll be making cold introductions with members of the Irish public – face2face on the streets.

“Hi. My name is Matthew Kyhnn, I’m working with face2face fundraising on behalf of Barnardos. How are you doing today …”

Bernardos is Ireland’s largest children’s charity. Each year, Bernardos works with over 12,000 children, youths, and families in Ireland. Today, one out of ten children in Ireland are living in poverty. These talking points – and many others – were presented in today’s training. Really, without my experience at The UIF, I’d be scared shitless as to what tomorrow will bring.

I trained today with five other people - a guy from Australia, a guy from Dublin, a girl from a town near Dublin, Brian, and Lucas – my new friend from the Czech Republic. Lucas and I were assigned to (drum roll) Limerick. There are five or six roaming teams currently scattered throughout Ireland. We didn’t know where we would be assigned until midway through training. Before our trainer came in with our town assignments, we were talking about Limerick. “The stabbing capital of Ireland,” among other great descriptions was used when discussing the wonderful little city. Only two hours into my trip to Limerick with Lucas did we find out we’d actually be staying 50 km outside of Limerick in Dromineer.

I’m writing this from my new home for two weeks, a holiday home in Dromineer at the Waterside Cottages. I’ve yet to see if there is actually water outside of my cottage, it was dark and raining when I arrived. My roommates? Lucas, Lyndon (from Australia), Ashleen (from some town in the North), and Phil (from Dublin), Team Leader. The holiday home is quite nice. I don’t have my own room, but I’m only sharing with one other person – far better than the average of 8 or 10 in the hostels of the past three weeks. One major downside however is I have no internet access. A part of me wishes I was in a hostel, not sure what tomorrow would entail, or where I would end up tomorrow evening. I enjoyed the unknown. Alas, while I enjoyed this, my Wells Fargo checking account was beginning to have mixed emotions. A paycheck will be grand. Tomorrow, I’ll take to the streets of Nenagh, Ireland.




Day one is completed. A long day one is completed. To be true, it was much more difficult than I expected. In my mind, I continue to draw parallels between this job and Telefund. I guess not surprisingly, the most difficult aspect of the job was actually getting people to stop and talk to me, to hear me out.

Picture: Me, standing on a city sidewalk. I’m wearing jeans and a green jacket which has “Barnardos” clearly written on it. I’m sporting a three ring binder, a Barnados/face2face fundraising name tag, and of course a big smile. I’m basically screaming, “Stop and talk to me, I’d like to sign you up for a monthly donation to one of Ireland’s best known charities.”

Let us just say people aren’t dying to stop and chat. If I relate this to Telefund, instead of the occasional caller ID that says, “University of Iowa,” I picture a phone that doesn’t ring, it rather says, “A student is calling from the University of Iowa, they’d like to ask you for a gift, preferably on the credit card, please pick up.” You can only imagine how many contacts we’d get on a given night.

So, actually getting people to stop and chat ended up being the most challenging aspect of the job. Once they stop, it wasn’t tough for me to present my case for support. While Ireland’s economy has been rapidly improving in the last ten or fifteen years, the gap between the rich and poor is only widening. One out of ten children in this country – nearly 150,000 of them – are currently living in poverty. I’m not asking people for two or three hundred euros. Our goal is to sign people up for at least three euro a week – twelve euros a month. To put this in perspective, I got a cup of coffee on (one of our few) breaks today … €2.30.

The job clearly isn’t for everyone. My friend Lucas threw in the towel and is currently driving back to Dublin. Really, he was presented a good opportunity. He wasn’t originally going to take this face2face job as he hoped to work in a sporting goods store that he had worked at in years past. He comes to Ireland for about three or four months – from now until January – each year. After this, he goes home to the Czech Republic to film/photograph extreme skiing. He basically comes here to work his tail off for four months so he can film for the winter. Anyway, a job in the ski department of this sporting goods store opened up, so he took it. Nice guy. I got his contact info. If I find myself in the Czech Republic, he said I can crash at his place. Apparently, you can get lift tickets for only €8 a day. Not a bad deal.

I’m infinitely more comfortable with the situation – the job, the roommates, the accommodation – than I was yesterday evening. The work will be difficult, but I can tell I’ll enjoy it. It is right up my alley. I love being able to work knowing that I’m positively making a difference in the lives of others. Could I do what I did today for a year straight? Most likely not. But, for now, it presents a perfect opportunity for me – a good wage, free accommodation, and a chance to see more of Ireland.

Sunday night, 11:10pm

“When walking, think right. When driving, think left.” This was the line Brian and I quoted as we traveled Ireland for three weeks. You’d be surprised, simply being a pedestrian in this country requires a fair amount of thought – especially after a few pints. It feels natural to first look left, and then right when crossing a road. However, this would put you in the hospital before to long in Ireland. Even today, I still have to think when crossing a street. Tonight, I got my first experience behind the wheel of a car in Ireland.

At long last, the weekend came. This past week was grueling. My feelings on the job change daily – in truth, they change hourly. I enjoy the job, however the days are extremely long. We’re on the road by 8:30 and on the streets by 10. For two and a half hours straight, I have a big smile on my face and am constantly attempting to get people to stop and talk. You do everything possible to make someone smile, to stop what they’re doing, and give you five or ten minutes of their time. The vast majority of the time, people walk on by. At 12:30, I have a thirty minute break. Come one, I have two and a half more hours of the previously described activity. At half three I have another thirty minute break. I’m then scheduled to be off by six – however, the earliest we’ve got off the streets is 7:00. I’m home by 9 or 10, and proceed to eat, sleep, and do it all over again the next day.

Needless to say, the weekend was well received. I finally had the chance on Saturday morning to see Dromineer in the daylight. It really is a beautiful little village right on the shores of a big lake, Lough Derg. I went on a five or six mile run on the Lough Derg trail, a path that takes you along country roads, farm fields, and the shores of Lough Derg. The run was remarkable. I ran two or three miles out and then turned around to head home. As I was running back, it began to rain. It was a warm, steady, and beautiful rain. I felt incredible when I was finished. It allowed me some alone time and a chance to reflect on the week.

Yesterday evening, I went with the roommates to Galway for a roaming party. Three or four other roaming teams from throughout the country met up at a pub. It was Telefund all over again. Strangely, I was on the outside of the group looking in. A new-hire at Telefund, going on a Telefund bar crawl (before those were outlawed).

I missed Iowa City on Friday night. We had just finished working in Limerick and stopped in a pub to have a pint before heading home. As we were sitting at the bar, I noticed a PGA golf game. I was surprised to see this, as you rarely find video games in the pubs in Ireland. Drinking and going to the pubs seems to be much more of a social experience, a chance to connect with friends. As I saw this machine I couldn’t help but think of Silverstrike Bowling. My roommate Lyndon was in the states for a couple weeks a month or so ago and spent a lot of time in the Midwest – Minnesota, Wisconsin (As an aside, he has nothing but amazing things to say about the Midwest – his favorite part of the states, by far. It is fascinating to hear him rave about his time there). I asked him if he was familiar with the game, he wasn’t. Either way, I was presented with an opportunity to explain the game and the drinking/socializing that comes with playing. I immediately wanted to be in Iowa City, at Joe’s, playing Silverstrike, and washing down a pickled egg with a pint of PBR.

My spirits have stayed pretty high so far. I’ve done okay being away from friends, from family. I guess I’m not surprised. I was, though, feeling a little down on Thursday evening when we got home. I was tired, questioning the job, and well, feeling blue. I told the roommates I was going to take out the trash. I was under the impression the trash bins were near the entrance to our complex. As I reached the street, I had yet to find the trash bins. I decided I would leave the trash behind and walk down to check out the lake (at this point, I wasn’t entirely sure a lake even existed. I found (what would later be known as) Lough Derg. It was a lovely evening – nearly full moon, stars in the sky, and the view of the lake was fantastically peaceful. As I was heading home, I noticed in the distance the familiar, lighted, Guinness sign that decorates the outside of so many Irish pubs.

I decided it’d be wrong not to have a pint at, “The Whiskey Still.” I entered the pub, sat at the bar, and ordered a pint of Guinness. I introduced myself to two middle aged women (who I later found out were twins) who were directly to my left. They were from Newcastle, England, and were in Dromineer for this weekend’s “Dromineer Literary Festival.” My one pint led to these ladies insisting on buying me two more. Most importantly, we enjoyed an hour long conversation. We talked about my work, their experience with nonprofits, my decisions to travel for a year, American’s outlook on traveling in general, and their love of Dromineer bay. It was great to again meet and connect with fellow travelers – it was exactly what I needed. I left the pub so happy, so touched by meeting two brilliant, kind-hearted sisters, that I was nearly in tears. Why? I’m not really quite sure.

But, friends, it is time for me to retire. Half eight will surely come way to quickly tomorrow morning. Oh, but, my experience behind the wheel in Ireland. Amazing. It was much easier for me to adapt to being on the left side of the road than I anticipated. Driving on the right side of the car … somewhat confusing, especially since I was shifting the five speed with my left hand. Roundabouts are as commonplace in Ireland as four-way stops are in the states – and, they’re brillant. Traffic doesn’t have to stop. Lastly, remember my describing the country roads in Ireland (if not, this is an excuse for you to read my earlier posts), tonight I was navigating them in the dark. Navigating them like a pro, of course.

cheers, mdk