Family Dinner and Boxing?

Tonight was Brian's night to make family dinner. I went to the gym at 5:30, when he was writing on the group wall that he wanted a walking buddy to the store. Let's just say I didn't actually expect dinner tonight, but none of us did. He completely impressed himself by making us chicken parmesan. Let me clarify- I wouldn't want you to be confused. It was the frozen chicken strips, with ready made pasta sauce and spaghetti. He also picked up some garlic bread on the side. For him, we were all incredibly impressed. We laughed, because if it were anyone else's dinner, we would've ripped them apart. We stayed for a while, then I went back to my room when Brian called, and said that there was a boxing match in the student union. Why not go? It was actually very cool, a DCU boxing club tournament against other schools that apparently happens once a year. The cage and lighting was impressive, and although I'm not a boxing fan by any stretch of the imagination, the atmosphere was still cool and fun. I sent a Snapchat to Tom and Ryan Wollert, because I knew they'd be proud of me for going.

Reevaluating Life

I was with Kelsey and Gillian during the day, and they mentioned something about going to a workout class. I thought, well I've never done one of those, and it's part of my membership so I may as well! I planned on going to Spin Class with them, but when I was in my room grabbing a snack before (bananas, not cookies!) I talked to Eoin and he was also going, so I went with him. Wow. Additionally, there were some pretty girls in there, so neither of us minded that. I think part of me actually died in there, beyond the feeling in my legs. I think I sweated out everything that I've eaten in the past two months, which was disgusting but kind of nice at the same time. So much for the pretty girls, huh? Figures. I left, and thought, who would've thought that it would take a trip to Ireland to get me to go to workout class? The next couple of days were completely miserable, including agony to bend down, which Sean thought was hilarious. At the same time, it was kind of nice. I went again to spin class tonight, and quickly realized that I needed to be in better shape than I am. When I talked to another one of my roommates, Chris, he asked what I was doing tonight. I replied with only two words, "reevaluating life".

A Confession...

I'm trying to be very quiet this week, as I know I'm leaving for London on Thursday. I had some time to kill, and I didn't want to use a bus pass to wander the city, so I went to the library. Then I thought wow, I can't even remember the last time I was in a library for fun! I spent a long time in the accounting section, looking for anything. After a while of searching, I found one, called "How Companies Lie, A Guide to Accounting Trickery and Financial Misrepresentation". I got really excited to read it. Then I stopped and realized that I was really excited to read an accounting book. What happened to me? I started reading and got hooked. At the end of every chapter I told myself I'd stop and go do something social, but I couldn't stop reading it. I was 70 pages into it before I knew it, and it's not exactly a light read, so I was impressed. Did I really deep down miss school work, and not know it? Wow. I ended the night watching an hour and a half documentary film on the collapse of Enron. Maybe this was the right career choice, because I loved every second of it. I'm actually struggling to write this, because my book is on the windowsill in front of me. The worst part is that I know how bad all of this sounds, but this is how I spent my free time, and I liked it. I realized that if I hadn't studied abroad, I never would've had the time to do something like this. I just became that much more appreciative of this opportunity: time.

Siena College Takes Over Dublin

This weekend, we decided to have a Siena College reunion for some of the kids that were currently studying abroad in other places. Luckily for me, they chose to all meet up in Dublin. So, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights we assembled at DCU, and our normal group, plus 14 other Siena study abroad students all went out in Dublin. We also had Sean and his friend Addison come over to DCU and stay with us for the weekend, so it was quite the group. DiFranco was in from Italy, with his new girlfriend, so we laughed a lot at his expense. They brought McDonalds with them on Saturday, and I got a cheeseburger so I wasn't about to say anything! On Friday, we went to Farrington's Pub, and from there headed across the street to Fitzsimmons in Temple Bar. DiFranco took a Snapchat with his phone, which was really funny. On Saturday I laid low with Sean, Addison, Brian and John while the other Siena people explored the sites that we'd seen a couple of times. We played Wii and watched Shrek, and bought a box of brownies of course. On Saturday night, they came back to DCU to play a couple of games and then head out. Christine tried to teach everyone a game with hand gestures and cups, but nobody could get it, so we gave up and moved on. We went to O'Reilley's again, then headed over to Fitzsimmons. I was texting Kelsey at 12:58, and then when I looked back at my phone it was 2:03. It only felt like a couple of minutes, and I knew she would be mad! Thinking I had actually lost my mind, I suddenly remembered the time change. I wasn't crazy (well, not for that at least)! We all met up at McDonalds later, and squeezed into a cab to head back to DCU. When we got back, we agreed that an immediate family dinner was necessary, so we feasted. We had breaded chicken, spaghetti, and Kelsey brought over a couple of boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese. It was perfect.

Couple O' Day in Galway!

We ate breakfast at the hotel for one last time, then headed to Galway. We drove through a place called Connemara, which was a huge valley formed between mountains on each side, with various lakes and parks. It was completely undeveloped and absolutely incredible. At one point, we passed a large lake, and the guide informed us that the German U-Boats used to hide down there because it was a strategic point, and deep enough. That was surprising, because in all honesty it wasn't that wide and it seemed so improbable. It was absolutely breathtaking. I was slightly annoyed because the fog was upon us again, until I said something to the girl next to me. She laughed, and said, it's Ireland, it's not about seeing everything you can possibly see, it's about noticing how beautiful what you can see is. Well, what do I say to that? She was right, I need to start being more appreciative of what I can see instead of trying to see everything, even metaphorically. For some reason, this one just stuck with me, pretty powerful stuff.

We arrived in Galway around lunch time, and were set free,

so we headed directly to our hostel to unload our heavy bags. The hostel was very cool, and apparently one of the best in Ireland so I set the standard too high for expectations. They had a pool table, TV's, a large kitchen for everyone to share, breakfast provided in the morning, and a movie room with a vast collection of movies. The living room was open until 5 am, and we were encouraged to come back after going out to meet some of the other guests. Kelsey, Brian, John, and I shared a room packed with 4 bunk beds, but a decent view out the window, so I wasn't complaining. Plus, the hostel was right in the middle of all the action in Galway, so it couldn't have been any more perfect. We set out for lunch, and found a pub with a great lunch special so we were sold. There was a slight chill in the air, but our table was in front of a crackling fireplace. Ideal. We got a coke, "chips", and a sandwich as part of the deal, so I ordered a chicken and basil pesto sandwich on ciabatta bread, and loved life. After we finished eating, We headed down to the Galway City Museum where they had a huge wooden sailboat suspended from the ceiling taking up all 4 stories. From there, we had a cool view of the river and the Spanish Arch. When we left there, we went to the Galway Cathedral and couldn't have timed it better.

When we walked in a vocalist was playing the harp, and the sound of it was echoing through the massive structure, and this only improved when she started singing. I went in and lit a candle in the front of the alter for my grandparents, and Jim, as well as my family back home. It was one of those striking moments. I wasn't the only one it hit, and we all sat down and just listened for at least 20 minutes to this women singing without saying a word. Remarkable, especially for our group! When we left, we saw another church, but after our first cathedral, this did nothing to stack up and we left as soon as we entered. We left around dinner time, and decided to save money by instead buying frozen pizzas to cook at the hostel rather than going out to eat. We bought a couple bottles of wine as well, but didn't realize a corkscrew was a necessity. We laughed a lot, but eventually a french man got so frustrated watching us that he came over, took a knife and the bottles from us, and used the knife to pull the cork out so flawlessly. He   looked at us and the wine, and said "This is not good, you know right?". Well, there went our attempt to be classy. Now I was looking forward to it! We met a group of South Korean kids staying at the hostel, and talked to them for a while. They gave us some "happy water" that they had. It wasn't happy, or fun, or anything I will ever take a sip of again. We later headed out to a cool old pub with a large music stage and a live band playing cover songs of everything we knew. There were a bunch of other kids from our program there too, so that was even more fun to see everyone out. We arrived back at the hostel later, and I met a couple of guys from Dublin in the living room, and we talked for a while before I was too tired and crashed.

The morning I woke up at 9:59, and breakfast was complimentary until 10. I don't think I've ever ran that fast in my life, but I made it and that's what counts. I got a little bit of everything, with a huge smile on my face! I was the only one who made it, so I went back and lounged with them in the room until housekeeping came to kick us out. We walked through Galway, and stopped at a massive open market where they picked up breakfast. I bought a couple of pizza bagels for a euro, and they were well worth it! This market had everything, from sweaters, to produce, to woodcrafts and meats and cheeses. We had to catch the bus back in the afternoon, and we had checked out of the hostel, so we went to the McDonalds and ordered Shamrock Shakes so that we could set everything down and relax for a couple of minutes. We caught the bus out of Galway, and like that my Western Ireland excursion was over. Hopefully I will make it back someday, and Galway will be at the top of my to-do list!

PS While I was awake for the ride to Galway the entire time, this is what Brian had to deal with:

Crough Patrick, Famine Village, Aran Islands: Western Ireland Adventure

The days are getting better and better, but I’m not sure how. I don’t think I’ve ever had a day like this. We left for hotel breakfast at 8:30, and we ate everything we could grab on the counter. Then they brought out “hot breakfast” for us…oops. Hot breakfast consisted of a large slab of bacon, a fried egg, a sausage, and two mystery patties which I believe were sausage of some sort, despite looking like hockey pucks. We boarded the bus and traveled to Crough Patrick Mountain, a Christian holy site,

where every April people hike barefoot to the top to honor where the Devil tempted Saint Patrick on his lenten fast, and Saint Patrick resisted. At the foot of the mountain was the sea, riddled with around 350 islands. I was impressed, as with shoes on we struggled to make it up the first portion of it. As we hiked up, the sheep navigated the rugged terrain around us. We stopped at one point, and admired the 180 degree panaramic view of the sea. It was incredible (sorry, I know I use that word often, but nothing else captures it!). We learned more about Saint Patrick on the climb, and took pictures and stayed for a couple of minutes on the mountain.

We climbed back down to talk for a minute about the famine monument constructed at the foot of the mountain, which was a “coffin ship” because it would not be sea worthy and likely never make it to its destination. We further discussed “American wakes”, where families would hold funerals for those fleeing to America, beceause they would never be seen again. This is a strange thought for me, because I had a hard enough time leaving my family to come here, and I knew that in four months time I would be right back with them. I can’t imagine what they went through.


Afterwards, we did the Atlantic Costal Drive on the Aran Islands. There are no words for the
scenery, no possible descriptions. The pictures I have do not begin to do justice for the coast line, cliffs, narrow roads, and raw nature that I experienced there. We stood along the edge at a few stops, on one of the most blue and sunny days of the trip so far. The feeling of peace and serenity was overwhelming, listening to the waves crash on the cliffs and shoreline hundreds of feet below as the sheep wandered by. I wanted to stay forever.



When we left, we headed to the deserted famine village at the foot of the coast. We passed numerous famine houses, which people have simply built around or into their gardens so as not to disturb anything. We arrived at the foot of the a hill, littered with tiny stone buildings, and climbed to the edge of what looked like ancient ruins, standing near the center of the town. We all stood around as our group leader read a passage describing the area, as well as a couple of striking poems written about the struggle. With the sea in the background, a line of graves in the foreground, and a line of crumbled stone buildings in front of you, it was a remarkable moment, one that makes you appreciate everything you have. Picture below.

We left the town, and headed into a little coastal area for lunch. We ate at a local pub with a roaring fire, vegetable soup and sandwiches. On the way back, most people slept on the bus, but I won’t let

myself. I can sleep at home, experiences like these only come once in a lifetime. We arrived back at the hotel with some time to wander the town, which we took advantage of. Tonight's meal consisted of a vegetable soup appetizer followed by stuffed garlic chicken breast over mashed potatoes and a triple fudge chocolate cake dessert followed with tea. And yes, it was good enough for me to write all of that out! Everyone was tired from traveling all day, so we relaxed in my room.

I realized though, I would only be in Westport, Ireland once in my life, and left alone to walk around the city and enjoy some peace and quiet, which made me really excited for some reason. I ended up sitting on a bench down next to the river for a long time, enjoying looking at the buildings and watching the river flow and thinking about my life. I suddenly really missed my parents and grandparents, but then I realized my grandparents were right here with me, seeing everything that I saw. It was perfect. After a while, I went back to the room and crashed immediately, I was exhausted! 

A Plantation Mansion and First Perspective Stories from a Small House: Western Ireland Adventures

Today was another one of those days that makes me realize this one of the greatest chances I’ve ever taken. It was full of rich cultural experiences, starting with an old English mansion and plantation. The plantation was incredible, exactly as it was years before, and described the weatlh lifestyle, and the celebrities in the family that would have lived there. It also detailed the style, where the outside was made to look bigger than nit actually was. The kitchen had a wrap around balcony so the woman of the home could control what was going on in the kitchen and send down orders to the workers. The place had been renovated, and the old walls were removed to demonstrate a room exactly as it had been including stoves and pots behind the modernized shrunken portion to suit the age of the owner. The dining room was incredible, 10 person table, fireplaces, leading into various other rooms. Only the rooms accessible to the “gentry” were done up well and made to look bigger than they actually were. The men women and children all slept in different rooms in fear of robbers or protests against their wealth, and the man of the home usually slept with a large dog.

Following with a tour of a small house, where we all gathered in one of the three tiny rooms where 9 people lived, during this man’s life who was about 60 years old. He told of life in the home growing up, without electricity until the 60’s and his perspective on the greed and wealth influx of the Celtic Tiger, along with the process that would have ensued to get to school. He stopped schooling at 13 to work the fields and help support his family. He was outraged by water usage, and described making one bath pan of hot water last for all 9 family members, and described how six children would share 2 beds, but the sense of community was extreme, and everyone bonded. He described how government shaped architecture, through taxation systems, and how we could date homes as a result of this. In earlier times, it was based on the fireplace, so people began to build homes with open fire pits in the middle of the home to avoid the tax. After they caught on, the policy was changed to a "light tax", based on the size of windows and doors, which caused the advent of the half door! His dad was a migrant worker to england, and we later enjoyed tea before traveling through the museum.

We ended at the hotel where we had an incredible three course dinner at the 4.5 star restaurant in the hotel, wandered around the city and then watched Marley and Me on the way to bed. I got a cesare salad with bacon, chicken carbonara, and raspberry cheesecake, chocolate brownie fudge cake, and a miniature apple tart. The waiter thought my tea was coffee, and took it away to bring a new coffee. I was slightly annoyed, but we laughed about cultural misunderstandings with one of our group leaders. Eventually, I headed back to the hotel, where I hung out with everyone and then crashed after a long conversation with John. 

PADDY'S DAY- DUBLIN STYLE: Great Craic!

What an experience! I was in the mecca! We woke up at 8 andstarted getting ready for the festival. The parade was at noon, so there was a lot to do in a short period of time. We returned to Julia's for breakfast. Joanna, Ann and Maddie had all left and we were down to the original five of us again. I'd talked to Sean, and we figured that we'd meet by the statue on O'Connell, which was great in theory. John purposely slept in, so he missed all of our morning activities. When we got to O'Connell street, it took us an hour and a half to walk down to where we wanted to meet, and visibility was relatively poor. People started to scream at each other trying to walk by, it was shoulder to shoulder unmoving angry people. We quickly decided it wasn't the scene for us, so we headed down to temple bar, where everyone was hanging out. We found Sean and his friends from Maynooth down there, and that's where John met up with us as well. It was sunny and warm, so everyone was just hanging around in the streets talking with live music all around. We stayed for a couple of hours. We had to fight our way into the grocery store for snacks, there were literally guards there pushing one or two people out and pulling one or two in because it was that popular, although most people were heading straight for the alcohol section to drink in the streets. Now I understood why my roommate said that all of the Irish people fled Dublin for the holiday! I laughed pretty hard because I walked by tourists who said "the temple bar area is the oldest in all of Ireland"... I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I hope I never sounded that ignorant during my first month, but I'm sure I did! Eventually we made our way to O'Reilley's again and stayed there for most of the night after struggling to get in because so many people were in town. We were thrilled when we snagged a booth to sit in. After all day I was getting hungry and everyone wanted to go get food, but I wasn't really feeling like paying for anything else, so I headed out to school to eat, then came back down to the city after. Dublin, Ireland for Paddy's Day? Check.

Another Visitor! And Paddy's Weekend Fun...

So I dropped Megan off at the bus stop on Sunday morning. On Monday morning, I found myself back at that same airport, picking up a friend of John and mine, Joanna. Spring break for Siena started their spring break on March 8th, and continued through the 16th, and one week before break she had been looking up flights and found roundtrip for $400 and booked them on the spot!

On the first night she was here, we went down and wandered Grafton Street again. This time we caught a band playing in the street that was absolutely incredible. We ended up staying for at least 4 of their songs, entranced. The band was called KeyWest, and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't make it big somewhere someday! I caught them a couple of times later in the week, and every time I would get drawn back in before I'd realize it was the same band again. A video that I took of a chorus of one of their songs they repeated can be seen by clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_QWsK0Eb1s&feature=youtu.be. Eventually the band finished up for the night, so we headed to Saint Stephen's park at the end of Grafton Street while it was still sunny and beautiful out. I had only been there once with Sean, and that was only for a couple of minutes, and it seemed well worth revisiting. We hung out in the park for a while, watching a kid try and pull all the flowers out of the garden in front of us before his dad could notice, and promptly kill him. We were quite amused, and his dad was mortified. I had to head down to the GNIB Immigration office for an appointment to get approval for the semester, which was supposed to take only a couple of minutes, so we left from there.

GNIB- I would assume it has the reputation of the DMV, one of the most frustrating bureaucracies in operation! Our "quick" appointment left us waiting for over 4 hours. I laughed, because if it was this bad to enter Ireland, I can't even imagine what it must take to get into the US, full body probes? It was interesting to be on the other side of the fence though, being the immigrant hoping to get scanned in. I prefer being the local! Either way, I received by residency card, so at least I don't have to go through that torture again! At GNIB, we did however meet this "character" who gave us each a piece of paper (pictured) and a 15 minute speech on how God loves us, so I guess I've got that going for me! P.S. Those are not my hands, if you were wondering, no worries.

When Joanna heard about family dinner, she offered to take another one of my shifts, and make everyone food. Obviously again I was all for it! She made dinner on Wednesday night, baked ziti and garlic bread. Two of Julia's friends, Maddie and Ann, had just flown in from Paris. Luckily Joanna was friends with Ann from Siena, so she was excited that she would be there for dinner. Our family had now extended to 9 people, but we had a great time again. We had to pull the couch over from my living room to seat everyone, but the more the merrier in this case. The night ended with my Irish roommate taking a video of Connor playing guitar, who knows where that went...

On Thursday morning, I went to my 8am class again, and  afterward we left on a hike of the Dublin Mountains. Julia had class all day, so I agreed to take Joanna, Maddie and Ann. The planning was decent, and my phone was off, so it was a true adventure. We rode a bus for about 45 minutes, and when we reached the stop that we were supposed to get off at, we were on a highway again... I was getting sick of these highway bus stops. I turned the wrong way off the bus and led us to a roundabout intersection. It was clearly no scenic mountain like I'd pictured. After a few minutes of struggling, I found the right way and we headed up to Ticknock, and the Fairy Castle Loop. On the way, we saw a variety of wild animals, and I pet a horse. It then bit me, so that sucked, but whatever he wasn't a cool horse anyway. We walked through the most amazing scenery, so untamed and natural. It was so perfect, and so stereotypical. It was a warm day, but the fog hung low all morning. Luckily, it did burn off towards the end. Somehow, I lost all of my pictures off of my camera from today, so I am now relying on highjacked photos that Joanna took at this point. We hiked around the fairy castle and down through another park. At the fairy castle, we met a group of older Irish people who were so kind. They gave us directions to the easiest way back, as well as suggested some future hikes for us to take. I'm pretty excited about those!

 

On Thursday night, we went back to DCU and ate dinner and spent a long time with my Irish roommate Eoin and his friend, who I should definitely know the name of by now (James?). They had fun with my camera, and tried taking "selfies" with it. I'm not sure I've ever seen two kids laugh so hard taking pictures, and I'm still not sure why, but I laughed watching it. Around 10, he offered to take Joanna and I to go play ping pong with him, his friend had a special key that would get us in. It sounded great to me! Apparently at DCU you have to be a sports science major to be able to access the ping pong room, leading me to wonder, is that a class?? We put an iPod on the speaker system and people filtered in and out through the night. Joanna was introduced to the concept of slagging rather quickly, and like every other American, totally missed it. I was enjoying finally picking up on it! I met and was hanging out with a kid who was to be playing in the Gaelic Football match on Saint Patrick's Day, it was what everyone was talking about. That was cool when I think back on it. He ended up losing though, so it's slightly less cool. Oh well. 

My Roommate's Friend Lukie

My roommate Eoin (pronounced Owen)

We spent the entire day on Friday roaming around the city, stopping at street vendors and other attractions, some of which are illustrated by these pictures. We stopped at quite a few vendors looking for good Paddy's Day shirts and gear, and looking around for events that would be happening later. More or less, we were just enjoying the lively and active atmosphere of a city that was about to hit its prime.

On Friday night, John made goulash for Sean, Joanna, and I. I picked up cookie mix and brought that to dinner. After, we went back down to the city. The streets were insanely crowded in the Temple Bar area and we were loving it. People of all walks of life were stumbling around the streets, it was really a sight to be seen. It was incredible to me the how trashed the city was just by Friday night. I mean, don't get me wrong I like to have fun as much as the next guy, but we were in awe. It was almost impossible to walk through the streets without kicking cans as you tried to put one foot in front of the other. The live music, again, was incredible, everywhere you went. As we walked around, we laughed really hard at all the different people and how they were acting. We ended up staying for a long time at Farrington's in Temple Bar, there was an amazing singer and band covering so many of the songs that we knew. We stopped at the Quays Bar as well, but it was shoulder to shoulder standing room only.

Saturday- Joanna went with Julia, Ann, and Maddie to Howth, where I had been the weekend before.

I opted out, as I wanted to spend the first day of "Paddys" weekend in Dublin City. Sean, John, and I went down to the city to adventure. As we wandered around, we went to the craft food and beer festival, but seeing as how you had to pay for everything there, we decided that wasn't the place for me. Down by the river, there was a carnival going on with all sorts of temporary rides set up. We joked about being dismembered on a poorly pieced together Dublin carnival ride, although one of them looked rather tempting.We were halfway through watching the first performance, when Sean's ex-girlfriend spotted him, in Dublin of all places. So they went for a walk to talk, and we were to
be with all of her friends that were also in Dublin just for the weekend. As it turns out, she goes to Hamilton College, and one of her friends was Katie Steates, who was in my grade in high school and lived in my town! We wandered around the city, and went to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and the park. Admission to the cathedral was 7 euro, so nobody wanted to go in, which was cool with me as well. We spent a long time just hanging out and talking to them in Saint Patrick's Cathedral park, which was stunning. After a while, we moved over to Christ Church down the street. There was a huge festival outside of the park with a variety of vendors, anything from sausage to candy!

After hanging out there for a while, we went off to find a pub to watch the rugby game in, there was a huge match going on, which only added to the mass amount of people and energy in the city. We looked in a few places, but they were so packed that we gave up on the idea of sitting down, we would have to stand the entire game, which was fine too. The only thing I can say is, wow, those are some loyal people! The place erupted when Ireland won, and it was a tight game the entire time! I was shocked, because normally people cheer for a few seconds, and they're done. Nope, not here. It was at least 10 minutes of people going insane at the top of their lungs! The video that I captured was at least 5 minutes into the cheering, so you can only imagine what it was like at the beginning! Sorry for the darkness, I'm not sure how to fix that, but you get the point. 

After the game, we agreed we didn't want to spend any money, so we headed back to DCU to eat then come back out after. We headed out to O'Reilley's afterward with Sean and John, and Sean's ex-girlfriend who decided to stick around. We spent the night bouncing around from pub to pub, to finish at the infamous Temple Bar itself. Somehow, Katie and their crew found a bunch of seats so we went and joined them for the night. 

Sunday Morning- I woke up early, so I decided it would be my mission to go to mass at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It was something I've wanted to do since I went to Notre Dame in Paris in high school, and it was going to happen. I arrived slightly early, and walked in. It was absolutely stunning. However, given that I was there for mass I did not find it appropriate to take pictures, so sorry! The mass was strange, however, because it was incredibly strict and old-fashion traditional. There were three priests, and all of them kept their backs to the congregation for the entire mass unless they were talking. There was a men and boys choir of around 40 people, whose voices filled the entire

cathedral with incredible power. It was a beautiful mass in an absolutely incredible cathedral, but it just wasn't for me. I left feeling slightly intimidated, so I can only imagine how someone might have felt at the origin of the cathedral! It was a good experience though.




After mass, I went to the store and bought a baguette, a hunk of Parisian brie cheese, and an Irish yogurt and sat in the park enjoying the combination. I was so European! It was so peaceful, and exactly what I needed! Side note: the yogurt over here is incredible. Yes, I did just say yogurt. I had no idea it could taste as different as it does. Danon needs a lesson from the Irish!



I tried to catch a bus back to DCU to meet up with Joanna who was likely still sleeping, but unfortunately got caught right in the middle of a protest that was going on here. We'd been learning about it in our core class, but here I was caught in the middle of it. They blocked off the streets and began a very slow march up O'Connell Street (the center main street). They were marching and protesting against austerity measures and new taxes, and further against political and economic greed. It sort of reminded me of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, as some people moving around seemed to have some unrelated signs. Frustrated, at least that gave me a good laugh! When I got back to school, Julia had organized a big Saint Patrick's Day brunch for all of us, her friend Ann made potatoes, we had eggs, and toast as well. It was awesome. Everyone got their faces painted for Saint Patrick's day, and we got ready and headed back down to the city. It was progressively getting busier and busier, but again there were events going on everywhere. We came back for a quick dinner and got ready to go out for the night. At first, we went to Doyle's Pub, we stayed for a while, but it was relatively quiet compared to the rest of the city. We figured if we were going to be in Dublin, we may as well do it right. We went to Temple Bar and headed to Fitzsimmons again, and it was packed! They had set up a club in the basement, and that's where we stayed for most of the night. We had a great time, everyone was to head back home in the morning, but nobody wanted to leave. We all knew better though, it was a mandatory early morning. We would not be missing Paddy's Day itself!