I have stepped out to lunch

Hello home listeners....

Just wanted to drop a quick note, as I will be out of Dublin from NOW until Thursday March 2. IT'S SPRING BREAK. And I'll tell you all about it upon my return.
















So leave some messages if you are so inclined, my secretary will take care of it.

In school news, I had one final today and another tomorrow before my flight. Today went very well, so tomorrow should be fine. I can't grasp how quickly this semester is going by. But I am excited for the weeks following Spring Break when my parents and other friends will be visiting consecutively.

In Internship news, I finally got my placement. I will be working in the booking/promotions/marketing department of this huge, new, performance venue in Dublin, called THEW HELIX. ( www.thehelix.ie ) Check me out!

Have a good week everyone, I'll be in touch.

Hi, we're in Delaware.

You know that part in Wayne's World where they do that Around-The-World segment on the show, and its the 2 of them, in front of a blue screen. It shows them at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the pyramids in Egypt, Times Square, where Garth says "Hey, we're in New York, I got a gun, let's go see a Broadway show." Then it shows them on just some random street and Wayne goes, "Hi, we're in Delaware......."

That's how I felt when we first got to Cork this weekend. "So, we're in Cork." When you think of must-see places in Europe, Cork doesn't exactly find its way onto the list, but it is Ireland's Second City, and the European Cultural Hub of 2005, so we decided to take a trip, and to see what the south of Ireland looked like.













The city turned out to be rather beautiful, as it sat literally on a small island between 2 off-shoots of the River Lee. We first visited the Blarney Stone, which, legend goes, gives you the gift of gab once you kiss it. Kissing a stone...cake, I thought. Then I learned that the actual Blarney Stone is a piece of castle wall, about 6 stories up. There is a big gap where the floor meets the wall, and the Stone sits beneath this hole, on the wall. So, to kiss it, you lie on your back, holding onto a railing behind you, as a man lowers your torso down, until you kiss the Stone. Apparantly, the man who lived in the castle had a stutter, and a witch came and put a spell on the rock, curing the man of his stutter once he kissed it. I later learned that kids from Cork sneak up there and pee on the Stone at night, a teenage rite of passage, but I kissed it anyway. How could you not? How could I ALSO not go back and pee on it.














After kissing the Stone, we walked around the castle grounds, which were full of trails and other surprises. Like a sacrificial altar!!!



























After Blarney, we took the train to Cobh (pronounced Cove), which is the beach town that was last port of call for the Titanic and Lusitania. Man, is that town cursed or WHAT!















Cobh. Raising the bar.














Saturday, we walked along the river to Cork City Gaol (Jail). The jail looked surprisingly similar to the castle from Super Mario Bros. Out in the exercize yard, I got to lock my hands and head in real prison stocks. Inside the jail, we followed an audio tour that was accompanied by the occasional wax figure, acting out various parts of the jail's history. Here, we see 2 guards on break in the leisure room, and one jerk from America who thinks he's funny. Do you have any 3s? No? Go fish.



























Our next stop was the Cork Butter Museum. That's right. Butter! Our plans were halted though when we discovered it was closed for the season, so we went bowling. We walked around the city, went to the fresh foods market, did a little antiquing, had dinner, and ended the night in an awesome pub called An Brog. When it was time to go, Karen created a diversion while the rest of us made a quick escape through the door.














Thoughts on hostels: ok for one night, two nights MAX. Our hostel was actually quite nice for what we paid (in terms of hostels), clean linens, free breakfast, comfortable enough, but by this morning I just wanted my own bed, or a bed at the Sheraton up the block. I don't like the idea of sleeping in a room with people I don't know (beach houses/college apartments excluded...at least everyone on those floors knows someone else there), and I don't like putting my things in a storage room with other people's things. If that makes me a wimp, I gladly accept.

Back in Dublin for 4 days, final exams, then it's Spring Break. Then some internship. A full plate. the best kind.

The Muppet Show

Now, where were we? Ahh yes. Since last we spoke, I've turned in the 2 papers required of the "academic" half of this semester. One on the education system in Ireland, and how it has modernized in the last 30 years. The second, on the life of Charles Stuart Parnell, Irish politician of the 1880s who's career was cut tragically short when it became public that he'd been having an affair with the wife of one of his aides. Kitty O'Shea. That was her name, no joke. I must say, the Dewey O'Decimal system is a bit more difficult to navigate than our own library catalogues, but I was able to find what I needed rather quickly.

We're also getting down to the wire on getting our internship placements. There are 4 more possible days for me to have an interview, and I haven't heard anything yet from the placement offfice. The only reassuring thing is that about 1/3 of the program is in my boat. "Don't worry if you don't hear from us until the last minute. Everyone gets an internship." I'm holding you to that, Rebecca + Tom. I wish they'd let me find one myself.















This weekend was barrels of fun. Thursday night was the usual 80s night at Q. Friday, I went to see MUNICH with my friend Colin who is neither American nor Jewish. His first words to me when we sat down were, "So, what's this movie about?" I then remembered how silly it was to think that children growing up in Ireland are told of the same tragedies and world events (IRA bombings) that children in America do, let alone Jewish children in America (Munich, Iranian hostage crisis). Ireland had their own stuff to deal with in the 80s. So I explained it to Colin, and his reaction was similar to mine upon hearing that the vice president shot a 78 year old man in the face. "This ACTUALLY HAPPENED??" Go get 'em, Dick.














Saturday night was our first official pub crawl. 6 pubs. 1 night. Rather self explanatory.














This week at DCU is a big back to school celebration, the highlight of which is "Mini Brother." This is Big Brother, with 4 people, in a Mini Cooper, for 3 days, web-cast on the student website, who vote people out by sending text messages. Brilliant.














Tonight, I went downtown to see "I, Keano," the biggest Irish musical of the year. Who are we kidding, it's probably the only Irish musical of the year. Based on an incident in the life of Roy Keane, Ireland's most notorious soccer player, famous for his bad attitude and rough sportsmanship. But no one will deny that he's the best. The musical was a total farce, turning a soccer champoinship into a Roman empire-era war battle, but the metaphor worked. The cast was extremely talented, but the writing needs some work. Essentially, in 2002, Ireland made it to the World Cup, and went to train in Saipan a few weeks before the tournament. When they arrived, there were no soccer balls, the field was built on poor grounds, none of the gear arrived, and it was an all out mess.

Keane was incredibly dissapointed at the lack of organization and preparation on the side of management, and told a newspaper that he thought the situation was a circus, and when the manager (Mac) read the story, he confronted Keane. Keane exploded publicly in a tirade and mouthed off to Mac in ways that get you arrested in some countries. "It's a fuckin muppet show!" There was a whole song about this. Mac sent Keane home before the World Cup, and the country went nuts, because Keane was the best, and Ireland hadn't been to the World Cup in years. The musical ripped Mac and the IFA (Irish Football Association) apart, but it was suprisingly lighthearted, clever and funny. The experience differed from being in New York, though. People were eating popcorn and drinking beer like they were at a movie, in a bar. I didn't like that. Everything has its time and place. I did discover, however, that my friends Eric and Kathleen are big theatre dorks like me.

Finally, get ready for me to cook some amazing dinners when I get home. I am enjoying this kitchen immensely, and all the wonderful things I make in it. I'm not even going to tell you what I make, you'll just get jealous and hungry. Just know that when I get home, if you're lucky, you will eat well.

Cork for the weekend > Finals > Spring Break > Visitors of all shapes, colors, and sizes. So long.

More like, BelSLOW

A lot needs to be accomplished with this post, so sit back and relax. I'll also throw in some extra London pics to keep you interested. So....

Last Friday, we took a trip to Belfast for the day. We took a bus tour of the huge murals all over the city, and then went up to the Parliament to meet with some MPs. Although it's not nearly the dangerous place it once was, the memory of the troubles is painted up and down every street in Belfast with gigantic murals that cover the sides of buildings and homes. The images mostly involve a heroic figure from whosever side painted it, and that figure pointing a GIANT GUN towards the "camera." There was a lot of traffic in Belfast, to which Karen made the obvious joke, "Belfast? More like, BelSLOW." Good one, Karen.

After the bus tour, we went to Parliament, took a tour, and met with a member from each of the head opposing parties, Sin Fein and the DUP. These guys were amazing politicians, had nothing bad to say about the other party, but wouldn't sit in the same room with each other. Discussed their hopes for a resolved Northern Ireland Question, but wouldn't even consider a compromise. I don't think anything will be accomplished their for quite some time, and neither does anyone else. The tour guide DID inform us that the whole building was covered in cow shit during WW2 do disguise it from fighter jets.

















The morning I flew home from London, I was so amazingly tired and disoriented that I was essentially sleep-walking off the plane, so I didn't have a clue as to what was happening when I walked through the wrong booth at immigration and got yelled at for not having an EU passport. I'm pretty sure "Sir, you're making a scene" was said a few times. Goo Evan.














After I got home (thank god they even let me back in), we took a trip to Kilmainham Gaol (Jail), where many of the leaders of the Easter Rising were held and killed. A few scenes from Michael Collins were shot there also, which we watched in class the next day. On every wall where the tour passed through, there was stuff carved like "Mike wuz here" and "Annie luvz Bobby 03." I just don't get the point of that. Are they planning on coming back in 10 years and pointing at it and saying, "Look Honey, here I wuz, and here I am"? I'll never understand.














Wednesday, all the regular DCU students finally got back on campus (this week is called SHAG week, Sexual Health Awareness.....G-something), so Megan and I took the hip-hop class we'd been waiting for for 4 weeks! It was cool. The teacher taught kind of slow but the routine was good. She also gave us the name of a studio in town where she takes class that she said we would really like. The music was all USHER and ASHANTI, go figure.

Last week, a small group of Americans moved in to our apartment complex, and everyone was so excited, "oOoh, Americans!" Uhh, hi, WE'RE Americans. Anyway, Karen and some of the girls went over to be friendly and party with them, and they BROUGHT SOLO CUPS with them, in their suitcases, so they could play beer pong as soon as they got here. One of them also brought his XBOX. Are you kidding? XBOX? Everyone was kind of turned off by them after that, but I was turned off IMMENSELY. Let them play beer pong and play XBOX all day. I'm gonna go hang out with some Irish people.














This weekend marks 1 month that I've been in Ireland, and I can't believe how quickly it's going. 2 weeks of class left, then Spring Break, then Internships begin. My parents just booked a weekend visit for March 9-13, and after that, only 6 weeks left! Time.does.NOT.go.by.so.slowly, you queen of pop liar.

Finally, I went to the supermarket today and was perplexed at some of the items I saw. "Funny Fish?" "Economy Beef?" Sounds like a disaster to me, but hey, maybe they're on the menu at this place >>>>>













Peace out.

London, Part 2

On Sunday, we were out the door by noon to have another full day around London. Our first stop was Piccadilly Circus and Carnaby Street, one of the big shipping areas of the city. At home, my favorite shirt is this Ben Sherman button down, Carnaby Fit. You can only find them in department stores back in the States.....but look what I found on Carnaby Street!














We also found this store called MUJI, where, if I were to ever get married, this is where I would register. They have an amazing variety of stationary, office/filing supplies, photography items, home goods, and just generally interesting merchandise. I bought an acrylic stapler. And as random as that sounds, you can imagine how awesome it was that I was actually moved to buy it. I can't do it justice though, so check them out at www.muji.co.uk



















Later in the day, we made reservations for a 5 o'clock "flight" on the London Eye, the largest ferris wheel in the world. You can't tell from far away, but the little cars are actually these massive pods that hold about a dozen people, with a lot of room to walk around and see every angle of the city. The ride lasts about 40 minutes, and provides unbelievable views of Big Ben and Westminster, since you're about double the height at the top.














After our flight on the Eye, we met Alyce and my friend Kelly for dinner at Wagamama, a popular noodle bar in the UK. After dinner, we walked into a little cd/dvd store that sold only classical and jazz music, and only "art" films. There, on a shelf, in London, was 'Happiness,' staring me in the face. Unbelievable.














Once it got dark, we headed toward Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is what everyone THINKS is London Bridge, but they're wrong. London Bridge is quite unimpressive, and the original one was sold and re-built in Arizona. But Tower Bridge is a massive structure that to see lit up at night is really beautiful.















After our day of tubing and flying and seeing, we went back to the apartment to watch The Superbowl. They showed the game on TV1, but just the game, not the commercials. Besides an incredibly uneventful game, the Stones half-time show, in a word, sucked. The band was swallowed whole by that enormous stage, and their lack of enthusiasm didn't help much. Even Sir Paul had more stage presence last year, and he was practically asleep on stage, but it looks like this is how it's going to be for the next few years, all thanks to NippleGate '04.

I booked a very early flight Monday, or very late Sunday, depending on how you look at it, for the return trip, to keep costs low, but also to get the most out of the weekend. I had no trouble geting to Heathrow, but I was the only person there. I'm not kidding. The gate-terminal wasn't even open, neither were the check-in desks. Have you ever been the only person in a departures Terminal? I have. It's fun, you should try it out sometime.













So, London was great. I'd like to get back there once again in March or April. Obviously, I only scratched the surface of things to see and do in the city. But don't you have to before you can really experience it as it is to the people who live there? Playing tourist has it's place, and I really like that place, but I'd also like to spend more time there, and get to know it for myself. And I want to see Billy Elliot, which is supposedly the greatest musical ever staged in the West End. All in good time.

Next Stop: Cork + Kerry

London, Part 1

I made my first trip out of Ireland this weekend to visit London, where I stayed with my friend Kevin who is in the BU-London program. Friday was spent entirely in transit, with a class trip to Belfast (which I'll get to discussing in a few days) from 8am, returning at 8pm, when the bus actually dropped me off at the airport before bringing everyone else home, a 10 pm flight out of Dublin, arriving at 11 pm in Luton, which is about an hour outside of London....this could have been a potential disaster, but luckily I have my mom's sense of direction.

After bussing into Central London from the airport, I made my way to another bus stop that would get me to South Kensington, which is where the BU housing is. I kid you not, I walk across the street to catch the bus and my friend Alyce is standing right in front of me, on her way back to the SAME building I'm going to. London is a huge program from BU, so there were a lot more familiar faces, but it was nice running into Alyce no less than an hour after I had landed.

Kevin lives in a flat with many other people, some I knew already, some I know now. Laurie and Jenna from my advertising classes were sitting in the kitchen as soon as I walked in, and I met these 2 guys from SMG, Hardik and Jason (who, turns out, lives ON MY FLOOR back in Boston).














Kevin and I had a lot of fun seeing all there is to see in London, as South Kensington is really a prime location, within walking distance from Royal Albert Hall, Harrod's, Hyde Park, and Buckingham Palace (Long walks, but it was nice out). He's been there for a month and hadn't seen a lot of it, so I didn't feel too bad dragging him around.













I will say, the London Transport system is phenomenal. The tube and bus network runs so often and is so easy to navigate, it made the massive size of the city not seem so unconquerable.














From Buckingham, we walked towards the river, where we found Westminster, Parliament, and Big Ben. We also found about 5000 New Zealanders, on the square in front of Parliament, performing some wierd annual rugby ritual, that involved dancing without clothes, drinking beer in tree branches, and releiving oneself on a church. Even I wouldn't do that. I think.















After wandering around for a bit, we walked to Trafalger Square where we stopped to have some dinner. It was a small restaurant where you end up sitting inches from the people next to you, forced to make friends, and I found myself in a conversation with the couple next to us, an older man and a middle-aged woman who had just come from the theatre. Obviously we had a lot to talk about. Theatre, school, London, Dublin, New York, the place of modern art when compared to the classics, career, family, food. I know I've said this a hundred times over, but I really just love talking to new people.

A few little details: I saw a Duck Tour in London, never expected to see one outside of Boston. Same dumb looking boat-car, just with the wheel on the right. Found a CHEERS, also not something I expected. But hey, sometimes, I guess, you want to go where everybody knows your name. Saw the EVAN family crest in the bookshop at Westminster, resembles the Peugeot symbol. My name is Welsh. Who knew.

After dinner, we headed back to South Kensington, where we made plans for the evening. Me, Kevin, and some of his roommates went into Soho to a bar called, aptly, The Soho. Small, cozy, all 90s rap and hip-hop which was unexpected, but kind of entertaining. Anyway, headed home not too late, ready for a full Sunday, details to follow in part 2....

Recap: January

So we have been in Dublin for 3 weeks now, and it's flying by amazingly fast. Before I leave for the long weekend, and we kick off the second half of classes, I wanted to post some of the things that have not made it into the blog yet, purely for spacial reasons.

First off, there is no Mountain Dew here. It does not exist on this island. And in the words of my friend Will, "Why would you go to a place like that?" It's ok, Will, I'm getting by. They DO have my other favorite beverage, thankfully, Snapple Iced Tea with Lemon. The label is rediculous. There is a picture of a gigantic personified lemon, frolicking in a field of 4-leaf clovers, saying "Shake Me Baby!" They call it "Lucky Lemon Iced Tea" and the slogan reads, "At Snapple, We Get Lucky." Perverts.

Also, I am amazed at how committed to conservation they are here. Obviously, Europe is known for small cars, diesel engines, etc., but did you know that grocery bags are not free? Neither are ketchup packets. Gum is hard to come by, and you see less of it on the sidewalk, not to mention a lack of litter in general. A LARGE soda at a fast food place is about the size of our SMALL, and sales tax is non-existent. What you see is what you pay. Speaking of money, the paper notes are of different sizes in relation to amount, which seems smart to me. As Karen asked, "How do blind people in America do money?" Hopefully with checks and credit cards.

Anyway....here are some pictures that I haven't had room for until now.















First off, as soon as you leave the city, there are sheep everywhere. I tried to remember a time when I met one up close, but I couldn't recall any. So this was exiciting.















That day I got to push the button at the Guinness factory, I wasn't kidding about it being a big deal.
















At the Gravity Bar on top of the storehouse, when they serve you your complimentary pint, they draw a shamrock into the head, and it stays because it's so damn thick.















This picture of the outside of the distillery reminded Karen of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it reminded Me of something a little more Dickens. Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?
















Finally, this was just a nice one of me, Karen, and Steve that I neglected to post originally. So, January has been quite a month. Before I left, everyone kept asking me if I was nervous, and my response was always that I wouldn't know until I got here. Well, here we are. Classes are going well, had a few quizzes, and 2 papers are due by the 13th. Some traveling scheduled for February. Some visitors coming in March. Antsy for my internship. Oh, and I really don't like it when people use my things.

Peace out---be back Monday