Kilsheelan and Clonmel in County Tipperary

Gurteen de la Poer Castle (back view)



Front of the castle


Beyond the pasture in the woods...



Bridge over a little creek



Me, Kristyn, and Erica (Nanny at the castle

Party Time

Today's my 21st birthday!!!


...thought you should know

Katelyn of the Opera

Man, today was one classy day. Kristyn and I went to Dun Laoghire to find some last minute things to wear to the opera. After that I went home and talked to Mom and Dad, got a shower and got ready to meet Kristyn at the DART station. We met up with Phillip at Pearse St. station and went to dinner at this unexpectedly semi-fancy Chinese restaurant next to the Gaiety Theatre. Phil ordered a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for the table, which was quite delicious, and I ordered some delectable curry chicken. Afterwards we walked over to the theatre to see Lucia di Lammermoor. It's an Italian opera about two families who are feuding and the man from the Ravenswood family is in love with Lucia, but Enrico from the Ashton family wants in with Lucia's family and hates her lover, Edgardo. Enrico forges a letter that while Edgardo was away in France saying that he has forgotten about Lucia in order to get her to marry him (Enrico). She reluctantly signs the marriage license after hearing the news when Edgardo walks in. He enraged that she signed it and she ends up going mad from the whole situation. Eventually she dies and upon hearing of it, Edgardo kills himself by Enrico's sword.
It's a very tragic opera, but it was very good and beautifully sung. The power of their voices is awe worthy.
So that was my fun little night. Now I'm going to finish watching Shaun of the Dead and go to bed. Goodnight!

Long Weekend

The great thing about classes right now is that although my days from Monday-Thursday are mostly taken up, I have Friday off! Last night a bunch of us DBS students went out for some pints. We stayed mostly in the Temple Bar area, and a grand time was had by all. We met some funny characters and there was lots of craic at every bar. Don't get worried, Mom, not drugs but fun and lots of laughs. I took the Nite Link bus home, which picks up right outside of Trinity College and drops me off right next to the house and got back around 1am. This morning I slept in until 11am and bummed about until around 2:30 or so. Kristyn and I took a walk up Dalkey hill, which looks over Killiney and the harbour on one side, and you can see Dalkey all the way over to almost Dun Laoghire on the other. It was really beautiful today, perfect for a walk. I came home and had dinner, and now I think I'm just going to take it easy for the rest of the night. I may catch some of the rugby game that's on tonight. It's the start of the rugby world cup. Then I'll go into town and get a coffee or something at the Spar (like a 7/11 or Sheetz) and watch a movie before going to bed. Tomorrow I'm going to the opera in Dublin with Kristyn, this kid Phillip who lives at a homestay in Sandymount (quite a few towns away from Dalkey), and possibly some other DBSers. I'm really looking forward to this experience since I've never been to an opera before. Also, this week I have to write an article for the LHU Honors paper, the OW, so posting will be sparse. I'll be sure to put that up once I've written it, though.

Rugby has started already, so I must go now!

First Day of Classes

Today was my first day of classes at DBS. I thought I was going to be late because I missed the DART by a few minutes, but luckily the commuter train came through and got me into Dublin within 20 minutes. So I was about 10 minutes early for my first class, Irish literature. We just looked over all of the different Irish authors we’ll be learning about and read a few excerpts from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and a new book about how ridiculously expensive South Dublin can be and how silly the people from there are because they’re extremely wealthy. The professor seems very nice, easy going and really knows his stuff. At noon we had a 2-hour break (just for today, every other will be an hour) for lunch. I went shopping in Dunnes (I got a cute shirt for €8!!!), got a quick bagel, ate my lunch, and read in St. Stephen’s Greene. It really is a gorgeous place to have lunch on a nice day so I think I’ll have to go more frequently. My second and last class of the day was Irish history. I thought this might be quite dull, especially since I haven’t had any sort of history class in a while, but the professor was quite an interesting lecturer. I found what he was saying very interesting, especially since I have already been reading about some of it in Ireland by Frank Delaney. I’m excited to know more about Ireland in general. It’s not one of those countries that we learn bits about in high school, but a nation who’s past is almost completely foreign to me. We only acknowledge the part of their history that coincides with ours. It’ll be refreshing to learn about a part of history that wasn’t taught every single year. All in all, I think it’ll be a good and fascinating semester academically.
That’s it for today. Sorry about the late posts, but my posts will be a bit erratic until I establish a bit of a routine here. Now I’m off to hang out with some friends from a homestay in Sandymount.

Howth

On Sunday morning I woke up and went down to the harbour to read, which was relaxing but windy. Then Kristyn called and we went over to Howth to walk around. It’s a small fishing town, so there was a nice pier to walk down and we took pictures of the lighthouse (see below). Afterwards we walked up through the town to an old abbey that was built back some time in the 12th century, I think. We got turned around a few times looking for the entrance to the abbey and at one point ended up at some hidden mini paved track thing and then an elementary school. All of the houses were on very strange twisty-turny streets instead of planned out in grids like in the States. After our little adventure sans map, we headed back towards the DART station and stopped to look around the farmer’s market going on. I bought some fudge in Irish coffee and caramel & vanilla twist flavors. It is delicious and so creamy!


Howth Village


Howth Harbour


Pretty Hills


Kristyn & Me








More pictures to come later. They wouldn't load for some reason...

Dun Laoghire

This morning my parents called and it was comforting to hear their voices. I miss them a lot. I told them everything I've been up to and about my host family, other DBS students, and about Dalkey. Then, earlier this afternoon I went into Dun Laoghire (pronounced like Done Leery) with Kristyn. We both were starving so we bought our first fish and chips with salt and vinegar. It is definately a once in a very great while food because it is so greasy and heavy (they say we Americans eat poorly!), but it certainly is delicious. Afterwards, we went to a €2 store and got some shampoo and soap, then to the Dun Laoghire Shopping Center to find hair straightners. We were ultimately unsuccessful, but we came out with some paper for school, postcards, and an umbrella for me. Krista called so we met up with her at the pier where we saw a folk dance group of some kind. All in all it was a gorgeous day. Now I'm going down to sit by the harbour and read until dinner. I'm going to try and take it easy tonight after being out in the pubs at Temple Bar all last night. I just went to make sure Kristyn got home alright since none of us had taken the Nite Link bus home yet.