Ireland

March 31, 2009
Hello all,
I know Im the worst blogger ever. I never update. Basically I was in Ireland and now Im not. Satisfied? No just kidding.
Ok so I love Ireland. I was in Dublin and it was fabulous. I definitely love the Irish pride and passion. Also, they have an amazing sense of humour that I haven’t encountered anywhere else. They are uber sarcastic and dry. Love it. Perhaps its only that I haven’t been in English-speaking countries but I miss humour… I actually find myself being really slow when people make sarcastic jokes when normally I am the mayor of Sarcasmtown. One night I was trying to get on the internet on my computer and it wasn’t working and the guy working at the hostel said “I’ll show you where the router is because perhaps your computer will work better there!” So he takes my bag for me and holds out his arm. I put my arm in his and he says “Well at least I can say that I had a date for Friday night!”
So while I was there the Irish had their football match against the Bulgarians for the World Cup Qualifier. It might as well have been St Patricks for all the green I saw!!! Scarves, hats, facepaint etc all could be seen on O’Connell (the main drag if you will) on the north side of the river which is the natural divider of the city. It was great.
I also went on the free walking tour just like I did in Edinburgh and it was so great. I had another really funny guide which is sweet. I learned a lot about the city of course. For example there is a plaque on the O’Connell bridge commemorating a priest who died in the river. Funny point: this priest never existed. Interesting….
I met some Americans in my hostel the first day there. They were going to the Guinness Brewery and said it was cool if I tagged along. Excellent!!! I loved it, I thought it was very interesting. Beer is such a complicated process that I don’t remember it all but I found it very interesting nonetheless. I think Arthur Guinness is as important as St. Patrick to the Irish. My tour guide said the two of them are considered the saints or Ireland. Love that too. So we took heaps of photos and the girls apparently don’t drink so I might have had three pints by noon…
So basically I spent my time in Dublin wandering. But I also met up with my friend Kim who is studying in Lyon and was visiting another friend in Dublin. We spent the day in Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was certainly an interesting city. It was really run-down and dirty. The guidebook that Kim’s friend had said Belfast was part of the three B’s to avoid for travelers: Baghdad, Bosnia and Belfast. Of course it was because of the political unrest. Now for those of you that watch international news you know that there were shootings there a few weeks ago and some British soldiers died. The whole city reminds you of all the killings and everything that went on… very powerful. We saw the peace line that separated the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods which is obviously ironically named. The political murals were pretty intense even though the craziest of them have been painted over.
Overall, I had a really great stay in Dublin. I didn’t meet many Irish people but it was still fun. I understand the culture well and I love it even more than I did before I went if that’s possible. Again sorry this isn’t longer.
EMBLEM OF THE WEEK
Wandering around Dublin listening to the accents and the walking tour.