“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard” [Annie]

Dublin 2009 is officially over. A quick recap before the sentimental stuff:

After the U2 concert, we had a week of class left. It went by quickly, too quickly. I spent the last 2 weekends of the program in Dublin and am thanking myself for making that decision. Dublin quickly became our home, and I wouldn’t have wanted to spend the rest of my time any other way. We had another birthday to celebrate and a day pub-crawl to kick off finals. We watched the movie Once, it was filmed on Grafton Street in Dublin-a street we spend every day on. Our finals were taken and a small group of us went out to dinner (a very expensive dinner) to celebrate. The USIT program put on a wonderful final night bash–full of trivia and karaoke and drinks. And everyone went their own way.

This summer was the best summer of my life. I met some amazing people who have shown me fun, compassion, heartache, and laughter. I learned from them–about life, about myself, and so much more. I learned from myself-that I truly can do whatever I set my mind too. And we all learned from each other: how to get around in a new country, how to interact with other people, how to ask for help when we needed it.

I don’t deal well with good-byes. Or change. I really don’t do well with change. For as excited as I was to to come to Ireland in June, I didn’t want to leave Neenah. As soon as I arrived in Dublin, I got over it. Yet somehow, I think that coming back from Ireland is going to take a bit longer to get over. I said earlier that in the past 8 weeks, Dublin became my home. It became all our homes: a group of 30 students from 5 schools. We made our own little community–one that was often filled with drama for its size but even the drama was fun most of the time. We had our laughs and our cries. We knew who to turn to for advice, who would always watch a movie with us, who would go out to eat instead of eating Dunnnness, and who would go get a drink if we had a really bad day. We found a way to work together-all of us.

And I’m really really going to miss it. I know that when I get back to the United States that I’ll transition quickly and smoothly. I have a busy August left ahead of me and I thrive well being busy. But it’s that much harder because I got along with almost everyone in our group. This quote is fitting I think: “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.”

I think the weirdest part is that I’m in London right now–so saying good-bye was even worse because I knew everyone was heading home and I was left in Dublin, almost the last one to go, and I wasn’t going home to people that I knew-I was going to London by myself…but what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I’ve been in London for over a day now and I absolutely love it. Yet it feels really odd, because I have moments where I look for Allison when I see a really cute little kid, or turn to find Carly or Chelsea when someone is wearing something really funny, or look for Matt to enjoy the view in silence. Right now, it feels like I just went away for the weekend and when I get back to Trinity on Monday afternoon(I’m spending the night there before my US flight Tuesday morning) everyone will be there….I keep expecting that I’ll run into Matt or Nick in the courtyard. Or Andy will be yelling out the kitchen window at the sea-gulls. But that won’t be the case: instead the courtyard will probably be filled with crazy old tourists and little kids.

Anyway, I’m really not that sad, it’s just a weird feeling. I am lucky that I go to Madison and most of the people I’m close with go to Madison as well. We are going to have dinners once a month, on the 18th, because it’s the day we arrived in Dublin together. You always talk when you meet someone that you’ll stay in touch, but I’ve seen it happen and been a part of it all too often when two people don’t. I really believe though that my Michigan friends: (Allison, Matt, and Jacki) will keep in touch. And maybe it will fade. Life’s funny sometimes. Right now, though, I don’t see it happening. We shared a great summer and were forced to get to know each other quickly. Our common phrase was that our study abroad program was like relationships on speed. So being friends with someone for 2 weeks meant 9 months in real people time. And in many ways, it is true–you were forced to get to know people quickly: you were spending 20 hours a day with them most of the time. And with no one from home around to support you, you either curled up on your own or found someone to help you. Like when vodaphone steals your money and you have none left to call your parents. Anyway, the Michigan crew is going to visit Madison for the football game in November and we’ll travel out there. In between, technology: facebook and text messages: are amazing and will help.

Thank you to USIT for a great program. You organized a very hectic schedule and dealt with overly anxious American college students and did it well. I loved that there were events organized around all aspects of Irish culture: sports, music, literature, film, history, etc. etc. Everyone appreciates all that you’ve done.
Thanks to all of my new found friends: you guys have changed me in so many ways. I am so lucky to have met you and can’t wait for the future.

And finally, because it’s appropriate, I’ll end with an Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

U2 Concert at Croake Park!

The most memorable night I’ve had in 5 weeks was on Friday night. Jacki, Matt, and I made a spur of the moment purchase and went to see U2 in concert.

It was a perfect day, really. We slept in way too late (like 3:30 in the afternoon). It was necessary, though, and after a quick shower, the three of us went out for a really nice and AMAZING italian dinner. Then it was off to Croake Park. We had already been there once for a hurling match, so we were excited to see how it would look different set up for a concert.

When we got there we went in and listened to the opening act….the stage was absolutely amazing. The only thing that was odd was that it was still really light outside, seeing as it doesn’t get dark until 10ish here. But we went outside and drank a few beers (Budweiser-which tasted very odd after having Guinness all the time) and bought t-shirts. Finally it was time for the show to start. We had general admission tickets so we stood on the ground and got as close to the stage as we could. The only thing that was unfortunate was I’m a little short, but Matt is tall, and a guy, so he lifted me up a few times so I could better check out the stage…what a nice guy!

The concert was outdoors and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Everyone was so into the concert and U2 being from Dublin made it that much cooler….they did a few tribute songs to help raise money for various causes and talked about their experiences in Dublin. It is now my new favorite concert–the music was good (even though I’m not a huge U2 fan), the venue was amazing, and the people I went with were cool.

After we were all exhausted so we went and had one drink at a pub and then headed home….it was a nice break from the large group outings that get difficult to go places when you have 12 people. I know Matt and Jacki had just as much fun and it was one of their favorite nights so far as well….and we have some awesome videos, pictures, and t-shirts to remember it by!

In the middle of the riots....

I just got back from a week-long trip to Northern Ireland and Scotland...which means technically my country count is up to 3, woohoo! We left from Dublin last Sunday for a day bus trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland....our program (30 kids) took classes for a week at Queens University. We were brought there at an unusual time, it's a very complicated situation but basically N. Ireland and the rest of Ireland do not like each other, and there are huge fights that have been happening between Unionists and Nationalists (Protestants and Catholics). A brief history, but the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 established peace in the area and they have been working toward it ever since. So basically on the 12th of July they have a parade and the Unionists are celebrating their defeat of the Nationalists....they parade through Catholic neighborhoods and there are riots at night with large bonfires. The parade has become so peaceful that we were allowed to go to the parade--the first group ever allowed to go. Although a bit scary, when you take a step back and look at it, the fact that we COULD go is a huge step for how far they have come, even though they still have ways to go. To put it into perspective because it's much more complicated to understand, imagine the KKK parading through the streets of New Orleans and other Southern cities. Also, I called Kari to catch up because they told us we paid the same rates as in Dublin and they lied to me so all of a sudden my phone died and I had no money left on it and no internet so it died right after I told her all of the above...whoops! Anyway, the rest of the week we layed low.....we were put on larger floors and since it wasn't really safe to be wandering at night we had group bonding time--lots of playing cards and talking time. Wednesday we took a day field trip to the Antrim Coast---to see the Giants Causeway and the Carrick-a-rede bridge....again, beautiful and breathtaking and a fun day trip. Thursday morning Allison, Carly and I didn't have classes so we took a taxi to a movie theatre and saw Harry Potter!! If anyone hasn't seen it, there's a new director and the movie is much better than the previous ones. Going to a movie and relaxing was also awesome, it felt good to get out in the city a bit. Thursday night was probably the highlight of the trip. Our group got a tour of Stormont, N. Ireland's parliament buildings....AND THEN, when the tour was over, we were taken to one of the assembly rooms where Great Britain used to plan military defense during World War II. Four members of parliament from different parties came in and we got to ask questions and have a debate. All of us were supposed to submit questions and 6 people were picked to ask their question...they got to read it aloud to the panel of parliamentary people and I was picked as one of the 6 people!! Public speaking and me do not go well so I got nervous even though it was a one sentence question! This kid named Matt made jokes until I settled down, yikes. Anyway, it was an awesome experience. The first question asked was about the parade and the riots and it was extremely heated. We had members of both the Unionist and Nationalist party and they were at each others throats over whether these parades were okay or not. A group of 7 of us went to Glasgow Scotland for the weekend, taking trains, ferries, and planes to get there and back. It was fun, but kind of relaxing just eating out and shopping which we all needed. Some of us are getting sick and others are just tired and worn out so the weekend was good. That's all for now, time to write a paper for film!

Pictures won't go up....

I can't get pictures up...hold tight I'm working on it. By tomorrow they'll either be on here or on facebook!

Seagulls attacking, cool program events, the place I want to live someday....

It's been awhile....things have been crazy busy around here.  I think I'll give a brief run-down and then try to show the rest in pictures. It's hard to believe there is only one month left in the program.  It feels in some ways like we've been here for months and in other ways like we just arrived 2 days ago.  To change it up from the day by day detail, I'll try something new.  The program has done a wonderful job of planning events for us....and not only planning events but getting in a wide variety of events so we can truly experience many aspects of Irish culture and Dublin in general.  Last week, we attended a play at the Abbey Theatre (very cool)....'The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant" by Tom Murphy.  Everyone had to go, but it was more beneficial for those of us taking drama as one of our classes.  Last week we also had new and rising author Claire Kilroy read to us from her newest novel which is selling out in bookstores all over Dublin called "All the Names Have been Changed."  We also had a day field-trip to the Loughcrew Cairns, Hill of Tara, and Trim Castle. But that's not all.  On Sunday, we went to the Lester Hurling final at Croke Park between Dublin and Kilkenny.  I got some info out of one of the professors and Dublin is not very good at hurling, this is their first time in this final since 1991, but Kilkenny has been winning it for years and it is talked about in Ireland that they have the best hurling team to EVER exist in the sport.  So we bought Dublin shirts and rooted for the underdogs!  Last night Seamus Heaney-Nobel Prize winner in 1995 came and read his poetry to us. So cool...I got his autograph.  Today we had a tour of the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) which is extremely old and famous, and tomorrow we have another reading from an up and coming author.  So needless to say, they have given us awesome opportunities in lots of different aspect of Irish life. Last night before the reading, my friend Allison and I went to The Brazen Head for fish and chips and beer...it is the oldest pub in Ireland so we figured we had to go.  We met a guy that I went to high school with, Pat McCarthy, who happened to be in Dublin and messaged me to see if I was around.  It was cool to see a familiar face and have a nice chat over some amazing fish and chips! Funny story.  So our dorm rooms are in this courtyard, and we have various doors along the courtyard where all of our rooms are located.  Well there are seagulls in the courtyard who just had babies.  Not good news.  The thing is, the seagulls think we are going to attack their babies...so THEY ATTACK US!  You think I'm exaggerating, right?  It's okay, so did Allison (who doesn't have to walk into the open part to get to her room).  But last night I say, "I hear them, watch this."  So I start walking to my door and all of a sudden one of the gulls swoops from behind and is inches from my head....at this point, I am sprinting toward my door and still have about 10 feet to go....the gull turns around mid flight, swoops again from the front and tries to get me.  I finally made it to my door.  Everyone of course was watching from their windows.  But I'm not the only one...it happens to everyone.  Even the poor housekeepers who are just trying to do their job! So we wake up this morning and there are signs posted all over that we shouldn't provoke the gulls, they are protecting their children and we shouldn't run from them or anything. Seriously?  We are getting attacked! It's not cool--especially since it's such a pain to leave our room now....but neverthless a funny story I'm sure for anyone not involved.  And we've gotten some funny pictures too. Okay, so last weekend I went to Cork (in Southern Ireland) with Allison, Jacki, and Jacki's dad (we call him MF).  Cork is an okay city, we didn't really like it that much, but we did go to the Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney stone!  What was cool about it is that on Friday, Jacki, MF, Allison and I hired a driver and took a 10 hour tour of the Ring of Kerry.  We saw enough that you could theoretically spend 3 weeks there doing it all and we did a sprint version of it all.  We saw parts of Killarney National Park, Torc Waterfall, Glen Bay, the Skellig Ring (my favorite), and much more.  Our driver's name was Pat....and he was SOO worth the money.  He took us to places we couldn't see on a bus tour, and were allowed to spend as much time as we wanted at each place.  MF payed for the driver, thank you so much!  So Allison and I bought lunch and dinner for everyone, a fair trade off we thought.  I fell in love with southern Ireland and want to move there for the summers---hopefully I can convince my family to go next summer??  Beaches in the mountains.  Green hills.  Clear water.  The most beautiful landscapes in the world and the best food---I had soup, Shepherd's Pie, and coleslaw--all things I HATE in the states.  Need I say more? Hopefully the pictures below will give you a better idea of why I fell in love than any words can describe....

We want Moher....Galway!

This weekend a fairly large group of students (11 total) from my program went to Galway for the weekend.  Galway is located on the west side of the country, across the country from Dublin.

We had to get up at 6 AM to get make it out to the train station…some of us walked and others took a taxi but either way it was an early morning and all of us were tired.  I have never ridden a train before and was wide-awake and excited, I love train stations!  The trains had our names on our seats (I rode backwards) and I got a diet coke from a trolley lady and while everyone else slept most of the 3 hour ride, I read a book that I borrowed from my friend Allison.

We arrived in Galway at 10 AM to a rainy/cloudy day.  Our hostel was right across the street from the train station so we checked in right away and got the day started.  I went with 3 girls to the travel center and with the help of an extremely nice lady, we VERY quickly got our whole weekend organized!

Let me preface by saying that what we all discovered quickly were a few key differences between Dublin and Galway.  1. It is much smaller and you can instantly tell. 2. The general population is much younger than Dublin, so it was more up our alley.  3. It is essentially a large college town, with a main university. 4. With the smaller population and cobblestone streets and younger people everywhere, it had the feel of Madison and Ann Arbor for those Michigan kiddos on the program.

Which means that we all felt instantly at home a bit and much less overwhelmed than sometimes when in the city of Dublin.

So…the busy weekend began:

After telling the other people the plans in case they wanted to join, we stopped at a crepe place and ate some lunch, walked around the city center of Galway, grabbed coffee and chocolate for the bus ride (from Griffin’s bakery---amazing) and headed for the coach (bus) station for our 1 PM tour to the Burren and Cliffs of Moher.  All 11 of us decided to go, it was only 16 euro for a 5 hour trip, and the bus was pretty much all ours as only a few other people came.  We drove through Ireland, stopping at various “hotspots” to take pictures of scenery---the day was a bit cloudy, but the sun was starting to peek out of the clouds and everything still looked beautiful, duh!  Finally, after a very bumpy ride in which everyone ended up motion sick (the roads in this country look like one ways and we had a  2 story bus climbing up mountains and such), the sun came out and we arrived to the Cliffs of Moher.

It was 3 PM here so 9 in the states and I called my dad when I was at the top of the climb and told him to google pictures of the cliffs because that was where I was standing.  Of course, we took lots of pictures and did goofy things and then all just enjoyed it…..which was kind of hard to do because there were flies everywhere, including horse fly’s.  But if they wouldn’t have been there I could have sat and watched the view all day.

Soon it was time to head back---we slept pretty much and upon arriving at the hostel, we showered and then got dinner. I went to The Front Door with Allison and Jacki and we had a wonderful AMERICAN meal…..pizza, wings, and beer.  It was the special there and we decided that nothing else would taste better than some American grease.  Dad, you’ll be glad to know the wings are just as good in Ireland and they give you a bowl of water to clean your hands with.

We made some Irish friends who worked there, including some promoters that let us play some trivia games for free cider. After dinner we met up with the rest of the group and headed out on the town.  There were a lot of stag and hen parties going on (bachelor and bachelorette), so groups were out in costumes everywhere!  We ended up at this bar called Coyote’s and, get this, they had a mechanical bull to ride….so we did!  It was SO much fun, even though most of us were horrible at it.  We all had a good laugh and a good time, but we had to get up early so the night had to end.

Saturday morning we woke up too early to shower and catch a bus an hour away to a ferry that would take us to the Aran Islands.  Not all of us went on the trip, but we did gain a new member of our clan…our 8^th roommate in the hostel, Matt, aka Canada.  One of the girls on our trip gets really sea sick so she sold him her ticket and he joined us.  I’ve also never been on a ferry so that was another first. We went to Inis Mor, the largest of the 3 Aran Islands.

After a leisurely lunch of coffee, pizza, and panini’s, we headed out to explore.   The thing to do on the islands is rent a bike and ride around the island.  I was really really looking forward to doing this, but my knee was really hurting from all the activity the night before and decided biking wasn’t the best thing for it.  So everyone rode bikes and one girl, Carly, stayed back with me.  We looked through the shops and then decided to take a horse carriage ride through the islands instead of the bikes. (Another first-never ridden in a horse carriage…really the weekend for firsts among ways to travel).

Although the horse ride was a bit expensive, both Carly and I were extremely glad we payed the money and thought it was well worth it.  Our driver was a local man named John.  He grew up in Galway and now lives on the islands….and what we loved about this experience was that it wasn’t a guided bus tour, but someone living on the island.  He let us stop when we wanted pictures, showed us his house, and his daughters house….stopped to switch horses, and spoke to everyone that passed him along the roads in Gaelic.  It was cool to see a part of the island from the eyes of someone that lived there in a leisurely pace, and here him interact in his native language with other locals.  The only hard thing was that it was hard to understand him so I said “that’s good” to some things I shouldn’t have when I didn’t realize what he was saying, whoops!

We got out at Dun Aongus, an ancient fort on the island.  It was a 20 minute walk up the mountain basically, which didn’t help the knee but was totally worth it.  It was a little like the Cliffs of Moher, but calmer, with less flies.  It was a very hot day outside and people were picnicking in the fort and taking pictures….no one else in our group got this far to walk up it so Carly and I were the only ones. Definitely a must see for anyone heading to Galway.  The thing about Inis Mor is that it is the closest point to America, so there is a bar on the island called “The American Bar” which is actually in Irish bar but it was where Irish people went before emigrating to the US.  Carly and I took pictures standing at the top of the cliffs and looking out to America…the closest point to it, just across the ocean!

John finally got us back to the main area and we hung out talking to some locals before taking the ferry back to Galway.  We didn’t get back to the hostel until 7, so it was definitely another really long day.  Jacki, Allison, and I did dinner again…this time we had our first fish and chips experience.  We ate at McDonaghs’,  which is apparently a famous fish and chips place.  I just started eating fish a year or so ago, but this was by far the most amazing thing I’ve ever had….I am officially in love with fish and chips.

Sunday was great….so relaxing.  We woke up, checked out of the hostel and spent the day walking around the city, taking pictures, and shopping.  After a lunch of again, fish and chips, a few of us hung around under a tree while it rained just taking in the atmosphere an before we knew it, we were grabbing brownies and coffee from our favorite Griffin’s bakery and then heading to the train station to go back to Dublin.

It was a very successful weekend and went smoothly despite the large group.  Everyone had a grand time.  After a weekend of sunburn, we returned finally to rain in Dublin….but the US was playing in soccer so we showered and went to a pub to watch the game. Then, I had my first time at Porterhouse (a top 10 Dublin pub) and got to experience strawberry beer.  It is wonderful and my new favorite beer….Guiness who??

 

 

Last week.....

It’s Thursday morning here and I’m sitting in Starbucks (how American) paying for internet because I had to send some attachments and we can’t do that in the only lab they give us internet. It’s right by the hustle and bustle of the city though, and nice to get out of the Trinity College gates once in a while.

Today we will have finished our first day of class. I have class in a few minutes, followed by a quick lunch break for errands, and then UW-Madison and Michigan students have their film class for 3 hours in the afternoon. After the first two days of chaos, yesterday settled down a bit. I realized I even typed chaotic in my last post. Things settled for two reasons.

1. We have chosen our classes so aren’t attending all of them anymore. I am taking Drama, History, Film, and Visual Culture.

2. The main professor had a little chat with us about differences in American and Irish lectures. He pointed out that in America, we are expected to read ahead of time and know answers to things…in Ireland, they lecture by being less interactive and just lecturing, and the readings supplement but they don’t put a focus on having the readings done as you go. Needless to say, you can imagine how flustered they were as 30 students were freaking out about handouts and books! (and our history book will be in on Monday, to which the professor said “You only have to finish the 300 page history in 5 weeks…plenty of time”)

So, now that we have some free time in either mornings or afternoons, I think everyone is feeling better. We have to sign in for everything we do, however, and some people feel like they should go to classes they aren’t taking, because the people here have made numerous comments about getting graded based on overall attendance (taking every opportunity to learn from great people)….which is awesome, we all get that. But we also need time to explore the city and get errands done, and in my case, go to the gym…..taking all 7 classes with the night events planned that’s just not possible.

Speaking of night events, last night Fintan Vallely and friends came to play for us….they play traditional Irish music and dance. It was absolutely amazing! There was a Irish step dancer, a woman who sang solo with no instruments, 2 violinists, the irish pipes, and a clarinet type thing. They were all quite wonderful and everyone was impressed. Sadly, I didn’t get any pictures but I’m still humming some of the tunes. The thing I found most interesting was that they don’t use scores and read notes from pieces of paper. In Irish music, they learn a song and everyone plays the same notes….the song becomes melodious/unique based on the individual styles of the person playing. Interesting!

Oh, about the weather. The professors love us because they say we’ve brought nice weather…I don’t know what happened to this Ireland rain, I’m sure it will come back, but it’s been sunny, gorgeous, literally blue skies…and since the sun here doesn’t set until about 10:30 at night, the sun is still hot at 6. Which means yesterday I sat outside and read from 4-7 and I got a tan. woohoo!

Okay, time for class. A group of us is taking the train to Galway this weekend to see the Aran Islands, Cliffs of Mohr, and other things….my first time on a train! I’ll write more when we return on Sunday night!