Quick Update: Day 3....

...Where we take a bus tour from Dublin to Galway via the Cliffs of Moher; meet Bud, the bus driver; meet Rachel and Sam; and figure out that Nimmos is a sweet hostel.

So, today's day three, starting bright and early. Some not-fitting-in points... Teddie and I have started the "Giant Teddie Plays with Europe Storybook" that will be a separate page to the right. It's fun. Check it out for yourself (when we get it up there). [Teddie's comment: That's what she said]

Instead of giving you the blow-by-blow of our day, which mostly consisted of us riding on a bus, I want to introduce you to our bus driver, Bud.

Bud the Driver
       Bud is an older guy, probably in his 60s. He's hilarious, kind-hearted, and loves driving the tour buses. As we drove around Ireland, this time heading to the Cliffs of Moher, I was constantly amazed with his knowledge of the history of Ireland, the area, and specific sites. Of course, it's his job. But that's not something that comes easily to people. Clearly he loves what he's doing.
      Let's get this straight. Coach bus drivers everywhere are amazing drivers. They fit those things down streets, around corners, and into spots that any mere mortal driver could never fathom. I've long since lost that sense of dread when in a coach bus and approaching a tight spot. Instead, I see it as a form of sport. I think that would be a great Youtube video, a bunch of shots of coach bus drivers fitting into and around the most insane spots. C'mon interwebs, make it happen.
     Bud is one of those guys. But I digress.  We got to one of the last spots on the tour and we took the advantage to talk to him about his life a bit. He said he used to drive trucks for 5 years on the continent, and he's been driving coach buses for this company (Extreme Ireland) for 4 years. In between those two, however, he owned a successful furnishing business. I asked him what that meant, and he explained that he made furniture, but also contracted guys and would put together teams to fully furnish houses... so, lay electrical, plumbing, insulation, and do the whole house altogether. It was a successful business, and that is definitely something right up my alley.
    So why did he leave? Bud said he reached a point ("pint" in the Irish brogue :-) ) in his life where he wanted a change of things. So, he left the company, sold it. He said that he didn't know what the next step would be, but that he didn't want to drive trucks or buses again, at least not on the continent.
   This is the cool part of Bud's story (not saying the rest isn't cool, buuut). Someone he knew handed him a slip of paper with a number ("gnome-burr") on it, and told Bud to call it. He didn't get why, and put it off for a bit. That friend asked him if he'd called yet, and Bud replied "No, what is it? What am I calling fer?". The friends response was puzzling. "Just do it fer me, will ya?"
    So, Bud called. Someone picked up. I imagine the conversation went down a little something like this:

    Bud: "Hello!"
    Person X: "Hi what can I do ya fer?"

    Bud: "Uh, I actually don't know meself. I'm jus' callin' cause [coze] a frien's been pesterin' me to call this number, so I'm just obligin'."
    Person X: "Ah, well, can ya drive a coach [coh-ch]?"

    Bud: "Sure I can, I have me license and drove on the continent fer a few years. But I don' know that I want ta be doin't again."
    Person X: "Tell ya what, try it out fer a few weeks, an' if ya don' like it, ya can leave."

    Bud: "Arright, I don' see why not..."

    And so his stint as a coach bus tour guide/driver began. Out of the blue, friend handed him a number with no explanation. That number left him to this job. He explained that he loves driving, and he gets to meet a whole lot of people that way. I think one of the coolest things was watching him interact with locals or shop owners at each place we stopped. He knew his stuff, and he got to know the people he saw fairly often. Great guy, great country, and great feeling!



So that's the story of Bud. I'm posting this on Day 4, after we had a whole other bus tour to Connemara with a whole other unique bus driver (Old-man winter beard, lives on the border with Northern Ireland, has relatives on both sides, the conflict landed him in jail for 7 years, but there's plenty of love for family on both sides. His quote: "We're jus' people, ya know?").

More to come! Love and peace,

~Sean

Quick Update: Day 2...

... during which we learn about the problems of heavy partying and trying to have a productive day the next day; the Dublin Zoo is awesome; Jameson is pretty good in Ginger Ale; some advice for hostel jumping; and Irish food is better than anyone can tell you. 


So Day 2. Let's see how quick I can recap:

- Rough Morning
      We had planned on waking up a bit early to head back out on the "Hop on Hop off" bus tour. However, our late night shenanigans really hurt that process. After breakfast of oatmeal left over from my backpacking trip and showers, we trudged our way to the bus stop, where we got on and made it to the Dublin Zoo. Quick Lesson: Seeing things in Europe is a great idea. Meeting people at night and sharing about life is also a great idea. Find the balance!

- Zoos are awesome places for dates
       I've always understood this. If you want to enjoy animals, find out some really cool facts, and take a person out on a date, go to the zoo. Teddie and I grabbed some coffee and food before we went in, and we made a full loop of the Dublin Zoo. I have to say, I was impressed, and I learned a number of cool new things, like

Quick Update: End of Day 1 into Day 2

Hey all!

Okay, there's a whole lot more stuff coming down the pipes. The issue is that a) uploading all of these pictures and videos that Teddie and I have taken is going to take a while and b) I want to do them justice.

Alright and if I'm being honest, c) Teddie and I had quite the long night out on the town last night, and between that, the recovery this morning, our busy afternoon, and our evening, I've had no time to jump online. Until now :-)


[Just a heads up to, well, anyone who knows me well... we had a pretty wild night, and it's something that I'm sure I'll be reflecting upon and praying about privately for a while. Read the following with an understanding that I am unsure of how to feel about some of the events. At the same time, I want this blog to be honest and give an account of my summer. I'm not making excuses, but rather saying if you're scratching your head after this, I'm not shocked, and I'm probably scratching my own head with you. I've still got some more growing to do.]

The run-down of the rest of Day 1:

Guinness and New Friends
In some of the videos

Made it! Euro-tour, Day 1 update 1

 Bag's are packed, roughly 35 lbs total. I'll link to the packing list that I used later. :-)

 Jamie-Sean (friend from Scouts/Camp) stopped by circa 1AM the night before I left and handed me this rosary that was blessed by the Pope himself. Go figure, out of the blue, hello God!

All of the books in my daypack :-) SuperFreakonomics, the Tipping Point, Let's Go: Europe, My Utmost for His Highest devotional and journal, IV Staff Fund Development Manual...

Oops, started buying things at the airport... Probably the worst impulse buy is the headphones. You know how you make a pretty expensive purchase by convincing yourself of the reasons you'll use it? Well, now I have to use them for those reasons... Jeez.

 

The official Flags of Dublin!!! Not really, gay pride event is in a few weeks. Just gearin' up for it!

Videos after the break! and More to come later! including my thoughts

Pics from the Backpacking Trip

These are some of my favorite photos from the trip. I'll have more later, but I wanted to see how well this works...

Welcome!

Aloha!

Welcome to my blog about my summer. The goal is simple: keep the most people updated in the simplest way possible, while possibly providing entertainment along the way. I have a busy and potentially exciting summer ahead of me, and I want to keep track of it, both for me and for others.

The idea came when 5 different people asked me how my 5 day backpacking trip with my KIN 551 class and Randy Pierce, the blind hiker (Check out 2020visionquest.org). I wanted to try to say what the trip meant to me, but had no way of doing so. Instead, I want to keep track of my thoughts and my daily/weekly doings so I can point people here when they ask.
Here's what I have in store for this summer:

- Graduate from UNH with a Bachelors in Philosophy after 5 years of Undergraduate Education, with Roomies Tobi and Brendan! - DONE
- 5 Day Backpacking trip in the Whites with my KIN 551 class- DONE
- 3 Weeks in Europe - Current
- Developping Catfro Printing, Kyle VanEtten and my T-shirt printing company
- Working with Public Outreach in Boston, canvassing for non-profits
- Possibly working as a waiter/server at a restaurant
- Making music boxes at a woodshop to sell
- Helping out at a Recording studio, possibly doing my own stuff and learning along the way
- Taking the written exam and becoming registered as an EMT-Basic in New Hampshire
- Volunteering as an EMT basic
- Living in NewMarket part-time
- Fundraising for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff (intervarsity.org)
- Developping a new Student Org for UNH (Student Volunteer Action Center)
- Meeting with professors, administrators, and other UNH staff to help in the above
- Shadowing opportunities at the UNH Browne Center for Challenge Course facilitation
- Helping out with Northeast Regional Association of Experiential Education (AEE)
- Week long family vacation at Ocean Park / Old Orchard Beach with the Ranney clan
- Week of guiding a Trek out of TL Storer Scout Camp
- 4-6 day backpacking trip with the men of InterVarsity using my house in Kingfield, ME as base camp
- Bible Studies whenever I can
- Learning more about my faith
- Loving my friends and family
- Meeting new people
- Registering for a non-degree grad course for next semester.

That's a long list. That's why I want to keep this blog. So that people can keep in touch and track of what's going on, so that I can keep sane, so that I can look back at this in a few years and know how successful/unsuccessful this summer was. So that my brain doesn't try any revisionist history on me and I have accurate accounts of what is going on.

I'll leave it at that for now. I'm going to need a lot of prayer, and to do a lot of praying each day. I'm giving this list up to God, to cross of anything He doesn't want me doing, and to be sure that I am glorifying Him in everything I do. Can't say I'll be perfect in this. And I'll need a whole heck of a lot of help in all of this.

Also, if you have any prayer requests, let me know!

Coming up Soon:

Europe Trip Updates!
Backpacking Trip Synopsis!


Peace, and God Bless!
~Sean