Bus Tour & Orientation

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

Random Tidbits

-They have the equivalent to a dollar store here it's the Euro 2 store.
-Thanks for the shopping bag Mama, as they charge 22c a piece for plastic bags to discourage plastic bag use.
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Day 1

Hello from Dublin,

I have arrived to Dublin, Ireland safe and sound.

After leaving my family in the Pittsburgh Airport with a few tears in tow, I went through security to find out one of their workers shared my name. I also got a stern look and a, “Laptops must go in a bin by themselves,” after I sent mine through still in the bag. Sorry Pittsburgh Airport Security I haven’t flown for eleven years which was pre 9/11. Anyway my flight to Boston was quick and painless, until I arrived in Boston that is. I had no idea how to find terminal E and I had arrived in terminal B. The nice man who sat next to me on the plane directed me to an info desk and told me the best restaurants are in terminal A, too bad I didn’t get to try any of them out. After not understanding the info desk girl, I took a couple escalators around the terminal before asking a security guard how to get where I needed to go. Turns out I had to take a bus, who knew? I got into the longest line ever for a boarding pass with 20 minutes to go until the security gates closed for my flight. Luckily a nice Irish lady asked me if I was direct to Dublin and got me to the front of the line, when I got to security I went to the front of the line as well, but I must not look like my passport picture as the security woman looked between me and my passport three times before letting me through. I then grabbed a quick dinner and boarded the Aer Lingus flight 136 to Dublin.

My seat on the flight was a middle isle seat and there were two empty seats between me and another girl who is actually a DBS study abroad student too. The movie selections were interesting, The Simpsons, Night at the Museum 2, and Ugly Betty. I didn’t take out my headphones until Ugly Betty because to me it was a comfort, before that I had attempted to read, sleep, listen to music, and failed at all three. I just have to note on some people on the plane, first there was a couple, he was Irish and she American, they had two little twin girls who were so excited to get on the plane that they ran ahead of everyone, they were the most adorable kids and the one’s name was Lucy. Another couple that sat two rows ahead of me had a little boy who when we landed kept saying “I-eh-lan, I-eh-lan!”, he was also counting in English and Spanish, from what I could gather they are from Barcelona.

Passing Immigration was not nearly as scary as it was made out to be. (I got to see “Mind Your Head” painted on the underside of a staircase which is so much more sophisticated than “Watch Your Head”.) It took a long while, but after reading my letter of introduction and taking my picture I was stamped to stay in the country through December 20, 2009 without the scary green card saying that I owe the Garda € 150 by October 2, 2009. We arrived ahead of schedule, approximately 4:30am Dublin time. I sat for some downtime by myself for a couple of hours after talking to my parents. At about 6:30am Elizabeth McGloin from DBS met up with the seven of us who were there. After a trip to the loo, seeing the disturbing eyebrow kid commercial for Cadbury chocolate, a purchase of bottled water and a Mars bar (Yes they sell chocolate in Ireland even if they don’t in Germany and some other European countries. Kit Kats actually seem to be a big thing over here.), and about three hours later, we boarded the bus. The mirrors on the buses actually looked like dog ears, I’ll just leave it at that. Also their signs don’t say, “Pedestrian Crossing”, they say, “Pedestrian Diversion”. We got to see a bit of the city before pulling up to the apartments where everyone except for seven of us got off. The apartments aren’t clearly marked for security reasons, the school doesn’t want anyone knowing that students are living there, kind of scary.

The rest of us headed to DBS where we waited for taxis to take us to our homestays. As I walked outside I got to experience my first Dublin rain along with my first taxi ride. Mary Jennings, my homestay, welcomed me openly and said she had turned up the heat because she had a Yank coming. At first I didn’t know how to react but then remembered reading that the Irish like to joke around or poke fun upon first meeting you, it’s a sign that they like you and want to get to know you. She right off the bat offered me scones and my choice of coffee or tea. I of course took her up on the tea. She then gave me a tour of her house, which to my delight has tons of books. She spent a good fifteen minutes pulling books off of the shelves that were her recommended favorites, I loved every minute of it. There are shelves filled in her downstairs and my room has five shelves filled with two empty for my own use. She has offered to take me to the different bookstores in the city along with getting me a membership at the local library, which is absolutely enormous from the outside. She discussed some current political issues that Ireland is facing right now and we both discussed our jobs and families.

After a tour of the house I unpacked, showered, and napped for about 2 ½ hours. I definitely needed the nap, I was feeling extremely homesick but I think part of it was attributed to being up for 24 hours straight. When I got up I felt much better and she fed me again, tea and cheese with soda bread. We then caught a Double Decker, #83, into the city, it is one of the routes I can take to get to my school and I’ll be taking it tomorrow. We got off at my school and strolled down Grafton Street, which is a pedestrian only street. She took me into three different cell phone shops; hopefully I can choose a plan and purchase a phone tomorrow. One of the phones was advertised with a slogan, “Impatience is a virtue”, obviously a phone for people who need fast connections, I just thought it was an odd fun thing to share. I caught a glimpse of St. Stephens Green along with one of Trinity College before going to buy a five day bus pass. We stopped a local shopping centre on the way back to her house. She made scrambled eggs and toast for dinner, again we had tea and she was pleasantly surprised that for an American I prefer tea to coffee. We discussed her family further, she has American cousins and she has a niece who married a man in the American Army and they currently live in Illinois. She herself has been to the States, to NYC at least.

Well I better get some much needed sleep here so I can make my way to Grafton Street tomorrow for a guided bus tour of the city. Hopefully I can set up a cell phone plan, which they aren’t trac phones here they are Top Ups. Anyway if you made it this far, thanks for reading and let me know what’s going on with you! I would make a promise that the next one will be shorter, but I don’t know if I can guarantee that.

Lots of Love,
Joslyn

1 September 2009

This is the day I have been waiting for, it has finally come. I am packed and I have said my goodbyes. I still don't feel like it's happening, the whole idea still seems so surreal to me. I have made a promise to myself that I will live every moment that I possibly can to the fullest and try to experience as much as possible.

5 days 15 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds

Gilmore Girls Season 2 Episode 3 Red Light on the Wedding Night. Emily Gilmore reminisces trying on her wedding dress every night for a week before her wedding. I've been trying on my sweaters and my raincoat quite frequently during my last week in America before heading to Ireland for four months.

So far the packing is slowing advancing, but I'm quite happy with where it is at. I have everything in organized chaos and it will definitely be in my suitcase the day before I leave. I know who I am staying with, Mary Jennings. I spoke with her Monday and I absolutely cannot wait to meet her in person. She loves theatre like I do and she already has tickets to take me to a show during the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Well I am working on reading Frank Delaney's Ireland and I am hoping to finish it before I leave so it is time for some late night reading.

I know for a fact I chose the right country for these reasons:

1) The weather will be great, I love rain and I love 50 to 60 degree weather.
2) Ireland produced some of the greatest literary geniuses to date and they even have a museum dedicated to this fact, the Dublin Writers Museum.
3) Trinity College's Old Library houses the Books of Kells. The Old Library along with other parts of Trinity College hold every other book published in Britain and Ireland since 1801. (Which means they are bound to have some earlier editions of Jane Austen's works than the most recent ones that I own.
4) I will also be stopping by the National Library and as the Fodor's staff refers to them, the battalion of bookseller's shops.
5) The Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival 2009 is going on from September 24th to October 12th, which is by far the most exciting thing I have come across. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait for the first four but they will always be there. I just happened to chose to study abroad in the fall and this festival happens while I am there. I can hardly stand myself. On a side note, I am going to see Rent April 17th at the Benedum!

If you can't figure it out from this post, I'm a reader, a writer, and a theatre enthusiast. Now all I need is some music, which I've read you can easily find in any pub, and it's live so it should be brilliant!

Books and Music

Two of my passions and I found a few stores in Ireland that I will have to make it to.

Bookstores
Waterstone's
Connolly's Bookshop

Music
Pro Musica
Vibes & Scribes
Walton's

I'm currently playing Irish Tin Whistle Legends in my flute lessons. My professor has a full set of tin whistles that he got in Ireland. I mentioned that I was going and he pulled out this book with the promise of playing tin whistles and driving the piano instructor next door insane. I can hardly wait, a little taste of Irish culture on Monday mornings.