Causey Farm Excursion

20 of us from the program signed up for a farm excursion which was about an hour long bus ride outside of Dublin. The weather was cold and a bit rainy but we ventured out anyway. When we arrived we were immidatly greeted by a pig that could've been mistaken as a hippo and a young 22yr old tour guide. We started the tour by throwing on silly aprons and headed to the farm's kitchen where we paired up and learned how to bake our own brown bread. They don't use measuring cups and the young man would say "oooooh it's about umm like a half a scoop of flour and a pinch of salt" I've never baked by estimating measurments so I was a little nervous about how it would turn out. One of the traditions on the farm is for the tour guide to throw the eggs that are required for baking the bread and you have to catch it without breaking it! I of course was the furthest away and had to catch the egg that was lobbed over 10 other people and a very long table! It did'nt break though!

As the bread baked we headed to an old barn where we lined up to learn an irish step dance. We were taught 4 different "sets", one at a time, then put all the moves together to complete the dance. complete dance continued on for about 5 minutes and when it finished my legs were burning and I felt like I had run a marathon! The next part of the tour was the BOG but we got easily distracted by four 6wk old fluffy puppies that were scampering around. I think in unison all 20 of us let out a huge "AWWWWWW" and immediatly ran towards them with open arms. There were 2 black and white ones and 2 brown and white ones and each had a very different personality. Three of the puppies were intimidated by the other who pounced, bit, and wanted to wrestle with anything that moved....he even chewed through my shoelace!! The other three were so loving and one even fell asleep in a girl's arms like a little baby.

Back to the bog...a bog is an area of decomposed vegetation. It's basically like a huge mud pit. When we were told that we had the opportunity to take a "mud bath" I got a vision in my head of a luxerious and hot spa-like mud bath. This however, was not the case at all. A few girls and I stripped in to our bikinnis and were urged to race to the end of the pit. As soon as we stepped foot in the mud we immideatly sunk to our knees! The mud was thick and cold and not what I was expecting at all. When we finally reached the end of the pit (it took me several minutes) we climbed up the bank which was just a couple feet high then jumped right back in. When you jump in you shoot straight down in to the mud leaving you stuck at about waist deep. One girl shaped the mud to make it look like I was a mermaid! It was a lot of fun until...we were told that there are no showers on the farm and that you just wait for the mud to dry then put your clothes back on. OH JEEZE! By the time we were finished in the mud we were cold and shivering and only half way done with our adventures.

As we waited for our mud covered bodies to dry we met a baby pig named wilber and watched as he was fed a bottle of milk. Now i know why people are called "pigs" when they eat fast and make a mess because WOW, Wilber scarffed his meal and left the ground covered with milk! It sure was a sight to see. We also were introduced to Wilber's parents who could've been the size of an adolecent hippo, and that is not an exageration. I was stunned when I saw the size of them! The next part of the tour was milking a cow! I've always wanted to milk a cow and remeber expressing that interest to my parents at a young age. I finally get to check that off my list of things to do! The technique was a tad complicated and if you go at it wrong the cow twitches because she thinks you are a fly.

After the irish dancing, the pigs, and the cows, the puppies, and the bog, we were craving our brown bread. I brought meat and cheese to make a sandwich and ate the entire half of my loaf. After a long day at the farm the warm bread seemed like the best thing I have ever eaten!