Man. I really wish I kept up with blogging! We've done SO much in the past 3 days. Here goes my best attempt at remembering everything! And for my own personal use/help with remembering, I'll be dating each day. :)
Wednesday. Wednesday was definitely a busy day. We had class from 10 til 12 again. And if I remember correctly, we broke up into small groups to begin our secondary research/continued that from Tuesday. After class, Rachel Q and I haaaad to do laundry so we went to the launderett. Yes, the launderett. Adorbs. Except it's not exactly clean or adorable. So we did a few loads and laundry and watched GLEE while we waited! I finally found a web site that would work over here! Yess! Thanks yidio.com!
After laundry, we got ready for our meeting with the HSE or Health Services Executive. We met with two representatives in charge of the plan for disseminating cervical cancer vaccine. Since Ireland has universal healthcare, the government/HSE is giving out the vaccine for free to girls ages 12-13. I found it ironic that the HSE is also responsible for issuing marriage licenses... apparently they offer a very wide variety of services!
The meeting went well. The HSE reps had already done a lot with their campaign and told us not to change anything, but just to add more, which I wasn't expecting. They're way more ahead of the game than we thought. But we definitely received some useful information!
After the meeting, Rachel Q, Kelsey, Cindy and I were craving Chinese food, so we went to some place called Charlie's (ironic, I know!) and got some Chinese take away. We found a cute little plaza and ate there. Let me tell you, it was not very good Chinese food, but I love how they give out half rice/half "chips" with the sweet and sour pork. So weird.
On our way back to the bus, we had to walk through Temple Bar, so of course we stopped and grabbed a pint at The Auld Dubliners. I got the Berry Bulmers... SO delicious. I've got to find the Bulmers equivalent when I get home! When we got home, we decided to check out one of the student pubs on campus. It's actually located right by the building we have class everyday. But our UCD liaison said it would be pretty slow since most students are home or on holiday, and man, she was right. It was pretty much just 5 of us jamming to the UK's Top 40 music video countdown. And you better BELIEBE that J. Bieber came on. Bieber fever is out of control over here! Then we pretty much called it a night. I got a wonderful 9 hours of sleep, for the first time since I've been here!
Day 8: June 3, 2010
Thursday. Thursday was awesome! After class, Rachel Q and I went to the National Gallery of Ireland. It. Was. Amazing. There were something like 50 rooms of paintings ranging from European to Flemish to Irish. Breathtaking. And it just so happened that while we're here, the Taking Stock: Acquisition exhibit is also here. We saw a few pieces of work from Van Gogh and Monet, which were my favorites.
Outside National Gallery
After the gallery, we headed to Merrion Square to relax and enjoy the unusually beautiful weather. While we were resting, an old Irish man named Tom and his cocker spaniel, Scotty, approached us and we chatted for a bit. He was too nice. And Scotty was adorbs. It definitely made me miss my little Leo, and Tiger, too! Also, we saw a class of elementary aged kids playing. They were dressed just like the kids in Madeline... definitely didn't know kids had to dress like that here! They were freaking cute.
Aren't they adorable?!
After Merrion Square, Rachel and I met up with one of our roommates Cindy and began our excursion for Indian food. I've never had Indian food in my life. But man, I actually really liked it! We went to a restaurant called Mantraa, and it was definitely gourmet. Luckily, we were just in time for the Early Bird Special and each got a 3-course meal for 12.50 euro!
My vegetable samosa! YUM!
After dinner, we made a quick stop at Tesco to grab a few groceries, then made our way to the bus stop, only to discover that a protest was taking place and the buses couldn't get through. So we started walking toward campus, until the protest caught up with us. So we took a side street to avoid it and we FINALLY got on a bus. It took us over an hour to get from the grocery store to campus! Ridic.
Later that night we went out to Temple Bar and a few other places around Dublin. And we finally found a karaoke bar! Ashley sang "Living On a Prayer" and Jenna and Stephanie sang "Brown Eyed Girl." It was hilarious!
Day 9: June 4, 2010
On Friday, instead of having class at 10, each group met with B.Love at a little coffee shop inside of this HUGE shopping center that used to be someone's mansion. Crazy. So we met with him and discussed our research. After that, a few of us went shopping in search of something to wear for Irish dancing tonight! Alas, I found nothing and had to make due with what I brought.
At 5 p.m., we met the group at the bus stop to go to dinner at a restaurant called Valparaiso. It. Was. Delicious. We had to sit at two separate tables so there were about 9 at each table (since B.Love's wife got here today!) Everyone at out table ordered the grilled sirloin. And oh my dang, it was amazing. SO good. Even better with a Tiger beer. No joke. Tiger beer. Imported from Asia. Delicious.
Tiger beer. Straight from Asia. Holla!
After dinner the group walked to Black Rock beach (the same coast my tour bus stopped at on the way to Glendalough on Sunday) to just look around and kill time before Irish dancing at 9 p.m.!
All of us girls!
Then it was finally time for Irish dancing! Rather than try and describe EVERYTHING in words, I'll just let the video do the explaining. BUT, I will add that we learned about 5 different dances and our instructor took it VERY seriously... haha! Our instructor, Kathy, is the woman in the green with the microphone. What a haus.
The other people in the video were part of a wedding party. Yes, an Irish wedding party! They were all such good dancers. At the very end of the night, everyone joined in a circle around them and "mushed" while they danced in the middle and then we made an arch leading out the door and they ran under it and out the door! It was so cute and exciting!
We were EXHAUSTED after dancing! So we headed home in taxis (courtesy of UT, thanks for paying!) and passed out almost immediately. And today was quite adventurous, but I'll have to save that for tomorrow. I'm exhausted and this post has taken me over an hour! Nap time!
Until next time,
Hillary
No comments:
Post a Comment