Signing Out From Dublin

I'm sitting here writing this post, trying to sum up all of the experiences and emotions I've felt over the last 4 months in this tiny little country, and it's surprisingly harder than I thought. I've decided to compare Ireland (perhaps appropriately) to a rainstorm, to try to convey what it meant to me.

(Note, if you studied in Ireland this semester and are uncomfortable with leaving, this may promote the rapid growth of tears on your cheeks)

 

1. When you look outside and see it raining, you don't necessarily want to go out- I was originally anxious about coming overseas. Dublin was the only city I've lived in, it's across a big blue ocean that you can't exactly drive across, and I would be leaving the comfort of my friends, family (and yes, even my blackberry) at home. I kept saying that I would be happy enough studying back at UNC, and I was just doing this semester for the experience. It's like when you need to run out to the grocery store to buy paprika for a recipe that really doesn't need paprika, but would go so much better if you had paprika.

 

2. At first, the exhiliration of being comfortable in your coat and feeling the rain drops propels you to your goal- The novelty of walking down the streets of dublin, catching the bus around town, meeting all the new people, getting used to new brands like Insomnia, Tayto, Londis, Berry's, Guinness were exciting. Pub culture is something I never had experienced before, having only just turned the ripe age of 21. Hearing the unique accents from North/South Dublin, North Ireland, Cork, and Galway was enthralling. Walking the quay and catching cabs and being metropolitan was amazing. Planning all the trips around Ireland and Europe just made me downright giddy. 

  3. ...That is, until the water seeps through your clothes and shoes and wets you to the bone- Culture shock is still culture shock, and after that initial excitement, all the anxieties come back to attack you. It was about a month in that I got incredibly homesick, and the only thing I could think about was counting down the days until I went back home. Whether this was the result of things occurring at home, or the experience I was having here, I felt like I just wanted to go back to UNC and forget the Irish education I was experiencing at UCD. It just was too overwhelming, maybe I had made the wrong decision coming to Ireland.

4. So you step inside for a hot minute at the pub to dry off- I had a couple trips to places like Barcelona/Valencia/Madrid/Paris with some amazing friends from back home. Seeing them was fantastic, and gave me that touch of home I had been missing. They gave me some great advice and the fraternal love I felt was exactly what I needed at the time. It reminded me of the fantastic support system I know I have all around the world, and gave me a good amount of confidence to step back out into the rainstorm.

5. After putting on a warmer coat, you step back into the rainstorm- I think it was really around St. Paddy's day that I really got comfortable with the people I knew here in Ireland. I stopped relying on UNC and its people to be responsible for my happiness and/or entertainment, and the best relationships I created (possibly ever) stemmed from right around this point. This was the catastrophe-or turning point- that I needed to get back in a groove. Trips to Malin Head, nights out around Dublin, doing La Revencha de Romeo y Julieta.. all gave me incredible memories I treasure and will continue to treasure.

6. Getting to the grocery store (preferably tesco) down the street)- You get to the store and realize that while you wanted paprika originally, now you think you want to try the cajun spices, or the garlic powder, or the parsley to add to the dish. Whatever I was thinking of what would come out of the other side of a trip to Ireland originally, I'm sure it's not this. I would like to say this experience didn't just leave me wet and angry that I didn't see a leperchaun. Looking back and seeing the rumspringa that occurred over the semester, I would change few things. Never the holistic experience though.

Oh yea, and I went to class one or two times.

(Note, here I tried to list everything I was going to miss about Ireland, but I could never be all-inclusive of everything, so I just gave up)

I know it's still raining outside, and I'm sure it will always be raining in Ireland. Now, at this point, I'd rather stay here with all my friends than go back across (ironic twist of events). I guess that's just part of the adventure. Maybe you just have to be soaked to the bone and go crazy in order to love this place.

From Dublin, with craíc, thank you all for going along with me during this semester. It's been amazing

Parliament, Playing Ball, and People in the IRA

I refuse to acknowledge the end to this wonderful semester I've had, so this will definitely not be a wrap up post. This is just a bi-weekly update
This blog entry will be brought to you in BULLET POINT ATTACK! form

• Finals time here in Dublin! I found that in the majority of the essays I turned in for class, very few actually contained pertinent information we obtained during lectures. 90% of the material on these final 3 papers due last week had to do with outside research (mostly written by the lecturers (but still)). Also, it's completely a different sense of business here. Instead of rushing to finish finals and get the students off campus, UCD stretches their testing into a 3 week dragged out process to allow real studying and review here. With two tests on Wednesday, I'll be done with my Irish educational experience. However, studying Dr. Dre and the west coast hip-hop movement doesn't really make me feel like I'm studying at all.

Dre says LEEEARRRNNN

Minister Ruari Quinn and Gil Ross

Croke Park with the Irishmen

• My blogging for Ireland's company "Education in Ireland" turned out to be a fruitful pursuit. I ended up going to the closing ceremony 2.5 weeks ago at the Department of Education in Dublin 1.  It was a posh event where I got to meet the people in charge of the organization, other students who had been blogging (about 20 in all), and even the Minister of Education over coffee. He gave a lecture talking about how Ireland was increasingly becoming one of the most popular places to study in the world, and how Ireland was an agrarian peripheral state (by constitutional decree) as recently as 30 years ago. It was really interesting (in addition to other things I've learned) to see what direction Ireland was heading in. After his speech, we got a fancy photo and oversized certificate celebrating the 4 copy/paste jobs I did from this blog to that one. Where would we be without modern technology? Afterwards, we got to tour the upper and lower houses of Parliament (an invitation-only venue) and got steak on the expense of Education in Ireland. It was a really great experience overall, and I'm really enthused that I could contribute to the cause.
• My lovely friends found student tickets to go to Croke park to watch the final between counties Cork and Mayo in Gaelic football. Having no prior knowledge of Gaelic football, I went in with no expectations. Essentially, it's a lot like rugby, except you can't tackle people, you have to dribble the ball every five steps, you can score goals like in soccer, kick/throw it over football-like uprights...ok. So you're right, it's nothing like football. However, we did get to see a fight between the two teams, and no one died. high points of the game included the stadium hotdog for 4€ I've craved for so long. Normal points include that it was raining and cold and windy and we were sitting out in the open (normal because I've given up complaining about the weather. I've learned to love the fact that it's raining right now. And 50 degrees.) BUT DEFINITELY GET OUT TO CROKE PARK IF YOU COME TO DUBLIN. Including the GAA museum on the ground floor. After that, my friend Tommy Wallace stopped over in Dublin on his way back from Barcelona, and I gave him a 4 hour tour of Dublin between the hours of 12-4 am. As expected, there's not a lot open besides the kebab shops at the time. Oh well.
• I made it out to Cork (again) with a much greater appreciation of the surroundings this time. You never realize how small a place is until you spend a lot of time in a city with public transportation. We walked across the city in close to 15 minutes, browsing their shops, the english market (like a farmer's market but w/ super super cheap prices). Also, I'd highly recommend going to Shelia's hostel. When we finished touring the city during the day, we came back to the hostel, watched Martin McDonagh's "In Bruges" and just chilled for the day (it was raining, so we stayed inside and warm). I was sitting in the lobby just reading alone when the hostel owner came up to me and started talking about the IRA influence in Ireland and the differences between Cork and Dublin. He had apparently spent some time in Oregon, and claimed it was the most racist, backcountry place he had ever been to. I saw comparisons to rural TN. He told us stories about times during the Irish conflict including a comedic anecdote about the Mortar attacks on London Heathrow by the IRA during the break-down in peace talks in the 90's. Apparently, the IRA launched 4 dead mortars at the roof of terminal 4 as a "message." He just wrote this up to dark Irish humour. Then he gave us some great connections and we went out into the city and had some good craíc. Other highlights of the trip include a voyage down to Cobh and Kinsdale, which were big sites for the Titanic. One of the more chill trips I've taken during the semester. I've basically learned that if you insult the british whilst in Ireland, you'll curry favor pretty quickly
  
  
  
  
  
  Sorry for the format, it appears that blogspot doesn't take too kindly to bullet form. One might say that they're bulletproof. Anyways, I'll probably have a wrap-up post of Ireland in about a week, when I've come to grips with the fact that I have to leave this emerald Isle and don't have any studying to do. Slaínte!