En Fin!

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to write; things have been pretty hectic. Sorry about all the craziness (as you know I’ve been almost without internet connection for my entire time in France. I haven’t really gotten the chance to write since before I was in Ireland. Well, I’ll try to get us caught up so as to not fall any further behind.

Ireland was incredible. It would seem that I’ve misplaced my pictures from there. I took quite a few—nearly 400, I believe—but they are not to be found on my computer. Luckily I copied them all to my dad’s computer, too, so I think we’re all set. My dad is in a different country, though, so it looks like there won’t be any pictures for this entry. You can use your imaginations, though. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from movies, it’s that I’ve got a better imagination than 99.9% of directors and cinematographers. Accordingly, you are free to imagine whatever you please along with the following.

Well, we went to Shannon, Ireland. It’s on the far western coast, toward the center but a bit to the south. If you’ve seen Far and Away, you’ll have something to stimulate your overactive imaginations. If not, picture someplace that’s all green. No, that’s not right. It’s not quite all green, (I mean, let’s be honest, this isn’t modern art—there are tree trunks and stone walls interspersed with the rolling green fields). Beautiful countryside, isn’t it? The hills don’t get too high, either, so you could see for miles and miles if it weren’t so foggy. That’s a shame. In fact, it’s raining now, so you consider yourself lucky you brought an umbrella. That’s the landscape. All I really wanted to see in Ireland were castles and green fields, so I got my wishes.

We next went to Bunratty Castle, a castle that was about 2 kilometers from where we stayed (the Jamaica—pronounced “ja-my-ka”—inn, where we had our own bedroom to ourselves even though we were in a 12 person room in a youth hostel). The castle was awesome. We could go in and wander about as we pleased, so we scurried about and saw all the little nooks and crannies. We even found the dungeon and the murder hole (I’m not kidding, it was above the main door, and they used it to pour hot oil on the people they didn’t want to come in).

Then we went to the cliffs of Moher (which are better known as the “Cliffs of Insanity” from the Princess Bride. Good times). It was incredible. We watched the ocean pound against the rocks for hours and hours. It was really windy. I leaned into the wind, and it would hold me up even when I was at like a 70 degree angle. I jumped as straight as I could, and it carried me forward a full foot and a half. It was insanely windy. There were some good wind pictures (see the picture… oh, wait, I lost the pictures). Well, to top off a nearly perfect day, we had Italian food in a sketchy Indian Restaurant in Ireland. (That’s a lot of I’s for one sentence, isn’t it?). It wasn’t great, but we tried to find about five Irish Pubs and get boiled potatoes, or anything, for that matter, but the pubs we found only wanted served alcohol. Kinda crazy…

Well, I came back to several self-reproducing packets of lemon cake sitting on my desk. I took a few off and put them in my backpack, but when I came back, there were two more. I let them be, and when I woke up, another one had come. I took them to school and ate them, only to find another two on my desk the following day. It was a little disconcerting, seeing as I could have sworn that I had taken them off the desk, and you would think that they would put them on my desk all in one go (or at least tell me about it) if they had wanted to make a gift out of it for me. Well, I decided I’d had enough with the self multiplying lemon cakes, so I took them all to Venice with me, and ate them all there, and I’ve seen nothing of lemon cakes since. I’m glad that’s done with. J

As a quick interruption, before I go on to that marvelous trip to Venice, there have been a lot of red days lately, and every day has been a day that we have been at home. Indeed, there have not been any red days save we have been present for them. For instance, I took off on Tuesday last week and didn’t get back until Saturday, so of course, Monday and Tuesday were both red days but there wasn’t another one all week... it’s just uncanny…

While I’m a filmophile, I’m not sure I can compete with my brother, Seth. Nevertheless, I felt like I had to go see a movie, so I went to “Into the Wild” (which, having seen it, may have been rated R due to about thirty seconds of completely unnecessary footage. For better or worse, there are no ratings here, so I don’t know what it was actually rated. Everything is pornographic, from the magazines to the advertisements to the people, so you just learn to shield your eyes when needed). Anyway, I’ve strayed far from where intended

I have written here a note to write about getting kebabs with Susie and Serena, two of the girls who I’ve gotten to be good friends with. I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary about the excursion to get the kebabs, but it’s sure worth remembering. I love kebabs. Let’s be honest, how much better can it get, good food, good friends, and a great view? We went on a walk for our class, then got kebab and sat in a park with flowers that looks at Notre Dame. It was great fun.

That is of course, just distracting from the trip last weekend to Venice. We went out on a poorly named sleeper car. It might better have been called a “keep you up all night so you can’t sleep car.” We did overnight trains both directions, and I slept horribly both directions. It doesn’t help that I’m a lighter sleeper than… well, I’m a really light sleeper. I wake up to almost anything. Believe me; I remember almost every instant of the night. I went to bed after watching a good chunk of “Casino Royale” (I figured it was appropriate since I was going to Venice) and tried to fall asleep about 1:30 am. I laid in bed for a while, when I decided to start listening to my ipod. I made it through what seemed like half my two day long playlist, fell asleep a dozen times or so, but just turned over and fell back asleep. Finally I woke up. I stretched my legs, feeling a lot better and a lot more rested. It was almost 3:15 am. That was when I knew I was in for a long night….

Venice was wonderful, despite the adventures on the train. We saw Saint Mark’s Plaza and Basilica (where the first scene in the Italian Job was filmed, with all of the pigeons. One actually came over and landed on my head, even though I had no food for it. After photographing the moment, I promptly knocked it off). It was incredible. It was built in the 11^th century, between 900 and 1000 years ago. That’s ridonkulously old. It’s a pity the Italians didn’t figure out the whole nation-state thing before the 19^th century, or they might have been able to make a more indelible impact on European History. I hold the Pope partly to blame for it, since he had his own army and fought his own wars (and I speak about him as if it was just one him, but really there was a good number of popes that made war on their neighbors. Even more importantly, though, is the question about the word indelible. Can you make a delible impact on something? Perhaps this reading will be a delible experience for you… well, I hope not!).

I bought an old fashioned pen, like the ones they used for centuries with inkwells and steel tips. What a crazy way to write. It would have been tough for Alexander Hamilton to write his 40,000 word treatises in just 3 months if he was writing with a pen like this one (I’m holding it in my hands right now). I suppose he had more practice, but it’s impressive nevertheless. Almost as impressive as that, though is that I ran into my mom and dad while I was outside that same store where I bought the pen. I was outside talking and waiting for some friends when I heard my dad say “I thought I recognized that voice!” I saw him and my mom out of the corner of my eye, and thought nothing of it for a split second, but then was shocked as it registered for me. Wow! What a crazy occurrence! It was a great time, all in all. It was fun to see the city, experience it a bit, and see the quaint little waterways.

Most recently, however, was our 5 day trip to Normandy and the Chateaux of the Loire Valley. Let me tell you what, I’ve never seen so many castles/chateaux in such a short period of time. We saw like 9 in 5 days, as well as beaches and cemeteries.

Speaking of which, we started out in Normandy at Omaha Beach. We went to the memorial the United States graciously built to commemorate the many soldiers that were sent to save freedom across the world (goodness only knows why we had to build it; you’d think that the French might have thought of it). All joking aside, though, it was a moving experience. As far as I am aware, I didn’t have any relatives there those fateful days in June of 1944, but I thought of Grandma in the supply depot in Ogden and Grandpa cutting hair in the Pacific and all the families who gave up their sons and brothers and fathers and husbands for a good cause. I thought of the senselessness of war, and of the love we must have to answer the call of duty to help out others. The great wars we have fought have not ever been for money or fame or dominion, but to secure freedom, first for ourselves and then for others across the world.

In the memorial, we watched a film that was prepared involving some veterans talking as well as some Frenchmen speaking about how they felt when the Americans came. It showed little children going up to old men and kissing them on the cheeks for what they had done. It was a powerful film. I meandered through the rest of the museum, looking at the mementos of the soldiers and whatnot, when I came to the hallway to the last room before the exit to the cemetery. In the hallway was projected an American woman’s voice deliberately reading the names of the 10,500+ people buried there, one by one. Then in the room were several of the stories of valor from the battles, along with names and gravesite locations. It was the reading of the names that really did me in. My eyes watered up and I had to leave to keep from crying. I love my country with all my heart. I don’t really know what it is that drives me, but I love America. I love it for the opportunity it has given my family and me. I love it for the opportunity and hope it gives to everyone, to so many people who are there and who are not. I love it for being the homeland of the restored gospel, prepared and brought to us by the hand of God. I love it for the Founding Fathers who gave their lives for it, not because it would make them famous, but because it was the right thing to do. I love it because we as a people are willing to sacrifice to help others, to die that men may live.

Well, I walked from there to an outcropping where I could see the beach and then through the cemetery itself. It reminded me of Arlington. It is a beautiful resting place for those who are there.

After that, we went to many chateaux. I won’t try to tell you about them all, or even explain them to you, because I feel like I’ve been going on for long enough, and I’ve got to get some sleep tonight. If I can, I’ll put some things in next time (which won’t be too long from now, since I won’t be out of town for at least another three weeks—imagine that, three weeks in the same country! Who does that?).

It was a lot of fun. It was very interesting to see places that I’ve heard talked about in classes and in history, and to be able to see a glimpse into what the people who determined history saw, felt and thought. I also had a really great time with my group. They are a lot of fun. Let’s be honest, Paris is awesome.

Pictures are 1) Jacqueline, Rochelle, Emma and I spelling out Love in the Chambord (sp?) gardens 2) Me in front of Chartres Cathedral, 3) Me in the gardens at Villandry, a chateau we went to, and 4) Me with Cassandra and Susie at the monastary in Mont Saint Michel