Final Day in Dublin

Molly Malone- the Tart with the Cart

Posing with Molly Malone + Carroll's Bag = Tourist

Unfortunately, on my last full day in Dublin I had a final exam in The EU and the Business Environment, so I sent my sister into the city with Brittany and Stacy while Stevie and I took the essay test. Grace was going to go to the restaurant Queen of Tarts with them and then head to the Jameson Distillery while I wrote all I knew about Copenhagen Treaty.

After Stevie and I finished with the exam we too decided to get lunch at Queen of Tarts, while Grace and the other girls finished up at the distillery. The food was very good but the service was slow. After we finished (and Stevie was kind enough to treat me), Brittany, Stacy, and Grace arrived and we divided and conquered Dublin, but only after we did some shopping.

Stevie, Grace, and I opted to go to what most Irish considered "Ireland's greatest treasure," the Book of Kells. It is an illuminated manuscript made by Irish monks and housed in Trinity College in the centre of Dublin. The three of us arrived in the gates of Trinity kind of late in the day and I was worried (shocker) that we were too late to see it and I threatened to use tears (another shocker) to make sure that they let us in. Things turn out better than expected, though, when we were waiting in line and a women walking by with some poster board asked if we were American. We replied yes in our obvious American dialects and she said "Don't worry, we'll get you in." I thought that this meant that she would make sure we got in before it closed but it turns out that she works for Trinity and used her employee powers to get us in for free. Let me say it one more time, I love the Irish!

The manuscript itself was amazing (through not 8 euro amazing so I'm glad that we didn't have to pay)! It was so intricate and amazing that someone could do that with their own hands. I am really glad that I went and got to show it to Grace.

After that (and a stop at Supermac's) the three of us did some more shopping before the farewell dinner planned for that Wolf Pack that night. I had to go to Carroll's, the Irish souvenir shop that is on every corner of Dublin (not an exaggeration) to stock up on everthing Irish I could. The thing I found when I was shopping, though, was that none of the souvenirs really captured my time in Ireland. At least I have all the pictures, memories, and jewelry.

And then it was time for the final dinner at our favorite Irish restaurant O'Neill's. Grace was very excited to be back at an Irish carvery and both of us got corned beef. I also had cabbage for the full Irish effect. After dinner the complete Wolf Pack headed out in the streets of Temple Bar in search of live traditional Irish music and found some in Gogarty's so we stayed there a while singing along to all the songs that we learned by heart after four months in Dublin. After "Wild Rover" we decided to try a find another place to go, but were unsuccessful and we were faced with something that we knew was coming since Day 1- goodbye.

Little JMatch

Flash forward to all six of us (and Grace) standing in the cobblestone streets on Temple Bar crying and hugging. It was rough to say the least. Those five other girls were the only ones that knew what it was like to live at UCD for the Spring 2010 semester and I will always have a special connection with them (and an excuse to visit Melbourne and White Horse).

We all headed back to UCD and I started the impossible task of packing my life away before Laura, Grace, and I left to tour Ireland the next morning. Luckily, I was coming back to the apartment before leaving for good so it all didn't have to be packed away, although I wanted to make a good start.

Farewell Dinner II and Elections

Tuesday was an uneventful day that involved going to EU and the Business Environment class and reading the new book I got at the Dun Laoghaire farmers' market. The Study Abroad Program sponsored a farewell dinner that night and I am always down for free food. The sweeten the deal they even added a free gift, which turned out to be a UCD t-shirt.

The dinner they served was a nice buffet and really good cheesecake. They also served all-you-can-drink wine, something that still shocks be because that does not happen at University of Illinois. We also had entertainment after dinner which included the Irish House Party performing again. We even had some performers from our program go up and sing! We also did a dance where we got to meet different people but it made people who were partaking in the all-you-can-drink wine a little dizzy.

After the farewell dinner I just headed back to my dorm. It was the night of elections back in the realm of the Upsilon Chapter down in Champaign so I wanted to chat with Gia a little bit beforehand. We were running for Vice President Professional together and I wanted to make sure everything was ready for the big presentation. It is so hard being away from campus during these things because I want to be there to help Gia make the presentation, give my pros for people running for positions, and be able to vote.

But to make up for my lack of physical presence I woke up at 4 am to attempt to be part of the process. It was really nice having many of the Dsigs on Gchat (everyone's preferred form of communication) so that I could chat with them and watching the sunrise out my window. The downside is that right now I am extremely tired; the position Gia and I were running for didn't come up until about 7 am. At 5:30 I went into my kitchen to discover the fuse was tripped and the fridges were not on. I reset the fuse and was a hero.

At 7 Gia gave the powerpoint and speech and at the end there was a little video of me (16 seconds to be exact). Lindsay came on Gchat and said that I looked beautiful during it which boosted my spirits a little. I was also chatting with Olivia but after my speech they weren't chatting with me (because they were talking about the candidates) and it took a suspiciously long time. At one point I was convinced that I had lost and no one had the heart to tell me so they were just giving me the cold shoulder.

At about 7:45 Olivia came back on and told me that we won! What a pleasant surprise! Laura told me to wake her up when I heard so I flung open her door at 7:50 am to tell her the good news and she was happy to. Laura knows quite a bit about what happens in the frat and was glad to hear that Danny and Tiffany won as well and wanted me to send along her congratulations.

Gia and I have a lot of work ahead of us but it is so exciting. I was so happy and, although I tried to sleep a little before my 9 am class I couldn't sleep.

Tonight Britt and I went out to celebrate. We searched for traditional Irish music and ended up a VAT House for a little while, then O'Gogarty's. At O'Gogarty's they played "Take Me Home Country Roads," which seems to be a favorite of the Emerald Isle. We also think we may have stumbled upon a pub crawl because they fed us free chicken fingers. We took advantage of this and had about 5 each, which somewhat set off the price of our very expensive drinks.

Laura got me flowers with a lovely note:

"Congratulations on being elected Professional! You deserve it!"

I love her.

More Irish House Party Videos

Last night I was peacefully slumbering, dreaming of Project Runway (I just finished re-watching Season 3), when I was waken. I honestly thought it was Tim Gunn waking me up to do a challenge but in this case dreams don't come true, it was just my roomie Kat who had locked herself out of her room. Apparently she had woken up Laura before me but Laura didn't understand, got creeped out, and shut the door on Kat. I was the hero and Kat used my phone to call someone to let her in.

I'm feeling a little under the weather so I took it easy today, just doing my laundry and some reading. I'm leaving for Spring Break on Saturday so I want to be in tip top shape. I will be sure to let you know all the details sometime this week and then after I get back there will be blog posts and pictures galore.

And as a special treat, here are some more videos that I took at the Irish House Party on Thursday, February 11. I can't get enough Trad music!


I am amazed at how fast his fingers move.

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Live Irish Music!

me, Stevie, Laura, Jen, Stacy, Brittany before going out

That's right. I finally got to hear some authentic Irish music in Dublin! How's that, you ask? Here's the story:

Wednesday night Stevie, Stacy, Brittany, and I all have "From Colony to Republic: The Making of Modern Ireland" from 6-8, which is just not an ideal time for a class. The class itself has some pretty interesting information, but right now the hardest part is keeping track of all the old Irish kings and pronouncing their names. Here are some examples:

• Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough) [pronounced MacMurra]
• Tigernán Ua Ruairc (Tiernan O’Rourke), King of Bréifne [pronounced Brefna]
• Derbforgaill (Dervla), wife of O’Rourke

Fun Fact: Although it is generally thought that names like Fitzgerald and Fitzgilbert are thought to be traditional Irish names, they are actually Anglo-Norman. Fitzpatrick is considered the only true Irish one.

We decided afterwards we would hang out at Laura and my apartment and then go to an international student party at a club called The Button Factory (Anyone remember that song from preschool? "My name is Joe and I work in a button factory..."). Now nightclubs aren't really my thing, but in an effort to meet new people and venture outside my comfort zone I decided to go. We had a lot of fun hanging out in Apartment 18 and then headed on the bus to the Temple Bar area. On our way to The Button Factory, we passed a bar with the sounds of traditional Irish tunes spilling out; it really made me feel like I was in Dublin.

We get to The Button Factory and there is no line outside and the place seems dead. I then suggest we go to have a drink at one of the pubs with the music we passed on the way there. We ended up at The Temple Bar, our new favorite hangout. Three men were playing live Irish music using a guitar, fiddle and accordian-like thing. It was amazing. Just so lively and beautiful and kinda made you want to dance a little jig. Now, of course, I don't have any pictures of it because I thought we were going to a nightclub that I wouldn't want pictures of. I do, however, promise that we had so much fun this won't be the last time we go listen to some Irish music, and I will get pictures and video then. Until then, I think I might just steal Brittany Metz's photos.

Everyone (Stevie, Brittany, Jen, Stacy, Laura, and I) had a great time. We met people (some French guys who were pretty wild, nice British guys, and some Irish people too), drank cider (I did not drink it, just tried some, and in my opinion it tastes like apple juice with yeast in it), laughed a lot, and listened to the traditional music that just put a smile on my face. The highlight for many of the girls was when they played "Galway Girl," which is apparently played in the film PS, I Love You. I need to see that movie now!