I Kissed the Blarney Stone.

Day 11: June 27, 2012

Blarney Castle!

            So after constant debate back and forth before I left Virginia on whether or not I should kiss the Blarney Stone I finally decided to do it. “Why wouldn’t you kiss the Blarney Stone?” you ask. Well, I have heard from multiple sources that the locals do some pretty bad things to the stone. I will not mention what I have heard, but it was enough to make me doubt my belief in its luck. But after going through the castle and climbing up to the top, and watching person after person kiss the stone, I thought to myself, if these people are ok, and the hundreds of thousands of other people who have kissed it are ok, then I’ll be ok. The castle was great! Surprisingly it was the first one we went to, but I feel like that’s fitting while visiting Ireland. It has to be the most recognizable castle name in all of Ireland right?

The interior of the castle.
Three different levels.

            After taking a short bus ride from Cork to Blarney, we approached the castle not really knowing what to expect. It was not the huge castles you see in medieval movies, and in no way compares Hogwarts Castle, but it fit right into the surrounding fields of lush, bright green grass and sheep grazing throughout. The castle had many levels but many of the floors were missing so you could see from the bottom floor all the way up to the top, which made it seem pretty expansive. Climbing to the top of the castle, where the famous (or infamous) stone is located was a bit more of a challenge then I expected. We had to go up a very narrow spiral staircase, luckily I did not eat breakfast that morning so I was able to fit! Once we reached the top the view was amazing! You could see hills all around in the distance and even a few little towns, as well as a large gothic era mansion not far from the castle.

            So I kissed the stone. In order to kiss the stone you have to sit down towards the edge of the wall and lean backwards as a burly bald Irish man holds you so you don’t fall. It wasn’t bad for me but some people had difficulty because we were pretty high up and you had to lean your head backwards to look down at the ground. Overall, the Blarney Stone has still yet to prove what it can do for me, but it still has plenty of time to go.

THE Gourmet Sausage.

            Once we returned for our Blarney Castle adventure one of the other guys on the trip, Curtis, and I went to the open market in the center of downtown Cork. When we entered my nose was immediately filled with such a wide array of smells. The stench of freshly caught fish mixed with the sweet aroma of cookies being pulled out of an oven. We continued to walk through and I caught whiffs of the salty olives sitting in a plethora of large baskets right across from the smell that grabbed my attention the most, the sizzling scent of sausages grilling next to sweet peppers and onions. Curtis and I looked at each other and knew that we had found lunch, or our late afternoon snack. The sausage was absolutely mouth watering. We left the market before we were tempted to buy anything else and finished them practically before we crossed the street. I’ve realized something about the food here. I have been eating a lot of the best food I’ve ever had in my life here. Everything is so fresh, and even after you stuff your face and are full to the brim I don’t feel gross like I do after eating a greasy meal back in the states. I have been taking pictures of some of my favorite foods here and hopefully one of the many wonderful cooks I know back home will be able to fix some of it!

Welcome to Kinsale

Day 10: June 26, 2012

The sailboats and the
Kinsale Yacht Club marina

            Tuesday we headed out on a bus to Kinsale, about 30 minutes outside of Cork. Kinsale is a harbor town that on any day looks gorgeous. It is the smallest town we have visited so far, but I really enjoyed going there. I wish we had longer to visit but some people were trying to get back in order to watch an improv show as a part of the Cork Midsummer Festival.

Open-faced crab sandwich.

            We started in Kinsale looking for something to eat. Apparently it is a very big fishing town so we ended up at a restaurant called Fishy Fishy. It was a small little place, but luckily we all found a table to share. The food was delicious; I got seafood chowder and an open-faced crab sandwich. While we were sitting there eating our meals I noticed a little girl eating alone. She came out of the kitchen with a plate of fish and chips and sat at a table near ours. She sat quietly swinging her legs under the chair looking around the small restaurant watching all the different patrons. She had a face full of freckles and straight brown hair. An American couple came in looking for a place to sit and there were no tables open. She quietly turned to the man and told him that he and his wife could sit at her table. The man, unsure, asked if the little girl was ok with that, she replied sweetly and got up and took her plate behind the counter to finish eating. I’m guessing her older sister, our waitress, talked to and made her smile and laugh with a full mouth. I can only wonder if this little girl will leave this little town of Kinsale. I know if I lived in a place where the people were just as friendly, and then harbor just as beautiful I might try to stay my entire life.

Out front of the KYC

            After lunch we split up into several groups. I went off with a few people to try to walk to a fort at the far end of the harbor. This trip was unsuccessful, but on the way we had a few good stops. We stopped at the Kinsale Yacht Club. I work at a yacht club back home, so I thought it would be fitting for me to swing by and say hello. I talked to a man who worked there and he was very nice. He mentioned that he had visited the Norfolk Yacht Club, but never the good old HYC. On our way back from our unsuccessful journey we went to a church in Kinsale. It is called St. Multose Church and it was built in 1190. This is one of the oldest churches in Ireland. The interior of the church was extremely modern, but it still had a good amount of what looked to be like original pieces. The stone fount which hold the holy water and a couple wall fixtures seemed to be very old. 

The fount inside
St. Multose Church

            After Kinsale we took the windy bus trip back to Cork. I headed back to the apartments from the city center on my own because the rest of my small group was going to the improv show. Once I arrived back I got to enjoy a wonderful Skype date with Haley. Even though the connection goes in and out it is always nice to Skype her and my family back home. I am having loads of fun here in Ireland, as you can probably tell from my posts, but it’s always great being able to talk with and see the people you love even when you’re practically 4000 miles away.

Are we in Cork or Hogwarts?

Day 9: June 25, 2012                        

Roses from the garden on
campus at UCC.

            Monday morning started with a tour of the campus of University College of Cork, where we are staying. The campus is absolutely gorgeous! There are many aspects of the campus here that remind me of JMU. The quad here is not as big or nice as ours, but it is a little reminder of home. One thing that I saw on the UCC campus that we definitely don’t have at JMU is a group of young wizards! We saw a group of kids walking through campus wearing cloaks! I’m pretty sure they were actually robes, but cloaks just sounds better.

Colin with the Hogwarts students.

            After our tour the Irish Film class went to a room on campus and watched Robert Flaherty’s “Man of Aran” from 1934. I have experience watching Flaherty films, from my Documentary class I took this past spring semester. His first documentary, “Nanook of the North” is considered by many to be one of the first actual documentaries ever follows an Eskimo family in Canada. “Man of Aran” is very similar to this. It follows a family on the Aran Islands off the coast of Ireland and their struggle to survive in the harsh environment of the islands. I will spare you by not going into any further details

            Later Monday we all ran to a small grocery store and got necessities for the night. We ended up having a little hang out in the five guys apartment and then went out to our favorite pub here in Cork, Oliver Plunketts.

Hurling and Screeching

Day 8: June 24, 2012

            Lazy Sunday! Wake up in the late afternoon! Well actually more like 10 or 11ish. Once I finally did wake up however I was determined to go for a run. I thought it would be great! It is about a 5k down to the city center of Cork and back to our apartments so I am thinking it will be no problem. I was wrong. I think my first problem was I hadn’t eaten anything. I think I need to take lessons from a wise man named Bruce (shot out to the pops) and eat before I run. My other problem was that I hadn’t run in well over a week. So instead of running the full 5k I only ended up running 3k, but I did it in a decent time.

Hurling Match in action!

            Later that day a group of us decided to head down to a pub and watch Cork take on Tipperary in the Senior Muster Hurling Championship Semi-Final. Now if you’re thinking to yourself right now, “none of that makes any sense to me” well then I was in the same boat as you until Sunday. The best way to describe Hurling is that it is combination of lacrosse and rugby. It is the worlds fastest field sport apparently, and if 17 points scored in the first 17 minutes of play didn’t prove that to us then nothing would. If you are really interested in Hurling you can check out more information here, but if not, just know it’s a pretty cool sport. Unfortunately Cork lost by only 1 point, but it was a great experience watching it in the pub with a bunch of fans!

Best Chicken Nachos EVER.
(minus the black olives!)

We had a tap at our table.
That could've been trouble,
but we decided against it.

After the Hurling match we grabbed dinner at this big restaurant/ bar called SoHo. It was really cool! I got the best chicken nachos I’ve ever had. And I finally quenched my craving for a margarita that I have had all summer long!

Instrumental Saw Lady.

            We then met up with the entire group to go see a performance in the Cork Midsummer Festival called Resound. It was a musical, visual, and poetic mixture that began as being pretty interesting and entertaining but half way through turned into a trancey/ psychedelic/ weird show. Some of the singing seemed almost like it was screeching and at one point I think they might actually have been screeching, but we will never know. Coolest part about it was a lady playing a saw with a cello bow.

            Out of the two major things we did today, I definitely enjoyed watching the hurling match much more than the musical performance. I guess I’m just more into sports than I am weird music. It was pretty interesting seeing two completely opposite things going on in the city on the same day though. Just goes to show that you can probably find something for everyone in Ireland.

Glendalough: Where we found the REAL Ireland

Day 7: June 23, 2012

            There was no “old telephone” ringtone waking me up this morning. It had to have been God whispering in my ear or something because I slept straight through my alarm. I woke up with less than thirty minutes before our bus out of Dublin was set to leave. This was not a good start to the morning. Luckily I am pretty used to only having a short amount of time to get ready in the morning since I snooze at least three times before I get up for work, even though I know I’m going to have to rush if I keep doing it. So after a quick shower I finished packing my things and ended up not even being the last one to the bus.

            Once the bus trip got started we were on our way to Glendalough, an old monastery up in the mountains a little over an hour from Dublin. During the bus ride we finally started to catch glimpses of what Ireland is perceived like in all the Hollywood movies. Rolling hills and

pastures, dark clouds and rain, and little specs of white fluff traipsed all throughout the landscape. Everywhere you looked you saw sheep. But when I closed my eyes I was taken back to Virginia. In my ears all I heard was “girl you make my speakers go boom boom” and “well you know I like my chicken fried.” I faded off for probably ten to fifteen minutes dreaming about summertime back home. Concerts, the beach, the SUN, oh yeah and work (the one part of home I don’t miss). However, making money each week is definitely better than spending every euro you get. After I was rudely woken up by the windy, bumpy roads, I opened my eyes to see rain streaking against the window on the bus. Only a few thousand miles separate everything in Virginia and me, but it’s nice when the little things give you reminders of home.

            We arrived in Glendalough and were greeted by the sun barely peeking through the clouds and surprisingly the rain had stopped. We caught it in the best part of the day. It was absolutely stunning. It was a little walk over to the old church and a large graveyard with a bunch of graves dating back to the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The entire scene was picturesque. This is what we had all been expecting on our journey to Ireland. After a little hike up a trail (which I wandered slowly by myself) I got some great pictures (most will be on my facebook) and found a few small waterfalls. Everything was so very green! It was unlike any green I had seen before. It was so lush and vibrant. They colors gave the forest surround the path a very mystical feel. After about an hour of exploring we headed back onto the bus for the four hour ride to Cork. This bus ride was no different than the previous one besides the fact that it was much longer. Still filled with sheep grazing the pastures and rain dripping down the windows of the bus.

Ox Cheek Pie and Mash

            Once we arrived in Cork we had a short tour of the city (which is about a twenty minute walk from our apartments, near the campus of University College of Cork). I immediately realized that I was going to like Cork much more than the crowded streets of Dublin. I guess big city life just is not for me. This post is getting a little lengthy so for everyone’s sake I will wrap it up briefly. By saying I had the most amazing meal ever at dinner. It was Ox Cheek Pie. Don’t be afraid of the name. It was basically just shepherds pie with ox tail as the meet. The ox tail reminded me of a beef brisket or a beef cooked in a crock-pot. It was so tender and delicious! After dinner a few of us went to this pub called Preachers. The best pub experience so far. It was packed with mostly people in their early to mid twenties and the classic American songs were blasting through the speakers (songs included but not limited to: Fresh Prince of Bel Air Theme Song and Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer”). Needless to say besides the horrendous wifi situation at our apartments in Cork, I think I’m going to enjoy our time here.

Week One is Done

Day 6: June 22, 2012

            Today started out very refreshing. I slept for about 7 hours last night and that might be the most sleep I’ve gotten since arriving. The Irish Film class got to meet second today so we had class at 11:15. When we arrived the Travel Writing class was still there to discuss tomorrows plans for traveling to Cork. We are leaving at 9:00am. I am pretty sure it is going to be a rough morning for 100% of our group. It’s 11:35pm now while I’m writing this and I have still not started packing. Oh well..

            I cannot believe the first part of our trip is already over! I have had such a great time with the group so far. I do not think anyone expected us to all get along as well as we have. We travel in flocks. The smallest group I’ve done anything with has been four (¼ of our group). The majority of the time we are either split in two groups or all together. I feel like I have known these people longer than the week we have been here. I cannot wait to see how we all grow closer over the next five weeks!

            Today was probably the least hectic day out of the week. Nothing too exciting happened.  In the afternoon I did a little shopping and wrote a few postcards. I will close out week one of my Ireland trip with a few of my favorite pictures from the journey so far.

Our whole group at Trinity Bar in Dublin. Photo Credit: Laura Quintero

A few young Irish kids on the train that wanted me to take their picture. 

Just in case you were thinking about it, a warning not to drive your car off the road and into the water.

Intense game of JENGA at Porterhouse! Photo Credit: Laura Quintero

Proof that I am a certified Guinness Perfect Pint Pourer!

"There's Poetry in a Pint of Guinness"

9000 years long he signed his name

“Arthur Guinness” he wrote, without an ounce of shame.

And an ounce of beer he would never lose

Because Guinness, my dear is one hell of a booze.

It’s a famous name wherever you go

Malty, dark and smooth, with the perfect flow.

The perfect pour is just within reach

You can learn from the best, they know how to teach.

From hops, barley, and yeast to the water so clean

Guinness became what Art thought it should be.

And Art, the good man broke free from the mold

He mastered the brew and turned lead into gold.

Now he and the beer have no magical power

But an Irish hero he is, you can tell from his tower.

In the tower you sit, all of Dublin you see

A view that’s much worse? A pint glass, empty.

There is one last thought I’ll leave with you here

It’s a beautiful sound, music to my ear

The music so brilliant played by violinist

There’s poetry in a pint of Guinness.

Gaol and Guinness

Day 5: June 21, 2012            

            I cannot believe it is already the end of Thursday. I know I have not really been keeping up with blogging on the right day, but it’s been so busy that I’ve just had to bunch up all my journaling time together. This is the first post that I am actually doing on the day I’m writing about. I feel a little sense of accomplishment here, so let me just take a moment to give myself a pat on the back… ok moment over. Moving on. Today was the second day in a row I’ve told myself I would go running. Needless to say I have failed miserably at that. Two things I have kept up with every day are the Greek IV Quiet Time emails and the daily verses Haley wrote for me in a little notebook. I feel like I need to consistently have that quiet time during my days in order to not fall off track with my faith, so both have been very helpful! Today we went on two group tours. The first was of Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced jail) and the second was of the Guinness Storehouse. Both were fantastic tours for completely different reasons. To be honest, the two could not have been more different.

The EastWing of the jail.
Used in several famous movies

Kilmainham Gaol was very somber. The history given by the tour guide, the familiar prison block used in several famous movies, and the yards where prisoners were executed, all very real and very sad. This jail was where many famous Irish heroes have been held from Michael Collins to Grace Gifford. If you haven’t heard of them, don’t feel bad, neither had I before I was coming to Ireland. For a little more background on Kilmainham Gaol you can always visit the 100% accurate and professor approved Wikipedia page! After the very quiet and serious tour of the gaol we found our way to the famous Guinness Storehouse.

Holding my Perfect Pint!

The storehouse was crowded with visitors all awaiting their “Perfect Pint.” I can probably say that at least 50% of the people there were just interested in being certified Guinness pint pourers. I on the other hand, being the beer connoisseur I am after my many Jack Browns visits, went to really learn about the process and what goes on behind the making of the world famous beer (and one of my favorites). The tour started out standing right above the 9000 year lease that Arthur Guinness signed in 1759. Yes you read that right, 9000 year long lease, for approximately 45 pounds or around $62 a year. I’m pretty sure the Guinness Storehouse will still be under the lease when the world ends in December (I guess the Mayans should have checked with Arthur before they finished making their calendar). So after going through the tour and seeing the process that goes into making the beautiful beer that is Guinness we finally got to pour our own perfect pint. So yes, if you ever need a pint of Guinness poured, I am your go-to-guy. I have decided to commemorate the master brewer himself, Arthur Guinness, with a poem in my next post.

A Trip to Africa

Day 4: June 20, 2012

            These next two posts are going to be filled with some pictures and maybe a little bit of poetry so just be prepared. There is not much to say about the zoo that most people have not already experienced so I decided to go with posting a couple photos and doing the Image Sensory again so here goes...

            “I turn to look down at the little red headed, round faced baby in the stroller as he looks up at me he gives me a smirk and then raises an eyebrow.”

            “The bright pink feathers are quite a sight, but the stench that comes with is a terrible smell.”

            “I peer through the glass and the dark, sad, longing gaze of the orangutan meets my eyes. He was all alone."

            “The exhale through the nostrils of the sea lions as they come up for air.”

           “The ‘pop pop pop pop’ heard as the gorilla pounds on his chest.”

            “Mistaking the cry of the chimpanzee for the cry of a child.”

            “Walking into the African Safari exhibit and our group breaks out in ‘IT’S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE!!’”

After the trip to the zoo the Irish Film class had to go watch a Documentary on the making of The Quiet Man. It was not terrible. Though I did, once again, have trouble keeping my eyes open even though this time the movie was at 9pm instead of 9am. After the movie we headed to the pub to meet up with the rest of the group at “American Frat Party” theme night. Furthest thing from any “frat party” I’ve ever seen and it certainly was not American, but it was only a Wednesday.

A Day at the "Beach"

Day 3: June 19, 2012

            Tuesday morning came even earlier than the previous. The Irish Film class had to watch a movie at 9:30am. First of all, who ever watches movies at 9:30 in the morning? And second, who ever knew that John Wayne was Irish? I’m just glad he didn’t try to put on an Irish accent in The Quiet Man. The film was about a man born in Ireland, but moved to America at a very young age, who returns to his home town of Innisfree after he *spoiler alert* kills a man unintentionally in the boxing ring. I won’t give you anymore details for the reason that I actually would like you to keep reading this post and that the movie was so long that I could probably write a book just summarizing it. In short, it was directed by John Ford and was not as bad as I’m making it sound, though I was dancing in and out of consciousness the entire time until the 30 minute fight scene at the end (oh yeah sorry, *spoiler alert*). The Quiet Man had the class laughing in many parts, whether on purpose or not we will never know.

            After the movie we had a group trip scheduled to go to Sandycove, a small beachy town about 20 minutes, by train, outside of Dublin on the Dublin Bay. Now if you saw the word “beachy” and started singing the classic hit by Nicki Minaj “Starships” then you are not alone. Well you actually are, because this so called “beach” is as far from being a beach as it is from being in Southern California. Don’t get me wrong, there was water, and maybe a little bit of sand, but that doesn’t make it a beach. Even though we call Yorktown Beach a beach, lets be honest, we all know it’s really not (sorry to burst your bubble Todd). So anyways the reason we went to Sandycove is because it’s where the famous Irish author James Joyce lived and began his book Ulysses. We were going to visit Joyce Tower, but apparently the guy working the little museum there had one too many Guinness’s the weekend before and wasn’t opening it until Thursday.

            After a little exploration of Sandycove we headed down the road to the little town of Dalkey. It was about a 20 minute walk and we started going through some neighborhoods, which was a little awkward. I think it would be weird to look outside my window back home and just see a group of 16 college students walking by my house. So we split up into two groups, and my group ended up stopping in the town square to grab a bite to eat. While we were eating outside this man approached us. He wobbled over to us, obviously drunk or something, and he just started rambling. I’m not quite sure what all he said but he quoted a little bit of Einstein, name dropped a few of the most famous Bob’s in the world (Marley and Dylan), and gave us two words of advice “AARRGGGGHHH” (not quite sure where the two words are in there but it’s a direct quote. I promise). He did this all before the local Garda (police) came over and took him away. So after making the long trek back to the Sandycove train station we were all worn out. The ride back to Dublin was much quieter than the one going.

            That night after dinner we all met up at Porterhouse, a pub right outside one of the gates of Trinity. It was music trivia night and it was a blast! We split up into two teams to see which group could do better on the “Classic Modern Rock” trivia. First two songs were easy and they reeled us in, but the third was a little tricky. It was “Beautiful Monster” by Neyo.. pretty sure that does not fall under the category of “Classic Modern Rock” but we got it. The rest of the songs went back and forth between easy and difficult. My team, “Cilantro,” only got three wrong. So after music trivia was done we found something that hit close to home, JENGA!! We played a few rounds of this and then once they had to tell us they were closing we all headed back to our dorms to continue the group bonding through some card games and good laughs.

From Dulles to Dublin

10 Sensory Images

1) The hug that lasted a little longer than usual from my mom as she starts to tear up before I leave as she repeats “be safe” and “I love you.”

2) Placing my chin on the top of Haley’s head as we squeeze each other tightly and the look in her eyes as we part and go our separate ways.

3) The man next to me on the flight rocking forward and backward, frustrated right before he stands up and turns around to yell at the woman behind us to tell her son to stop kicking his seat.

4) The immediate sense of frigid air when the plane got off the ground. I felt as thought they were preparing us for what was to come in Ireland.

5) I was almost asleep when I felt a cold splash of water on my leg as I dropped my cup and it spilled on my pants and pillow. This dampness made it difficult to fall back to sleep.

6) Glancing out the window about 20 minutes before we landed all I saw were neighborhoods and shopping centers/ office buildings that looked as though we were still back in the U.S.

7) The first thing I noticed after we landed were the voices of the people working in the airport. Immediately they made me realize we were in Ireland.

8) Walking around Dublin I heard so many different voices and languages ranging from English, Irish, French and even others I did not recognize.

9) After a brief nap I looked outside and saw ten men playing a small game of soccer. This made me miss the pick up games from back home.

10) Walking into Bruxelles I immediately felt welcome. Our waitress gave us a big smile and the women we were next to were very cheerful and friendly. It was the definition of cozy.

Day 2 in Dublin

Day 2: June 18, 2012

            The first day of school… in Ireland. The morning came much too early with class starting at 10:00am. Like usual, the first class is always an overview of what we are going to do and all that really fun stuff. So there are six of us in Irish Film, and then everyone takes Journaling Seminar. Irish Film ended around 11:15 and I still had not had breakfast so I went to an on campus dining hall called Buttery. In my mind I imagine Paula Deen sweating back in the kitchen cooking and baking everything. I was greatly disappointed. It was not a bad little place though, they were clearing up the breakfast food so I just ended up getting a chicken sandwich to go and a VIT-HIT (their form of Vitamin Water).

            We had Journaling Seminar at 2:00pm, which was just another introduction to what we will be doing for the next six weeks. We did end up doing a little journal prompt called Ten Images A Day. We were to write about ten sensory images from leaving home, crossing the ocean, arrival/ first impressions/ landing in a new place. That will come in my next post.

            We did a little grocery shopping after class where I got some breakfast food for the week. A group of us also walked around a little bit and stopped by the tourist center to check some things out. Once we got back I ended up just having a small sandwich I had grabbed at the grocery and chips and bean dip for dinner. It was small, but satisfying for the time being, since we were all meeting up to go to a play at The Abbey Theater. The play was called The House and it was about an Irish emigrant coming home for the summer and wanting to purchase a house from his childhood. It was sort of slow in some parts and ended up being kind of depressing, but overall it was enjoyable. If I had to choose I would have picked the Ireland v. Italy soccer match over watching the play, and I think all of my classmates will agree.

            After the play we all decided to do a little exploring of Dublin at night. It was about 10:30pm on a Monday night, but the streets were more crowded than you’d think they would be for a Monday (it is Dublin though..). We ended up going into this rather large pub called Trinity Bar and Venue. We got a nice little area right up the stairs all to ourselves and we began ordering Jameson and Guinness to kick off the evening. There was a little cover band down the stairs by the bar that was the music selection for the night and they were quite enjoyable. We stuck around until closing time all talking and getting to know each other better. We could not have asked for a better place to do just that. 

Day 1 in Dublin

Day 1: June 17, 2012 (Yes, I know that this is not the date of the blog post but I'm just getting around to putting it up now.)

            We arrived in Dublin at 10:21 am local time (that’s 5:21 am Virginia time for all of you back home). The plane ride over began with a kick, literally, the kid behind my row was kicking my neighbor and he freaked out a few times. Come to find out he's a neurologist, you'd think his nerves would be better than they were but guess again.. After that little debacle I decided to put on a movie and just block everything else out. 21 Jump Street was a great choice that kept me laughing the entire time. Dinner, which consisted of chicken, rice, and salad, was served about an hour into the flight. It wasn't bad, but nowhere near as good as the couscous we had on my flight to France my freshman year of high school (shout out to Crosby)! I then put on Act of Valor. And can I just say it was difficult to fall asleep during the movie because it was so bad ass but I managed to make it happen. I also managed to spill half a cup of water all over my pants, which was great! I ended up falling back asleep (wet pants and all) for about another hour or so. I woke up and my pants were dry, thank goodness! I decided to finish watching Act of Valor and by this time we were about an hour and a half outside of Dublin.

Once we arrived at the Dublin Airport we got our bags and headed to meet one of our professors. There were nine of us total from the group that flew over together, but unfortunately we were all spread out through the plane. We took a bus from the airport to Trinity College where we will be staying from today until Saturday morning when we leave for Cork. When we arrived at Trinity College we all got our room keys. The professor told us how the college is about 500 years old and to not expect much out of the rooms but we were all greatly surprised at how awesome they are! They are very clean, almost hotel room décor. I will post pictures soon. 

We started a walking tour of Dublin and walked down several of the main streets (Grafton, O’Connell, and Nassau) where there are a ton of pubs, shops, and other restaurants. We got lunch at a Chinese restaurant called Wagamama’s. It was very good! I got fried dumplings (not as good as the ones from Marco and Luca’s in Charlottesville) and some sort of vegetable lo mien type noodles. We then finished our walking tour by crossing over the Liffey River through the Ha’ Penny Bridge. After we got back to our dorms pretty much everyone took naps. We got up later and had a small meeting and tour of Trinity College and then the group split up. I was the only guy with all of the 11 girls on the trip. We somehow lost the other guys on our way out of Trinity, but we went to this pub called Bruxelles to watch the Portugal v. Netherlands. The pub was quite small and dark when we walked in, but one of the waitresses greeted us with a smile that made us feel immediately welcome. Going into any of the pubs with a large group is difficult, but they accommodated us very well. We were put in a back room with three older Irish ladies. They were so sweet and talked to us for a little bit while they finished up their drinks. After the soccer game we all went back and just went to bed because we were all still pretty jet lagged.