Drummylicious Visit

This past weekend, I had the wonderful joy of hosting a visit from my fabulous friend, Caitlin, who came from London. There was plenty of craic to go around, which was good because I finally have work now at UCD, and I needed a nice weekend. I actually had to turn in two essays this past week, and I've got two more due this week. Let me take a brief moment to just share some things my professors have taught me about essay-writing here:

• You are not supposed to plagiarize.
• You are supposed to have a thesis statement, topic sentences, and quotes from the text as evidence of your point.
• Essays will be accepted until two weeks after the due date has passed (at a loss of half a grade a day).

I do not consider myself to be a snob, or a particularly judgmental human being, but HONESTLY. Back at Penn, if you hand in you essay two HOURS after the deadline, good luck trying to get a professor to accept it. No, no, wait. two MINUTES with some profs I've had. Two weeks? REALLY? Don't even get me started on the thesis thing.

Ok, English major rant over. Back to my weekend.

So on Friday night, Caitlin met my friends and we all happily feasted at the apartment. I then gave her some cultural education (by this I mean taught her Irish slang and made her listen to what in my opinion should be the Irish National Anthem. Here's the link, but don't listen if you're in public unless you have headphones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPFZrRD3J8). After I finished mentally preparing Caitlin, we all went out in a group to Purty Kitchen, a poorly named nightclub. It was a bit dead since a lot of Irish people went home to their non-Dublin counties to vote (I hope since the elections are over people will take down the posters of the politician who looks like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons...), but we were rolling 11 playas deep, so we brought the party anyway.

On Saturday, Caitlin and I took the bus into city center and then walked like 23985739451934 miles to the Guinness Storehouse, which despite being an iconic Dublin landmark, is way off in a shady ugly area of the city. It was grand though, I now know a lot more than I really need to know about Guinness. I must, however, share my favorite fun fact. Arthur Guinness, the founder of the brewery, fought off cops with a pickax to defend his somewhat illegally obtained water supply (which is not, like people say, from the River Liffey, but from the Wicklow Mountain springs). Apparently it worked out pretty well for him...

Though the nicest part of the storehouse is actually the Gravity Bar at the very top. No, it's not what you think, I don't say that because of the beer, but because it shows a 360 degree panoramic view of Dublin. It just so happened that the sun shone ALL DAY, so it was absolutely magnificent.

Anyway, after enjoying our tour/Guinness drinking, we walked around the city a bit. I gave Caitlin some more cultural orientation by taking her to Supermac's, which is the Irish version of McDonald's. They really like to advertise the fact that their beef is 100% Irish. Like, they REALLY want you to know it's not that crap with mad cow disease.

When we finally admitted defeat to exhaustion, we returned to UCD for another home-cooked dinner. And then went out to Porterhouse, a reputable pub. Unfortunately, grenades were exploding everywhere (if you don't understand, watch the Jersey Shore and EDUCATE yourself), and the house beer (which was cheapest) was quite foul. And I can put up with a lot of rubbish, believe me. Luckily, we still had a nice large crowd so all was not lost. We got home, ate an unnecessary amount of food, and went to bed.

Great weekend, now back to work =( Good thing spring break is THIS COMING WEEKEND!!!

Life Goes On

This post is purely for selfish purposes. By this I mean I have an essay due in 38 hours, I'm 1,400 out of 2,500 words into it, and I can't bear to look at it right now. So, thinking of some advice from my old creative writing professor, I will use this as a 'writing exercise.' Meaning it'll probably be fun for me and boring for you. Sorry.

Now, on the off chance you've actually committed to reading this evening's rubbish (sucker), you're probably wondering what the heck I've been doing since my last update. I mean, I'm in Ireland. I must be making fun/interesting/cultural/historic discoveries every single day. Well....yes, I have, but they are all small things. Actually, you know what, the little things deserve attention too. I should know, I work with kids (who I miss TERRIBLY).

Here are some of my 'Happy Meal' sized observations and experiences:

1) Besides saying "grand", Irish people tend to say "cheers" rather than "thanks." I like that too, but I've been irrevocably conditioned to say "thanks" so that one won't catch on for me unfortunately.

2) Despite whatever anyone tries to tell you, Irish people change the context of "craic" like every time they say it, so I'm terrified to use it. It supposedly means "happiness" or "good times" or some such thing, and it's pronounced "crack", not "crake." Like honestly, what would you think if I walked up to you and said, "Yo, how about that craic (crack) last night? It was off the hook, no?" That would just be sketch. I think the rule is you're only allowed to say it if you have an Irish accent.

3) A D4 is a girl who straightens her hair, teases it until it's a good 5 inches above her head, wears make-up that doesn't match her complexion, and 4 inch heels that she can't walk in.

4) I joined the lacrosse team here. Half of them smoke cigarettes immediately before practice. I thought that was bad...until one girl walked off the field while we were doing sprints, just so she could take a few drags of her friend's cig. Then it was just SHAMEFUL.

5) Domino's is the highest quality pizza over here. It's like 30 euro for a large two topping pie.

6) Irish people don't actually like U2. And they absolutely HATE Bono.

Trinity College (aka the school in Dublin where the "smart" people go...)

Since I only have one class on Fridays, I usually like going into town and just walking around. This past Friday, I finally went to see Trinity College, which is well-known for its library and the Book of Kells. This book is considered a great work of art from the Dark Ages. It was written by Irish monks somewhere around 700-800 AD, and it contains the four Gospels and beautiful illustrations. The exhibit also contains various other rare manuscripts, all of which are really amazing when you think about all the work that went into creating them. I mean really, some dudes spent years of their lives painstakingly transcribing religious texts onto calf skin, making sure each letter was perfectly formed. It's crazy.

After seeing the book, you exit through "The Long Room." I wish they allowed pictures to be taken, because it looked like the library from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The roof had to be raised to fit all of the books. I felt like just standing in there made me smarter. It was nerd HEAVEN.

Yeah Cork Yeah

Presently, I'm too exhausted to be charming and witty. But I have to update this thingy.

So the Erasmus international student group that I mentioned in an earlier post plans trips to major cities in Ireland. Meaning I don't have to do the work and plan it myself. Win. This past weekend, 200 of us went to Cork city, which is on the southwestern side of Ireland. We left on Friday morning, and took a long annoying bus ride (our driver wouldn't shut up to let us sleep, and he wasn't even clever or funny to make up for it) to Cobh, which is a town about half an hour away from Cork. It was scenic, with a harbor and a pretty cathedral. But the weather was dreadful. I'm not even talking rain (I LOVE rain now), I'm talking wind that can blow a side-view mirror clear off a coach bus...which is ACTUALLY what happened while we were on the highway. So we spent a good deal of time in the cathedral and getting food instead of walking around.

We then arrived in Cork at about...5pm? Yes. And we stayed in the Kinlay House hostel. I wasn't prepared for this, but in order to shower, I had to hold down a button (like those sinks in public bathrooms) and keep pressing it if I wanted a steady flow or water. Which, by the way, never got hot. As a matter of fact, it was pleasant if it reached lukewarm temperature. But it's cool that's what student traveling is ABOUT. The nonsense that you'll deal with to save some $$$

That night, after dinner at Luigi Malone's (an Irish Italian restaurant if you can't tell by that awesome name), we went out for a Pub Crawl. Now, in Dublin, they have special guided pub crawls that feature music or literary history. Our pub crawl in Cork was guided by the leaders of the Erasmus group, and it featured drinking. In four different pubs. I don't remember their names, but I can tell you that one of them had a huge screen and only showed rugby games on it, and another one looked like a log cabin and played metal the whole time. The other two apparently didn't make an impression on me.

Unfortunately, after this sort of pub crawl, people are generally useless the next day. As in sleeping til 12:30 and then being afraid to go outside because the wind sounds like 1000 dying baby foxes. But of course, we eventually forced ourselves to brave the ugly weather and walk about town a bit. Sadly, Cork city isn't really known for it's museums like Dublin, so we just ended up checking out two decently famous churches, St. Anne's and North Cathedral. After taking enough pictures to satisfy our tourist consciences, we went back a slept more...since that night we were promised reduced entry price and a couple free drinks at a club (priorities). It was grand.

Sunday we left the city to come back to Dublin, but not before stopping a few hours at the Blarney Castle. This was really the highlight of the trip. The castle was amazing. The grounds and gardens were gorgeous. Even in the dark cloudy rain, I could not resist walking around outside the whole time.

Oh yeah, and I kissed the Blarney Stone. Let me tell you what this entails.

1) You have to walk up these very narrow, steep, winding tower stairs. Been to the top of the Statue of Liberty? Yeah those stairs have got NOTHING on these ones.

2) You have to walk around the top of the castle, over some nice safe not deadly at all SLIPPERY MEDIEVAL ROCKS.

3) A man yells at you to turn around, sit on a soggy mat, and lean your body backwards while he holds you upside down over the edge of the castle to kiss the bloody rock.

4) Some other man yells at you to take a ticket to spend 10 euro on the awkward picture he took of you struggling to contort your body, wondering if you're fully ok with the old grumpy guy touching your waist.

But all discomfort and confusion aside, it really was GRAND.

Random Events that Have Little or Nothing to Do with Ireland, Besides the Fact that They Took Place in Ireland

As I have been trying to accept the fact that I no longer sleep at night, and haven't had any fun traveling stories, I have neglected my blogging.

Let me take this moment to apologize. Sorry blog.

And in accordance with Peter's request that I write something, under imminent threat of receiving ugly foot pictures on my facebook page, I will take the time now to document all the nonsense that will undoubtedly make me seem like "a great coxcomb" or, more unfortunately, a "sawce-box" (for more information on these terms, which are regarded by dictionary.com as obsolete, see the works of Jane Austen and/or Samuel Richardson).

1) SUPERFLIRT - aka how my flatmates and I have occupied ourselves in the living room.

Our mysterious roommate Katie has by far been the most important member of our humble abode, as she has provided us with the unfailing joy of Tracey Cox's masterpiece, Superflirt. Written by the former editor of the ever witty and profound Cosmopolitan magazine, Superflirt provides both men and women with advice on how to flirt successfully. This entails reading body language and sending the right signals.

I will not spoil this great literary gem for you (if it can be found at the Boston College library, I'm sure it exists elsewhere), but I will say that the tidbits of wisdom that Ms. Cox includes ARE THE REASONS WHY MEN ALWAYS SEEM TO FIND HIDDEN "COME AND GET ME" SIGNALS THAT FEMALES HAVE ZERO INTENTION OF SENDING. I will not even discuss what she says about lip gloss...

2) Class

It's all grand, except for my Modern American Lit class. For anyone who has NEVER been my roommate, I will just spit it straight. I have zero tolerance for literature in which every word apparently has some "deep meaning." Consequently, modernist literature is NOT my style. If anyone understands what the heck Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury is about, please call me and let me know. I don't know if Sparknotes can even help me survive through this one...

3) Nighttime Excursions - aka clubbing

I'm going to do a brief sum up for this...all of these stories are better when I get to re-enact them with appropriate bodily gestures and varying voice inflections.

Dicey's - hid in a bathroom stall for 10 minutes avoiding creepers.

D2 - almost got into a fight (coming from the firm pacifist who throws herself between angry young men to break up fights at parties)

Button Factory - shook the hand of an actor I've never heard of (anyone seen the show 'Skins'? Apparently it's HUGE over here...)

21 - got kissed by a girl...and did NOT like it (sorry Katy Perry, no judgment)

After all the nonsense, I have survived mostly unscathed (nothing a little therapy can't fix). If anything, I now have enough material to write a horrible screenplay for a cliche teen movie.

Stay tuned, I will have REAL things to share after my trip to Cork this coming weekend =)