It's unbelievable that I've been in Ireland for almost three weeks already! Each day I am becoming more comfortable in my apartment, on campus and in the city, and my time here is definitely improving. With all the basic move-in stuff over with, we have been able to do some really awesome exploring (and lots of getting lost!).
Last week was the first full school week and we got a taste of Dublin nightlife on Black Monday, the first Monday of the semester and the biggest party night of the year. The fashion here is unbelievable, the girls are willing to try just about anything - lots of peplum, huge heels, lace, mesh, you name it! The Irish students stay on campus during the school week and head home to work or 'for the food!' on the weekends. This makes the week nights much busier (and crazier) than the weekend nights.
My experience with classes has already been so different than at home. I am taking a sociology course, three Irish studies courses and a geology course. For all of them, there are either 2 exams or an essay and an exam, and these two assignments count for the entirety of your grade. This being said, I have already skipped more classes here than I have total in my college career! I can't help but think I'll figure out the material when necessary (fast forward to future blog post where I complain about school work...)!
Last weekend was the start of conquering Dublin in the daylight. Friday Ashley, Julie and I headed to St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful Central Park-like place. It is full of little ponds with ducks and swans, gazebos, playgrounds and monuments of famous Irish historical figures. We almost made it around the entirety of the park before the downpour began. We ended up spending the rest of our afternoon sipping tea at a little cafe, looking at shops and having dinner and pints in a little pub.
The next day API hosted a walking tour and dinner! The walking tour was led by a History professor from Trinity College. It began at Trinity, continued to the Bank of Ireland, City Hall, Christ Church and the original city wall of Dublin. The tour guide was both interesting and informative and I liked finally having some background to these huge beautiful buildings I had seen! It is amazing how you can trace the story of these places from the Medieval period to contemporary Irish history. Next, we headed to Gallagher's Boxty House for a cooking demonstration and a three-course meal! Mr. Gallagher himself gave us some history of the potato in Ireland (back in the day, Irish people would each eat 5 kg of potatoes a day!) and showed us how to make traditional Irish boxty. Boxty is similar to a pancake, but made with potatoes. We had boxty pancakes and boxty balls - delicious! It was the best meal I had had since being in Dublin and I thought I had died and gone to food heaven. We finished the night off by listening to an awesome singer at a pub in Temple Bar who did acoustic renditions of Rihanna and Britney Spears songs for us.
I am so thankful to have such awesome roommates to come home to. I have learned so much about both Malaysian and Muslim culture and I can feel myself becoming more worldly by the minute. They continue to cook a variety of foods (even sushi!) and always want me to try. The other night they made Aly and I dress up in fancy traditional Muslim attire that the girls had in their closets. They are obsessed with our features (because everyone in Malaysia has black hair and dark brown eyes) and thought it was the most awesome thing to have us wear their clothes. No one has ever told me I looked beautiful so many times in one night! The fun with our roommates continued Wednesday night when Sabreena decided to cook a brownie in a coffee mug in the microwave around midnight and set the fire alarm off for the entire building. Needless to say, we thought it was hilarious while the rest of the building was not as happy.
Overall, today has to be my favorite day I have had thus far in Ireland. We decided last night to head to the Irish Sea on the train. Thankfully it was a sunny morning so David, Julie, Ashley, Molly and I headed to the train station at 8:30 (who am I?!?) and made it to BEAUTIFUL town of Greystone by ten. The train ride is unbelievable as it follows the shore line with the Irish Sea to the east and rolling green hills on your right and cuts through the cliffs in true Harry Potter/Polar Express fashion. From Greystone, we did a 4 mile cliff walk (more like hike) to the town of Bray. It is one of the most breathtaking places I have ever seen, and the green grass and blue sky was unbelievable. We were so lucky to not have a drop of rain and mild temperatures. The towns on each end are the kind of quaint Irish villages you see in movies, and we met so many incredibly friendly people along the way. We rewarded ourselves with lunch at a little diner before heading back to campus. I can't even explain how beautiful this place is.
I have finally decided to make an album on Facebook so I can share more photos, but here are some to start!
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| Beautiful UCD campus |
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| St. Stephen's Green |
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| Trinity College |
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| Irish Sea |
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| Greystone |
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| Bray |
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| Molly, Julie, Ashley & I |
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| From the top |
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| Selfie Attempt! |
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| Christ Church |
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| Original Wall of Dublin |
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| Cooking at the Boxty House |
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| Aly & I all dressed up! |
