Travels

Sunday , January 2, 2011

Meeting New People and Settling In

Happy New Year everyone! What a great way to start a new year! Arriving in Ireland on 1-1-11 and we landed around 11 too! Weird right? It’s so great to finally be here and living it! So far everything has gone really well. When I was at the airport in MN I ran into a girl from Iowa State named Carolyn and we were able to travel together and we have become immediate friends  J . When we arrived in Cork she crashed at our apartment for a few hours until her apartment opened up.  After unpacking we walked around the city and found that almost all the stores were closed because of New years day being a bank holiday, on Sunday many of the stores were closed , and today is another bank holiday..so that was a bit of bad luck haha. After walking around we brought Carolyn to her apartment which is near campus which was about a 20min walk away. I was tired after that so I rested up for a bit and then I went out to a few pubs- Au Brogue and the Old Oak. I got a cider which was ok, a little too sweet for me.  When I came back I slept until 2pm the next day!!  It was nice to relax and walk around some more yesterday. I bought a pair of jeans and Im kind of excited to buy some more clothes because they are pretty reasonable.

Quick details about our apartment!! We are on the fifth floor, which is the very top and it’s like a suite compared to the others. The ceilings are at an angle which I Love and we have a two skylights! There is on window above my head to praying for many clear nights to look at the stars before I fall asleep. We also have a walk out patio and spacious living and kitchen area.  There are stairs that lead to the bedroom and bathroom. Our bedroom had lots of clothing storage, which was fabulous. Everything is in working condition which is a plus too!

My room complete with skylight

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Jail adventure and Orientation

Yesterday Marybeth and I went on a bit of an adventure. We walked up the hill north of our apartment and found an old jail with a guided tour. The tour was kind of boring, but we walked around back and found some cool old structures that we walked through.  We visited a couple churches as well and the second church we walked into we were greeted by john O’Callaghan  who told us alot about the history of the catholic church and how it is the only true religion along with protestants and Hinduism. He talked about America and how it is being destroyed within at both the government level and within the Catholic church.  Some of what he was saying was over the top and a little intense and we probably should have left right away, but some of it was interesting. After 45 minutes we left and went to the city and walk around. We found a pub called Mutton Lane, which is near the English Market (a farmers market) Inside was quaint and relaxing.  I told Marybeth about a girl I ran into earlier who was about 14 and asked me to buy her a fag. I said no because I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I know now that it is a cigarette haha. Later that night our group went to the Franciscan well across the way which plays live music on Monday nights and I tried one of their home brews, the Rebel Red, It was very good.

Today was orientation which was long and overwhelming. I went on a tour afterwards and I learned a couple interesting facts about campus. In front of the quad there is a path that legend says if you walk through you will your fail your finals and there is a tile seal in the archway is believed to make your pregnant before you graduate if you walk on it. I had walked through the path earlier, I’m hoping I won’t fail, but technically I haven’t gone to classes yet..(maybe it won’t count)   Our tour guide said “that’s good crack” a lot which means “a lot of fun” I think it’s such a funny phrase.

Ruin behind old Cork Jail (Gaol)

 Wednesday, January 5, 2011

A friendly night at Sin Ne

12:24am its late I know, but last tonight was such a classic Ireland Pub scene.  We walked down the river to Sin Ne (Shin Ye) which means “that’s it” in Irish.  I wasn’t expecting much and was ready to go in for the night. But, the night got better and better as we settled in. It was a cozy pub with velvet drapes and the ceilings were plastered with memorabilia from photographs, to concert posters, to old t-shirts. Candles were placed in empty Jameson bottles and the wax dripped down them like a wet painting. Hannah and I found a place close to the bar so that we could hear Mattie play the fiddle she brought with her. She accompanied two playing a flute, two others playing a guitar, and a man playing a traditional Irish drum. It was a beautiful site!!  We were so proud of Mattie and her knowledge of Irish tunes. A man sitting next to me named Joe asked Hannah and I If we played any instruments, but we said we were wishing we did. He told us that he lived near Waterford and on his Tuesdays off he comes down to Cork to listen and participate in the music. He sang a beautiful tune he called Pennsylvania. He was going to put Minnesota in its place but it didn’t have 5 syllables.. so Minneapolis next time he said! He left because he had to go to the next pub on his way home before they closed. Joe was a gentleman and he hugged and kissed Hannah and I on the cheek goodbye. He made us promise him that we would bring a Minnesota song to sing at the pub next week (we have a lot of practicing to do).  Another man named Johnny came by and talked to us as well, he had dark red dread locks and a scruffy red beard.  Hannah and I both agreed he was like Captain Jack Sparrow. He was friendly, but hard to understand because his accent was more from the north. He told us a few good places to visit in our travels like bear peninsula and then he joined the group and began playing a flute he had brought along.  Hannah and I both came down with sore throats and we had planned to leave by 10:00, but we both kept on agreeing to stay for just one more song and ordered a hot whiskey to sooth our throats J (delicious! ) After a while another younger man named Allen came and sat next to us, he has a fiddle with him and we asked if he was going to play. He said that he might, but we ended up taking up so much of his time in conversation that he opted out. He also said that he was tired from playing his new flute that his friend made for him and just had given it to him as a gift today. “Handmade flutes are the best to buy” he said because they are tuned the best.  Allen is a music major and lives in the city of Cork and told us that he plays on Thursdays as well at Charley’s Pub in the city Centre.  Finally, Allen introduced us to another Allen (Allen Tittley) who is a Professor of the Irish Lanuage at UCC. When you think of what an Irish man looks like, you are probably envisioning Mr. Tittley. He was a stout man with rosy cheeks,  grey hair, and a balding head covered by a cap. Young Allen and old Allen had been speaking to each other in Irish earlier, so we started up the topic about the Irish language and when it started to die out during the potato famine in 1845 because parents wanted their children to speak English to they could emigrate to Ireland and make a profitable life there. They also needed to speak English in Ireland for better paid positions like Lawyers, bankers, and doctors.  We also talked about Northern Ireland and how in fact it is simply just the Scots and Brits who chose to settle there a while back, which separated it from the rest of Ireland. The separation isn’t related to religion like most believe.  We covered other topics consisting of the winter solstice and how it is celebrated in Ireland and how Irish music is considered more circular than linear. Circles are very important in Ireland because they are found to be more natural and continuous with nature. All the way around this was a great night to remember!! And I hope there are more to come!!

Goodnight and Slṓn (as they say in Irish) which means “may you go safely”

Friday, January 07, 2011

Classes Begin and some TRAD

Yesterday was my first day of classes. I had Irish Folklore and Questions of Moral Theory.  I think Folklore will be really easy and Moral Theory is a Philosophy class so it will probably be a little more challenging. After class Hannah and I went to Dunnes (the grocery store) and picked up some items for dinner. We made a light dish of prawn linguine with sautéed garlic and lime juice. It was actually really good! After we went out to Charlie’s and listened to some more TRAD music (traditional music) Allen and Johnny who we met on Tuesday were both there.  We left a little early and went over to Crane Lane Pub, but it was packed, so we decided to walk home unless we found something better. However, we found that every single pub had lines down the street with young people waiting to get in. I guess January 6^th is “Girl’s Night In” which originated in Ireland in 2005 to give women a break after the busy holidays.  We were dressed down compared to everyone else we saw so we decided to pass.

I had Buddhism today and I really love the prof.  He has a British accent and he is really funny.  Today was a rainy day too so I didn’t decide to go out tonight. Tomorrow we are going on a trip with the campus Chaplaincy so it will be an early morning .

p.s. Hannah and I went to immigration the other day and waited in line for two hours!! We made it just before they closed. We talked to this guy for an hour who is a photographer in Cork. He was born American, grew up in South Africa, and married an Irish woman. Every five years he has to renew his immigration and he has basically been dealing with immigration his whole life because they are really strict about it in South Africa.

Sunday January 9^th

Day Trip Youghal and Ardmore

Yesterday we went on a heritage trip led by Chaplaincy group on campus (Campus Ministry) to Youghal and Ardmore. They are two small cities East of cork that are on the Atlantic Ocean. Youghal is the first port city of Ireland and  Shakespeare had lived there for a short time.  There was some pretty cool sites around Youghal, however I didn’t really pay attention too much to the tour guide ( I blame the bone chilling cold for that, the info I have is from a friend that did pay attention)  There was an original rock arch that still stood in the city from the time is was a bustling port. This arch was the only entrance and it was called Sir Walter Raleighs arch because he lived in Youghal and was a friend of Queen Elizabeth. The Irish disliked Sir Walter because he was favored by the queen and received 42,000 acres, which is above the limit of the land ownership (the law permitted only 14,000 acres). However, he went behind the queens back sold his land to make a profit. He eventually became a very rich man and went on to marry three women and have fifteen children.  Before he died he built a didn’t want to die forgotten so he built himself a shrine that’s in St. Mary’s church (The oldest church in Ireland that is still in use). The church is shaped like a cross and the ceiling is built to represent a boat to symbolize water and purity. The beautiful stained glass window at the front of church was slightly angled just like Jesus’s head after he was hung on the cross.   

Ardmore (in County Waterford) was just as interesting because it was chosen as a place of hermitage  (a religious retreat) . The story goes that Saint Declan prayed to God to send him a sign where he should place this hermitage and he placed a candle on a rock that broke off from Rome and floated to Ardmore. Declan taught Christianity in some areas even before St. Patrick. In Ardmore we saw the well and church that he built to baptize people. From there we walked along BEAUTIFUL cliffs that brought us to another church and his house where he was buried. A tower also stood here that back in the day had bells that rang to let everyone know when it was time for church (there are pictures of these buildings on my facebook page).

Saturday January 15^th

Soccer and Paella!

I completed my first whole week of class at UCC! I think I will like all of my classes: Irish Traditional and Modern Music, Buddhism, Folklore, and Moral Philosophy. The Philosophy class is interesting because we are looking at why we have morals, but its also very confusing. Its nice to finally have a schedule figured out and I have found that Im busy every night of the week except for Friday nights. I joined the UCC soccer team and I think Im really going to enjoy it! We meet every Monday and Wednesday night. I had to go out and buy shoes, socks, and shin guards because I didn’t bring them with me, but I only ended up spending like 39 Euro for all of that which isn’t too bad. Our coach said that we will have about  4-5 games this semester so that will be perfect and the girls aren’t half bad, so I hope we do well J Tuesday night I went to meditation with Chelsea and Lindsey which was really nice because we (our group)  have been around each other a lot lately and it was nice to escape and relax for an hour. Later that night we found a cozy spot at the Sin Ne, which is my favorite pub because a lot of the American students don’t know about it, so it’s all Irish all the time!  My friend Allen was there playing like usual and right at bar closing Allen Tittley, the professor from UCC, came in and sat next to me. He belted out a beautiful Irish tune in Gaelic and another man belted out a poem by John Keats after that.  Chelsea and I agreed that sitting in the pubs here is a meditation in itself because time stops and you are living in the here and now, rather than the past or present. Wednesday I have practice off campus at a field called “the farm” so I had to take the bus, which was different. We discovered you can’t just simply wait at the bus stop, instead you have to flag it down. After practice I came back to a home cooked meal of Paella! A Spanish dish that Marybeth discovered and which is the most flavorful and satisfying dish I have had in a long time. At the English market they have the freshest fish!! We bought prawns still in the shell complete with eyeballs and everything! We bought fresh mussels as well! We spent all day shopping for it and even went to a special spice shop to buy Saffron.  Thursday I have class until 5, after Hannah and I joined a group that meets to practice their English. There was someone from Germany, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, and Slovakia. It was fun to learn a little about them and it really opened my eyes to the diversity there is, which I think is so awesome!  Sometimes I wish I was an International studies major so that I could travel to all these amazing places! After we cooked a great meal of curry and then we got dressed up and went to Crane Lane and found a spot this time J I had had my first Guinness on Tuesday, so tonight I tried Beamish and Murphy’s. Beamish is brewed in Cork and it’s very fresh, but a little to tart for me. Murphy’s is a bit smoother, it’s a cross between Murphy’s and Beamish. I think my favorite has come down to Guinness though! This Friday and Saturday will be days of relaxation for me after this week of busy. Its been raining a lot (mostly at night and sprinkles during the day). I would like to explore Cork more and Marybeth has the great idea of sitting around watching Irish T.V. and drinking tea! Sunday Im hoping for nice weather because the Mountaineering Club is going somewhere and Im going to join in on some good Craic. (“fun” in slang)