Technical difficulties

So, I've been meaning to update this blog on a more frequent basis, however, our internet connection here isn't the greatest and often takes a loooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg time to do anything online so I've been neglecting updating because of this.
This past week went by a bit faster than the first week, I think it helps that I'm getting used to how things are done here and now I can branch off and do things that need to be done without waiting for someone's approval or direction.  This week a bunch of the 4yr olds were backed and have been working under saddle by the rider, Phillipe, and the rest of us have been busy lunging the youngsters, doing daily chores and riding the 5yr olds. This week it's been fairly windy out and pretty cold in the mornings and evenings but today has been nice and sunny and really makes me want to go for just a trail ride. :)We celebrated Guillaume's birthday this past Friday and everyone made something for dinner and we all ate together and watched our riding videos from the past week, it was a fun evening.  I really wish I had more to update with on here, but since I'm on the farm the majority of the time(and we're working from about 8am until 7pm daily, eat then go to bed)-it's mostly horse stuff and even then, just typical chores and a working day so nothing too exciting to share! I'll post some photos if the computer will let me haha.  Mkay, it's not letting me post pics right now, I'll try again later.
Still missing everyone as home big time but it's getting a little bit easier being away because there is some consistency now in our days/nights here.

My first week is done :)

So, I survived my first week working at the farm, yay! I have had 3 jumping lessons now, and they all turned out pretty decent which is a big step for me, considering they were all on different horses (my favorite so far is Jet Set).  We're still working with the young horses a lot but we had a "relaxing" day on Saturday and didn't have to work the babies and only had one or two horses each to ride which was a nice change of pace! Last night was Tiffany's last night here so we all went to the pub and had a grand time last night playing darts with some of the locals. Apparently next weekend at the same pub a group of the locals are going to be shaving their heads or dying their hair pink for cancer awareness so that combined with the weekly live music should make for another interesting night out for next week! So today is my first official day off (yay) and Katie and I decided we wanted to go for a nice walk (after catching up on some sleep)... turns out our walk was about 3 1/2 hours long! But we got a chance to chat and take some neat photos on the way back from Ferbane. So now we're back "home" and relaxing inside for a bit before we clean up the staff area, and then perhaps we'll watch a movie and just lay low for the evening so we're ready to get back to work tomorrow-minus Tiffany :( So that's it for today's update, not much really except I'll post some photos of our walk today! 

The farm

Hey, I guess I haven't posted since Dublin! It's been a wee bit busy around here, sorry for the delay. I can't believe it's only been a week since I left home! It feels like FOREVER!!! I'm hoping that time does start to go by a little bit faster than it has been as I miss being at home more than I thought I would when I booked this trip/working vacation back last summer. It's worth the trip here and I'm really liking the experience but I'm a total homebody and this is a bit out of my element not seeing some of my favorite people every day, and of course not having some of the comforts of home as well! I should probably quit talking about home and get on with the update lol or time will move even slower!

So, I arrived at the farm in the late afternoon on Saturday the 5th after about 3 hours of being on buses.  It was pretty dark by the time I got settled and let family know I'd arrived so I didn't really get a chance to look around. Everyone was really nice and welcoming when I got here and they showed me where I was sleeping and gave me a quick run down on how things happen around here. Usually we make our own dinner but as it  turns out our boss was making us cheese fondue for dinner, so that was a nice surprise for my first evening there! After fondue, the whole group of us went out to a little pub just down the road for a few drinks and some very intense games of darts with local help from our friendly Irishmen, Steven.  Sunday most of us had the day off (poor Katie lol, she didn't), and Ana, Tiffany and I went into Athlone to drop off Lisa at her bus station and to pick up a few things at the mall.  My camera had an unfortunate accident at the bar so I was in need of a new one and Ana and Tiffany needed some retail therapy it seemed.

The first day of work on Monday was pretty chaotic as the main languages spoken at this point are French and English-but the couple that is giving most of the directions to us speak French haha. It's seeming more like I'm going to come home with a French accent rather than an Irish one! Or at least I'll get really good at acting things out and trying to piece together broken English and French together haha. Monday I tried to figure things out around the farm again and rode one of the mares here, Chicka.  After about 11 1/2 hours, I was ready for a hot shower and bed- I've got to say... I'm not a fan of straw bedding! Tuesday was pretty much the same, except I rode 2 horses and again, just get in from the barn, eat, then go to bed.

Guinness and Baby Guinness :) 

Some of the Belmont crew-and Steven

The Yard that Katie and I are in charge of

The Swedish brooms we get to use

Chicka! 

Me n Cricket while he's getting his feet done

Today was pretty fun, I had a chance to have two jumping lessons this morning after cleaning the barn.  I was pretty nervous jumping but the lessons went well and my boss/coach said that the issue I have with jumping are just internal, that I'm a good rider and know what I'm doing and just need to relax with jumping and not be afraid of what might happen (including falling off) and she also said that I'm on the right track and should be fine with riding jumpers-once I get used to the differences.  I came off of the second horse I rode today (Candy Girl- all the youngsters are named their dam's name and it gradually changes when they get older which makes it a bit confusing... there is Candy 5(yr old) or Candy girl, Candy 4(yr old) or Candy boy) who was definitely feeling her grain haha but I got back on and finished with a good rest of the lesson. I thought my coach was being funny when she looked at me after I fell and said "now you have to make us a cake," turns out, they have this rule that you have to make a cake if you fall off, so I'm makin' a cake soon.  In the afternoon we lunged a bunch of the 4yr olds we've been working with this week and had a rider just lay over top of them to get them used to weight in the saddle so that was pretty entertaining.
So far it's been a good experience just being away from home, and although I miss being home a LOT right now and the work we're doing for the most part isn't really teaching me anything... the different style of riding, the scenery, and the new people and I'm meeting along the way are definitely worth the long trip to get here.

Greetings From Dublin

Well, I made it!
It was a long trip to get here.  After a great send off at YVR from Dad, Tara, Mom, Cindi and of course Brad, I was on my way to Heathrow airport for my connecting flight to get to Dublin.  The flight to Heathrow went well, pretty uneventful and I got to watch a movie and part of a TV show before falling asleep for about 4 hours.  The meal they served on the plane was pretty yummy too-and I even had a piece of caramel cheesecake for dessert! Once we arrived in Heathrow, it was a long and confusing trek to get to the Aer Lingus help/check in desk as we arrived in Terminal 5, and had to take a 10 min long bus to Terminal 1 to catch the next plane.  The flight to Dublin was going well and we were told that it'd be under an hour long-not too shabby. :) Unfortunately it was too windy to land in Dublin so our plane tried to wait out the storm in Belfast while fueling up.  The weather didn't improve so after about 2 1/2 hours of waiting at this point, we were all loaded up along with our luggage onto Coach buses and driven to Dublin from Belfast, about a 2+ hour drive away. So, about midnight, 6+ hours after I was supposed to get into Dublin, I arrived in Dublin, a little soggy and windblown and VERY tired. Paul, who is a co-workers' relative was going to meet me at Dublin airport and take me to the hostel.  Unfortunately with the delays, he could no longer make it to meet me.  Anthony who was sitting next to me on the plane and bus (he's a married engineer with two kids and he designs glass buildings including part of the Dublin airport, pretty interesting character), took me under his wing and offered to drive me to the hostel since everything at the airport was now closed-he also gave me some travel advice on fun and affordable places to visit in Ireland and Italy. He was very kind and helped me find the hostel and dropped me off at the front counter, gave me a handshake and said "enjoy your stay in Ireland."

The hostel is clean and the people are friendly so far, especially since I was trying to get settled when some people were sleeping (although a lot of people weren't in bed yet). I received a nice welcome from a room mate from Belgium on his way out of the dorm at about 1am, he still hasn't come back yet, must've been a good night for him :p.  It was pretty noisy until about 3am out in the street/bar area as I'm in a fairly "party" area of the city, but that didn't matter too much as I was super nervous and unable to get much more than a few hours of sleep.

Apparently the USIT building that I'm supposed to go to this morning for 8am as per an e-mail I received before my trip, actually opens at 10am so I had a chance to go for an early morning stroll down Aston Quay and take a couple of pictures.  Hope you enjoy the pictures that I took of the street the hostel is located on and some of the Quay this morning. :)

Hope to be able to post again soon-although the internet here isn't too stable thus far!
Cheerio!