It´s been a while! And in this while a lot has happened. Let´s start off with Devoy´s Organic Farm in Rosscarbery, West Cork. Sara & John have been absolutely lovely and great hosts. I had my own little apartment, which I shared with a Japanese girl called Yumi. We used the bathroom in the house. As there was no central heating in the apartment, I had to learn how to make a fire and chopp wood. Uhm, I can do it now, but it took some time and patience is not my strength...:D Yumi was lovely, eager to learn and always on the run to do even the tiniest task. Sometimes I felt like she didn´t want to have a break. When we were done with everything she would stay outside, checking on the hens again or doing whatever. She literally made it look like I was lazy and I am not! Our main task was taking care of almost 800 chickens. That included letting them out in the mornings, checking their food and water, collecting the eggs twice a day, cleaning them, sorting them according to size (luckily this meant putting them on a machine that does the rest) and finally packing them up for supermarkets and other customers. You won´t believe how much I have learned about eggs in these two weeks and also how many I have eaten! There are always cracked ones that can´t be sold anymore, so they end up on your own plate. I never fully dropped an egg and had to toss it, so hey I am proud of myself here :D On my day off I went for a little adventure that started off with hitch hiking for the first time of my life! According to my host it wasn´t dangerous or anything. She said it would be easy, because as the bus service here in Ireland is not as good, people are used to take others along. I was surprised myself when it actually worked out three times on that day. Yes, I definitely had to step out of my comfortzone, I was a little nervous, but every time the drivers were incredibly freindly and open minded. I survived it and would do it again. Maybe not in Germany though... I guess it belongs to the country and the situation you are in. These were quite short distances so no problem. I don´t know how it would be with longer hours drives. Anyway my destination was a little peninsula called Sherkin Island, an insider tip from my hosts. It was supposed to be mostly untouched nature, beautiful beaches and practically no people. What can I say? True, true and true. I had the best weather conditions, it was warming up a lot in between, the beaches, saaah absolutely gorgeous! I spent a couple of hours on that island, wandering around, exploring, thinking, sorting out my thoughts, relaxing, healing, enjoying the silence. It was fantastic! Whenever I see a beach in Ireland I keep thinking that this is not Ireland! Simply because it is not what I associated with this country. I knew it would be green and that thee are beaches, however these waves, the blue of the water, the cliffs. If it wasn´t for the cold temperatures it could easily be mistaken for paradise. I have found beautiful shells and pebbles so far. The sound of the crashing tidalwaves is incredibly calming and I could just sit there listening to it, letting the wind mess with my hair for hours and hours It has been a beautiful day off, it was worth all struggles with hitching and getting back home. As soon as the two weeks in Rosscarbey started, they were over again. I have learned so much, my hosts were incredible, I have made great experiences and enjoyed the beautfil scenery. Time to move along though. I left the stunning West Cork behind and went up north to Donegal. I have basically spent the whole day in the bus to get there, but it was worth it! I wanted to see another part of Ireland before I head back to London. I found a nice place in annagry. According to the description a really layed back and relaxed family with a big house and a garden to be taken care of. Having the mornings off and working in the afternoon didn´t sound too bad either ;) Nikki and John are lovely, very open minded and they do have very interesting point of views on one or the other topic. Widens my perspective for sure. I am not alone here, there is an American girl called Jasmine, who keeps me company and is a sweetheart. I really like her. Wednesday last week we braved the highest mountain of Donegal "Moun Errigal" together. I think the actual walk to the mountain was longer than climbing the mountain. We only hitched for a couple of kilometers and then went up the road that was supposed to be 3km long. Haha, no way! The car park where the climb up starts was nowhere to be found, the road in front of us endless. When it finally came into our sight, we couldn´t belive it. We were sweating and absolutely exhausted and we hadn´t even started climbing up! After a short break, some water and food, we started our little adventure. It took us 1 1/2 hours until we stood on top of the world. At least it felt like it! The view was unbelievable, beyond words. I have never ever in my whole life had such a view. We could see soooo far, wow! It was worth all the struggles, rocks, sweating etc. We got lucky when on our way back when we held out our thumbs that a guy we had met earlier during our climb up (he was already on his way back down) stopped his car and took us along. He even drove us all the way to our front door. Thank you for that, we were thrilled! What an adventure! Apart from that we have worked in the garden almost every day. The weather here is worse than in West Cork. We have to face not only rain and wind, but also snow and hale. Basically every season in one day if we are unfortunate. Oh well welcome to Donegal :D We have had some very beautiful days here, so fair enough. Our main tak was probalby weeding all over the garden, which is actually quite fun. I mean who doesn´t want to dig with their hands in dirt and soil? It can be incredibly satisfying, especially when you need to get back down to earth. Hui, I can´t belive how fast these two weeks here have flown by again. It is already Friday. I am off today and tomorrow and then I´ll fly back to London on Sunday. Finally! I can´t wait to see everybody again. In the end everything fell into place. I will have accommodation when I arrive, even live togther with my friends, which is amazing. I have a job that I can pick up as soon as I am back and I have my Britboundfamily that has my back. What else could I ask for? Life in London wasn´t bad at all and I am looking forward to it. Okay this is the update for now. Stay safe and sound everybody! Until next time xoxo Eileen
