The Home-Stay Weekend

Dia duit! So I've just returned from Gorey, Ireland in the county of Wexford, where I spent a weekend with a "homestay" family. The weekend was all organized by Arcadia, my study-abroad program. So Friday I hopped on a bus along with the rest of the Arcadia girls and went on the 1 1/2 hour drive down to Gorey. There, I met Patricia and her two daughters--Holly and Maelle. Holly is an adorable 4-year-old and Maelle is a very energetic and sociable 12-year-old. They live in a very cozy house in a neighborhood full of children that all know each other; it was pretty common for children to randomly come in to Patricia's home, and for Maelle to go over to neighboring houses to visit her friends.

Holly, age 4.

Patricia was very friendly and chatty. I learned that both her children attend an Irish school (where they speak Irish instead of English), which I thought was awesome. Apparently it's pretty common to have schools like that in Ireland, which is just neat. I thought that it was funny that, upon meeting us, Maelle and her friends immediately began asking us things about America, especially if we'd been to Hollywood or knew any famous movie stars or singers.

Saturday morning we went to the downtown part of Gorey, which is a main street similar to the one in Maynooth. Maelle and her friends were the ones to escort us around town (it was mildly amusing that Carly and I, twenty-one-year-old college students, put our lives in the hands of twelve-year-olds, ha). Maelle took us to try on perfume, and look at funny Halloween costumes, and into a sweet shop FILLED with about every kind of candy imaginable. We met up with some of the other Arcadia girls, who were coming in from their own families. It was a beautiful morning.

Gorey's Main Street. The children in blue are Maelle and her friends.

Later, in the afternoon, Carly and I went with Patricia and Holly in order to drop Holly off at the birthday party of one of her friends. While Holly was at the party, the rest of us went to a nearby very-fancy hotel and looked severely under-dressed while ordering some coffee (the hotel was hosting a wedding!). After coffee Patricia, Carly and looked at the scenery and found a secluded trail that (according to the signs) would eventually lead us to the beach. Unfortunately, the nature trail was so long that we ended up having to turn back before we actually found the beach. We went to pick Holly back up from her party but ended up staying around for nearly an hour, talking with the other parents and watching the children play. Two of the little girls even showed us some "Irish Dancing".

Sunday morning it was rainy and the wind was ferocious. Patricia treated Carly and I to an "Irish breakfast", which consisted of delicious food like eggs, sausage, beans and brown bread. I very much enjoyed it. After that, we pretty much relaxed around the house and then said our goodbyes before boarding the bus and heading back to Maynooth.

Me, Patricia, and her daughter, Holly.

I had a lot of fun with my homestay family. I thought it was a nice glimpse into the day-to-day life in Ireland. I got to meet several groups of parents at the birthday party and listen to them talk about the various happenings in Ireland. Patricia and her daughters were very welcoming and it was a great weekend, not to mention a nice break from school!

Irish Word of the Day:   family -- teaghlaigh
I stayed with a very nice family. -- D'fhan mé le teaghlach an-deas.

Today was a class day. I had one hour of Perception & Memory, in which I discovered something that I'm a bit nervous about. From what I've gathered, at least in the Psychology Department, every year you get a handbook--first year handbook, second year, etc.-- and the handbook has things (I guess) like your course list and, most importantly, the dates for the various essays and assignments due for that class! I think the handbook is someone that everyone got so everyone assumes that everyone has it. I, however, have gotten no such thing. O.O I'm a bit paranoid now because I heard mention of an essay and I have no idea when it's due. In class, the teacher just assumed that we already knew about the essay even though there hadn't been any mention of it in class before that point. *sigh* I feel like I'm so lost sometimes.

Then I went on to Discrete Structures for 2 hours. That is, 2 boring hours. There's always that one teacher, right? This one mumbles, and says "umm" too much (word of warning: don't ever start try to notice when a person says "umm", because then you won't be able to ignore it for the next...two...hours...). It doesn't help that the subject itself is also dull. So far I've already learned all the material that we're learning, in a previous Computer Science class. Plus it's math. Abstract math (so no number). Ugh.

But things turned to a bright side when I went to my first meeting this evening for Minds, the Computer Science Club on campus. I was expecting about 8 to 10 people, like the club back at Austin College. I was very surprised when I walked in and there was more like 30 people. I think there were about 6 girls? It was very intimidating. I didn't know anyone and everyone was talking and mingling amongst themselves. I did talk to some people, though, and it was all very friendly. We had a raffle for a cool mini-computer board called a Raspberry Pi. Someone else won, of course, but then they drew a second person (to see who was the "runner up") and it was ME. How cruel is that? I was the SECOND person drawn. Grr!

One thing I definitely noticed today was how different this school system is from the one back home. I mean, every university runs a little differently, but now I know that the school system in two different countries is very different too. Things here are a lot more regimented--you say "I want to go into Computer Science" and the school presents you with all the classes you will take for the next four years. There is a little flexibility--you can take this class OR this class, for example--but it all seems to stay within the department. From what I've gathered, it's very unusual to take classes in different departments, so the fact that I'm taking classes in three different departments (Psychology, Computer Science, and Celtic Studies) appears very strange. Each department is like it's own little world, so I'm having to learn how to navigate through three worlds at once.

Anyways, so tomorrow I have the day off, and then tomorrow evening I'm being delivered (courtesy of Arcadia) to my homestay location for the weekend. I'm going to be staying with a family that has 3 little boys in Gorey, Ireland, about an hour and a half away. So THAT'S sure to be interesting. Cheers!

Irish Word of the Day: Computer -- Ríomhaire.

I went to Dublin today, completely on my own for the first time. This is the third time in total that I've traveled from Maynooth to Dublin. It was actually quite pleasant, if a bit intimidating. I'm still super paranoid about getting on the right train at the right time. Fortunately, they provide plenty of notice and description of which train is which, so while heading to Dublin I just kept looking for signs for Connolly Station (which is one of the stations in Dublin).

Unfortunately, my trip to Dublin was more about business than pleasure. As tempted as I was to wander into one of the millions of shops, I stuck to my memorized directions and headed straight for 7 Upper Abbey Street, which was not too far from Connolly Station. I love The Spire in Dublin. The Spire is a giant spike at the heart of the Dublin shopping district and stands at a crossroads. It's a great waypoint. It's easy to remember something like "head straight from Connolly toward the Spire, then turn right"). The area was super crowded, of course, with people of all sorts. I passed a handful of street musicians too. I actually found 7 Upper Abbey Street fairly easily, by some miracle. I went into the hardware store and, through another miracle, they had the power cord that I needed to play my Xbox 360. It seemed almost too good to be true. I headed right back to the train station afterwards, but I took my sweet time about it. I popped into the occasional store along the way but resisted the urge to...well, you know, buy the latest video game that's out...or the latest book...

All in all it was a very pleasant trip. I went at a leisurely pace so I got to take in the sights and not push myself. The train was a nice rest for my feet before then going on the long walk from the Maynooth Train Station to my apartment on campus (well, it's a long walk for me, anyways). I'm getting much better at this whole "walking everywhere" thing, if you ask me. I'm getting much more comfortable with it. Coming back to my apartment, I looked back over my shoulder and was amazed at the distance I'd traveled all on foot. It seemed incredible. I felt like such a wanderer. So independent and urbanite! And all in a foreign country! Sometimes I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it.

When I got back to my apartment I plugged in the power cord and my Xbox 360 booted up properly, just like it should. It was one of the most beautiful sights I'd seen in this country so far (ha ha). I may not have access to any of my MMOs, but the fact that I can play my xbox now makes me feel just a little bit more normal in this place.

Irish Word of the Day: Walk -- Siúlóid. 
I was walking down the street -- Bhí mé ag siúl síos an tsráid. (The "siúl" means "walking").

Dublin Culture Night

I'm reporting now about last night, which was Culture Night! Apparently it's a holiday across Ireland where all of the museums/galleries/historic locations open their doors for free so people can come take tours and see the latest paintings or even demonstrations of various plays, music, or food. It's a crazy busy night and the perfect night for tourists like moi.

So I left Friday afternoon with a group that included all of the Arcadia girls + 2 guys (don't ask me how they got included, because I have no idea...). We all went down to the train together and took it off to Dublin, arriving just before 5pm, which is when all the exhibits opened.

We had no idea what we were going to do first. We tried the Wax Museum, but they were being jerks and not opening until 7pm. At that point, we split up and me, Carrie, and the 2 guys went off to eat at the (I kid you not, it really is called...) the Bad Ass Cafe, in the Temple Bar Quarter. It was actually more of a restaurant/bar than a cafe, but whatever. I had pasta, which would have been great except it had onions in it that I had to pick out (evil onions! Really, who puts ONIONS in PASTA?). The boys had wings, and they got messy digging into that. Surprise, surprise.

Then we went off to the Historic District. Our first stop was Dublin Castle and boy, was it gorgeous! It was more of a regency castle than a medieval castle. It had ballrooms, parlor rooms, marble statues, giant paintings of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (and a bunch of other Famous Dead Dudes). There was lots of gold and mirrors and plush, soft carpet. Talk about a place to live!

Outside of Dublin Castle, in the square.

Inside Dublin Castle, in one of the hallways of paintings.

After that we went next door, to Dublin City Hall (which is still being used today, naturally). When we got inside there was a group playing some pretty Irish music in the rotunda. I also went up to one of the official-looking meeting rooms, and actually sat in the cozy leather chair where (I was told) the Lord Mayor actually sat when conducting meetings. So that was cool.

From there we went down the street to the Christ Church Cathedral (I feel like that name seems redundant...or maybe just too much alliteration). From what I learned, the cathedral has been around in one form or another since the late medieval times and is still functioning today. They had some wonderful examples of architecture on display from various centuries, as well as numerous gargoyles. There were also sarcophagi, some of which I weren't sure were empty...

A moment of quiet contemplation in the Christ Church Cathedral.

There were also some beautiful stained-glass windows and a HUGE organ. I won't lie, when I was inside I felt like I was in the middle of a dungeon in Assassin's Creed II. I know, I know...I'm such a nerd. But the last time I was in a church like that I was scaling it in order to reach the hidden cache of ancient Assassin artifacts!

Anyways, we stopped at a few minor places along the way, but our final destination was the Contemporary Music Center. They had a lot of samples of "contemporary" music to listen to. I wasn't sure what contemporary music was when I walked in...well, it sounded very New Age. You know, symbolic. Some of it was very pretty. I especially liked one that sounded like you were in a rain forest. Then there were some stranger ones, like scratchy bleepy noises...*shrugs* whatever. I've never been a huge fan of the modernist movement. I'm a sucker for the classical stuff.

By that time it was late, like 9pm or so, and we had to start heading back. Carrie and Amanda actually stayed behind, believe it or not, to explore some more (I admire their endurance and courage!). By the time we got on the bus, traveled back to Maynooth, and walked all the way to the Apartments I was exhausted. I collapsed in my bed and pretty much went straight to sleep.

Irish Word of the Day: Art - Ealaíne

I saw some wonderful art today. -- Chonaic mé roinnt ealaín iontach lá atá inniu ann.