Snow in Ireland

Just as we were getting ready to leave for the city centre last night, it started to snow. Now, if you're familiar with Ireland at all, you know it just doesn't snow on the island. I was skyping with my mom when I glanced out the window and there it was: SNOW!

Because Ireland is located in the gulf stream, the country has chilly winters, cool summers and loads of rain. It snowed a week before we arrived mid-January, and everyone has been telling us that the country practically shut down as a result of the whooping 2-3 inches they received. The snow came down in almost marble-size flakes for a good 20-30 minutes.

As we were walking out of our apartment building, several of us were hit by flying snowballs. Several of the Irish students who live a floor below us were in the middle of a snowball fight and saw us as the perfect target. I didn't make it very far outside before having to dodge a few snowballs, and that's when Elizabeth, Colleen and I decided to run back upstairs, change and come back outside to join in on the snowball fight. We made some snowmen, countless snowballs and new friends with Irish students who were equally as excited as us to see the snow!

Flag Football

Elizabeth, Colleen, Jack and I headed down the road from campus to play some flag football this morning. One of the guys we met during the DCU Superbowl party a few weeks back invited us to join their flag football team on Saturdays to play some ball. I'd say the guys on the team were pretty happy we showed up, since they were short some players today.

We ran some routes, and then played a game of 4 v 4. I can't say I received my father's talent on the field, but I was able to score a touchdown and blitz the QB a few times. It was a lot of fun to run around outside for a few hours. It was a chilly morning, but the sun came out in the afternoon and it warmed up a little.

I spent the afternoon researching and getting books from the library for my next essay. This one's for Contemporary Society. I've chosen to focus on the topic of Irish Women in Sport. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the history of Irish females and their participation in athletics. My idea was to focus on their involvement in college sports, although I'd had some trouble finding more information in that area. After spending a semester interning with a college athletic department in the States, it's hard to put aside my knowledge of NCAA athletics and try to learn about college sports in other country. I feel like this one will give me more trouble than the last one, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

Croke Park

Let me just start by saying that today was amazing! After being away from Dublin for three straight weekends, I think it's safe to say most of us were excited to do some more exploring this weekend.

Eight of us walked to Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association this afternoon. With the sun shining, few clouds in the sky, and a little cool breeze, we arrived just in time for a stadium tour.

(The Stadium was renovated between 2000-2006. Each stand was rebuilt in one of the three-phase project. This allowed Croke Park to never miss a match!)

Our tour guide was hilarious, and asked us all to pretend we were members of one of the teams preparing to play in today's match. We walked through the tunnel underneath the Cusack, Davitt and Hogan stands before getting a chance to sit in the player's lounge. Here, players from both teams would have the opportunity to socialize after their match, together.
(Incredible Waterford light fixture in the player's lounge.
We were told they can easily change the colors of the bulbs
to match the colors of the teams playing.)

Then we headed into dressing room, where all 34 team jerseys were on display. It was really neat to see each jersey; hopefully we'll be able to start identifying which one belongs to what team now!

We moved into the warm-up room, where players would have the opportunity to hit the sliotar (hurling ball) or throw the football around before the start of the match. Our tour guide acted almost like our coach, giving up a little pep talk before heading into the tunnel to lead us onto the pitch. They even had a simulator of chants, cheering and music playing in the tunnel as we walked through, getting us ready to play. Although we didn't get a chance to actually walk onto the pitch (field), the view from the pitchside was incredible.

After walking up a few stories, we headed into the press room, and out into their seats in the stadium. Their view of the pitch is perfect, almost guaranteeing no obstruction of seeing any part of the game.

View from the Ulster Bank Group box

Last stop on the tour was one of the many corporate boxes. This one, the Ulster Bank Group box, is located right above the Cusack Stand. What a great view, huh? For only 1 million Euro, companies can rent out one of these private boxes for 10 years (not including the rugby and soccer matches, or the cost of food bear in mind).

The museum was really informative too. It was neat to see and hear about the G.A.A., especially after just writing one of my essays about the association.

We all headed into the city centre for food afterwards. The girls went to a great place near city hall called "Queen of Tarts." Everyone filled up on homemade tarts, yummy sandwiches, fresh salad and heavenly sweets. On our way back to the bus stop, we decided to go to the XD/4D Theater. It's located right next to the bus stop and we've been saying we should try it for weeks. Although we may have looked a little old for this, the five of us joined three 9 year old boys in the theater for 7 minutes of laughs, screams and 4D glasses-wearing fun!

Sounds like tonight is an ice cream & movie night with the girls! What could be more perfect than a great ending to another great day!

One Paper Down & Weekend

The weekend is here! We turned in our history essays this afternoon, and realized we only have four classes left before our exam. Yikes! I can't believe we've been here for five weeks, it really feels like we just arrived yesterday.

We talked some about the Irish War of Independence today, and watched a short clip of the film The Wind that Shakes the Barley. It looked pretty interesting, I'll have to look into borrowing it from the professor.

Another field trip tonight: to the Millbank Theatre. We're seeing Playboy of the Western World. It sounds pretty interesting, and we're scheduled to hear someone talk beforehand. We're headed into the city centre tonight to celebrate another 21st birthday. One of the guys in my suite, Mike, turned 21 today so we'll all planning to head downtown after the show tonight!

"Going to Jail.."

No class today, instead we went to jail. That's right, we went to Kilmainham Gaol (Priosun Chill Mhaighneann, in Gaelic). Over 200 years old, this jail once housed those Nationalists responsible for the 1916 Rising . Some of its most famous prisoners include: James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett, Grace Gifford, Michael Davitt, Charles Stewart Parnell, Edward Daly and Éamon de Valera. Fourteen of those who led the Rising were later executed for their crimes inside the prison yard at Kilmainham.

Built in 1796, this jail at one time housing over 9,000 inmates, men, women, and children. With only 110 or so cells available, overcrowding became an immediate problem. Kilmainham Gaol became the home for many Irish affected by the famine, as fathers, mothers and children alike who were arrested for stealing food or clothing became its prisoners and were sentenced to months or even years of hard labor.
The jail shut down in 1924, as another jail was built in Dublin. Kilmainham remained closed until the 1960s when a group organized in hopes of restoring the old jail. With six inches of dirt caked on the main room's floor and trees growing almost to the ceiling, it took nearly two decades for the restoration process to be completed, and when it was reopened to tourists, then Irish President Éamon de Valera, a former prisoner, entered and toured the jail where he previously spent several months of his life.

The jail has been made even more famous in recent years. It's been used in scenes for several films, including In the Name of the Father and The Italian Job. It's Victorian wing has great acoustics, and many artists have recorded songs there. U2 also shot its music video for "A Celebration" inside the jail.
It was pretty neat to get a chance to walk through the jail and yard, and to see where so many of those who fought to make this country what it is today were kept until they were executed. The museum was pretty interesting too- one exhibit featured several of the last letters the Rising leaders wrote to their families before they were killed.

RTE & Pancake Day

Today in our Mass Media class we had a pretty interesting discussion about RTE, Ireland's national TV and radio broadcaster. We talked about the overarching influence of both the U.S. and Britain in helping to shape and mold what content airs on Irish television. Here's the breakdown of RTE:

- RTE is a non-profit organization, owned and partially funded by the Irish people.
- It consists of:
Two TV channels- RTE 1, RTE 2
Four Radio stations- RTE radio, RTE 2FM, RTE lyric fm, and RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta
One magazine- the RTE guide (similar to the State's TV Guide?)
One teletext information service- RTE Aertel (enables you to read news story headlines on TV)
A Web Site- www.rte.ie
- The first RTE radio station, 2RN, launched in 1926. (American radio started around 1922)
- RTE's mission is to promote an Irish culture of nationalism, while providing its readers with programming that reflects the diversity of all people in Ireland.
- 40% of all content aired on radio stations in Ireland must be news/current affairs, as per the law.
- It's also mandated by law that everyone pay the RTE license fee of 160 Euro for an annual subscription for this programming. The license fees in turn help to pay for broadcasting costs.

Vincent Murphy, a broadcast journalist from RTE's Morning Ireland radio show, came to speak to our class today. He's a graduate of DCU, and has several years of experience working in the public broadcasting sector. It was real interesting to hear his own opinions about the benefits of public broadcasting. We realized that there isn't necessarily something equivalent to RTE in the states. Murphy, along with our professor for that class, are both moving to the U.S. in the next to take jobs in New York and Washington, D.C.

I've got a long night ahead of me: We have a 2,000 word essay for our History class due on Thursday, and another essay for Contemporary Society due next Tuesday. I think we're all starting to realize that the semester is coming to a close quickly, even though it feels like we just started classes not that long ago.

Today is Fat Tuesday in the U.S. In Ireland, Fat Tuesday is known as "Shrove Tuesday" or Pancake Tuesday. Up until yesterday, we couldn't find any pancake mix in any of the grocery stores here. But last night, there seemed to be a surplus of different mixes and syrups flooding the store. Now I finally understand why exactly. Shrove Tuesday was nicknamed Pancake Tuesday because years ago (and still today) Catholics would make and eat foods made with sugar and eggs, as a way to use up whatever ingredients were left in the house before the Lent season began. It sounds like some of my suitemates were headed to the store to buy mix and syrup; looks like we'll be joining in with the tradition tonight. But before I decide to fill up on pancakes and sugary syrup, I'm headed to the gym!

The Rainy Walking Tour & First Time at the Movies

We all met up at Trinity College this afternoon for a walking tour of Dublin depicting specific parts of the city that were affected during the 1916 Easter Rising. The tour was also a field trip for history class, as we've recently been talking about this tragic yet monumental day in Irish history. Our tour guide pointed out several of the famous statues throughout the city as we worked our way from the college up O'Connell St. to the General Post Office (commonly referred to as the GPO) to Dublin's City Hall and finishing up at Dublin Castle. Throughout the tour it rained, which I'm starting to begin to accept as normal Irish weather. The tour guide was hilarious and really made the two-hour walk interesting. He pointed out the bullet holes left in the columns outside of the GPO and a plaque placed on the outside of city hall to commemorate those who lost their lives during the 1916 Rising. It was really informative, although the rain didn't really help to make walking around the city very exciting.

Before the tour, Melissa and I went to a local farmer's market downtown. Apparently, the market is open seven days a week! We found some great deals on fresh produce: apples, bananas, carrots, celery, lemons, and a pineapple for under 10 euro. I think we might start buying our fruits and vegetables in the city centre from now on.

After the tour we went to Brewley's, a local chain cafe on Grafton St. for soup and brown bread. We ate early so we could make the 5:30 showing of Valentine's Day. Only a day late, we figured it would be fun to go to the movies. Tickets for the movie cost 6.50 euro with a student id, since the showing was before 6 o'clock. (6.50 euro is about $9.75). We were both surprised by the set up of the theater: it reminded me of an actual show theater, no stadium seating and walls were covered by a long red curtain. When it came time for the film to start, the curtains opened and the previews ran. The Blindspot was advertised to be coming soon (it came out before Thanksgiving in the U.S.). After the previews, the curtains shut again. We thought may be there were technical difficulties, but no one in the theater seemed to be surprised by the curtain. After a few minutes the curtain opened again and the movie ran on the gigantic floor-to-ceiling screen. It was a cute movie, and I think we both enjoyed the experience.