Dublin City

Hello Everyone,
Yesterday I went into the city centre early and bought a cell phone. I had about two hours after that before my bus tour so I perused a couple of book stores and took a stroll through Saint Stephens Green. The bus tour was fantastic and I got to see a lot of sites that I would love to go back to including Dublin Castle, Saint Patrick’s Church, The Guinness Factory, the mayor’s house, the American Embassy, and the Papal Cross. Most notable was the Papal Cross where Pope John Paul II spoke to over 1 million people on 29th September 1979. The area surrounding the cross was completely green and to the left the sky was sunny while to the right it was extremely dark and cloudy. We watched as great winds blew the storm toward up and we could see the rain coming in a sheet of mist. It was funny to see it coming and then all of a sudden be running for the bus as we all got drenched; it was truly a great way to witness and experience Dublin weather.
After the tour I helped a fellow student get a phone and then we listened to some street performers play on Grafton, in particular was one band of three guys who were excellent. There was also a solo violinist down the street and a couple of young school boys singing and playing guitar. I soon parted ways with my fellow student, Laura, and instead of going down the main street I was supposed to for the bus home I went down a small side street and ended up getting lost for about half an hour. When I finally got home I fell into tears and Mary told me to just cry it out, and before I knew it I had a cup of tea and dinner before me. That has been really the only major issue I’ve had so far.
This morning Mary served porridge for breakfast and I rather enjoyed it. I understand why Goldilocks wanted it just right, I’ve never had it taste so good, especially with fresh strawberries mixed in. I then went to the bus stop where after a couple of minutes a woman came along and asked me how long I had been waiting and then commented on the madness of the traffic down at the primary school that we can see from the bus stop. She then went down to a bus stop further along, I’m assuming so she could better see the bus when it was coming to flag it down. After I finally caught the bus, she got on at the next stop and we smiled at each other, “It wasn’t too long was it,” she asked me. I responded with a sheepish, “No”. I had to smile to myself; most of the people here are very kind for being such a big city. In a way it makes me feel like I belong more.
I then had orientation where we learned more about the school and a little more about what to look out for in Dublin as far as safety. Heroin addiction is a big problem here and people will often just stumble around strung out. Often they won’t bother anyone and as long as you keep your wallet and/or purse concealed they won’t take it. I saw one man yesterday sitting with his head on his knees with his hand out holding a cup for change. In a way it’s scary, but in a bigger way it’s extremely sad.
I went back to Grafton Street after orientation and a couple of different guys at different points tried to stop me and tell me about their “charities”. The one gave me a spiel and after I said no when he asked if I had an Irish bank account he walked away. Being a banker I think it’s safe to assume he was getting people to give him their account numbers so he would scam them. I just need to stick closer to big groups of people when I walk from now on. On a street performer note, today there was a man painted up to look like a statue and when someone put money in his cup with would raise his hand in thanks and freeze that way, it was cool to watch. I then made my way to Hodges figgs bookstore where I purchased three books including a book of Irish Fairytales.
This evening I watched some Irish news and picked up more of what is going on here. The Lisbon Treaty is a big political issue at the moment and there are signs littering the streets convincing the Irish to vote yes or no depending on the party. I don’t know much about the Treaty and from what I saw on the news, most of the Irish don’t fully understand it either. I start my two week foundation course next week, so perhaps I’ll learn more. I’ll be taking Irish History, Literature, Economics/Politics, and Society. In other news, some of the over the counter pain medications over here contain codeine and if they are taken for more than three days addiction occurs in many people. There are actually quite a few American shows here too, I was surprised to find. The Simpsons was on about every channel it seemed, also there was Family Guy, Malcolm in the Middle, iCarly, Mythbusters, Scrubs, Will and Grace, Two and a Half Men, The Office, and I’m sure the list goes on. Mary was on a Skype conference call while I was channel surfing.
We had pork chops cooked with onions, apples, and rice for dinner along with a glass of wine, it was absolutely delicious. Right now we are watching The Late Late Show with a new host over here, so far Ireland’s Prime Minister has been on along with Tony Blair’s wife and a couple different musicians. Tomorrow we are going to a poetry reading with one of her friends and then Sunday we are going to Kildare with another of her friends to see a man that they know who makes furniture.
Well I’m signing off for now, I hope you all have wonderful weekends!
Love,
Joslyn