Killary Adventure
Hey all...I had the most amazing weekend since arriving in Ireland! I must say that I went with low expectations of this "Adventure Center" but that changed very quickly. The first night we had a "Table Quiz"...which also sounds boring but turned out to be a lot of fun. This "quiz" consisted of a “Wheatabix” eating contest, random trivia about anything and everything (what is the real name of Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz), treasure hunts, paper airplane contests and more. My team, self dubbed "Diablo Inferno" took first place and won a few bottles of wine. That night we also signed up for activities for the next day...I marked my name next to windsurfing and gorge walking. Windsurfing is hard, very hard. I thought that I was having fun with the windsurfing thing but everything changed when we began climbing up waterfalls and rapids. The gorge walk is more of a climb up a series of waterfalls...and since it had been raining for the week before the water was quite a bit higher and faster than usual.
The only issue I had was how to film gorge walking. Picture me with a wetsuit, a helmet, life vest, and really old sneakers from this giant pile of mix and matches stored in a shed. Where do I put a video camera when I will be completely submerged in the water along with everyone else. But how could I not bring it? You should have seen the doubt in everyone's eyes as I wrapped the camera in a plastic bag, in a t-shirt, and then in my hat, put it into a small duffle bag and tied it to my life vest. Everyone told me not to and that it would definitely get ruined...."how important is this to you" they would ask...but for you all to really get to see what I see I'll film by any means necessary. The good news is that the camera is just fine...the amazing news is that I got the most incredible footage of waterfall climbing and then something else....something very unexpected. At the end of the climb we walked along a dirt road that led you past this giant bog area. There is this one part of the bog that is torn up and is just pure mud and water...more mud than water...and so naturally we all jumped in and had a bog fight. Mud flew, it sank in, filled in, shoes were lost, mud was swallowed, stuck in ears, in eyes and hair. By the end no one could recognize each other...we were completely covered in this thick, warm smelly bog mud. As if this wasn't enough excitement we then walked over to the cliffs where we proceeded to jump off and into the Fiord for a post mud-bath bath. The next day we kayaked to the other side of the Fiord to jump off even bigger cliffs, over 30 feet this time! To sit in the middle of this Fiord in a kayak, alone at times, was the most peaceful thing. I remember reaching the center and just laying back letting the mist fall down on me as I spun on this water so still it shone life glass mirroring the surrounding mountains all around me. It was the singlemost exciting and beautiful experience I've had since arriving here in Ireland.
This kind of makes me think what I would be doing back home right now. If not for Arcadia University's Study Abroad Program, if not for the University of Hartford Art School, if not for NBC's Junior Year Abroad I would never have experienced all that I have. There are so many people out there that can help you if you just simply ask. You can go anywhere. You can do anything.
PS. I’ve cleaned my ears maybe 2 dozen times since I left that bog last Saturday…and bog is still coming out…not cool.
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