First Week

I've almost been in Dublin a week...well it will be a week tomorrow. I am totally in love with this city. It's amazing! The professors I have for my foundation course through FIE are great. They are all funny, witty, knowledgeable, and seem to be passionate about their topics. Out of all of them I think Marc is my favorite. I mean I like them all, but during his lectures, I'm laughing so much and learning so much at the same time. He knows a lot.

The FIE group of students is really nice. While a lot of people clicked up really fast, they seem to be pretty accepting of everyone. I'm getting better at names and have been out a few times with different people. The first night we were here, I went out with a group of about 8 to The Brazen Head, which is the oldest pub in Dublin. It was really cool. A little expensive, but nothing like Temple Bar. Tried Harp for the first time while at the Brazen head...it was okay, but reminded me of Bud Light (though not quite as bad). A few days ago...Wednesday I think, a small group went out to The Glimmer Man, a pub right down the street from our apartment. I really liked that pub. It's very laid back. A nice place to sit and chat with people, even though the regular crowd is more middle aged. Last night a group of us went down to the Temple bar area (about a 20 minute walk from the apartment). That was quite an experience. Since it was our first proper weekend in Dublin, I did not know what to expect. It was crazy. First we went to THE Temple Bar. It is very much a tourist trap. Loud, expensive, crowded. But still fun. I had what I have now found to be my favorite drink here, cider. We then left in search of a club because a lot of us girls wanted to dance. The first place we stopped at was the Viperoom, but it was kinda lame in that no one was really there yet. So we moved on to the Turks Head (which is a bar with a club in it). That was a lot of fun!!!! No cover charge, and they played pretty good music. We stayed there for about 2.5 hours dancing and just having fun. I got hit on once by this guy from Bagdad, but I wasn't interested so he left me alone after a few minutes. I just wanted to dance and have fun :)

Today at some point a group of us is going to see the Book of Kells I believe. Need to get more details on that though, such as when we are leaving. Tomorrow, Amanda, Matt, me, and another girl are going to take the DART to Bray and do a scenic walk along the cliffs to Greystone (hopefully it won't be raining). That's going to be a day trip so that we can take our time and just wander around a bit. I think it shall be really fun.

I am putting off doing laundry right now, mainly since I don't want to walk to the laundry place. There is one here at the apartments, but apparently the machines are really small and its expensive to do one load. Angie, a girl in the group, found a laundrymat a few blocks away that doesn't seem too bad, but that is one thing I miss about the States. I got kinda spoiled not having to pay per load to do laundry. Oh well. Such is life.

Okay well the plans look like grocery shopping then the Book of Kells depending on the hours it's open because the grocery store (the cheap one) is in a slightly dodgy part North of the Liffey (at least at night). Amanda and I went at night one time, not late, but it gets dark here early, and were fine, but I'd prefer to go there during the day when possible. It just makes things easier. Anywhos. Off to go get ready. I'll post more tomorrow when I get back from our trip :)