The Snowbowl! Rugby stye.

Yesterday in Louisburgh felt uncannily like life at home in Minne-snow-ta. Every cottage awoke to a thick layer of slush covering the entire area. The trees, bent from years of a strong wind off the ocean were decorated with icicles and their base wrapped in snow. Thinking to myself that this was just great. Typical. Escape the clutches of General Winter only to have snow slink back into my life. Ireland is supposed to be green not white!! Thankfully, my frustration was beaten back and conquered by a knock on my door and the question “do you want to have a snowball fight?”. My cottage-mate and I responded with a simultaneous and enthusiastic “YES!” and tripping over ourselves prepared for battle. The consistency of the snow was prime for snowballs. It was the type of snow that seemed to be afraid to be alone so it stuck to as much as the other snow as it could, the kind that squeaks a little when you form it into a snowball, and the type that hurts really really bad if you catch one that was thrown at you full force. Battle cries ripped through the air as alliances formed quicker than I’m comfortable with. Culminating with my gathering of what I can only describe as a snow boulder and yelling in my best Braveheart voice “FREEEEDDOOOMMMMM!” I sacrificed my ribs to crush their leader and essentially win independence for cottages 4 and 5 against they tyranny of 6 and 7. 

At this point it occurred to us that my classmate had purchased a rugby ball last week. Most of the class was diving in the snow, throwing the ball up in the air, and playing keep away from everyone at the same time, having some good old fashioned fun in the snow. If anyone has seen the movie The Longest Yard picture the muddy football game they played but add in snow and rain. After awhile we split off into teams and created some loose rules based off of what we knew about the sport, which was not much. My team’s strategy revolved around the movie Might Ducks as we advanced in a V formation, chanting “Ducks fly together! Ducks fly together!” This will definitely be a day that will stand out during my semester here.