The Aran Islands: the Strangeness of an Untouched Landscape

I live in Bergen County, New Jersey in a suburb of New York City.  New Jersey is the most densely populated State and a concrete jungle of failure and too much success.  Ireland, more specifically the Aran Islands, has been a major culture shock for me.  Even though my dad is Irish, I have an Americanized view of the Irish - clouded by unions, South-side accents, and pea coats on a dock.


The island was almost untouched by humans, save for the bike shop and several restaurants.  The trip to the yellow restaurant with the good salmon that I can't remember the name of took us 45 minutes.  We stopped to take so many pictures (I took 63, which is very out of character).  I really could see the natural inspiration emanating from the crystal clear water and rolling green hills.  Everything was so vivid, the way you would expect it to be during the photo shoot for a post card.  I'm not generally an animal (slight understatement) but even I had to stop and admire the simplistic beauty of the daily life of the animals inhabiting the land: it's an uncomplicated naturalness that is momentarily enviable.  


In my journal, I wrote:
After spending four weeks here, I wonder if I will view my smoggy, unappreciated and manufactured New Jersey in a new light?  The Aran Islands almost represents a 'What if?' to Americans: We are so rushed, so focused on the material, it is easy to lose sight of the natural beauty of the world. (written during the first week of the trip)

I came back to the USA on July 9th, a very hot Saturday when Derek Jeter achieved his 3,000th hit.  Newark seemed even more unwelcoming than usual - mostly because it represented the end of my summer abroad and the beginning of working at the bank and the YMCA, and on a 10/20 page paper and this blog.  As my mom and I waited outside the International Continental gate, I looked out at the backed up NJ turnpike that was depressingly sandwiched between stretches of industrial marshes.  Between the heat and the polluted haze, the horizon seemed blurry and uninviting.  That day spent bike riding along the coast of the Aran Islands felt like another lifetime.  Things seemed a lot clearer in Ireland.