Approaching

The end of our time here in Dungarvan is approaching, finals have been taken, papers are being finished, and plans for return - or how to keep from leaving - are being formulated by all. However, as much as we don't want to leave, I know I'll be glad to see my friends and family again.
The past few days have been a whirlwind. We've gone horseback ridding in the countryside, gone "pub golfing" for a 21st birthday party, a thank you reception, watched the sunrise and have had some quality craic and bonding time. In the last few days we have sort of come together as a group. It's still has it's little groups within it, but it seems that as the days are shortening, the bonds are strengthening. Now I'm not saying we're all going to be best friends after this trip, but there is definitely something special that will keep us together. Even if it's just a hello walking across campus, there's that certain knowledge that this new friend is missing Dungarvan just as much as you are.
I don't think any of us realized how attached we would become to this place, and the people we've met here. I think of this as a second home, and I'm terribly sad that I have to leave it. It pulls on my heart strings to think that I cannot say when the next time I'll be back in Ireland and in Dungarvan after this trip ends. I know I will be back, I just don't know when.
This trip and this town have changed me for the better, I've grown up a lot being here, and have expanded my view on the world. Whether or not I fully realize everything about me that has changed, I know that something in me has been altered, not on purpose, but not without realization. I am intrinsically the same, yet different and I love that feeling.
At our thank you reception last night we hosted town and county members and those people who have made this all possible for us. Our expressions of gratitude and thanks cannot do justice to how much we are grateful for this opportunity and their wonderful enthusiasm and hospitality. The friends we have made, the memories they have given us and the way they have taken us into their lives and homes and allowing us to be a part of their lives is amazing. I cannot express enough thanks to do justice to how much they have done for us. Thank You.

Future Professions and Lisbon

On Saturday we went to see a Portuguese bull fight in a neighboring town! It was so much fun! There was a lot of a lot of ceremony that went with the bull fight, which isn't so much a fight as it is a dance. What we think of as a typical bull fight is the guy with the cape waving at the bull and jumping out of his way. While this is a part of it, it is a small part. The biggest part of the bull fight involves the Pantalones who ride on horseback while attempting to jab the bull with an arrowhead attached to a brightly decorated poll. The idea is to get the arrow in the bulls back right near the target on it's back. This will not kill the bull, only make it upset from the pain. While he is ridding and while he changes horses, the bull is distracted or guided around by the Bandarilheiros, who are the guys with the capes. After he has finished his round the Forcados come out. This is a really exciting point in the bull fight because now 8 unarmed, unprotected guys come out to stop the bull using only their strength! They line up and the first guy provokes the bull to charge at him and he runs at the bull catching it by the horns and holding onto his head. The next guy behind him needs to hold onto him , and not fall down while the next five swarm at the bull's head and side in an attempt to immobilize him as quickly as possible. The last guy in line goes to the bulls tail and grabs a hold of it and doesn't let go. Then once the bull quits moving the other 7 quickly let go and move away and he holds onto the tail of the bull while the bull tries to get his tail and turns in a circle. It looks like a dog chasing its tail with a guy hanging on! After that, to get the bull out of the arena, they bring out a bunch of cattle and two cattle herders who move the bull and the cattle. There is one other way in which the Forcados immobilize the bull. This way is definitely harder, and more dangerous. This procedure is carried out with only two Forcados who sneak up on the bull using the cattle to hide behind. One grabs the head and the other grabs the tail. Each bull fight takes about twenty minutes to a half hour and there were seven bulls for that day. After each bull was finished, the Pantalone would walk around the arena saluting the crowd, and if the first Forcado did well, he would join him. The crowd would show their appreciation for him by throwing him a hat or a sweater, which he would catch and throw back. If they thought that he was really great, they would throw him flowers, which he kept. I threw a hat to one of the guys, unluckily he never caught it because the wind caught it about halfway there and blew it sideways. But he saluted and bowed to me to acknowledge my effort! I did get the hat back don't worry! The people in the crowd throw it back up to it's rightful owner. After watching the bull fighting, I have officially taken it off my list of future professions.
On Sunday, we drove into Lisbon from Evora to see the capital city. Lisbon is beautiful and has great history. Since we were at a port as we walked near the river we could see sailboats coming in and out of the bay and up and down the river. In order to see as much of Lisbon as we possibly could, we got tickets for the "Hop-on Hop-off" buses that take you around the city and tell you all about it. When we did our "Hop-off" we stopped near the bay to see the Tour de Bellem, Monument to the Discoveries and the National Palace. The Tour de Bellem used to defend the King and the city back in the 1500's when they built it. Originally it was built in the middle of the river so they could attack ships. Now, due to erosion and land shifting, the Tour de Bellem is on the right bank of the river! As we drove through the city we learned about the history of the city and how it came to be set up. In the 14th century there was a huge earthquake that brought the city to ruins. It was then quickly rebuilt so that another earthquake would not cause that much damage again. This is why the buildings in the city center of Lisbon look so similar, they were essentially built on an assembly line so that the city could be rebuilt very quickly. This time the city was built on a grid pattern instead of how it was before, without much organization. All the preexisting structures were taken down, except for a part of the old cathedral which remains standing amidst the new structures as a reminder of what had happened.

Portugal!

This past weekend, I spent my time in Portugal with a good family friend and his family. They live in a small town called Evora, which is about an hour inland from Lisbon and about two hours from Spain. I got in late Thursday night, and began touring bright and early Friday morning. Actually on our way back from the Airport, we drove by the two of the football stadiums in Lisbon, so my touring began immediately! I don't think I can even begin to describe the amount of things I saw this weekend. Fernando wanted to show me as much of Portugal as he possibly could. Needless to say I was exhausted at the end of the day! We toured around Evora on Friday, and saw a lot of cool things I didn't expect to see, like Roman aqueducts, or a Roman Temple for the goddess Diana! But Portugal is an interesting mix of things. It has been influenced by many different groups including the Spanish, the Arabs, the Egyptians, and the Romans. Making their cuisine, architecture and culture very unique. Not to mention they have a very unique language, although it is part of the Romance languages, it is difficult, and not widely spoken outside of the countries where it is the language. There are definite similarities to Spanish and French, but not close enough to pick it up well if you spoke either of those languages!
But the architecture there reminds you of something very Mediterranean or Grecian. The walls of almost all the buildings are a white plaster, and the roofs are the red terracotta tiles. It's really beautiful. The streets are lined with stones, and in some cities we visited, they are marble streets with beautiful designs in them. Marble is so common there, that they line their streets and sidewalks with it, while we pay tons of money for our marble sinks and counter tops.
While I was there I saw a ton of castles, and walled cities as well as the beautiful countryside and where Fernando works at Univerisity of Evora. My favorite walled city was Monsaraz, which was up on top of a hill overlooking farms on one side and a giant lake on the other side. The lake was actually a man-made lake that came about when they built a damn farther down on the river that used to pass through there. It was really beautiful and the city was very quaint. The houses were all washed white of course with the terracotta roofs, but the way the were laid out made it really charming. The view from the city of the lake and surrounding country side was really beautiful, I think that is what I liked most about it. We also stopped for lunch there and had lamb ribs, which were amazing. Lamb is really common to that area, and they fix it in all kinds of different ways. I got the impression from Fernando that eating Lamb in that area is like eating Pizza in Sicily. But hey, I'm it was great!
Speaking of delicacies, I also ate snails while i was in Portugal! That's right, I skipped the escargo in Paris, but had it in Evora. Why? I have no idea, but I had snails. It wasn't bad, its very salty, and with lots of seasoning, and they snails are hot when they serve them to you. The place we had snails at is actually a little cafe that really only serves snails and drinks. It is just like any small cafe you see with people sitting outside at the tables with drinks relaxing after a days work, except instead of enjoying a scone and tea, they are having a beer and a plate of snails! The weirdest thing was that they still had the antennas on them, and that instead of using a little fork to get them out, you just sucked them out of their shells! You only used a little toothpick to pry them out if you couldn't get them out. It was fun to sit at the cafe with Fernando, Noemia - his wife - and Margarida their little daughter. When they bring out the snails, it is just a small plate, with a pile of snails on it. It's a little daunting, but the snails weren't too big probably like 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch at the absolute biggest. However, you could order BIG snails - and those were HUGE they were like an inch big!! I definitely wouldn't have been able to eat those ones!
One of the really nice things about Portugal is the landscape. It varies depending on where you are in the country and no matter what it is beautiful. As we drove through the countryside, the fields were all in bloom with purple, and yellow wild flowers and red poppies. And among them were Cork Oak trees, which they use for making cork, olive tree vineyards, sheep, cattle and horses. Not to mention the occasional grape vineyard crossing the landscape. It was beautiful, I liked the driving and seeing the countryside as much as I enjoyed the cities, and towns we visited.

County Clare

This past weekend, we went to County Clare to see the Burren, the Aran Islands and see the Cliffs of Moher! We spent the weekend in a hostel in the little town of Lisdonvarna, which is known for its being the name of a Christy Moore song, being a spa town, and being home to a huge Matchmaking festival that lasts the entire month of September!
On our way down to the hostel, we stopped in to see the Rock of Cashel, a great castle, built on a large limestone rock and overlooks a lot of the country side. Once we got to the hostel and got the rooms sorted everyone set off to explore, get dinner, or in my case go golfing! A group of us headed out to a nearby pitch and put golf course in Doolin. It was a great little course, and had a beautiful view of the Cliffs of Moher! I can now say I have golfed in Ireland, and experienced "Irish Rough" first hand. It's not easy! I also had the unfortunate experience of landing in a water hazard. Although I'm sure that this isn't the most conventional one, only in Ireland I suppose! Other than that, it was lovely!
On Saturday we went to Aran Island, and walked around there. Many people took bikes or rode in a van to explore the island, but I decided I just wanted to walk around a bit after I had lunch. We found some old abandoned churches, as well as some gorgeous views of the bay and the island. There are so many stone walls all around the island, separating it out into little pastures and yards, it gives the island a sort of character. I loved the walls, they were so simple, yet really functional and sturdy. We then caught our ferry back to Doolin, to spend the rest of the day around town and then went to a local pub for some music and to relax. The pub was pretty crowded, there were a few locals, however it was mostly those of us from Mercyhurst, and a group of Dutch women who were traveling together and also staying at our hostel. The drummer in the band was also the bartender, so whenever someone wanted a drink he stopped playing and got up to go to the bar. The other musicians would just carry on without him. It was nice traditional music, with no vocals, just instruments.
On Sunday, we loaded up early in the morning for our bus tour around the Burren and over to the Cliffs of Moher. The Burren is an amazing landscape, there isn't really anything like it that I have ever seen. It was formed by the glaciers as they passed over the land and deposited huge boulders and scraping away the dirt to reveal limestone rocks. It's looks a bit lunar actually! Much later that afternoon we finally arrived at the Cliffs of Moher! It had been beautiful all day, blue skies, sunshine, warm weather and a little breeze. However, that all changed as soon as we got to the Cliffs of Moher. When we arrived, a fog bank had rolled in cloaking the cliffs in a mysterious gray-white blanket. It was too bad the fog never lifted, but I enjoyed seeing the cliffs in the fog. I figured that's how they look ninety percent of the time, so I got an authentic experience. Although you couldn't see all the cliffs at once, you could see the two cliffs nearest you on either side. This provided an element of surprise, as you walked along the edge suddenly a massive gray and green mass was looming in front of you. What is really amazing is that the cliffs were at one time completely submersed in water and were actually on the ocean floor! I am really glad I have seen them now, and I loved every minute of it. Walking along them as you could hear the ocean crash into the side of the cliff, and saw the cloud thin out and reveal the next cliff. It was a great day. Oh and lest I forget, it was Dr. Reed's birthday! So everywhere we stopped, we would sing a happy birthday song for Dr. Reed. So all in all, it was a great day to end an even better weekend!
Slainte!

Waterford Festival of Food

The festival of food! What a great weekend. It started on Friday night when we went to the barbecue at Lawlor's Hotel. It was so delicious, and so much fun! They were cooking chicken, lamb, hamburgers, and even rabbit! They also had a chocolate fountain with fruit kebabs. After dinner they had a jazz and come out and play for people to dance. They were really good, and there were a lot of really good swing dancers at the dinner too!
On Sunday they held the Farmer's Market in the town square, I couldn't believe how many people there were! The square was packed with families, vendors, pets and lots of delicious looking food. Many restaurants came out with small booths, while many of the usual vendors from the Thursday Farmer's Market were there too! There was a tent that had some people who were selling hand crafted jewelery, and some homemade soaps too! There was live music playing, and a really big hog on a spit in the middle of the square! Everything smelled and looked delicious, I wish I had enough money, and room in my stomach to try everything. I got a nice little burlap sack with the festival logo on it, and filled it with fresh food for the week ahead! I think I can say that we all had a great time at the festival this weekend!

Volcano's, Beaches, Curry and Tea

So today, I was supposed to head to Portugal to see a good family friend and his family. Unfortunately, Iceland had other plans for me! Yesterday, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland errupted releasing a huge cloud of ash and smoke into the air! So since there was a mass of volcanic ash floating over the UK and other parts of Europe, no planes were allowed up - which meant I was staying right where I was in Dungarvan! So, I spent a good deal of that morning and afternoon just calling Expedia and British Airways trying to get my ticket changed to later date. However, the hold time for British Airways was a little over three hours. Needless to say, I don't have that many minutes on my calling card so waiting on the phone was not an option. After talking with my parents, my mom was going to try getting a hold of them - since she could call the toll free number without worrying about minutes.
Some good friends of my family live nearby here in Waterford. They had offered to take me to the beach with them that evening since I was no longer going to Portugal. It was the best thing that had happened that day. I had such a great time with them! It was Jason, his wife Claire and their two little boys, AJ and Spencer. Jason picked me up and we drove along the coastal road over to the beach, Bohamon Beach. We stopped on the way to look out at one of the coves. The Irish Sea is so beautiful. The beach was gorgeous, just a little cove of a beach in between cliffs, with a big sand dune behind it. Jason told me that about 15 years ago there were some bad storms that really did a lot of damage to the beach and the dunes. Since then they have reinforced the dunes and restored the beach. We met Claire and the boys at the beach, and played there for about an hour, till it started to get chilly when the sun went down. So we moved to the play ground there. It was a really neat playground, very new and the kids had a great time, I even got to swing on the swings! While we were there we had some fish and chips from a "chipper". A "chipper" is a place where they actually make the chips by cutting up the potatoes and frying them right there! It was really good and I felt pretty authentic.
After we headed back to their house for some chicken curry for dinner. The boys gave me a tour of the house, and showed me their toys in the back yard. After a very enthusiastic tour, I got to help make dinner. Jason made chicken curry and rice, I got to chop up the peppers. It was really nice to be able to help make dinner, and to sit down to a real family style dinner. I haven't done that since I've been here. It was just nice to feel at home. The curry was delicious! I've never had curry before so I really enjoyed it. After dinner, I helped clean up and do the dishes, while the boys got ready for bed. After everything was cleaned up and the boys were in bed we had a cup of tea and sat around before I went back. It was a really relaxing way to end a day that started out very stressfully. I'm really grateful that Jason and Claire and the boys are here, this trip wouldn't be the same without them.

Finn MacCool and Carrick-a-Rede

On Friday, after flying into Cork, Caitlin and I split from the group to begin our adventure up to Belfast to see the Giant's Causeway, the beautiful coastline, and cross Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Our journey began smoothly we picked up our train tickets at the Cork Rail Station and got on our train. This was my first train ride, and I was really excited. I was also excited because getting to Belfast was going to require us to take a plane, a train, and an automobile! Cliche I realize, but hey it's the little things in life, right? Our train was really nice, we both had window seats, and since we had pre-booked our tickets, our names were in a little marque above our seats! I realize taking a picture may have been a little unnecessary, but you may not have believed me otherwise! We had empty seats next to us to start with, but were joined by a grandmother travelling with her two grand daughters a few stops later. The younger girl was cute and very amusing, getting up every few moments to walk around the train, then come back and report what she saw. Everything was going smoothly until we were about twenty minutes outside of Dublin. We had stopped to pick up a few passengers, but then we weren't going again! It was announced that the train in front of us had broken down and we would be leaving in about a half hour. This was not good news for Caitlin and I! We had a connecting train to catch to take us up to Belfast! So we finally got to the train station, but had missed our connecting train at this point, so we headed to information to figure out what to do instead. The very nice lady who was on duty there helpfully informed us that there was a bus that left Dublin every hour for Belfast, we could catch the Luas, a shuttle, over to the bus station and they would honor our train tickets there. Which they did! So we caught the bus up to Belfast, and made our way over to the hostel.
Saturday morning we got up to catch our tour bus up to the Giant's Causeway. It was a beautiful day, warm, sunny, a little breeze - perfect for our drive up the coast. Although we would spend a good deal of our day on a tour bus, our bus driver was very entertaining and told us all about the lovely scenery and history of the places we passed. We had several stops so we could get out and take pictures and stretch a few moments. The drive up the coast was beautiful, the landscape is unlike anything we've seen down in Dungarvan, Cork, Waterford or Dublin. The coast line is huge, jagged rock or grassy cliffs that seem to drop straight down into the water. Everything had become very green in our absence over the past week, so it was nice to see the landscape beginning to really flourish. When we reached the Giant's Causeway, we quickly alighted from the bus and headed down the steep path to see these mythical rocks. Now the Causeway for me has a special place in my heart. Growing up my Grandfather would tell us stories about Finn Mac Cool, and other tall Irish tales. Now, I am finally getting to see these fabled far away places I was told about as a small child. If you don't know the legend of Finn Mac Cool, I've included a link to it here. The Causeway itself is a phenomenon. The rocks are so different. Before and after them there are round boulders sitting around the water, and then suddenly they change form to these hexagonal pillars protruding from the ground creating this bridge out into the ocean. It's sublime. The huge cliffs standing tall behind you, the North Atlantic lapping up against the rocks, as you stand on top of these strangely shaped rocks. It was great! There are a very few places in the world where theses rocks exist, and this is where there are the most of them in one place. It was neat how they formed this bridge and pathway for walking on, some of them were covered with lichen, while others closer to the water had sea weed growing on them. After climbing around for a while we headed back up to eat some lunch and then walk up the cliff over looking the Causeway. What a view! You could see the entire Causeway, as well as up and down the coast and the open farmland and rolling hills that were further inland. Not to mention the great weather that we were having made the view that much more incredible. The blue sky meeting the cliffs and the ocean was really something great. I'm really glad I went. After that we got back on the bus to head to our final stop of the day, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Carrick-a-Rede originally functioned so that fishermen could cross from the mainland to a small island, or large rock - your preference - and fish for salmon! Now since salmon is no longer fished for on the coast because the North Atlantic Salmon is now almost extinct - the rope bridge remains up for daring tourists walk across. For about four pounds, you can test your fears as you walk across a twenty meter long rope bridge hung about thirty meters in the air above the very cold North Atlantic, and a good deal of unfriendly looking rocks. Luckily the day we were there the sun was shining and there was no wind, and the bridge was dry! Often times the bridge is wet and slippy, making crossing more of a challenge as well as more frightening. The view from the other side is definitely worth the thrill. You can look back on the coast, or out to Scotland, sitting happily on the horizon to the East. Some of the cliffs, both on the coast and on Scotland are brilliantly white, making them stand out even more. This is because they are limestone quarries! Around the area there have been sightings of seals, dolphins, stray migrating whales, as well as lots of sea birds. We saw a great deal of birds nesting on the side of the cliff, and on smaller rocks around the island. We did hear some seals barking, but we couldn't find where they were hiding. The seals reminded me of the Selkies, another legend I had heard from my Grandfather. The Selkies were seals that were able to change their form into that of a human. When I was little I watched a movie about the Selkies called, The Secret of Roan Inish.
So for me, the day was one filled with gorgeous new places, and some childhood nostalgia - a perfect combination.

Post Paris Recap

So now that I am home from Paris, I'll do a recap of our adventures and escapades last week. First off we all became metro pros by the time the week was over. We were all able to get on and off and navigate the Paris Metro system all on our own. We were also pros at ordering crepes from the vendors on the street - which were so delicious. I am happy to say I saw the major landmarks of Paris as well as found a quiet cafe to sit in and watch Paris pass by. We saw and climbed the Arc de Triomph, as well as spent a morning in the Louvre. The Louvre was amazing, and quite overwhelming. There were so many pieces of art and so many people there, sometimes it was a little hard to digest it all. But we found that some exhibits were quieter than others - like the Africa, North America and Oceania exhibit. Where to our surprise and excitement, we found one of the Easter Island heads! My favorite piece of artwork was actually a newer addition, found on the ceilling. It is a piece called "The Ceiling" and the creator is a contemporary American artist, CY Twombly. It was probably my favorite piece of artwork there. I would like to go back to the Louvre to see more of it, because you definitely need more than a morning in the Louvre. We also went to Musee L'Orangerie - where the paintings Water Lillies by Money are on exhibit. Monet is one of my favorite painters. So I was really excited to get to see a lot of his work. It was incredible to be face to face with the real things. L'Orangerie was probably my favorite museum that we visited. It wasn't huge and it wasn't terribly crowded either. It was really a nice museum with a lot of really nice exhibits. Second to L'Orangerie I loved Musee D'Orsay, a really big muesum. But not nearly the size of the Louvre, but much bigger than L'Orangerie. There was more Monet and impressionistic artists here - one of my favorite periods. I really enjoyed my time there. I also liked the time we spent at Montmarte, an artsy little neighborhood on a hill overlooking the city. It is also home to Sacre Couer - the first concrete church built in Paris. A beautiful church that can be seen from all over Paris, because of its size, white concrete, and placement on a hill. On Wednesday, I spent some time just sitting on a grass lawn between Napoleon's grave and the Exposition. We just sat in the sun and watched Paris pass us by for about an hour.
Thursday we headed out to Versailles to explore the Royal Palace and its huge grounds. Versailles requires an entire day to see it properly and to take the whole thing in. The grounds are so expansive they have shuttles and golf carts you can ride around so you can see everything. We didn't make it down to the Queen's Hamlet when we were there, but what we got to see was beautiful. It took over 50 years to get Versailles to the way it is seen now, and they said that most of the rooms were done over at least 10 times each. I can't imagine the kind of money it took to build a place like this. The Hall of Mirrors was incredible, it's crazy to think that we were walking along the same places that some of the most famous people in European history walked. That night a bunch of us went and found a little place to eat near where we were staying Alesia. The food was delicious and we all had a great time. It was a really nice way to end a wonderful week in Paris.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We were leaving for Paris on Easter Sunday, so I went to vigil mass with Elizabeth on Saturday evening at St. Mary's here in Dungarvan. It was a beautiful mass. It started by candle light with all the lights in the church out. All the candles that people were holding lit the entire church - and St. Mary's isn't little! It was a very nice mass, the choir sang and it wasn't terribly long like some Easter vigil masses are. After mass they passed out little Cadburry Cream Eggs! So that was a nice little Easter treat since I didn't have a very traditional Easter! But a great one at that.
Easter Sunday we headed out to Paris! Up in the morning we didn't look for Easter Eggs, but we did sing a verse of Little Peter Cotton Tail under the Eiffel Tower! It was a great Easter. The weather in Paris was gorgeous - sunshine, blue skies, clouds that seemed to drift along at their own Parisian pace. I conquered my fear of heights this year on Easter and went all the way to the top open deck of the Eiffel Tower. I figured that I had no idea when I would go to Paris next, and that I should take advantage of it. I shouldn't let my fears stop me from getting a beautiful view. And it was worth it. The view was gorgeous - it was exhilarating to stand at the top of one of the most recognized landmarks int he world and watch the sun set on one of the most beautiful cities in the world. After that we walked down the Seine River enjoying Paris at night. The lights, and the boats moving up and down the river. We arrived at Notre Dame - home of Quasimodo and Esmeralda for all you die hard Disney fans. But it was great to see it all light up at night! It was a good end to a long day of traveling.

Farmer's Market

Thursday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week! Why, you ask? Well because Thursday is the day that Dungravan holds their weekly farmers market. I love farmers markets, its one of my favorite things about summer. Going to the market, getting really fresh and delicious food, for a really good price. I love that I get to do it here, and it's April! So I spent most of my Thursday morning walking around the town square buying my lunch and doing some souvenir shopping for friends and family back home. I bought myself some mini plums, a vine of cherry tomatoes, a hot cross bun and a blueberry muffin for lunch. I also had some hot chocolate to drink. Now the hot chocolate in Ireland is probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had. Anywhere. And this seems to be a consensus among the group. No matter where we go, if anyone gets hot chocolate, it is always amazing. So in case you weren't sure, I love Thursday.
At this point we have finished Yeats, and Joyce and are waiting for Dr. Reed to come so we can get started with our class sessions after Paris. So Paris in less than a week! I can't wait :) I won't be blogging much from Paris, probably once, maybe twice. I plan on spending the least amount of time in my hotel as possible.
Au'revoir Ireland, and Bonjour Paris!

Dublin Part Deuce

So Dublin - Day 3 (Sunday) - Part Deuce
Sunday Morning up early for breakfast and check out of the hotel. I finally tried some of the infamous "Black Pudding", and I have to say, it's not bad. I was expecting much worse, so I was pleasantly surprised. After breakfast I went to mass at St. Augustine's, which (as I was told) has the highest church spires in all of Dublin. I'd say that's pretty impressive! They had a St. Monica statue in the back of the church. St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine in case you didn't know. It was the first statue of St. Monica that I've seen. So, after that we walked to the Guinness factory where I got to pour the perfect pint of Guinness! The factory and museum itself was really cool! They had a lot of information about the history of Guinness and how it is made as well as information on the marketing of Guinness. After the Guinness factory it was a quick walk over to Kilmainham Gaol to get a tour of the infamous Dublin jail.

Kilmainham Gaol is a Victorian style jail that has housed thousand upon thousands of Irish men, women and children during its time. It now stands as a museum where visitors can tour through the jail, and see cells and stone breaking yard and learn the history of the Jail and its visitors. This was the same jail where the rebels of the Easter Rising of 1916 were held and executed. We got to walk down in the stone yard where they were shot by firing squad. It was very eerie and intriguing all at the same time. Being in places like this really gives you an appreciation for History and the people who played such a large part in it.

After Kilmainham, we took the Dart over to the Jameson Distillery, you know - Jameson Irish Whiskey? So we took the tour of Jameson, and at Tom's suggestion, I volunteered to be a Whiskey Taster at the end of the tour. After learning all about how Jameson is made and why it is different from Scotch and American whiskey we got to the taste testing. There really is a difference in the smoothness of Jameson compared to Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch or Jack Daniels. After the tasting I got a certificate - I'm now an "Official Irish Whiskey Taster". I'm not sure how much credibility I get, but it's still pretty cool.
Jameson was the last on my tour of Dublin, after this we hurried back to catch the bus for our ride back to Dungarvan. Ending our weekend of escapades and adventures around Dublin. Next week this time I'll be standing in front of some great work of art or eating some delicious French cuisine!
Cheers!

Dublin Part One!

Dublin! Finally :)
So Friday morning we roused out of bed at an early hour to board our bus to Dublin! About 3 hours later we arrive, and hit the ground running. Dublin's a big city to see in two and a half days! First we went to Dublin Castle, a beautiful old Georgian building with a lot of history, most of which we got courtesy of Tom our walking encyclopedia. If Tom doesn't know it, he makes it up, if he can't make it up, it probably doesn't exist. Tom is probably the most informative tour guide you will ever have, ever. After Dublin Castle we headed out to find lunch! A group of 26 very hungry college students soon descended on three unassuming cafes. Afterward we headed over to the Irish National Archeology Museum. A huge museum with a lot of great exhibits on everything from early Irish life to the Vikings and ancient Egypt. It was really well done. Not only were the exhibits interesting, but the building itself was gorgeous. It had huge detailed doorways, with ornate carvings and rich blue and gold painting around them. There was marble everywhere, I saw a lot of green marble which I'm assuming is Connemara Marble. After the museum, we walked next door to Parliament! Where we got to tour around the building see where Parliament is held now, where it used to be held, and some history of the place and the people who had been there, including JFK. Again, until you think about it, walking the same halls as JFK... After the tour we headed back to the hotel to unpack, officially check in, and nap before heading out for the evening. I had dinner at a cute little Bistro near our hotel, and the food was amazing. We then began our wander around Dublin, until we finally ended up in O'Donoghue's where we caught the end of the Rugby match on TV. After hanging around there for a bit we called it a night, and headed back to get some much needed sleep for the next day.
Day 2 (Saturday)
Up early and headed out we walked over to Christchurch Cathedral, a ginormous church with some very neat/creepy crypts. After that we headed over to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, unfortunately I didn't get to take any pictures at the Book of Kells! But it was amazing. The book is incredibly detailed and I was impressed with how well it had been preserved. Upstairs from the Book of Kells was "The Long Room" a huge library filled with tons of old books on who knows what! But it was awesome - think the library from "Beauty and the Beast". I found this picture of the Long Room online.
After the Book of Kells, we headed over to the GPO (General Post Office) the main site of the Easter Rising of 1916. We had been hearing about these places in history class, and here in our Seminar, but to finally get there and see it was pretty cool. Made you feel pretty small. I think sometimes I forget just how big the world is. After seeing the GPO we all split up for the day in our own groups and headed out to tour Dublin ourselves. I decided to walk around explore Dublin. We tooled around Henry Street, grabbed some lunch and headed over to St. Stephen's Green. It was a beautiful park complete with swans in a lake! Then we marched all the way down to the Mercy International Center on Baggot Street - where the Sister's of Mercy first started.
That evening we headed out for round two of Dublin nightlife. After dinner at a Chinese place - I know I know... Chinese in Ireland - We got our group together and made our way over to Pravda, a Russian themed Bar just across the River from Temple Bar. It was a very laid back bar, with great music, any DJ who starts the night off with MGMT and rocks out to Arcade Fire and Passion Pit is a-okay by me! After that we headed back, for the night, we had a long day ahead of us on Sunday!

When You Are Old

I was rereading Yeats, "When You Are Old" and it reminded me of the song, "Ageless Beauty" by the band Stars. Stars is one of my favorite bands and for some reason, when I read "When You Are Old", this song came to my mind. So, I thought I would share it. I'm not sure why I put these two together. They don't have much in common by way of similar phrasing, and "When You Are Old" didn't come with a CD to sing along to. I think what I found in common was the praising of a beautiful young woman, who has seen better days, worn by the world. But her beauty has survived in memories in Yeats poem. The singer in "Ageless Beauty" believes, from my interpretation, that this woman's beauty will outlast the tests of time, as will their love. But hey, that's just what I think, draw your own conclusions - agree or disagree or be neutral. That's what art is all about anyways, one's own interpretation of the real and the imaginary.

Here is the song:
There is an actual music video, but in this case, I think that its more important to listen than see.

When You Are Old
- William Butler Yeats
When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
You eyes ad once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace;
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Soft rain

So late this Tuesday evening, I find myself staring out into the rainy night, wondering if this weather will persist in Dublin, or if we might see the sunshine this weekend. Today, mostly cloudy and misty, an overall nice day. We spent most of it walking to and cleaning up an old famine grave yard. We felt that it was a nice way to give back to a community that has done so much for us. On the way there we were followed by a cute, little puppy we named "Carlos" whom everyone wanted to take back to the hotel.
After cleaning up the graveyard, we headed back to the hotel for afternoon classes, meetings and dinner. Our meeting tonight was a briefing for our trip to Dublin this weekend. Everyone is really excited, we will be there from Friday morning through Sunday evening. A nice long weekend to explore one of Ireland's great cities. It's also exciting because we are finally get to walk along the same streets as many of Joyce's characters did in Dubliners. Joyce's descriptions of people and places are for me, very realistic. Not overly descriptive, neither minimalist, just the right amount mixed with a bit of imagination made Dubliners, for me, a book filled with images. I think my favorite story might have been "The Dead", or at least the end of it. I loved the way he described all the thoughts of Gabriel as he admired his wife. The way he didn't wasn't overly romantic, just simple. Yeats has provided a very different set of images from that of Joyce. Yeats images are more pastoral, older, more whimsical. These imgaes conjur up old forests in the Irish mountains, or small glens in "The Stolen Child". This change in imagery is nice, and provides a different look at Ireland and its inhabitants.

St. Padraig's Day

I know, I know I'm a few days late, but hey better late than never right? So this year I spent my St. Patrick's Day here in Ireland celebrating with my friends and the people of Dungarvan. It was pretty surreal. All this time its been "oh yeah, we're in Ireland" but now on Wednesday it was "Oh.... I'm in Ireland....It's St. Patrick's Day...I'm actually here!!". It was one of those moments where you realize it fully what is going on. It was a pretty exciting day! They raised the Irish, American, Pennsylvania and Erie City Flag early in the morning and then we attended mass at St. Mary's, a beautiful church here in Dungarvan. The mass was in Irish, and the Mercyhurst students participated in the mass by reading intercessions, a reading as well as doing the offertory. I was one of the students who got to read, and I did one of the intercessions. It was a big honor to be invited to participate in this mass, considering St. Patrick is their patron saint. Celebrating mass in Irish was pretty cool, I was able to follow along - after Catholic school for 12 years I better be able to! Which is one of the neat things about Catholic mass, no matter where you are in the world or what language its in, you can follow along because all the masses are formatted exactly the same.

Later that day we lined up for the parade! It was pretty exciting to see all the people that came out for the parade and all the different groups that were in it. I was especially excited that I got to carry one of the Irish flags in the parade! After the parade we were fed a "traditional" Irish dinner of ham, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes at the Dungarvan sailing club. It was delicious!

I'm not quite sure how to wrap this up, I'd like to talk about what we've been reading (finishing Dubliners and Easter 1916) but I think St. Padraig's Day should get it's own post. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Joyce and Yeats! I'll get back to them next time :)
Until then, Slainte!

Busy, busy, busy!

So, since the last time I wrote, I have been to Cork City, saw Christy Moore in concert, and watched my first hurling match. Needless to say, it's been a busy weekend! So I'll start at the beginning!
Cork City
On Saturday a group of us decided to catch the bus from here in Dungarvan out to Cork to spend the day before we had to be back for the Christy Moore Concert. Cork was great, they had just started their St. Patrick's Festival, which lasts a week, so there was a lot to do on Grand Parade and St. Patrick's Street. There were tons of vendors out most of them selling food of some kind. The booths were specialties and they had everything from homemade crepes to oven baked pizza's. It all smelled amazing and was very delicious! They also had a stage up at the end of Grand Parade Street and we stood and listed as a few different bands took their turn on the stage. While those bands took the stage, buskers and smaller groups scattered themselves around the city playing for the change thrown into their open buckets, or instrument cases. Needless to say, almost anywhere you went you were surrounded by music - as you moved out of earshot of one busker you would soon hear the notes of the next artist as you walked down the streets. After spending some time at the festival we ventured out a bit from the crowds to see more of Cork. We went looking for the North Cathedral, but instead found St. Fin Barre's, an amazing old Church on the SOUTHERN side of Cork. Oops, we realized we went the wrong way. But St. Fin Barre's was a great find! We asked a someone for directions to North Church, they didn't know where it was, but told us a great story about the golden angel perched on the top of the dome at the back of St. Fin Barre's. They said that according to legend, that when the Apocalypse happens, the angel will come to life and sound the trumpets it is holding to announce the coming of the Kingdom. After some wandering about there, we headed back into the festival. At this point the group split up, Caitlin and I ventured out to find the clock tower that we kept seeing and the rest of the group stayed to explore the festival more. We found the clock tower to be none other than the famous Shandon tower, attached to St. Anne's Church. You can walk all the way to the top of the tower and have a birds eye view of Cork. On your way up you can also ring the Church bells, so that was a good "craic". We played "Oh, Susanna", "The Bells of St. Mary's" and "The Last Rose of Summer". After making lots of noise and seeing Cork from way up high, we headed back to Dungarvan.

Christy Moore
The Christy Moore concert was held in a town center in Capoquin, a nearby town. He is truly a great musician and it was a real treat to be able to hear such a legend play. The venue was very intimate which made the concert really enjoyable. He even played a song for us! It was a very sad song, but it was still really good. Most everyone there knew all the words to the songs and sang along, everyone was really enjoying themselves clapping and singing.

Hurling
Hurling.... words to describe Hurling...fast, brutal, fun, crazy, skillful. Get the picture? Not really... I have a hard time describing Hurling, I think the best I can do is say that it is a cross between, hockey, soccer, lacrosse and instead of me trying to explain it to you, I think a video would do it justice best. The game was a blast, the crowd really gets into in and we started to as well! Hopefully I'll be able to go see another match before we leave. The match we saw was between Waterford, blue and white jersey's and Limerick, the green jereseys. We of course rooted for our home team of Waterford. They won handily out scoring Limerick 26 to 16!
Anyways, here is a little video I took at the game, I hope this helps better than my description.


So that's all I have for now! But this week is looking to be a good one, we have more trips and St. Paddy's day events all coming up

Araby

Today, we have officially been here in Dungarvan one whole week. One very busy and very fun week. This past week I've been slowly exploring the town, taking walks in the morning before class, and getting a better idea of where things are, as well as finding new places. On yesterday's walk, I found out that Dungarvan holds a Farmer's Market every Thursday in the Square. I knew I wanted to get something, I just wasn't sure what. So I decided to walk around some more and then come back after while. While out and about I found some gorgeous views and a small park. After meandering down by the quay and down a few streets I decided to head back to the farmer's market and see what I could find. While I wandered around between the tents, I felt a bit like the boy in Araby - a bit confused at what to get. Although I wasn't buying a gift for someone else, and everyone I talked to was more than kind, and the market wasn't closing yet. I understood for a moment that sense of confusion and loss that comes when shopping without a purpose, only that sense that you should buy something. Unlike Joyce's character I was a bit more successful in obtaining an adorable cupcake with vanilla icing and sprinkles, and a bottle of apple raspberry juice. Both were delicious!
As we continue our stay here in Ireland, I'll continue my exploring, both here in Dungarvan and around the country. The trip to Dublin is fast approaching and I can't wait. Joyce's characters in many of the other stories mention streets or places in Dublin that I hope to see once I am there!

We're Here!

One year ago I was only dreaming that I could be studying Ireland, and now, I'm sitting at the kitchen table, in Dungarvan Ireland, blogging of all things! After a lot of traveling - cars, planes, buses - and some airport security we are finally here!
Since we've been here in Dungarvan, the weather has been nothing short of beautiful. Blue skies, sunshine and perfect weather so far, I can't complain one bit! A lot of people here have been telling us that this is unusual, but sometimes unusual isn't all that bad! The town is picturesque, sitting right on the bay and Irish Sea, with the mountains rising up in the background. Who could ask for more? Everyone here as been extremely welcoming and very kind. The hospitality that has been shown to us is above and beyond anything I've ever known. There are signs, and banners, welcome dinners and multiple tours of the town.
The past few days have been pretty surreal. I couldn't at first believe that I was actually abroad. Walking around the town and getting familiar with our new home for the next ten weeks has been the main pastime for most of us. With such great weather its nearly impossible to pass up the opportunity to take a walk and enjoy the scenery.
The history in the town is incredible and I can't wait to see more of it!