I have had a busy little weekend and am ready to share with the public all I've learned. Classes for the most part have been pretty standard; we tend to get out of History class about 45 minutes early because our professor is either incredibly bored or his smoking habit is worse than I thought... The Sociology professor is a bit pretentious and makes huge, controversial claims, such as how he doesn't believe in postmodernism, without backing them up. Of course I love the literature class, (we're beginning with Yeats!)
Thursday evening I went for Indian food with my friend Sarah. The food was really good, (I've never had Indian before!) My dish was a tomato sauce with mushrooms and some vegetables (I love mushrooms) and I mixed it with rice. We also got naan that was delicious and there were three dipping sauces: a mint flavor, an onion flavor, and mango. All three were interesting flavors!
After dinner, we went to The Grand Social to meet up with a boy I met last Saturday. The pub/venue has great decorations and hosts events almost nightly. There were big couches with old wooden tables and we hung out there until some more friends came to meet up with us, and then we moved on to a bar called Speakeasy which was also really nice. At one point, the word 'biddie' was used and our Irish friend informed me that to Irish people, 'biddie' doesn't refer to a silly sorority type, but an old woman! We went to one other place, I don't remember then name, but I was falling asleep so I went home with a couple of other girls.
Sarah and I have discovered the area where we had dinner is like the Brooklyn of Dublin and there are so many cool places left to try over there, but we're making good progress already.
Friday we had a field trip to Glendalough for Sociology class and even though the day was quite rainy, I had a wonderful time. Glendalough is the site of an ancient monastery started by St. Kevin and the ruins are still wonderfully intact. We saw the tower and a few other buildings, then started on a hike up the mountain. Our professor had described the trail as a wike (a mix between a walk and a hike) but let me tell you, those inclines were Steep!! My legs are a bit sore, sadly. The view from the top of the mountain made everything worth it, however (even the wet, cold, bus ride back).
That evening, I went with Sarah and my roommate Adrienne in search of Irish Coffees in Dublin. After being told no at two pubs, we settled for a restaurant Crackbird to postphone the coffee and grab a snack. Crackbird was awesome! Our waiter was friendly, good-looking, and sat down to chat for a few minutes with us. Adrienne and I shared Jalepeno cream cheese with bread crisps and Sarah got a salad. The restaurant has an interesting story because it's a pop-up. The location changes every 3 months and it's currently in an old Chinese restaurant, so the decorations were all oriental.
Saturday, I went to a Creative Writing Workshop and had an incredible experience. There were about 15 other people and we wrote for a half hour and then shared our writing. The prompt was "Eye." Because of a dream I had had the night before, the time I spent writing was really fruitful and I'm sad that the next few Saturdays I won't be able to return! After the workshop was over, I got coffee with my friend Arielle who was also downtown and then we headed back to campus.
We came back out to Dublin Saturday night and went to a couple of pubs. Maybe the writing had got to me, but I wasn't in the mood to mingle Saturday night so I followed my friends around but didn't really connect.
Yesterday, I went to the Charles Beatty Library, which is really a museum of incredible manuscripts, art, and artifacts that Charles Beatty owned and donated to Dublin. He even has portions of the dead sea scrolls! The trip was astonishing--sorry, but no cameras were allowed! We followed the library with crepes from a restaurant called Lemon, and man were they good!
I've begun reading The Hunger Games, because a lot of my friends here are obsessed, and it's been hard to put down!
This afternoon we have a History field trip to Glasnevin to see a cemetary, so hopefully the rain holds off!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Recollections of the Pub Crawl
Yesterday was fantastic. We began the day heading down to the cellphone shop and I got an amazing deal on a gem of a phone for 25 euro. "Super Jewel Quest" is the most fun game I've played on any phone and I'm on level 11. After that we grabbed some baguettes that were on sale at a deli and headed to Trinity College for the Walking Tour.
The Walking Tour was interesting and informative, led by our guide, Derek. We saw a lot of famous statues and places with a lot of great trivia. Dublin has a weird sense of humor, but I love how the Irish don't take themselves too seriously.
At the end of the tour, we went to a pub, I think it was called Stag's Head, and the two tour guides told us stories in the traditional Irish manner. We heard about faeries, which can be anyone, they're just characterized by ill manners and bad behavior. After the stories, there was a bit of Irish music, Derek sang Molly Malone and the woman tour guide played her fiddle. Then we had some time for dinner. My friends and I crossed the street and found a cheap Mediterranean restaurant that served felafel. I'm obsessed.
After dinner we headed back to Stag's Head for the pub crawl, which was actually kind of overrated. We had to fit all 50 of us into a few bars, which was quite a challenge at first. Also, Caroline had raved about what a good deal it was (which the tour and story-telling actually were) but the free Guinness was fun-sized and I didn't want to spend any more money. Overall, it was a fun night because we were able to meet some Irish people at a couple of the bars, but pub crawls might definitely be overrated.
Sunday was uneventful but I got a lovely tour of the city when I decided to find the post office and consequently got lost for a while.
Yesterday, we had our first day of class and our history teacher lectures like he's more bored than I am, so that will be interesting. I'm also beginning to realize how hard grocery shopping and cooking is here--Mom, I understand your struggles.
The Walking Tour was interesting and informative, led by our guide, Derek. We saw a lot of famous statues and places with a lot of great trivia. Dublin has a weird sense of humor, but I love how the Irish don't take themselves too seriously.
At the end of the tour, we went to a pub, I think it was called Stag's Head, and the two tour guides told us stories in the traditional Irish manner. We heard about faeries, which can be anyone, they're just characterized by ill manners and bad behavior. After the stories, there was a bit of Irish music, Derek sang Molly Malone and the woman tour guide played her fiddle. Then we had some time for dinner. My friends and I crossed the street and found a cheap Mediterranean restaurant that served felafel. I'm obsessed.
After dinner we headed back to Stag's Head for the pub crawl, which was actually kind of overrated. We had to fit all 50 of us into a few bars, which was quite a challenge at first. Also, Caroline had raved about what a good deal it was (which the tour and story-telling actually were) but the free Guinness was fun-sized and I didn't want to spend any more money. Overall, it was a fun night because we were able to meet some Irish people at a couple of the bars, but pub crawls might definitely be overrated.
Sunday was uneventful but I got a lovely tour of the city when I decided to find the post office and consequently got lost for a while.
Yesterday, we had our first day of class and our history teacher lectures like he's more bored than I am, so that will be interesting. I'm also beginning to realize how hard grocery shopping and cooking is here--Mom, I understand your struggles.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The First Real Night Out
Thursday we had a scavenger hunt in the city--surprisingly, the hardest place to find was the building we met up at for the scavenger hunt. Our administrator, Mary, told us what bus stop to get off at, but once we got there, The Irish Writer's Center was a bit tricky to find, especially because some Irish boys were teasing us with wrong locations. (I asked them where it was and they tried to persuade us to come inside the building they were going into!) Half the group gave up trying to find the location and spent the afternoon at the pub. The actual scavengering, however, was great fun and we were put into groups, which forced everyone to branch out a bit. We covered most of the city and learned a lot not only about navigating, but about statues and monuments throughout Dublin.
In the evening, we checked out a pub across the street from the campus. The place was lovely but the only attendees were our parents' age! Which actually was useful because we were able to ask them embarrassing questions, such as "what is the tipping custom in Dublin?"
Yesterday, Friday, we were in orientation all day, and even though the presentations made everyone nod off, the teachers allow us to be bad participants for now, blaming everything on Jet Lag. After we collected our books, a few of us went grocery shopping. If you care to know, I'll be living off pb & j and pasta all semester. For dinner, we cooked a big pasta dinner and broccoli, and dined in style.
After dinner, one of the girls in the program told us about a Mexican pub that would be giving out free sombreros, so like any good American, we rode the bus into Dublin to check that out. On the bus ride, some lovely lads invited us to a club called "War" that paints war stripes on everyone's faces. Tempting, but we were on a mission and one of the lads was only 17.
The pub apparently operates really underground or doesn't exist. We settled for a bar that had no cover charge. After only a few minutes of talking amongst ourselves, we met some Irish boys (you knew it would happen). We spent the evening talking to them, repeating our names and where we're from and convincing them that DCU is not a bad college. They were fun (bought us beer) and I've got a phone number from Greg on a slip of paper.
Tonight, one of the former teachers in the program will be taking us on a walking tour of the city, followed by story-telling and our first pub crawl, so look forward to my updates!
In the evening, we checked out a pub across the street from the campus. The place was lovely but the only attendees were our parents' age! Which actually was useful because we were able to ask them embarrassing questions, such as "what is the tipping custom in Dublin?"
Yesterday, Friday, we were in orientation all day, and even though the presentations made everyone nod off, the teachers allow us to be bad participants for now, blaming everything on Jet Lag. After we collected our books, a few of us went grocery shopping. If you care to know, I'll be living off pb & j and pasta all semester. For dinner, we cooked a big pasta dinner and broccoli, and dined in style.
After dinner, one of the girls in the program told us about a Mexican pub that would be giving out free sombreros, so like any good American, we rode the bus into Dublin to check that out. On the bus ride, some lovely lads invited us to a club called "War" that paints war stripes on everyone's faces. Tempting, but we were on a mission and one of the lads was only 17.
The pub apparently operates really underground or doesn't exist. We settled for a bar that had no cover charge. After only a few minutes of talking amongst ourselves, we met some Irish boys (you knew it would happen). We spent the evening talking to them, repeating our names and where we're from and convincing them that DCU is not a bad college. They were fun (bought us beer) and I've got a phone number from Greg on a slip of paper.
Tonight, one of the former teachers in the program will be taking us on a walking tour of the city, followed by story-telling and our first pub crawl, so look forward to my updates!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Night One In Dublin
Keep in mind, when we arrived to Dublin, most of us had been awake since Tuesday morning (it was now Wednesday). Tired, we sat in the airport, waiting for the group flight to arrive. The lovely cafe gave free tap water, which was a relief because there were no water fountains! We conversed, mostly small talk, and played some Trivial Pursuit trivia cards. As time (hours) went on, students from the program trickled in slowly, until we were a group of about ten or twelve. The flight had been delayed and we had arrived to Dublin an hour early (the Captain said it was because the wind pushed the plane in the right direction and we shaved off 55 minutes!). After a grueling four hours in the airport, we finally met up with the group flight and began the long (it felt like an eternity) journey to Dublin City University.
Fast Forward through the boring stuff--move-in, orientation, awkward ice breakers. By lunch time, everyone (especially me) was starving. I went to the GSU-like cafeteria with some of my new friends, including my roommate, her name is Adrienne, and we got pizza. Here's where I learned something: America has got pizza down and Dublin needs to try harder. The pizza wasn't bad, but definitely nothing to write home about (haha). Did I mention I am currently drinking instant coffee? Eh.
Anyways, after lunch we hit up a grocery store across the street from the campus, got some apples, scoped out the different brands, and then we got on a bus to Dublin! The buses are double decker, so they hold a lot more people than Boston buses, however, the stop names aren't listed anywhere and the screen that tells you the bus is stopping does not tell you what stop you're at. After getting some help from a lovely girl who happens to be a student at DCU and kept rejecting my dinner invitations, we got off at O'Connell Street (where our BU ambassador, Mary McCloskey, advised we go).
We found a pub that served food and sat down. Oddly, no one came to take our order. We figured out that you had to go up to the bar, order, and they bring it to the table. I got breaded garlic mushrooms which were good, but they were served with mayonnaise, not ranch dressing or bleu cheese. We realized that everyone in the bar was a senior citizen, after a little while, so we decided to try and find Temple Bar, which is not only a bar (is it even a bar) but an area with a lot of little pubs. Mind you, it was still extremely too early to be bar-hopping (between 5 and 6 o'clock but we were thinking in American time zones and all really tired).
After asking for directions, we made it to Temple Bar and found a pub with some live music! The music was fun but only lasted for about 10 minutes once we sat down. I had my first Guinness, and surprisingly, I kind of liked it. The flavor reminds me of dark chocolate or cocoa--it's really different from American beer. Anyways, we scoped out a few other bars because it was so early, but eventually started to head home around 8:30 because we were exhausted and had fully experienced the city (enough for the first night). On the way home, we stopped at a McDonald's-like place, but smaller, and I don't know what they think a hot dog is, but my friend Hannah most certainly did not receive a hotdog. I got a chicken burger, which was a piece of deep-fried chicken (I know, mom) with mayonnaise and lettuce in a bun. It might have been delicious, I might have been delusional.
This morning we have more orientation at 11 and then a scavenger hunt in the city (lucky for me, my group of friends has a leg-up on the competition for our travels last night!)
Still adjusting,
Leanne
Fast Forward through the boring stuff--move-in, orientation, awkward ice breakers. By lunch time, everyone (especially me) was starving. I went to the GSU-like cafeteria with some of my new friends, including my roommate, her name is Adrienne, and we got pizza. Here's where I learned something: America has got pizza down and Dublin needs to try harder. The pizza wasn't bad, but definitely nothing to write home about (haha). Did I mention I am currently drinking instant coffee? Eh.
Anyways, after lunch we hit up a grocery store across the street from the campus, got some apples, scoped out the different brands, and then we got on a bus to Dublin! The buses are double decker, so they hold a lot more people than Boston buses, however, the stop names aren't listed anywhere and the screen that tells you the bus is stopping does not tell you what stop you're at. After getting some help from a lovely girl who happens to be a student at DCU and kept rejecting my dinner invitations, we got off at O'Connell Street (where our BU ambassador, Mary McCloskey, advised we go).
We found a pub that served food and sat down. Oddly, no one came to take our order. We figured out that you had to go up to the bar, order, and they bring it to the table. I got breaded garlic mushrooms which were good, but they were served with mayonnaise, not ranch dressing or bleu cheese. We realized that everyone in the bar was a senior citizen, after a little while, so we decided to try and find Temple Bar, which is not only a bar (is it even a bar) but an area with a lot of little pubs. Mind you, it was still extremely too early to be bar-hopping (between 5 and 6 o'clock but we were thinking in American time zones and all really tired).
After asking for directions, we made it to Temple Bar and found a pub with some live music! The music was fun but only lasted for about 10 minutes once we sat down. I had my first Guinness, and surprisingly, I kind of liked it. The flavor reminds me of dark chocolate or cocoa--it's really different from American beer. Anyways, we scoped out a few other bars because it was so early, but eventually started to head home around 8:30 because we were exhausted and had fully experienced the city (enough for the first night). On the way home, we stopped at a McDonald's-like place, but smaller, and I don't know what they think a hot dog is, but my friend Hannah most certainly did not receive a hotdog. I got a chicken burger, which was a piece of deep-fried chicken (I know, mom) with mayonnaise and lettuce in a bun. It might have been delicious, I might have been delusional.
This morning we have more orientation at 11 and then a scavenger hunt in the city (lucky for me, my group of friends has a leg-up on the competition for our travels last night!)
Still adjusting,
Leanne
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