I'm nine hours ahead...so I'm basically writing to you from the future.

I know you are anxious to hear about the parade so I'll get right to it. It was very cute...In SAT analogy terms, Ennis is to New York City as the Fleadh Nua Parade is to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. As in, one is tiny and not that interesting and one is huge. It was mostly area schools' marching bands and then about ten pipe bands (that means bagpipes, lots of bagpipes.) The school marching bands were kind of funny to see because in the USA marching band means a bunch of pre-teens playing "Louie Louie" on alto-sax, clarinet, trumpet, etc. In Ireland, marching band means a bunch of pre-teens playing "Star of the County Down" on fiddle, tin whistle, and accordion. It must be hard to march and fiddle at the same time.

I arrived in Limerick via train this morning. The hostel is a little bit prison-y, but pretty nice as far as hostels go. It's kind of a long walk from the center of town, but much closer than Doora was to Ennis. They do have wireless internet there, but it is broken at the moment, so still no pictures... The weather is pretty nice now, but super super windy--think Wizard of Oz.

I made a very pretty, color-coded Excel chart to keep track of my budget and am now almost certain that I will be running out of money long before the end of the trip. That's lame. If any of you would like to brainstorm about finding me a job when I get back that would be much appreciated. Generous donations to the cause would also be much appreciated.

I keep getting asked what I thought of the match (rugby). I guess I committed a serious cultural faux pas by not watching it.