Ireland

I feel as if there is something I need to tell you. I know we've just met, but there's just this little bit of information that you need to know. I figured I'd throw this out on the table before we go any further. I have a little obsession. It never leaves my mind and I am utterly determined to get to it. This infatuation is Ireland. Yes the country. In the course of this blog, I'll probably write at least every 5th one about Ireland. No joke. I love everything about it, which is crazy, because me and Ireland aren't even aquaintences. I've never set foot in Dublin or walked the Cliffs of Moher. I've never a Guinness for breakfast (and as I learned on one of the greatest travel shows alive Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations some Irish actually do that... And come to think of it, that's not totally a bad thing. It makes sense. It's not just some crazy Irish cultural idea dealing with the fact that all Irish are drunkards who can't get enough of their Guinness. But a couple big gulps of it seems like a great way to wake you up for the day and make everything better. Though really, I can't back up my support for this. I'm only seventeen and, as cool as it is to know all different kinds of beers and how many it takes for me to get drunk, I just don't know anything.)
I suppose it's my Irish heritage that makes me a feel this deep connection with Ireland. My great-grandfather came from the town of Portadown (pronounced Port-a-DOON as I've been corrected many times), Northern Ireland. I know I share my Irish heritage with half the people in this country, but yet from what I've heard, we still all feel so special. We brag about being Irish. If the poor and suffering immigrants that made their way from the Emerald Isle could see how we feel about them now... There are no signs in shop windows saying "No Irish Need Apply". We have a holiday to celebrate being Irish! (well, technically we celebrate the man who expelled the snakes out of Ireland (among other things), the great Saint Patrick).
So one day I plan to go there. If the fates favor me, I'll study abroad there. I don't just want to visit but I want to experience. Their way of life excites me.
The next posts I write about Ireland I'll be more specific on the places I want to stay at and why the Blarney Stone is completely overrated but I'm going to kiss it anyway!

Jenny