Tuesday night the whole program met up for dinner at Nico's. Nico's is this really nice Italian restaurant and dinner was on the program. We got drunk on wine and listened to a street performer serenade us with singing and an accordion. Then the professors gave some speeches, Neville gave the funniest speech making fun of us all in his class. And then Neville played the piano while RJ played guitar and various other people got up and sang. It was really fun. See the pictures from the Dublin Album.
Wednesday I went to the National Gallery with some friends and saw some really cool exhibits (I actually went back today to see another I missed). We saw the John Butler Yeats Exhibit and the Treasures from the North. Then today I saw the Fantastic in Irish Art. Afterwards we all met up to go see Transformers which was AWESOME!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Weekend Trip to the West Coast
On Friday Joanne came to visit me. We rented a car and drove out the the west coast of Ireland. We stopped in Port Laois for lunch. Friday night we spent in the town of Gort. Then on Saturday we went up to Galway but didn't stay long. We had lunch and then it rained so we headed back down along the coast to Doolin. We stayed at the coolest hostel on the river Aille. Saturday we went out for some music which is what Doolin is known for. Sunday we took the ferry over to the smallest of the Aran Islands, Inis Oirr. It was quite possibly the most beautiful day since I'd been here. Spent Sunday night again in Doolin. Then on monday we visited the Cliffs of Moher and the drove back to Dublin via Waterford and Wexford. Well they say a picture says a thousand words so....
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| Trip to West Coast with Joanne |
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Christchurch & St. Patrick's Cathedral & Riverdance
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!
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!
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. :)
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