A looong week ended in Glendalough

Hello! Well, this has been my longest and most eventful week. Again, we had visitors. Thursday night some kids from Cork came to stay at the house, so all week has just been entertaining. Today I went on a school organized trip to Glendalough, a town in the Wicklow Mountains about 40 minutes south of Dublin. A beautiful town- it was founded by Irish natives, and the main attraction is the monastery built up by St. Kevin. He went to Glendalough (glenDAlock) to become a hermit because he thought that by removing himself from people and society that he could become closer to God, but when the townspeople found out he was living near them, they asked him to begin his evangelical work, I suppose. The monastery was very cool, grave stones everywhere, and the round tower, called Irish Round Towers (only found in Ireland and Scotland)... They were mainly used as bell towers, and so that visitors could find the monastery. It was neat. The moss-ridden mountains are gorgeous, even on a dull day. The name Glendalough directly means in Irish "town between two lakes" and the lakes were pretty. It's a shame that the sky wasn't bluer.
I met some European people, which was awesome because I hadn't really interacted with any since I've been here. I met an Austrian kid, 3 Germans and a New Zealander (not European.. haha) All very nice people. The Austrian and the Germans were telling me about how the Turks come to their countries and don't fully immerse themselves in their culture, and how it's annoying. This other American and I were saying how America has that "problem" with Mexico and Latin America too. But the truth is, and we all recognized this, that they work the jobs that the natives don't want to work anymore-- the "less respectable" jobs. Sad but true. And as far as immersing in another culture, it is difficult. I'm not even in a culture that's so completely different from my own, and I know how it feels. You can feel pretty proud of where you come from, and sometimes your pride can get in the way of accepting another culture and appreciating it for what it is. I must be even more difficult with a language barrier. (Oh, and Petra- The Austrian kid (whose name I can't remember,..) looked a lot like Andreas. Like his brother.. it was weird. I wanted to ask him if they were related, but that would have been stupid!!)

Anyway, take a look at my pictures! Look at the captions too! I have to sleep as if I were dead until whenever.. I am completely spent!

Powerscourt & Glendalough 1

An Interesting Day

Last night, in celebration of Emma and Caroline's friend Heather being in Dublin from Avignon, France, we went to the Purty Kitchen in Temple Bar. Before 11pm on Wednesdays everyone gets in for free, but after 11pm you have to pay a 10 euro cover charge. Well we here at 11 Stephens Lane hate cover charges more than anything. Drinks are expensive enough. We literally walked into the place at 10:59pm. Emma and I believed that this was reason enough to not pay a cover. There wasn't a bouncer around, and the girl collecting the money was behind a counter, in a closet-like room. The money collector says "10 euro please" and Emma reaches into her purse to 'get money' and then bolted past the girl. The girl didn't look too surprised and she continued to ask me for my cover. I argued with the girl, saying that it was 11pm exactly! That was exactly her point though ... After arguing with her to no good result, I stared at her for about 30 seconds and then bolted up the stairs. She grabbed by arm, which I shook off, and blew her whistle to alert the troops. I ran so fast in my heels up those stairs, I don't know how I didn't break an ankle. There was no one around in the dance floor area, so I hid behind a sofa, just in case they tried to find me. Frantically texting Caroline, I then emerged from my hiding spot to go to the bathroom. I found Kate, who also slid past the cover charge via the bathroom steps. This place really had no security here! This must happen all the time to them! Hilarious!

Then today, in my Syntax class, we were talking about sentences obviously. My very Spanish teacher, Nuria, began to talk about "black talk" and thank god she was in Ireland because that would not have flied in America. She looked straight at me and my friend Alanna, also an American, and said, "Isn't it true that blacks in America say things like 'ain't' and...am I right?" We sort of laughed, 'cause this is a generalization, just a bit. She goes, "Like Ali G.." And that was just too funny because first of all Ali G is a parody on ghetto America, and second of all- the character is played by a Jewish guy! Obviously her view was a bit distorted! So Alanna says that the double negatives might be had by the uneducated.. But this is a generalization too! I just said it was intercity atmospheres. But this was just so funny, because of course Alanna and I immediately tensed up at the thought of talking about an ethnic group in that way, but then we remembered we were in Ireland, and it didn't matter quite as much. It's just not as taboo here.

After that I went to the library to see Caroline with my bag of popcorn. The library nazi caught me with food in the library, which I didn't know was a rule, and told me that I needed to leave immediately or he would give my name to the front desk! Jaysus!! I'm breakin' all the rules over here!

Anywhoooooo, I'm beat and these kids from University College Cork are coming to visit Dublin, so I have to go out again tonight! Time for a nap...

Powerscourt?

Hello all!

Saturday was a good day. It was pretty chilly, but in the morning Emma and I went for a long run in St. Stephen's Green. That park is so beautiful, I did not mind running in it. The lake there had ducks and all the trees are in bloom. The first week of February is the beginning of spring, which it odd, but it does feel like spring some days. Saturday was not one of these days, but the run was quite delightful. Afterwards, the girls and I went to this really cheap produce market. Down by the Jervis Shopping Centre there is a whole street of freelance produce people selling food. They have great deals like 10 apples for 1.50, or 12 plums for 2 euro..or 3 boxes of strawberries for 2 euro! So we brought our backpacks down to the street, where they also have an "under 2 euro" store, like a dollar store. They had a ton of St. Paddy's gear, so we'll have to make a stop there before the holiday. It was cool. Then afterwards we went to the UCD rugby game, UCD vs. Garryowen. Garryowen won I think, 14-7 but we left early because it was so cold! We ambled around campus for a while until we hopped back on the bus to home. That night we went to a place called Devitt's where they had trad (traditional) Irish music. It was a really good craic (good atmosphere). After that we went to Flannery's, and we had a good time. We danced to hits like Thriller and Footloose, but had a good time. On our way home we ran into these two Irish guys, about our age, and we stopped to chat for a bit. They were telling us about their own travels to the U.S., Las Vegas mostly, and how they couldn't drive an automatic car. They had to ask the car rental man for help. I thought that was way weird, but automatics like don't exist over here. Then the one kid started to bug me, 'cause he was trash-talking some Americans. I understand that some are not worldly per se, but c'mon! He was saying that all Americans love to talk about how "Irish" or how "German" or how "Swedish" they are, but they're really just Americans! It's true, so many say "I'm 1/16th Irish.." Needless to say, I did have to defend us a little bit. I mean, Americans did descent from European nations. Of course we're all something-American. But I did understand what he was saying. Another girl he talked with said she was Irish and that her family was from Edinburg, which is in...Scotland. So he was a bit frustrated. Most of the conversation was half-joking around though and he does have a point in saying that Americans are generally uptight considering I was sort of arguing every thing he said. HAHA! Anyway, they were nice and they showed us how to get back home. Sean and Campbell. Good times.
Sunday we went to Powerscourt, where there falls Ireland's tallest waterfall! We got there late though and we missed the opening times. Total bummer!! So we ended up just putzing around Powerscourt and Enniskerry. It wasn't too far from Dublin anyway.
The pictures are in my Picasa album, so check them out!! LOVE

Powerscourt & Glendalough 1

Irish Hospitality is the Best...and the Worst..?

I say that the hospitality here is the best an the worse, because 2 events happened within 24 hours, one which released anger in me, the other which brought true happiness and relief.

Last night, the roommates and I went pub hopping, and we usually end up at the "BK lounge," as some of the Boston College kids like to call it. (BK=Burger King) It's really NOT loungy, because to me lounge implies sofas and an acoustic guitar player...but anyway... All the boys like to eat their faces off after a night of drinking, so we tag along for some laughs. So midway through my roommate Matt's double bacon cheeseburger meal deal (I know, GROSS!) this Irish bloke comes up behind me and taps my shoulder. I turn around to see that he is pretty gone, and he says, "Hey your American friend is outside makin a fool of himself, runnin around naked and what not! You should go tel him to stop." Well all my friends are in the lounge, so I tell him that just because I'm American and this fool's American doesn't mean I have to tell him to stop. I don't care, ya know! So he talks me into the fact that there is some American naked fool outside, and as I leave my chair, I tell Matt to save my seat 'cause I knew this kid was going to try to steal my seat. Shuffle your feet, lose your seat..I know, I know.. but I had backup. Needless to say this kid attempts to steal the seat. Matt, saving the seat, sort of pushes this bloke.. and not a hard push, but the sort of consistent push as if to say, you don;t belong here.. but it was jokingly too because we were all laughing, well, everyone but this kid. He gets up to eat his chicken sandwich next to his friend, and simultaneously calls Matt a fat (not so nice word for a gay person...) Well, Matt gets a little riled up, and says something like- "dude, really?! Do you have something to say?!" I immediately get frazzled because I know what's to come. There was going to be a USA v. EIRE smackdown in the BK lounge. So I butt in and say, "aw man, it's cool, if you wanted my seat you could've just asked ya know! No biggie" His friend then apologized for his loser friend's behavior. Whatever..
So now the french fries are on low, and I'm ready to go because I can still feel tension. I stand outside for a bit, come back in cause no one followed me.. ALL THE SUDDEN, a pile of fries is chucked at Matt's head, and Matt reacted somewhat accordingly, considering he is not a violent guy whatsoever...He went over to him and asked him, with a raised tone, why he would do that. WELL, the bloke HEAD BUTT's Matt! Matt grabbed his shirt, blood is flying, the kid spits fries in Matt's face. There's chewed up fries on Kate's coat, Kevin and Fitz (BC kids) try to intervene! It was a mess. Thank God there was BK security, cause they broke it up. We dragged Matt outside, I gave him a napkin to wipe his nose, and Kate starts screaming at the kid from outside the window! (obscenities of course)...THEN, an Irish girl, not very cute, starts yelling at Kate to go back to her own country, and not to act like she owns this one. Kate starts goin all Jersey on her ass, and I just freaked. I was not about to have the cops come talk to us foreigners about some stupid head butt. Other kids were egging Matt on to find the kid and beat him down, and I stepped in, as you Rutgers girls can imagine I did... I hit some kid's arm, screamed at him to get the hell off my friend, and that we were going home. We turned the corner to Nassau St, and laughed the whole way home. IT WAS RIDICULOUS. Those Irish kids didn't like us Americans much...

I'm ending this blog on a light note. Coming back on the bus from my Disabilities class, bus life is normal. An old woman, old as dirt, sits down in the wheelchair section of the bus with her grocery cart, and then the next stop a man in a wheelchair comes on the bus, there's piles of people's luggage everywhere, the bus driver's trying to move, and these two young girls jumped up from their seats to help everyone maneuver themselves. The next stop a couple with their baby stroller came on, so it was a full house. But it was just really nice that people actually help those in need around here. Now, mix in some alcohol and BK, and I'm not so sure..but it was a good ending to my 24 hour experience with Irish hospitality.

Sequin Speedo

Yesterday a group of cancer fund raising kids stormed into my class wearing lingerie underneath doctors' labs coats, and the boys were too. So at 11am in the morning I saw more silver sequined speedos on human bodies than I ever want to see again in my life time.

In other news, school has been quite hectic lately. This Irish chick who I'm doing a presentation with on Thursday keeps standing me up on getting together to mesh our powerpoints. It's starting to eat at me, cause we have to present tomorrow at noon. RIDIC! But I sat in on a meeting that was not mine today and got free coffee and pastries out of it, plus complimentary tickets to a UCD rugby game on Saturday. That should be fun and I'm really looking forward to it.

Kickboxing was really fun last night and I'm starting to get into it. Tonight there is a kickboxing social at the student bar in the student centre. I still can't get over that there is a pub in the student centre. But I met this one kid Neil who's Irish, and he's super nice, and this other American girl Prathna, who lives in Oregon but goes to school in Philly at Haverford. So I'm definitely going to stick with the kickboxing.

Meanwhile, we still don't have internet at the house, and this country's favorite thing to say is "we'll be there in 3-5 days." WELL, they said that 5 days ago and they said they were sending a router 2 weeks ago. Needless to say, we're getting uber frustrated because we deserve to have internet, especially because we're paying for it--and we need to get school work done at home too. I don't want to spend every waking hour at UCD.

Anywayy, updates later this weekend are to come !!

Birthday and Limerick

So my birthday was awesome. Wednesday night, we went to a club called D TWO. The people who go there are like the girls from “The Hills,” with bleach blonde hair and orangey tan skin to the high heavens. They all wear skirts too short for them, and it was incredibly crowded. We had a fun night, but I wouldn’t go back there again. But the club is also 18 and over on Wednesdays, whereas every other night is 21 and over. So that could have attributed to it. Thursday night we went to a place called Doyle’s in the city centre. This place was fun. It wasn’t too crowded and the music was more rock and less techno. So many clubs play horrible techno music and it gets annoying. Friday I went to the Garda Immigration Bureau to get my “visa.” It didn’t take too long – only 4 hours. Then around 3pm Caroline, Emma and I left Dublin for Limerick. Everyone kept asking us WHY? but we want to see everything in Ireland, and Limerick is a place in Ireland. Plus, the book “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt (a true story) takes place in Limerick so we wanted to see it.
So, the hotel we ended up booking was great. For 15 euro a person per night, it was a beautiful hotel with a full Irish breakfast in the morning. I found it on a hostel website, but it ended up being a hotel. Even though it was about a half mile outside of the city centre in a boro called Roxboro, it wasn’t half bad. We took a taxi around town all night because we didn’t know where we were going, but we ended up at a place called the Wicked Chicken. It was a pretty old looking bar, but the people seemed nice. The bartender was smiley, and had dreadlocks. This was definitely the more rock/punk place in town, which I was totally cool with. And since there was live music, we were totally psyched. The bad who played was AMAZING. They are called The Gorgeous Colours. We chatted it up with some of the band members before they played their set, and they were just so nice! The Irish are perhaps the nicest people in the world. They just love to have good conversation and they enjoy all the small things. The video of them is at the bottom of this blog. They were just so enjoyable, as Emma and Caroline would say. Saturday we woke up early to get to Adare, a small village 20 minutes outside of Limerick. Apparently it is known as the prettiest village in Ireland, but I’ll be the judge of that after I see the rest of Ireland. The thing with Adare was that it so tiny and it was just one street of shops, and a few friaries. It wasn’t THAT great. But it definitely was cute. Then we took the bus back to Limerick city, saw King John’s Castle, the River Shannon and did a little shopping in this great consignment shop called Enable Ireland. They are all over Ireland and the (cheap) procedes go to helping those with disabilities. The city itself is filled with scary looking people, like bad teeth (or no teeth)…just a bit dirty. It was a pretty dirty city overall to be completely honest. Now I know why so many people asked us why the hell we wanted to go there. It was pretty unimpressive. It was filled with more nasty old drunk men than any other place I’ve been thus far. And the younger guys had no problem whistling at you from across the way. It was just sick..people in Dublin just aren’t like that. I didn’t appreciate it. On the bus ride home, we almost witnessed a fight, and I lost my makeup case. I have to call the bus station to retrieve it.
But anyway, Saturday night we headed back to our “home” and went out to a club called Pod. Thank god I got in for free with a pass I picked up, because if I had paid I would have been upset. It was quite possibly the worst clubbing experience I’ve had. THEE worst music EVER, and boring locals. Just so dumb.
Yesterday the girls and I went to Stephens Green shopping centre to food shop and get internet; YES, ours crashed AGAIN. In the foodmarket, we kept colliding with other shoppers, for reasons unknown.. I mean the aisles are pretty tight... and each time we ran into someone, they smiled and laughed and said sorry and were just so happy to be there. We were laughing because at home we would have gotten the evil eye and the middle finger. It's just another world here. On our way out, this 40-something year old man was dancing to his reflection in the store window, like Bee-Gees style. It was HILARIOUS. I wish I had had my camera to capture the moment.
Anywhooo, take a look at my new pictures and videos LOVE

The Gorgeous Colours


A 1312 Augustinian Friary


My album from Limerick

Limerick and Birthday Festivities!

Officially Official

So today is my 21st birthday, and it's not as sad as I thought it would be. I thought I'd be all emotional cause I'm not home, but I'M FIINNEE! It's just another day! My roommates have been great though. Emma and Kate had a cake-bake-off! Emma made a citrus poppy cake and Kate made a choco-peanut butter cake. (hmm, wonder which one will win. Of course I'm the judge!!) Andy insists on helping me judge though, and I think I'll let him haha.
And I woke up to post-its on the walls that said happy birthday, so I definitely don't feel lonely.
Last night was my first kick-boxing club meeting/training! It was definitely really fun. Only Caroline and I went, and we learned some cool moves for taking out a predator. Then when we got home we practiced our sweet skills. But I did realize that I'm a bit out of shape for suicide sprints and push ups. I was in shape for crew, but that's a totally different type of "in-shape." Plus I haven't done more than the gym in the past year and half. It was pretty intense, but it will whip my butt into shape for sure! So we have that every Tuesday and Thursday night, and they have social gatherings too, so this will be an awesome opportunity to meet more Irish.
Tonight, my two 'friends,' I guess you could call them, who I met in Hungary this summer, are taking me and my friends out to some cool, and younger pubs/clubs. So that should be totally fun! And apparently there is a huge Valentine's Day celebration all over campus today. So, we'll see how all that goes. I might have a mid-day pint in the Student Bar (Called the Forum Pub). It will feel a bit weird, but hey, it's my birthday!
Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes, cards, and gifts!!

LOVE

More Pictures --> Read all the captions too! I did little bios!

Nights Out on the Town!

Raw Meat

So, I just accidentally ate raw chicken. Yes, I am sufficiently grossed out. My housemates all agree that when you buy prepackaged breaded chicken, that it is usually precooked, and all you have to do is heat it up. Well, that's not the case in Ireland. Luckily, only 1/4 of the tender was undercooked, so I don't think I ingested that much rawness.
In other news, last night Kate and I tagged onto a pub crawl for free (it was originally 15 euro). Don't ask me how we did that..So we got free entry to some pubs/clubs and strolled in at 4am. Prior to that, I slipped on some ice, and now my right hip is bruised and my knee is scraped a little. There was a shopping cart in our front courtyard, thanks to my drunk roommates. It was pretty funny walking outside this morning. Today though I watched some episodes of Weeds and walked around the city for a couple hours, just taking pictures, window shopping, and catching bits and pieces of the Ireland-France rugby game. There were a ton of Frenchies here last night and today. It was pretty cool.

Hopefully I don't get sick from the chicken.

SNOW?!

So it snowed like crazy here today and yesterday! None of it stuck yesterday, and only some stuck today. But, apparently Ireland hasn't seen snow like this (which isn't too impressive) in 10 years or something! Because it hasn't snowed like this in quite the while, there were snow ball fights galore today! These damn college kids!! I was pelted with iceballs over and over again on my walk from the Arts building to the Student Centre. It was downright hilarious! Caroline, Emma and I were cracking up the entire walk! Once we made it alive to the Centre, we went to a little set up called "Refreshers' Day." They called the freshman 'freshers' here. It was a time to join 'clubs & societies' at UCD. So the roomies and I joined the kickboxing club! I'm really excited because we're going to get to fight with actual people, not just the air. And it will keep my butt in shape! We're going for our first round on Tuesday!
LOVE

A Narrative

I was asked for my Rhetoric class to write a short narrative, and as you know, narratives are a personal account. Here we go...

Here I am a seven hour plane ride across the Atlantic Ocean, away from the true comforts in my life, looking to my right and then my left before crossing a street, having more coins in my purse than I know what to do with, and living in a city with seemingly no street signs. I schlep my way to UCD everyday, which by the way, is nothing like universities at home. My quaint house by Merrion Gardens has no internet, and little water pressure. I watch more Simpsons and Friends now than I ever have in my entire life. I discovered that if you’re not from LA or NY, you’re not actually from America. (It’s funny, because there is actually more bleached hair and orangey-tan skin here than in America!) And although I could go on and on about how different – and in the first week I would have said shitty – my life is right now, three weeks in I now feel liberated and exultant and adventurous and excited despite the change.

There is no experience like living in another place. Moreover, there is no experience like living in another country. At first it is easy to feel robbed of my personality and personal style, my sense of humor and my money, but really – there is nothing like it in the world! In my first three weeks, I have been truly immersed into another culture, another world. I’ve been living in a place where politics actually matters to the youth of this nation, and prejudice is hardly anywhere to be found. Perhaps it is because I’m American and I have been desensitized to prejudice, but I have had nothing but good experiences with the people of Ireland. They are so helpful and willing to lend a hand at any time. People actually smile at you when walking down the street! My friend left her purse on the seat of the bus, and a man bolted to the door to give it back to her. You’re certainly not guaranteed that in every country. Visiting the west coast of Ireland, I found that they too were amazing people who know what it truly means to preserve culture and tradition. To this day, I have never seen such adoration for one’s own culture back in the USA. It was utterly refreshing!

My first three weeks here in the Emerald Isle have been nothing short of an inspiring experience. Despite the lack of internet and water pressure, the overkill on coins, and the orangey-tan skin, I honestly think that Ireland is an amazing country, rich in culture and tradition, good humor and genuine kindness. I could not have asked for a better country in which to study abroad, or better people with whom to surround myself during this learning and growing experience. Note that the rain hasn’t seemed to bother me yet, despite my prior certainty!

Also, I forgot to mention: a small Brazilian man named Luca came up to me at a club and asked me where I was from, and when I told him the US, he was shocked and he said "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Mariah Carey?" My life has come full circle. He then preceded to tell me that the only woman who has ever called him handsome is his mother. I was sorry to say that I couldn't be woman numero dos.

Carna and Connemara

http://picasaweb.google.com/jbrauck/CarnaAndConnemara?authkey=RQzvsHlgG1I&feat=directlink
I feel bad writing so much on this blog!! And I won't feel bad if you guys don't read it, haha! PS- it's snowing dippin' dots outside! First and porb last snow in Ireland! This weekend, we had our first Rutgers excursion to towns called Carna and Connemara, right outside of Galway City. It was a 3 hour train ride there, but once we got there, it was fine. The bus ride from the train station in Galway to the small towns was an hour+ of bump after bump. It was not a fun bus ride. And with no street lights, we felt a little lost. We arrived to our B&B's, met our house mum Sally and then headed back on the bus to go to the Carna Bay Hotel (Ostan Cuan Carna, in Gaelic) for dinner and a trad (short for traditional) night of music and dancing! We met some of the townspeople, one being named Joe-John, who I made quite the connection with! This 80+ year old man just thought I was the shiz, it was too funny. He was smiling at me, telling me how great a dancer I was! We did a trad line dance and another man spun me around like in the Titanic! It was SO much fun. We heard trad "sean-nos" music and singing, done by Joe-John and friends. Sean-nos sort of sounds like Indian music. It was pretty cool to hear. I have videos of it, that I'll post at the bottom of this blog. I learned how to dance that night, and it was just such a great time. Unlike the girlies in italia right now, I'm not raving about the food. Let's just say it was a pretty damn white plate of food (turkey and taters). The next morning, we met Micheal Gibbons, a leading archeologist. He took us hiking up the boggy mountains of Connemara. A bog is bascially a hole in the ground filled with water and covered in moss. So if you step on it, you won't sink in, unless you run across it (the force would break the surface) Some bogs are 50 meters deep while some are not so deep. Micheal told us that recently, a kid drowned in one, and he was really experienced with bogs. But he couldn't swim, so his dog came back to the house without the boy. But the photos are breathtakingly beautiful. Again, I was taken-a-back by the utter beauty of this country. It was moving how places like this could exist, especially in this crazy day in age. It's 2009 and these mountains are still as beautiful as the day they were made. We learned that the tombs on the mountain buried some of the worst people (according to Catholic Law). The tombstone's headstone was pointing north, which was not a good prognosis for that person's chances of making it to heaven. Because Jerusalem is to the East, it was customary to bury the good with their heads facing east so that Jesus could judge them when he came back. All children were buried to the north-south because they had original sin (not baptized). Interesting stuff. Saturday night, we went to a dance competition in memory of Coilin Sheain Dharach, a great Ros Muc (a town) sean-nos dancer! (videos posted!) Then we went to the Tigh Clarke pub in Ros Muc to mingle with the locals and listen to more sean-nos music!
Overall, a great weekend. Check out the picasa album for pics! LOVE