Another week of classes

Monday

Monday was completely uneventful, taken up by homework and errands. I did manage to finish The Butcher Boy which I cannot recommend with any honesty. I knew how it was going to end two chapters in, which is forgivable, and it was written completely in a stream of consciousness, which is not. On a good note, however, the local grocery store, Tesco, carries ramen.

Art History

For class yesterday, we walked around Trinity College and looked at its examples of Georgian architecture, which is typified by neoclassicism. Lots of columns, plinths and temple fronts. I took pictures of several examples as well as other parts of the campus.

Northern Irish Troubles

The reading load for this class is intense. It all tends to be extremely interesting and very biased one way or another. One of the most interesting things that keeps cropping up is that the various phases of the Troubles were never started by the IRA. The situations usually went something along the lines of:

1. A group of Catholics (non-IRA) organize to march for civil rights (such as fair housing allocations).
2. Protestant police would attempt to stop them from marching.
3. Protestants would attack a Catholic settlement.
   
4. The IRA would step in to protect the settlement.

Pretty scary stuff.

Reporting Northern Ireland

Even scarier is the fact in the Irish Republic, on the other side of the border, it was routine to lock up suspected members of the IRA. Because IRA members, Sinn Fein members, etc. did not recognize the courts, all it took was an Irish police officer swearing that there was reason to believe they were members and they'd be locked up automatically for three months. No other evidence was needed.

Upcoming

On Friday morning, I'm going out to see Newgrange, and am likely going to Cork for the weekend. More on all that later.

Technorati Profile

Saturday

The Botanical Gardens

I went to the Dublin Botanical Gardens Saturday morning with Sarah, my roommate, and Meredith, who lives downstairs. You can see the two of them here in front of a huge tree in the park. There was a huge open grounds, with streams, trees, and ducks. There were also many greenhouses, including a palm house and oodles of amazing flowers. I experimented with one of the photos I took in the succulent house, as well.

I probably took about a hundred photos all told, but I won't make you suffer through all of them.

Grafton Street

We took the bus there and back, and stopped off at a little bakery on Grafton Street for lunch. I had this delicious quiche thing, but their tarts looked amazing. Walking up and down Grafton Street is amazing, there are tons of flower sellers on the streets, as well as protestors (I saw a huge group for Falun Gong), musicians (my favorite was a female accordianist who had a very young girl with her passing the hat), living statues (one man had painted himself copper green and found a sheet of the same color. He posed as the Statue of Liberty) etc.

The Jameson International Film Festival

I'm trying to volunteer for the Jameson International Film Festival and had a meeting to attend in the afternoon. I think the meeting was mostly to weed out unreliable people because it turned out to only be about 20 minutes long. Apparently they get about 300 volunteers each year but can only use about 150.

I did meet several people there: Julia, a French girl studying English, and two Brazilians: Raphael and Luciana. Raphael is also studying English, but Luciana is in Dublin working on her Ph.D. in genetics.

The Temple Bar Trad Festival

Raphael, Luciana and I decided to go to the Temple Bar Trad Festival afterwards and see if there were any free venues. Most of the concerts were priced at 20 euros -- which is a little pricey in my opinion. All of the music at the festival is traditional Irish musics -- lots of ballads and such.

We found the Temple Bar Pub, which has live music every day, for free, assuming you at least buy a drink. It was packed, but the four gentlemen playing were amazing. They finished their set with one of my favorites: "The Wild Rover."

I've been a wild rover for many's the year
I've spent all me money on whiskey and beer
But now I'm returning with gold in great store
And I never will play the wild rover no more

And it's No, Nay, never,
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover,
No never no more

I went in to an alehouse I used to frequent
And I told the landlady me money was spent
I asked her for credit, she answered me nay
Such a customer as you I can have any day

And it's No, Nay, never,
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover,
No never no more

I took up from my pocket, ten sovereigns bright
And the landlady's eyes opened wide with delight
She says "I have whiskeys and wines of the best
And the words that you told me were only in jest"

And it's No, Nay, never,
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover,
No never no more

I'll go home to my parents, confess what I've done
And I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son
And, when they've caressed me as oft times before
I never will play the wild rover no more

And it's No, Nay, never,
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover,
No never no more

Art History

We walked over to the Irish National Gallery for most of class. A good chunk of the gallery's funding still comes from the estate of George Bernard Shaw, so My Fair Lady is very popular with them.

We looked at an awful lot of portraits and landscapes, but nothing I got too excited about. The professor's comments about Georgian architecture are far more interesting so far. Next week, we're going to just wander around Dublin looking at architecture, so that should be fun, and perhaps even give me some good photographs.

An Introduction to Northern Irish Troubles

I'm having a hard time convincing myself not to do all the work for this class. It's extremely interesting, but since I'm auditing it, it's hard to justify writing lots of extra papers. It's especially interesting because the professor for this class sees things very differently than the professor for the next class.

Reporting Northern Ireland

We spent a lot of class talking about the day's news: the police ombudsman for Northern Ireland just released a huge report proving collusion between police and loyalists (the Protestants) during the Troubles. Effectively, the police ignored murders taking place, refused to investigate them, all sorts of things. Very scary stuff.

Creative Writing

In class yesterday, we got side tracked talking about County Cork, which often refers to itself as the Republic of Cork, and takes a very Boulder-ish approach to viewing their own autonomy. This, of course, all dates back to 1922, when Michael Collins signed a treaty with the British, effectively getting independence for 75% of Ireland. A bunch of rebels, based in Country Cork, felt this was selling out and started a civil war.

In other, more modern news, we each have to have a workshop. I volunteered to take the first workshop because I'm the only person with anything written at all (two pages of a very depressing short story). But I now have incentive to hurry up and finish it, because it has to be emailed out to the class on Monday.

Revolutionary Traditions

Despite this class being basically straight lectures, it's still amazing. The professor says things in the most amazing way.

So, they told the British parliament, "We have a very good argument. And, oh, an army."

Just thoroughly enjoyable.

This Weekend

I still haven't a clue what I'm doing for this weekend. I'd like to go somewhere, but at the same time there is a huge traditional music festival in Dublin. It caters to the tourists, but, I guess that's what I am.

The Irish National Museum

A few of us went to the Irish National Museum (the Archeology branch, at least) on Sunday. I tried to take pictures, but they wouldn't let me, so I have no pictures of the bog bodies. These bodies were found in various bogs in Ireland. They generally date to the Bronze Age, but are extremely well preserved, as in they still have hair and fingernails attached. Many of them seem to have been thrown into the bogs as sacrifices.

Additionally, the museum has a huge Neolithic collection, a lot of Christian artifacts, and a great set of displays on Viking and medieval life in Ireland. One of the interactive displays allows the user to see the roots of various Irish names. I looked up 'Burke', the maiden name of my great-grandmother. The surname 'Burke' comes from a family of Normans, the 'de Burgos', who settled in Ireland with the rest of the Anglo-Normans starting in 1169.

Homework

In the course of my reading for my art history class, I discovered the existence of the Book of Saint Chad. It is an illuminated manuscript, like the Book of Kells.

From Bruce Arnold's Irish Art: A Concise History, pg. 24:

The Book of Saint Chad, preserved now in Lichfield Cathedral, is an example of the 'wandering' manuscript. Its place of origin is unknown, and the earliest mention of its movements is contained in some notes in Welsh on the manuscript itself, recording that it was exchanged for a horse, and subsequently given to Saint Teliau and placed in the monastery of Llandaff, near the Bristol Channel.

The book goes on from there for another page. But I just keep giggling about the thought of a saint named Chad. So, I did a little investigation about the origins of the name, 'Chad', as well. It's a modern spelling of the Old English name, 'Ceadda', a 7th-century saint.

So, now you know.

I've also been reading The Butcher Boy, by Patrick McCabe. Honestly, I'm not enjoying it too much. It's stream-of-consciousness, which I have never really liked.

In Conclusion

I have class for the rest of the week, and I really ought to go grocery shopping as well. I think our RA, Patricia, is also planning to meet with us for a little while tonight. That's about it for tonight.

More Classes, Scavenger Hunt

Creative Introduction to Irish Fiction

The professor, Steve McMahon, for this class is also teaches at a college just outside of Dublin, and has won a number of Irish prizes for fiction, including the Jameson prize. He doesn't seem to care what we write, as long as we write. In class, he gave us a couple of dates and told us to show up with whatever we've written on these days.

So far, he's managed to say a number of things that I consider absolutely brilliant, like the idea that The Lord of the Rings is absolutely different from the normal quest book format, because they start out with the prize, and have to get rid of it. This almost tops my favorite discussion of those books, but, don't worry, Dad -- you'll always take first place with your comparison of the saga to a football game.

We're starting straight off by reading The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe.

Revolutionary Traditions

The professor of this class, Gillian O'Brien, is another one that I'm quickly starting to adore. She walked into class, and told us the entire history of Ireland:

"Everyone left during the famine. If you didn't leave, you died. And it's always Britain's fault."

There were many reminders throughout the class that the fall back answer for every question regarding Irish history is "It's always Britain's fault." We'll be going on two field trips for this class: to a jail and a cemetery. Just in case you had any doubts about the nature of Irish history.

Celtic Myth and Legends

My last professor, Michelle Piazza, is an American, although by way of half a dozen other countries. She also teaches yoga in the early afternoons. This woman is perpetually in motion. Very energetic.

The class is actually more interesting than I expected, because we're covering a little of the Neolithic culture, some Celtic mythology, a tiny bit of Roman thought that crept in, the conversion to Catholicism and the melding of the old ideas with Christianity.

Bonus points whenever talking about the Celtic culture in Ireland: anything before 600 B.C. in Ireland is absolutely not Celtic, which includes the triple spiral pattern that most people consider Celtic. Anything after 400 A.D., ditto.

The Great IES Scavenger Hunt

Friday afternoon, we did a bit more orientation, and then the IES staff split us up and sent us all over Dublin in search of random things. I was in Group G, which also included my flatmate, Leigh. So, here are a bunch of pictures.

Despite missing two of the clues altogether, G came in second. We won CDs. Mine is Mundy's "Live & Confusion", which I've never heard of before. It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it's decent. IES also provided drinks and munchies at the end of the hunt. I've noticed that there's a certain culture of getting drinks during or after many activities here.

The EBS Mixer

There's a school here for European students spending a semester abroad called the European Business School, that apparently has a lot of ties to the IES Center here. They had a mixer and invited all of IES. It was at Major Tom's Down Under, which is a club located underneath a shopping mall. A bit loud for my taste, as well as a few others. Myself, Denis (who lives in the next building over), Hilary and Abby (who both live in the building past that), wandered back to Hilary and Abby's apartment and watched Channel 4 for a while. Channel 4 is the all Irish channel, so we had the subtitles on.

This Weekend

I didn't plan any trips for this weekend, just because I'm still getting adjusted and all that. I'm thinking of going to the Irish National Museum and looking at things nice and slow. I also need to go by the Irish National Library and obtain a card. Not that they'll let me check anything out. It's a research library, rather than a lending library. But still. Books.

I'm trying to get a couple of people together and go to Galway either next weekend or the weekend after. The consensus seems to be this weekend, but I may have some sort of interview so that I can volunteer at the Jameson International Film Festival in mid-February, which I think would be an amazing opportunity.

First Day of Classes

Getting Lost

On my way to my first class yesterday morning, I got very, very, very lost. As in the kind of lost you measure in kilometers. Luckily, a nice man in a bright pink sweater gave me directions, and I got to the IES center only 15 minutes late.

Irish Art: Neolithic to New Age

The professor for this class, Ruth Ferguson, has an amazing knowledge of the topic. We walked over to the Irish National Museum for a quick look at Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Christian pieces, and she just rattled off details and such from memory. She also walks extremely fast.

I found this about her on UCD's website:

Ruth Ferguson – Visual Art Curator, UCD Newman House
Ruth Ferguson holds a BA degree in Art History and Archaeology and an MA in Palladianism. She has worked in the National Gallery of Ireland and in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham where she was exhibition officer. Ruth also worked in IMMA until 1995 and curated the shows John Heartfield and Patrick Swift. She has been curator of Newman House and of the UCD art collection since 1995 and is currently the chairperson of the Irish Association of Art Historians.

Basically, every session of this class will involve field trips, if only across the street to the museum. I have to remember to bring my camera... and I need to go back to the museum with it.

Northern Irish Troubles

I'm only auditing this class, but it's extremely interesting, and I think I need the background for one of my other classes. The professor left it up to me on how much of the work I'm going to do... I'm planning to do the reading and some of the homework assignments, but I really don't feel the need to do the big essays or projects.

It'll be pretty intensive all the same. Yesterday, in 2.5 hours, I took 9 pages of notes.

The professor, Kevin Rafter is rather well-known (in Ireland) journalist. He even has a Wikipedia entry.

Reporting Northern Ireland

I think this will end up being one of my favorite classes. The professor, John Horgan, started his career as a journalist in the early 1960s, just when the Troubles were starting up, and he covered it all the way through. He also was in politics and academia at various points. He illustrates his points with amazing stories.

A lot of things he said really emphasized the small size of Ireland, and especially Northern Ireland. Belfast has three main papers, each of which has about 3 solid pages of obits and other family notices. The New York Times or the Washington Post would never do that -- these are small, community papers.

Monday Morning

Sunday's Bus Tour

One, two, three, four, five pictures from Sunday's bus tour.

Monday Morning

In preparation for classes tomorrow, I went in search of some basic school supplies. Becky, one of my roommates, gave me directions to Read's, which is across the street from Trinity. So, after breakfast, I set out.

Notes on Irish Traffic

It's scary. Seriously scary. The first rule is that cars always have the right away. The second rule is that all street markings, signs (including street names), etc. are suggestions at best. I saw several pedestrians casually saunter out into oncoming traffic and maneuver, somehow, around the cars to the opposite side of the street. Kids, don't try this at home.

No pedestrians wait for the lights, so I've developed a trick: I find some nice grandmotherly lady who moves at the same speed as I do and hopefully has no need to visit the optometrist. I then wait for her to cross the street, and do so at the same time. For those of you who have read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, yes, this did evolve out of Zen navigation.

I made it there and back in one piece.

A few days

Orientation

Orientation was, well, orientation. The same everywhere you go, I think. We chose classes, heard about safety, etc. They had two of the garda (the police force) in to speak to us about safety concerns. Apparently the burglars here have taken to inserting fishing poles into mail slots and using them to snag keys off tables near doors (our flat has two sets of locked doors, so this isn't a worry for us).

Glendalough

On Thursday afternoon we went to see Glendalough. They divided the group in two and sent the first half to lunch and the second to take a walk around. I went in the second group. It was windy and cold, but not raining. I put up a bunch of pictures on flickr, but I have even more if anyone wants to see them. My group got back to the building and it started pouring rain just before the other group started left for the tour.

Despite Glendalough's historical importance, there has been no excavations or digs or anything. That's because it's still an operating graveyard. I saw one headstone from 2003. Until the graveyard is full and officially closed, no real research can be done. The local families consider those burial rights very valuable so only one person from each generation is buried there from each family, and the docents said that it could take another 300 years for the graveyard to fill.

Classes

1. Reporting Northern Ireland
2. Irish Art: Neolithic to New Age
3. Creative Intro to Irish Fiction
4. Revolutionary Traditions
5. Celtic Myth and Legend

There's a sixth class that I really want to audit: An Introduction to the Northern Irish Troubles. I'll probably sit in on it, assuming the professor lets me.

Tour of Dublin

Yesterday, our RAs took us on an open-topped bus tour of Dublin. I have lots of photos, but I haven't taken them off my camera yet. Soon, I swear.

Day 2

Dinner

Mmmm. Baked potato.

Last Night

We did a mini-orientation with our RA, Patricia -- basic stuff, like respecting the apartments and all that, and then the RAs took a big bunch of us down to the Barge, a pub along the canal. I wound up sitting with Maggie, one of my flatmates, and three guys who live next door: Jared, Henry and Dennis.

The RAs had warned all of us not to wander off by ourselves, so when Jared wanted to come back and fix himself some dinner, I decided to come with him. It was raining really hard, and we got a bit lost. By the time we made it back to our flats, we were soaked. (And it's still raining and windy. I should investigate getting an umbrella.)

Today

I didn't sleep too well, so I got up at 7 a.m. -- the first one up. We're supposed to leave to walk to the
IES center at 8:30, but so far no one else is up and it's 8:08. Perhaps I should go wake them up.

The Journey

I woke up Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. and Dad drove me to Denver International Airport. I made it out of DIA in one piece. I got into Chicago, with the prospect of a six hour wait in front of me. I ate one last McDonald's hamburger and some fries and read, while my wait turned into seven hours and then almost eight. We finally got out of Chicago late, with three babies crying and an old man snoring. I slept, waking occasionally for horrible airplane food and the tail end of Walk the Line.

I watched the countryside as we descended. The land is divided up into haphazard tiny sections. Think of Kansas seen from the sky. If Kansas' divisions are sheets of paper, then Ireland's are stamps.

The Apartment

There are five of us girls in this apartment: me, Sarah, Maggie, Leigh and Becky. Sarah and I are roommates. So are Maggie and Leigh.

This is our room. This is our tiny bathroom. This is the view from my room. This is the view from the kitchen. And this is one of our many big red buttons.

Exploring

Maggie, Leigh and I set off in search of a grocery store. We apparently went quite a ways in the opposite direction, but we did find the American Embassy while we were lost (if we could find it again is another question altogether). Two schoolgirls directed us back towards the Tesco near our apartment.

I bought:

1. 2 Oranges
2. 4 Large Rolls
3. 3 Packets of Cream of Chicken Soup
4. Margarine (I think)
5. 2 Potatoes

I expect this to last me til Friday, when I plan to do a little more shopping.