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.