Accordions, Visas, and Bog Bodies!

So, does everyone remember the scene in Titanic where Jack and Rose go dancing to Irish music at some crazy party on the ship? We’ll last weekend I got to hear an amazing live traditional Irish band perform that song. My friends and I went to this pub called “O’Neil’s” that is a very traditional Irish pub and provides delicious food and entertainment. I shared a dinner of Chicken Cordon Blue and still had some mashed potatoes left over (they love their potatoes here). The band was extremely talented. It was made up of three men; an accordion player, a flutist, and a guitarist. I particularly liked the Irish flute the best. I love that all of the shows here are in small, intimate settings. We were in a room about the size of a large living room with the band on one end and a few tables surrounding a small dance floor.

As for classes here, I couldn’t be much happier! I only have classes Monday through Wednesday (and yes, that means I have four day weekends) and all my classes are really interesting. In my Irish Culture Through the Arts class, we go on mini field trips every week to the many museums and art galleries around Dublin. The first week we went to the National Museum of Ireland to look at bodies found in bogs that dated back to 500 B.C., though quite disgusting it was really interesting to see. Second week we went on a tour of an old Georgian home, which had been maintained and redone to look like how the original owners kept it.

This past week has been my busiest yet. I already feel a lot healthier just because I end up walking about five miles a day to get around the city. On Friday morning, everyone had to go through immigration and get a student visa. This included waiting in line to get a ticket, then waiting two hours until your ticket number was called, then handing over your passport, and THEN waiting three hours until you got your passport back and your new visa. It was quite the experience.

My roommate and I have been very busy trying to plan vacations. If everything works out, we should be going to London, Barcelona, Italy, and Greece. There are so many things to plan and prepare ourselves for before we venture off anywhere. I’ve been researching the best hostels and museums and beaches and concerts, it’s a lot more work than I thought, but I know it will be worth it. I can’t wait!