No escape from frat boys.

I hate to complain about stuff on this trip, because Ireland really is amazing and beautiful and fun and different and I love it, but some people always have to ruin it.
We spent the weekend in the beautiful (thought cold, blustery, and rainy) town of Dingle, and the surrounding peninsula. There is so much to see and do and luckily we had a warm (sometimes), dry bus to retreat to in between stops.
The first night we went to a pub (that was unfortunately filled with our fellow students), and had a decent time, until the drunken Irishmen started to corner us and vie for our attention. We wound up having to walk home one of our coordinators from NUI, because he is not a drinker and the stupid frat boys had him chug pint after pint...he wound up drinking 8 in just a few hours and he really wanted to go home.
That was fine, we made it back to the B&B, got into bed around 2:30, and when the rest of the groups came home, they made some noise, but the owner had them quiet down pretty quickly and we were able to sleep.
The next night (after our tiring, cold trip around the peninsula), we napped, then walked around town in the rain looking for a non-seafood restaurant that wouldn't break the bank (I had a bad run-in with chowder the night before and the smell of it was going to bring back some not-too appetizing feelings). We had excellent quiche and baked potatoes and feeling warmed and sleepy, we heading back with a bottle of wine to get some rest.
We fell asleep around midnight, but were awoken at 2:30 to the sounds of shrill screams and loud yells from the incoming drunks who were sadly a part of our group. Hoping that it would calm down quickly like the night before, I held on to the thought of sleep. After nearly 15 minutes, though, there was no end. Group after group of drunken brats from Villanova and Lehigh stumbled into the lodge with absolutely no regard for their fellow travelers, all of whom were undoubtedly tossing and turning and mad.
We were awake for over an hour, and I was livid. These kids didn't have to pay for this trip, it is quite obvious. They have no respect for others, no concern for the academic aspects of the experience, and only want to drink. Many of them aren't 21, so the thought of getting wasted at a pub is the only thing on their mind. It is ridiculous. Our guides from NUI said they have never seen such horrible behavior, and everyone I spoke with about it was just appalled and embarrassed and of course, exhaustsed.
Luckily, that was the last overnight trip we have planned with the group, and it seems like for the most part now, they all just skip most classes and we can ignore them more or less.
But it was sad and completely pathetic that they had to ruin such a wonderful weekend. It really makes me glad that I didn't go away to college. I have no tolerance whatsoever for such insanely juvenile behavior. It is not funny, or cool, and I hope someday they realize what idiots they were. I know that sometimes a small minority can give the larger group a bad name. But this was more than a small minority, and being in any way associated with them was not a pleasant experience.
Perhaps that will be the only downside to this month in Ireland, and now it can only get better!