And I Would Walk 500 Miles

Well, actually it was 19.26 miles, but who's counting?

That's right. This past weekend has been the craziest in my life as far as completely unplanned events go. You're in for a real treat as I have been debating posting this story at all.

On Friday, after school let out early--at 12 Noon--I went back to my apartment to clean the kitchen and tidy-up a bit. (I'm in a new apartment now, but that story will have to wait for another day.) Three and a half hours later, Lee came to Kenmare by bus to visit me! This was definitely something to look forward to all week because I haven't met many younger folk to do things with and I also had not seen Lee since New Year's.

The first thing we had to get sorted was the bus time for the ride back to his airport before Monday at 7 A.M. We discovered, quite unfortunately, I live in a very desolate town that does not have public transportation on the weekends and it is so far away from any other major city that to travel by taxi would be at least $100. So we decided that by Sunday evening, we had to make it to Killarney, which is (only) 43 kilometers away.

Friday night, we ate out at Prego's in town and it was the tastiest Italian food I have had in a long time. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in the area.

Then, Saturday rolled in and this was the day we began our journey to Killarney. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, we trekked up the hillside toward the big city where buses and trains actually run on the weekends and kept on marching. When we reached mountains and were practically walking through clouds, I was beginning to feel just the slightest bit worried that we would either get attacked by the wild sheep--equipped with horns!--or pass out of exhaustion. Jeans and 'trainers' or tennis shoes are not good hiking apparel, but that's all we had.

When we got to a place called Kilgarven, it was almost exactly like the set of House of Wax. For those of you who have not seen that horror movie, it consists of a town run by two brothers who paint fake signs and decorate a town to look as if people still live there, but in actuality, the brothers capture any travelers who find themselves wandering through the town and turn them into wax people! Fortunately, we made it through Kilgarven and didn't see any people--wax or otherwise.

Our goal was to make it to Killarney by 5 or 6 o'clock, but when 7:57 rolled around and the sky was getting very dark, we decided to try to make it to the nearest gas station or bed and breakfast and call a taxi. At this point, we were walking on a highway, so the kilometers were just ticking away and Killarney was only about 18 km more.

At the 12 km mark, we saw it! Not a mirage, but a real gas station with the lights on and it didn't look deserted! We jumped for joy and actually hugged because we were at our wits' end and finally saw a sign of hope. So, we walked in and I said, "Hello, how are you?" like I usually do to everyone I see--even though Lee doesn't really think this is necessary to do. And before I even finished my sentence, the man said, "We're closing, no more sales." It was three minutes 'til eight and the man was closing! He wouldn't even let us bother him for a taxi number! Now, I have been trying to be opened minded, but the people are not as friendly as the people I work with at the Kenmare school and they do not even begin to compare to the people from Ohio. Seriously, common courtesy in Ireland is scarce and when--if--you find it, be grateful! I would say that out of the times you speak to someone in a shop or on the street, you will get a response from about 3% of them. I blame the movie industry for making believe that the people would act otherwise.

Well, after we were pushed out of the door of the gas station, I was utterly frustrated, upset at the situation and the rude man, and needless to say, tired. Lee got a signal on his mobile phone at about this time, though, so there was a sign of hope! We rang for information and got connected to a taxi service in Killarney!! Within ten minutes, a taxi picked us up and by 8:30, we arrived at our destination.

All of my toes are twice the size they are regularly and Lee and I don't really feel any more in shape than when we started, but the views on the mountain were beautiful and it was a side of Ireland that I am happy to have seen. We were also blessed to not have any rain during this weekend-long adventure. Would we travel that long again? No. But, I took pictures along the journey to capture the frustration and majesty of it all.

Photographs are soon to come...the Internet is scarce where I live and I have to use Internet cafes to connect, but I will try to post the photos soon.