Getting settled in Dublin

Dún Aonghasa

The Aran Islands

County Mayo

County Mayo

Enjoying my free pint at the sky bar of the Guinness Storhouse

The main Hall of Kilmainham Gaol

Dia dhuit mo chara! (jee-ah gwitch muh khara which means hello my friends in Irish!)

The first week in Dublin, the weather was absolutely beautiful. Every time we spoke to someone they would tell us how lucky we were because apparently they had the wettest August in like recorded history or something. The first couple of days--well actually the first week really--we had a lot of orientation stuff and our group took a few tours of the city which was helpful. Our CIEE program is pretty separated from the rest of the study abroad group which actually was pretty nice because we were able to get to know each other better and our two directors are really great. Don is probably one of the smartest people i have ever met and and as the trip goes on we have been discovering that he is also one of the funniest people. He has lived all over the world and has seen and done some really great things. Brian is coo too, he is originally from upstate New York but has been living in Europe for a few years now i think. He also looks like Emile Hersch (the guy from Into the Wild) which sure doesn't hurt anything ha. They both have been really helpful and have made things a lot easier.

The city center--downtown Dublin--is about a 15-20 minute bus ride from campus which isn't too bad, but it would be a lot nicer if it was in walking distance. Our group did a bus tour of the city and also a walking one led by Don and Brian where we learned all the good places to go and which areas to avoid because they are overpriced and geared towards tourists. The city is really great and holds a lot of history which is neat to see. There are statues all over showing leaders from the rebellion and other important historical figures and one of the statues at the end of O'Connell street has bullet holes in it from the Easter Rising which is really cool to see.

One of the first days we went and saw Kilmainham Gaol which is a historical prison that held many of the leaders of the rebellions over the years and was the place of execution for some of Ireland's most important people. The jail was really incredible to walk through and has also been the setting for many movies and in the main hall, bands (including U2) will sometimes play concerts or record albums because the acoustics are so good. We took the tour before i really knew anything about the rebellion or the people who led it and so now that i am learning the names and roles of people throughout Ireland's past it is cool to think back and remember seeing graffiti and stuff left by them in the jail.

Another cool thing we did was a group of us went to the Guinness Storehouse...a must while visiting Dublin. The museum was really interesting but the best part was reaching the top where there was a 360 degree sky bar where we were given a ticket for a free pint of Guinness to enjoy. The day was absolutely gorgeous and so you could see everything. It was such an awesome experience to be sitting up so high, listening to good music and enjoying an AMAZING pint of Guinness made right there. We all kept looking around at each other and asking if this was really happening. And just so everyone knows, it is really true that the Guinness here tastes much better in the states. You wouldn't even believe how smooth it is. Mom, when you come here i will take you to the storehouse so get ready.

My classes here are fairly easy and I only have them monday-thursday. On mondays i only have Anglo-Irish Lit: The novel and short story from 2-3 pm. Tuesdays i have Politics & conflict resolution in N. Ireland from 9-11 and then Intercultural Communicative Competence from 2-4 and Crime and the Media from 5-6. Wednesdays i have my crime and the media seminar from 1-2 and then my core class (with just my CIEE group) from 2-5:30. I'm excited to have a long weekend because it will allow me to have a flexible time for traveling (even though most of my friends have class on thursday so most traveling wont be done until friday anyways).

Last weekend my group took a bus over to the west of Ireland. On the way to our hotel we stopped by and got a tour of an old British estate house where a landlord used to live and govern over hundreds of Irish peasants. The house was cool but seriously one of the most hanuted places--if not the MOST haunted--I have ever been. People lived there until '79 and the guy who bought it left it exactly how the last woman (Olive) left it. There were pictures all over and even the woman who gave the tour was extremely creepy. After we left everyone was talking about how scary the place was and even Brian went to open a door cos he heard something behind it and when he looked he realized there was nothing there. It was scary and i was glad to get the heck and the heck out of there!

Our hotel was in the town of Westport in County Mayo which was a really nice town. Our hotel was pretty fancy and we were treated with the best food we had had yet (if you haven't heard...the food here is pretty bland and consists of a lot of potatoes)! It was a 3 course meal and we felt pretty special sitting there and being waited on. The price of alcohol in Dublin is pretty ridiculous and as the night goes on, many pubs increase their drink prices by a euro every hour (convenient right?). In westport it was nice to find cheaper drinks and consistent prices! a group of us went to this place called M.J. Hanahans or something like that and we were just about the only people in there and so we chatted it up with the guy who owned the place for a while and had a really great time. During the day we went to many places that were major places that the great famine--(An Gorta Mor) affected. County Mayo was the place hardest hit and so there were many memorials and homes that were still there that had been deserted by people during the famine. We have been learning a lot about it and it is truly amazing how much, even today, mentality formed during the famine still affects people's daily lives. The land out there is truly breath taking and is the kind of scenery you imagine when you think of Ireland--green green green.

From Westport we went to the Aran Islands. We had to take a ferry out there and again the weather was beautiful and made for a really nice sunset ride. The Aran Islands is one of the places where Irish (that's what they call it here--not Gaelic) is still spoken as the first language. Although, something i learned here is that everyone knows how to speak Irish due to the cultural renaissance that took place after the famine to try and revitalize Irish culture and traditions that were lost in An Gorta Mor. The Island is very small and feels like a different world. There are like 700 residents native to the island and everything revolves around the ferry times. The hotel we stayed in was also nice and the bar in the lobby was really great and had live music playing which was amazing. Sitting and enjoying a pint on the Aran Islands listening to Irish folk music made me feel like i was in a movie or something.

The next day the weather wasn't so great, which was really awesome considering that was the day we were going to hike up to the Dún Aonghasa rock fort. It is on the top of this limestone cliff with amazing views. luckily it was clearer at the top than we had thought it would be. The whole time Don and Brian were warning us to be very careful on top and to stay away from the edge and to not carry a backpack. The winds up there are incredible and apparently a few years ago some French kid flew off the cliff cos his backpack got caught up in the wind and he didn't let go. oops. Leave it to the french right? After our hike we went back to the hotel and took a Irish language class. It was really interesting and we learned a lot of cool things.

Another week of classes was finished off in probably the best way for me on wednesday night...i saw coolio. that's right, the guy who sings "Gangsta's paradise" live at this night club in Dublin. It was absolutely hilarious and he kept going on about how he was 45 years old and could be our father...which i don't know if he was bragging or complaining. Instead of a head full of crazy braids he only had a little hand full of them sticking out the top of his hat (which we decided, due to balding, was probably just attached to the hat). He was supposed to play at 10:30 but didn't get on stage till 1:30 or so--cos why? he's Coolio and he thinks he can do that. It was a super fun night and increased my cool points by like ten fold. It probably even increases yours knowing someone who was front row at his show. hah

i'm officially out of laundry. officially have been putting it off for a couple days. officially a major dirty kid. (don't get me wrong, i've been hand washing the essentials)

I hope everything is well at home!

Sláinte! (slawncha which is cheers/health in Irish)