this may be the most underrated city in europe

so i am clearly not the most efficient blogger as i can barely find the time to fill you in on all of the wonderful adventures that i am having here in ireland. i will do a quick recap as i am heading off to grafton street with my friend kate to plan our next weekend vacation to kilkenny, ireland. before i left the us, everyone wondered why i would want to live in rainy dublin rather than places like london, barcelona, or rome (sorry dad..). now i have yet to travel to all of the major cities in europe, but i must say i have been in awe of this city since i have arrived some three weeks ago. and i hope through my inadequate photos and imperfect words you can perhaps see how lovely this city really is.

so in the past two weeks...

• i traveled to bray, a coastal town just south of dublin. the beach was made of all rocks, the water was frigid, and the sun set behind the classic green irish hills.

• i found the perfect irish pub, o'neill's, in the city centre. when the band found out we were american, they invited two of my friends onstage as we all sang along to 'american pie'. probably the best ten minutes ive had in ireland thus far.
• tried whiskey at the jameson whiskey factory (never again.. gross)
• i watched the boys of our hall beat botswana in a pick up game of soccer at ucdublin
• i began my semester as the awkward international kid in a class full of irish students. i have also had to catch up on hundreds of years of irish history on my own. i have a list after every class of events, dates, and organizations that i must look up because i have little idea of what the teacher is speaking about.
• i lost an earring sadly. lost my voice unfortunately. and lost myself in the music on the streets of dublin.

it is safe to say that i am thoroughly enjoying myself in the city and taking advantage of what dublin has to offer. but next weekend? its a weekend excursion to the countryside ! Slainte !

international escapades

i find it difficult tonight to recap all that has happened to me since moving into my dorm in blackrock, dublin some nine days ago. the semester has yet to begin and i feel as though i have lived a lifetime in a matter of a week ! i am back in the dorms at UCDublin filled with students from all over the world: germany, france, italy, australia, spain, new zealand, whales, denmark, and of course the us. i have so enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them as we all add a little something to the melting pot of our halls. we have shopped grafton street and wandered st. steven's green, spent lots of time in pubs, on public transit, and exploring our seaside suburb as well as the city center itself. We danced to old nineties music in 'the wicked wolf' (a pub down from our halls), spoke with many local irish people and we even decided to go down to the ocean for a night swim (and no, i did not go in). so far, so great here in dublin

classes started this week and i must say i feel much like a freshman again (or a 'fresher' as they call them here). UCDublin is a huge school of about 20,000 students or more, so naturally i am very lost and quite confused i must say ha. it is nice, though, to be on a campus of so many students and to see so many familiar faces from blackrock. it is such an interesting perspective, being an international student among mostly irish classmates. my classes seem really great already; i am taking twentieth century history, irish folklore, feminism in ireland, intellectual history, and myths and legends. random, thoughtful, and they should be a lot of fun !

i hope all is well back home.. i apologize for the lack of photos, blogger is not letting me upload any at the moment. but i will post them as soon as i can. cheers !