A Quiet Week

Happy Weekend friends and family!

Ok, well it is my weekend, I know it's only Thursday but I hope you have a happy Friday tomorrow!

Not too much has happened this week but I'll give you a little update!

If I recall correctly I last posted on Thursday. I woke up very early, before 7:00am, to go to Immigration to register as a student. Our whole group went together and we had to wait until 9:00 to even get in the line to get a number to wait in the next line. It's a new rule they have for students studying here, and these rules change all the time so it was anyone's guess what it would be. At 9:00 we all got up and joined the already really long line. Got a number, mine was 123 and sat down to wait for a booth to be open to speak to an immigration officer. When I sat down is was a little before 10:00 and they were at number 58. Clearly having a little time to kill Kate and I walked next door, got a Pringles snack pack, which they literally sell everywhere here, walked back and ate them. At this point we had made it all the way to number 74. Woo-hoo! Our group started with numbers around 88 and ended at 125.

When I was finally called I gave the man all my paperwork and he walked away for ten minutes. When he came back he said he had to call the department of education because I needed more paperwork to be able to work here. I reassured him all I was doing was going to school. He said that was great and handed me back all my information. Then when he was trying to scan my credit card the officer's wife called so he told me my credit card was invalid and that he needed a different card. In reality he just couldn't hold the card swipe still enough with one hand to get it to read. When all was said and done I had spent almost half an hour in the booth, on average everyone else spent less than 10.

While waiting for immigration to turn my passport and ID back over to me several of us sat and watched the news, read, colored and played cards games. Naturally, as my luck would have it I was the last person called pushing our stay at immigration to 1:00pm and thus nearly 5 hours in the lobby.

We were so thankful to get out of there we immediately stopped in a pub for a celebratory drink. Since it was such a lovely day we headed back to the apartments and sat on the porch listening to music and watching the sun set over the rooftops of Dublin.

The next morning, Claire, our head resident took us to a flee market hosted by a local pub in the back car park. There were several little booths selling jewelry, books, cds, clothes and baked goods. This is a picture of the cutest cupcakes they were selling:

Yep! Sesame Street cupcakes! There was also a Big Blue Bus where you could buy delicious pizzas and rent hookahs.

We sat outside enjoying the lovely weather, though it was a bit cold but I suppose it is January so I can't complain too much since it was probably nearly 30 degrees.

This is a picture of the gals, sitting around the heater, which is that giant pole on the side there.

Sunday was a quiet day, mostly homework and lounging. This week flew by quite quickly. This weekend is the traditional music festival in Dublin so hopefully we will be able to have a few pints and listen to some fantastic music. Aaron, my co-RA and myself have plans to visit Bray again this weekend with whoever would like to join us for the actual hike to Greystones, more lovely pictures to come!

Have a fantastic weekend. I am thinking of all of you often. Miss you lots!

Love,

Annie

Recent Adventures

This blog post is dedicated to my nana, Carol Boyle and my roommate Kate's nana, Vera Dubenetsky. Both of these amazing women passed away this week, but we love them very

much and will never forget how beautiful and stong they were.

It is now Thursday so I have had all of my classes twice. I'll tell you a little bit about them!

On Monday I have science in the morning with Stephen, who is also our program director. He actually makes learning science fun! I never knew that was possible!

After his class I have Northern Ireland history with Kelli, which is a very interesting class about the British and Scottish settlements here and the fight for the land that the Irish feel is rightfully theirs. But Kelli mentioned something that I think pertains to many different areas of the world as well. She said that the British, at this point, have been settled in Northern Ireland for longer than America has been an independent country, and it would not be fair to kick them out just because the Irish want to be an entirely independent country. Food for thought if you will.

On Tuesday I don't have class so I generally try to work on my blog but yesterday I had the opportunity to go the the National Museum of Ireland with the Early Irish History class (also taught by Kelli) where we looked at the stages of Irish history prior to the Viking settlements. In Ireland there are large areas of land that are just peat bogs, which today they burn for fuel and heat. But in ancient Ireland these were basically just dumps so when they are collecting the peat they often find jewerly, pottery, weapons and even bodies. In the museum they have a few of these bodies, which we have deemed bog bodies or the peat people. Their remains, due to the acids in bogs, are really well preserved. Most of them have few bones but their skin is so in tact you can see their hair, tattoos, even their nail and eyes. Yes it is a little gross, but at the same time incredibly interesting. I wish I had pictures to share, but no photography was allowed.

On Wednesday I have my science class again and later today we are going to a grave yard to look at the weathering of different types of rocks, marble, limestone, granite etc. and since the dates are already on them we can track the effects of Ireland's weather on these stones.

Later I have my Writing the City class where I get to go out in the city and write about the pastry shops, stores, restaurants, museums and the zoo! This is the first time they have offered the class so we are still working out the budgeting issues associated with going to all these places week after week.

On Thursday (my last day of school for the week!) I have my non-profit marketing class with Lucy Masterson, who is a firecracker, and completely enthralled by our Americanisms-for lack of a better word. We will be working with her and other official offices in Dublin this semester to better some aspect of Dublin's society. Last semester the students worked on a campaign to increase the participation of young people in primary elections (similar to America's "Rock the Vote"). The other group set up an initiative to recycle more and help prevent so much littering, not a problem we see often in the states but is still very prevalent here. Both groups presented to "higher ups" and had their plans set into action. It's cool to know that something we will be working on will have a lasting effect even after we leave.

After Lucy's class I have Modern Irish Social History with Anthony O'Halloran, who is actually currently co-writing a book with Chenga Ragaven, a professor at the University of Hartford and father of a high school friend of mine, Samara. Such a small world. In this class we are learning about the effects of past laws and rulers on modern Ireland as well as the participation and authority of the Catholic church and how it has lost much of that in the past 20 years or so. We will be taking a field trip in this class soon to Tipperary County to see a working farm! Last week we discussed how many of the pubs in the countryside of Ireland are closing and thus isolating many of the people who live out there since pubs are a central part of the society in Ireland. Interesting stuff I think!

Now for some pictures!

Over the weekend I was able to take two very cool trips.

On Saturday I went to St. Michan's church just across the Liffey from our apartments. St. Michan's is one of the oldest churches in Dublin, built originally in 1095 and then large portions were rebuilt in 1686.

Inside the sanctuary there is a beautiful stained glass window. It's huge and lets in lots of light.

At the back of the church is a huge, old organ. The church members raised money for it and had it installed in 1724. Legend has it that Handel played the organ in the church many years ago. It's huge!

Underneath the organ is something called the 'Organ Thropy' which has violins, flutes and harps (oh my) carved on it. It's stunning as there are no less than 17 instruments carved on it.

After looking around the church briefly we heard a voice coming from the back of the room that said, in a very creepy monotone voice, "who wants to see the mummies?" Well of course I wanted to see the mummies, as did almost everyone there. Our "tourguide" reminded me a lot of Lurch but was much shorter. He took us around the side of the church and led us down this:

No I am not joking, and yes we did go in! The stairs were a bit slippery and the walls were crumbling but it was certainly worth it.

When we made it down the stairs and into the crypt Kate and Emma noted how this reminded them of Thriller and naturally a short dance followed:

You can see the crypt in the background. This is one of the only portions of the church that is original and thus over 900 years old.

Warning: there are pictures of mummies below. They aren't gross though, I swear.

(mom I promise you won't be grossed out.)

As far as the mummies go, the one of the left is anonymous because it had decayed to beyond recognition. The middle mummy was a reformed criminal and the one on the right was a nun who was over 100 years old when she died. In the back is a 4th mummy, and he was a crusader, they know this because his legs were crossed when they buried him.

Much to our surprise we were allowed to TOUCH THE MUMMY! Normally this is something I would not be too keen on but, when in Dublin right? Don't worry, hundreds or thousands of people have done this before me and it's supposed to bring you good luck.

And just to prove I did go down in the crypt and did make it back out, here is me rejoining the world. Thankful to see the light of day again.

Hooray! I survived the mummies!

My second trip is not nearly as gruesome.

Katherine, Casey, Kate, Emma and myself all took a day trip to Bray with the intention of hiking the 4km to Greystones. We hoped on the DART around 11:00 am, which is a really inexpensive way to travel around the Dublin area and towns just outside the county.

Just for fun, here's a picture of the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit)

It took us about 30 minutes to ride to Bray, not a bad trip and the scenery was beautiful.

When we got to Bray we hoped off the train, took a right and headed straight to the beach. It was BEAUTIFUL to say the least and the first thing out of Emma's mouth was, "This place makes me less homesick!"

On our way down to the water we walked by this charming driveway, I couldn't resist showing you all a picture because it was so serene and right out of a movie--but in real life!

I don't know if it was the sunshine or the salty sweet air but Bray relaxed all the city stress right out of us all. Here is the rock beach we walked onto.

We found a jetty and decided to walk out on it and take a few pictures. Below are Katherine and Casey!

As you can see we had exceptionally beautiful weather for Ireland and temperatures were mildly warm, I even wore shorts!

We lounged around on the beach for a good long while and as it became apparent we weren't going to make the 4km trek to Greystones we decided to walk down the boardwalk at least and get some lunch.

Here is a picture of some of the beach front homes in Bray. I think I'd like one someday!

After lunch we wandered into the aquarium, but tickets were a bit pricey so we just looked at the little fishy exhibit in the lobby and played with some of the toys in the gift shop. They had this little lego scuba guy set up and I thought he was pretty cool. So did the 5-year old boys next to me.

They also decided that it was the starfish's birthday and sang to him. Happy Birthday to Starfish!

After our short trip to the aquarium we wandered back down the board walk and watched the sun set and I saw a few sailboats, like this one:

Out in the water enjoying the sunset.

I hope to make it back to Bray soon and actually make the walk to Greystones as I heard that it is also beautiful. But just getting out of the city was a nice change of pace for all of us.

That's about all from me this week. Tomorrow morning we go to the GNIB aka Immigration building and pay them lots of money to have them let us stay here. I hope you enjoy reading this and I will try to update it earlier next week.

Love you all lots and lots.

Smiling from Bray!

A little bit of everything

Hello Family and Friends,

So I told myself I was going to start a blog while I was in Dublin so everyone could see what I am up to. I've been here nearly a week and I feel like I should get started on it!

Today is Tuesday, which means I have no classes today! Hooray!

I flew out of Logan International Airport in Boston last Tuesday at 6:30 pm and arrived in Dublin just before 5:30 am. After going through customs, myself and 9 other students I am living and learning with found our bags and met Stephen, our program director/ science teacher. Stephen set us all up in taxis to get back to our apartments which are located on the south side of the River Liffey, which cuts Dublin into two halves. We live just around the corner from the Brazen Head, Dublin's oldest pub and Christ's Church, a major landmark.

My roommates in Dublin are all great girls I go to school with. Here's a picture of us on our first night. From left: Emma, Kate, Casey and Me!

The next morning we met with Claire, our head resident, who took us to breakfast and to a grocery store then downtown to set up our cellphones, provided by Champlain College so we don't get lost! We had the rest of the day to ourselves and were able to unpack.

We were invited to a dinner that evening to meet some of our teachers, though since the trains were not running due to inclimate weather not everyone could make it. All of them are professionals in their fields and work in addition to teaching. Most of them live within an hour of the city!

Later in the night was a fellow student's birthday so we found a local pub near our house and took her out for a few drinks. There was a great band playing and the bartender seemed entertained by us all.

On day 2.5 we met up with Stephen again and Lilly, who does far too many things to list here but she orders things we need or want like desks and yoga mats. She picks up our mail and makes us breakfast sometimes. She also does a lot of planning for field trips that are required by our classes and helps us find the best deals on flights or train tickets, even where to rent bikes and the best places for picnics. Really, she does everything.

We spent most of day 2.5 going over policies and asking tons of questions and getting lots of helpful information. As one of the two Resident Assistants in Dublin we were also given some information about when we would be expected to be available and at the academic center.

After our session with Stephen and Lilly we got to take a walking tour of historic Dublin, which we actually live right in the middle of! Our tour guide was a cute Irishman named Patrick, who showed us the old city wall and how the streets we walk on now used to be a moat! He also explained that Lord Iveagh, a member of the Guinness family, was very philanthropic and helped to build the neighborhood after it was destroyed.

Here is a picture of him carved onto the outside of the fish and clothing market:

Patrick also had Katherine volunteer to pronounce the Gaelic street names, she got a few right but we all got a laugh out of it!

Here they are together:

Then Patrick took us inside the old city wall to Dublin Castle, which is beautiful and old and rich with history. He told us about the Queen's quarters and the plays they used to put on for her there. He also showed us where the soldiers slept and where they put the enemies heads on stakes to warn everyone. Lovely. Patrick also told us how Dublin got its name. By the coach house at Dublin Castle there used to be a great pool of water that after being filled with, let's call it "stuff", scraps of food, dead animals etc became black. In Gaelic 'black pool' is "Dubh Linn" and that is how the city, and this blog, came to be named.

This is a picture of the chapel at Dublin Castle:

That evening several of us went to the Brazen Head with Claire for a pint and met a few new friends who showed us a great dance club called Copper's Face Jacks. We danced and sang and laughed and met even more new people and lost track of time until the club closed at 3am!

We were up the next morning to go to Howth, which is not quite an island, just off the coast of Dublin to the north a bit. But Dublin had just experienced more snowfall than it had seen in almost 40 years (a whopping 2 inches!) Stephen felt that taking a group of students to an island of cliffs that were now covered in ice was probably not the safest idea.

So instead we went here:

To the Guinness Brewery at St. James' Gate not a far walk from our house.

The tour is self guided so we were able to take our time wandering up the 6 floors through the tasting lab, where you are taught to probably experience Guinness. The building itself is shaped like a pint glass through the center, starting with the smallest floor on the bottom and gradually building up.

This is a picture of me on the first floor learning about hops and how it grows:

The second and third floors explain the brewing and fermentation processes while the fourth explains how and where it travels. The fifth floor is dedicated to the history of Guinness advertising and the sixth floor has a small restaurant and an area where you can leave a message for people to read and read messages others have left. On one wall there is a giant quote that says: "Home is not where you live, but where they understand you."

After the 6th floor you ascend one final staircase to the Gravity Bar where you can enjoy a 360 degree view of Dublin, the mountains outside the city, Howth and even a small bird sanctuary I am dying to visit! Stephen pointed out everything he could to show us and the bar mistress was shocked that we had just come from a place (Burlington) where there were 30+ inches of snow!

Here is Stephen, Lily and myself enjoying our pints of Guinness right from the brewery, which is honestly the only time I have really enjoyed it:

After all of this adventuring we were so exhausted and finally able to rest on Sunday, but we managed to get up anyways and go shopping downtown where they have some great deals on Henry Street. Sunday night we relaxed and had a small dinner before turning in early for classes on Monday (I'm serious).

Monday was the beginning of classes for me and I got to meet my Northern Ireland history teacher. A woman named Kelliann Nic Maoileoin. But we just call her Kelli (thankfully). She is from Cork, and has been an archeologist for 30 years. The class is almost 3 hours long but we spent the last 40 minutes taking notes on the best and worst pubs in Dublin. I think I'm really going to enjoy this class!

So, as you can see, Dublin has been quite a whirlwind so far but I love everything I see and can't wait to venture outside the city either for class or for pleasure.

My roommate Emma and I are discussing going to the Dublin Zoo this weekend and a friend of ours is taking the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) to a place just north of the city to buy a guitar so I may join on for that day trip as well.

More to come, love you all!

Cheers!

Annie