Farewell with a Bang

Today was a very fun and busy day. It's a Monday, and there is a little less than two weeks until my semester is done and I'm boarding the plane back to America--hard to believe how quickly these three months have flown by! Things are slowly winding down here on campus, and I'm starting to have to prepare for my departure.

Tonight, Arcadia organized a farewell party, where me and the rest of the Arcadia program students got together one last time. The party started at 7pm in Dublin, but I decided to head into Dublin several hours early. After going to my class at 11pm, I hung around for a bit and then left for Dublin aboard the 1:30pm train, arriving at Connolly Station at about 2:20pm. From there, I had a bite for lunch and then headed toward the movie theater, stopping to admire some of the shops along the way. I noticed that Dublin had fully decked itself out for Christmas--there were lights and decorations all along the main shopping streets, and many of the stores themselves had things like painted snowflakes on their windows and whatnot. Heck, some areas even had music playing.

A huge Christmas Tree right next to the Spire. You can tell Dublin really gets into the spirit of Christmas.

So I arrived at the movie theater and watched a matinee showing of Rise of the Guardians--which I only saw because it looked fun and I had a friend who promised me it was worth going to, even though it was geared toward children. And it WAS fun. The animation was spectacular (magical, even. I wish I'd watched it in 3D) and the story and idea behind it was neat. Anyways, so that was an enjoyable way to pass the time. By the time I'd gotten out it was dark outside, but that wasn't a surprise since it feels like these days the sun is setting by the time I wake up in the morning.

I started to make my way towards the Arlington Hotel, where the Arcadia party was being held. Along the way I attempted to go to a comic book store that I'd finally located in the city, but it closed about 10 minutes before I got there! (grr...). Alas, I had to continue along my way. I found the Arlington Hotel, although it took me awhile to locate it in the dark. I found it ironic that it was named the Arlington Hotel--like I was back home.

The Arcadia party eventually got into full swing, and it was fantastic. The Hotel actually served us a good three-course meal. My main dish was Bangers & Mash (or herb pork sausage and mashed potatoes with gravey, super yum!) and for dessert I had cheesecake. It was great. While we ate, we had live music perform. It was fun listening to these three guys do some classical Irish tunes, as well as some more modern popular songs. After the live music and our plates had been cleared, a troupe came up on stage and did some Irish Dancing. I think that that, by far, was the coolest. The dancing just looked like so much fun (not to mention exhausting to do! I think my feet would fall off if I tried that!).

After it was all done, Arcadia hired us a taxi to take us back to Maynooth. I said my last farewells to the Arcadia staff, since I wouldn't be seeing them again before I left. I was kinda sad to say goodbye to them--Arcadia has done a fantastic job of being with us during this semester-long trip, not to mention providing the field trips to places like Belfast and the Giant's Causeway.

I got back at like 11pm, and now I'm exhausted. I'm going to collapse, and in the morning I have to start working on my final essays!

Irish Word of the Day: dance -- damhsa.
There was some fun dancing and music tonight. -- Bhí roinnt damhsa spraoi agus anocht ceoil.