Ireland

This morning we woke up and went to mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The church is absolutely beautiful. It was almost difficult to pay attention to the readings because all I wanted to do was stair at the rib-vaulted ceiling and the faces staring down at me from the top of each Corinthian column. When we walked out of church we found some of our rugby friends sitting in the park waiting for us. They also left this afternoon, and we were sad to see them go. A weekend trip to Wales may be in order. After we said our goodbyes, a few of us headed to the "Dart" train for a day trip to the cliffs of Howth. The working class people outside of Dublin were very different from any other the others we had met. They're accents were much more difficult to understand and most of the young boys were loud and rude. All the young boys have these Mohawk/mullet haircuts. They look like punks who are up to no good. Some of them harassed us on the train ride. Once we arrived to town we found a path and began the 3+ mile hike. After having our legs torn up by every type of prickly weed possible, we finally reached the top. I have never seen such a beautiful view. The sun was shining while the waves of the Irish Sea crashed hundreds of feet below us. Words cannot even begin to describe it. It was a wonderful way to spend my last day in Ireland. I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow because I am already feeling sore, but I have no regrets. I am definitely going to miss this place and the friends we made, but I am looking forward to the next adventure. It's hard to imagine that this is just the beginning.

So maybe going out so hard wasn't the best idea when you have an all day bus trip into the mountains planned for 9 the next morning. This morning we awoke to the sounds of knocking on our doors at 8:50. It was our teacher Danny letting us know the tour was leaving in 5. We all franticly rushed around trying to get dressed, but made it to the bus on time. Once I overcame my fear of getting fined for vommitting on a tour bus, I really enjoyed the trip. I finally got to see the Ireland I imagined... rolling hills, sheep, lakes. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. We got to see the houses of Bono, Enya, Danielle Day Lewis, and Van Morrision. We made a couple stops on top of the mountains and hiked around a lake at a monastery. As miserable as I was this morning, I'm glad I sucked it up and made the trip.

Yesterday afternoon a large group of us decided to go on a little adventure to St. Mary's College right outside of the city for a Rugby match some guys from Wales who are staying at our hostel invited us to. After missing our first bus, we arrived to see the last 2 minutes of the game. It was a draw, but the winners were later decided in a drinking competition. The sportsmanship here is very different from America. Off of the field opponents are extremely respectful and kind to one another. It is tradition for the men to get dressed up and share a dinner together and then drink that night away. Well we got to do the drink the night away part with them. One team was made up of cute young med school students and the other 30 to 40 year old men. They were all so friendly. After everyone had finished their first pint, we all gathered around the piano and sang songs for about four hours. It was probably about the most fun I've ever had in my entire life. They knew the words to more American songs than we did. After doing a very sloppy rendition of each of our country's national anthems, they offered to bring us back into town on their bus. Awww, how sweet... we had no idea what we were in for. The younger rugby teams are a lot fraternities, with ridiculous traditions that they each must follow. All of the boys carried bells in their pockets, and throughout the night, if someone rang a bell, they all had to ring theirs and the last person to ring theirs had to chug a pint. Well what we thought was a just a traditional fun bus song ended in sausage fest 2008. One of the team captains stood in the isle and began leading everyone in the common catholic school song, "Father Abraham." Well after each verse, he would instruct the boys and men to remove a piece of clothing. We all laughed but figured we'd make it back to town before they got back to their underwear. Well the bus ride ended up being longer than we anticipated. Within a few short minutes each boy and man was dancing and singing butt naked while we all covered our eyes and shrieked. I hadn't laughed that hard in a lonnng time. We finished the night at a local pub called Turks and arrived home just as the sun was rising. Unfortunately, we heard some of our rugby friends were kicked out of the hostel for peeing off the balcony... Wow, I guess boys will be boys no matter where they are from.

Today we had our first classes here in Dublin. We all just talked about culture differences, introduced ourselves, and enjoyed the weather. We met on the lawn of the Christ Church down the street from our hotel. Don’t be fooled by the name Kinley Hotel… this is definitely a full-fledge hostel, but a nice one I hear. This morning was so funny. Before the trip our teacher had been telling us about the breakfasts and telling us we should stock up our bags for the rest of the day. Well we woke up bright and early this morning and went down to the kitchen, (I even brought a bag to maybe sneak some food in). Little did we know that BREADfast, I mean breakfast, literally consisted of bread. Yuuum yum… better wake up early, so you don’t end up with an end piece. Once I recovered from the initial shock it was pretty funny to watch people’s reactions when they realized that their choices for breakfast were white or wheat. Jelly optional. We really are roughing it. Haha. I feel like I'm at camp. This place even smells like Camp Abbey. However Camp Abbey had its perks, like constant running water during your shower. You know the aggravating sinks that you have to press once and dart your hands under the faucet before they turn off and you have to press again every few seconds? The showers at this hostel are like that. Talk about difficult to wash thick hair. I don’t even want to think about shaving my legs… maybe that’s why European women never shave. Supposedly accommodations are supposed to be much improved as we travel along. Since Dublin is the most expensive city in Europe, it’s impossible to find a hotel for a decent price. Really it’s all worth it though. We hardly spend any time in our rooms. Today after class we toured the Guinness brewery. It was pretty cool. At the end of the tour you arrive on the 7th story, which overlooks all of Dublin while enjoying a Guinness beer—if you consider it enjoyable. I don’t think it tastes all that bad though. It’s just tough to get through all the foam. It’s like whipped cream. It’s so thick that I’ve discovered that when you slowly tilt the glass, the foam doesn’t spill over the side! It keeps the shape of the glass! It’s also fun to stick your finger in it and make designs. I’ve really become more fond of Bulmer’s cider. It’s much easier and tastier to drink. We ended the afternoon by getting free drinks at a pub around the corner from our Hostel. Free, you ask? HOW? Well since we had no running water at all last night, this is how they’ve chosen to repay us. Looks like they understand what’s important to us LSU students. I’d say it’s a pretty good deal. Now I’m just hoping it goes out again tonight, so maybe we could get bagels in the morning or something? Ha. Well it's almost 10 PM and the sun is finally setting, so I'm going to try to get to bed early to be well rested for the adventures to come!

After the longest flight I've ever taken (which really isn't very long), I've finally arrived in Dublin, Ireland. I arrived right on schedule at 9:20 a.m. and waited for the rest of the group to arrive... they were delayed quite a bit. Sitting around waiting was kind of a buzz kill, but a passing bag-piper in a kilt helped to lift my spirits. The weather was chilly and foggy, just as I had imagined. When the rest of the group arrived, we took a bus to the Kinley Hotel, where we are staying. DO NOT be fooled by the word hotel. This is definitely a hostel, but I am thankful for this very unique experience. Dublin is not quite what expected. I spent a little time renting movies that take place in Ireland before the trip, so I was expecting the green rolling hills with sheep running around all over and thatched roofs. It's actually much more urban than I expected. At times I forget where I am, but am quickly reminded that it's Ireland when I see the beautiful churches and castles in the middle of the city!! We plan to explore the country side later in the week, which I am looking forward to. Today my friends Alex, Caroline and I just explored the city. We stopped to have lunch at a pub where I tried my first Guinness beer, shepherd's pie and fish and chips! Not too bad. Then we explored a church down the street from our hostel and wandered around a local park. It turned out to be a lovely day. We finished the night off at a local pub. When we walked in the band started playing "Galway Girl," and I finally felt like we had arrived in Dublin. I enjoyed several pints of Bulman's cider (my new drink of choice), The local men are very friendly. We chatted with a few of them and finally decided to head home considering we had all been awake for over 24 hours and had class at 9 am the next day. Overall, it was a great end to my first day!