What if... what if I never bought that guide book? What if I never turned to that one page and read that one paragraph? I don't know exactly. All I know is that my trip would have been totally different. The places, people, memories... absolutely, drastically different. The page I opened to in my Let's Go guidebook had a short article titled "Giving Back: Down with the Rhododendrons", describing a volunteering opportunity in Killarney, Ireland. It caught my interest. I had wanted my trip to be more than just sightseeing, and this looked like a good opportunity to do something I've never done before. Researching further into it online, I wasn't sure what to think. The people in the photos appeared worn out. The facilities looked a bit run down. The work described sounded laborious. But instinct told me I had to give it a shot... and thank heavens I did. Because the week I experienced in Killarney was one of the most memorable and grueling in my life, and the friends I made at the camp helped set the course of the rest of my trip. |
"A DIFFERENT IRELAND"
I wasn't at all sad to leave Dublin. It felt like more of the same after a few
days and the city atmosphere was wearing me out. Stepping off the bus in
Killarney, I was surrounded by silence and a chilly breeze. Not having
brought a jacket, I sought out a clothing store, but they were all closed.
I pulled out my Groundwork Workcamp information sheet to double
check the scheduled pick-up time, 10 PM. I had a few hours to kill, so
I crossed the street to a McDonald's to warm up a bit, then took a
walk around town.
Some lights and sounds caught my attention. A Carnival!
Not just any carny, an Irish Carny.
Nice
oxymoron.
There were strange references to America at the carnival. This one's
for you, Alex.
After an hour of enduring stares from people who acted like they've never
seen an Asian guy before, I realized it was just about pickup time and
headed back to the train station. When I returned, it was still empty.
Worried, I considered calling the contact, but then two girls showed up
with large backpacks. We all sat there quiet for a minute
when I asked if
they were here for the camp. Speaking with French accents they excitedly
said yes and introduced themselves... Faustine and Mari from Paris.
A short while later, Molly showed up and drove us through 10 minutes
of bumpy roads to the camp.
Molly was camp leader from the previous week and she gave us a slide show
about what the camp was all about. So what was this camp all about? Let me
tell you...
Killarney National Park is the oldest and largest national park in
Ireland. It has mountains, lakes, animals, and trees. Unfortunately, the oak
forests are in danger because of the rhododendron plant. You know,
rhododendrons, the lovely flowering bushes people plant in there yards.
The problem is that they're not native to Ireland, and thrive in the moist,
acidic soil, competing and taking over the land of the indigenous oaks.
So some guy 25 years ago decided to create a program where volunteers,
like myself, traverse the far reaches of the national park and methodically
eradicate the intrusion. So that's what we did... hiked for hours, waded
through marshlands, and climbed hills and cliffs, to kill those suckers.
"DAY ONE"
Breakfast time. Everyday, there was a different group responsible for
cooking and housekeeping duties. They'd have to wake up early to prepare
breakfast. Then everyone else would start showing up at 7:30. I was
usually
one
of the last to come stumbling down, quickly preparing
myself a boiled egg and toast sandwich. If I had time, I'd help myself
to Irish soda bread with marmalade. The most memorable thing about
breakfast though, was discovering Nutella, a chocolate and hazelnut
spread devoured by people all over europe. Everyone was shocked when
I told them I didn't know what it was. I swear, most Americans don't
know about it... right?
That's Alvaro from Spain looking like he just rolled out of bed. Actually
we all look like we just rolled out of bed. One thing I had to get used to
was not taking a shower in the morning, we were going to get
dirty
soon after anyway. Though knowing that doesn't make the gross
feeling go away.
Jason taking in the breathtaking scenery of the park, he one of the coolest, friendliest,
and most normal
French person I've ever met. I learned a few months later that he's
actually half French. Suddenly, it all made sense. The guy in back is David, one of the
camp leaders. He's 100% Irish no doubt.
Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.
Usually there'd be a bus that takes us to a distant location from which we hike through
the park to battle rhodos. But that Monday was a "bank holiday", some strange holiday
that happens regularly, but even the Irish couldn't explain what it's for. Anyway, the bus
driver had the day off, so our task for the day was to carry supplies to a different
work site and fill barrels with water from a river.
Taking another break. The whole time we were walking, I was thinking
to myself... I thought it was supposed to be cool and rainy in Ireland,
not warm and blindingly sunny. That's Faustine in back, the French
girl I met the night before.
Those gray looking branches are HUGE rhodo bushes that volunteers
from a few years ago chopped down. It was like a graveyard of rhodos.
Though the sun was beating down on my shoulders and beads of sweat dripped from
my forehead, all I had to do was look up to get my spirit and energy back.
Olga sends a perfect toss Jason's way. We created a human chain, passing bottles of water
up a hill as they were being filled with water from a river. I manned the most perilous
transfers standing on a short cliff to catch water that Fernando (the guy with the hat in the
corner) threw up at me. If I missed, it would tumble down jagged rocks and thorns through
which I'd have to climb and retrieve (if the bottle didn't break, which it did, twice). When
we got thirsty, we'd just take a drink from the bottle and pass it on.
Lunchtime at the camp consisted of an assortment of sandwiches: cheese
and butter, vegetable with butter, egg and butter, and tuna with sweet corn
and butter. We washed it down with water from the river... I know... weird.
But by lunchtime, we were so hungry and thirsty, everything was delicious
and satisfying. That's Minhee, a very sweet Korean girl, with a sandwich in
her mouth. The guy to the left making coffee is Leo, the main camp leader.
He was an incredible leader putting in more effort than any volunteer and
making sure everything went smoothly.
Olga's a super duper fun girl from Athens who tried to teach
me how to count in Greek and how to say her
name right.
Greek sounds are really difficult. She later told me how it was
totally foreign for her to be out in nature like this, and that
the first day, she didn't even eat lunch because it didn't
seem clean.
Jason's a total ham.
Some beautiful flowers growing low to the earth. A really cool
thing
about the volunteer work is that we were able to trek through areas
inaccessible the public, and weren't stuck looking at the natural beauty
from paved roads.
Me and Alvaro (took me a get that name right too). He's from Madrid,
same as Fernando.
Exhausted and slightly more tan after a long day of work.
Some really Irish looking folks taking a stroll in the park. Being a national park, there
were lots of tourists on the main roads.
Some of us went to the lake to swim (or in my case, wade). All I can
say is brrrr... fuckin' brrrr...
Silvia (totally crazy Italian girl), Jason, Me (totally strange American),
and Dave (German kid who also speaks fluent French and English...grrr)
In back is the Muckross House, a famous mansion and main tourist
attraction at the park.
Dave playing some awesome traditional Irish melodies on his guitar.
I learned that Metallica's "Whisky in a Jar" is actually an Irish folk
song...
wow... I really never knew that.
Dave and Jackie (Korean) chillin' in the bedroom at the hostel. That's
my bed to the lower left.
I probably missed.
Faustine totally dominated everyone in badminton.
PWNED!
Every night after dinner, there was always a hiking and sightseeing activity. Though we
were already tired from all the work during the day, there must have been something in
the air that renewed our strength. The first night, Leo and David said they were taking us
to a nice place to watch the sunset. They led us to a place deep in the woods. It seemed
like it was getting late and the sky was getting darker and darker, yet they kept on leading
us through winding paths. Jason and I entertained ourselves with stories of UFOs and
giant human meat grinders. Finally, we arrived at a clearing, and the sun was back.
The
view was beautiful. But was really confused me was how late it was, and the sun was
still up. It must have been 9:30.
Faustine enjoying the view.
A stone that's supposed to grant you wishes... my wish...
for people to stop making up shit!
We walked a little further to another part of the lake, and Leo told us the legends about
how the lakes and mountains of Killarney were created. It was so awesome.
David always looks like he's in harmony with nature. So cool.
Walking back, we saw a tree with a huge cavity. Though we
were hesitant at first, most of us eventually took a turn
going inside. It was neat... until I looked up and saw
little white balls hanging inside. I realized
those were
spider egg sacs, and couldn't get out fast enough.
Fernando falling out of the tree hole.
As if the day wasn't long enough, some of us headed to Molly Darcys,
a local pub about a half hour walk from the hostel. We shared stories
about our ourselves, our nation's politics, and how awesome the camp
is over, what else, an ice cold Guinness.
Some of the most memorable conversations happened walking back
under the moonlight (while dodging the horse shit on the roads).
"DAY TWO"
Day two??? I swear, these were some of the longest days ever. We got
ourselves ready to board the bus which would take us to the work site
to kill some rhodos.
After a half hour bus ride through the park, we arrive at the site. But this
isn't where we're working.
Yawwwn. It always felt too early to have to do anything physical... but there we were,
mattocks and gear in hand.
Trudging through marshes. The daily hike to the work site was a 1 hour
stumble through mud and tall grass. In the beginning, you try to stay
on the grassy mounds to stay dry, but after slipping into the mud below
a few times, you realize that dryness is not an option.
Leo goes over how to extract the rhododendrons out of the land
and dispose of them properly as well as rules to keep us safe.
Haha... Olga looks... displeased.
It's so green my eyes hurt.
HOLD THE LINE!
When we were combing simple grasslands, we'd
form a line with everyone standing 2 meters apart and slowly advance
searching for rhodos. If there was an especially large plant or if we
came upon an area with a lot of plants, everyone would stop so the
plant could be extracted. Then we'd continue.
Me about to go for my first rhodo kill! It was never as simple as cutting
the plant down. We had to remove the whole plant, roots and all, and
hang it on another tree to let it dry out and die. Though we spent most
of our hours working, I don't have too many photos
because I was...
working.
Stopping for a short break to eat apples. That's Lucia from Italy,
very nice person.
This is the camp we set up for lunchtime during the work days. We hiked here with our
supplies in the morning, worked, then hiked back for lunch, worked, then hiked back
to the hostel. In the back is Harmke from the Netherlands. She didn't talk much. The big
guy is Omar from Spain. He talks a lot and does cartwheels :)
Wood for the fire.
The Koreans were on the cooking crew that day and made something
Korean for appetizers. Everyone might look apprehensive here, but
enjoyed them they once tried them.
Me on the cleaning crew. I think the cooking crew used every pot, pan,
plate, and utensil possible that day... I've never had to do so many dishes.
That's Jean-Phillip (do I even have to mention where he's from?) setting
up a shot inside Muckross Abbey, some old place where monks hung out.
ena, thio, tria, tessera, pente... that's all I remember.
This night I decided not to go the pub, but hang out at the
One of the girls had a packet of American music and we
sang and butchered them all night. That's Elise, another
French girl, in back.
"DAY THREE"
Daaa.. da da daaa.. da da daaaaa... na na naaa... na na naaa... na na naaa... daa da daaaaa...
(Lord of the Rings music in my head)
Salute my soldiers of nature.
DIE RHODO... DIE!!!
Jason with his first rhodo kill.
Nora being thorough... Some rhodo plants were only seedlings, and if
overlooked, they'd be full size plants capable of repopulating the entire
area in a few years.
It's like nature grew a carpet over everything.
What's Ireland without a picture of shamrocks?
mmm... tuna and sweet corn and butter. We don't do the sweet corn
thing in the States, and we sure as hell don't do the butter thing.
Jean-Phillip and Minhee blowing grass whistles during break time.
Charles. Master of the Mattock.
Wednesday's cooking crew. The highlight of the meal was Faustine's
chocolate cake with cream sauce... mmm...
This is the official name of the place we stayed during the camp.
That's Daniel to the right, an English nature lover and ardent vegetarian.
He'd also volunteered at this camp in the past and was an unofficial leader.
Ahh... hurling, the sport that I was introduced to in Dublin. Much to my
excitement, there was hurling equipment at the hostel that I got to play
with. Maneuvering the hurling stick is a bit like using a tennis racquet,
baseball bat, golf club, and hockey stick all at once...
...But me being who I am, when I start swinging anything, some wushu's going to sneak
itself in there. This piqued some curiosity leading to a demo, which let to "oh,
show
me
how to do it". So there I was in Ireland getting away from wushu, but not able to
escape it. The people who stayed for another week told me they almost killed each
other practicing.
Ahhh... my best student.
That night, our hike was to the Yew woods.
But first off, the best way
to get there was by going through that cave in 100 feet of pitch black.
Leo telling another tale about the mystical land.
I had set my camera on a rock to take a picture when Jason decided to throw a stick at
the camera and knock it over. The picture was taken just in time though.
Quicksand
Another night at Molly Darcys. That night we played charades and
kicked the girl team's ass.
"DAY FOUR"
Olga looking totally hot in those pants. :)
Irish sugar. I was craving my American sugar.
Having lunch with Jean-Phillip and Katja (german girl) at Burger King.
Burger King??? Yes... no tuna and sweet corn sandwich for me today.
Today was cooking day. The night before we agreed to the night's menu.
Well, it wasn't agree as much as accepting what I proposed. So there
we were at in town, doing the shopping for the night, checking internet,
and having baguette sandwiches at BK.
That's the park ranger picking us up, along with the
shopping we did for the day. We had to stick to the
budget of €150 and we aaalmost made it.
That's the store manager jumping through hoops to find us
sour cream that he didn't have available in his store.
Nora and Katja... my kitchen assistants. They didn't have suggestions
as to what to make so I totally took over and became a kitchen warlord.
On the menu: grilled chicken and vegetable quesadillas, seasoned rice,
apple
and caramelized walnut salad with honey mustard dressing, and crepes
for dessert (Jean-Phillip was in charge of that so I stayed out of his way).
The atmosphere got really intense in the kitchen trying to prepare everything
on time (or at least I made it that way pretending I was on a cooking show).
Haha... half the time I didn't even know what I was doing saying, "I think
I saw this on TV once." But I've never had to cook for 23 people before,
so it was wildly fun... and based on the thunderous applause at the end
of dinner, wildly successful.
More ridiculously beautiful scenery after a long day.
Food chain.
Get it? haha.
"DAY FIVE"
Jean-Phillip hangs a rhodo out to dry.
Faustine's tired... Don't worry, it's the last day of work. And make sure
to check for ticks... egh.
Relaxin' on a mossy tree.
It's weird how these pictures of us working make it
look like we're having a dandy ole' time. But in reality,
my memories are of sweat soaked boots, sticky pants
that clung to my legs, tired feet, and calloused hands.
Groupshot
Naptime. This being our last day of work, we took it easy and had long
relaxing breaks.
Fun, steep, and muddy hills we had to climb. We'd often spot rhodo plants hanging out
in the most inconvenient places, but that didn't stop us from finding a way to get to and
kill those suckers.
Olga, Greek Warrior!
My totally dirty, sweaty, and smelly work clothes. Delicious.
yawwwn
Some people have the natural ability... some really really don't :)
Friday night was party night, we gathered at Molly Darcys then took
taxis into the town center of Killarney.
We all gathered at some pub in town for drinks. Haha, Leo looks like
he's had enough of us. Hmm... strange memory... I remember going
with Dave to a store to buy cans of beer and drinking them outside.
We figured it would save us a a few Euro. So there we were drinking
away on a park bench. Then I tell him, "I wonder if it's legal to drink
outside. In most US states, you can't have open alcohol in public."
This totally surprises him, and he argues, "nah.. it's okay, people drink
outside all the time in Germany."
I'm no European, so I don't argue.
Besides, there was a drunk Irish guy rambling to himself next to us
on the bench, so I figured it was okay. I later learn that it is illegal,
but whatever... I have a tourist defense.
Then went to a club to dance the night away... We were such a loud and embarrassing
group... it was awesome.
Such awesome people.
Such awesomer people.
At the end of the night, we walked back to a meeting place in town
to take taxis back to the park. Along the way, I saw the most disgusting
assortment of drunk Irish girls ever.
"DAY SIX"
Saturday was our last full day of camp (for only there for one week anyway).
That day, we got to enjoy the camp the way regular tourists do. First up was
a boat ride through the 3 beautiful lakes of Killarney. Haha... Daniel is such
a character. He still swears by the superiority of 35mm... such a silly man.
Me and Dave looking cool. Life jackets are good.
That's Marine, another French Girl... I'm sure I heard more French than
English at this ENGLISH speaking camp.
I took a deep breath as I handed the camera to Leo so he could get a shot of us
and take pictures on the other boat.
The other boat.
I love getting unexpected pictures when I let someone else take control
of my camera.
I like how Leo's head is popping out of Georgia's shoulder. Georgia
is also from Athens. She read my palm and said I'll have a good life.
Wierd.
Sheep grazing on green pastures. The crazy thing about my week there is that it didn't rain...
not a single drop. The area was actually experiencing drought conditions. If this is a drought,
I don't know think my eyes could have handled how green it would normally be.
French girl scouts?
"Wait wait... Okay everybody..."
A couple unfortunate tourists on bicycles stopped to take their own photos when we
asked them to take a group shots for us... with a half dozen different cameras.
Me with Daniel, the quintessential camper.
Traditional afternoon scones and tea
A few from inside the Arthur Vincent House.
Ever wondered where I got the oh so fashionable waterproof trousers,
jacket, and Wellingtons?
On the last night, we had a farewell BBQ dinner and exchanged contact
info with one another. By now, they knew that I was just starting a long
backpacking trip of Europe, and a bunch of them told me they'd love to host
me in their country.
Backpacker Rule #4: An open door is made to be entered.
"DAY SEVEN"
Me giving Olga one last lesson. I remember also giving one last demonstration of the
mantis form. Tricky on slippery grass, but worth the applause. That was the last
time I remember doing a form really.
That's the awesome certificate I received for participating in volunteer
work with the usual misspelling of my name. Considering I had months
of travel ahead of me, I doubted it would come home with me intact,
so I took a picture of it. Amazingly, it survived.
Alvaro cleaning up the room for the new group of volunteers arriving
that night... wow... the week is coming to an end... :(
Saying good bye to Minhee and Nora... That morning was so strange.
Here were a group of 22 people who, less than a week ago, were complete
strangers to me. And somewhere between fighting the evil forces of nature,
long treks through epic landscapes, and downing pints of Guiness, they
became friends that I will remember forever. The goodbyes were not sad
though... because I felt in my heart and knew in my mind, I'd see some
of them again.
I took a bus back to Dublin to catch my flight to Brussels. I chose Brussels
because the flight was only 1¢. WHAT??? Well, almost. It's about $25 after
taxes and fees, but that's still wicked cheap. America sucks. The one caveat
is that the flight times for the bargain fares are during odd hours. My flight
out of Dublin was at 6 AM the next day. I didn't feel like booking a hostel
for a few hours of sleep, so I did what any other true backpacker would do,
I slept at the airport.
Backpacker Rule #5: Ryanair, Ryanair, Ryanair
Around 4AM, the airport started stirring with activity. I figured it a good
time to check-in. Walking toward my gate, I felt a rumble in my stomach.
All I've had the previous day was a block of cheese, a jar of carrots, and
a carton of apple juice from a SPAR. I found a cafe that was opening up
and debated whether or not to get a biscuit. My stomach won that battle
and I bought one. As I was walking away, something compelled me to turn
back... some instinct. What I saw shocked and excited me, it was Silvia!
She was returning to Venice. Of all the days, all the hours, all the terminals
and cafes possible,
somehow our paths managed to cross again. We
shared our exciting week and said goodbye one last time.
Backpacker Rule #6: Expect freaky ass coincidences.
Ryanair flight to Brussels. Mainland Europe, here I come.