Classes Have Started!

Classes started today, and we're underway, learning about the transformations of the conflict and political makeup of Ireland. We spend our days, from ten to four, in classes on peace-conflict resolution, Irish history, political science, and diplomacy, all focusing around "The Troubles." The Troubles is the term Irish people use to refer to the conflict of Ireland in its fight for independence, and more specifically, the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland that has just recently been resolved. Our entire semester here is focused around the backdrop of all this, culminating in an Independent Study Paper, 40 pages, on an aspect of the issue.

Trinity College

The Entrance to Trinity College

Trinity College Library

Trinity Green

I leave my family's home at 8:50 every morning, catch the Dart line into the city and am in class by ten. We get an hour of lunch from noon to one, and then go all afternoon until four o'clock. I'm excited to get underway with everything!

Bray

Bray is a fairly large seaside town in County Wicklow that we visited as a group over the weekend. Bray is the fifth largest town in Ireland, and is famous for its various golf courses around its periphery. The Slazenger Estate lies at the edge of the town. The River Durgle flows through the middle of the town, featuring a river walk and the People's Park of Bray. There is a pebble beach and a wharf along the shoreline, with many sailing and fishing boats. I talked with a man named Sean getting ready to go out fishing for mackerel and thresher sharks about two kilometers out from shore, he told me. The mackerel are running in the Irish Sea right now, and my host family and I have been eating them for breakfast this week.

A typical Irish breakfast:

So today, I had a traditional Irish breakfast with my host family, including sausage, rashers (bacon), fried mackerel, white blood pudding, yogurt, toasted soda bread, black currant marmalade, poached eggs, milk and tea. If I don't gain ten pounds on my semester I don't know how!

Irish Vocabulary:

Rashers= Bacon

Chips= French Fries

Crisps= Chips

skangheira= Hoods/Gangsters

Slagging= Teasing

Tomato Marmalade= Ketchup

Leisure Pool= Swimming Pool

Swimming Togs= Swim Trunks

Fizzy Drink= Soda
Apple Crumble= Apple Crisp
Biscuits= Cookies

Gaelic Word of the Day: Anam Cara- "Soul Friend," your closest friend in life, your best friend. The Celts believed it was your life goal to find this Anam Cara

Glendalough- August 25, 2011

The Monastic Community was founded in Glendalough (Valley of the Two Lakes) in the 6th Century a.d., replacing a much older Druid religious center in the glen. In the 8th Century a.d. the Vikings raided the Monastic City here, but it was quickly rebuilt and remained in operation until the time of Henry VIII. In the valley are the two lakes, the monastic complex itself, medieval Irish graveyards, a waterfall, St Kevin's Cave, and the Holy Well of St Kevin.

St Kevin's Church at Glendalough

 The Monastic City at Glendalough

Glencree- August 24, 2011

Knockree Hill- August 23, 2011

My First Few Days in Ireland

My first couple days here in the shadow of the Wicklow Mountains have been great! There are ten students in my study abroad group and we've been recovering from our jet lag and going through our orientation program in Knockree. Everyone in the group seems great, although the ratios are a little one sided (2 boys to 8 girls). Our orientation leader, Aeveen, is a wonderful lady, about fifty, she reminds me of an elderly, Irish accented Mary Poppins. One of her favorite sayings while we go along to the various sites is "spit spot," and she is full of energy.  The first day, she took us on a walk up the mountainside for "a good stretch of the legs after riding in the airplane" which translated into a two and a half hour hike! The following day, we went up to Glencree to work on our orientation materials. Glencree was originally a British fortress during the Rebellion of 1798 but has since been converted into a Reconciliation and Rehabilitation Center for former combatants from the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Yesterday, we visited another spot in the Wicklow Mountains, called Glenndaloch, which was a monastic city built in the 6th Century by St Kevin. It lies in ruins now, but it is beautiful, situated in a valley- or glen- with two lakes and mountains all around it. Today, we spent the morning in Bray, a coastal fishing town, and then were picked up by our host families tonight. I'm living with Freda and Billy O'Dea, in a suburb of Dublin called Glengeary, along the coast. I am only a few blocks from the sea, and the O'Deas are big fishermen. The mackeral are running about a mile offshore right now, and Bill offered to take me fishing for them sometime soon. I couldn't be happier, or more excited. Ireland is everything I expected and more so far, and I can't wait to share more soon!

The Sugarloaf- Wicklow Mountains

The first day, we were picked up at the Dublin Airport and taken to the Mountain Lodge at Knockree for orientation, in the Wicklow Mountains south of the city. The view from my room there looked over the Wicklow Valley and "The Sugarloaf," one of the highest peaks in Ireland, stands off in the distance.