In Which I was in Spain and Then Fell off the Face of Planet

I

I blogged pretty consistently at the beginning of Spain, but then I just couldn't do that and skype everyone I needed to, and sleep for at least 6 hours a night, so I kind of got out of the habit. So I figured I'd recount some of the things that I did with mom after I left Spain.

Our trip consisted of Dublin--> Edinburgh--> Northern Ireland (Belfast)-->Dublin-->Republic of Ireland (Galway, Derry Coast, Blarney Castle)--> Dublin

Some highlights included:

- So I knew that the bus your I booked looked like it had the potential to be a party bus, but the website made me think that it was a bit more diverse. However as soon as we got onto the bus of 20 year old Aussies and Kiwis (mainly) and the flamboyantly gay (and really hot driver) started talking about what drink specials we were going to get that night, I knew that I might have been wrong. My mom was the only one on the bus over 30 or so, and there were definitely no families on this trip. I was a bit worried at first, but my mom totally took things in stride. I am not sure if she took a sip of the first bottle of alcohol that was getting passed around on the bus, but somewhere on the ride of the first day one of the blokes started calling her Old Mother Hubbard. We drank with the crew that night, and had a really good time- so despite the fact that it was a party tour and not really mother daughter family atmosphere we had a wonderful time, made good friends, and saw things in Ireland that you have to see such as the Blarney Castle/Stone, The Cliffs of Moher,and a few Leprechauns

(Here is mom and the tour guide on the first night out)

-I enjoyed my first class of Guinness at the Guinness factory- I am not sure if it just tastes better with the Irish Water or when you are on the top of a 10 story building that has a panoramic view. I haven't tried to drink any since I got home, and when I do so it will only be from the tap. I'd have to say that Ireland made me a believer when it came to Guinness, even though I think that there is some debate regarding how much Guinness the Irish themselves drink. I was told that if you went into the most non-toursity of bars you would find locals drinking Bud Light, which in my opinion is a damn shame.


-I actually thought that the Blarney Stone was pretty scary. And because there is a long as line of people beside you that are waiting in this really narrow and even more scary dark windy staircase, you have to go really fast when you kiss it, and I don't think we really got any good pictures because it went so fast, and I hated it anyway because I had to take off my glasses and I couldn't see anything. I thought that I would just be kissing a rock, not one that I had to lay down and do a back bend on te top of a castle to kiss, and honestly, I am not even sure if I needed to kiss it, because if you know me then you might agree that I already have the gift of gab, right?


- There was a domestic dispute in one of the rooms neighboring us on our last night in Dublin. There was a lot of slamming and screaming, and we called the front desk to tell them about it, and they already knew which room it was in, and I don't know if that was a good or a bad thing. I don't think we would have called the hotel a loss had we not been stuck in the elevator for 10 minutes the night before, only to ask the lady at the front desk if this happened frequently, and having her reply yes it does, don't ever take it. Nice one.

Anyway, those are just a few of the highlights of the trip with mom and I. I have so many more good stories and memories, and have been working hard to get all of my pictures from the trip centrally located here.

I hope to write more about it at some point.

Not much for the Blogging Lately...

School concluded about a month ago, and I think maybe I have gotten so facebook dependent so much that I feel like I keep up with people by tweeting rather than blogging, but I do like this forum as well. As many of you know I am headed off to Spain in about one week. I will be studying there for a month, and then I will be traveling with my mother in Ireland and Scottland for about two weeks. I am very excited and I plan on updating often with lots of pictures to show when I am on the trip.

My sister has been deported for her Peace Corp service for a month and a half now, crazy right? You can check out all of her latest happenings here http://bulgarianna.blogspot.com/. I had thought that I was going to be able to see her when I was in Europe this summer, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen as of now. She is going to be living in a rather remote village that will not be easily accessible via weekend tripping. It's sad, because I miss her, but I feel like I get to talk to her enough to keep in touch and to know what's going on. She seems to be doing really really well for herself, and I am so proud of her.

One of my best friends is getting married this weekend, on the 4th of July. A few people have commented that this is really weird, but I think it's amazing that I get to go to an awesome party thrown by someone else for this holiday. It will be wonderful and I am sure there will be amazing pictures.

I got a new tattoo. It's a Japanese crane- taken from the album The Crane Wife by the Decemberists. It's not complete yet, but when it is the bird will be standing in water and the water will say " Here All The Bombs, They Fade Away". People have asked me why this is so significant, and I guess the best way that I can explain it is that I love the Decemberists and there music makes me feel extremely connected to my sister, because she told me about them, we have listened to them together, and enjoyed a few of their concerts together and it has been magical. Also, this is my third tattoo, and it is a bird like the rest. The bird references have to do with my mother, because she is a birder through and through, so it all links back to her-- like most things in my life.

I don't have a ton more to say. I have really just been relaxing and getting ready for my trip and I am excited about it- even though I will miss D I think it is going to be good to get away and to experience the world a bit more...

Expect to hear from me more when I am In Europe. Have a wonderful summer everyone.

My sister left, I cried.

I didn't cry for that long though or have a major breakdown, and I am rather proud of myself because of this. Also, whenever I get sad about her leaving I am just going to look at the professioal photo that I took of her and my cat. Because it's Hilarious!

I am shocked as D smiles.

Thanks for capturing this rare moment John.

Just letting you all in on a little secret- he smiles a lot when he is with me.

But don't tell him I told you that.

He'd like to keep it a secret.

Great Shots from Friday at the WAP

I like the lighting and contrast in this one.
Small medium and large. The tiny one is a month old.

I am as sweet as nectar.

So crisp and beautiful

Baby cheetah!

Sleepy teenage lion.

My best friends in Ensenada

Preceded by lunch at a coffee shop, a no drug purchasing memorandum, and followed by a walk through the stinky fish market, contemplation over buying a dog, and best taco stand in baja. Good times.

Adventures Con Mi Familia

Formal night on the cruise ship. Hold on girls, its waiter time! This is much more significant when you have seen the sign that says Sacramento 3073 in Ocean City, MD. I have seen the MD sign countless times, and this one only once.

Best pizza and SD. (But really people go for the hot chicks.)

Oh, I haven't invited you to our park yet, have I ?

Mas aqui!

And still going...

I have beenon a cruise and then in San Fran for a few days (above), and tomorrow am headed down to Baja to see Jare at the Orphanage. This has been a long vacation and great time with my sister. I have to go to work right now, but more later.

I'll follow you into the dark...

Taken on Assateague Island a few days after Christmas 2008...

V-Day is For Lovers

And that we are...

We went on a SD Harbor Cruise, had bloody Mary's and tequila, had an unplanned but delicious four course Italian meal complete with heart shaped lobster Ravioli, and went to see my first live Opera ever...

We make a great couple because we enjoy each other's company and always have great new experiences together. I love him. (In case you didn't know.)

Trip Pics

David and I took a trip back to my mother land this Christmas (by plane) but we traveled back to the left coast via car... It took me sometime to post all the pictures online, but they are all up on my webshots now and you can see them all if you care about us that much... You can see them all here.

These are some highlights This is David with his foot on top of a Cypress knee in Pocomoke, MD. The knees of the trees will shoot up out of the water (because when it is not winter and it's wet, this is swampy) and I believe it helps them to take in enough C02.This is my sister and D at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD. Francis Scott Key wrote the star-spangled banner about the flag that "was still there" which was housed at the fort.

This is when I became a prisoner at Fort McHenry, but the prison experience wasn't that bad because I was only sentenced to 30 seconds in the jail cell due to the fact that it was overcrowded and other people wanted to take pictures.



Here is D honoring the life of Edgar Allen Poe. We went to the house that he lived in, which seemed to be very much in proximity with some serious corner drug activity that was happening on this chilly Baltimore day. I felt like I was in The Wire for a minute.



Here I am trying to figure out how well I would fit in the sleeping quarters of a replica boat at Jamestown, VA.



I don't even know what state this is, but I was tired of driving so thought I would stop at this authentic Indian Trading post that advertised it's live buffalo for many is billboard... It was actually something I would like to call PETA about because this poor tourist attractions were pretty much living in their own feces and it was really gross and sad...


Here we are at the full size replica at the Parthenon. I know it was inTennessee. I think it was Nashville, but am not completely sure. We couldn't go in because it was closed, and it was really cold and early in the morning.

And here we are trying not to get frostbite at the grand canyon. I might have posted this before, but I don't remember. It was cold enough to warrant posting twice.

Precious Gifts

I have gotten some really awesome Birthday gifts this week. Tonight I got to put one of them to good use by making my friends some yummy waffles for dinner. I realize that while it is so nice to get gifts that the real gifts that are the closest and the most beautiful in my heart are the times with I have with my friends. I am so thankful for the pot of tea that a friend made me this week and for the small gathering another friend offered to have for me this weekend to celebrate 25. I am glad that I can celebrate 25 years that have included so many friends that have made my life rich, complex, and beautiful.

Three hot mamas...

Well, actually only one of them is a mama and we hope to keep it that way for at least a few more years.

We all matched on XMAS this year, which I think was sort of planned/unplanned- I don't know, but it made for a fun photo shoot.

I thought that these pictures would be especially appropriate to compare to the first picture on my Birthday post. We are three strong women . I love my family dynamics and growing up in a house with so much estrogen was so empowering. And sometimes a little emotional.

This rest of this fun photo shoot (with the goofier pictures) are here.

by catbonny

Celebrating 25 Years of Pure Bonny O'Neill

I am a proud big sister.

I was cute.

I have had that crazy look/laugh from a young age.

I was cute when I was little, huh?

I was always a performer.

I will not smile for a photo shoot if you wake me up from my nap in the car.

Thanks to my mom for sending me all of these wonderful photos from my childhood to remind me just how awesome it was. They are pictures of pictures so the quality isn't the best,but I think that they give a good sense of the 25 year old later Bonny.

Eastern Europe better be ready...

Because my hermanita is going to Bulgaria in May.

How exciting is that? Maybe that means that my May 2010 graduation gift to myself will be a nice little trip to this post- Soviet country. (Is that correct history?)

Anyway, I am thankful that prior to her two year departure for the Peace Corp she will be coming here in March (and I will try to make her stay as long as possible, and not let Jare steal he away from too long while at her Mexican orphanage)

My momma sent me a picture of my sitting in the hospital bed with her and my newly born little sister. I cannot believe that she will be 22 in month, or that I will be 25 in less than two days.

I guess we are grown-ups. Whatever that means. = )

More Gatsby Glam

(These pictures show my costume a bit better.)

Great Gatsby

Minus the demon eyes, this is what I looked like when all decked out for a speakeasy- Great Gatsby Style. I think there might be better pictures showing fishnets and all.

It was a friend's boyfriend's birthday party, but she didn't know that it was also a surprise engagement party. It was certainly one with lots of style. I am glad she will always have such an awesome memory of last night.

Adventures In Real Life

I have been lazy about posting, but am proud that was able to accomplish my first quarter of grad school with all A's. Woohoo me.

Then David and I went on a long adventure which included this snowy, butt-freezing-off, cold toes trip to the icy grand canyon. I will be less lazy and post more pictures from our adventures to meet my family and then to traverse the country conquering the challenges of vegetarianism in the South. = )

I am not ready to be starting a new quarter, but here we go...