I learned a new word today. Fáilte! It means “welcome” in Gaelic!

So much to tell and such a short attention span. When we last spoke, we were leaving Dublin to hang out with Dympna and her family in Belfast. For those that don’t know, Dympna is a former coworker from Stanford. We took a bus from Dublin to Belfast, which

was a quick and comfortable 2 hour ride. Dympna and her husband, Ken were there to pick us up. We stopped for lunch at the felon’s club, where apparently you need to be a (political) felon to be a member :O  After lunch we were off to Ballycastle for the weekend! They dropped us at the B&B (coincidentally named J&J, B&B- no joke) and after settling in, we walked to the pub to join them to watch the game, and take part in their family pub crawl…awesome. It was a family reunion of sorts with all of Dympna’s

siblings coming from the US, Switzerland, and parts of Ireland, as well as Ken’s family who live in Dublin. It started small with one brother and his wife, and the people just kept coming. Before we knew it, we were 20+ people deep. The pints were flowing, the people were happy, and we were just in awe of the authenticity of the whole thing. Here we were, a California girl, and a Peruvian guy in northern Ireland moving from pub to pub with a huge Irish family just taking it all in. The pubs did not disappoint, they were picturesque- old, dive-y, had their own unique smells, and covered with pictures and posters of Irish beer, whiskey, maps of Ireland, and Gaelic sayings.

I have to add that I didn’t take part in this pub crawl. My right ear was completely plugged, and my left was partially. I was still feeling a little sick and very congested, and knew that alcohol would only compound the problem given my asian-ness and all. So, apart from having a “hot whiskey” (which is supposed to clear everything up, and I’m sure it does for the Irish, but doesn’t have quite the same effect on those of us who are lacking the

necessary enzymes) at the first pub, I stayed with water for the rest of the evening. Javier on the other hand was a champ, tried to keep up with the Irish, and drank Harp all night. The Irish…well, they can hold their own, and it is rather impressive 🙂 We went to three or four pubs before going to Gemma’s (Dympna’s sister) restaurant/pub. This place was no dive. It was huge, modern, and very nice. We landed here right before the second game and took over the middle of the restaurant, right in front of the TV. 🙂 After dinner and a few more drinks, the night ended at a final pub, where we had to enter from the side door, because the front door was closed due to the hour. At this point, I was tired, felt like my head weighed 100lbs, and needed to go. Javier and I left the last few remaining at around 1am and walked the 1 mile trek back home.

Saturday. We were awakened by the proprietor of the B&B because we were late for breakfast. We had a traditional Irish breakfast of eggs, ham, sausage, tomato, and bread. Delicious and hearty! Dympna and Ken picked us up just before noon and took us to the rope bridge. I’m not sure of the official name, but it’s a rope bridge that connects coastal

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rocks that give you a great view of northern Ireland, the cliffs, and the shoreline. It was a nice walk and beautiful scenery. After this we went to Balintoy Harbor, where they filmed

part of Game of Thrones. Needless to say…I was really excited! After some delicious pie and tea, we went to Gemma’s house for a birthday party. On the way back to our B&B, Ken mentioned to us that the best fish and chips were on our way, so of course we had to stop and order the jumbo cod x2…what were we thinking…

After that it was back to the B&B where we relaxed and prepared for the evening. All we were told was that we were meeting at Gemma’s restaurant to watch the game and hang out…oh, and there would be dancing. The family looked great, everyone was dressed up and ready to party, us…well, we were just ready to party. I was feeling better and decided to take part this time…

There was a band who played classic rock, country and one hit wonders. We sang, we danced, we drank. We had a blast! And at a little after 5am with the sun rising over the water…we went home 🙂 I’ll let the pictures tell the story…

Last day, after about 3 hours of sleep, we awoke to Jennifer telling us we were late to breakfast…again. We dragged ourselves out of bed and and

downstairs. Our breakfast was significantly smaller this morning (by our own request). After meeting with Dympna and her family one last time, we packed our stuff in Tom’s car and traveled back to Belfast with his family. On top of seeing where they built the Titanic and film Game of Thrones, Tom gave us an eye opening, as well as educational, tour of Belfast. We went to the murals, saw the wall, and drove through both the protestant and catholic neighborhoods. His wife, Claire made us dinner before we headed back to the bus station to come back to Dublin.

This was truly an experience of a lifetime. Javier and I have commented about how although we have only just begun this adventure, this weekend may end up being the highlight of our trip. The hospitality, and generosity of not only Dympna and Ken, but of their family was unprecedented. They made us feel like their own, and went above and beyond anything we could have hoped for. For this we feel truly blessed and grateful.