Hi guys, just picking up where I left off on my last blog… When my Mom got off the bus we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we went home. It took all of 2 seconds for her to start ripping my room apart and cleaning it up. I don't know about you but after a 6 hour flight, a 2 hour wait for a bus, and a 3 hour ride to Letterkenny, the last thing I feel like doing is cleaning and moving stuff around. So once she got that ball rolling we had to continue until we were both happy with how the room looked. That, of course, required a trip to T.K. Maxx (that's not a type-o it's not called T.J Maxx out here haha!). There we got the “essentials,” new sheets for my bed, a couple of pillows, and warm little rug. Let's just say by the end of the day my room felt like home, very cozy! Lets just say I’m set for the year now.
After that, we went out in town, and I showed her all around Letterkenny. She got to see some of the old pubs and she had her first true pint of Guinness.
The next day was game day. To begin the day the head of the LYIT business program, Michael, wanted to have Jack, my Mom, and I over for lunch to give my Mom a nice warm welcome. Michael and his family were so incredibly kind! We had a fantastic lunch and we were able to see his beautiful home and family. They could not have been more welcoming! It was really amazing…we literally talked about it all weekend.
Anyways, she was able to see my first Irish game of the year. Unfortunately, we couldn't pull off the win, thanks to the Victory Scholars Will and Ryan and the rest of the Ulster Elks, but it was still great that she got to see me play. Also, they announced on the speaker, in front of everyone, that we had a special guest here all the from America, “T-John's Mom.” Once again, just another example of how friendly everyone is here!
The next day I had some coaching and then we went to the nearby city of Derry. We strolled around there for a couple hours, had some delicious food and my Mom got to see a little bit of the unique history behind Derry. It was a great little trip to say the least.
Her last day was here, and we were again lucky enough benefit from the friendliness of people here. This time it was my landlord and neighbor, Edmond. He took both, his dog Buster and us, to the nearby beach. After that, I thought we were heading home, but he wanted to show us more. He drove us further North to a place called Portsalon (Blog Picture). And jezzz what an unbelievable view of the beach and ocean you get way up at the top of the hill! That was my first time seeing the real beauty of Donegal that everyone raves about. It certainly lived up to the hype. I’m certainly glad my Mom was there to take it in as well.
Despite all of the really cool things we did, I think her favorite moment was watching me coach and mentor some of the kids. I’ll talk more about coaching and helping kids in my next blog so stay tuned!
Overall, my Mom and I had great couple days. She couldn't have had a nicer five-day span. The sun was out the entire time… I think the second she got on the bus to go to the airport it started to rain.
