Dia dhuit! ('hello' in Gaelic....at least according to google) - there really is no way to be sure; seeing that I've only met one person here who actually speeks Gaelic and ,as charming as he is, I can barely understand him.
          This is Chad, by the way. As you've probably noticed, Jillian has been doing all of the blogging thus far. But I thought I'd take a shot at it.
          So it's day #5 and already Ireland is begining to feel like a second home. The narrow, one lane road makes taking the dogs for a walk seem like a safety hazard with these European speed limits; and the ducks don't have an easy time of splitting up into their assigned huts in the evening. But these slight quirks just make Jillian look frantic and crazy....which I enjoy. Sylvia sent back a recepe from the hospital for a blackberry liquor which she would like us to make. So today Jillian and I went out to pick blackberries from the bushes along the road. All was going smoothly and the bag was beginning to fill up; but the repetition of berry picking started to take it's toll on my attention span. Being in another country doesn't change the fact that I'm still a little brother....and that we have duties. So I took aim and lobbed a particularly mushy berry at Jillian's face. Score. Seeing that I normally get away with these types of acts completely unscathed, I went back to my picking without a care....Well, the Irish in Jillian must be letting loose because no more than two minutes later I had a neck full of berry juice. That was the moment that blackberry warfare broke loose. In the end, more purple than not, we truced and washed off in a nearby creek. I think we've still got enough berries for the liquor :).
           We had dinner at the home of some freinds of John and Slyvia. It was an inctredibly beautiful home set on a hillside that is just as breathtaking. After purchasing an old farmhouse that stood vacant for many years, they gutted it, tore much of it down, and entirely remodled it; complete with stone walls and a thatched roof. So I think I may move in with them after I retire....hope they don't mind. Anyhow, all that was a set up so that I could talk about what we had for dinner. The potatoes, applesause, stuffing, ham, pork, and red wine were all delightful; but the big kicker of the meal for me was the crackle. Crackle is wonderfully crunchy and has a really focused flavor, it gets cooked along with the pork and the ham, and comes from the same source. It's the skin of the pig, and although it probably has health factors equivilent to that of bacon grease, I thorougly enjoyed it.
            Alright, I'm off to bed.