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.