Swimming in Irish Seas: Dubin week 4

“Keep your mind open, you never know what will find it’s way in” -Bridge to Terabithia

I realize I kind of left you hanging after my first entry. I have now been here just over three weeks and find I’m still trying to catch my thoughts. What has surprised me so far about Ireland is not the distinct differences, but rather the subtle similarities.

I sit across the Atlantic in the campus’s theatre cafe (my new favorite spot) listening to country music playing and eating apple pie. Yet I’m paying in euros and listening to the sound of Irish accents chattering away. I feel like I’m not really in a foreign country so much as a parallel universe which on the surface holds a familiar atmosphere but has a heart and people all its own.

Like many Americans or university students in general, I’ve been told we live in a bubble. I’ve never realized the extent to which until I came over to a country most Americans associate with green hills, plentiful drinks and leprechauns and started to see the fights for social equality and government peace that are shaping this culture. No civil strife is probably not the word most Americans think of when they here the poetic sounds of Ireland. Most likely celtic chords and green pastures fill their minds as they think of their ancestors homeland.

IRA bombings, oppression and undisclosed horse meat are most likely forgotten or never really known about in the first place. I know I am guilty of this, coming over only not long ago with a complete ignorance to most of these frontline issues. The trouble is, I don’t believe I’m alone in my ignorance.

Of course this is very understandable, there’s plenty of raging politics, reality TV and celebrity scandal going on in our own country to keep us plenty occupied. If I were to delve into every major issue, there’s a chance I would drown.

So here I am, wading in the shallow waters of a place that’s completely over my head. I came over expecting to be able to jump in head first totally immersed in this new culture, but it takes time.

So far I’ve got to experience some pretty awesome things, an Irish/hip hop dance show, the Cliffs of Moher and writing for an Irish student website to name a few. What I’ve found to be even more invaluable are the people I’ve met along the way.

Leaving off from my last entry, later that week I went to a concert in city centre with a friend from the CIEE program. We were lost along the way, of course, and so while crossing the bridge on O’Connell street (busiest intersection in city) I turned around to ask the girl walking behind us if she had heard of the venue we were going to.

Luck had it, she did and her and her twin sister and friend were going to the concert as well. The trio was from Galway in west Ireland and were about as lost as us trying to navigate what they said was the “big” and  “scary” city centre of Dublin. The two girls were unlike anyone I’ve met before, they told us crazy stories about their *** lives and freely explained to us the norms of college life in Ireland.

Two weeks later we were able to meet up with them again on a visit to Galway and ate crepes bigger than our heads and heard more about the adventures of Leoni and Ashling. They had described Galway as very “bohemian” and far better than Dublin. After a three day visit, I have to agree. The quaint city sits along the coast flooded with sea gulls and plenty of pubs with live music.

In our hostel we also met some wonderful people, two students from Germany. The man and woman (who we learned were not a couple) came with us to the most American bar in Ireland: Coyotes. Despite the familiar atmosphere of state license plates, cowboy hats and a Simple Life poster on the walls, we manage to have an Irish experience of drinking plenty of spirits and dancing all night.

Our new friends explored the countryside with us on a bus ride which did not mix well with our state the next morning. We got to see the beautiful landscapes we were missing in Dublin and I tried my first authentic Irish coffee.

A week later, Elke and Eddie came to campus for a visit and we sat and drank coffee like some typical Europeans. I’m still getting in the swing of the new internship/classes/new apartment, but it’s all good and I feel blessed to be here-that’s all for now.

Irish You Were Here: Dublin Week 1

The plane touches down as the sun begins to peak through the overcast skies of Dublin Airport.
 “I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan..”
The lyrics of the pop song I once loathed subtly make their way into my thoughts. Despite carrying over my weight in luggage and feeling sick from airplane food, the trip was a breeze-so why did I feel so uneasy?
Once I met up with others from CIEE I began to relax. We loaded the bus for DCU’s campus where I was in for a surprise. After making several trips in the rain to transfer my luggage, I went into the common room in my new apartment. The room smelt like must and was covered in dirty dishes, empty liquor bottles, and an ash tray. I looked closer and saw a stack of video games and boxers strewn out on the floor of one of the other open rooms. No, I thought, it couldn’t be.
    Sure enough, I was living with three other boys, which at the time I was sure was a mistake. Uneasiness turned to distaste and sure enough distaste was making a pit the size of Texas in my stomach. This couldn’t be happening- I thought-I had been anticipating this day for so long and suddenly wanted to apparate back to my cozy bed, clean kitchen and sun filled skies. For those who know me, this homesick feeling took me very much by surprise. I do love my family and friends, but even as a child at summer camp I never felt the need to constantly contact them while I was away. Anywhere there is food and a bed had always felt like home to me.
    What I had neglected to think about was that adjusting takes time. But like the sanguine motto the Irish live by-it’ll all be alright in the end.
    I’m sitting here a week later and the tug of my home is slowly loosing its grip. I wouldn’t say this past week has been a walk in the park, but it has certainly had its ups and downs. The ups being some pretty awesome stuff, and the downs mostly being the cold weather. Although it has only been a week, it feels like I’ve been here well over a few months. So please bear with me as I try to recap my life-which seems to be running on Narnia time-in Dublin thus far...
So leaving off from the airport-cold-rain-luggage-boys-mess-aww senario, later that day I met a friend from the CIEE group who had been staying in City Centre(downtown Dublin) for the past few days. We decided to start being adventurous our first day and went to the cobble stone streets of Dublin’s heart. Despite the horrid wind, the booming area held its Irish charm. We tried to navigate the winding streets which seemed to be built with little thought to where they might lead. There we did two of my favorite things-ate and shopped. (These activities were repeated throughout most of the week much to my delight).
    The next day I awoke to the best kind of meal-a free one. CIEE provided us with a lovely homemade breakfast (which I took full advantage of) and we began to bond more as a group. Later that day we went back to the City Centre, this time for a proper tour. Due to jet lag and being a slow walker, I don’t remember a lot of what we were told about the area. I did, however, find out a few things for myself. First, Dublin’s smoked salmon is the shit, and second used books stores are very popular there! I explored some more with friends from the program and when we returned to campus we went to our first Irish pub. Since it was a Tuesday night, it was mostly populated by older men, but the cozy fire, tasty cider, and charming bar tender were all we needed to validate the experience.
    I was beginning to feel more at ease, until Wednesday came and I realized why I was there-to study. We selected our classes and had our first lecture over Irish history for the afternoon. Although the class was a whopping three hours, I was eager to hear more, a lot of which I felt I should have already known. He explained how to the people’s history of poverty and the take over of the British government had shaped today’s culture.
    Thursday provided a chance for me to sleep in and enjoy the first sunshine filled morning. Although I rarely go to the one at TCU-I’ve found that the DCU library is my favorite place on campus. The wide windows revealed a beautiful rainbow on my first day and provided a place for me to finish up internship applications for the summer. That night I took a friend from the group with me to meet up with my fellow horned frog studying with IES. After getting lost (not an unusual occurrence for me) we met up at a wonderful and affordable place in city center. She has been in Dublin several weeks and seemed to be adjusting quite well. Her excitement gave me reassurance I would grow fonder of the overcast city through my stay. Not wanting to head back right away, my friend and I looked for pub to enjoy some live music. We stumbled across a sign for live Irish dancing and music and went into Fitsimons in the Temple Bar district. Now I had heard this was the touristy area, but I didn’t care. The combination of the beautiful music, my first guinness, and Irish dancing up close provided a enjoyable night.

    The next day we got a free ride to the city centre at the end of a very cold open top bus tour of the city. A group of us stopped at Butlers to drink some truly amazing hot chocolate. We stopped in a book shop and wandered until we found a cafe that would seat us all. After seeing a sign for karaoke at one of the bars we tried to stay, but the cold and rain caused us to turn in early for a night of card games and spoons.
    We got the chance to leave see outside of the city during a trip to a farm. The countryside was filled with animals with thick coats chomping on green grass. The farm itself wasn’t much different than what I’ve seen growing up in the corn state. We did learn some “traditional” Irish skills such as making bread, learning a group dance, and how to get out of a bog (literally someone’s feet got stuck). At the end of the day we were all cold and tired, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the city later that night. We went to our first club. While on the dance floor I noticed there was a majority of girls and guys were still dancing in groups to themselves. After a few drinks I started a friendly dance battle to break up the clans and met a friend who danced with us all night, he was a great sport and even bought us all drinks.
    I got the chance to interact with more Irish lads during a late night watching of the Superbowl. It was interesting sitting with a group of guys who had little interest in American football and were also watching the show for the benefit of seeing Beyonce and the renowned commercials. One boy even started bowing to the television when she came on. They interpreted some Irish slang for us such as ‘shifting’ and explained one of the pick up lines they use at clubs is “do you lift?” or “do you squat.” Whether they were slagging (the Irish word for ‘messing with’) us or not I don not know.

    The next day I was in no mood for the first day of classes, which was great because I didn’t have any. Instead, I went to the city centre for my first meeting with the editor of Oxygen (a student website) to inquire about an internship. After a brief and informal meeting, I bought some necessities for my kitchen and returned to eat a dinner of nutella, which prepared me for my first day of classes the next morning...