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.



Sunday, May 22, 2011

Steve and Dara at Callowfinish, Roundstone drive

































Steven and Dara, his Irish friend and classmate, got together today for some pool and a beach walk. They played a few games at Mac's Pub, while I enjoyed a pint. Then we went to Callowfeenish beach, which is a mile from our house. The tide was out, so there was lots to explore. The wild yellow Iris fields greeted us as we arrived. The wildflowers are really showing now, around the countryside. April was great, mostly sunny. May has been mainly rainy, but, like yesterday, you can have a Force 10 storm, then a few hours later, the sun is out, and the skies are blue. Today, it is pretty, but windy. Probably 20 mph on the beach.  The winds cancelled the Ros Muc Hooker races, which Paris and I wanted to watch. Fortunately, the races are every weekend this summer, at different coastal towns. We saw some clam shells that look like what we call razor clams. Also, some small steamers. Steve found a neat quartzite (per Summer, who is studying geology today) rock. Amazingly, there were perhaps 2 families on the whole beach.

 Yesterday, after the storm, I took a scenic drive to Roundstone, 27 km away. The wild Rhodies are blooming, mainly purple, and a few pink. I saw a couple of nice thatched roof houses. There is a big waterfront house in Roundstone that Michael Flaherty, the famous Irish dancer owns. The evening prior, Justine and I went to Roundstone, for a rare evening out away from the kids. We had a nice seafood meal at O' Dowds. On the twilight return drive, we spotted a red fox and her baby in the road. The baby fox was probably 16 inches long! I attempted to photograph it, but they were pretty fast. Justine heard that a local resident here feeds a fox, so I may ask to visit them.

Well, the kid are cramming for tests, they head back to the states in less than 2 weeks! They'll spend over a month in PA. with their grandparents, aunts and uncles there, before getting back to WA. I will remain here until mid August, so plenty more blogs, as I venture around Eire every weekend that I am not on call. Lots of countryside to see. Justine and Steve are off to Dublin tomorrow, to catch Obama's visit. His mom's ancestors are from Ireland. Also, the Queen of England was just here for a 4 day visit, the first in one hundred years. Relations are slowly improving between the 2 countries, after eight hundred years. Will blog her visit later. Also, I am STILL sorting Venice and Rome photos.....
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