The Getting Ready...

It's official. My class for the Creative Writing Tour is leaving in 15 days for Ireland. I am ecstatic, as this has been a dream of mine since middle school, and now at the final stretch before graduation, it will become a reality.

Now, a word about what we are going to be doing on a journey.

We will be journeying through all of Ireland during our 3 weeks there, starting in Dublin, to Sligo, to Doolin, having 4 days of FREE TIME (to be determined where I will be spending that), and then finishing off on the coast of Dingle Peninsula. Here is a map to give you a better idea of what all those words mean!

We will also be visiting the Cliffs of Moher and other landmarks as well, which I will share as we go!

Now, a word about books.

During this course we are required to buy books, as we will be sharing poems daily with our group, studying Irish authors, reading Irish novels, and doing our own creative writing. Here are some of the books that we are required to have:

Poetry Books
The Human Chain, by Seamus Heaney
The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats
Carrying the Songs, by Moya Cannon

Books of Fiction
A Star Called Henry, by Roddy Doyle
Cal, by Bernard MacLaverty
Butcher Boy, by Patrick McCabe
A Fanatic Heart, by Edna O'Brien

Biography
James Joyce, by Edna O'Brien

History
Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland

Now, I Personally LOVE owning books. Real books that you can write in and dog ear, and fill a book shelf with and smell the pages of. Here is proof around my apartment of some  of my bookshelves...

And of course my humongous coffee table Ireland book that has fueled my Ireland obsession since High School

BUT with all these books, I was thinking of travelling and if I'd have to sacrifice bringing something like my favorite shoes or my toothbrush to bring them all. So, though I hate and boycott ebooks, I decided to compromise.

I planned on bringing my iPad, just to have access to the internet and things like that, so I downloaded a couple of apps that you can buy books on. The apps are FREE (a good word). 

I got a variety of apps to see who would have the best prices for different books and I got the apps called:

-Nook App

-Kindle App

-iBooks

-Free Books

I didn't find ANY of the books I needed on the Nook or Kindle apps, but I did find several on the iBooks app, here is a screen shot of what my library looks like:

The  books are reasonably priced, but definitely cheaper on amazon.com. I think that the sacrifice of a little  price and having a physical book for more room in packing is worth it though!

I was also able to find some books on an app called "Free Books". These books are literally FREE (a good word). There are a lot of poetry books and old classics on this app and I got a lot of books for fun, along with some books by Yeats and James Joyce that will benefit my trip.

Some of the books from my "Free Books" library

Along with these portable books, I also ordered a couple of other books that weren't available on the apps on amazon.com. I will be bringing hard copies of these, so there is a good balance of electronic books and hard copies. I actually got a used version of Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland for one cent. ONE PENNY. Almost as good as free.

And now a final word, this time about Cell phones. 

I've journeyed out of the country before and spent a summer in Nicaragua. I didn't have a cell phone or computer and being disconnected from these was HEAVENLY. I'm not one for technology, so having to be creative about contacting people, and being forced to live in the moment was a big plus. When we learned about study abroad options of bringing cell phones, I had already decided that there was no way I was going to spend extra money for a cellphone, I was actually excited to not have to have one!

Then we had our informational meeting with our team. One of the leaders of the trip, English Professor Steve Pett, recommended that we get the phones for communication within our group, when we are separated so that we can easily get back together, especially during our free time.

I hadn't thought of that.

He also got us set up with a really cheap phone company that has lowered prices since we are going through Iowa State. 

I decided to get just go ahead and get one. 

The phone and the plan itself was less than $20, and the shipping basically matched that price. Tack on approximately $5 insurance and the whole deal was around $40. Though that seems a bit pricey, I think it's worth it in case there is an emergency situation, especially when a couple of us will be apart from the whole group.

(SIDE NOTE: from what I understand, the phone calls between our team's phones in Ireland will be FREE, but calls outside the country will cost money. To avoid extra costs, I will communicate with family through Facebook, Skype, or email).

Here is what the phone looks like!

It came in this nifty bag with an instruction manual 

A lot of interesting plugs that I'm sure I'll figure out later...

In a couple of days my team is meeting up for the last time for a potluck and to talk about our journey and any other information we may need. I am excited to take these last steps in getting ready!

That's about it for right now, and I promise the next posts will be a lot more interesting since I will ACTUALLY be in Ireland. With this busy year wrapping up, I'd say I am READY to cross that ocean on a learning and discovering wild ADVENTURE.

(Blurry little Ireland)

All good things are wild and free.

-Baylee