The Sanders Family Travels Abroad for a Year

Good to have you along for our year long adventures in Ireland and other countries. We are working, playing, and schooling amongst our neighbors in Carna, Ireland.

Please use control + to enlarge the blog, the photos look much better this way. As of March 2011, google has improved the presentation of the blog, the photos show much better now.

Carna is along the west coast on Ireland, a little over an hour's drive from Gallway. It is a pretty rural area, and it is rugged and beautiful, physically and culturally.

We will keep you updated with our life, as we settle into a coastal home and integrate into the community. Greg is working in a Family Practice clinic, mentored by Gerard Hooke, whom Greg worked with a few years ago, for many years, in Arlington, Washington state. Gerard and his wife Amanda have settled into this area a few years ago, and are beloved by the community. The clinic was started by Michael Casey, who worked here solo for many years. He now has 3 clinics in Galway county, where he shares his time.

Our 3 children are in the local schools,where the classes are taught in the Irish language, with some English as well. We are exploring Ireland, on weekend drives. Also, periodically we are hopping over to the mainland Europe, for longer adventures.



Friday, December 17, 2010

Sneachtea (snow, again)




























Well, we are getting more snow. As I said previously, this is an unusual occurance. Before last year, it had been perhaps twenty years since there was snow here. Especially along the West coast, where the Gulf stream moderates the temperature. One resident of the Carna Nursing Home told me that the last big snow was in 1948. Sure puts us in the Christmas spirit. We even got a little tree up, with a lot of home made ornaments.
Because of the snow, the kids had their school cancelled, another rare happening. There was no notice, the bus just didn't show up. The kids enjoyed frollicing in the snow. There are no sleds to be had. It was fun, from our hillside vantage point, to see the snow showers blowing in, then clearing to a blue sky, intermittantly all day. The kids did get a little cabin fever, as a couple of the photos show.There is no road maintance, so driving is a bit of a challange. Weather can be a big topic here (like Seattle), so we were well aware this storm was on the way. The Irish radios do good public service (except no school closure notification), and incidentally are of great quality, music and talk wise.

The last photo shows a farmer and his 2 dogs hustling his cattle down the main road, something you have to be on the alert for.

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