Hello! It’s been too long, I know. Sorry about that.

I write to you from my couch, with wireless Internet! The speed of the network here at my accommodation is painfully slow (we have a high-speed cable, but it transfers data at the speed of dial-up!). Today, I bought a broadband package from a mobile carrier here, and with the help of a small USB-flash drive, I can get wireless, high-speed Internet almost anywhere in Galway and Ireland. I am hopeful, too, that Skype will work more efficiently now, so that I’m not paying exorbitant rates on calling cards!

Since my last update, life has improved considerably! I have co-hosted several editions of “Flirt Over Coffee” on Flirt FM 101.3, our current affairs programme. The podcast of the shows on which I participate is available at http://foc.mypodcast.com -- there is a link to subscribe via iTunes.

That’s been a fun experience, mostly because of the people who work at the station with me. Emma and I have hosted several shows together, and it’s nice that she, the station manager Paula, and programme controller Louise let me try new things at each show. When I started, Paula told me that they didn’t really need help with the hourly news headlines, but one day I asked if I could write and perform them, and she had absolutely no objections! It was fun not just pretending to be Karl Castle from NPR, but to actually try my hand at what he does on the air! Some things didn’t go quite so well the first few times – such as referring to Kofi Annan as Former UN Secretary Colin Powell, or not being able to pronounce the name of several members of Parliament, but on the whole I enjoyed it. Friday, the second time performing the headlines, went much more smoothly, I think!

I didn’t realize how tough it would be at first to do a current affairs show in a foreign country. When talking about American politics, I realize that I take for granted knowing things like who Margaret Spellings is (Secretary of Education), or how a bill becomes a law, who the opposition party in government is, etc. Here, though, each show I have to ask how to say some word (for example, the Irish version of a Prime Minister is a Taoiseach—“Tee-shook”). But I’m learning, and each show is easier to do, so long as there is news about which to talk! A slow news day is a bit easier for a newspaper to print less pages – on radio, we still have 30 minutes of airtime to fill!

More than radio, though, my parents came to visit last week on their way to Dubai. It was very nice to see them—almost more so than I had expected. I only really had the chance to have dinner and breakfast with them, but when they left, I felt real empty inside. Maybe it’s just that I don’t much like change, so when that feeling of home came back, I didn’t want to let it go.

Now, though, I have lots of essays to keep me busy for the six days until Becky comes to visit. Time should fly by quickly, though, from here: one week until Becky comes, then Amsterdam, then a weekend in Galway, then Belfast, then Dublin, then final exams for a few weeks, and then home! I’m regretting having booked myself so full of trips, for I have a lot of reading and writing to do; but at the same time, I know that I’d regret it in January if I didn’t go on these trips.

Finally, last weekend I went on a tour of the Aran Islands, just off the coast of Ireland’s west coast. Normally the trip would cost about €40, but I went with 80 international students as part of the International Students Society, so we each got bus fare, ferry fare, and bike rental for €16! Not bad at all! I was nervous before going on the trip, for I didn’t know anybody else who would be going. I decided to take a risk, though, and go anyway. Within a few minutes of waiting for the bus, I saw Molly—in my Irish class—and teamed up with her and her friends. The best way to see the island (specifically, Inis Mór—“In-ish-more”) is by bike, according to travel books and others who have gone. I was nervous about biking on my own, for people drive on the left, drivers are much more aggressive here, and I didn’t know what visibility would be like on the roads. Molly agreed to try a tandem bike, but when we got to the island we realized that wouldn’t work. Becky could explain this better than I could, but the physics require that the bigger person be on the front of the bike, and sadly I was the bigger person meaning that I would have to steer and brake…defeating the purpose of having a tandem bike! After trying to convince the bike guy that I really could bike on my own safely because I would be with the group, I got a bike that switched gears on its own and whose brakes were quite poor. Sadly, I didn’t realize this until we were about 20 minutes away from where we started! Molly kindly went back with me to return the bike, and it took another 20 minutes for us to re-convince the bike rentals person that we would be fine. On our way we went, and had a great time biking across the entire island and up to an ancient fort…supposedly the highest, most-Western point of Europe—though I haven’t been able to confirm that yet. It had to be about ten stories off the ocean, though, and we had a great lunch on the rock ledge! (I should point out, too, that was my cheapest lunch I’ve had in Ireland – just €4 for a great, fresh sandwich and a bottle of water…though I did bring my own sandwich too; that’s how hungry I was, but then again, when do I not eat two sandwiches!)

Well that’s all for now – thanks for reading!