Irish Céilí

Today was my last day of work for my internship. I knew I was going to be sad to leave, but when my coworkers surprised me with a pizza party at lunch, it all began to hit me. They were incredibly kind and gave me a very thoughtful gift: a necklace and a bag full of Cadbury creme eggs. It was quite obvious they had picked up on my love for chocolate over the past seven weeks, but it meant a lot that they remembered the details. As I was leaving, the physio who I had spent the most time with tried her American accent once more, and I could only laugh as it sounded so unnatural. I feel incredibly blessed to have been given the opportunity to meet such wonderful people, and I know that I will be back in the future. I was told to come back and work once I am qualified, and with how positive the experience was, I certainly cannot discount it at this point. Who knows what the future holds?

After work, I came back to DCU for a quick dinner and Molly, Tara, Melissa, Meghan and I headed out to the city center to meet our dance teacher, Mary Beth for the Irish Céilí. She explained to us that in Dublin, the tradition attracts an older crowd, whereas in other parts of the country a greater variety of ages would be present. This fact did not bother us at all, for we were too determined to show off our moves. We arrived shortly after 9:30 and had a drink while we waited for the accordion player to arrive and learned some quick tips in the meantime. The first set was one we had not learned, but Mary Beth offered to dance the male part and led me through the set. The music made me feel light on my toes, regardless of how I actually looked to the rest of the crowd. I was definitely moving in the opposite direction at times, but with the help of a positive teacher, we made it through all sets and I ended with a smile and a new appreciation of the art. The girls were nice enough to snap some photos!





This move is called "Christmas" and was by far my favorite of the night. With interlaced arms, the object is to spin around as fast as possible, while still looking graceful, and boy does everyone move quickly. The graceful aspect needs some work on my part, but I enjoyed the move nonetheless.

Meghan was quite the photographer and managed to catch some of my moves!



Melissa relieved my position and took a go at the end of this same set. She was a pro and caught on very quickly.

The next set was the Connemara set, the one we had practiced in class. It was time to show off what we had learned in dance lessons. We had two different sets dancing, sixteen people in total. I was the lucky one and danced the male part and Meghan was my beautiful partner. With only a few glitches, we made it to the end and had impressed a couple of the locals in the process. It's quite the form of exercise, and we were all soon tired. It was the perfect event with the end so close, and we all had a blast experiencing a unique form of Irish culture!

All Kinds of Music

I had to start the goodbye process at work today, as some of my coworkers will not be in tomorrow. It was a very odd reality shock when I realized that it could be quite some time before I am able to come back. I am looking forward to enjoying my last day tomorrow.

After work, I met Molly, Meghan, Tara, Mary and Melissa for dinner. We decided to go to Green 19, a little modern restaurant Melissa had suggested and it was perfect. I had a gourmet club sandwich and we relaxed as we heard about each others days. We were stuffed to the brim before we knew it, and it was soon time to head back to campus.

Tonight was our last Irish dancing lesson of the semester. Tomorrow, our teacher is going to take us all out to a Céilí, a Irish dancing session, in the city center. I'm really looking forward to hearing the music and trying out our new moves. More on that will come! After dancing, we quick hopped back on the bus for a silly night of Karaoke. We all had a blast singing songs from the 90s, and realized at the same time that none of us will be entering the music business anytime soon! Regardless, it was a great time!

Just a Little Slagging

Before we started our internships, we had a brief meeting to discuss our upcoming placements. In general, we were warned that the Irish tend to "slag" or pick on one another in social situations. I thought this was great, mainly because I know I can take a joke and think it makes the workplace much more fun. Today made me smile as I realized how comfortable I have become in such a short time. As we were all walking back from lunch, one of the therapists commented on the way the other had developed an American accent as a result of spending so much time with me. Hearing her say "awesome" or "o man!" in a poor attempt to imitate me just made me laugh and they all got quite the kick out of listening to me in my best Irish accent. After hearing it for over three and a half months, you would have thought I would have perfected the tone, but I still have work to do. Guess I will have to make a trip back in the future.

After work, we went for our weekly tennis outing in Herbert Park. As we pulled up to the courts, the sky greeted us with dark clouds and we debated whether or not we should go through with the game. We're in Ireland so I'm sure you can guess the decision. They certainly do not let a little bit of rain stop them from the fun, and we ended up having a very entertaining hour of tennis!

Queen of Tarts

This morning as I scrambled to leave my room at 7:45, it hit me how routine my commute has become. I can honestly say that I really enjoy the hour or so that I have to myself before the hustle and bustle of the day kicks in. I looked a little silly taking pictures so early, but I know I will enjoy this later. Here is what the morning consists of....

I catch the bus on Ballymun Rd, right outside of DCU.

The Tara St. DART station in city center. It's glamorous...
The infamous DART.
My destination...
The beautiful walk through Sandymount to Enable Ireland...
...and I have arrived!
The day was another quick one. I glanced at the clock around 2:45 realizing I only had about an hour left. This never fails to catch me off guard, but I know that's a good sign. After work, Meghan and I planned to celebrate the first day down and meet for tea. We chose the Queen of Tarts, a very charming cafe near her internship which Meghan especially has grown to love. It was delicious and a very fun thing to look forward to throughout the day.

We got tea for two...

...and shared an apple crumble and a chocolate chip scone!
I really have grown to love tea and will be carrying this love home with me very soon. Overall, it was a very successful outing and always nice to have time to chat.

The Book of Kells

Today was a much needed day to relax. Mary and I went to mass this morning on campus, and I have really grown to love both the service itself and the priest. A woman plays the harp and another sings, and its really a beautiful combination. We left in good spirits ready for the day.

After a laid back lunch, Tara, Mary and I headed into the city center. We went to Bewleys, a well known cafe on Grafton Street that neither of us had tried. We arrived with the intention of tea, but after experiencing the brief sun, decided on lemonade instead. I had a delicious chocolate cupcake and we sat, reminiscing mostly about how quickly the time has passed.




After our "tea break" we went our separate ways and I went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. A must see in Dublin, I could not leave without saying I had done so as well. The book was written over a thousand years ago and is an illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels in Latin. Very beautifully decorated, one page per day is displayed for visitors to admire. Photographs were not allowed, but here is an example.



Part of the tour includes the Old Library of Trinity, the Long room. Holding the largest collection of manuscripts and printed books in Ireland, the room looked much like a scene out of the Beauty and the Beast and was neat to look through the different displays.

I let my guard down with the beautiful weather we have been experiencing and forgot my umbrella for the one day it decides to rain. After waiting at the bus stop, I was quickly soaked and glad to see the bus. I overheard one of the greatest conversations on the way home. A little boy, not much older than three, looked out the window while at a red light and saw a pub on the corner. With the most innocent eyes, he looks to his dad and exclaims, "Dad, I want a pint when I'm a big man!" Both his parents looked at each other, completely surprised and laughed hysterically. I of course did the same. He repeated this new found goal of his to which his dad answered, "do you want a pint of Guinness?" Of course he did and he was excited to tell everyone that would listen. I was only a couple seats back and could not hold in my laughter as I thought, only in Ireland would I overhear something so adorable.

Lazy Day in Dublin

With a completely free day ahead of us, we headed down to the city center to endulge in some food at the Temple Bar Farmers Market. This market has become quite the rage within our group, and we saw ran into some of our friends at the market. I had a feta cheese and spinach quiche and it was delicious. We sat around, chatted for a bit while eating, listened to the music and then continued on to enjoy the city while we still had the time.

Walking down Grafton Street on the way to Marion Square, we quickly became very distracted. Out of the shadows appeared a Chocolate Emporium which we found was holding a contest: guess how many Cadbury chocolate bars were used to create a chocolate statue in the shape of Ireland. Check this out!

We each tried strawberries and chocolate fondue and were pleasantly surprised with this treat. After walking down Grafton street, another prospective adventure caught our eye: horses! Now being from Lancaster, the thought of horse drawn carriages should not have excited me this much, but after a quick talk with the Irish man who organized the rides, we were sold. The ride was half an hour long and we were able to see some of the major government buildings in Dublin as well as some of the Georgian architecture outside of the city. Our horse's name was Dancer and was a very impressive tourguide.

Here is a line of them all waiting for the tours.

And this is Dancer...what a beauty.

The house of the Mayor of Dublin.

My favorite aspect of the Georgian architecture: the colored doors.



The Grand Canal runs all the way to Limerick!

After saying goodbye to both Dancer and our tourguide, we strolled down Grafton St and took our time browsing here and there. It was very refreshing to be living without a schedule, and we definitely took advantage of that fact. In Kilkenny, a unique store filled with creative, Irish made goods, we couldn't help but have a bit of fun.

Before we knew it, dinner time was approaching and with the temperature dropping we were all a bit cold and hungry. After a quick bus ride we were back at DCU. We couldn't help but reminisce how familiar the bus system had become. On day one, we anxiously stared out the window awaiting the sign for DCU to signal our stop. How neat it is to realize the transformation. Much of this will continue to set in this week as things begin to wrap up, but we are all doing our best for now to enjoy every bit of every day and I would have to say today was another success.

Last Final

2:00 today marked partial freedom! We have all finished our last final for our elective class and were thrilled with the sense of freedom. It's very weird knowing the trip is coming to an end, but we put these thoughts aside and enjoyed the beautiful weather in the park. After our final, we started a pretty impressive game of Ultimate Frisbee and were running for quite some time. Now my frisbee skills were not winning any awards, but it felt incredible to run and we had a blast. After our "halftime" call, most of us were pretty exhausted, and I did not last too long before I headed back for a rest.

Plans for this weekend include doing everything that we feel needs to be done. I say this in a joking sense, but everyone seems to have one thing or another that they would like to do, so here's to finishing off the checklist and making the most of the time that is left!

A Look Back at Irish Music

Week six of the internship is over and I really cannot believe it. Tomorrow marks our last official final of the semester and then I will be a senior. We still have one more week of work and a portfolio to complete, but as for exams, tomorrow is it. The final tomorrow is a combination of the Visual Arts in Ireland and Irish Music from the first half of the semester. I thought it would be fun to look back at our favorite part of the class, our musical session! Here is a video from our musical session.



The Irish music has become so very familiar I do not realize how much I am going to miss it. We learned that Irish music is a living tradition because it is a real part of everyone's lives, making the culture so unique. I am already planning on spreading the joy once I return home, so get ready for a boatload of new tunes!

Count to Ten?

This afternoon at work, I learned a new skill: how to count to ten in Gaelic. During a therapy session, I was able to spend time with a very sweet little girl. She is in preschool and attends an Irish school, meaning she is fully immersed in the Irish language. She was able to spout off each number and giggled at the fact that I had not tackled this simple task. When asked, "how old are you?" I of course quickly replied, "twenty one and I still can't count to ten." The question was intended for the little girl, and everyone laughed as I realized this. I've decided I better start memorizing so I can compete with these brilliant children.

Here is the task at hand...

1 a haon
2 a dó
3 a trí
4 a ceathair
5 a cúig
6 a sé
7 a seacht
8 a hocht
9 a naoi
10 a deich

While keeping on the language topic, I was introduced to a new form of sign language. Referred to as Lámh, this manual sign system was designed in Ireland for children with intellectual disabilities. I watched an interaction between a mother and her son, and was amazed at how different the signs were from American Sign Language. I recognized a couple, but for the most part, it is a totally new language which interests me to learn more.

After work, I went to the Tesco on the bus route home determined to find ingredients for a salad. Now, I have been eating vegetables while I have been here, but never a salad. That is just not a big popular meal here, and I have given into that and have missed this wonderful treat! It was a success and after a quick preparation, here is my delicious concoction of the evening!

A Little Family Time

Monday and back to the routine. For such a busy weekend, I found it rather easy to get up and moving this morning. The big talk in work today revolved around the volcano eruption in Iceland. With all of the ash in the sky, most airlines have cancelled flights because of unsafe conditions. Everyone had a different story of people stranded around Europe. To try to ease the situation, they joked around saying that I may not get home, and if I have to stay I'm always welcome to come work with them. I had to laugh, but deep down am a little concerned that this will not clear up by then. Only time will tell but I'm keeping my stress free attitude about the whole situation and we shall see what happens.

For dinner tonight we had an extra special treat. Meghan's parents managed to find a way to Dublin from Boston despite these terrible conditions. They are spending a week here and were so kind as to take a group of us out to dinner. It was absolutely wonderful. We went to a really neat pub called Sheeban Chic in the city center which advertised traditional music. The group was very creative with food choices; everyone either got the beef stew or the highly praised hamburger. With a pint of Guinness we were all quite full and happy. It was great to be able to spend time with Meghan's parents; it's a neat way to learn more about a person's background and we had a great time sharing stories of the trip. It felt very much like my own family and I was very appreciative for the opportunity. I look forward to seeing them again back home!

Sugarloaf and Tea

This afternoon, Elizabeth, Molly and I headed over to the DCU sports complex to watch our first American Football game in Ireland. Two of our friends play for the DCU club team and we thought it would be fun to see what a game was like. It was a lot of fun to watch, and definitely brought back memories from home as this has always been a big part of my high school/college experience.

I was able to walk through the park on the way back to DCU, and these beautiful flowers caught my eye! Little signs like this lead me to believe spring is on its way!


After the game, I met my friend Déarbhla and we adventured to Sugarloaf. No, sugarloaf is not a giant dessert, but in fact a part of the Wicklow mountains and a very beautiful one at that. She picked me up at DCU and took me for a scenic drive on the way to Sugarloaf. Here is the mountain (or hill rather) in all its glory!

We parked the car by a GAA pitch and couldn't help but laugh at the complete random location for such a field.
The path started out as a concrete path, soon turned into a dirt one, and before we knew it we were climbing up the hill on our own, completely free of guidance. It was an incredible workout as we tested each rock and soon laughed as we realized how far from the path we had strayed.

The views from the top were gorgeous. The green patch in the middle of this picture below is the GAA pitch I spoke of earlier.

Our little Christmas tree on the way up the mountain. Charlie Brown must have made an appearance in Ireland.
We made it pretty high before we decided to take a break in the "heather." The brush covers the hill and Déarbhla explained that it turns a beautiful purple in the spring. I may have to come back for a look!
From the top, not only could you see the countryside but also Dublin city center and parts of the coastal towns. It was quite the view and was great to have a professional explain the surroundings.

We made it up and over to the hill! Here is a view from the other side.

She was trying to be a leprechaun of course.
This picture pretty much sums up the hike. We chatted away until we were too out of breath to talk, and after a quick break to rest our legs, we were back to climbing and laughing and enjoying the scenery. It took us about an hour on the way up because we were climbing up some rocky areas, but the trip down was quite easy and before we knew it we were back in the car.

After the hike, we agreed on tea and stopped at Avoca, a very crafty store which sells fun, artistic gifts for the home. We each had tea and I enjoyed a multiberry scone as we sat outside in the sun and relaxed. I had such a great time talking to her and find it fascinating how much we have in common. The time flew by too quickly and it was soon time to enter reality and head home.

She was so kind as to take me through another scenic journey home, and throughout the drive I think it hit me how much I have grown to love this country. The beautiful countryside has become familiar but still takes my breath away. As we turned the corner to see a girl riding horseback down the main road and Déarbhla's comment of "only in Ireland," I realized how much I am going to miss it. Not ready to say goodbye yet, but I still have plenty of time to soak up the Irish goodness and intend to do just that.