Haunted Expeditions

I believe it is about time for a new entry to this blog! I apologize for the amount of time that has gone by… I have been slightly preoccupied to say the least. I’ll begin this blog by writing about my most recent preoccupation:

CHARLEVILLE CASTLE – one of Ireland’s most haunted places:

Last weekend, the photography class that I’m in took an overnight fieldtrip to Charleville Castle – one of the most notoriously haunted places in the world in fact. I remember the van pulling up to the towering gothic-style castle while the rain and mist was pouring down. It was nothing short of eerie. Although the most strange experience happened when I walked through the front doors and a feeling of odd familiarity with my surroundings overwhelmed me. I had the feeling that I had been there before. Thankfully as we were taking a tour of the castle my scruples were relieved as the owner described to us how the movie Becoming Jane had been filmed at the castle. This cleared it up! Becoming Jane happens to be a very beloved movie to me and immediately I could see which scenes had been filmed at the castle! I wasn’t crazy! The rest of the trip was quite incredible. While I never experienced any paranormal phenomena’s, I heard tell of ghost stories that the owner of the castle has encountered while living there for 20 years. Our class photographed the gothic architecture and learned about the interesting Masonic history behind the place. All in all it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m so glad I went.

LONDON TRIP:

I ended up going on a week-long trip to London a few weeks back. I’ve never been anywhere else in Europe before (besides Ireland) so I jumped at the opportunity to expand my travel knowledge. Going to London ranks as a favorite part of my journey up to this point! I simply loved it! Much of the trip was filled by one stop after the other at a variety of art galleries. Some of them I loved… like the Victoria and Albert where I was able to see some sculptures by the most masterful artists of all time… but some of them… let’s just say were not my cup of tea. Another wonderful aspect to London was the variety of amazing food! I had never before experienced Lebanese food, but now I am completely addicted! And let us not leave out my first viewing of The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Royal Theatre! No way could I go to London and not see a show! So overall, my trip to London reeducated me of my love for city life and culture… living in the west coast of Ireland can make one forget what being in a city is like, so it was a great respite from Ballyvaughan Ireland!

Now it’s back to the grinding stone of artwork and cooking for myself. (Something I’ve had to become used to as of late.) Another update to come sometime in the near future… Until then…

Cheers!

Mariwyn

IN THE BEGINNING

Dear friends and family,

As many of you already know I have been in Ireland since August 21. For those of you who have not heard, I am studying at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland for this fall semester and will be returning to the States in mid-December.

I’m sorry I did not begin this blog earlier. Simply put, I’ve been overwhelmed by my new surroundings and it has taken me a while to process enough to put down in writing for you to see. So here I am, almost two months after arriving here, with two months left to go, beginning to share my thoughts and experiences with you. I hope to update this blog weekly… key word, “hope.”

Chapter I: The arrival

Arriving in Ireland was… how might one put it… wet! It is no myth that Ireland is the emerald island because of the egregious amount of rain it gets. And the west coast of Ireland (where I am) might be the worst part. However I have seen my fair share of sunny days in the small village of Ballyvaughan, and it is truly breathtaking. My school is located about a mile outside of the small village and my house is about halfway between the two. This is fairly convenient, because it means that neither town nor school is too far of a walk… but I have to be quite careful lest I want to die a rather quick death by Irish car. The roads are ridiculous. About as wide as a single country lane in America, Irish roads are winding, have no shoulder (most are fenced in by large rock walls) and are set to a speed of 100 kph. (approximately 65 mph) If one does not have their wits about them every moment they’re walking down these roads, they’ll likely never need to use their wits again.

Chapter II: The school

The Burren College of Art is very different from Gordon! It’s tiny in comparison (maybe 40 students total) and is totally dedicated to the study of fine arts. So I’ve become quite familiar with almost all of the students and have had to dive headfirst into the exploration of my own art. I’ve been learning about photography, oil painting and have been independently studying pastel drawing. I’m also taking classes in art history and Irish studies.

Chapter III: Living situation

I live with 10 crazy American art students in one house. You do the math or paint your own picture!

Chapter IV: Where have all the Christians gone?

Coming to Ireland has also been quite a change in comparison to my surroundings at Gordon. I have not met one Christian. There are one or two people who I have my suspicions might have some vague belief in God, but for the most part the students at the school are either atheist or indifferent. And I’m not sure which is harder to confront. There is no form of protestant church within a two-hour reach of Ballyvaughan, so this makes any sort of communion with a church body virtually impossible.

However there is much to be learned from being cut off from the church body. (Even though I don’t recommend willingly putting yourself in that position for an extended amount of time) This challenge has only enabled me to learn to place my trust in the Lord more fully. For in reality, there’s no one else for me to turn to. But isn’t this how the Christian walk is anyway, even when surrounded by the body of Christ? Isn’t Christ the one we should be going to with our burdens from the beginning? This has been a reoccurring thought for me during my time here.

And I can always use prayer! Please pray that I would continue to trust in the Lord and lean on him, and also that I might be able to minister in love to those around me!

I look forward to keeping you all informed on what’s going on in my life in Ireland. I would really enjoy emails/comments from you all. My email address is mariwyn.light@gordon.edu.

Cheers!

Mariwyn