Let me just start with this, I’ve been loving my life
lately. Really really loving it.
I enjoy my course and am learning a lot but I don’t find it
academically overwhelming so I’m left with lots of free time to learn about
other topics on my own, spend time with friends and travel. I just don’t think
my life could get much better. (the one thing that could happen is I could
transplant all my good friends and loving family from home over to Ireland) I
guess I just wanted to put a formal statement out into the world wide web to
let everyone know how much fun I’m having and how grateful I am to be here.
Now on to my weekend update. Last weekend I got to spend the
second weekend in a row with all the other Mitchell scholars. I feel confident
that if you put all 12 of us in a room for an extended period with no other distractions
we would have a blast. But we’ve never been put in that situation because the
Alliance has kept us busy with fun activities the past two weekends.
I think this weekend took the cake. On Friday we had another
great day of meals while we talked with several different people about Irish
politics and culture. After our day of discussion we got ready for our formal
welcome to Ireland (I like to think of it as my Irish debutante) at the US
Ambassador’s home in Dublin.
The Ambassador (Dan Rooney-owner of the Steelers) was not in
town but he lent his home in Phoenix Park. Phoenix Park is a huge piece of property in the middle of
Dublin that is kind of likeCentral Park except the park is
surrounded by walls and there is a heard of deer roaming around. The only homes in Phoenix Park are the
President of Ireland’s and the US Ambassador’s (say much about our
relationship?).
And to add in a nice Catholic fact, Phoenix Park is home to
a huge cross. The cross was put up when Pope John Paul II came to Ireland to
conduct mass in 1979. It is estimated that over 1 million people attended the
open air mass in the park. To put
it into perspective the Republic of Ireland is only about 4 million people…
At the party we were introduced as a class to several dozen
supporters of the US-Ireland Alliance from all over the country and from all
walks of life. I spent the majority of the party talking with a woman from Cork
who loved white wine and my southern accent. And I equally loved her love for white wine and her accent.
After the Ambassador’s home we all got pizza at a place near
the hotel. For those who could manage to wake up, we boarded a bus early the
next morning and traveled to Glendalough in Co. Wicklow for a hike above
Glendalough Valley.
I was terrified of the hike. I had a traumatic experience
one summer on a Lott Institute trip in South Korea. Our Korean tour guide made
it seem like we were going for a leisurely nature walk, and after several hours
we had ascended a mountain and were all on the verge of death (a lot of the
near death feeling had to do with some underage American, legal Korean drinking
done the night before). I just
kept having awful flash backs to the hike in Korea and thought this might turn
out the same. While the Glendalough hike was not as simple as a nature walk, I
think I was better prepared physically than for the one in Korea and I was pleasantly
surprised at how much I enjoyed spending the day outside hiking on trails and
climbing over rocks. After about a 4 hour hike, we made it back to the bus and
headed for a quick lunch.
the start of the trail. most of the trail is made from old piece of railroad and you start out with 600 steps
view from the top. it felt a little higher than it looks
cheesy tourist shot in the valley
When we got
back to Dublin we changed for a concert on Saturday night at the Olympia
Theater with James Vincent McMorrow. McMorrow sounded a lot like Brett Dennen for
any reader out there who might be a Dennen listener. I was surprised at how
much McMorrow came alive as the night progressed. It was obvious that on his
first song he was nervous but as the show went on and his glass of red wine
emptied, he began to connect with the audience and most of the us walked away
as a fans. He was also endearing as he repeatedly told the audience how much it meant to him to be playing back to back sold out shows in his favorite hometown music venue. Check him out. I like him better live than his recordings, so if you
ever get a chance to see him, do so.
We ended the weekend with our now traditional few hour-long
breakfast. After that I was back to Maynooth to finish up some homework and get
ready for another week of reading, discussion, learning, and travel.
More blog posts coming tomorrow
cheers,
Chelsea
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