Catching Up

A new week has started and I will say that I'm definitely feeling better than last week. Sorry for having a bit of a depressing post the other day, but I created this blog to share all of my experiences and thoughts...good and bad. With that out of the way, I have a bit to catch everyone up on from the past week so here goes.

First of all...it's been two weeks but I know some people are not on facebook...I got a tattoo! It's a celtic symbol I have wanted for 2 years so I kind of had it in my mind that I would get it here, but actually doing it was impulsive. I went with my other friend to get hers and the guy said he had time to do mine, so I impulsively acted and said yes. My other friend had to leave, though, so I was all alone. I actually asked a girl at the front desk to sit with me and she was so sweet! She is 17 and it turns out she is the daughter of the guy who owns the shop. She held my hand for me and got me a lollipop to bite on when it hurt...and it did hurt a bit but I'm happy I got it.

Early last week I went with the women's group to a short play called Dublin Tenement Experience: Living the Lockout. The women are doing research on women of the 1913 Lockout, and it's the 100th year anniversary of the event, so it was a given to go see the show. It was really cool because it took place in an actual tenement building. There were only 4 actors in the show and it was very interactive. We moved from room and room and would watch a scene take place. It was so incredibly intense and powerful. You started to feel as if you were actually living in that tenement experiencing the events. The one room that really got to a lot of the women was a dark bedroom where there was a mother with her two sleeping children. Now, the "children" in the bed were just dolls but there were sound effects of breathing which made it so realistic. The mother talked about living in this place and having to provide for her children...thinking about selling the bed...it was really hard not to cry. There was another scene in the hallway where two guys were yelling and fighting and sound effects started to play of a baby crying and other people talking and making a ruckus...oh  my gosh it all seemed so real. You just wanted to rush into the room and get the baby to stop crying. It becomes very clear what living in a tenement with up to 100 other people would be like. It was one of the most powerful pieces of theatre I have ever seen...and it only lasted about 20-30 minutes max.

Then, one day after work I met up with Katie and Greer and we went to Dublin Castle. Unfortunately, all of the tours were booked so we didn't actually go inside. It was cool just to walk around the grounds though. In the courtyard there were sand artists who made these amazing sculptures...

 On Friday night Katie and Greer were both gone so I was a bit sad and didn't know what I was going to do, but I knew I didn't just want to sit around at home. Luckily, Aisling from work had a friend who had 2 tickets to a comedy show that nobody could use...so I got free admission and a cocktail to a show at the Laughter Lounge. There were three main comedians and then an emcee. They were all hilarious. One of the comedians was American, so that was cool. It was really funny because he was talking about sitting in traffic over here and how a couple of guys in the car in front of him just got out of the car, in the middle of stopped traffic, and went to eat berries that were growing on the side of the road. He meant for this to seem like a totally weird joke, but the Irish people found this totally normal!! It was hilarious. Then, he started to talk about the family decals that Americans have on the back windows of their cars...you know with the stick figure parents, kids, and pets...they had no idea what he was talking about, so I was laughing to myself over that. It was a great night, though. Another lady from work and her husband were there also so I sat with them and they kept buying me drinks...(cultural handbook rule #1- don't refuse a drink)

Saturday I did nothing. I felt strange just sitting around...I felt like I was wasting my weekend time not doing anything but I honestly just needed a day to relax, watch Modern Family, and do absolutely nothing.

By Sunday, though, I was ready to get out and about. Helen from work took me to lunch in Malahide and then we did a tour of the castle there which was pretty cool. She then drove me to Howth which is beautiful. We did a walk up the cliff/hillside. Such incredible views...

Afterwards she took me to here home where I met her husband and son and she cooked a lovely meal. She really took care of me! 

And finally, today after work I did a little exploring around the College Green/Grafton Street area. I still need to go to Trinity College...but here are just a few pics from my walk. 

Human statues

With only 3 weeks left, I think I am ready to come home. I do love many aspects of being here and I have had such incredible experiences, but I miss the comforts of home. I had a dream the other night about being home which made me that much more anxious. I still have some adventures planned in these next 3 weeks though so I'm sure the time will fly by quickly!