Almost break time

Well it is my last week in Dublin before I head home on Saturday for the Christmas holidays. I cannot believe I have been here for three months. The time has gone by so quickly. I will miss Dublin and living in college over the vacation. But I am sure January 13th will arrive quickly enough.

This week is one filled with writing, writing, a little reading, some more writing, and then some heavy reading. I may actually leave the computer for a whole couple of hours on Thursday night to celebrate the end of the term with my classmates at the Post Grad Xmas Ball.

My Melmoth paper is shaping up nicely although a bit slower than I would like since I decided to rewrite the whole thing with an all new focus this last weekend!

I have completed all the research for my Swift paper and will be writing that over the break.

My reading for class is a bit behind at the moment, but I will be caught up by the time I roll into class tomorrow morning!

But I am glad to report I have lost no essential mental capabilities in my endeavors. So far, so good... let's hope the rest of the week stays this sane.

It is freezing and lovely here - hope there is beautiful snow when I get home to Canada and beautiful sunshine when I get home to California!

Bye for now; I will post the rest of my Reading Week adventures to the blog over break.

The Work Continues

Despite the lovely carefree nature of my Reading Week vacation posts, I am still slaving away at work as the weeks go on.  (By the way there is one or two more Reading Week posts yet to come...I know it was a crazy vacation!)  Currently I am working on one of three papers I would like to have mostly done by the time I go home Saturday week.  Well only one is technically due before I leave, but the other two are due when we get back and I do not want to spend my whole vacation working on them!  So I plan to have one completed and turned in by next Friday, a second in draft format, and a third with the research started.  The one due first is focusing on Melmoth the Wanderer because I cannot seem to leave it alone.  I think some of my classmates may be concerned by / jealous of my intense devotion to this novel.  I am arguing that Melmoth represents an Adam and Eve figure who has fallen because his pride caused him to desire more knowledge despite the fact that all the characters see him as a Satan figure.  Through the novel and the character, Maturin makes it clear that humanity does not need a Satan figure because we are capable of causing our own corruption through the demands of societal norms and religious institutional cruelty.  I hope to get it ready for publication later on in the year.  The second paper focuses on Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels - specifically Book Four.  I argue that Swift does not view the society of the Houyhnhnms (talking horses) as a utopia because they have reason but no other essential human qualities necessary to balance out reason.  The third paper will focus on the idea of the threshold in the plays of Sean O'Casey - although that is still up for approval if I think of a better idea once I start the research.
Other events which are not boring descriptions of my academic papers:
I found fried egg candy which is apparently 'very Irish!'  It tastes like creme and then some strange citrus.  It was definitely a unique experience.  My friend Jenny actually bought some!!!

Back to school...I was invited to join an 18th century literature research network by one of my professors.  I attended a conference for the group this past Saturday and very much enjoyed my first conference as a professional.  The link for the network is: http://www.eclrni.com/  and if you look under Members you will find me incorrectly alphabetized under my middle name Tanner.  But it is very cool to be a part of it, and no one else in my class was invited to join!
The final exciting school news is that I will be submitting an abstract to participate in a conference happening at Queen's University in Belfast in April.  It is called New Voices and is looking for papers on various topics surrounding visions of Ireland.  My paper on Irish masculinity seems to be a great fit - so I will submit and see if I will be able to give my first official conference paper!
Okay, well back to Melmoth...

Reading Week Part Three

Tuesday was a longer day (we had to meet our tour bus at 6:15am) and we did not get back to Dublin until after 9pm.  We traveled across the country to Galway on one bus, and then we transferred to a tour bus for a drive out to Connemara one of the most scenic locations in the west of Ireland.

Our first stop was unexpected but turned out to be one of the most interesting.  It was Ross Errilly Friary which was a Franciscan friary founded in 1351.  It is one of the most extensive and best preserved of the Franciscan friaries in the country.

The doorways were incredibly small but you could still see so much about the way the place was designed and would have been used.  It was attacked by Cromwell's forces in 1656 but all the friars had been forewarned and escaped before the attack.

Next we stopped in the town of Cong which is only known for one thing.  It is the location of the film The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.  It is a town in which everything is named around the film. We arrived in the town around noon and nothing was open.  It was a bit spooky.  But we did wander outside the bounds of the town to find a monk's fishing cottage near the remains of an old Abbey.

A very interesting look at a place once used to catch fish for the sustenance of the monks in the Abbey.

The town of Cong sits right on the county line between County Galway and County Mayo.

Back on the bus and headed off to see Connemara.  We had quickly realized that we were by far the youngest people on this particular tour and that our fellow travelers were a bit irritating.  But our tour guide was wonderful so we just kept looking out the window and listening to him.

As we drove through Connemara we saw the beauty of the land but wished we had been able to stop and take some more pictures.

The landscape was beautiful and the roads were windy and small!

We saw a number of 'famine cottages' which are left from the Great Famine of the 1840's.  Cottages like these were left abandoned because the potato crops among others failed and families could no longer afford to pay landlords rent.  It is a period of Ireland's history which saw about a million deaths and about a million emigrations.  The west was greatly effected because that is where most of the Irish farmers had been pushed by the English forces and the land was not as easy to farm.

The one stop we did make in Connemara was to meet Joey the Connemara pony.  Joey was absolutely lovely and ate a carrot out of my hand until he decided to latch on to the side of my hand with his teeth...  Then the tour guide told us he does nip occasionally... I laughed!  Later on I had to get a tetnus shot because apparently that is what you do in Ireland when you get bit by an animal!

The next piece of our journey took us by the entrance to Ashford Castle which is a posh castle which you can pay a great deal of money to stay in overnight...yes please!!!  But instead I got a picture of the entrance. It was the location of Pierce Brosnan's wedding.

Doesn't look too impressive from here...

Finally we arrived at my future home - Kylemore Abbey!

Isn't it perfect for me??  And I think I may buy Joey (the Connemara pony) to come along and live with me here (so Andrew and I don't get lonely)!
This castle was built by a wealthy Irish man for his wife.  After her death, he left and it became a refuge for some Benedictine nuns from Brussels.  It was then turned into an international girls boarding school which just closed a couple of years ago.

The Gothic church seen through these trees was built as a memorial for Mitchell Henry's wife Margaret after her death.

Here is a clearer view although much less artistic!

Inside this Gothic church is simple and elegant but incredibly moving.

Again the stained glass was amazing!  It was one of the most peaceful places I have ever been.

Here is a view of the water on which Kylemore Abbey sits.  Right up my alley!!!

When we left Kylemore Abbey after some tchotchke shopping we got back on the bus to Galway.  We transferred to a different bus to get back to Dublin and watched The Quiet Man film on the way...well I watched it, Auntie Gail fell asleep.  It was not a good movie....
The other movie the tour guide continually referenced was "the filem The Field" which sounds only slightly more interesting than The Quiet Man.

Reading Week Part Two

Monday November 7th marked the first of three days of Irish adventures for me and Auntie Gail.  That first day we went on a guided tour of Glendalough (pronounced Glendalock) in Wicklow and the medieval town of Kilkenny.  The tour company we went with was called Paddywagon and had giant green buses with leprechauns on the back - not touristy in the least!  Glendalough is 'the valley of the two lakes' and was one of the most beautiful places I have seen.  When we first arrived around 9am, there was a lovely layer of frost over everything that gave it all such an air of mysticism.  There is a monastic site by the lakes which still has the original round tower used by the monks to hide in if the monastery was attacked (common at most of the monasteries we saw).  It could not be burnt down so it offered a safe refuge for the monks.  It also provided a lookout point.

Here is part of the graveyard that now fills most of the settlement site.

We then started our walk towards the first lake or the Lower Lake.

The fog made it difficult to see very far past the lake but it also made the morning absolutely gorgeous.  The walk then lead us on a path through some forest towards the Upper Lake.  It was probably about a mile distance between the two.

The Upper Lake was magnificent!

We look tired but the lake is there to make the picture worthwhile  :)

On the walk back from the Upper Lake, the sun began to come out and it provided a beautiful light around the monastic round tower in the distance.
At this point we had to hurry back onto the bus because we had stopped at the little hotel right there for scones!!  The beginning of a week of many scones!

We then drove to Kilkenny where we would spend the afternoon.  It is an old medieval city which is so charming that we wanted to stay much longer than our allotted time.  The main attractions were Kilkenny Castle and Black Abbey which had some beautiful statues and stained glass windows inside.

A small detour was made on the way to Kilkenny to stop at this dolmen which is an ancient tomb.  This particular one is called The Brownshill Portal Tomb.  It was built between 4000 and 3000 B.C. by early inhabitants of the island.  I had just finished reading about one of these dolmen which were tombs in some of the literature for my course - so it was very exciting to actually see one.

Once we got to Kilkenny the first sight to be seen was Kilkenny Castle.  It was especially interesting that day because the Irish Army was there doing an exercise of some kind.

Kilkenny Castle was beautiful on the outside but not all that impressive on the inside.  I found out half way through our tour that I was not supposed to be taking pictures for security reasons...I continued to take covert pictures.

This picture of the dining room was taken before I was told to desist my photography!

Black Abbey was the next site.  A beautiful church!

I was especially impressed by the beauty of the stained glass windows.  That was a common feature seen throughout the week in all the abbeys and churches which I thoroughly enjoyed.

By the time we were done with these sites, eating a bit of local fare for lunch, and checking out a few of the local shops...it was time to get back on the bus to head back to Dublin.

We returned to Dublin tired and happy after a beautiful day in Ireland.

Reading Week Part One

I realized the best way for me to gather all my pictures, sort them, and post about my week of adventure with Auntie Gail is in small chunks so I don't procrastinate too much! :)
So the first day she was here we did a tour of Trinity College campus led by an amazingly flamboyant Philosophy graduate student who was hilarious.  We learned some random facts about campus but also some really interesting information about when it was built and the randomness (for lack of a more precise term) of the architecture as a whole - meaning all the buildings were created in different styles and at different times by different people.  Then we visited The Book of Kells exhibit in the Old Library, and I showed her my favorite place - the Long Room in the Old Library.  I am still so distressed that they won't let me study there...  But I have figured out how to infiltrate the Early Printed Books department - but that is a story for another time.

Here is us at the College Chapel.

Here we are at the Campanile on campus.


We went for a late lunch at an amazing place right near by that my mom found when she was here called KC Peaches.  I get a 15% discount since I am a member of the Trinity Literary Society.  That was the beginning of what felt like a week of lasagna because I ate it many times (there is no ricotta cheese in it over here! so I love it!)  Then I showed her around Grafton Street area and St. Stephen's Green which is gorgeous.

Here is a picture of one area of the huge park.  It is an absolutely beautiful spot for a walk or to sit and read.

By then it was time to sample the night scene in Temple Bar and show Auntie Gail what this famous pub filled street is known for.  But this particular Saturday night there was hardly anyone there...it was the strangest phenomenon.  Usually on a Saturday it would be mobbed with people.  But we had some pub food in a pub called Farringtons.  We ordered Guinness to inaugurate the experience (Gail has that picture on her camera).  And we had Cottage Pie and Irish Stew.  It was a fun atmosphere and decent food.  Although as Auntie Gail reminded me near the end of the trip - the Irish are not known for their food.

We did make a friend that night in Temple Bar...but boy did he stink!!

The we met up with some of my friends from school for a birthday.  It was a great venue called Cafe de Siecle. Gorgeous inside and great music!  There was some dancing!  And we had a great time.
By the end of all that we were exhausted - especially Auntie Gail who was battling jet lag.

The next morning we got up and went to church with my friend Andrew.  It was a Baptist church.  Everyone was extremely welcoming, and we had a great time.

That night we met my friend Ashley for dinner and had amazing Italian food and then gelato to top it all off.  Just one of many delicious italian meals...in Ireland! :)

Here is me and Ashley outside the gelato shop in Temple Bar.

The adventure will continue in Part Two when we begin our travels around the island...stay tuned.
And sorry there aren't more pictures. Auntie Gail and I haven't combined all the pictures yet.

Post Reading Week

Well Reading Week was absolutely amazing and definitely the break I needed.  Now I am back in the full swing of work and it is getting a bit stressful.  We are down to the wire with only four more weeks left in this term and two essays to write.  As I write I am sitting in the OWC -Oscar Wilde Centre (our building) working away - well not at this exact moment but I will be getting back to it soon!  As I sit on the first floor of this building (what we Americans would call the second floor) I can hear the tour buses go by declaring that this is the birthplace of Oscar Wilde.  It is at once an exciting reminder of where I am and a nuisance to my concentration.  My favorite is the Viking Tour bus on which all the tourists are wearing viking hats and scream at passersby and as they drive by the incredible house in which Wilde was born.
I know I have not posted any details or pictures about my Reading Week adventures with Auntie Gail!  I will post them as soon as I have a moment to relax.  I promise.  Let's just say it was an adventure at every turn and that we had a blast!  Oh and I got bit by a wild Connemara pony...and had to get a tetanus shot!  (That's just a teaser...)  More soon.
Okay well back to reading Joyce eloquently describe James Clarence Mangan and other scholars ideas about Melmoth the Wanderer then maybe a bit of Philadelphia Here I Come! by Brian Friel!!

Tanner/Mills the Wanderer

As of tonight, it is officially Reading Week for me here!!!  Which means I do not have class for the next week! :)  I am very ready for a break - although very aware I should still be studying.  It has been a long week of working very hard and now I am simply exhausted.  It was a nerd heaven week in that I was right in the middle of all the tough critical and analytic work and discussion I love - but, it was also incredibly tiring.  Finishing the 600 page Melmoth the Wanderer was only the beginning!!  I have decided to write my first paper on Melmoth - arguing that he is a sympathetic character (like Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost) and that he tells us his own story (of being led to make his 'Faustian bargain') through the tales of those people he has tempted.  I am very excited about the idea and my professor has said she would be very interested to see what I come up with on this topic and that she thinks it could be very strong.
I am still trying to find my niche in an area of all this wonderful Irish material which has not been as overdone as Joyce so that I can perhaps make a bit more of a critical mark with my research.  So far Melmoth and my Irish drama class (especially the plays of Sean O'Casey) are really inspiring me.  Don't worry - I still love Joyce - but he may not be the best choice for a Ph.D. thesis.  Although I am still very much interested in masculinity in Joyce and the link between writing and sexuality.
After all this intellectual business, the great news is tomorrow afternoon my aunt and godmother Gail will be here to share Ireland with me for the week!  I could not be more excited to see her and show her around Dublin and campus.  I know we will have some crazy adventures.  Pictures and stories to come!

Daylight Savings Time and a Marathon

Sunday at noon when I woke up and turned on my computer I was confused to find it said it was 11am local time in Dublin.  I thought perhaps it had been Daylight Savings time in the States and so my computer had changed.  My Irish cell phone didn't change time which confirmed my suspicion.  Oh was I wrong... After my American friend Ashley calling to ask what time it was, I realized I should ask someone who is actually Irish what was going on.  And I did...my friend Jessica laughed as she explained the concept of Daylight Savings to me thinking I had never heard of it before!  I assured her I knew what Daylight Savings time was but that it happened at a different time in the States and the computer and cell phone had confused me.  So it was discovered that without my knowledge, Europe "fell" back with Daylight Savings time at 2am Sunday morning.  Wow did I felt stupid! :)
On another note: today, as I continue to read my 600 page novel for tomorrow's class (I'm on page 438), I heard applause outside my window.  I looked out and there was a man in runner's gear running by with a motorcycle with a camera attached following him.  Since then I have continued to hear sporadic applause and see many people run by under my window.  It is quite exciting to say that I watched the Dublin Marathon happen from the comfort of my desk.
By the way, the 600 page novel is Melmoth the Wanderer, and I am thoroughly fed up with reading it for the fourth day straight!  It is an Irish Gothic romance which started off very interesting with its hints of the supernatural and the devil...but now it has begun waxing and waning on the love of an innocent beauty and a disciple of Satan.  It does have some very intriguing critiques of religion and especially the hypocrisy of monastic life and belief for the sake of safety within a community.  (Part of the narrative takes place in Spain during the Inquisition.)  So my final impression of the novel is yet to be determined...but don't pick it up for light reading! :)

The Flood

Monday in Dublin was an interesting day to say the least.  It rained consistently all day.  When I went out around 11am it was not raining too bad.  So when I went out at 6:30pm I was not expecting too much...first mistake.  (Well actually the first mistake was leaving my apartment!)  I had on my new high boots and brought my little umbrella.  About half way to the front gate of campus I was already wet, and by the time my friend Ashley and I got 3 minutes outside campus we were completely soaked from head to toe. (Although thanks to my new high boots - my feet were the only thing on me that wasn't wet.)  We tried to hail a cab but there seemed to be none.  At this point my umbrella broke, and we were splashed by a bus driving by.  Eventually we got a cab - but it was really too late because we were drowning!  At about midnight when I called a taxi to take me back to campus, we were told no cars could get up to where we were in the Quays because of flooding.  So I put on my boots and started heading home - and hailed a cab!  There were all kinds of disasters all over the city - a shopping centre flooded and buses full of passengers flooded.  Cars were floating down the road and one Garda was actually killed trying to get people to safety.  It was all pretty crazy and in such a short span of time.  It said on the news that we got a month's worth of rain in those 24 hours.  The whole city shut down in reaction.  I am worried about what will happen when it snows...

Irish classes

In an effort to completely overextend myself while here in Ireland, I started Irish classes.  I have had two lessons so far - the course meets on Fridays at noon.  My Irish teacher is incredibly cute AND he is a barrister with a Ph.D. in Medieval History!!  So naturally I have been trying to get my single friends (especially my Irish neighbor Deirdre) to come to class and meet him!  But back to the course itself... I feel very overwhelmed by my lack of language acquisition skills when I am in class.  Especially when a question is asked orally - it takes me a few seconds to figure out what on earth was just said to me!  

We learned how to say a traditional Irish greeting which is Dia duit. which means God be with you.  Then the response to that is Dia's Muire dhuit. which means God and Mary be with you.  If there are more than 2 people in the conversation each consecutive person adds a new figure - the next in line to add is Saint Patrick.

In addition to the greeting, we learned: Cad is ainm duit? which means What is your name?  And the response is: Jessica is ainm dom.

The most interesting piece we learned on the first day was: aon craic?  which is how the Irish (especially those in Dublin) ask if there is any news.

It is difficult to give too much more here because I have yet to figure out how to type the accents used on so many of the words in Irish.  

What amazes me the most about the language so far is how random the pronunciations seem to be in connection to the way the word is spelled.  An example:  the word dtabharfaidth (which is a conjugation of the verb to give in the future tense) is pronounced something like 'doorhe' in my own weird phonetics.

Slan anois! (Go safely now literally but used as Goodbye)

Weekend Adventure

Last weekend was filled with culture and fun!  On Saturday afternoon I saw Juno and the Paycock at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.  This theatre is important in the history of Irish theatre because it is the sight of the Irish National Theatre created by W.B. Yeats and others.  The play was written by Irish playwright Sean O'Casey, and we will be studying it in my courses later this year.  It was an absolutely outstanding performance.

Here is a pic of me in front of the theatre with my hair being blown by the wind.

Here is the group from my program I went to the theatre with: Hitomi, Brian, me, Andrew.

I look forward to going to more productions at the Abbey Theatre - I loved it!!

Saturday night I went out with a girl from my program and some of her friends for my first real night out in Dublin!  It was grand!  We started at a pub and then went to a brewery where they had great music and dancing.  We danced until about 3am!  And walking home on campus at that hour was very eerie because there is absolutely no one around.  When I woke up Sunday morning, I said in true Danny Glover style (thanks hubby!) that I am too old for this ....  It was a blast though!

On Sunday afternoon, despite my headache from all the dancing, I took the DART train down to Sandycove which is a town right on the coast.  I met a friend from the Creative Writing program and his partner who live out there.  We went to the James Joyce Museum which is in an old Martello Tower originally built to defend against Napoleon.  Joyce lived in that tower for about a week before his friend (who owned the tower) kicked him out.  It is also the setting for the opening of Ulysses.  We happened to show up on a day with free admission and tour by the curator of the museum who was quite a character.

Here is the outside of the museum.

The tour was really interesting and took us up a crazy small spiral staircase to the top of the tower where the guns and lookouts were.

This small section off the top of the tower is called the Murder Room.  Soldiers could look out over the front door of the tower and shoot anyone who tried to break into the tower.

This pic shows the curator in what is called the Round Room where some of the opening action of Ulysses takes place and where Joyce slept as a visitor to the tower.

This pic shows James Joyce's original death mask from Zurich.

Overall the weekend was fun and exhausting!!

Courses

I have two courses which run all year long: Perspectives in Irish Writing and Sing Major Authors.  The remaining three are just for one term: Research Methods, The Poet and Poetry, and Ireland on Stage.  Next term I will have two new elective choices and be done with Research Methods.
On Tuesday morning at 10am I have Perspectives in Irish Writing.  Our professor rotates with the material.  For the first couple of weeks we have had Professor Ian Campbell Ross and have discussed the term "perspectives" and how it will fit into our course of study in this program.  We are all from diverse backgrounds and bring different perspectives to the table in the discussion of history and literature.  We started our study in the second week of class in 1695 with Vertue Rewarded or The Irish Princess and then in 1716 with Irish Tales by Sarah Butler.  The first is generally considered the first Irish novel and the second is the one of the first texts published with anything to do with Ireland in the title.  Both novels were written in a time that was still very much a manuscript culture - in which texts were not often published.  We continuously discuss the idea of national identity and how it is formed.  This class runs for 2 hours each Tuesday and over the course of the year will cover everything from poetry to political pamphlets.  We will look at what the term 'Irish writing' really means and how it is defined.
On Tuesday at 3pm, The Poet and Poetry course meets.  I am auditing this course which means I will not be graded.  But I want to attend the lectures because I find the subject matter interesting, and I am here so why not!  This class has focused thus far on W.B. Yeats - his essays and poems.  The first week, the professor treated us to a story-like narration of Yeats life.  In the second week we looked at a couple of his essays on magic and symbolism.  The professor is Terrence Brown, and he is a renowned Yeats scholar who wrote a biography of Yeats.  He has the most melodic voice and it often feels as though it is lulling me into relaxation.  We will also study the poets Louis MacNeice and Seamus Heaney in the course.
On Wednesday at 4pm for only 4 weeks we have Research Methods.  Each week we have an hour long lecture on a different topic.  Last week was the first class and we heard from Professor Nicky Grene (the head of my program) about academic writing.  This week we will hear from one of the many librarians about academic research.  It is very basic course which only has three assignments.
On Thursday at 10am I attend the Single Major Author course.  This first half of the term we are studying Johnathan Swift with Professor Ian Campbell Ross.  He is a Swift scholar as well as a scholar of early Irish writing.  We read Swift's first published work which is a very amateur poem dedicated to King William III in his victory in Ireland over James II.  The class agreed with Professor Ross in their condemnation of the poem's quality - some took it a bit far.  I did agree that it represented the work of an unpolished poet.  I just read the Drapier's Letters for this week's class - Swift's important political pamphlets on the subject of coinage and Irish self governance.  I am giving a short presentation on the fourth letter at the beginning of class on Thursday, and I am a bit nervous to impress this professor.  After Study Week in November, we will move on to study Yeats; and next term we will study James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.
Finally on Thursday afternoon at 3pm, Ireland on Stage is taught by Professor Grene.  He is a wonderful lecturer and quite fun in discussion.  So far we have read three of Yeats early plays:  The Countess Cathleen, Cathleen ni Houlihan, and On Baile's Strand.  I gave a short introductory presentation for Cathleen ni Houlihan and received praise from both professors and fellow students.  It is a play in which Ireland is personified in the old woman figure of Cathleen ni Houlihan who is regenerated to a young girl only after the young men of Ireland agree to sacrifice their lives to fight for her.  The play is only 9 pages long which was difficult for me to understand, but apparently plays were performed as starters before the main act or a couple of plays in one act were performed on a night of theatre at the time.
That is a list of the courses I am taking this term!

Immigration Nightmare

A week ago today I went to the immigration office to get my GNIB card which allows me to come and go from the country easily until next August when my program is complete.  I arrived there with a group of other postgraduate students at just after 8am.  There was already a long line!  When I got to the head of the line outside, I met the meanest, nastiest Irish person I have yet to encounter. Not only was he extremely rude but he spoke to me as if I were an idiot.  Apparently my health card is not enough proof that I have insurance...he needed to see it exactly in writing that I had specific coverage in Ireland.  I argued with him for a few minutes because the head of our Graduate Student Union had said to stay firm with them and not back down.  Well, I didn't win...and rather than pulling out the real claws, I decided it would be better to NOT get thrown out of the line and the country.  So I stepped out of line to seek the advice of the GSU president.  She told me to get a timecard from him and tell him I would go print out the specifics of the plan.  I did...and by some miracle he gave me one.  I then ran back to campus and printed out the details of my health plan but nothing on there said specifically that I was covered in Ireland.  I am freaking out!!  So I call my mom - despite the fact it is about 1am in California and of course scare her to death.  I spend the next couple of hours waiting for my timecard to be called and continuing to worry that I do not have sufficient information to prove I have health insurance coverage.  Well thankfully I stayed because 2.5 hours later when I got to the window, that guy didn't even check my insurance paperwork!!!!!!!!!  And he immediately issued me a card.  As usual, all that stress and worry for nothing.  I then waited another hour to get the actual card.  And then finally after a total of 4.5 hours of stress, I am legal in the country!

My Room

I finally uploaded the pictures of my room so that I can post them online!  I am in a house and on each of the three floors there are seven individual ensuite rooms and a communal kitchen.  Luckily, I am on the opposite side of the floor from the kitchen.  I am on the second floor of the house and face out onto Pearse Street - it makes for great people watching!  The kitchen is a very small galley kitchen with a refrigerator about the size of a freezer in the States.  There is hardly enough room for each of us to put a couple items in - and I am pretty sure some are hogging the space more than others.  An example, one of the people keeps a pot of leftovers in the fridge rather than putting it into smaller containers...  I think the food and kitchen is the only challenging part of my living arrangement.  The other six people on the floor are very nice and easy to get along with - in fact, we are having a floor dinner tomorrow night.

This picture shows the view from the door of my room towards desk and window.

This picture shows right side of my desk and corner next to it - the solid block of wood on the right side of the picture is my bed.

My train compartment bed and attached closet.

My sitting area...

And my world's smallest bathroom!

Well that is the room! :)

Culture Night at the National Library

On Friday night it was Culture Night in Dublin.  I was feeling a bit under the weather but could not miss the opportunity to see the National Library.  I took a guided tour of the Reading Room and the Yeats exhibit currently housed at the library.  The Reading Room was absolutely incredible to see, and because it was Culture Night I was allowed to take pictures!

Isn't it beautiful?  I can just imagine Joyce sitting at one of the study desks.

And I find my own for all the studying I will need to be doing!
I was thrilled to find out that I can get a reader's card and use the library and reading room at any time it is open.  I will also have access to all the books, manuscripts, etc. in their collection!  I just about shrieked from excitement!

The whole library itself is beautiful, and I remember almost non of what the guide said because I was too focused getting a reader's card and seeing Joyce's manuscripts.  They even have a first edition of Ulysses that you can examine virtually in an exhibit.

I had an absolutely amazing evening in nerd heaven!  I can't wait to go back for more!!


Oh and here is the infamous 'prick with the stick'!

All this picture needs is me next to him with a shirt that says 'James Joyce is my homeboy' and a umbrella to lean on! :)  My goal is to make some form of that picture happen before I leave.

Joyce in Wax

This picture was taken of me and James Joyce at the Wax Museum near campus.
I think it perfectly reflects my relationship with Joyce: I am happy and he looks like a grump! :)

In between all my Joycean escapades, I have been very busy.  My suitcases are finally unpacked and put away on the top of my train compartment bed.  Pictures of the room to come soon - it needs a few finishing touches.

I had an orientation meeting for my program on Friday afternoon.  It was great to meet the people in my program - it is a small group.  We found out that the building we are in for the Irish Writing program (and we share it with Creative Writing program) is the actual home Oscar Wilde was born in!  My future cohort is fun and diverse although I am the oldest (besides the token older grandfatherly gentleman).  I cannot wait to start class.  On Tuesday I begin with Perspectives in Irish Writing and then conclude with a class I will be probably be auditing called The Poet and Poetry: Yeats, MacNeice, and Heaney.  I actually want to have homework!  What a nerd! :)

Almost two weeks

I have been in Ireland for almost two weeks.  I have seen a lot but not nearly as much as I want to see in my year here.  I am settled into my dorm room finally - although it was described as 'Hurricane Jessica' by one friend!  I look forward to organizing and nesting.  I will take pictures and post them once it is all complete.
A couple of my adventures:  I stopped and spoke to a Romanian bus driver about how the bus system in Dublin works.  He clearly did not know what to make of my bold approach and was surprisingly unhelpful in educating me about the bus system! :)  My mom and I had some fun while she was here - that is when we weren't in bed with horrible jet lag or sick.  She is my inspiration!  I got to see Barbara and Stephen (Rach's parents) today.  I shared my room and a nice meal with them - it was great to be able to show off my new home, I felt like a real Dubliner!  I think the best thing so far is the statue of James Joyce on O'Connell Street which I found out the locals refer to as 'the prick with the stick' because he is standing with his cane!!! I plan to pose next to it leaning gently on my tall pink umbrella - and I will definitely post that picture.
I have my first orientation for my academic program tomorrow, and I cannot wait to get started!

P.S. Happy Arthur Guinness Day!

Made it to Dublin

I arrived in my new city early Sunday morning and had no trouble clearing customs in under 2 minutes.  The customs officer told me I had too much information for him! :)  Overly prepared as always!

We caught a cab to the hotel with my three suitcases and backpack with a hilarious cab driver.  He told us where to get the best local fish and chips among other gems of information.  He was just as friendly as I have heard the Irish to be!

The city is fun and easy to navigate on foot, and my legs are exhausted!  I found great shopping and most important I found the biggest bookstore in Dublin where I picked up some of my books for school today!! So exciting!

More to come including pictures of my first days in the city.

Tomorrow I move into my residence room on campus - sure to be an adventure.  Although I did buy bubble colored lights on a string (like Xmas lights) to decorate the room.

Housing

Pearse Street Campus Room

In my last post I described the long agonizing wait to hear about my housing situation at Trinity.  Well I finally heard - at first I was told I did not get a room on campus and was extremely disappointed!  But the fates were on my side because the next day I found out it was all a mistake and in fact I had been granted a wonderful single room with my own private bathroom on Pearse Street on campus!! :)  I am extremely excited to see the room and move in.
My address (including for mail) will be:

49.2.04

Pearse St

Trinity College

Dublin 2

IRELAND

On another note, there is only about a week left before I depart on my journey!  I am excited and nervous!

T-minus 5 weeks

Well the time is quickly approaching for my departure to Ireland!  And of course I am well into my preparations (because I wouldn't be myself if I wasn't).  I have been reading for some of my courses in order to get a head start on some of the work.  Afterall, I am quite a slow reader. :)  Vertue Rewarded and Castle Rackrent have provided me with hours of interesting reading.  I am currently moving on to the poetry of Jonathan Swift which I am excited to read!
In addition to my reading, I am trying to organize an appropriate wardrobe and limit the amount of "stuff" I am compelled to bring along with me when I go abroad.
The toughest part of prep is waiting to hear about my housing assignment!!  I cannot wait to know where I will be living and begin to envision and plan my room design.
In the meantime, I am enjoying my time with Andrew and supporting him while he finishes his thesis.