By+Christine+Mc+Cafferty

The two backpacking girls were on an overnight ferry（渡輪）from Scotland to Ireland. A true adventure： especially as they were low on money， did not know anyone in Ireland and had no idea what they would do when they got there. But by now we know our girls； they always make a plan. They were not long on the ferry when they met a young truck driver by the name of Frankie.

W e started chatting to Frankie who almost immediately offered us a lift and invited us to stay at his house. We were quite surprised by this， but we would soon learn just how unbelievably friendly and hospitable1 the Irish are. Frankie was eager for us to meet his wife as well， which was surprising but positive. So we drove off the ferry in Frankies truck and bypassed the city of Belfast，2 which is the capital of Northern Ireland. In the south of Ireland is another capital called Dublin3， which is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. We drove past Lough Neagh4， which is the largest lake in the British Islands. Lough means lake in English or loch5 in Scottish English.

The island of Ireland is divided in two countries. At that time there was a great deal of violence and conflict in Ireland， although that never held us back at all in our decision to go.6 As we drove through a small country town at early dawn， looking down from the front seat of Frankies truck， we were shocked to see a line of about 10 soldiers on either side of the road walking slowly and carrying very large guns. We could only see their outline in the rising sun. It was a frightening sight， but Frankie didnt even give a second glance.

Then it was on to Cookstown7 where Frankie lived. His wife Bridget was very sweet and kind to us. They seemed to us a strange couple though， as they were young yet showed no spontaneous affection8 and seldom touched each other. We were grateful for their hospitality and rested a day and had a peaceful night. Wed decided to go south to the Republic of Ireland so， the next day， we hiked off in the direction of the town of Omagh9.

Of course， once again， we hitchhiked10. Ireland has to be the best place in the world to hitchhike. Despite the conflict， the people are incredibly friendly. The Irish truly are a beautiful and warm people. It was not long before four young men， driving in the opposite direction that we were planning to go， stopped and offered us a lift.

“Where are you going？” Shannon asked.

“Enniskillen11，” one of them replied.endprint

“Wonder where that is？” I asked Shannon.

“Who cares，” she said. “Lets go！” With that we jumped in the car； yes six in a car—and drove off in the opposite direction that wed been headed.

One of the boys John was travelling further and offered for us to come stay with his family on their farm near a place called Lisnaskea12. Their farm truly seemed to be in most rural Ireland. What an opportunity！ What a friendly family！ They were so excited to have two adventurous young girls over to stay. Johns mother and his sister Mary were really sweet and so helpful. The best thing was that they ate all day. We always seemed to be around the busy kitchen table with a hot stove cooking tasty things to eat； most of them had potato as the main ingredient： potato soup， potato fries， potato fritters，13 potato bread， potato salad and potatoes added to every other dish we ate.

In Europe the Irish are renowned for having lived a harsh life in the past in their cold climate.14 Parts of Ireland had been settled by English and Scottish people over the centuries. Members of the British ruling classes were granted most of the land in Ireland by the British crown.15 The Irish people were poor， and had to rent the land from these landowners and work it to survive.

The one crop that grew easily in Ireland was the potato. People， especially the rural poor， mostly lived on potatoes which is a healthy food. From the 1500s to the 1800s， the Irish population grew from 1 to 8 million. The problem was that they were completely dependent on potatoes. Then disaster struck.16 In 1845 a disease from North America entered the country. All the potatoes rotted in the ground. This is known as the Great Irish Potato Famine17. At least one million people died and hundreds of thousands were evicted18 from the land as they could not pay rent to the landowners. Most of the landowners were living comfortably in England. About two million Irish people left the country， most going to the United States. By 1921 when the south of Ireland managed to gain independence from the United Kingdom， the Irish population was barely half of what it had been in the 1840s. So there is a bitter and sad history in Ireland， and it lay beneath the conflict that was ongoing there.19 Lisnaskea， where we were staying， had been an area in which the Irish had regularly rebelled against20 the landowners. I had， while at school， read the book Trinity21 by Leon Uris. So I was hoping for the chance to learn more about the political situation firsthand22.endprint

We were having a great time laughing and eating with Mary and John on the farm. By their names you could tell that they were Catholics23. That night they took us to a dance organised by the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association24. This was an organisation for Roman Catholic teetotallers25. Teetotallers are people who dont drink any alcohol. The organisation was founded to encourage young people especially to stay away from alcohol and to have fun without it. The problem was that most of its members were older people， as were the people at the dance26！

Many of the people were staring at us as though we were from Mars. They could barely believe that there were two young foreign girls in their midst. Despite this， or maybe because of it， as we were not shy， Shannon and I had fun waltzing27 around with the family， even Johns Mum. She was so excited and proud to show off her visitors to everyone.

We were then lucky enough to be invited by a young man to an 18th birthday party at a place called “The Clubhouse” in the nearby village of Rosslea. Johns mum said it was fine for us to go so we left the Total Abstinence party. Now the birthday party was a real party， and everyone there was about our age or a little older. The dance floor was rocking.28 I met someone who I thought was really cool. His name was Marty Woods. He was such fun and made me laugh. We danced wildly on the dance floor and then he took me by the hand and led me outside， where he grabbed me and gave me a big kiss！ He was a great kisser！ But I was less impressed when he told me that we needed to stay outside so that he could avoid his “l(fā)assie29”， which is his girlfriend. Well I never saw him again， but nonetheless Shannon and I had a great time seeing both sides of the rural Irish social life.

The night was about to get better for me though as we were then invited by a guy called Conor to go back to a “meeting” with them. I suspected it was political and desperately wanted to go. Shannon agreed. Rosslea had been the site of many attacks by Irish rebels during the Irish War of Independence30. There was still strong support for the Irish Republican Army （IRA）31 in that area.

1. hospitable： 好客的，熱情友好的。

2. bypass： 繞過，繞……走；Belfast：貝爾法特斯，北愛爾蘭首都，也是該地最大港市。

3. Dublin： 都柏林，愛爾蘭共和國(guó)首都。

4. Lough Neagh： 內(nèi)伊湖，位于北愛爾蘭地區(qū)的淡水湖，是不列顛群島最大的湖泊。lough： //〈愛爾蘭〉湖，海灣。

5. loch： //〈蘇格蘭〉湖，狹長(zhǎng)海灣。

6. 那時(shí)的愛爾蘭境內(nèi)暴力沖突不斷，但這并不能阻擋我們?nèi)ヒ惶骄烤沟臎Q心。endprint

7. Cookstown： 庫(kù)克斯敦區(qū)，北愛爾蘭中部的一個(gè)區(qū)。

8. spontaneous affection： 自然流露出的感情。

9. Omagh： 奧馬，北愛爾蘭西部城市。

10. hitchhike： 搭便車。

11. Enniskillen： 恩尼斯基倫，北愛爾蘭西南部城市，弗馬納郡（Fermanagh）首府。

12. Lisnaskea： 利斯納斯基，弗馬納郡的第二大城市。

13. ingredient：（烹調(diào)的）原料；potato fritter： 炸土豆餅。

14. be renowned for： 以……著稱；harsh： 艱苦的，（生存條件）惡劣的。

15. grant： 授予；British crown： 指英國(guó)王室。

16. 后來，（這里）遭受了一場(chǎng)災(zāi)難。struck： strike的過去式，指（災(zāi)難、疾病等）突然侵襲。

17. the Great Irish Potato Famine：愛爾蘭大饑荒，也稱馬鈴薯饑荒，指1845至1852年間，愛爾蘭人賴以生存的馬鈴薯因感染霉菌大面積失收導(dǎo)致的大饑荒。在這五年間，英國(guó)統(tǒng)治下的愛爾蘭人口銳減了近1/4。

18. evict：（通常因未付租金而將其從土地、房屋中）驅(qū)逐，趕出。

19. 因此，愛爾蘭有著一段悲慘的歷史，這段歷史也為愛爾蘭長(zhǎng)期存在的沖突埋下了禍根。

20. rebel against： 反抗，反叛。

21. Trinity： 《愛爾蘭往事》，是美國(guó)著名小說作家里昂·尤里斯（Leon Uris）的一部回顧愛爾蘭獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的史詩性小說。Trinity本義是“三位一體”。

22. firsthand： 第一手的，直接獲得的。

23. Catholic： 天主教教徒。

24. Pioneer Total Abstinence Association：一個(gè)由羅馬天主教徒組建、倡導(dǎo)絕對(duì)禁酒的國(guó)際性組織，設(shè)于愛爾蘭，組織成員被稱為禁酒先鋒（Pioneers）。abstinence：// 禁欲，戒酒。

25. teetotaller： // 絕對(duì)戒酒者，滴酒不沾的人。

26. at the dance： 參加舞會(huì)，出席舞會(huì)。

27. waltz： v. 跳華爾茲舞。

28. 舞池的地板都在震顫。

29. lassie：（女性）情人，情侶。

30. Irish War of Independence： 愛爾蘭獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)（1919—1921），是一場(chǎng)愛爾蘭共和軍在愛爾蘭發(fā)動(dòng)的以反對(duì)英國(guó)政府統(tǒng)治愛爾蘭的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。

31. Irish Republican Army： 愛爾蘭共和軍，簡(jiǎn)稱IRA，成立于1919年，曾為愛爾蘭獨(dú)立、現(xiàn)為愛爾蘭南北部統(tǒng)一而戰(zhàn)斗。endprint