Of Dublin and Connemara and Galway, oh my!

It's been a very eventful few weeks since I arrived here in Galway.  It's been difficult adjusting to the time zone and new school, while at the same time going on excursions around the country every weekend, but I'm beginning to manage and finally feel at home here. 

Our first excursion was a couple of weeks ago, and we went to Dublin (see the photos at: http://flickr.com/photos/tempichanges/sets/72157612748832326/). It was our first excursion, and it was made even more stressful by the fact that I had a rather terrible cold at the time, but I still managed to take in as much as possible in our short two days there!  

We began our trip by a visit to the Gaelic Athletic Association museum and Croke Park. I love the fact that the GAA was a bit of a rebellious organization, by continuing to play the traditional irish sports even against British rule. It certainly fits with the attitude of the two traditional Irish sports, Hurling and Gaelic football.  The ferocity of play and shameless aggression displayed by the players matches what passion and intensity I have encountered in the Irish people! The tour was really interesting, mostly because we got to go into all areas of the stadium, including the locker rooms, player's bar (only in Ireland would there be a free pub for players after the game!), and VIP areas. 

After a rather dismal lunch in the cafe (somehow the Irish have yet to master the burrito), we then moved on to the Guiness brewery. While I'm not a big beer drinker myself, you can't help but appreciate the years of tradition and intense labor that goes into a beverage who, after a few pints, will ultimately make you forget what it tasted like in the first place.  I remember our tour guide being quite good, with the kind of enthusiasm and dry humor that I've come to take for granted here.  That is one thing I've really noticed: no matter what the subject, no matter how boring or mundane, the Irish people have a way of mustering some sort of enthusiasm, or at least appreciation, for whatever it is! Anywho, after the obligatory taste of Guiness (rather bitter, if you haven't tasted it before. But I suppose that's in keeping with the stout variety), we headed off to a very sobering tour of Kilmainham Jail.

Kilmainham Jail is famous because it housed, and ultimately executed, many leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising.  I really enjoyed the tour because it was, by a large extent, the most historically and culturally telling tour we had taken so far. You can tell a lot about a culture through its struggles and times of strife, and the Irish have sure had their fair share. Yet the experience left me feeling humbled by the the sheer resilience of the people, and left me feeling a bit unsettled for the rest of the day.

That evening was the long and trying quest for food. It's one thing when you are dropped in a foreign city and you need something for dinner. Its another thing when you're tired, sick, low on blood sugar, and everyone has a different food allergy to deal with!  That was one of the most trying times of the trip so far, simply because the four of us who I went with were beyond tired, and a little grumpy because of it. Eventually, after walking a few miles around Dublin, we settled on a cafe with lukewarm food, but at least it was something.  Once we got back to the hostel (a very nice place called Kinlay house, I would recommend it if you were to go) we crashed hard, and slept the sleep of the Nyquil. 

The next morning, we got up early and went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. This was probably my favorite moment of the entire Dublin trip. We were there rather early (9AM), so there was no one else around, and it was one of those cold, clear January mornings when the sunlight just bathes the place in gold. While we didn't actually get to see the Book of Kells (a copy is on display right now while the original was being restored), it was beyond amazing to see something that old and delicately done. All the precision and concentration it must have taken to create something like that really astounded me. Then you go up a flight of stairs to the Long Room. Now, imagine the most beautiful library you have even seen. Then multiply it by ten, and imagine the library from Beauty and the Beast, and that's the long room! I just wanted to stay there for hours, with all the tall, mahogany colored bookshelves and the beautiful barrel vaults and archways. And the Books! They are seriously old and beautiful and it made me want to go into Library science just so I could one day touch one.

Anyway, I digress. Unfortunately my computer battery is about to run out, and I have no (or very spotty) internet back at Gort na Coiribe, so I'm going to save the rest of the description until next time!

-Melissa

I'm Here!

Well, I've been here for two days now, and all I can say is WOW! What a flurry of activity and meetings and things to do and places to be! It can be kind of overwhelming, but for the moment I'm grateful that I don't have a ton of downtime to get homesick or worried.  The first plane ride was quite nice, and uneventful, though I forgot to fully charge my computer before I left home, so I relied mostly on my books and iPod to entertain me!  Then I had a massive layover in JFK. Now, I don't know if you've spent a lot of time there, but that place is noisy, and busy and pretty awful, so I was glad that I forked over the relatively low cost to go into the Delta Crown Club Room there.  

I am in love with the crown room, I've decided. In fact, I made a list of all the wonderful things about the crown room:

1.  Its quiet: because people who don't have a one time pass like I did, fork out a lot of money to go in there and have it be quiet, so it is! Very few children (only kids of members can come in, and you have to be 21+ to be a member)

2. There are nice media ports and comfortable chairs: So comfortable, that if you hadn't slept in 28 hours like me, you have a risk of falling asleep

3. There is a free buffet, and free drinks.  So, if you happen to eat a lot and drink alot, you would spend the same amount getting the one day pass and you would on food in the noisy JFK food court.

I could go on and on, but then I would run the risk of sounding like an advertisement, so I'll stop there.  After my 7 hour layover stay in the airport, my plane to Shannon Ireland was delayed for a half hour because it was overbooked.  So I was just minding my own business reading as they kept coming over the loudspeakers for volunteers to give up their seats, when suddenly I heard an announcement asking several passengers, including myself, to come up to the service desk. My first thought was: Oh no, they are bumping me from the plane and I HAVE to be in Ireland at 10AM tomorrow! Yet, in fact, they were not bumping me from the plane, but instead bumping me up to FIRST CLASS!  I was so excited!!  The plane ride to Shannon was simply amazing, I had a four course meal, a personal TV monitor, A pillow and blanket, and a seat that reclined to nearly fully flat! 

When I arrived in Shannon, I went through passport and customs very quickly and easily, and was met by Maeve from the university and Ken, our bus driver, as well as the rest of the group who had gotten there the night before.  It was an amazingly clear and sunny day for Ireland, though dreadfully cold, and the bus ride through the countryside to Galway was like a picture postcard. The thing that was the most exciting for me was to see all the agriculture and fields with stone walls instead of fences surrounding herds of sheep grazing. All the houses were a bit larger than I expected, but of that pleasant English Countryside architecture that you think you only see in the movies.  We immediately got to Gort na Coiribe (our resident village, I'll post more pictures of my townhouse soon), and were given the keys to our places, which are more like cards that you wave in front of this sensor on the door that magically opens it! We had a couple of hours to settle in, and to go shopping before we had to meet with Ailbhe (pronounced Al-vuh) in front of the reception area.

Thank goodness we had time for shopping too! I had to buy sheets, electronics, food and other necessities before dinner, and the prices are just huge over here! The prices on the tags are about the same as at home, but you have to remember that everything is in Euros now! So that drives up the price astronomically when doing the conversions! Thankfully, the store across the street, Dunnes, is relatively reasonably priced for housewares, but a store down the street, Tesco, is cheaper for groceries, or so I've found so far.

Ailbhe is extremely nice, and she walked us over to the university, showing us the sights and some important buildings along the way. I really like her, and am excited that she will be teaching part of our Irish studies course, as well as going with us on the excursions.  We had a really nice dinner with Ailbhe, Maeve, the dean, and our professor from willamette, Ortwin Knorr, and his lovely family at the Quadrangle building. The Quadrangle building is the most beautiful building on campus (The picture above is of its chapel from the courtyard), with the most charming lamppost in the center which reminded me of the lamppost where Tumnus meets Lucy in the chronicles of Narnia. If only it had been snowing!

 I had a hard time falling asleep last night, jetlagged as I was, but I slept for 12.5 blissful hours once I did, and missed my friends for the early campus tour this morning. Thankfully I caught the second tour, and have found the campus to be much more navigate-able than I had thought last night.  Today has just been more shopping and unpacking, but tomorrow is going to be very busy, with a full orientation schedule!