sparkling on the go

TODAY - County Tyrone
Moring with talk with family, giving gifts and getting gifts, plus trying Claires bagpipe
Kesh - tractors and meeting Ellen
Meeting family
Dinner with exchangees and hosts - Woodhill hunting lodge

This moring I once again had to pack my bags, nearly not getting it all down and ending up with two extra bags (a). Foremost I had to say goodbye. Claires fmaily is really nice, even her uncle who tried to teach me to play badpipe this moring, pretty unsucessfully and my lungs are baby weak - he was really good though.
Antways, those who were awake I ha signing my shirt and geve them each an angel, and the gaal - Valerie haining her on the fridge saying "That way Ill always see her", which was so sweet. Suprising me, Valerie gave me gifts too: a golden bag with some stuff in.. There was a 400g chocolate bar, the bigges one she could find and incase I didnt get well feed at my next host; a wonderfull pair of while socks with antislide and a pair of doll-cows on top, having noticed that I like my big socks; and a pandabear with adompion certificate, its adorable. Plus all the stuff I got when I got there to surivie, a anitperspirant, bath sponge and mikado. Thank you very much Valerie, and thank you Beattie family for havning me in your house, and Claire for showing me around!

Steven and Claire playing


Me trying to blow (pretty unsucessfully)

Tractors on a row

TODAY - County Tyrone in Londonderry
Buss with Claire and her father and his lodge
Band Parade plus bar in Londonderry
Buss back with lodge and flute band
Utopia (club) with exchangees, hosts and friends


Me in Clairs fathers stuff

At the Parade:


 






Gillian and Charlotte

TODAY - County Tyrone in Ireland 
Picked up by Charlotte and Jesa
Meeting Gang
Killsbegas Harbour
Costal Mountains: Slieve League
Dounegal
Movie - Life Size
Movie - The back-up plan

Today we went yo Donegal, a county in South of Ireland, boardering with Tyrone. With Claire sick and staying home, I was picked up by Charlotte and Jesa, meeting the rest on our way to Ireland. It was a lot of driving around and after a quick stop at Killybegas harbour, stinking of fish, we continued to soon meet a smal costal road sided by mountain wall on one side, steep lavine on the other - quite and adventure with the irish driving. Going upeards, we were greeted by a unique scenery - the highest costal mountains in Europe, the stone rising highly out of the water. They didnt look all tall, covered in thick mist, searching its way around them all and nearly reaching our feets. It was windy, cold and beautiful, a lovely place a picture can never re-create. Full of wonder for the cost and its  mountains we drove back, meeting sheeps and bying some longed-fore ice-cream berfore entering NorthernIreland and leaving the familiar euro, dubble roadsigns and the superiour leanght measure km.

The massive mountains and all the mist


Jesa, Erika, Martin, Luzia and Michaela


More of the mist

Charlotte and Martin with diffrent ideas of the weather


(dont remember name), Erika, Martin, Luzia, Michaela, Jesa, Charlotte (host) and Gillian (host)


The sillouete on the top is Martin - big fella aint that big!

TODAY - TYRONE
Meeting up with Gang
Fishfarm
Pheasants behind Claires house
Turf and Bogs
Movie - Baby Mama
Treasure Hunt

I had my wellies on today and I think practically everyone commented on them and I have to admitted I love my shining red laced wellies very mush. They proved to be quite usefully both at the Fishfarm, where my host brother Scott showed is around, even seeing the trout being literary poured in to ice boxes, frozen to death and shipped for slicing and packing, as well as on the Turf farm. Turfs kinda some stuff, made in to squares out of the bogs and left to air-dry, creating hard blocks of wood-dirt. Apparently its used for fire, instead of wood for some reason - it smells good but it seems a bit odd. Martin said its torv, confirming my thoughts about its appearance through not aboat use, the same stuff we uses in ex horseboxes... Valerie though it odd that we don't have it (though we apparently do, we just don't use it like here), wanting to send some with me home - I hope she understood that I declined. It was cool though, to se all Turf, stalked in long lines or built in to small houses, allowing the wind to blow through, seemingly never-ending.


Luzia and a fish

 
 


pushing the fishes


Scott and the fishes


Turf at the Bog xD


Jesa and Luzia in one of their constant battles

Movie - Grown Ups
Meeing up with Jesa, Luzia, Charlotte (host) and Adam (host)
Gortin Glen Forest Park
Driving around (in car with Jesa and Carlotte) stopping by : Telephone mast, castle ruins, American President Wilsons ancesteral home, steel figures, a salmon waterfall..
Movie -Definitly Maybe
Watching Sanctuary clips from Comic Con


Luzia and Jesa under stuff


??


View!


Me, Jesa and Luzia with the dancing metal dudes


Dubble namne signs in South of Ireland


Jesa chasing a frog


The wind trying to blow us away..


Luzia and Jesa


Car tour


Love the greeen :)

TODAY - County Tyrone

Movie - Footlose
Meeing up with gang
Ulster American Folk Park
Saying goodbye to Lisa <3
Visiting Bessie Bell "Mountain"
Bar with Jesa, Luzia, hosts


Michaela, Martin, Luzia, Jesa and Erika 


Another cool sewing machine


The ship from ireland to America


Sun stuffie


Matthew at the "mountain"


Martin carring Luzia around


Luzia and Jesa


Erika, Jesa, Martin, Michaela, Luzia


The brave cat


The shy one

TODAY - County Tyrone
"The accidential husband" and breakfast
Omagh - Mamorial Site for bombing in 1998, libary archive, chapel, cute little shop..
Meeting Claires friends and driving around
"Mean Girls 2"

We meet up with Jesa, Luzia, Charlotte (host), Adam (host) and Matthew (host-little brother). We saw the memorial site for those who lost their life in Omagh when a bomb went of the 15th of August 1998. It killed 28 people, and two unborn twins, including a lot of young people there on school trip, one of them Spanish boy there on exchange. So sad really, especially how resent it was. The site had some storytelling and names of those who died, aswell as mirrors reflecting the light all the way to a glass pillar  with a heart on it, located on the bomb site, so that when the sun shine the pillar is filled with light and the heart of Omagh shine. We also went to Omagh library where they have a archive dedicated to the bombing, containing endless books or condolences, letters, poems, sculptures, paintings and articles. It was all quite touching.


Names of those who lost their lifes


Mirrors reflecting he light


The glas heart at the bomb scene


Inside a chapel


The adorable tablets in the cute little shop