9/26/08-9/30/08

Friday started off slow, after a very long day on Thursday and the lack of sleep from Wednesday night we pretty much slept Friday away. We got up and went to Tesco to buy supplies for the night, which featured Jake's 21st birthday at midnight. 21 is not a big deal in Ireland because the drinking age is 18, but I wanted to make sure to do it up big for him. So I bought some Jager and energy drinks and we headed back to the apartment to eat dinner. After dinner we started drinking to prepare to hit the pubs. Some people came over to hang out and drink with us and we had fun. We decided we weren't going to catch the 12:30 LUAS home and instead take a taxi, this was a great decision. We went to this pub off Grafton Street called the Porterhouse, it was cool because it had its own microbrews. I tried to get girls to dance with Jake saying, "It is his birthday, dance with him!" Sadly this failed to work so instead we just drank and danced with ourselves, which was productive because there were girls with us. It turned into a pretty late and awesome night, I think it was fitting of Jake's 21st.
After the night we had on Friday we all slept in on Saturday and just hung out. I bought ESPN360 which led to me spending my day watching college football, it was very therapeutic. We were just going to hang out at the apartment, but we ended up going over Sarah, Nellie and Holly's apartment late on Saturday night to watch some football. We were pumped because Penn State's game against Illinois was being broadcast live on TV that night. I was finally going to get to see my boys play. I was in awe of the white house and it made me miss Penn State pretty bad. I just wanted to be there, especially with how well they played (I think there are legit National Title hopes this year!). It was a great game and the offense looked spectacular, Illinois is a legit team and unless we have any mental lapses I think were going to go undefeated. After the game I headed back to my place to go to sleep, it was great to see some football.
I woke up on Sunday and just read up on the news online, along with getting my fantasy team ready, I knew I wasn't going to be going out because I wanted to save money. Life is expensive, and with Jake's birthday it was even more so than normal. Since I am going to Amsterdam this weekend I wanted to save up so I can fully enjoy my experience there. So I spent Sunday watching some TV shows online (I watched the entire season of Undeclared, I am pretty proud of myself, it was hilarious) and hanging out with my roommates. Sadly that is how I also spent my Monday, sans going to Tesco. Dundrum is so far away from the city center which is the cowards way out of not doing anything. So along came Tuesday, during which I did substantially more. Then the previous couple days combined! I got up and got all pretty and headed to Saint Stephen's Green which is where the European Business School is (my Tuesday afternoon law class). I got there early so I went to the Saint Stephen's Green shopping center (its like a mall) and made the great decision of buying a DVD player for our TV. As I write this post I am watching Animal House!!!! I went to class which was interesting, then walked with Jake to Subway and then the IES center for our 4:30 class. We had about a hour to kill so we just hung out in the basement, class was interesting, but I have to do a presentation about Ian Paisley in about a month, after reading his biography (I despise Ian Paisley) so I am bummed about this assignment. The class is cool except that I am not done until 7 pm. Jake, Derrick and Brian are all in my class so the commute home (its such a long commute) isn't that bad. We stopped at Tesco where I bought some bread from my delicious breaded chicken and spaghetti with sauce dinner! I'm going to spend the rest of my night watching Animal House and hanging out with the Besties.

9/22/08 - 9/25/08

It has been a couple days since my last post, and as much as I wish that was because I was super busy and didn't have time it is actually the opposite. With classes it has been a very slow week that has been filled with reading for class. On Monday I relaxed and did some readings for the week and just hung out around the apartment. Tuesday brought a day of pretty much the same, except I had my first class at the European Business School. I had been excited for it since I signed up for it because it is a business law class, a subject that is intensely interesting to me and is why I want to go to law school. I have the class every Tuesday from 1-3. It is even a farther commute than IES, being past Saint Stephen's Green, but I think it will be worth it. The class was interesting, especially because before the professor got there I am sitting in a classroom with all these European students and I cannot understand a word that they are saying. Turns out that I am the only native English speaker in my class, which should be an advantage. It is also a negative because the teacher repeats himself a lot so the kids understand him. He seems like an interesting guy, a little high strung, but interesting. Since the classes are so long here, there is a break about half-way through. It was hilarious because all the European kids immediately stampeded down the stairs to go outside and smoke. European kids really love to smoke and now wear deodorant (generalization I know, but its starting to get to me, the number of kids who have bad b.o.!). I had found out earlier in the day that my 4:30 class was cancelled, which was good because I was tired and didn't feel like sitting through another class. So I came back to do some reading and start working on the presentation and paper that were due for Thursday.
Wednesday was filled with class and work, I was up extremely late doing work for the presentation and especially the paper. This paper was the bane of my existence. We had to read about 70 pages of this book called Dublin Through Space and Time. It was the worst book I have ever read. it was about how Dublin was planned in the 1600 and 1700s. I was miserable reading it and am miserable thinking about it. After an extremely late night I had to get up for my 10 o'clock class. It was a rough morning and I woke up late, but I made it to class on time. In class, Derrick, Adam and I delivered our presentation and I think we did a really good job. I had found out earlier in the morning that my 1:30 class had been canceled, so I turned in the paper that I wrote to his mailbox and headed home for a much needed nap. After waking up we got ready to go to Kayleen's apartment to have our weekly dinner with her and her wonderful roommates Jeanine, Elizabeth and Monica.
We were running late because we all slept a lot longer then we were supposed to. We were all really excited because of our limited diets. We got there and found out that they lived in this rustic Irish house. It is pretty awesome, they even had a rose petal path to the candlelit dinner table. I have never walked on a rose petal path before and it made me feel like a king! They have a backyard, with apple trees! If we had an apple tree it might be all that I eat. Jake, Derrick, Adam, Brian and I tried unsuccessfully to gather the ripe apples, so we settled for some partially ripe ones that were delicious. We came back inside as they finished preparing dinner. We sat down to a delicious meal of Irish soda bread, mashed potatoes and two different stews containing Guinness. The one had beef and the other stew had lamb and barley. They didn't tell us that the one had lamb in it because they thought some of us wouldn't eat it. I guess they haven't realized how cultured we are! I have never really had lamb before and it was delicious. The meal was AMAZING, I wish I knew how to cook like that, but sadly I don't. After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Jake (its his b-day on Saturday) with mini cheesecakes, which followed the trend of the night and were delicious.
After dinner we headed out to Grace's which is a pub near them for an after dinner pint, Adam and Derrick didn't join us because they hadn't recovered from last night yet. It is a cool pub, what I think of when I think of neighborhood Irish pub. After a pint there Jake, Brian and I headed back to the LUAS and came back to our apartment. The rest of the night has been spent hanging out online and talking to some people from home. Tomorrow we are going to go to a market where we can get some things for the apartment cheap. Jake's birthday is this weekend, so it should be really interesting, we are trying to go find a place to karaoke (who doesn't want to hear my rendition of I want it that way?). It should lead to some hi jinks around town.

9/21/08

After such an amazing day on Saturday, Sunday was just a day to relax and hang out around the apartment. I woke up, did some laundry and came into the living room to get ready to watch the all-Ireland Gaelic Football final, which is a huge deal, supposedly bigger than the all-Ireland Hurling final that we had watched a couple of weeks ago (I won two pints!). This time we had a little bit better of a feeling that the game was evenly matched, so Adam and I bet a pint again (Derrick wanted no part of it, I guess he learned his lesson). I took Tyrone, and Adam took Kerry. The game was a lot more intense and close then the Hurling final. The game wasn't decided until the final couple minutes, with Tyrone coming out on top. I won the bet and a pint again! After the game was over we hung out for a little bit and then decided to head for Tesco to get groceries and supplies for our group dinner. On our way to Tesco we ran into Kayleen and her roommates who were going back to our place to eat dinner with us. After going to Tesco with Adam, Derrick and Jake we came back to the apartment to prepare our Spaghetti and Meatball feast. Only Kayleen and her roommate Jeanine ended up staying for dinner, along with Jake. Adam and Kayleen made dinner while we watched Wild Wild West (a cinematic masterpiece). Dinner was delicious it included spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and a vegetable medley. Afterwards, I was able to contribute to the night by cleaning the dishes, our sponge will never be the same! After cleaning up the kitchen I felt motivated and washed everyone's towels and our kitchen dish towels. After which I was done being productive and spent the rest of the night reading for class and hanging out. It is going to be a busy week because of the amount of work, but next weekend is Jake's 21st birthday and possibly a trip to Galway!

9/20/08

Today Jake, Adam, Derrick and I went to Howth along with Kayleen and her roommates. We woke up around 10 and got ready to take the DART (commuter train) twenty minutes north of Dublin to a seaside town on a peninsula. I was not sure what to expect when our journey began, but I am most definitely glad I went. It was one of, if not the most beautiful place I have ever been. Words cannot describe the beauty that I was immersed in today. But I will try anyway. We got to Howth and I was instantly happy to be there. It is a small, seaside fishing village. Not only that, but it was extremely sunny and didn't rain at all (that is extremely rare). We started by walking along the piers, where we saw a couple of sea lions and some fishing vessels. We walked from the first pier to a kind of sea wall where people could walk to the end and see the light house. it was an awesome walk because it brought me extremely close to an island that seemed like it was so close that you can swim to it. I really wanted to because I really enjoy uncivilized islands! After we had walked there we went for lunch and planned our next move. We saw mountains in the distance all day and we decided after lunch to head for them. It was a bold decision, it was a gutsy decision and it turned out to be a spectacular decision. We started by pretty much going straight up hill which led to the top of a hill that looked out onto the water. I thought that view was breathtaking, little did I know what was to come. We then turned and headed towards the mountains we passed this place where it looked like we could go down a steep hill and get close to the water. And in my quest to provide people with the best pictures possible I decided to do it! Jake, Derrick, Kayleen's roommate and I head down the side to drink in the majesty of where we were.
We climbed back up to the hill to the road where I leaped over an old stone wall. I came away with a small cut and a little rash on my wrist (don't worry it disappeared within the hour). We then continued down the road. Passed by a house where WB Yeats lived, and went down a couple more hills to get some great shots as we came closer and closer to the mountain. We finally reached a parking lot where we started ascending the mountain, we were greeted with signs warning us of the dangers of straying off the marked path (we didn't really pay attention to those) and the sight of breathless hikers coming back from their trek. We started up a steep incline with some rock hewn steps and ended up at the top of a part of the mountain and looking out at the sea...the view was amazing. I am still in awe of it right now, I can't believe I actually witnessed it. We continued walking along the beaten path, stopping to take cool, cliff related pictures along the way.
After walking along for a little bit we came to this cliff that wasn't that steep and looked like it was walkable, their was a small path that had been made by people going down before. Since it was sunny and the ground was somewhat dry I decided that we should go down the hill. What a great decision that turned out to be. We walked around a somewhat flat part of the cliff and I got some great pictures it was glorious. We continued our walk, stopping along the way at various points. We hit another area where there were a bunch of rocks that we were able to sit on, and I was lounging looking out at the sea totally content with myself. It was an amazing hike, we finished up by going up a really steep hill to get to the peak of the mountain where there was a parking lot. We walked down the hill to a pub where I won three Euro playing blackjack on a machine! After that we walked a long way back to the town, down a long and winding road. The entire day I felt like I was walking through a movie/postcard/desktop background. We made it back to where we started and hung out in the town a little bit longer until getting back on the DART for our trip home. The trip back was uneventful, Adam and I ended up making dinner together (it was cute) and then I just relaxed for the rest of the night. In summary, my day was amazing, the scenery was beautiful, I am happy, I walked a lot, I am going to be really sore tomorrow.

9/19/08

After the shenanigans of last night we all slept in to try and recover. We woke up lounged around and then napped a bit, it was a very lazy day. By the evening we were fully recovered and were planning our night around Dublin Culture Night which is a night every year where museums and galleries are open late and free. It is to encourage people to go out and see things they might not normally see. After a little dilly dallying we decided to hit the Temple Bar district to see what it had to offer. Since we are constantly trying to expand our intellects, Jake, Adam, Derrick and I went to two galleries in Temple Bar, once again it was a surreal experience with all the people walking. It is really amazing to see. After we finished in the Temple Bar area, we crossed over and went into Dublin Castle. That was awesome as well because it is this old school castle that is in the middle of a modern city. Once on the grounds we decided to go to the Chester Beatty Library, which was the European Museum of the year in 2002! It was actually cool to see, it had old books from all over the world on one floor and then ancient religious books on the next. Some of the books were thousands of years old, which is amazing to think about. There are also some paintings in the library that are really cool. After finishing up there we met up with Kayleen and her beautiful roommates. From there we went to 4 Dame Lane which is a pretty badass club because there is no sign for it, only two cauldrons of fire above the door. That is how I want to mark my house someday. We were there because the European Business School (the place that Jake, Adam, Brian and I are taking a class) was hosting a party for all of its students. It was cool because there were a bunch of Europeans there (someone needs to introduce deodorant to a majority of Europeans because they have some bad body odor). After leaving there Jake, Derrick and I got some delicious Burger King and then headed home and called it a night.

9/18/08

I woke up around 9:20 am, which was another early morning. I am not a big fan of waking up, especially knowing that I had two classes. The commute is kind of a bummer considering that I am used to a 10-15 minute walk to class and now I have a 25-30 minute commute, it complicates things. Adam, Derrick, Brian and I all have the same two classes on Thursday, the first one Writing on the Wall was pretty good. The first half of the class we looked at pictures from this famous Northern Irish artist, the pictures were cool, some of them were kind of weird, I am not a big art guy, only a certain type of art appeases me. If I don't like it then it is a bummer and I dislike it. Our professor has a really cool perspective on life (he grew up in the middle of the troubles in Northern Ireland) and give us a different way to look at the situation then you find in the media or in books. After our break in the middle of class we watched the second half of Cal, which is the book we had to read for the class. The movie was awful and did no justice to the book, it cut out vital parts of the story and crunched a lot of different parts together, as it always seems to be the movie did the book no justice. After that class we had about a hour until our next class which was a walking tour of a Dublin neighborhood. Thinking we would need our camera's Derrick and I rushed back to our apartment to retrieve our cameras. It took us a hour to go back, get our cameras and make it to Saint Stephen's Green where we were meeting our professor (I ended up not taking any pictures). So it turned out to be a stressful and wasted trip. For our Irish Communal Identity Class we walked through a Dublin neighborhood, going from the "ghetto" to a very posh area and then back to a less wealthy neighborhood bordering on the Guinness factory. It was a very interesting walk because we went from touristy areas to former drug filled areas in a very short distance. It is amazing that so much money and so much suffering can be so close together. It is amazing that they seem to have invisible lines that aren't crossed. After that class we headed back to the apartment where I had some bread and butter and this awful chocolate milk drink that I bought at Tesco (I should have been suspicious that it was called milk drink!). Then everyone in the apartment ended up taking a nap to get ready for our night on the town. Jake decided to wake me up to start our festivities for the night. To make a long story short, we went to two pubs had an uproariously good time and I ended up waking up the next morning fully clothed with my shoes on under the covers. Which is always the sign of a great night!

9/14/08-9/17/08

I haven't posted in a few days because, after Saturday's wildly entertaining and successful day I have not done anything of much substance. After an awesome and crazy night on Saturday I didn't do anything on Sunday. I slept in and then sadly sat on my couch all day, getting up to eat and that is about it. Brian's friend who was in Dublin for orientation for her abroad program in Cork came over and she was cool. On Monday I did much of the same, except I woke up, showered and then went grocery shopping. I actually bought a week's worth of groceries, I am trying to cut down on my trips there to save money, I have learned that shopping while hungry is a bad idea and leads to a lot of frozen pizzas (they are quick and easy!). After another action packed day I decided that Tuesday needed to be different, I knew I had class at 4:30 so that was driving me to be somewhat productive. I got all of my notebooks and organized them along with my folders to get ready for the week. I did the readings I needed to do for Northern Irish Troubles (which was that night) and also Celtic Myth and Legend which is my Wednesday morning class. I also emailed a record store and found out that they had tickets left for the Death Cab for Cutie show that I talked about before. Jake, Adam, Derrick and I took the LUAS to Saint Stephen's Green and walked to the Temple Bar district. It was pretty cool to see it again during the day, and even though it is overpriced due to being a touristy spot I think we might go back one night just for the experience. It was pretty awesome to find because everywhere else was sold out and the only alternative was going to Belfast which might have been to economically irresponsible to go. Needless to say getting the tickets at face value was awesome and I am ridiculously pumped to go.
After we got tickets we walked back to the LUAS and took it back to Charlemont, which is the stop for the IES center, we were all there early (Adam was there just to do work, how studious). When we arrived Derrick found that he had this huge package from someone back home. Since were besties we all eagerly anticipated what was inside and let me tell you it met our expectations. Inside were various goodies that we will all benefit from whether Derrick likes it or not! Some of the notables were various medicines, especially nyquil so we won't have to worry about head colds anymore. There was also honey that goes o so well with tea, tissues (paper towels are uncomfortable on the nose) and some other things that were pretty sweet. We then went up to our class which was once again pretty interesting, went back to the apartment where I did some reading for my other classes and made a slide show for my Irish Communal Identity class which involved taking pictures of things that were new and different to me. That took up the rest of my night.
Today we all had Celtic Myth and Legend at 10, so we were out the door at 9:25 to make it to the IES center on time. Class was scintillating, after which Jake, Brian and I went to Aldi to check out there prices and pick up some things. We came back to the apartment, Brian and I both made lunch and then took a nap. I woke up to the distinct, melodic voice of Adam who had just gotten back from visiting his item Kayleen who just got into town for her study abroad program. She had come back with him to see our apartment and meet Brian, Derrick and I. She is incredibly sweet and I look forward to getting to know her. Boy Adam sure is lucky. I made another dinner of breaded chicken, potatoes and bread, this time I added in some spaghetti I had made the other night, Mom would be proud. I finished Cal for my Writing on the Wall class tomorrow morning and it was ok, not my favorite book of all time, but I got through it. It felt longer than 150 pages, which is never a good review of a book. I plan on finishing up some class work and then going to bed. Tomorrow night should be fun because we are planning on having a grand night on the town.

9/13/08

I woke up Saturday to my handsome roommate Adam wanting me to get ready to go to the pub to watch his beloved Manchester United take on Liverpool. So I got up and quickly got ready because it was nearly 12 and kickoff was 12:45. It didn't take long for me to get ready and Adam, Brian, Jake and I were headed to the LUAS to go to the Portabello. Once we got off the LUAS at Charlemont (same stop as the IES center). We started walking towards the Portabello, but saw a bunch of fans going into the Barge, so we made the decision to watch the game there (it turned out to be a good call because we later found out that there was no room to sit in the Portabello and we had our own room at the Barge). It turned out to be a really good game, Man U scored within the first 3 minutes, but then lost for the first time in a couple years to Liverpool who rallied and won 2-1 with a goal from a sub. It was a fun game to watch and a really cool atmosphere.
After the game we decided to head to Saint Stephens Green to walk around a bit. We actually walked around in the actual park (it was magnificent and green). We then walked around the entire area which includes Grafton Street. Adam, Jake and I got corralled by these two old Irish people who talked to us about God, it was definitely weird and ended in them saying we should think about becoming priests (that is never going to happen). Jake and I then stopped and got a pint of Guinness in Dawson's Lounge, which is billed as the smallest pub in Dublin. It was a really cool place, very small, but a great vibe. After that we walked with Brian (who disappeared and then reappeared like a magician) to the Saint Stephen's Green shopping mall to see about tickets for a music festival that night. The Hard Working Class Heroes music festival held at 6 different venues in the temple bar district. We decided to buy tickets along with tickets for Adam and Derrick. We came back to the apartment and told them and they were not that thrilled that we bought them tickets because they weren't sure if they want to go (it turned out ok because they both had a blast, it was an awesome time). We got back to the apartment and hung out for a bit and then got ready to go to the festival. We got on the LUAS again and this pack of girls that couldn't have been older then 16 were on and dressed up. One of the girls was obnoxiously drunk, we found out it was her birthday, and was making a fool of herself. The LUAS was packed as is, so her rants and yelling were aggravating us all. Especially her friends, because all but two of them decided to leave her before there stop because they couldn't stand her anymore. She will forever be known as Sloppy Girl.
So we walked down Grafton Street and headed to the Temple Bar District, we got there and it was cool to see. All the bartenders we have talked to have said that it is tourist central so they overcharge you (which lead to us having little desire to go out there). It was kind of surreal walking around with all the people on the cobblestone, pubs and cafes everywhere. We got the wristbands that we needed and headed to the Button Factory which was a lounge with a stage, it was neat. From there we went to four other venues and had a blast.
All the bands are either unsigned or not that big (hence Hard Working Class Heroes). We ended up to going to five of the six venues and all of them were awesome. These two bands we saw...hybrasil and frightened rabbits were awesome...the frightened rabbits actually open for death cab for cutie (a band a couple of my roommates and i are into) in Dublin and in Belfast. Dublin show is already sold out so we are going to try and see them in Belfast. It was awesome because we started the night with Hybrasil and ended with Frightened Rabbits.
It ended being an awesome night, one of the best I have had since being in Dublin. We caught the LUAS and headed back to Dundrum. Jake and I stopped at Tesco to get some food and then I headed back to my apartment where Derrick, Brian, Adam and I listened to some of the bands we heard and hung out until we went to bed.

9/12/08

Today I had to wake up at 8:45 am (the third day in a row of getting up that early) to make it to the IES center for 10 am. I had to be there that early because I am taking a class at the European Business School. Our orientation for that school was today. It is about a 25 minute walk from the IES center, but thankfully I can take the LUAS a couple stops past where I normally get off and cut it down to a 10 minute walk. Commuting to class is really proving to be a pain in the ass because I have to make sure to allocate enough time to get there. After our EBS orientation where we got id cards (I have way to many id cards in my wallet right now) and toured the library (it is a hell of a lot nicer then the one that IES has, think of IES like a closet and EBS like the first floor of a nice house). We (those of us taking EBS classes) walked back to the IES center because we had a follow-up orientation to supplement last weeks orientation at 11:45 am. All these orientations are a pain in the balls because they go over some of the stupidest things and are just a waste of time I can be using to sleep.
After yet another orientation, IES set up a scavenger hunt through what is known as the city centre in Dublin. We were in teams of four and we had a list of things we had to find and take pictures of or answer questions about. It was a really cool thing because it took us on a walking tour of Dublin that was fun (for example we awkwardly asked this red haired girl in front of Trinity College to take a picture with us because we got bonus points for taking a picture with a person with red hair). There was a hour and a half time limit so we had to hustle, but I had a great time, it was really interesting to see Dublin. We made it to the end point (a pub on Grafton Street) and had only failed to complete one of the tasks. With the level of success that we achieved we won 2nd place, and I won a cd! Not only that, but at the pub that marked the end of the scavenger hunt they bought us all a pint which is always a positive in my book.
After we finished up at The Duke (the pub we were at) Adam, Derrick, Jake and I headed back to the LUAS and headed back to our apartments. We got back and just hung out, I eventually made the same dinner as I had last night and tried to read some of the material that was assigned in class (it didn't go that well). After listening to my new cd, eating and just hanging out I went and laid down for a little bit. I came back to the living room after laying down and had a conversation with a certain special someone. I am now just hanging out in my living room, trying to rest up because I feel run down from the week. I am expecting big things this weekend so I need to have all the energy possible. Tomorrow I think we are going to a local music festival which should be awesome. I also found out last night that the Pogues were playing in Belfast early in December, so I think some of us from IES are going to take the train up to see them. After one week of classes it really seems like it is going to be an interesting semester.

9/11/08

I woke up knowing that Thursday would be my longest day of the week. I only have two classes, but they were for a total of five hours. Just like at home, professors cram a lot of information into 5 hours. My first class of the day was Writing on the Wall, the professor, Dr. Ashley Taggert, is also the director of the entire IES: Dublin program. The class is about the arts and literature that were created during the conflict in Northern Ireland. He actually lived in Belfast for about 16 years and experienced the things that these artists and writers went through. It seems like it is going to be an interesting class and the professor gives you a perspective that you can't find in textbooks.
After class I had a hour break before Irish Communal Identity. So I went to lunch with some of my flatmates and other people from the program. We went to a place called Rico's that looked really shady from the outside, but was actually clean on the inside. With a name like Rico's I assumed that it was owned by some Latino guy, but that was not the case, we walked in and it seemed like it was owned by these two Irish twins. After lunch we headed back to the IES center and started Irish Communal Identity, this class was my favorite class thus far in Dublin. My professor Darren Kelly is a very intelligent man who has lived in several different countries during his life. The class examines the culture class going on in Dublin between the traditional Irish and all the immigrants that the recent prosperity has drawn to the country. It is sort of a geographic psychology, examining how living in different locations can lead to you being a different person. It seems like a class that is really going to make me think, and I like to think!
After that class was over those of us who live in Dundrum headed back to the LUAS and took it back to Ballally, I stopped in Tesco to buy some school supplies (I was going to try and use only one notebook, but it quickly became evident that wasn't going to work). After getting back to the apartment I made an excellent dinner of potatoes, buttered bread and breaded chicken. Our entire apartment decided to nap before the night and low and behold we all woke up three hours later (we only wanted to nap for a hour). That pretty much harpooned any hope of going out since it was getting late fast. Some people came over our flat and we drank, Jake stopped by and we called people on Skype (some hung up on us, not knowing it was us). I also Skype chatted with my Egyptian Goddess...Maha. The people who were here went out and I decided to stay in and just hang out with Jake and Adam. It was a good choice because everyone was back in about a hour. We all hung out for another couple hours, Derrick and another girl in the program, Holly, were playing guitar and singing (it was really entertaining). People eventually filtered out and I ended up watching some TV and eventually went to bed.

Pubs

Since the coaster idea is becoming extremely cumbersome I have decided to just list the various pubs that I have been too.
-The Barge
-The Schoolhouse
-Boar's Head
-Gravity Bar (Guinness Factory)
-Ryan's Pub
-The Portabello
-The Duke

The Untold Story of Jake's 21st
street where Jake bought Jake and I both blacked out and I don't remember from about 1 am until I woke up, but from what we have heard is that: We got kicked out of the pub, Jake and I decided to go onto GraftonMcDonalds for us both (we don't remember getting or eating it) then we went to an ATM where I took out money as well as tried to piss on it while Jake shielded me. Keep in mind this is the busiest street in Grafton, thankfully two of the people we were with stopped this before the deed could be done. Jake, Derrick, Sarah and I then got a taxi home, after a couple minutes Jake handed the guy a 20 and said here is good, and got out. Derrick was freaked out because we had no idea where we were and weren't near Dundrum (I don't remember any of this). The reason Jake got out was because he had to puke, so he went into some random yard and, when Derrick went in to check on him, was laying in the yard with a big pile of puke around him. Evidently during this time I felt the urge to puke and stuck my head through a fence and did, some of which ended up on my shoes. Derrick said we had trouble getting a taxi back because of how drunk Jake and I were, but we made it back (Thank god for Derrick and Sarah) and I woke up the next day trying to figure out what the hell happened. It was a great night.

9/10/08

Today was another uneventful day, as classes start I feel like my days are going to become less and less exciting to my loyal readers. I had class at 10 today so I work up at 8:50, my roommate was in the bathroom so I made some tea and had a muffin and milk to start my day. I poured my tea and got into the bathroom and took my shower, came out and drank my tea. It was cool out today and also raining so I broke out my new coat I recently purchased from Pennies (it worked marvelously). I went to class which was taught by a professor who also teaches yoga. Celtic Myth and Legend seems like it can be an intensely interesting class, but today was all background information so it wasn't that interesting. Class was from 10-12:30 after which Adam had a class at 1:30 (I was thankfully done for the day after class). We (Adam, Derrick, Brian, Jake and I) decided that instead of all going out separate ways we would have lunch at the Portabello, a place we have frequented several times since being in Dublin. I had the Portabello Pesto Melt which was a delicious chicken, cheese and pesto toasted sandwich. I also collected the pint Adam owed me, which led to me having a Guinness with my meal.
After we finished lunch, Adam headed to class, while Derrick, Brian, Jake and I headed back to our apartments. I came back and started to watch Pineapple Express on my computer while Derrick and Brian took naps before there 4:30 class. After I finished the movie, Adam was back so we just hung out watching some American television on Irish stations (it is their primary source of programming). It seemed like my night would end there as I made yet another frozen pizza for dinner. Lo and behold after Derrick and Brian came back Derrick got a call from girls who live in the same apartment complex, but two building over. Evidently Tesco was having a wine festival (aka all there wines were cheaply priced) and wanted to know if we wanted to come over later that night to hang out. Since we were tired of sitting in our living room we decided it would be a good idea. After Adam finished his dinner, he, Brian and I made our way to Tesco. Once there I bought a lovely 5 Euro Tesco brand rose wine (I exude class, I know) and some more Bass Ale (it's a Euro a can, you can't beat it). After I had checked out, Brian and Adam checked out, but they were carded for the second time since we have been here (this requires them to show there passports, I kind of feel bad because Adam is 22 and Brian 20, they both look older then me, but have been carded twice. I haven't been carded yet, I must look scary).
We walked back to the apartment and sat around/got ready to go over the girls apartment. We ended up going there for a couple hours, during which I drank my wine and we watched TV and also talked, it was enjoyable, but nothing noteworthy happened. We came back to the apartment and had a few laughs (we were all feeling great at this point). I am just hanging out in my living room, watching a rebroadcast of college football getting ready for class tomorrow. I have two classes, one at 10 and the other at 1:30 and then I am free for the weekend. Get ready for some stories about a bunch of Americans going to a pub and singing karaoke.

9/8/08

Today was an easy and laid back day. I slept until 2:45 pm. Yes, I slept that late because I was up late following the Phillies game on mlb.com gamecast. Since I had nothing to do today I thought it wouldn't negatively effect me that much. So I woke up and booted up my computer to check my emails, and Sarah (one of the directors in the program) said that we needed to get monthly LUAS passes because the ones they gave us originally were about to expire. I thought it would only take us five minutes to get new ones, but I was most certainly wrong. First, we took to take the LUAS to the IES center (which is a 30 minute commute) and get a paper saying that we were full-time college students. Then we had to walk to trinity college, which took about 25 minutes, to apply for a student travel card. It was a pretty cool walk, there were some pretty cool stores and it was saw some more of Dublin. I actually saw a restaurant advertising "Real Hamburgers" which makes me wonder about what kind of hamburgers the rest of Dublin sells! There also were some pubs that we eventually want to visit.
As we were about to cross the street to get to Trinity college two girls who looked like they were 12 walked up to Derrick and asked him if he was American. He said yes, and then they asked him what he thought of Dublin and he said he thought it was nice. They responded by saying it was shithole, at which point they pulled out cigarettes and started to smoke (I'm almost positive they were 12!). They asked him about the weather in the States, to which he said its about 90 degrees, and there response was "Holy Shit," (imagine that being said with a stereotypical Irish accent, so it was like "Shite"). I couldn't get over the fact that they were 12 and so nonchalantly smoking and vulgar.
Trinity college is a really cool place, we went in through this tower, that almost seemed like a fortress, into a cobblestone court yard with old style buildings circling it. It was beautiful, the only bad part was that the grass was roped off and you can't walk on it! I just wanted to lay there. We applied for the cards and got them right away which is going to get us discounts throughout Ireland! From there we started to walk back toward the LUAS because we could pick it up at Saint Stephen's Green which would be easier than walking back to the IES center. It was cool because we walked through a part of town that we went through on the bus tour, so we were familiar with it. The one street we walked down, Grafton Street, is something like the 5th richest in the world, (its all stores, so they make a ton of money). It was really cool to see especially since on a Monday afternoon it was flooded with people. While walking down we saw a McDonalds and we decided to stop for lunch, because we figured it would be cheap, for the second time today I was wrong! It was 6.20 Euro ($8.75) for a Big Mac value meal, its highway robbery!
We finished our McDonalds (it isn't any better over here!) and walked to the LUAS stop at Saint Stephen's Green and got on the LUAS which we took back to our stop (Balally). Once we got off we had to go into Vivo (a convenience store next to the tracks) to buy our monthly LUAS pass. It was 43.80 Euro, they charged Adam and I 80 Euro cents for using our Visa cards, but Derrick and Brian used Visa's and didn't get charged! So in total it cost 58.80 Euro for the card and the Luas pass, but since we needed to buy both to commute, IES is going to reimburse us for it. Needless to say I was a happy camper when I found out that little ditty. After buying the passes we walked back to the apartment, we didn't do much, but Derrick and I rearranged our room. We turned our beds which makes our closet more accessible and gives us more room then we know what to do with.
After that we decided to go to Tesco and do some shopping. I got a shopping cart and I needed to use a Euro to unlock it (don't worry I got it back later). We decided that we were going to have a family dinner, which consisted of buying chicken, bread and Uncle Ben's 2 minute microwavable rice. We came back and made it and then ate it together at the kitchen table as a family. It was cute, but awkward at first because no one was talking, Derrick said this is awkward, which drew some laughs as he put music on (It was Frank Sinatra, it went well with dinner) which broke the ice and led to a great dinner and enjoyable conversation. The rest of the night is going to be spent just hanging out in the living room. Tomorrow brings about my first day of class, I am eagerly anticipating it to see what its going to be like.
I also found out tonight that Jake, Derrick, Adam, Brian and I are going to be meeting my friends Leslie, Maha and Amy from school in Amsterdam. It should be an awesome weekend, but it also means I am going to be researching cheap flights to Amsterdam.

9/7/08

So today I got to sleep in until 12 which was awesome, but the light has been out in my bathroom for two days now and since I don't have the patience to wait to use the other bathroom I got a small flashlight from my flatmate Adam and preceded to take a shower with almost no light, it was an experience. So I safely showered and started to get ready for the day. I looked out the window and it was absolutely Sheffy outside, probably the best day weather wise since I have been here. Capitalizing on this, Adam and I decided to go on a fact finding adventure of the area around our apartment. We walked to the left and found a Presbyterian church, I didn't realize they had those in Dublin! We walked the other direction down a road past several developments of very picturesque houses. We were behind these hooligans (Teenagers who were horsing around) the two kids kept pushing each other and almost got hit by cars a couple of times. I was worried I was going to watch the death of an Irish kid. We walked down this road which basically looped us around to the huge shopping center by our house. Instead of going back there, we took a left and walked past a couple pubs, including the one that we went to where the Irishman had the guitar. We also walked past about five different banks, pubs and banks are plentiful here (I guess so you can take money out to buy beer). We walked down to a stop earlier on the LUAS then we normally used, by which is a Domino's (they charge 15 Euro for a large cheese pizza, which is an abomination). We got on the LUAS and headed down to the Portabello, which is a pub right near the IES center which is supposedly a sports pub. We went there to watch the Gaelic Athletic Association's Hurling final. Hurling is a huge sport over here, like I talked about yesterday. We watched the minor (U-21) final between Kilkenny and Galway. Kilkenny is something of a hurling dynasty. It was an amazing game to watch, you can score two ways, it is extremely physical and fast. I wish that it was popular in America so I could play it. I had bangers and mashers at the pub, which is a kind of sausage and mashed potatoes that had a unique taste. The pub we were at wasn't very intense, nor did it have many people. Luckily someone else from the IES program went down to the bar where I had my first Guinness (The Barge). He came down and said that it had more people and a better atmosphere.
I went down there for the start of the main event which was Kilkenny (I told you it was a dynasty, going for their third title in a row, it would be the first time that ever happened) vs Waterford (At there 1st final since 1963). I bet my flat mates Derrick and Adam a pint each that Kilkenny would beat Waterford. The atmosphere in the Barge was awesome and the game started out tight, but before long, aka after about five minutes Kilkenny started to pull away. Sadly, even though it became obvious that early I was going to win the bet, it wasn't that satisfying because I wanted to watch a close and exciting game. The game ended Kilkenny 3-30 (3 goals and 30 field goals for a total of 39 points) Waterford 1-13 (1 goal and 13 field goals for a total of 16 points). In hurling that is wiping the floor with your opponent. Because of this, Adam, Derrick, Brian and I hopped the train back to our apartment, we got off a stop early just to walk through town and went into the Dundrum Town Center (the huge mall by our apartment). We walked into an area that had a McDonalds, a TGI Friday's, a KFC, a Pizza Hut and a Benningans. We didn't go in, but hopefully it is as cheap here as it is in America. I guess this is why you never hear about Irish food, because its all American chains!
We walked around to Pennies, (the discount clothing chain) and I bought a jacket for the rain and a new shirt all for 20 Euros! I was pumped because the jacket looks like its really high quality and should be able to fight the rain as well as the cold as we get later in the semester. After I made my purchases there, we went up to Tesco (the store I will probably visit most while here) and got some more cheap frozen pizzas as well as some minute rice for the week. We came back to the apartment and Adam, Brian and I made some breaded chicken, rice and corn/peas for our dinner. After that I have just been hanging out around the apartment watching tv with the roomies and talking on Skype. It has been a nice and relaxing night to end an interesting week. Class starts on Tuesday, so that should be an experience. The coaster collection is growing nicely and is currently at 6!

9/6/08

Today I woke up at 11, which would have been fine except for the fact that I needed to be at Saint Stephen's Green for 12 and it was at least 35 minutes away add in that none of my roommates were up and you have a recipe for rush. So I grabbed a shower and I got ready as my roommates did the same. We got ready and then rushed toward the LUAS station where we ran into two girls who are also in IES so at least we knew that we weren't the only ones who were running a bit behind. On the train we seemed to be making great time until we passed the stop that we usually get off at to get to the IES center. We didn't realize that it slowed down as it snaked around corners and had to deal with traffic. I wasn't sure we were going to make it, until our train passed our RA who was walking to where we were meeting. We got off at Saint Stephen's Green and saw this beautiful park, we walked down the street to Grafton Street, which is the fifth most expensive street in the world. Needless to say, it was packed with people. I definitely want to go back and explore it in the future it looked awesome. So we got onto our double-decker tour bus (it was cool we could get on and off as we pleased because other buses made the same circuit), and went off on our tour of Dublin! Right away I knew it was going to be awesome because we passed Dawson's Lounge, the smallest pub in Dublin. It can hold 22 people at a time, and only if everyone is standing. We passed several cathedrals and other landmarks including Dublin Castle which I was to visit at another date. We also passed a jail that held prisoners from the 1916 Easter Rising. All these things seemed amazing and I wished that we could have stopped at them all, but we didn't have all day and there was only one place on my mind...The Guinness Factory! Ever since I knew I was going to be in Dublin I had planned on visiting. We walked in and it was really cool because as we stood in line they had TV's playing past Guinness commercials, ones I had never seen before including one for hurling.
The reason the one for hurling stuck out to me is because tomorrow is the Irish hurling final. Hurling (the fastest field sport on earth) is a huge deal in Ireland, it has been described to me by the locals as ice hockey with no rules. It is a huge point of pride as the teams are fielded by county and the players aren't paid and play for honor.
So we finally got our tickets, the student discount was very nice and we went upstairs to the beginning of the self-guided factory tour. We passed the gift shop area and looked at the 9,000 year lease that Arthur Guinness signed for Saint James Gate! 9,000 years at $25 a year is quite a deal! After seeing the Sam Adams factory last summer I was a little disappointed by the set up because they had you take the tour yourself so it became repetitive and didn't find out anything of any substance. Other than the water for Guinness comes from the Wicklow Mountains, they look gorgeous and I am going to visit them at some point. Some of the highlights were the tasting room (you sampled a small glass of Guinness with half the level of alcohol) the other highlight was the gravity bar, one of the highlights of my trip to Dublin so far. It is where you get your free pint at the end of the tour. It is on the 7th floor and it is enclosed by glass so you have a 360 degree view of Dublin. Not only was it the best Guinness I've ever had, but it was an amazing location and the view was breathtaking, I was beaming. On the way back down I bought a shirt and then we headed back to the bus.
We got back on the bus and took it around to the stop for the Jamieson Distillery. Before we were going to go on the tour we wanted to get lunch so we walked around the area, which was awesome, lots of stores and people and found this place called the Boar's Head. There I had a bacon and stuffing burger and it was excellent. It was especially cool because we were able to watch some of the World Cup qualifiers on a big screen tv. When we were done we decided to do the tour on another day, because at that point we were not only tired, but running out of time and we didn't want to rush the tour. So we walked back to the bus stop and took the bus around the rest of the loop. We got off where we started and took the LUAS back to our stop and headed back to our apartment.
Sidenote- Crossing the street in Dublin is an adventure because I have to constantly remind myself that the cars are coming the other way, and if you don't think about it, it can be dangerous.
This kid who lives in the building next door came back with us and played my roommate Derrick's guitar and it was extremely annoying, after he left we just hung out and watched TV. Everyone is pretty tired so we are taking it easy tonight. Tomorrow we are going to a pub to watch the hurling final with the natives so it should be an interesting day.

9/5/08

When I arrived on Wednesday it was remarkable, it would be bright and sunny one minute and raining sideways the next. I figured if the weather was like this all semester it would be fine. Well Friday morning I was introduced to Irish rain, which is a cold biting rain that is wind blown and soaks every inch of your body. I found out very quickly that my light coat only provided a little protection from it and only some protection from the wind. I forgot to pack an umbrella (amazingly the Irish don't all carry umbrellas, they just seem to not let it bother them, I guess you can get used to it) as well so my the time I made it to the IES center I had to dry my hair off with a towel, it was a rude awakening. On Friday we had a really boring day of orientation what made it even worse was the fact that I was soaked. Around lunch time we walked to an athletic club about five minutes away and they provided us lunch. It was this fancy chicken salad with broccoli and feta cheese, pasta and cous-cous. I found out that I hate cous-cous. We went back to the IES center and had our academic orientation and were able to sign up for our classes. They seem like they are going to be interesting. I am taking a business law class at the European Business School which is taught by an actual lawyer here (they are called barristers). I am also taking Northern Irish Troubles, a class about the history of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Celtic Myth and Legend which basically is a class about the myth and legends of Ireland. I am taking Writing on the Wall which is taught by the director of IES: Dublin, he lived in Belfast for sixteen years and it is going to explore the type of art and literature that came out of Northern Ireland during the conflict. Finally I am taking Irish Communal Identity which looks at how where you live affects who you are and what you do, it seems like it is going to be very interesting because we are going to be taking walking tours of Dublin that go to places that aren't on the tourist maps. The best part is I only have class Tuesday-Thursday so I have a four day weekend!
After we finished up for the day we headed back to Dundrum and went back to the Dundrum town center. Instead of just going to Tesco Jake and I walked around the mall a little bit to see what was there. We found this store called Penney's that had very reasonably priced stuff. I can buy a heavy coat that should be waterproof for only 15 Euro! I didn't buy it because I wanted to make sure I was getting a good deal. We went and got some things at Tesco and then headed back to the apartment. I made a frozen pizza for dinner and then I took a nap before some people came over to pregame. I woke up as the first person got here and we started to play kings, after playing for a little bit we decided to go out to one of the pubs in Dundrum. We went to a night club first, but no one wanted to pay a cover charge so we walked a little bit further down the road and ended up at Ryan's Pub. I was in a group of about 8 people, we went through a bar and into a bigger lounge, but Jake and I decided to go back to the bar and drink with the locals. This was far and away one of the best decisions I have ever made. We sat down next to this old Irish guy and proceeded to have a long discussion on a variety of topics including, Sarah Palin, George Bush, Europe, the United States, places to travel in Ireland and Guinness. It was one of the coolest conversations I have ever had. We are sitting there and the next thing you know one of the locals sitting at the bar wearing a Yankees hat takes out a guitar and starts to sing. It was amazing, he just started singing Irish songs and the other people at the bar were singing along. After a little bit some of the people we were with filtered back into the bar to sit with us, and listen to the music the next thing you know the guy starts playing knocking on heaven's door and everybody is singing along. He played some other American songs, and my roommate took the guitar at one point and played Mary Jane's last dance. It was awesome and when I thought it couldn't get any better the guy started playing Hotel California and everyone in the room was singing along. I just sat back at one point and couldn't believe what was happening. It was a hell of an end to a hell of a night. After that the bar closed and I headed back to the apartment and went to sleep.

9/3/08-9/4/08

After months of anticipation I finally arrived in Ireland, the flight was long, they showed one movie and it was a chick-flick (boo). The food was ok, but we sat on the runway for a hour and a half, it was rough. But I finally arrived Wednesday September 3rd, 2008 at around 8 am.
It was interesting going through the airport because it was not that well laid out, going through immigration was pretty easy and they seemed more excited that I was staying for four months then paranoid that I wasn't going to study. It was pretty cool walking through the airport not knowing what to expect. I walked to where i was going to exit the airport and sure enough there was an IES sign and this lass with an Irish accent greeted me with Hello Joe. I was pretty surprised that she knew who I was until I realized that I had sent in a picture months earlier. But it was still nice to feel welcome. What they say is true, everyone here is really polite which is awesome. So I took a taxi with another girl in my apartment complex. I wasn't sure what to expect going to the apartment, but the ride was absolutely amazing, all the pictures you see don't do justice to the beauty, even along the highway. The other thing I noticed was the fact that almost every car I saw was new and in great condition. I was in one of the nicest Nissan taxis of all time, and that was just a prelude about what was to come. We finally pulled up to our apartment and I was in shock with how nice it is. My apartment complex is a gated community meaning the only way to get in is through wrought iron gates that are locked. So our RA threw my key down and I was through the first gate. I walked up to the building that my apartment is in (there are four buildings) and I needed to use the same key to access the building.
So I had my suitcases and I figured being on the second floor I could walk up one flight of stairs and be in my apartment, little did I realize that I was on the ground floor and the 2nd floor was actually to floors up, not one. So I lugged my luggage up the stairs and finally got to my door, I was full of anticipation knowing that I was going to be the first person in my apartment. I opened the door and I walked in and I was instantly impressed with the hard wood floors. I put my bags down and started to walk around and I was in complete shock because the apartment is gorgeous. It is one of the nicest apartments I have ever been in with a sweet balcony to boot. Needless to say I was thrilled. Since I was first I got to pick the biggest bedroom, the one with its own bathroom! So I put my stuff on the bed and just sat at the kitchen table in shock from what was around me. I was finally realizing my dream of living in Ireland. In walked my RA who is a lovely woman from northern Ireland whose name is Marieaid (not how its spelled, but I don't know how to spell it) I talked to her for a bit about Ireland and things to do (Ireland is supposed to be big for festivals). After a little bit my first roommate showed up, his name is Derrick and he goes to University of Indiana. He picked the same room as me and is a really cool kid who I get along with very well. He was in as big of shock as I was which resulted in us taking lots of pictures of the apartment.
Side note-There is a picture of the Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood) over my bed)
So we just hung out around the apartment and waited for our final two roommates to show up, who did a hour later, conveniently in the same cab. We exchanged hellos from the balcony and before long Adam and Brian entered my life. Adam also goes to Indiana, but did not know Derek and Brian goes to Tufts. Both took the only room remaining and we started the bonding process. I was a little nervous about roommates especially after my Dad asked if there was a way to change roommates if I didn't like them. Thankfully all three are really cool and we get along great. The best part is the timid getting to know each other period did not last very long, we all are sarcastic and have good senses of humors so the digs started almost immediately which has led to constant laughter. We know refer to each other as flat-mates or more affectionately besties. It has gone so well that other people in the program were asking if we had known each other before we got here.
We started out the day by having Jake come over because he couldn't get into his apartment so he met my flat-mates and we decided to go to the Tesco (a kind of Irish Wal-Mart) which is a five minute walk from our apartment and in the largest shopping center in Ireland, the Dundrum Town Center. So we got to the store and I have to say it is some pretty cheap stuff. I hopefully got a weeks worth of groceries for 24 Euros! It was pretty weird to go into a grocery store and just have a huge alcohol section that I legally have access to. So I bought some groceries including a six pack of Bavarian Crown, a fine import from Holland (not). So my first beer in Ireland was from Holland. We got back and we put our beer in the freezer and I made a cheap frozen pizza, which could have been worse. I ate and then we watched some TV which is a high percentage of American shows. Our RA came over around 6:30 and gave us an mini-orientation about our apartment and how to use some of the appliances. She left to go show other apartments and we ended up meeting her a little bit later so she could walk us through our commute which includes a train ride. We walked and saw the IES center and then met all the other students at a pub where I had my first Guinness in Ireland which was delicious.
We stayed there for about a hour and then headed back to the apartment because we were all tired from our flights.
So we went to bed and got up Friday at around 8 am which was not the most pleasant feeling in the world. We needed to be at the IES center at 9:15 am and we miraculously made it there by 9:19 am which was a good start to the day. We had a little safety orientation in the morning and I also got a cell phone, after the couple hours of that we got on a bus and went to Glendalough which is the site of a former monastery. The ride there was gorgeous, I cannot state how beautiful this country is, the pictures I have taken do not do it justice. We took this long and winding road through the countryside which was a little scary because the roads were definitely not designed for a big bus. It added to the adventure though. We ended up at Glendalough and had lunch which consisted of sandwiches and broth, it was actually pretty good. I have also found something I enjoy which is tea with milk and sugar. After lunch we took a tour of the monastery which was really cool, our tour guide was funny and informative. We found out that Daniel Day-Lewis runs in the area routinely. After the tour we took a long path to go to a lake in the valley that seemed straight out of braveheart which was awesome. It was cool to see the lake and childishly skip stones. We eventually made it back to the bus and it dropped us off at the IES center. IES was taking out to dinner that night, but it was a 30 minute walk from the center! So they dropped us off and then made us walk a long distance. The walk was fun because we got to see some of Dublin which made it worth it. We got to this restaurant called the Schoolhouse and had a great dinner there. The dinner consisted of red pepper soup, rib eye and mashed potatoes and a browine with vanilla ice cream, it was a great meal to end the night.
We walked back to the LUAS (train-which was interesting because they don't require tickets to get on, its a honor system, and sometimes they have people on the train checking tickets. IES gives those of us living in Dundrum tickets because we have to commute to class. The girls who were with us lived within walking distance to the IES center so they didn't have passes. We decided it wasn't worth it for them to buy tickets and they illegally got on the train. All seemed fine until a couple stops later the ticket checkers came on! Well I immediately got a knot in my stomach, because even though I was fine I still would feel bad if they got written up and recieved a 45 euro fine. As the ticket checkers got closer I realized the only thing we could hope for was getting to our stop before they got to us, thankfully our stop was the next one. I refused to make eye contact with the checkers thinking the guilty look in my eyes would have them skip people to get to us. The guy was one person away from me as our train started to slow down, he finished checking the ticket of the person in front of me as the doors opened and we all walked out. We are never going to ride the LUAS illegally again.) and came back to our apartment, stopping at the Tesco to pick us some things (wash cloth, laundry detergent). Came back to the apartment with some girls from the program and hung out with them. After they left we watched some Rocky and conversed in the living room.
I also started a collection that I hadn't even thought about. I picked up a coaster at the Schoolhouse and put it in my pocket. I pulled it out when I was taking everything out of my pocket and Adam came up with a brilliant idea, we are going to take coasters from the bars we go to and write the name of the place and the date we were there as sort of a running tally of where we have been. The plan is to also get a giant map of Dublin and plot where we have been and where we want to go. All in all it should be an extremely entertaining and fun semester full of shenanigans. It is definitely a different tempo to life here and should be something that is enlightening in a way. it is amazing that English can be so different, the sayings and words they use are completely different and you really have to think to follow along. I think it will get easier the longer I am here and help me accomplish my goal. My goal is to develop a kickass Irish accent for when I get back to America, I know that here I'll sound like such a foreigner, but at home I will sound so badass. More to come.