One interesting development during the week was that I found out that I was not going to be able to spend my entire break in Paris. I then immediately booked a return flight to Dublin as I still had yet been able to find a place to live in Wales and would not be able to go back to Cork as I had to turn in my keys when I left on the 20th. Everything did work out however, and if reading what follows induces a headache then you have my sincerest apologies.

The only flight my friend in Paris could find was on the 26th which meant that I would need to buy my ticket for the same day as I was not nearly confident enough with my French to stay in Paris or even make my way to the airport alone. So I booked a flight to Dublin and then crossed my fingers that I would find some place to live in Wales. My friend Katie was going to be spending a week starting on the 26th touring Northern Ireland and conducting interviews. This worked out for me because as it turned out a friend of hers was flying to Ireland to spend the week with her. This friend was going to be flying into Dublin two hours before I would be arriving. So, I had been talking to Katie about the situation and she offered the use of her apartment as she was not going to be there. So I asked a huge favor of her that her and her friend wait at the airport until I arrived two hours after her friend and then I could take the keys to her apartment. Being the amazing friend that she is Katie acquiesced and the very complicated puzzle was complete!

This ended up working out doubly great for myself as I was able to leave the majority of my luggage at Katie’s apartment and only brought a small carry-on bag with me to Paris so I will be able to have the 30 refunded that I had originally paid when I was going to be traveling with all of my luggage.*

I spent the end of the week saying goodbye to the last of my friends, Michelle and Laura as they left Thursday and Friday respectively. The goodbyes were a bit less sad then though because I was going to be back in Cork on the 26th until I found a place to live in Wales which is most likely going to take me all the way until the beginning of the term which I believe is on the 17^th (I’m not 100% positive of this and need to check when I have access to the internet. I’m currently sitting in the Juvisy library which does not)** and those who were coming back for the spring term were arriving around the 3^rd of January. The whole situation also carries another bonus because I no longer have to worry about extra costs on luggage because I can easily travel between Cork and Bangor by using only busses, ferries and trains which do not have weight limits.

I cleaned my room top to bottom on Saturday as well as arranged for a taxi in the morning as the busses to the airport do not run before ten in the morning on Sundays (my flight was for 10:30) and tried to relax for the most part. Sunday morning I did a once over of the apartment and gathered my things, locked my bedroom door for the last time, placed my room keys and keycard in my mailbox and left Copley Court for the last time.

*Katie is a lifesaver!

**Come to find out my semester starts with Orientation on the 19th which is a Tuesday. The plan as of now is to head to Wales Sunday the 17th with the idea that I will stay in a Bed & Breakfast for a couple days while I look for an apartment.

Thursday involved the test which I was most concerned about. We had our Irish Historical Tales exam which I was not sure what to expect. I studied quite a bit prior to the exam and still felt quite nervous going into the exam. This however changed when I sat down and read the questions we had to choose from to answer. There was a question which I was really excited to see on the exam because I felt I could answer it really well; and I did. I wrote for almost the entire fifty minutes and definitely feel I owned the question. After leaving the exam I was riding a wave of confidence. I then headed into the city center to buy my present for the Secret Santa party we were having that night. I was able to find the perfect gift and headed back to my room to wrap it and prepare for the party.

The party was great and I ended up with two great gifts. One was a miniature FAI (Football Association of Ireland) soccer ball that everyone had signed. The other was an Ireland scarf which I will be wearing during the World Cup and most definitely during each match France is involved in. Everyone liked their gifts and fun was had by all. We gathered around the couch and took a group picture as it was the last day we would all be together as Stéphane was leaving the following morning. We also watched Elf, which I left early from as I wanted to get some rest before my last exam of the semester which took place at nine in the morning on Friday. I woke up early and studied a bit for my Mabinogi exam which I felt fairly comfortable with going into it. I did not do as well as I had on my Historical Tales exam but I feel I still did well.

After my exam I headed back to my apartment and starting arranging and sorting things into piles for packing purposes. I packed a bunch of stuff up and soon realized that I was going to have to either pay through the nose for the extra weight on the plane or ship it home and still pay more money than I had to work with. Luckily my friend Katie offered to keep the things at her apartment until I could afford to ship them home which worked well. I also finalized my Holiday plans in Paris. I bought my ticket to fly to Paris on the 20th and planned to spend a few weeks with my friend Isaac until I had to fly to Wales. I also sent out a few emails to renters inquiring about their apartments. As the day wore on I got ready and headed to my friend Fabian’s apartment for the last party before everyone left. The craic was good and it was bittersweet to hang out with everyone altogether one last time before the planes began whisking everyone home for Christmas.

I spend the rest of the weekend with the idea of starting my final project of the term, my 4000 word essay, but I mostly just ended up spending time with everyone.

The Róisín Dubh

Week thirteen in Ireland is mostly a blur at this point. Classes happened as ‘normal’ in that exams were supposed to happened that week if the flood had not happened. So, instead we only had lectures. Things became more interesting toward the end of the week however. I went with a friend to An Spailpín Fánach to listen to a live traditional irish session because she had to write on one. It was interesting though because the band that was playing that night it turned out was from South America.

The real fun however started on Friday the 4th when a group of us hopped onto a bus and headed to Galway for the weekend. We arrived in Galway after a four hour bus ride around nine at night, dropped our stuff off at the hostel and

The Dolmen in the Burren artfully taken as to exclude annoying tourists.

headed out in search of food and a pub. We ate at Mc Donagh’s which is reputed as the best chip shop in Galway, and definitely lived up to its reputation. It is so famous in fact that while there I noticed pictures along the wall, one of which included the owner of Mc Donagh’s with Gerry Adams, which can only mean one thing; the fish and chips are so good that Gerry travelled all the way down for them.

After we finished eating we headed to a pub called The King’s Head which had a younger/university vibe to it. We found a table after standing around for fifteen or so minutes and enjoyed a few pints while the live band played some fun cover tunes. The lead guitarist for the band was insane and in my opinion should be with a higher caliber group. After we left The King’s Head we travelled past the Spanish Arch, across Wolfe Tone Bridge which spans the River Corrib as it flows into Galway Bay and at the time was flowing at a good clip as it was quite swollen, and to The Róisín Dubh which is one of the most famous venues in Ireland. There were no big acts the night we spent there, but we did enjoy a few pints and a DJ who was spinning very old swing and rhythm tunes. We headed back to the hostel afterwards to get some sleep so that we would all be rested for the tour the next day.

The Cliffs of Moher taken from the top on O'Brien's Tower.

A moment of silence should be taken for my beloved hat. The hat that I bought for $5 back in the states a year or so

The King's Head. Scene of the crime.

before I came to Ireland. The hat which has been stolen by my peers countless times for the purpose of pictures. The hat which received numerous compliments in pubs from the inebriated and grandmothers alike. The hat that I could have sold for a 1500 percent profit (yes I did the math). Alas, I lost my hat just after we left the King’s Head. It was raining, so I placed my hat between my knees whilst I put my hoodie and raincoat on and forgot it was there and proceeded to catch up with the group. I noticed my hat was not on my head and turned around to retrieve it from the ground where it should have fallen, but it was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully whoever picked it up will enjoy it as much as I did.

Saturday we all got ready and decided on the tour company we were going to go with and headed toward the bus station. Along the way however, we ran into a gentleman who was with a different tour company than the one we had decided on and Katie was able to talk him down from the €22 we were going to pay down to €10. So we boarded the bus and took off on a day tour of the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. The weather wasn’t perfect, but it added to the impressiveness of the cliffs. Along the way back to Galway we ran into traffic jam in the

The culprit of the traffic jam. He was not happy about having to go inside where it was dry and warm.

form of a young bull who was being defiant and refusing to cross the road. Once it was safe to continue we continued on our way back to Galway. When we arrived back in town we got ready back at the hostel and went out on the town. We had dinner at Supermac’s which is an Irish burger joint and myself and Stéphane braved the 10oz burger. Needless to say I still haven’t felt the need to eat. After dinner we went to a pub which had interesting bathroom attire to say the least. We watched a soccer match and were able to pour our own pints of Guinness for free. Afterwards we checked out a couple more pubs before heading to Bar 903 which had a couple DJs and a really chill atmosphere.

On Sunday morning the group disbanded and went our separate ways. Most of them walked around the city and

Shot of the Maam valley

University grounds, Katie and myself however took another day tour for only €10 this time to Connemara and Kylemore Abbey. The sun was out for the most part so it made for a nice day and most of the sights were breathtaking.  We had lunch at Kylemore Abbey and were able to walk around the grounds and the Victorian gardens which were very large. The abbey itself has a very interesting story. It was originally built as a castle/home for the wife of a very wealthy man, but shortly after they moved in she died on a holiday to Egypt and he was left alone in the castle for forty years until he died. Belgian nuns bought the castle and surrounding grounds after escaping World War II and have operated the grounds as an abbey and school for girls ever since. After we left the Abbey we stopped at a few more points along the way, but headed back to Galway fairly soon because the sun was setting fast. We arrived back in Galway and Katie checked into another hostel while I caught a bus back to Cork.

Kylemore Abbey in the sun.

So I basically spent from 10 in the morning until 10 at night on a bus, but it was definitely worth every minute.

I had the week off from classes due to the flood and chalked it up to a birthday present/Thanksgiving break. I originally planned to start working on my big paper that is now due the 18th thanks to the flood, however with Thanksgiving in the air and my birthday coming I decided to take the week and relax.

I did break down on Tuesday and walked into campus in the rain and blowing wind to see if the doctor’s office was open because my sinuses were still stuffed after just over four weeks. I managed to get in and talk to the doctor who did all the doctorish things and deduced that I had a sinus infection, but that my breathing and everything else was perfect. So they prescribed me antibiotics which I bought on the way home and just finished taken yesterday. I am now free and clear of any stuffiness and can actually breathe through my nose. On a side note, it was interesting going into a doctor’s office and not have to fill out tons of paperwork or show proof of insurance or even pay anything (aside from the €12 for the antibiotics). Oh, and a bunch of us went to see New Moon for the first time, and others a second…

The finished product. The most delicious stuffing ever made, Chestnut Stuffing! Made by the expert chefs Michelle and I.

On Wednesday we had a Thanksgiving cooking party at the Spires One. On my way to the Spires I bought a few ingredients for the staple food that Michelle was showing me how to cook which was chestnut stuffing (yes it is as good as it sounds). Originally my contribution was going to be stuffing; unfortunately stuffing is something I’d never made prior to now so I toyed with the idea of just making boxed stuffing. Not a good idea. Michelle offered to cook the stuffing with me/teach me how to make it which turned out to be really fun even though I had to try three times before I was able to find sausage meat. Along with our stuffing, Laura was making apple pies and Jeremy made pumpkin and pecan pies. Fun was had by all.

Thursday a couple of the Spires One residents stopped by to make use of my running water and then we headed back

Laura and Jeremy making the pies for Thanksgiving.

to Spires One for Thanksgiving dinner. When we arrived we found that an intricate table had been set up which was a surprise. It definitely made it feel more like Thanksgiving. It made it feel like home and it was fun to share Thanksgiving with our international friends who had never had the pleasure of experiencing the bounty that is Thanksgiving. Oh, and being the historian of the group (even though I do Irish history not American) I was asked to tell the Thanksgiving story which I gladly retold with historical accuracy rather than glamorized sweetener. Great laughter was made by all.

Our Thanksgiving table.

Friday was the weirdest day the entire week for me. With it being Black Friday it was weird to be in a city where things went on as any normal Friday would. Having always worked in retail prior to college I was always having to either work or drive through the mess that is Black Friday. I’ll just say it was a much nicer Friday here.

Saturday night a bunch of us went to a night club called the Liquid Lounge. It was actually a lot better than I had heard which was nice. An interesting thing happened while we were at the Lounge. I had been at the bar ordering a drink and when I came back I noticed that it was midnight which meant that it was my birthday in Ireland. My friends said happy birthday, what was interesting was that the DJ turned down the music and then wished me a happy 25th as well. Someone, I think it was Fabian, went up to the DJ when I was at the bar and told him it was my birthday. Thanks Fabian. Haha, it was funny and a little embarrassing, but more funny. After the club closed at two a few of us went back to Fabians to visit and drink some more. That party ended breaking up around six in the morning so I headed back to my apartment to catch some sleep.

Being me I still woke up at seven in the morning (thank you Latti) but was able to fall back asleep until around nine half nine. I wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep again so I got up and ready and talked to my mom and sister and my niece and nephew on Skype who all wished me a happy birthday and then headed out into the city center to see about buying a pair of scissors (sounds odd, but with all the packing and taping I’ve started doing I needed a pair and needed to do something to keep myself awake). The temperature had finally started to drop in Cork towards the end of the week (I say drop, it’s only gotten down to 2C/37F) and my thick jumper just wasn’t cutting it. I was going into different shops just to look around but when I was in Jack & Jones I noticed a really nice winter coat that was on sale. I decided that with colder weather arriving it would be a good investment not to mention it was really nice and I got a really good deal on it and I’ve never had a nice coat. So it became my birthday/Christmas present to myself. After walking around the city taking in all of the Christmas decorations that were being put up I headed back to my room to get ready for the evening (oh and I completely forgot to buy scissors).

I got ready and called Milano’s (the restaurant we were all going to for my birthday. Their specialty is delicious gourmet pizzas. So good.) around five to double

Laura and I. After opening my gifts getting ready to head over to Milano's.

check that I didn’t need to make reservations even though there were twelve of us going around seven. They told me that that did do reservations and that they were too busy to give me a table. Well this was a huge disappointment because myself as well as everyone else had been really looking forward to going to Milano’s. I waited until it was time and then headed towards Milano’s donned in my new coat to see if I could talk to them in person to see if there was anything they could do, to no avail. Katie was already there waiting for all of us, and didn’t recognize me at first when I came in and had to do a double take which was funny. We then walked toward Grand Parade and over to Bishop Lucey Park to wait for the rest of the group. I called Michelle and found that they were across the street from where Katie and I had just come from getting money from the ATM.

I walked back across the street and met up with the group and explained the situation and that Katie and I had walked over to the park to wait and Laura said “Oh, you were the guy walking with Katie?” which was really funny. Then I was told that I dress up well and everyone liked my coat. (Do I really look that bad the rest of the time guys? Haha.) We decided to try one more time because we all really wanted Milano’s. Michelle and Laura went in to see if they could work some magic which they did and managed to score us a table. They told them that it was going to be twenty minutes roughly so we dipped into a nearby pub by the name of The Ovens to wait. While we waited I opened my card and gifts which were awesome.

They had bought me the Mr. Tayto: The Man Inside the Jacket book which is a history of Mr. Tayto the mascot for the biggest crisp maker in Ireland. I had been fascinated by Mr. Tayto for a while because they were advertising the book everywhere and I’d been wondering what all the fuss was about. They were also able to have my copy signed by the author and Mr. Tayto himself which is a huge bonus. My other gift was a DVD of the standup comedian Des Bishop. Des was born in Queens NY, but moved to Ireland when he was sixteen. Recently he spent a year in a Gaelacht region in Ireland to learn Irish. Now he’s made a name for himself because he tours Ireland doing standup comedy completely in Irish. Definitely two of the coolest gifts I’ve ever gotten from some of the coolest people.

Milano’s called us to let us know our table was ready so we packed up and headed over. Dinner was delicious as expected. It was made even more delicious because there had almost been a chance that we weren’t going to be able to eat there so all worked out in the end. After dinner we ordered dessert and someone mentioned that it was my birthday so the entire staff came out singing ‘Happy Birthday’ carrying my cheesecake with a candle in it. I also received a sweet Milano’s cooking cap. Thanks again guys.

After we left Milano’s a few of us went to the Wash for Karaoke only to find that they weren’t doing karaoke on Sundays anymore so we stayed for a bit and listened to the live band and then headed to Spires One and watched the Des Bishop DVD instead. He’s hilarious and makes me wish I did not have to leave Ireland in a few short weeks. I couldn’t have asked for a better 25th birthday. To be in Ireland with amazing friends having amazing food as I turned a quarter-century old was amazing. THANKS EVERYONE!

Nollaig Shona Duit. Happy Christmas in Irish.

On Friday we arrived in Dublin in the late afternoon after having to take various detours due to bridges being flooded here and there. We checked into Barnacles Hostel in the Temple Bar district, dropped off our things and then headed out in search of a cinema as the movie New Moon premiered that night and we thought

The Bad Ass Cafe

it would be funny to say that we saw New Moon while visiting Dublin. After wandering around a bit through the streets of central Dublin, all decked out for Christmas, we found the Savoy on O’Connell Street and found that the movie was sold out for the night so we bought tickets for Saturday night and left the theatre in search of food. We Café/Diner called “The Bad Ass Café” which had a very American Diner feel to it. I had the Cheesy Ass Burger which probably had more cheese than burger. We walked around for a bit more before turning in early due to the long day of travel and sights to be seen the next day.

Saturday we got ready and headed to the Bus Eireann station to wait for the tour we were taking of the Boyne Valley. We boarded the bus and waited for the rest of the group which ended up being rather small. There were only ten or so

Muiredach's High Cross

people that took the tour which was nice. We drove north on the M1 which is one of the oldest and most traveled routes in Ireland because it is the main route between Dublin and Belfast. We drove through Drogheda which was one of Oliver Cromwell’s key siege targets during his conquest. Our first stop was Mainistir Bhuithe (Monasterboice in English) which was a monastic settlement in the late 5th century. It also is home to Muiredach’s High Cross which is hailed as the largest and most impressive examples of early Celtic High Crosses in all of Ireland. The site is also home to a round tower which was commonly found amongst early monastic settlements.

After our quick stop at Monasterboice we then made our way towards Newgrange. The east of Ireland did not escape the swollen rivers that plagued the west. The Boyne river was overflowing into fields and pastures all along our journey and flooded over the bridge that was our means of getting to Newgrange. We ended up having to take a detour down a very narrow road (all roads in Ireland are narrow to begin with) which was a two way road, however the bus took up the entire pavement and still barely fit. We also had to drive down an extremely steep hill which I have to give massive respect to our driver not only for navigating the narrow road but also for braving the grade of the slope to make sure we were able to experience Newgrange. We made it to the Visitor’s Center in one piece and after looking around the displays, watching a video presentation and having a bit of lunch at the café we headed to the bus stop where the busses take people from the visitor’s center to the actual site of the tomb. The rain stopped and the sun came out when we arrived at the tomb which was nice and made for some very interesting pictures.

The tour guide informed the group that along with the main burial mound there were numerous smaller ones situated around the main site. After a brief talk

Close up of two of the smaller burial mounds in the valley, the one on the left was flooded from the Boyne.

outside the burial chamber we then headed inside the mound where we were asked not to take pictures out of respect. It was an incredible experience. While it was not yet December we experienced a recreation of what happens every Winter Solstice where they turn all of the lights off and have a mock sunrise that fills the chamber with light. It was incredible to be standing in the chamber with 21 other people in complete darkness and silence watching as the sun crawled its way into the main chamber and then slowly snaked its way back out again. It is incredible to think that for 5000 years, on every Winter Solstice the sun comes in the exact same way and that the chamber has not leaked once in those 5000 years. To think that the people were that advanced architecturally is amazing. Along with the actual structure of the chamber was fascinating artwork all over the stones and of course there was graffiti from various people who have ‘owned’ the land that Newgrange inhabits. This was actually neat in its own way because the

Newgrange taken from the left. Note nice blue sky.

graffiti itself dates back as far as 400 years ago.

After walking around the grounds a bit more and checking out the gift shop we met the bus and headed to our next stop which was the mythical Hill of Tara. While the site of Newgrange was amazing to experience, I feel that the highlight of the trip for myself was the Hill of Tara. Along our way to the Hill the bus driver pointed out the construction area where the infamous M3 was being built. The M3 is a motorway that is being constructed to ease the traffic traveling into Dublin. The problem with the construction of the M3 is that the original plans had the motorway cutting through the Hill of Tara. Of course this raised an immense amount of controversy including a worldwide petition. The fight is ongoing, but the motorway has been moved away from the Hill and is being build around it. The site for the petition can be found (here).

As I was saying, The Hill of Tara is a mythological place that has been in Irish history and legend for thousands of years. Tara was the site where the High King of Ireland was always confirmed and crowned. On a clear day one can see into 16 of the 32 counties. The passage of the hopeful king started when he would have to drive his chariot through two flagstones which if they deemed him fit would move out of his way. He would then head to the Lia Fáil which was the true test. The Lia Fáil, or ‘Stone of Destiny’ in English, is one of the four legendary treasures brought to Ireland by the Tuatha Dé Danann who were a semi-divine race and one of the first peoples to settle in Ireland. If the Lia Fáil felt the king was fit for the High Kingship of Ireland it would roar its approval.

Me with the Lia Fáil. Notice the darkening sky in the background.

When we arrived at Tara we had a presentation by a local man who runs a small bookshop on the Hill. The presentation was fascinating. It was held in his bookshop where he closed all the windows and doors and set up a screen projector and we all stood around the shop looking at the slides as he explained the history of Tara and the area. He was a fantastic presenter and his accent during most of the presentation sounded exactly like a Downeast Maine accent which was interesting. Even Laura noticed. After the presentation we walked out onto the Hill which was quite muddy from all the rain and littered with sheep droppings as all across the hill farmers were pasturing their sheep. We walked past the Mound of the Hostages and maneuvered around the sheep toward the Lia Fáil. As we got closer to the Stone the rain started to fall again and the wind picked up. As I placed my hands on the Lia Fáil the sky darkened rapidly and the rain fell heavier which made the whole experience magical in a way. To be able to place my hands on such an important piece of Irish myth and history was incredible. Afterwards we checked out the headstones and the Banqueting Hall before running back to the bus soaked but happy. After everyone boarded the bus we headed back down the rocky road to Dublin.

When we arrived back at the bus station Laura and I grabbed some dinner at a pub on O’Connell Street and then headed up the

These two flagstones (Blocc and Bluigne) and first test of the king would move out of the way as the king drove his chariot through on his way to the Lia Fáil for his ultimate test.

street to the Savoy where we ended up being first in line for New Moon. The movie was surprisingly well done. The theatre was impressive as well and had an old theatre feel. It fit a couple hundred people in stadium fashion, the screen emerged from behind two giant curtains and was only a tiny bit smaller than our IMAX screens back in the states. After the movie we wandered back towards Temple Bar and stopped into a couple different pubs for a pint or two before calling it a day.

Sunday we checked out of the hostel early and wandered around the city to see the sight in the daylight. We lucked out weather wise as it was cold but the sun was out. We walked around St. Stephen’s Green, Marrion Square, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and Dublin Castle before heading to Trinity College around half twelve/one to see the infamous Book of Kells. Again, pictures were not allowed but it was still a great experience. Some of the books the monks wrote had extremely tiny writing and was so neat it was hard to believe it was all written by hand. As amazing as the Book of Kells is, the Long Room and the Old Library upstairs were breathtaking. It was 65 metres in length and houses 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books. Along with the books it also houses the oldest harp in Ireland. After we left Trinity we hustled over to the bus station to catch our bus back to Cork where a week off from classes and no running water awaited us.

*The header image is a panoramic I took of Newgrange.

The front page of the Irish Sun, a tabloid, which had the best headline the day after the match.

About halfway through the week things started to become interesting. On Wednesday the 18th was the second leg of the qualifier between Ireland and France to determine who would play in the World Cup this summer. The match took place in France as the previous one on Saturday had happened in Dublin. Ireland outplayed France the entire match. They were rewarded for their efforts be going up by a goal in the middle of the first half. They held the French off the entire second half to end regulation time Ireland 1, France 0. However because France had won the first match 1-0, that meant that the match had to go into extra time because in terms of aggregate goals, the two teams were tied. Ireland’s World Cup dreams were shattered in the 13th minute of extra time when France scored as a result of a handball. Naturally there has been extreme outrage from not only the Irish people but also those in France as well. FIFA however does not think that the match needs to be replayed. Go figure.

I also went out to dinner with a bunch of my friends to the one Mexican restaurant in Cork. It was not the greatest Mexican food I’ve ever had, but for not having had Mexican since leaving Maine it was definitely enjoyed. After dinner we ended up having a movie party and watched The Notebook. I had never actually seen the movie before so I gave in. It definitely played off the stereotypical gender/relationship themes, but overall was a decent movie. It made me think of my nan who had passed away last Autumn after battling dementia.

Washington Street was the hardest hit by the flood. The river rose so high that the road and the river became one.

The most drastic thing to happen last week was the major flooding that happened across the country but most seriously here in Cork and other parts of the west. Most of the week had suffered from constant heavy rainfall. While it is normal for it to rain a lot in Ireland, it usually has a day or so every once in a while where it doesn’t rain, and the rain that does fall constantly is usually a mist or periods of light rain not the constant days on end of heavy rainfall as we had. On Friday I woke up to a sunny morning. I got ready for class and started walking to campus but on my way I ran into

Taken on the 24th, standing on the first bridge that can be seen in the flood picture. This is what Washington Street looks like without the flood. Also notice how high the river had to rise to get over the stone barrier.

someone who is in my class walking back to their apartment. I asked what was up and they told me that the entire campus was closed down due to heavy flooding across the city. While it is nice to have a day off from classes, I had also planned to go to the doctor’s office to see if I could get some antibiotic for my head cold which had been pushing four weeks. Since the campus was shut down though, so was the doctor’s office. I then went back to my room dropped off my books, grabbed my camera and headed into the city center to buy some stuff I needed and to check out the flood. Half of the streets in the city center were completely underwater. I got a few good shots of a couple of the streets, however the hardest hit were closer to campus which I did not make it to.

I headed back to my apartment after taking care of stuff and buying some medication to pack and get ready for my weekend in Dublin which my friend Laura and I had been planning all week to visit Brú na Bóinne. The water to the entire city was turned off and is still off as they’re trying to repair damage from the flood. My street and building made out without flooding even though we are situated in the center of the city. Classes and the university have also been shut down through until the 30th so we have the entire week off from classes. I like to think about it as an early birthday present. Or possibly they realized how important Thanksgiving is and decided to give us the week to reflect. Right. My next post will detail my escape of the flood this past weekend to Dublin and Brú na Bóinne.

The big positive for the week though is that I’ve finally settled on a topic for my 4000 word paper that is due the 15^th of December. So I can start reading and plotting that out now. There was a list of five topics that we could choose from which included: the extent of the Ulster dimension to the Irish problem prior to the crisis over the Third Home Rule bill, how effective James Craig was as a Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, how widespread the discriminatory practices within Northern Ireland were prior to 1969 and what effects they had, whether the education system in Northern Ireland contributed to the community divide and critically assessing the performance of two political parties in Northern Ireland during the Peace Process.

I was originally leaning toward the latter mainly because I am here in Ireland on a scholarship based on the Peace Process and the former senator who spearheaded it, but I have decided to work on the discrimination practices question instead after discussing the topics with the professor. Working with the oppressed rather than the statesmen is more my thing anyhow. I went into the library and printed off about six of the twenty or so articles that I want to read for the paper so I’ll be starting that ASAP.

As I previously stated I watched the Ireland vs. France match on Saturday at a pub with some friends. I had originally wanted to buy tickets and take a train to Dublin to see the match live, but the reserve tickets were sold out an hour after they went on sale so I was out of luck (bummer right? not being able to watch the match live and having to settle for a pub…IN IRELAND..shucks). The match was great even though the French won. Still, there’s one more match left so hopefully Ireland will turn it around by then.

Oh, and probably the biggest news since last I posted: I’m LEGAL finally! When I came back from my weekend in Co. Kerry I had an email from the insurance company with a letter stating my coverage so I dragged my sick self to the Garda station and waiting an hour in line so that I could finish my immigration paperwork. So I am now a legal alien.

With that I am going to go try and be productive some more!

The photo that they used was one of my early photos taken of City Hall here in Cork:

The image that was used by the Schmap people for the guide to Cork.

Also here is the link to the actual page which uses my photo:

http://www.schmap.com/cork/home/

On the little map to the left you just find the one for City Hall and hover your mouse over it and my photo will come up!

It was dark when we reached the hotel around six so there was not much in the way of sightseeing but once we reached the hotel we checked in and took our things to our rooms before heading to dinner. The weekend trip was all inclusive. In the price we received transportation, food and board as well as admission to various places that would have otherwise cost money. I was rooming with my two friends from Germany Jonas and Fabian and luckily we had three beds in the room. After we settled in we headed to dinner where I had stuffed turkey and ham with vegetables and potatoes, then for dessert I had Bailey’s chocolate cheesecake. Actually I ended up having three pieces of cheesecake because a couple of the girls did not want theirs. I did not complain because it was delicious.

After dinner we headed into the dance hall to listen to a speaker talk about life in South Kerry. Before he started talking we all had to stand up and introduce ourselves and tell where we were from/what we were studying. Being in Co. Kerry which is a gaeltacht region of Ireland which means for most people that live there Irish is their first language, I introduced myself in Irish which was fun. The talk was really good because our speaker had grown up and lived in Kerry his entire life and saw the transition from the 50s all the way through to present day. He also talked about how Kerry is a place where there is not a lot of business or industry due to its mountainous and rocky terrain so it is very hard to keep people in Kerry. I thought his solution was really practical. He said that what needs to be done in Co. Kerry is to improve their broadband capacity so that people could live in Kerry and work from home.

After the talk we then got ready for Irish dancing lessons. We learned three dances, The Walls of Limerick, The Siege of Ennis and The . The dancing was fun because as I have been taking an introduction class on Irish dancing the different dances came easily. The only downside was that I was used as a demonstrator on multiple occasions. My friends Marin and Katie were put on display as well by the leader of the trip and danced a couple solo pieces in front of everyone because of their background in Irish dance. After over an hour of dancing a bunch of us headed to the Hotel bar to cool off with a couple pints. After we everyone headed back to their rooms and got ready for bed. Shortly after arriving back in our room we heard a knock on our door and opened it to find my friends Katie and Sarah, who also had a first floor room, excited that there were cows outside their window. However we could not confirm this until the morning with daylight.

Saturday we got ready early and had breakfast around 8:30. At 9:30 we all boarded the bus again and headed off to see some of the sights in Co. Kerry. We first headed to Valentia Island. We stopped quickly to allow for pictures of some of the cliffs before heading to the highest hill on the Island which we walked up through sleet, hail and rain. The path was one that you could drive up with a car, but as we were in a tour bus we had to walk up. The going wasn’t bad. The further we went up the wind became more brutal. I say brutal because there were certain spots where if I had jumped straight into the air I would have been blown off the lookout spot and into the jagged cliffs. Needless to say the wind was strong. It also hailed on us a couple times on the way up and down. The views were amazing even with the fog. From the top on a clear day you are supposed to be able to see the Skellig Islands which feature monasteries dating back to the 6^th century. However due to the fog we were unsuccessful in seeing the islands. As we headed down the mountain the sun came out and shone down on the landscape which was great. Fabian and I took a detour out onto one of the lookouts where I saw some of the most impressive cliffs I’ve ever seen. The wind was the worst here and when we realized that no one else had come out we headed back to the group. Evidently Marian, the leader of the trip, had forbid anyone else from going to the cliffs and when our friends asked where we were she said that we’d be fine. After we left the hill we headed to the Skellig Experience Center where we watched a short film about the islands and the monks that built their abbeys on them. We then headed along the coast and stopped at various points to take pictures and learn about the area. After we got back to the hotel we had the afternoon to ourselves so we headed back to our rooms to relax and dry off for a bit. I turned the television on to the Irish station and laughed because they were playing children’s cartoons like Teen Titans and The Batman in Irish. After we dried off we walked around the town and along the ocean then headed back for dinner. For dinner I had roast beef with chips (fries) and dessert was chocolate fudge cake. I ended up being given four cakes and the pie that Marian our tour guide didn’t want the rest of.

After dinner we had a local speaker again. This time it was former Kerry Football player Maurice Fitzgerald who is hailed as the Pele of Irish Football. He talked briefly of the rules of the game, but mostly talked about the dedication and commitment that is involved with Football and the GAA in general. In the GAA and football specifically none of the players are paid to play. Each of them has their own job and receives no monetary gain from playing. Even though with the All Ireland Final which is broadcast nationwide and Croke Park where the match is held is packed with 80,000 plus people, all of the money made on ticket sales is redistributed throughout the 32 county clubs. The players also play in the parish where they were born. If one is born in Co. Kerry, they can only play for their parish and if they are good enough eventually could play for the County team. He also spoke about the various levels of clubs from parish to county and how even though the players from Kerry may have won a national title in front of 80,000 people live (and even more on television) the next day they are back at their normal jobs and playing with their parish teams in front of maybe 100 people. Being from a country which is so heavily concerned with how much one makes in the sporting world it was almost unthinkable how the GAA system works. I certainly feel we could gain a lot from the GAA example.

After the talk we had a table quiz which was really fun. Unfortunately my team did not win but it was still a good time. We had run into a bunch of students from UCC the night before at the bar who were down at the hotel to celebrate one of their friends who was turning 21 and was from Kerry. They invited us to the party so we headed there after the quiz. We ended up enjoying pints and live music until around two in the morning before packing it in for the night. The Irish certainly know how to throw good birthday parties.

On Sunday we got up and headed to breakfast at 8:30 again and then headed out at 9:30 and walked to the stone forts nearby. The stone forts are 4000 years old and amazingly still intact for the most part. There are spots where you can tell that replacement stones were added recently but they are still impressive. The forts were neat and surrounded by cows and sheep and all of the fixing that go along with them. After the forts the bus picked us up and took us back to the hotel where we turned in our room keys and loaded our luggage onto the bus. We had lunch and then left the hotel for the eventual journey home. We stopped at a few places along the way including a mountain pass, the town where Charlie Chaplin had a house, a lookout point in the Killarney National Park and most importantly, Dónal Ó Conaill (Daniel O’Connell’s) house. I had not known we were going to stop at the house so I was pleasantly surprised. To be in the building which inhabited one of Ireland’s most important political figures in history was amazing. We headed back to Killarney to drop the same two girls off then headed back to Cork where we arrived around 6:30.

All in all the weekend was amazing and the sights were incredible. I am almost sold on the idea of living in Co. Kerry if ever I move to Ireland.

On Friday I had gotten up and packed a little before heading to my classes which went as scheduled. I then came back to my room around 11:30 and planned to finish packing and relax a bit for a couple hours before I had to meet the bus at 2:45. I say I planned to do this because it is not how things panned out. I was going to start off with a peanut butter and fluff (My mom sent me some because you cannot buy it here) sandwich because I had skipped breakfast. My last two pieces of bread were moldy so I was not able to have one (bad turn number one). I then decided to check my email to makes sure I took care of everything before the trip. I had an email from the International Office at Bangor University Wales where I will be attending during the spring semester stating that the sixth was the deadline for me to send my pre-registration form and if they did not receive it by five PM that day then I would not be able to attend (bad turn number two).

At this point I panicked because I had been under the impression that the form was not due until the 15^th of November. I then rushed through packing throwing the rest of the stuff I needed for the weekend, checked my bank account to make sure I had enough money for the weekend and noticed that my loan payment had been due two days before (bad turn number three) so I paid that barely dodging a late fee, and quickly filled out the rest of the pre-registration form. It was getting close to 12:30 when I arrived at the International Office here at UCC praying that they were still open (I could not remember if they closed at 1230 or 1 for lunch. They open back up at 2 so if they closed at 1230 and I had to meet the bus at two it would mean that I was going to miss the Kerry trip). I received a text message from my friend Laura saying that we actually didn’t have to meet the bus until 2:45 so that was a bit of a relief.

I got to the International Office to find that they were still open until one so I asked if they could fax the form for me which they were happy to do. After that I headed to campus to get some lunch and sit around until 2:45 for the bus.

So I dodged some fairly costly bullets on Friday, but it ended on a good note and I’ll write about the trip in the next post.