in ireland

well, i sit in cork, ireland, about the halfway point of my trip already. at this time tomorrow i'll be in the city of galway which sits on the west coast. i've heard nothing but how amazingly beautiful it is, so i look forward to that. i started my trip in dublin, on the east coast, and stayed with a guy who i met through my master's program in amsterdam. he lives in dublin most of the year, but travels a lot and somehow spends a lot of time in the netherlands, too. i had a full 24 hours in dublin, then jumped on a bus to the south where i started my first couchsurfing experience. but right before i got on the bus, i hit my head so hard on the door to the baggage holding area underneath, and it was bleeding the whole ride down (4.5 hours) and still later into the night. i figured i'd wait until morning, and if it didnt close up i'd go to a doctor and get stitches if necessary. but this morning it feels like it finally scabbed over, so thankfully i didnt have to find out if stitches on the top of my head would mean shaving part of my head.

so i spent today wandering around cork. its really not a very exciting city. i probably would have enjoyed taking a day trip out to some castle or something. But!, i did do something worthwhile, and i've spent the last couple hours enjoying it. i finally bought myself i nice digital SLR camera! i've been reading about them, and finally decided to get the nikon d40. the price range is one of the lowest, but it has everything a beginner really needs. so i first started lookin in dublin; went to 3 different camera shops but they all told me it's been discontinued and i'd have to find one second hand and if i did i should grab it because its a good camera at a good price, but no one had one second hand. i had pretty much pushed that one out of my mind then, and didnt even think about looking for any here. but i was walking down the street, saw a camera shop, and a sign on the door said 'nikon d40 special sale'. so i went in, they had 5 or 6 left, and an amazing deal! for 479 euros, i got the camera, a lens, an extra battery back with AA adapter (in addition to the 2 lithium batteries that come with it), a 1gb memory card, a nice case, a remote control, and he even threw in the european plug in addition to the uk plug that it came with! so i started setting it up right away, and am still learning how to do everything i want to do, but i really look forward to using it on the rest of my trip. i think the most beautiful parts of ireland are still ahead of me, so hopefully i can figure out how to get the best pictures.

i'll be staying with a couple in their 30s who live in the countryside a bit outside of galway. they sound like nice people in a pretty area. so i stay there for 2 nights, then go back to dublin for a night before i fly back home on monday morning. i'll post pictures shortly after i get back!