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!