Around Dublin

As you can see, we've been pretty lazy about updating the blog. I (Sarah) will now attempt to give a synopsis of the last few weeks...

Well, we're finally starting to feel comfortable and at home in Dublin, and have been having a lot of fun. We went to a social for BUNAC (the organization which helped us get our visas) which was at a pub's amateur comedy night. The acts were all quite funny, except for this one lady who got up on stage and started singing a’capella about trees and rivers, who needless to say did not get a warm reception from the crowd. That night I met a couple other girls who work at the same university I do, one American and one Canadian. It was really nice to meet other people who can relate to my job, and I've hung out with both of them since then.

Speaking of jobs, I’m not enjoying mine very much- the office is chaotic and I have a ton of responsibility. Most days aren’t too bad, but I’ve learned that I don’t want to work in an office again anytime soon! Erica and Erin, on the other hand, really like their job at Abbey Court, and have met some cool people who we’ve all hung out with a bunch. We’ve had some great craic (pronounced crack- Irish term for fun, haha!) with them out at the pub and at a couple parties. One memorable night, as some of you have already heard about, was when the 3 of us and Cayla (New Zealander who works at Abby Court) went to our favourite local pub, The Woolshed (pitchers of beer for €9.50 on Thursdays- can’t beat that)! Thursday is also karaoke night, and we decided to sing a song in honor of our W&M friends: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It’s one of those songs that would come on and everyone would start singing along to it, so we thought it’d be funny to karaoke to it. The 3 of us had never karaoked before, but it was so much fun, even though I’m sure we sounded horrible, but people at the pub seemed to get really into too and sang along! Later that night we heard our names getting called again, and it turns out that we won the prize- we didn’t even know that there was one! It was a €30 gift certificate for food, so we went back a couple weeks later and got a huge platter of greasy goodness- garlic fries, chicken wings, spring rolls, onion rings and potato skins- yummy!

We ventured outside the city on a Monday bank holiday a couple weeks ago because we all had the day off. We went on a bus tour (once again, for free!!) down south of Dublin to the Wicklow Mountains, and it was freezing! It was extremely windy and a lot colder than we had anticipated; we certainly were not dressed properly. The countryside was beautiful, and our pictures don’t even look real- it looks like we snapped a photo of fake model-sized mountains and trees. One lake we stopped at is nicknamed the “Guinness Lake” because the water is so dark that it really looks like it’s filled with Guinness. At this stop we got complimentary tea/coffee and biscuits, which was amazing as we struggled to stay warm. Later in the day we went to St. Kevin’s Monastery in Glendalough (“a glen of two lakes”), the origins of which date back to the 6th century. For about 500 years it was one of Ireland’s great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning, was continuously attacked by the Danes but ultimately got destroyed by the Normans in 1214. It was a really interesting place to wander around with old headstones, crosses, ruins, and scenic valleys and lakes. Pictures will be up on Picasa soon!

Well those are some of the highlights from the last 3 weeks. As some of you know, today is my birthday and Erin, Stephanie (our housemate) and I are going to a wine bar for dinner! I'm excited. Erica's parents are visiting right now so she is driving around the country with them- unfortunately missing my birthday but still having a great time with her family!