The best thing about Dublin is the road to Cork

This was a proud weekend for the Rebel County with Cork, with the Rebels coming back from behind to beat Dublin 1-15 to 1-14 in the All-Ireland Gaelic football tournament! All of the Americans in Cork donned our cheap, matching Cork shirts and headed out the pubs to observe the cultural phenomenon that is Gaelic football. Unfortunately, the really die-hard fans were all at the pitch (european for field) cheering their boys on in person. I bounced from pub to pub meeting up with friends and getting way too into the game.

Gaelic football is the most intense, aggressive game I have ever watched. Imagine a fusion of rugby, handball, and soccer and bam, you have gaelic football. With 15 players on the pitch at the time it is extremely fast paced. Players move the ball by kicking it, punching it, or running with it. When they run with the ball they have to kick the ball or dribble it every 4 steps otherwise the ref calls a foul. It's extremely complicated, full of contact, and is the most watched sport in Ireland! If you are craving more here's the website for the GAA and in usual Irish style, it's very disorganized and hard to navigate!

Since it was a Sunday and the match was on, the streets were completely empty. The pubs were full of a mix of Irish teens and American college students, but that didn't keep the passion down! It was a very emotional afternoon, especially with such a close game! I got way to into it, which is parr for the course for me.

After the game my friend and I did a little grocery shopping and then went for a walk in the park. Once home we watched Stepmom on TV when we were rudely interrupted by a fire alarm! Someone was baking bread poorly. It turned out okay, though because the fire brigade came and they are quite a cute bunch. I turned in early because today was the first day of school! The lecture hall we are in is old-school and the professor loves archaeology and it is contagious. The classes are taught in thirds and between the second and third sections we have a 25 minute coffee break! Class ended at 12:30 and we wandered campus, ate lunch, and got our ID cards, which means we can use the gym!

The gym is the second largest in Ireland and is snazzzz-y. We decided to go to a step aerobics class which no matter what would be either a good laugh or a good work-out. It turned out to be both! Tomorrow is another day of class, but don't worry my life isn't too bland, on Friday we have our first field trip to Western Cork!

Every girl needs a little black drink...

The next day we officially started our orientation, which turned out to be less intense than anticipated. We talked about cultural and academic differences before heading over to the Guinness storehouse for a tour of the museum (and a free pint!) The museum was quite well done, full of history, advertising art, and the science of stout. At the end you get to pour your own pint, which is quite a complex process--it takes 2 minutes to pour it properly! If you want step by step instructions, just let me know.

After Guinness, we took a hop-on-hop-off bu

s around the city and back to our hotel. We recharged quickly and the six girls went out for pizza. Later that night we all fancied up and went on a pub crawl in the Temple Bar area. The best of the pubs featured an Irish duo that played a fun mix of my favorite American music (tracks included Tom Petty, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bob Dylan, Semisonic) and traditional Irish music.

The next morning we learned how to keep ourselves healthy and safe with a cooking lesson and a visit from a Garda (police officer). After we hopped on the bus and went to a branch of the National Gallery where we saw an exhibit on Irish soldiers. It was quite interesting, but came at the end of a long day of listening, riding the bus, and eating. That night we decided to stay in and all piled into my hotel room to watch Good Will Hunting. What a great movie! Also, Irish TV has very few commercials!

Today was the day that everyone in my group was looking forward to--travel to Cork day! We took a greyhound esque bus and we all tried to enter the bus on the right side without thinking about the fact that the driver sits on the right side. It's a

crazy country to walk in because you forget that they drive on the other side of the road. The bus trip was pretty uneventful, we mostly just snoozed and played road trip games. After 3 hours we arrived at Victoria Lodge, our new home. Anxious we realized that we were all on different floors. Any trepidation quickly disappeared as soon as I saw my room. It's just the cutest! I feel like I'm living in Ikea. Scripps Dorms are beautiful, but Victoria Lodge really has a college feel. We share a kitchen but we each have our own bathroom and room with a desk, closet, and underbed storage! Upon dropping our stuff off we realized how famished we were so we quickly headed to a hip restaurant. After our hunger had been conquered we began the extremely stressful process of buying bed linen, things for our room, and groceries.

The good thing about Ireland is that bed linens are cheap, cheap, cheap. 1 comforter, 2 towels, 1 pillow with case, 2 washcloths, 1 sheet set and 1 candle cost under 30 euro. Wooey! What a bargain hunter! The bad thing about Ireland is that groceries and everything else costs a fortune. Currently I am sitting in the common area with about 10 other college students (it feels so college-y) after moving in and filling up on chili con carne. I love Cork so far and can't wait to see what it really has to offer! Tomorrow orientation for my early start class begins, so it should be an exhausting day of information followed by an evening at a pub watching Dublin play against Cork's rivals in rugby! Should be colorful! When my card reader is being more cooperative I will post some pictures of all the things I have been doing because Ireland is definitely a place worth photographing, everything about it is beautiful!

The world is my cockle...

Whew. What an exhausting day yesterday was. It started bright, er, well early. A group of us met up and headed over to our orientation at University College Cork. Even though it was a pretty bleak morning the campus was as beautiful as ever. An eclectic mix of ancient castle-looking buildings and super modern laboratory facilities surrounded by huge fields of green grass make up the campus. Our orientation was held in a large lecture room without any windows. For four hours we sat listening, snoozing, and trying to absorb information but to no avail. Eventually we were released for lunch and discovered that the day had turned into one of the most beautiful without a cloud in the sky. My roommates and a few other friends headed over to one of many school cafes and got a "cheap" lunch of a sandwich and pear for 5 euros. We did some exploring and people watching before heading back to the basement.

The second half passed much more quickly with some presentations from student groups including student government. It's funny how student council kids are very similar no matter what country you're in. The UCC system is different than the United States in a cool way. The council members are students who are taking a year off in the middle of their 2nd and 3rd year to take on the full-time position on student council. They are very knowledgeable, dedicated, and really understand what students want and need and have time to make changes. Pretty neat. Once my brain had officially turned to jelly tour guides came and showed us around campus. PICTURE. Knowing me, I'm sure I'll still get lost plenty. I'll just have to ask the friendly Irish students where I need to go!

Orientations are always a weird mix of anxiety, excitement, and a feeling of having bitten off more than you can chew. Because everyone came with different programs they already knew 6-10 other people. Overall, it really felt like everyone knew everyone else and that I had to scramble to meet everyone because if you don't make friends then you won't ever! It's a silly idea to stress about, but it is nerve-wracking nonetheless. After orientation a friend of mine from my group and another boy we just met walked downtown and went to the English Market. The English Market is a super cheap and nice permanent, indoor farmers market where you can get vegetables and fruit, fresh bread, meat, cheese, and health food. PICTURE. Because it is so chalk full and popular it can be quite overwhelming after a day of orientation. With groceries in hand and a tension headache we walked the 20 minutes back to our hotel with heavy loads in the hot sun (sun in Ireland, crazy I know!) Back at home the trek was made all worthwhile after we fixed delicious burritos.

Full of burritos we went our separate ways to rest and reboot (and read some Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) before meeting up for our first night out in Cork. Once dolled up we inadvertently got a pint at a heavy metal pub before heading over to a very trashy nightclub where the student council had made a deal that the cover charge was prepaid. They played all American music (Gaga, Kanye, Kesha) and dancing was a great way to blow off some steam and move after a long and stressful day. Eventually, as the crowd started dwindling, the girl to boy ratio became more and more uneven and the Irish boys became more and more desperate dance partner. Let me tell you, the Irish boys at that club were persistent! Luckily, my girlfriends and I evaded all attempts and survived the night free of creepy boys!

Today, thankfully, passed without any anxiety. I finally bought my phone (which though free, is much nicer than my phone at home!), fleshed out my pantry with Olive oil and spices, settled into my room, and bought a Cork-Rebel County shirt to wear to the pubs tomorrow. At 3:00 tomorrow Cork plays their rivals, Dublin, in a Gaelic football tournament. I don't quite understand what it is, but it looks like a mix between rugby, soccer, and handball. No matter what, it should be quite an exciting afternoon out in the pubs!

Week 1: Disoriented is spelled A-B-B-Y

What a crazy couple of days it has been! My first day in Ireland started out fantastic, but quickly my exhaustion and disorientation got the best of me. I knew I would fall in love with this country because the very first Irishman I talked to was my seat mate, Mark, a six year old on his way home from a family vacation at Disney World! We played some tic-tac-toe, napped, and watched the stars . It was quite a good time. I smoothly passed through customs (the agent even smiled at me!) and made it to my hotel with all my bags and important documents! Once at Dublin City University where I had a dorm room reserved, I realized that I couldn't check in until 3:00. What was I to do for 6 hours? The receptionist nicely let me leave my bags and told me how to get to the city center. I walked to the bus stop through the campus, which is completely gorgeous, but also completely empty. I missed my first bus (apparently you really have to want to get onto the bus) but I rallied and succeeded my second time.

Once in the city center I was so proud that I rewarded myself with a latte on the edge of the River Liffey. I skimmed through my guidebook and researched the best, free attractions that Dublin has to offer. Completely disoriented I set off, quickly real

izing that my big leather boots (great for plane riding) would not work for exploring. The blisters quickly formed as I trudged around in circles trying to

find a pair of comfortable, cheap replacement sneakers. Eventually I found a pair but the damage had already been done.

I tried to rally my spirits with a panini before attempting to actually do something touristy, but exhaustion quickly got the best of me. It's funny how when you are tired everything quickly escalates into feeling like a disaster. I managed to make it to the garden of remembrance* and a museum before calling it quits. Although the receptionist earlier had been nice enough to tell me how to get into the city, she didn't exactly tell me how to

get back! I hopped onto one of the buses she said I could take and scanned the scenery looking for the stop at which I boarded. Eventually I was yanked out of my daze when we arrived at the airport, definitely not where my dorm room was. Choking back the tears of frustration, exhaustion, and hunger I asked the driver if I could stay on and if he would show me where to go. He did. But by that point I had been on the bus for 1.5 hours and really had to pee! Let me just say that Irish people have a very skewed sense of distance. A 10 minute walk =just around the block. The rest of the night (it was now around 6) was spent showering, feeling sorry for myself, and sleeping.

What a gloomy blog post! Don't worry, my advent

ure in Ireland quickly recovered the next morning. Fed up with the emotional roller coas

ter that is the Dublin City Bus, I took a cab to my official orientation hotel where I was greeted by Suzy, a lovely Cork resident, and her dog, Sutie. She let me in my room and I dropped my bags, put on my most embarrassing running shoes and set off to enjoy the day. It was a truly beautiful day, around 70 with sunny skies, and I was determined to enjoy it. I mostly just explored the streets and parks, read my book, and people watched. A very low-key day, but just what I needed. At 5 I met the rest of my group and we went out to d

inner. It was a little awkward at first since we were all jetlagged and overwhelmed, but it was still quite nice. After dinner we went out and I ordered my very first pint!

Not wanting to overdo myself I drank Carlsberg and enjoyed it heartily. But don't worry a pint of Guinness was

in my near future!

In West Philadelphia...

Bored and dazed, in the airport is where I rip off cliches! Welcome to the first of many clever (optimistic) posts about my adventure in Ireland! What a stressful week it has been punching numbers in my phone to talk to a person, getting paperwork in order, and packing (and repacking) my seemingly shrinking suitcase. To be honest, because this journey has been in the works since last autumn, it's hard to believe it's actually happening. In fact, it didn't hit me until 15 minutes ago after I trekked my giant backpack across the airport to the international flights wing when heard my first Irish accent. They seemed to be enjoying themselves (trust me, quite a feat in the international wing, see photo above) so I think that's a sign that the next 5 months will be well worth the wait!