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
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