Yesterday after classes a few of us visited the Christchurch and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Christchurch was founded in 1030 during the Viking's rule. It was originally Catholic until King Henry VIII broke off from the Catholic church and turned it Anglican. It was really cool with pretty stainglass and a crypt. The crypt was the oldest part and is one of the largest in Britain and Ireland. St. Patrick's was built by the Normans in 1191 and then rebuilt in the 13th century. Jonathan Swift was Dean from 1713-45 and was buried there.
Later a bunch of us from the program all went to see Riverdance. Riverdance as always was amazing. I love Irish Dancing and the other dancers (Flamenco, American tap, & Russian) were brilliant. Also the Theater was really cool, thin, and we were high up, but kind of small. Also there was a bar and they let you bring your drinks to your seats. Go Irish!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Kilmainham Gaol
Monday I went to visit Kilmainham Gaol. This is Dublin's old prison that stopped being used in 1934 and was later restored and turned into a museum. It dates back to the 18th century and is one of the largest prisons in Europe no longer in use. The prison was originally meant to hold 200 prisoners, one to a cell, however at the peak of its use during the Great Famine it held 9,000 people. It was used for both men, women and children - the youngest was an 8 year old girl who was caught stealing a woman's cloak because she was cold and was in there for 5 months. The prison also hosted political prisoners and was the where the leaders of the 1916 rebellion were held before they were executed. We got to see their cells and the chapel where Joseph Plunkett was married to his fiancee right before being executed. Later she would be held in another cell during the Civil war. It was really fascinating and horrible at the same time. Pictures are in my Dublin album. The same link below will work.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Hurling, Chilling, & Trip to Hill of Tara & Knowth
Wednesday night our program went to a Hurling Match. It was the Under 21 Leinster Final, Dublin v. Offaly. It was pretty awesome. Really intense and both teams played spectacularly. The crowd was huge and really into it. Dublin won and apparently it was their first time winning the final in 35 years. Afterwards I grabbed a drink with Steven, Krishna, Kai, Denise, Paulo and Natasha at this pretty cool bar. The next two days I pretty much did nothing but my homework. Saturday I was supposed to go to Wales with Kai, Steven and Aimee however those plans fell through. Instead we went to the Irish Film Institute and saw the John Cassevedes film, "Love Streams". It was interesting to say the least. Then on Sunday we rented a car and drove up to the Hill of Tara and Newgrange. At Tara it started raining on us so we didn't stay long. Then when we got to Newgrange, all the tours were sold out. So instead we went to Knowth, which the last time I was here was closed because they were still excavating it. But now they are done and it is open. It was pretty cool. Knowth, like Newgrange, is an ancient burial mound dating back 5,000 years. It was built by the Neolithic peoples that lived on Ireland at that time. Knowth has two entrances, one which opens towards the sun during sunrise on the Equinoxes and the other towards sunset on the Equinoxes. In addition to the main huge burial mound, it had 17 satellite mounds surrounding it that were significantly smaller. The cool thing about Knowth was that later (like 3,000 years after it was built) the Vikings and then the Normans lived on top of it. The structural integrity of this mound is insane. It has stood for 5,000 years, and supported over 200,000 tons of dirt and rock. You know that they meant this to last forever because of how they built it, using layers of rock and dirt in order to allow water to drain through. Its absolutely amazing. Afterwards we drove back to Dublin along the coast, stopping at the Cock Tavern for dinner. The Cock Tavern purports to be the oldest (or one of the oldest) pubs in Ireland. Then we also stopped in Skerries to see the ocean. It was very pretty.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Sickness, Belfast & the Four Courts
So I actually didn't get better last week and in fact got worse. I'm pretty sure I had a Sinus Infection (I think I can tell what thats like by now!). So instead of taking any chances I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and also some pain killers for the sinus pain! The doctor's visit was pretty expensive due to me not being a student but the prescriptions were super cheap and I even got a 10% student discount... Go National Healthcare system! I didn't even have to show insurance or anything. Once I started taking the antibiotics things got a lot better.
On Saturday we took a trip up to Belfast. Our Dean is friends with the AP Reporter for Ireland and Northern Ireland (yes there is only one and before him there was none, they were reporting out of London. It's pretty messed up and why all the news media out of N. Ireland is only bad and about violence, presents a very skewed version of things.) His name was Sean and he also happens to be not only a Trojan but a Band Alum as well from the late 80's. He started reporting in the early 90's and knew everything about the conflict. He was incredibly knowledgeable and a fantastic tour guide. The downside of course was that our tour was of the Trouble and the very worst of the worst of Belfast. It was very depressing for me. Even though the powersharing has started, peace has been declared, and the British Army has pulled out a lot and pulled down all the surveillance towers, the walls were still up between the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in the worst parts, barbed wire up everywhere, peace lines, murals for both sides and major unemployment in the worst areas. When we went to the IRA graveyard, we saw these kids all drugged up and drinking which was apparently indicative of the youth in general in these areas. Sean says there is still a huge drug problem and by drugs I don't mean weed, I mean meth. We visited one IRA memorial for one neighborhood (every neighborhood has its own for its members that had been killed) and there were these girls there telling us how they aren't allowed on the other side of the "peace line" - a giant wall separating the prods and catholics. And their houses are pretty much fortified buildings. I'd heard that Belfast was a pretty cool city and I think we just got to see the worst parts and it made me very sad. Some of the other kids in my program were going to stay, and me too, so that on Sunday we could go see the Giants Causeway, however after all that I couldn't bear to be there anymore. So instead I came back to Dublin and Anett who lives with Irish people out in Ranelagh invited us all to their party they were having. So I went to that and had fun conversing with actual Irish people instead of Americans, which was so nice. Then afterwards we went out dancing until 4am. The clubs were really cool and literally underground. I would have never found them on my own. Sunday I slept in til like 4pm and it was nice. Then Ben and I went to this bar that plays traditional Irish music on Sunday nights. Everyone goes to Church in the morning and then out to drink at night. This day was special cause Dublin had just beat Laois in Gaelic Football so the place was packed and everyone was wearing Dublin jerseys. The band was playing all sorts of Rebel songs and everyone was singing along. It was fantastic.
Didn't do much on Monday, however today our class took a field trip to the Four Courts which is the big court in Ireland and where all the Barristers work out of. We got to see a courtroom and a Barrister gave us a run down on how their system works. We were going to stay to see a trial, however 5 mins into it the Defense needed more time in order to view some evidence they only had just received, so the court went into recession for an hour and we left. Oh well. I couldn't understand what they were saying anyways. But the Barristers all wear black robes and wigs, although the wigs are no longer mandatory, most still wear them. It was pretty cool. Their system is much like ours except for the difference between Solicitors and Barristers. Solicitors are the lawyers that do most of the legal work and would be who you would go to for advice or to draw up a will or contract. If it gets contentious and you have to go to trial then the Solicitor will hire a Barrister who is more specialized in litigation and arguing in court. They are who will then argue in trial for you. Barristers by law cannot solicit work and people cannot go to them to get a lawyer, you must go through the solicitor and the solicitor will then hire a Barrister if they need one. So a lot of the work of being a Barrister consists of looking busy, hoping for work and not getting paid. But apparently is "really fun" according to our Barrister guide. Also if you want to work in Ireland you have to take an entrance exam, similar to the Bar, then if you are going to be a Solicitor you have to go to Solicitor school which is 2 years and then you become an apprentice to a Solicitor until you can practice on your own which is about 2 years. If you want to become a Barrister its the same only you go to Barrister school for 1 year and then get a barrister to take you on as an apprentice where you basically are their slave since you do not get paid and do all their work. The cool part however is that if you pass the New York Bar you don't have to take the entrance exam. :)
On Saturday we took a trip up to Belfast. Our Dean is friends with the AP Reporter for Ireland and Northern Ireland (yes there is only one and before him there was none, they were reporting out of London. It's pretty messed up and why all the news media out of N. Ireland is only bad and about violence, presents a very skewed version of things.) His name was Sean and he also happens to be not only a Trojan but a Band Alum as well from the late 80's. He started reporting in the early 90's and knew everything about the conflict. He was incredibly knowledgeable and a fantastic tour guide. The downside of course was that our tour was of the Trouble and the very worst of the worst of Belfast. It was very depressing for me. Even though the powersharing has started, peace has been declared, and the British Army has pulled out a lot and pulled down all the surveillance towers, the walls were still up between the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in the worst parts, barbed wire up everywhere, peace lines, murals for both sides and major unemployment in the worst areas. When we went to the IRA graveyard, we saw these kids all drugged up and drinking which was apparently indicative of the youth in general in these areas. Sean says there is still a huge drug problem and by drugs I don't mean weed, I mean meth. We visited one IRA memorial for one neighborhood (every neighborhood has its own for its members that had been killed) and there were these girls there telling us how they aren't allowed on the other side of the "peace line" - a giant wall separating the prods and catholics. And their houses are pretty much fortified buildings. I'd heard that Belfast was a pretty cool city and I think we just got to see the worst parts and it made me very sad. Some of the other kids in my program were going to stay, and me too, so that on Sunday we could go see the Giants Causeway, however after all that I couldn't bear to be there anymore. So instead I came back to Dublin and Anett who lives with Irish people out in Ranelagh invited us all to their party they were having. So I went to that and had fun conversing with actual Irish people instead of Americans, which was so nice. Then afterwards we went out dancing until 4am. The clubs were really cool and literally underground. I would have never found them on my own. Sunday I slept in til like 4pm and it was nice. Then Ben and I went to this bar that plays traditional Irish music on Sunday nights. Everyone goes to Church in the morning and then out to drink at night. This day was special cause Dublin had just beat Laois in Gaelic Football so the place was packed and everyone was wearing Dublin jerseys. The band was playing all sorts of Rebel songs and everyone was singing along. It was fantastic.
Didn't do much on Monday, however today our class took a field trip to the Four Courts which is the big court in Ireland and where all the Barristers work out of. We got to see a courtroom and a Barrister gave us a run down on how their system works. We were going to stay to see a trial, however 5 mins into it the Defense needed more time in order to view some evidence they only had just received, so the court went into recession for an hour and we left. Oh well. I couldn't understand what they were saying anyways. But the Barristers all wear black robes and wigs, although the wigs are no longer mandatory, most still wear them. It was pretty cool. Their system is much like ours except for the difference between Solicitors and Barristers. Solicitors are the lawyers that do most of the legal work and would be who you would go to for advice or to draw up a will or contract. If it gets contentious and you have to go to trial then the Solicitor will hire a Barrister who is more specialized in litigation and arguing in court. They are who will then argue in trial for you. Barristers by law cannot solicit work and people cannot go to them to get a lawyer, you must go through the solicitor and the solicitor will then hire a Barrister if they need one. So a lot of the work of being a Barrister consists of looking busy, hoping for work and not getting paid. But apparently is "really fun" according to our Barrister guide. Also if you want to work in Ireland you have to take an entrance exam, similar to the Bar, then if you are going to be a Solicitor you have to go to Solicitor school which is 2 years and then you become an apprentice to a Solicitor until you can practice on your own which is about 2 years. If you want to become a Barrister its the same only you go to Barrister school for 1 year and then get a barrister to take you on as an apprentice where you basically are their slave since you do not get paid and do all their work. The cool part however is that if you pass the New York Bar you don't have to take the entrance exam. :)
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Rain, Sickness & James Joyce
So Sunday I got to sleep in and took full advantage of it, sleeping in til 2pm. After waking up and getting some lunch, a couple of us decided to try and see if we could go on the Ghost Bus tour of Dublin, but were unable to get tickets since the office was closed (turned out to be for the best since we were warned that the tour sucked and cost too much.) So instead I met up with some others and we went to this bar for some traditional Irish music. The pub was filled with old Irish people all dressed up from church, but the music was really great. After that pub closed we went to another that looked really cool. There was live music there and it was open til much later. Monday we had nothing to do after class so instead of doing laundry, Katie, Sarah and I decided to buy more underwear. Of course the day was miserable with rain and walking around in it all day long got us all sick. I woke up the next morning with a swollen, sore throat. Tuesday we took a trip to Sandycove to visit the James Joyce museum, which is located at the Gun Runner Joyce lived in for 5 days and is the inspiration for his novel, Ulysses and the setting of its first chapter. After visiting the museum we all went to Fitzgerald's for a Pint on Dean Fromm. The bartender there was quite possibly the most beautiful man ever. Think Cillian Murphy but with black hair and no freckles... swoon. Then afterwards when we got back to Dublin we all went out for Jodi's birthday. By this point I was dying and had to leave the celebrations early. Today I have felt simply horrible and have been sleeping and reading all day trying to get better so tomorrow I can rejoin the fun.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Glendalough
Today we took a day trip to Glendalough. Glendalough is a tourist area that used to be a Monastery. Apparently founded by St. Kevin who came to the area to get away from the world and now there is an ice cream stand with his name on it and thousands of tourists visiting his home. But it was cool, basically just monastic ruins and a cemetery. But there were also these two lakes (hence the name) and the mountains you could hike in. It was really beautiful. Sarah, Katie and I hiked up through the trees and managed to get lost trying to find the "awesome waterfall" everyone else very easily found. But we had "adventures". We did manage to find the waterfall and it was kind of anti-climatic. Then this Indian (i think) woman wanted her picture taken with me... not exactly sure. She may have thought I was Irish, which is not the first time this has happened this trip. Hey I ain't complaining. Just means I will fit in well when I move here. Then we got to see the lake, which I thought was simply gorgeous. On the ride back to Dublin, we took a different route so we could stop and see Powers Court. It was this big Victorian home with manicured lawns. But we only had 20 mins to wander so no one wanted to pay the fee to get in. Instead we got ice cream and wandered. Now I'm back in Dublin getting ready for dinner. Today is Heather's birthday so we are all going to dinner.
Friday, July 6, 2007
The 4th of July, Literary Pub Crawl & Golfing
So on the 4th of July a bunch of us took the Dart out to Bray to find this pub we had heard was giving free beer to Americans. We didn't quite believe it but thought it was worth a try. The train (think metro) was about a 45 min ride. We found the bar, it was covered in American flags and true enough, upon production of an American passport or DL, you could get one of their home brews for free, and they were pretty tasty. I head back fairly early however in order to get my hw done.
The next night, thursday, we went on Dublin's Literary Pub Crawl, which was pretty fucking cool. They had one guy singing and playing the guitar. He played a couple of Irish Songs, one of which was a poem written by and Irish writer and put to music. Then there were two actors. In the first Pub, Duke's, they performed a scene from Waiting for Godot which was hilarious. Then throughout the crawl they told us stories about Oscar Wilde,l James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett, and others. And did it in funny voices. Of course there was the beer too. And in the end there was a quiz, which somehow I won. So I got a free t-shirt. Then we stayed at the last pub drinking and I was stopped by an older Irish man who was asking me how come I (and most Americans) was so confident and then the conversation devolved into a very interesting one about philosophy and the tendency of many people to look down on the peoples of the past. Then he called me a lady and thanked me for the conversation. Very interesting. After the pub closed and kicked us out we grabbed some food at some food place that was like Johhny Rockets only the name was ______ Rockets.
Then today after class the out was to Deerpark out in Howth for golfing and hiking. You could choose either. I chose to golf. The course was really cheap and we rented clubs. I was not even the worst player either and on the last hole I managed to get a bogey, which I think for not playing for like 10 years ain't bad.
So now I'm exhausted and since Katie isn't answering her phone to tell me where they are at I'm just gonna crash.
The next night, thursday, we went on Dublin's Literary Pub Crawl, which was pretty fucking cool. They had one guy singing and playing the guitar. He played a couple of Irish Songs, one of which was a poem written by and Irish writer and put to music. Then there were two actors. In the first Pub, Duke's, they performed a scene from Waiting for Godot which was hilarious. Then throughout the crawl they told us stories about Oscar Wilde,l James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett, and others. And did it in funny voices. Of course there was the beer too. And in the end there was a quiz, which somehow I won. So I got a free t-shirt. Then we stayed at the last pub drinking and I was stopped by an older Irish man who was asking me how come I (and most Americans) was so confident and then the conversation devolved into a very interesting one about philosophy and the tendency of many people to look down on the peoples of the past. Then he called me a lady and thanked me for the conversation. Very interesting. After the pub closed and kicked us out we grabbed some food at some food place that was like Johhny Rockets only the name was ______ Rockets.
Then today after class the out was to Deerpark out in Howth for golfing and hiking. You could choose either. I chose to golf. The course was really cheap and we rented clubs. I was not even the worst player either and on the last hole I managed to get a bogey, which I think for not playing for like 10 years ain't bad.
So now I'm exhausted and since Katie isn't answering her phone to tell me where they are at I'm just gonna crash.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Trinity College
Monday afternoon I finally got to move into my room. I'm in Building 47 and my room is on the bottom floor. The rooms are actually much better and bigger then everyone let on. I have a bed, desk, drawers, table, chair, bookshelf, closet and my own bathroom with a shower. Also every floor has 4 rooms and one kitchen to share. Imagine a room slightly smaller then USC's freshmen dorms but for one person with a bathroom. And alot of my fellow classmates all live in the same building and the surrounding ones, so thats cool. Also on campus is The Pavilion, or as it is commonly referred to, The Pav. Its the on campus bar and serves the cheapest beer in Dublin and also has food thats cheap and good. Paninis are quite popular here.
After checking in we had orientation over at the bar across the street, Doyles. The program paid for two free pints and some food and we got to meet the professors and everyone else in the program. After that a bunch of us went out drinking and ended up in the Temple Bar district. Temple Bar is the touristy area and the bars and clubs cater to that. Its crowded and the bouncers are dicks. Two nights in a row two of our friends were denied entry or service due to being "drunk", despite not being actually that drunk or doing anything to warrant such an assessment.
Tuesday was our first day of classes. So even though I got drunk and was up until 1:30 the night before I had to be up and in class by 8:30am! Not the most brilliant of ideas but it was cool. All the classes are held in the same room in the Art Building. My first class is Comparative Civil Rights between the US, Ireland, Europe and Africa. The professor, Neville (he doesn't respond to professor or Doctor cause he thinks the person is making fun of him) is super cool and smart. The class is very entertaining and everyone in it is really smart. Then I have a break and my next class is at 12. That class is International Negotiations and is slightly boring, but I think it will be useful, since we are essentially learning how to negotiate, which is key for a lawyer of any type.
Also the program has extra activities planned for practically every day. Today, Wednesday, we got to visit the Irish Parliament and even got to see part of their session and tour the building. It was boring to say the least, although cool to see how their system works.
So far the weather here has been interesting! It will rain for like 5-10 mins and then the sun will come out and it gets super hot. Sometimes the sun and rain are out at the same time. Its quite annoying having to take on and off the rain jacket every 3 secs. Rachel (the director's Assistant) says that it is the worst weather they have had and hopefully it should get better.
I will try and take pictures soon and upload them.
After checking in we had orientation over at the bar across the street, Doyles. The program paid for two free pints and some food and we got to meet the professors and everyone else in the program. After that a bunch of us went out drinking and ended up in the Temple Bar district. Temple Bar is the touristy area and the bars and clubs cater to that. Its crowded and the bouncers are dicks. Two nights in a row two of our friends were denied entry or service due to being "drunk", despite not being actually that drunk or doing anything to warrant such an assessment.
Tuesday was our first day of classes. So even though I got drunk and was up until 1:30 the night before I had to be up and in class by 8:30am! Not the most brilliant of ideas but it was cool. All the classes are held in the same room in the Art Building. My first class is Comparative Civil Rights between the US, Ireland, Europe and Africa. The professor, Neville (he doesn't respond to professor or Doctor cause he thinks the person is making fun of him) is super cool and smart. The class is very entertaining and everyone in it is really smart. Then I have a break and my next class is at 12. That class is International Negotiations and is slightly boring, but I think it will be useful, since we are essentially learning how to negotiate, which is key for a lawyer of any type.
Also the program has extra activities planned for practically every day. Today, Wednesday, we got to visit the Irish Parliament and even got to see part of their session and tour the building. It was boring to say the least, although cool to see how their system works.
So far the weather here has been interesting! It will rain for like 5-10 mins and then the sun will come out and it gets super hot. Sometimes the sun and rain are out at the same time. Its quite annoying having to take on and off the rain jacket every 3 secs. Rachel (the director's Assistant) says that it is the worst weather they have had and hopefully it should get better.
I will try and take pictures soon and upload them.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Weekend Update
Friday:
Friday was pretty much blah. I was still not feeling well, really exhausted as well. But I walked around Dublin wandering the streets trying to get an idea of where things were. Stuff I noticed: lots of older ladies with babies begging on the streets... I think they are immigrants from eastern Europe. Dublin is much bigger and faster and more crowded then I expected or remember. I have seen very few if any Irish people at all. Everyone jaywalks.
So after walking around forever, I decided to go catch a movie to pass the time. I went and saw Shred the Third, which was cute. Not as good as the first, but not really that bad either. I really liked the Arthur Pendragon tie in. After the movie, I got back to the hostel and took a nap. Forced myself to get up at 8pm to get some dinner. But then I just went back and did some HW and chatted online til I was tired enough to fall asleep. Didn't really fall asleep though. My roommates were quite noisy and the sun comes up at freaking 3am here. That's gonna take some getting used too.
Saturday:
Woke up too late for breakfast... yeah after not sleeping all night I fell into a sketchy sort of half sleep at like 7am. I didn't really have any plans for Saturday and had planned on being bummed again. So when I was getting ready, there were two other ladies in the room with me and I struck up a conversation with the one, asking her where they were from and so forth. Turns out they are teachers at South Gate High School, which is in LA and one lives in Bellflower and the other in San Pedro. They invited me out with them for the day and were super nice and friendly. We got some breakfast (lunch, hehe) and then walked all the way over to the Guinness Storehouse to do the Brewery tour. On the way I told them fascinating facts about Ireland and stuff, they find it amusing, I was like their own little tour guide, hehe. The Brewery tour was pretty cool. I love beer and always love to learn new facts about it. Guinness is such a wonderful, well made beer! Then after you walk through everything you get to go to the top, the seventh floor, to the Gravity Bar for a free Guinness. The view from up there is amazing. After that we were gonna do a Literary Pub Crawl, however after realizing it was 2 1/2 hours we decided against it since we had been walking so much. Got some dinner and beers instead. It was really funny listening to them talk and bitch about their school issues. LA Unified is so different then Fairfax County, its not even funny. For all Fairfax County School's problems, if they ran LA Unified, maybe LA would be a better place. Their school is 99% latino, which is all fine and cool, but the kids are soooo insulated. Trista the one teacher once asked her students what they thought the percentage of Hispanics were in the whole US and they were convinced it was over 50% (its actually around 17%). As someone who grew up near DC, this is baffling to me. Personally I think integrating schools, and really trying to have a good mix of ethnicities would do students a whole lot of good. I think it would help to break down cultural barriers and help people to confront Stereotypes (not saying it would fix everything but I think its a good idea). But unfortunately due to a recent Supreme Court decision, there's no way that that is even an option. (ugh! don't even get me started on the current court!) But I digress, this blog is supposed to be about Dublin. So, after that we came back to the hostel and I passed out.
Sunday:
Everyone from the program was starting to get in and people started emailing to try and get together on sunday to meet and hang out. A few of us made plans to go to the Gaelic Football and Hurling matches. I met up with RJ and Ted at Trinity at 1pm and we walked over to Croke Park. The Football match was at 2:10 and the Hurling Match was at 4. Football was Laois (pronounced Leach) v. Wexford. Wexford was up the whole match, however Laois pulled out the win in the end. Then after a 30 min break the Hurling match started and was between the #1 team and last year's champions, Kilkenny and Wexford. Kilkenny dominated the entire game and crushed Wexford, who could never really get their game off the ground. It was really fun and there was even a marching band during the half times and in between games. The band was made up of very young kids, traditional and not very good. But it was really cute to see them try. Perhaps in 10 years they will have something more like ours in the States. The cymbal player was this girl who was struggling so hard to hold up the cymbals. I felt so bad for her and could empathize with her pain. Another interesting thing is that you can buy beer in the stadium, but not bring it down into the seats. You have to stand outside to drink it. Also Croke Park was a really cool stadium. RJ said it seated 85,000 and had been newly renovated. The cool thing about these sports is that they are amateur sports and all these men beating each up (without pads or cups) all have normal jobs as well during the week. But it is such a popular sport. Every you looked people were wearing their team's jerseys. And it seemed like every Irish person in the city came to the game. And everyone walks to the stadium too. Also something we all noticed was the police in Ireland. They are so not like American police. First off they carry no gun or weapon at all. But that doesn't seem to be a problem when they are trying to arrest someone. They don't seem to need a weapon in order to assert their authority. Also their is a distinct lack of a chip on their shoulders and are extremely nice and helpful.
After the game we walked back to Trinity to meet up with other students from the program and go out for drinks and dinner. Everyone so far seems super cool and friendly. Although you can tell that we are all in law school, hehe. Most of them are all from Indiana University, mainly cause their Dean is in charge of the program and one of the Professors (International Negotiations which I am taking and apparently he is really good and his class at Indiana is always booked and hard to get into). The other school mostly represented is USD. And then there are random people like me. We even have a few international students, Italy, Hungary and Mexico.
Monday (today): I'm just chilling at my hostel until I can go check-in to Trinity at 2pm. Then at 4 we have orientation. That's it for now.
Friday was pretty much blah. I was still not feeling well, really exhausted as well. But I walked around Dublin wandering the streets trying to get an idea of where things were. Stuff I noticed: lots of older ladies with babies begging on the streets... I think they are immigrants from eastern Europe. Dublin is much bigger and faster and more crowded then I expected or remember. I have seen very few if any Irish people at all. Everyone jaywalks.
So after walking around forever, I decided to go catch a movie to pass the time. I went and saw Shred the Third, which was cute. Not as good as the first, but not really that bad either. I really liked the Arthur Pendragon tie in. After the movie, I got back to the hostel and took a nap. Forced myself to get up at 8pm to get some dinner. But then I just went back and did some HW and chatted online til I was tired enough to fall asleep. Didn't really fall asleep though. My roommates were quite noisy and the sun comes up at freaking 3am here. That's gonna take some getting used too.
Saturday:
Woke up too late for breakfast... yeah after not sleeping all night I fell into a sketchy sort of half sleep at like 7am. I didn't really have any plans for Saturday and had planned on being bummed again. So when I was getting ready, there were two other ladies in the room with me and I struck up a conversation with the one, asking her where they were from and so forth. Turns out they are teachers at South Gate High School, which is in LA and one lives in Bellflower and the other in San Pedro. They invited me out with them for the day and were super nice and friendly. We got some breakfast (lunch, hehe) and then walked all the way over to the Guinness Storehouse to do the Brewery tour. On the way I told them fascinating facts about Ireland and stuff, they find it amusing, I was like their own little tour guide, hehe. The Brewery tour was pretty cool. I love beer and always love to learn new facts about it. Guinness is such a wonderful, well made beer! Then after you walk through everything you get to go to the top, the seventh floor, to the Gravity Bar for a free Guinness. The view from up there is amazing. After that we were gonna do a Literary Pub Crawl, however after realizing it was 2 1/2 hours we decided against it since we had been walking so much. Got some dinner and beers instead. It was really funny listening to them talk and bitch about their school issues. LA Unified is so different then Fairfax County, its not even funny. For all Fairfax County School's problems, if they ran LA Unified, maybe LA would be a better place. Their school is 99% latino, which is all fine and cool, but the kids are soooo insulated. Trista the one teacher once asked her students what they thought the percentage of Hispanics were in the whole US and they were convinced it was over 50% (its actually around 17%). As someone who grew up near DC, this is baffling to me. Personally I think integrating schools, and really trying to have a good mix of ethnicities would do students a whole lot of good. I think it would help to break down cultural barriers and help people to confront Stereotypes (not saying it would fix everything but I think its a good idea). But unfortunately due to a recent Supreme Court decision, there's no way that that is even an option. (ugh! don't even get me started on the current court!) But I digress, this blog is supposed to be about Dublin. So, after that we came back to the hostel and I passed out.
Sunday:
Everyone from the program was starting to get in and people started emailing to try and get together on sunday to meet and hang out. A few of us made plans to go to the Gaelic Football and Hurling matches. I met up with RJ and Ted at Trinity at 1pm and we walked over to Croke Park. The Football match was at 2:10 and the Hurling Match was at 4. Football was Laois (pronounced Leach) v. Wexford. Wexford was up the whole match, however Laois pulled out the win in the end. Then after a 30 min break the Hurling match started and was between the #1 team and last year's champions, Kilkenny and Wexford. Kilkenny dominated the entire game and crushed Wexford, who could never really get their game off the ground. It was really fun and there was even a marching band during the half times and in between games. The band was made up of very young kids, traditional and not very good. But it was really cute to see them try. Perhaps in 10 years they will have something more like ours in the States. The cymbal player was this girl who was struggling so hard to hold up the cymbals. I felt so bad for her and could empathize with her pain. Another interesting thing is that you can buy beer in the stadium, but not bring it down into the seats. You have to stand outside to drink it. Also Croke Park was a really cool stadium. RJ said it seated 85,000 and had been newly renovated. The cool thing about these sports is that they are amateur sports and all these men beating each up (without pads or cups) all have normal jobs as well during the week. But it is such a popular sport. Every you looked people were wearing their team's jerseys. And it seemed like every Irish person in the city came to the game. And everyone walks to the stadium too. Also something we all noticed was the police in Ireland. They are so not like American police. First off they carry no gun or weapon at all. But that doesn't seem to be a problem when they are trying to arrest someone. They don't seem to need a weapon in order to assert their authority. Also their is a distinct lack of a chip on their shoulders and are extremely nice and helpful.
After the game we walked back to Trinity to meet up with other students from the program and go out for drinks and dinner. Everyone so far seems super cool and friendly. Although you can tell that we are all in law school, hehe. Most of them are all from Indiana University, mainly cause their Dean is in charge of the program and one of the Professors (International Negotiations which I am taking and apparently he is really good and his class at Indiana is always booked and hard to get into). The other school mostly represented is USD. And then there are random people like me. We even have a few international students, Italy, Hungary and Mexico.
Monday (today): I'm just chilling at my hostel until I can go check-in to Trinity at 2pm. Then at 4 we have orientation. That's it for now.
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