When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie……

November 7, 2010

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie……

                What a week it has been! I know I went on and on about it before but I will once again reiterate how much I enjoyed Norway. We returned from Norway on Tuesday night and then left early Thursday morning for Italy. Needless to say Wednesday was filled with unpacking, repacking and somewhat of an attempt to get some sleep.

                Thursday began far too early. My alarm clock went off at 3:30 a.m. and I distinctly remember saying, out loud, “I don’t want to go to Italy, I just want to sleep” when it went off. Then I came to my senses and realized, I am going to Italy. I got ready and met Jackie outside to meet the cab at 4:15 a.m. I am not sure there was anything exciting that happened between getting in the taxi and boarding the flight, it is all a little fuzzy, as I was still half asleep. We walked outside to board the plane and I remember it being very windy rainy and cold. It is hard for me to sleep on planes so I was up for most of the flight. I am glad that I was because as we flew over the Swiss Alps the view was breathtaking and reminded me of home.

                When we got to Milan, we found the airport shuttle to the central station fairly easily. Getting from the central station to our hostel was not so easy. As it turns out Milan is very hard to navigate, at least it was for Jackie and me. We wandered around for a while trying to find the hostel and after a lot of walking and a few wrong turns we found it. It was still only about twelve o’clock and we could not get into our room until 3:00. So, we left our luggage and headed off for something to eat. We found a small restaurant nearby and sat down. The menu was all in Italian (duh) so we found something that looked like we would like it. We both got pizza. The waiter brought us fresh bruschetta to start off. It was hands down the best bruschetta I have ever had. The bread was still warm and everything tasted so fresh. Delicious. The pizza was also delicious. Would you expect anything less? After lunch we decided to head into the city centre. It took us so long to try to get there. Milan has about five different modes of public transportation. We could not figure out any of them. We actually rode this one bus for about an hour. We were clueless. After a very long time we finally made it to the city centre. There we found a gorgeous cathedral, and several other very pretty buildings. I quickly learned that I love the architecture of Italy. We were walking around looking a stores and we found Louis Vuitton and Prada and what was in between them….McDonalds. Who would have thought? We went into McDonalds to get a snack. This is the first time I have been to McDonalds in probably years. It was the classiest McDonalds I have ever seen. I did not even feel bad for eating there. I got a croissant and it was so good. I was blown away.

                We did some more walking and eventually decided to head back; we were very tired at this point. We decided to try the metro to get back and it was so much easier. We used the metro the rest of the trip. If only we had known before. You live and you learn though.

                When we got back to the hostel we saw our room and the rest of the hostel and it was less than impressive. There were some other people in the room and they seemed very nice. We watched an American movie ,dubbed over in Italian, in the not so clean common room and headed to bed. That night proved to be a very long night. Jackie and I shared a double bed, there were two Asians in single beds and a Polish couple, probably in their 50’s, in the other double bed. Between the Polish couple being…let’s just say obnoxious and the Asians and two other people I never met coming in and out, Jackie and I slept very little.

                The next morning was hard but we got up and headed into the city again. We had tea and the best croissants ever at a small café and then took the metro in to the city centre. We were not really sure what to do but we first decided to go into the Milan Cathedral. It was breathtakingly beautiful inside and out. So cool to get to walk through it. Then we decided to take a sightseeing tour bus around the city. After our not to successful attempt to navigate the city ourselves we thought it best. It was great to be able to see all the sites of Milan and there are some really beautiful parts of Milan. We wondered around a bit more and went and revisited some of the sites we saw on the bus. Then for dinner we ate at a small little restaurant. And surprise, surprise it was delicious.      Earlier in the day we went to the tourist office, it turned out to be the least helpful tourist office ever. We decided to take a train the next day to Verona, Italy, which is most famous as the home of Romeo and Juliet.

                So we got up at 6:45 a.m. to catch our train and headed to Verona. From the first time we started walking around I knew that I loved Verona. It was an absolutely beautiful city. Again, beautiful architecture. We literally got a map and just wandered around the city all day. We visited a castle, a couple churches and, of course, the house of Juliet. The house of Juliet was really cool. Even though there is not much to it, I was impressed. If you have seen the movie Letters to Juliet, it really does look like that but women do not post letters on the wall. At least they do not anymore. Instead everyone signs the wall in the entranceway. Neither Jackie nor I had a pen. Shoot. What to do? We eventually asked to borrow one and signed the wall. We also took a picture with the Juliet statue. We kept seeing people tour her breast. We thought it was SO weird. As it turns out it is supposed to be good luck to touch Juliet’s breast. We skipped out on that part. We wondered around some more, which neither of us minded because it was such a cool city. And then we caught the train back.

                Once back in Milan we continued our new tradition of trying to eat Mexican food in every country we go to. This is a little silly and weird but also so much fun because both Jackie and I love Mexican food. I got nachos. They were so good. I chalk this up to the cheese they made it with. We also decided that we should have a glass of wine since we were in Italy. When we asked the waiter he said they did not have any Italian wine. So we had Chilean wine. It seems so funny that they would not have Italian wine, but what do I know? This morning we got up at six fifteen and headed to the airport. And made it back to school safe.

                All in all I liked Italy. I do not want to say that I was disappointed with Milan, but a little bit I was. Do not get me wrong, Milan has beautiful architecture and there are some great parts but I just felt like I was in a big city. Verona on the other hand felt very Italian and much more like what I thought Italy would be. As I mentioned the food everywhere we went was delicious. It actually remained me of my Grandpa Valentine’s cooking. It all just seemed so fresh and homemade and real. So So So good. Overall it was a great trip, despite the very disappointing and dirty hostel and Milan letting me down a little. I had a great trip and I am so grateful for the trip I got to take and for the week I had. It is one I will never forget. I also have to say thank you to Jackie. It was so fun to travel with her and I am grateful we got to go to Norway and Italy together.

                I have a lot of sleep to catch up on this week. I also have some school work that I have to do (the latter has been a foreign concept thus far). However this week, on Thursday, I have the opportunity to meet the president of Ireland. I am very excited for that!

I hope you all have had just as good of a week as I have. I miss you all dearly.

Until next time,

Keely

The pictures are a little out of order...but at least they are here this time :)

 

 Verona

Juliet

Juliet's Balcony

The wall going into Juliet's house

Juliet's house

The arena in Verona

Central Station in Milan

The Milan Cathedral

Inside the Milan Cathedral

The Swiss Alps

Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane….

November 3^rd, 2010

Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane….

                I do not have a lot to say about Ireland this time. Today I only have tales of my adventures in Oslo, Norway. I have to start off by saying that never in my life did I think I would go to Norway. As of four days ago I knew very, very little about the country. Jackie and I decided to go to Oslo simply because there was a cheap flight on Ryanair. This is a little embarrassing but we actually had to google “Oslo” to find out what country it was in. Any knowledge I have of Oslo or Norway has come from my recent trip.

                Saturday morning we had the taxi pick us up around seven; which was the earliest I have had to get up since I have been here. As I was getting ready to walk out of the door to meet Jackie I got a text on my Irish phone that said, “Good morning! This is your taxi waiting outside.” I thought this was a very pleasant way to start the morning. Our taxi driver was very friendly, he asked us questions about where we were going and what we would be doing while there. He quickly learned the ONLY thing we knew is that we were going to Oslo and we had a hostel to stay at. I promise that I am not exaggerating, literally that is all we knew.            

                When we arrived at the airport we got through everything just fine. For those of you who do not know, Ryanair is an Irish discount airline. They have ridiculously cheap flights, but they try to trap you into spending money other ways. For example,  you are only allowed to take one small bag on the plane (not allowed a bag and a personal item), it is about 40euro to check a bag (more than I paid for the flight), and they try to sell you anything and everything while on the flight. Our plane was about forty minutes late, but we did not mind because we had no plans.

                When we arrived in Norway it was raining and pretty chilly outside. This is also where the cluelessness begins. We did not know how to get from the airport to our hostel. We asked and finally figured out we had to take a bus that was about the equivalent to $25. The journey from the airport to the city was just over an hour. When we arrived at the central station we had no idea what was going on. I have never felt this incompetent in my life. It took a lot of walking back and forth and asking and getting a response in what almost sounded like English. We finally made it to the hostel, after taking another bus and walking about a half hour in the rain. I wish I could express how clueless I felt that day, but there are no words.

                Our hostel was very nice and was really clean we found our room and immediately asked where we could find some food. The man at the desk told us to go to a pizza place down the road. So we did and when we arrived we quickly found that the menu was in Norwegian (duh), but we found that we could make out most of what was on it. However, when we tried to order the man spoke no English (again reasonable). I am glad that I kind of caught that I thought he charged Jackie for two Cokes because as it turns out he thought that we were ordering together. So we asked for a veggie pizza and got a pizza with veggies, and about three different kinds of meat. I was thrilled and thought it was delicious, Jackie, being a vegan was not so excited. The rest of the night was very low key and relaxing.

                We woke up the next day to some very loud rustling noises. Sometime between when we went to bed and when we woke up two Asian girls had come in slept got up and were in the process of leaving. We never spoke to them but I am pretty sure from the sounds I heard that morning they packed everything in its own individual plastic bag. We got up and went down to breakfast, which was included in the price of the hostel and consisted of your typical continental breakfast items. However there was bread and no toaster, interesting. After breakfast we decided just to go into the city and explore. It was beautiful outside and so much fun just to walk around. The architecture in Oslo is wonderful, like most of Europe; we were perfectly content just wondering around. When we decided to wonder towards the water we stumbled across the Peace centre. This is a place where they inform people about the Nobel peace prize and try to inspire people to promote peace. I was not aware that the Nobel Peace Prize in given in the Oslo City Hall. It was really interesting; there was a special exhibit for the four Nobel Peace Prize winners from South Africa. I found this really interesting, obviously because I am going there in a few months. It was good craic (pronounced “crack”, Irish slang for a good time). We also went to the royal palace and just happened to be there when the changing of the guards was happening. Very cool.  We ate lunch along the water. I had scallops that were delicious; Jackie tried to eat a veggie sandwich. By tried I mean she ate some realized that she thought she ate a nut. This is not good because Jackie is allergic to almost every nut. We asked the waitress and as it turns out there was pesto on the sandwich and the pesto had pine nuts. Not good. I enjoyed my lunch as Jackie progressively felt worse. I was a little worried I was going to have to take her to the hospital. But we took our time and walked a little and Jackie recovered. After some more wondering we ate at the Hard Rock Café (Jackie loves that place) and then went to a convenience store to get candy. We decided we had to get candy because it was Halloween and I have to say it was a good choice. The night ended with relaxing and watching TV in the hostel and heading to bed early.

                The next day there was not disturbance of plastic bags in the morning and we ate the same breakfast again. We were going to try to make it over to Sweden, just to see what it is like, but when we asked the man at reception the cheapest way to get there he told us, very seriously, to hitch hike. I felt like there was too much of a language barrier to try and explain that two young American girls who have no clue about either Norway or Sweden hitch hiking did not seem like a wise choice. We decided instead to go back into the city. When we asked about Sweden at the bus station it was fairly expensive, so we decided to stay in Oslo.  We went to three museums that were very interesting and educational. I am glad we did this because I feel like I learned a lot about the country and its history. We learned a lot about Vikings and got to see their ships. It was a good day.

                The next day, the day of our departure, was very cold and rainy. Thus, we took it very easy we went to some souvenir shops and got a few things and hung out in our hostel, before leaving for the airport. When we finally arrived at the airport, it was about a two hour journey, we were going through security and I beeped when I walked through the metal detector. This is the first time that has ever happened (okay maybe once before, but still). The guard began to say something in Norwegian, I responded with “I am sorry but I only speak English.” Whatever he said in Norwegian translated into something about security and no joke he said “can I take control of you?” I replied with a “Yes?”(Emphasis on the question mark), assuming that “taking control” of me meant pat me down, it did and all was fine. The rest of the journey was less eventful and it was good to make it back to school.

                I knew that going to Norway as going to be cool, but I did not realize how much I would really like it. I loved it and hope that I get to go back there again someday. I really do have a new found love and respect for the country. Some things to note are that it is VERY expensive. I do not think that I ate a meal for less than the equivalent of twenty dollars, and I was usually eating off the lunch menu or appetizers. We went to a restaurant where a class of coke was eight dollars. Crazy. Also, most of the people we spoke to also spoke English; this was very nice for us. There is also very little traditional Norwegian food served, I am not sure what that would even be. The food was delicious but comparable to what you would find in the states.

                Like I said, Norway was fantastic, but I still loved being in Ireland today. I am very grateful for the opportunity to travel. My adventures continue when I leave for Milan , Italy tomorrow! How exciteing! Sometimes this does not feel like real life….

Once again I seem to be having trouble loading pictures. I will send a file with the email notice or if you use facebook there will be an album there. Sorry!

Watching it fly past and away we go…..

October 24, 2010

Watching it fly past and away we go…..

I cannot believe it has only been one week since I last posted a blog because I have so much to tell. I have so many great stories from my trip to the west of Ireland but also I have and exciting couple weeks coming up. Before I get too far ahead of myself let me tell you all about my trip to the west of Ireland.

                Let me just begin by saying it was absolutely wonderful, a great four days for sure! We left the campus of Dublin City University early last Wednesday morning and headed west. Let’s just say that it was harder for some of us to make it to the bus on time than for others; I was actually early for maybe the first time ever.  Our first stop was in Strokestown which is in County Roscommon. The reason for this fieldtrip was for us to be able to see firsthand what life was like and the effects of the famine period in Ireland. So, in Strokestown we toured the Strokestown House and Famine Museum. It was really cool to see the house and be able to walk through all the rooms which looked exactly like it did when people lived in the house. The house was very old but was also lived in until 1981. I loved being able to see the history from a long time ago all the way up to things that I recognized such as Mickey Mouse toys in the nursery.  Our tour guide mentioned how important it was to have a big house in the times when the house was built and the tricks that the family used to make their house look bigger. For example, making the kitchen and the stables look like wings of the house or having the windows on the house gradually get smaller on each floor giving the illusion the house is taller than it really is. As I walked through the house it made what we learned about Irish life during this time very real. I wish I would have learned all of my history this way. The museum that was part of the house was also very interesting and gave me a lot more knowledge about the famine period but it was not as cool as the house.  We ate lunch in the café there. We had homemade soup and homemade bread. Delicious!

                From there we moved into County Mayo and stopped again in Castlebar at the Museum of Country Life. This was a very quick stop, probably only a half hour and but still gave us a better insight of what it was like to live in the Irish countryside. After the museum we traveled the final stretch to our destination Westport which is also in County Mayo. We checked into the hotel around five and dinner was served at seven. Every night we had a three course meal at the hotel as part of the trip. I cannot remember when I have eaten that much. It was so delicious. That night we all went out to Matt Malloy’s Pub. This pub was so fun and had live music. Which I LOVED. What I loved most about the music was that the men who were playing simply came in the pub with their instruments and played. None of them new each other. I watched one of the men come in introduce himself to the other four, sit down and start playing. Each musician knew, without talking, which song they were playing and without error played perfectly together. It was wonderful. It also reminds me of how beautiful music is in the way that it brings people together, no matter whom they are or where they are coming from.

                Thursday we woke up and had a traditional Irish breakfast that consisted of eggs, bacon (not like bacon in the US, it actually looked like a slice of porkJ), sausage, tomatoes, scones and of course tea. Again, so tasty. Then we left the hotel and went to the Connemara Region. This region probably suffered the most from The Great Hunger. We first went to Croagh Patrick. This is a mountain which each year millions of people climb and pray at the different Stations of the Cross, do penance, or simply just climb. We did not climb to the top but just went up maybe a half mile. It was gorgeous, I would have liked to done the whole thing but it takes about three to four hours and we did not have time. We drove by Kylemore Abbey which is a beautiful and famous Abbey and I really would have liked to go see it up close but we couldn’t. After lunch we went to Connemara National Park and walked around the park. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful walk. It felt good to get out and walk around in the fresh air of the Irish countryside.

                Friday, we did not have as good of luck with the weather. It was very rainy and cold. A soft Irish day, if you will. I kind of enjoyed it because we have not had many days like this since I have been here. We started the day again with an Irish breakfast then went to Tom Hennigan’s Heritage Centre. This was probably the most interesting part of the trip. We went into a small house where the twenty of us barely fit. Tom Hennigan came in and told us that this was the house where he lived until the seventies. My words cannot describe this house well but it was three rooms, four beds, a fire place and a table. No electricity, no running water. He told us stories of what it was like to grow up in the house. The door was small, the windows were small because there were taxes on the size of doors and on light. He talked about how their animals used to live with them in the house, how he was born in the bed next to the fireplace. Next to where I was sitting. Wow. He spoke of how they used everything. I was amazed by the man standing there in sweatpants, smelling like he had not showered in a while and admired him beyond words. I could not help of think of what life was like in America in the early twentieth century and here was a man who lived with his three brothers and sisters his parents and his grandmother in what you could barely call a three room cottage. It was fascinating to learn the history of the time period from someone who experienced the effects of the famine.

                After that we went to Achill Island. It was very rainy at this point so we mostly drove around and looked. We did get out a few times to admire the beautiful green cliffs of Ireland. It was breathtaking. My pictures do not do it justice. Friday night we went out to the pubs again and enjoyed the music and we left and came back to Dublin on Saturday.  It was a wonderful relaxing and educational trip. I loved being able to hang out with everyone and just see the west of Ireland and all of its beauty.

                This week will be fairly quiet until Saturday. Saturday, Jackie and I are leaving for Oslo Norway for four days. I am so excited about the trip. I will have to do some research about Norway to see what we will do there but I know one thing, we will have a good time. I will be back in Dublin for one day after the trip to Norway then I am off to Milan for four days. I have a quite an exciting two weeks coming.

                I have more to tell but in the interest of the length of this blog, I will save it until later. I will post another blog later this week. Know that my words and the pictures do not do the West of Ireland justice. It was so beautiful and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to see and experience it all!

                Thank you for reading this long of a blog. I hope you all have a great week.

Cheers,

Keely

So sorry I am having trouble uploading pictures. I will try to post some soon.

I think I like how the day sounds.....

October 17^th, 2010

I think I like how the day sounds…..

                So I am starting to find it progressively harder to start writing. I am going to chalk this up to the fact that it feels normal to be here now. What does that even mean? Well, I am finding day to day life to be just that day to day life. The things that seemed to be so different four weeks ago such as riding the bus to go places, buying all my own food,  new people, new city  and of course being in another country, it all seems to be normal. All of those things have just become what my life is like. What a bizarre thing. I feel like, for now, I belong here. I am not so sure that I look like I belong here but I definitely feel like it. I love the fact that I have places that I know what I want to order when I walk in or feel comfortable walking around the city by myself.  I guess it is good I feel so comfortable here now because starting this week I will be traveling a lot and exploring new places. It will be great to come back to a place where I feel comfortable. It is not home, but for now it is the next best thing.

                This week Jackie and I booked our flights to travel to Europe. Our first destination is Oslo Norway. Why Norway? It was a total impulse decision to fly there. Neither of us really know anything about Oslo or Norway for that matter. This may scare a few of you, but I am thrilled about it. I can say that this might be the only opportunity I have to go and I can’t wait to explore a new country. We will spend four days there, be in Dublin for a day then fly to…..Milan, Italy. We will spend another four days in Milan. I cannot tell you how excited I am to see Italy and eat their delicious food. I know that it seems like I should be in school and not frolicking about Europe but for the week I am in Norway and Italy it is reading week. This is a week the school takes off from lectures so students have the opportunity to catch up on reading. I plan to read on the plane rides. After reading week, I will take a week off from traveling and then we take a field trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland. The weekend after thanksgiving I will be spending in London England. And finally the weekend before I come home I will spend in Paris, France. I am thrilled to start seeing the rest of Europe, but like I said before it will be so nice to be able to come back to Dublin. 

                Besides booking flights this week was fairly uneventful. Classes went well. I had, I am

sorry; I got to make my first trip to the library. It really is a beautiful library. Once I figured out how it works I loved it. Needless to say I will for sure be making many more trips there. My internship also went well this week. I am starting to get into the heart of what I will be doing. I am getting ready to start analyzing information for the organization; which is far more exciting that imputing the information into the computer.

                This weekend I had full intention to head south to Cork. So I looked up online when the train times were and what the fare would be; ten euro each way. So Jackie and set out to the train station. When we went to purchase our tickets they were 71 euro. As it turns out the tickets are only ten euro if you get them online. We decided that was a bit much for a day trip and bought tickets to Kilkenny instead. Kilkenny is south west of Dublin about an hour and a half. It was a beautiful train ride over and I discovered that I love riding trains. Neither of us knew anything of the town so we just started walking around. We ended up going to the Kilkenny Castle. It was beautiful; my favorite castle so far. It was also a beautiful day which made everything that much better. We ventured around the town, found a great lunch and spent time in music stores and book stores. It was a great and relaxing day trip and it was good to go see somewhere new. We are planning on going to Cork but we are going to wait and book our tickets online.

                I am really excited for this week because on Wednesday we (all the students in the same program as me) are going on our field trip to the west of Ireland. We will be staying in Westport and seeing things that we have learned about in our history of Ireland class. I am really excited about the trip. I will be sure to take lots of pictures to share with you guys.

                I miss you all very much. Thank you for reading my blog and sharing this with me.

Cheers,

Keely

Belief is a beautiful armor....

October 10, 2010

Belief is a beautiful armor…

                For some reason the weeks go by so fast but at the exact same time I feel like it has been forever since I have written a blog. I am not sure how that works but that is how it feels. Classes this week went well. I am finally starting to feel like I am in school. I actually have assignments and studying to do; which feels good. I really love the classes that am taking and think that I have a great opportunity to learn new material here that I would not have the opportunity to at home.

                As you all know I started my internship this week. I have the opportunity to do my internship wit on other girl from my program, Stacie. Stacie and I go in to Young Social Innovators Tuesday s and Thursday s. Even though we go in together we do very different things while we are there. My job this semester is to take all the evaluations from the organization’s training sessions and evaluate them. I am really excited to do this because I feel like I can help them and really give back information that they can use to improve their training. I can see how I am helping them and that is encouraging. Like I said before, YSI is in the city centre. It is a wonderful location. Stacie and I pack our lunches and take them to St. Stephens Greene and eat in the park. It is an absolutely gorgeous park and it almost feels like I am eating lunch in a scene from a movie. It is really brilliant. We also like to enjoy a nice cup of coffee or tea after work and just enjoy being in the city and meeting new people.

I am quickly learning that the way an organization is run in the states and the way an organization is run in Ireland is very different. The organization here is so much more relaxed. The people we work with are wonderful. Stacie and I are both from small towns and have found it a bit challenging to work out the buses and how to get to work on time. They are so understanding and do not even mind that we have been coming in a little late. I have also enjoyed that when we arrive to work we have tea for twenty minutes, after lunch we have tea for a few minutes, and maybe a couple more times throughout the day. Even with the laid back atmosphere and tea times, I do not feel any less productive than an average day at a let’s say more strict U. S. organization. In fact there are times when I feel way more productive and far less pressured and stressed. It is very interesting but I clearly love what I am doing.

This Saturday three of my friends and I decided it was time to see parts of Ireland outside of the city. So as per advice from my roommates, we went to Howth Ireland. It was incredible.  Howth is a thirty minute train ride away. It is a small fishing town just north of Dublin. We really knew nothing of where we were going or what we would do there but it was a fun adventure. We mostly just walked around and explored the town. If someone told me I could move there tomorrow; I would do it in a heartbeat. We found a small little restaurant for brunch. I had the most delicious pancakes with fresh fruit. They are arguably the best pancakes I have ever had. Yes, that good. One thing I love about eating out here is that it takes forever.  Everything is so relaxed and focused on the company and conversation rather than being focused on the food and seeing how quickly you can eat and get out. We wondered around Howth for most of the day. we went and saw the Howth castle which was beautiful and enjoyed the nice sea breeze. It was a great day filled with exploring, good company and fun.

So today I decided to again be adventurous and find a church to o to. So I looked up churches in Dublin online, which how much can you really tell about a church from a website? Regardless I picked one that is close to where I do my internship. Yet again, I was late because I cannot seem to figure out how to take a bus and be on time. It was so fun to see what church is like in Ireland and to listen to a preacher with an Irish accent is also very cool. It was also a great reminder that God is the same everywhere; His message is the same no matter where you are in the world. Not that I did not know that but it seems so much more real to experience it. It was incredibly refreshing to go to church. After I waited for one of my friends, Jackie, to come meet me in the city and just walked around. I was exploring and surprisingly found that I knew where places were. I knew where to go for a good cup of coffee or where the places were to walk around for good shopping. It was great to get to spend some time alone walking about the streets of Dublin doing whatever I wanted.

Jackie and I decided today to go to the Dublin Castle. This is also a bit of a tourist thing to do; I try to avoid doing touristy things, but I also feel like it would be silly not to see these places while I am here. Jackie and I had time to enjoy a nice cup of tea before the tour. Today was an beautiful overcast day so tea was a perfect thing to have. The tour was very cool and the castle was beautiful. In all honesty though, who doesn’t like castles? I was encouraged to find that as the guide was telling the history of Dublin and of the castle I knew a lot of what she was saying. I knew who the people were she was talking about and I knew the events. I know way more about Dublin than I thought.  

As I have said several times before, I love it here and I love the city of Dublin. I have been here three weeks now. It seems like the “vacation” feeling has worn off and it is becoming very real that I LIVE here. I am not visiting Dublin I live in Dublin. That also brings up the topic of really becoming a citizen of the city and not being the person who anyone on the street can look at and tell I am from the U. S.  I know that I still look very “American”. I am hoping that gradually I will begin to look less and less “American” and more and more like I belong in Dublin.

                I feel like I have talked a lot about what I do and just given you guys more or less and itinerary of my time here. I know this is already long but I would love to share what I am learning so far, beyond what I have seen and discovered.  If I have realized on big thing it is how small the world is; and it’s shrinking. I have felt small bits of culture shock, but nothing huge. I chalk this up to how connected I am to home, how much Irish people know about America, and how similar the countries are.  I am not saying it is not different here, it is very different. However, they speak English, they listen to American music, they watch American TV, and they know far more about American politics than I do. When I say “American” I mean from the United States, I realize this term is not accurate because the US is not the only place in America but it is also how they refer to the states. I may contradict what I just said but I have also learned that despite how small the world is, it’s people are so different. I am seeing cultural differences in my American friends almost just as much as I am with the Irish people. It is just such a great reminder that we are all individuals who have different experiences and different backgrounds. It is your experiences and you background that help make up who you are. Despite the fact that the world is shrinking, you can travel all over and never find a person who is just like you, who has the same morals, values or beliefs because it is your experience, background and other things that form those parts of who you are. When you find a person who shares similar values or beliefs as you do you, or I, often cling to that person because it tends to be comfortable. While I am here I would like to try to challenge myself to surround myself with people different than me. I think when you force yourself to move outside of people who are like you; you really learn what is important to you what things make up who you are. Having said that, I will probably spend most my time with my new friend, Jackie. Jackie and I are similar but not completely. I think her and I will be good together because we can feel comfortable around each other but I also see that we can both challenge each other to experience new things.  A lot of what I have learned is how important it is to learn to who you are and how to maintain your beliefs wherever you are. Also to realize that wherever you are and whatever happens to you is shaping who you will become. Any moment can change your life you just have to be there. My goal while I am here is to seize every opportunity I have for a moment to change my life.

I miss you all very much and hope that you are well. Thank you for allowing me to share my experiences with you!

Cheers,

Keely

This is St. Stephens Greene...or as I like to call it my lunchroom

more of my lunchroom

Howth

Jack, Jackie, and myself

Typical Irish door

A beautiful cemetery in Howth

Howth Castle

Dublin Castle

October 4^th, 2010

Happiness is just outside my window…

                Last time I left you was the day before classes started, I feel like that was so long ago. Being the person I am I was so excited to start class. Not only because I love going to school but also because it was a new kind of school. I only have one lecture on Mondays and it is only for one hour. Classes are very different from anything I have experienced. The lectures are huge and I was intimidated by this at first. I have found that I do much better in large lectures than I thought I would. I also have one seminar class and two other classes. I am only in class three days a week; yet again something that is totally new to me. I have to say that I do love having small classes where I know the students and professors on a more personal level but I am enjoying going to a “big” school much more than I thought that I would. I am in Irish History, The Languages of Ireland, and Language, Culture and International Communication. All the classes so far have been very interesting. It is fun to take classes outside my major, I am really enjoying school so far.               

                In addition to my three classes I will also be working with a nonprofit organization while I am here. I had an interview last Tuesday with a organization called Young Social Innovators. The organization works with students in secondary school (which is kind of like high school) and helping them realize their potential to influence their community and the world. They help get students involved in the community through projects and events. I do not know a ton of details about how it all works or what exactly they do with the students but hopefully I will learn when I start working with them. The interview went very well and was so encouraging. I will be working with YSI the two days a week that I am not in class. YSI is located in the city centre, which is about a 15-20 minute bus ride from school. I am so excited to be working in the city centre because I feel like I will get a better feel for day to day life for a person who lives in Dublin. I have found that a lot of aspects of college life in Ireland are the same as at home, there are a lot of differences too. So I am really excited to get out of the college bubble, if you will, and get involved in the community of Dublin.  My first day is tomorrow, Tuesday, and I am really looking forward to the work I will be doing.

                One thing that is very different about college here is that close to all of the students go home on the weekend. So from Friday afternoon until Sunday night campus is like a ghost town. It is so bizarre. I was the only one in my apartment all weekend. It is backwards from home. Here, everyone goes out on week nights and leaves on the weekends. Whereas at home people for the most part stay in on the weeknights and go out on weekends. It was a relaxing weekend.               

                On Saturday three of my American friends and I went to the Guinness Storehouse. This was one of the things that I felt like I just had to do while I was here. We got a little lost on our way there, which is not surprising at all. It was a great tour all about how Guinness is made and about Arthur Guinness. I really enjoyed the tour. We then ate in the restaurant there, which happened to be delicious. As we were on our way back we found a milkshake shop (there are several in Dublin) that served 150 different kinds of milkshakes. It was truly overwhelming trying to decide what to get. One of the girls I was with is a vegan, but luckily for here they had vegan milkshakes. It was the first one she had in over two years. Overall it was a fantastic day.

                One of my favorite moments so far happened this past week. I was enjoying my favorite snack, an apple with peanut butter, while talking with my roommates and their friends.  They thought that the combination of apple and peanut butter was absolutely bizarre.  They do not eat peanut butter very often here. Two people in the room had never tried peanut butter ever. What I thought was a perfectly normal and delicious snack turned into quite an interesting discussion of peanut butter.  It was very entertaining.

                Yesterday was a nice relaxing day filled with laundry and I also locked myself out of my room for the first time. I am sure this will happen again. I also had the great joy of skyping with my family. It was so exciting and good to talk with them. I was able to talk to Adam and Lisa in Charleston and my parents and Chad in Buena Vista. It made my day to get to catch up with all of them. I miss them very much.

                I look forward to another exciting week. Dublin continues to amaze me and I cannot wait to only explore more. My friends and I are starting to plan all of the traveling we are going to do. Yeah!

Hope all is well back in the U.S.! Miss you all!

Cheers,

Keely

my friend and I found this rememberance garden....so beautiful!

At the Guinness Storehouse

View of Dublin from the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse