#3 What I Read This Week

For a few weeks now I’ve been saying I was going to post about Roddy Doyle and now that I actually am, I can also say I will be posting about him on this blog more throughout the year.

I love Roddy Doyle.

That might be extreme. I have only read one of his books, but I enjoyed every page and am anxious to read more of his work.

The Commitments is one of Doyle’s more popular pieces (the film adaption might play a big part of that). The Commitments is one of Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy, a set that follows a group of characters in north Dublin's working class neighborhood of Barrytown. 

The Commitments are the hardest working band in the World, the saviors of Soul, Dublin’s very own soul group covering songs from Otis Redding, James Brown and Sam Cooke to name a few.  Jimmy Rabbitte is their manager who along with Jimmy “The Lips” Fagan, a washed up trumpet player, lead the band into small town fame before their break up after a few shows.

The whole thing is witty and entertaining. It also helps if you have an appreciation for soul music. There is an especially great scene when Jimmy “The Lips” Fagan is concerned about the sax player in the band because he has started listening to jazz.

Jimmy rants on “Soul is the people’s music. Ordinary people making music for ordinary people….Soul is democratic. Jazz is intellectual music. It’s anti-people music. It’s abstract.”

The wit of the piece really emerges during different scenes of the band trying to apply “soul” to Dublin. The best example is their biggest hit: a version of Night Train that they adapt to include stops on the Irish Rail. 

If you like soul music or working class Ireland comedy this is a must read. And even if you don’t like either of those things, you could always watch the movie.

cheers,
 Chelsea

Weekend Update

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-NyBoG5jbA&feature=related

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 

Weekend: In Review

This weekend I had a special weekend of events planned through the US-Ireland Alliance...

Kenneth Feinberg was in Ireland to give a special lecture at Trinity College so the USIA worked it out that all the Mitchell Scholars would get to spend some time with Ken and his wife DeDe. 

Ken Feinberg is a world famous mediator. It's really crazy when you here about what all he has been involved with in the US, it comes close to every defining event of the last decade. An interesting thing to note is that Mr. Feinberg served as Ted Kennedy’s Chief of Staff in the late 70s (USIA connections are everywhere).

Just to run down the list, Ken Feinberg has run compensation funds for victims of 9/11, the Virginia Tech massacre and Deep Water Horizon (he is still running this fund currently.) A funny note about his work with BP, there have been several claims filed from Ireland, mostly by restaurants who claimed dependency on selling the best shrimp in the World. And as a proud Mississippian, we all know the best shrimp in the world are Gulf shrimp.

We first heard Ken Feinberg speak on Friday for lunch in the Westbury Hotel and he talked about his work in setting the salaries of some of the top executives in the USA. As part of the bailout Congress set the standard that any cooperation taking taxpayer money would then have the salaries of their top 25 executives set by Congress. Of course Congress handed the job to Feinberg. (it turned out to not be all the companies who took money because some of the companies quickly borrowed money to pay off their debt and free themselves of the oversight).

On a different note-I live in a dorm room. I have terrible water pressure and most of the meals I eat are PB&J. Just getting to spend a night in the Westbury Hotel was a luxury.

After the lunch on Friday all of the Mitchells had a free night to spend together.  I took full advantage of the nice shower (I showered a total of 5 times from Friday to Sunday) and we all got ready to spend the night together catching up and getting to know each other better. We all had met when we interviewed for the Mitchell in Washington D.C. but for some of us it was the first time to see each other since then.

It was also my birthday, so we had special reason to celebrate! We started the night at a Tapas restaurant where I got candles and a birthday song then we moved to a brew-pub (which we had actually tasted at the craft beer festival a few weekends before). After a few pints we made a move to another pub and finally the ones still standing made it to a surprisingly fun night club.

(I also used my self timer for the first time)

Overall it was a ton of fun and I think everyone in the group was just really excited to be together! It was also nice to be able to connect on issues that all of us have faced in the move abroad. None of them are serious but we have all experienced small language barriers or different expectations in the Irish classroom and really those experiences all now seem much more manageable knowing that none of us were the only ones feeling that way.

Saturday morning we met with the Feinbergs and Trina Vargo for special tours of Kilmainham Jail and the W.B. Yeats exhibit at the National Gallery.

Kilmainham Jail was at different times the jail for almost all of Irish republican fighters until 1924 when the jail was closed. The leaders of the 1916 Uprising were housed and killed at Kilmainham. Some of the cells have name plates of the famous uprising leaders above the doors. The form of execution was a 12 man firing squad. I sounded like a redneck, but my initial thought was those boys must have been terrible shots. 

(a black cross in the yard commemorating where the men were killed who led the Easter Uprising)

(pretending to be put in jail cell. not really that funny of a joke)

PS. mom, I haven't been put in any real Irish jails. Yet...

PSS. just a joke

We took a break from the jail for a delicious lunch (probably the best food I’ve had in Ireland. But it was more what I expected from Italy). At lunch we all got more of a chance to talk to Ken Feinberg about his work.  While I think we hold different views about filing claims from the oil spill, he won me over when he said that Ole Miss might be the prettiest place he has ever seen and questioned why I would ever want to leave. Honestly, I think I more got kicked out of Oxford than really wanted to leave.  

After lunch it was off to the W.B. Yeats exhibit at the National Gallery. Yeats is to Ireland as Faulkner is to Lafayette County, Mississippi. That is a big generalization but to help put it in perspective.

Saturday night a group of the Mitchells joined together at a local bar for a pint and a late night snack of the Irish version of Johnny Rocket’s, Eddie Rocket’s.

There was never a dull conversation this weekend and I’m looking forward to getting to do it all over again in a few days when we are back in Dublin to meet the US Ambassador. Until then…

Cheers,

 Chelsea 

Self Promotion

I should have done this earlier but I want to give everyone an idea of how I got to Ireland and the organization that made this year possible. If you give me a little lee way, this side note will all come together in the next post with my weekend plans.

Just a little background, I’m in Ireland through a George Mitchell Scholarship which is run through the US-Ireland Alliance.

The USIA, for short, developed largely through the work of Trina Vargo in the late 1990s. Trina was Foreign Policy Advisor to the late Senator Ted Kennedy and played a role in the peace treaty that was reached in the North of Ireland.

I’m going to break down that last sentence a little more. If you know what all of that means you can just skip to the bottom. 

First, it's important to understand the extent of Irish immigration to the US through most of the 20th century  (a better historical timeline might be the Irish Potatoe Famine to the boom of the Celtic Tiger) Irish fled in masses from the island. There was a lack of economic growth and the Irish were hungry for jobs. For many of them they found those jobs in America.

I knew the typical American stereotypes of Irish immigration to the US (the NYPD is one that comes to mind for me) but I was really oblivious of just how massive the Irish exodus was.

While there was massive migration and Irish-Americans impacted the development of culture and life in the US in lots of different ways, I think the most important connection to the founding of the USIA revolves around Irish-Americans who became noteworthy politicians. The Kennedy family is our own version of royalty and when it comes to US-Irish relations some of the leading voices for generations (side note-Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest daughter of Robert Kennedy sat on the interview board for the Mitchell). So around the time of the USIA founding Senator Kennedy would have been influential but there were lots of other American politicians that had a special interest in Irish relations. Chris Dodd and Tip O’Neill come to the top of the list.

So the importance of a US-Irish relationship was personally important for lots of American politicans all of the same generation, but there was also another event that pushed the USIA into creation and helped the naming of the scholarship. 

So just like American history, Irish history is complicated and by no means can be explained in a blog post. I hope this just helps to explain the USIA, and not the exhaustive history of the island. So in the South of the island is the Republic of Ireland. The independence of the Republic happens in several different forms through major events from 1916-1923 (all will have to be for another blog posts).  But all those events center around the central dispute over British rule over Ireland. The agreement is reached that the south will become independent while six counties in the north stay a part of the United Kingdom (even though they have their own government). 

To add to the conflict there is a really important religious element. Traditionally people supporting the nationalist cause (to be a free state) were Catholic while those supporting the Unionist cause (to stay a part of the UK) were Protestant and the north was were the largest population of protestants lived. The tension between the two causes never really ceased from the early 20th century when the Republic was established in the south of the island. By the 1960s violence began in Northern Ireland that picked up international attention. The violence often referred to as “The Troubles” can’t really be defined like a more traditional war, but it was a war. “The Troubles” included shootings, protests, hunger strikes, bombings, and the list goes on.  The numbers vary, but it seems common to see the death toll from The Troubles between 3,000-4,000 (as I learn more I want to share more history about this in the coming months).

As part of an attempt to bring peace to the North, along with the rest of the UK, a ceasefire and peace treaty was reached in 1996 and is called the Good Friday agreement. Under President Clinton the US sent a special envoy to work with the peace treaty. US Senator George Mitchell played an important role in the compromise that was reached. (for more about George Mitchell-About George J. Mitchell)

The work of US politicians and citizens in the Northern Ireland peace process helped propel the establishment of USIA and who better to name their largest program after but the man who was at the middle of it, George Mitchell. 

Just a last note, this weekend I heard Trina Vargo speak to a group of people who all weren’t familiar with the USIA. After she gave a standard message of what they do (events, Mitchell scholars, etc.) she also said this, which I think helps summarize everything I just said…

According to Trina, there are three main areas that have historically shaped US-Irish relations.

1.     Immigration

2.     The economy

3.     The Troubles

What has happened in modern times is these three issues no longer stand like they used to. Now the Irish, just like everyone else in the World, go where they can find jobs. It's much more likely for a young Irish college grad to find a job in Australia now than it is in the US. Not to mention many of the more famous Irish-American families no longer hold the national stand that they used to (to use the examples from earlier Ted Kennedy and Tip O’Neill have passed away and Chris Dodd is no longer in the Senate). 

When it comes to the economy, during the boom years the Irish economy grew at a rate twice that of the US. Even though both countries are now in financial hard times the US no longer sees Ireland as a place that needs help.

And finally when it comes to “The Troubles” Americans also see that as a place where Ireland no longer needs “help.” Sure there is still work to be done in the North, but for now it is a safe place.

So where does that leave the future of the US and Ireland? That’s exactly what Trina Vargo is trying to find out and she is really honest when she says she doesn’t know the answer.

But one way is through the Mitchell Scholars. The ultimate goal is that we come back to the US with a new understanding of the island and translate that to our future lives in American business, politics, academia-wherever the road might take us.

So for me I’m soaking up all the history and culture that I can and beginning to think about how Ireland and the Mississippi Delta can all work together…

No answers yet, but I still have the good part of a year.

Cheers,

 chelsea

Life Update

This is a random jumble of a blog post but it’s a few thoughts and updates.

-Today I ate lunch by myself.

Gasp.

If I had ever tried to grab lunch in the Union and sit at a table by myself I think I would have cried. Not because it was really that scary, but the social atmosphere of Ole Miss leads to the notion of safety in numbers. 

I rarely did anything by myself. I always had roommates, classmates, friends, sisters to do something with. When I worked out it was a walk with friends, when I went to the grocery store it was with roommates, and the list goes on.

Since I’ve gotten here I’ve realized that learning to do things on my own is necessary and healthy. I’m learning to grow up a little bit. And don’t worry, I have made friends that I can eat with when I want to, but today I wanted to push myself to take a seat and enjoy a meal all by myself.  And I didn’t run out of the restaurant crying or even leave feeling uncomfortable, so to anyone reading this who eats lunch by themselves in the Ole Miss Union, I salute you. 

-I've started learning to beat people up. 

At NUI Maynooth student clubs and societies are a really big deal. There is no Greek Life here, but just like at college campuses around the World students look for clubs as a way to make friends and identify themselves.

A few weeks ago they had this big Club and Society day. In the campus gym every student organization set up a table and you got to walk around and sign up for whatever clubs interested you. I was the most struck by the availability of clubs that focused on sports or some sort of physical activity. In the US collegiate sports are for the very best athletes in the country but Irish Universities (and UK schools for that matter) have more of an open policy when it comes to athletics. Everyone sort of plays something as a way of leisure and there are competitions for those interested but for the most part the whole system is way more accessible than the US version.

I joined several different clubs.  I've been the most active in the Kickboxing Club which is really just a kickboxing work out class twice a week. But it's been a lot of fun and if I ever find myself in a dark alley in Dublin, I feel a little more prepared to handle myself. I  also joined the surfing club (which takes two trips a year to different surf spots on the island), and I hope that provides a nice laugh for all those who know about my former life ambition to become a professional surfer.  Along with kickboxing and surf, I joined the International Student Organization which has a weekly film showing (watched Trainspotting last week) and plans lots of weekend trips as well as MUCK, the canoe and kayaking club that does paddle training twice a week.

Life is really coming together here. 

-Dubs Yall!

This weekend I have scheduled events with my entire Mitchell class in Dublin and we are going to be spending some time with Ken Fienberg. Ken Fienberg is a mediator who received nationally attention for his role with the 9/11 victims compensation fund and most recently his role in the Deep Water Horizon compensation work. It should be a really interesting and fun weekend and I'll be sure to update everyone on how it goes! I'm really looking forward to spending some time with all the other Mitchell scholars. Since we are all over the country I've only gotten to see the scholars living in Dublin since I've been here. 

-They are letting me stay! 

Last one, I officially registered with Irish Immigration today. So I have been allowed to stay in the country for the year and they aren't going to come to my room during the night and kick me out. All I had to do was show that I have money, health insurance and pay 150 euro to stay (thats a little bit of a simplification but it was relatively painless). Oh and they took my finger prints so I guess I'll have to give up my crime streak because now they can catch me. 

cheers,

 Chelsea 

Irish Lesson of the Week: The Power of Jersey Shore

So I might be missing out on getting a blog post in weekly like I first planned but the good news is I’m staying busy so I'm not in front of my computer all the time. I’m still going to try to keep close to schedule.

This week isn’t so much a lesson on Irish history or culture as it is thoughts on globalization. Living abroad has really put into perspective the power of American culture around the World, and the heavy weight that such a load bears.

Within the first 5 minutes of meeting my roommate we were talking about American make-up brands and Jersey Shore.  My roommate laughed as she talked about her love for Snooki. A Canadian friend of mine made the comment the recently that a girl “looked like she was from Jersey Shore” because of her spray tan and hair extensions (which are surprisingly popular here).

Then of course there is the UK spin-off of Jersey Shore, Geordie Shore.  When you look on the MTV UK website for Geordie Shore it looks like characters were picked exactly to mimic their Italian-American counterparts. And the show is just as raunchy and completely based on booze, boobs, club music and fights.

American popular culture is everywhere. Which in a way can make it really easy on a Mississippi kid like me to live abroad and not ever get too homesick.

But there is also a much heavier side to the Jersey Shore love around the world. The varying perceptions of America around the world are often not as loved as Snooki is by my roommate. 

When it comes to American policy, I get a very different opinion from most of the Irish that I talk to. 

In class, I feel that sometimes I'm expected to give some sort of apology for American policy around the World. It's not that my professors or other students are really associating me with every bit of American foreign policy ever, but I catch myself in this weird sort of Quentin Compson complex. I feel like I'm Quentin Compson explaining to his roommate at Harvard about the South, "you can't understand it. You would have to be born there." (Faulkner's Town, Faulkner's Story) I have my own critiques of American policy but then when someone else begins to attack it I get really defensive, almost like somebody is talking about my mama.

  

It’s a delicate balance. People seem to consume American products and media, but at the same time that media and those products can be representative of exactly what people don’t like about America-our consumerism and push of capitalism around the World (and depending who you talk to, lots of other things).

For the first time, I’m really thinking about what it means to be an American and what I do and don’t like about my country and its policies. I think I’m surprising myself with some of things that I’m quick to defend. I’m sure my thoughts will change a lot between now and the end of the year. So if anyone is more interested, maybe we can talk over a pint at Christmas time.

Cheers,

 Chelsea 

#2 What I Read This Week

So I lied a little last week. I said that I would bring some Roddy Doyle this week but Roddy Doyle is still in the process of being finished.

I’ve gotten in this habit of having several books running at the same time. I used to read a few things at once and never finish any of them. It was like my book envy would get too big and I would have to move on before I could finish what I was halfway through. I guess patience has never been my strength, but with a new place comes new goals and I am not going to let that happen anymore.

I started reading When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out by David Lynch on my flight to Ireland. I picked it back up this week and finished it off.

For anyone who is interested in learning more about the rise of the Celtic Tiger and the ultimate fall of the Irish economy, Lynch’s book is great because it is such an easy read. He explains the growth of the economy by telling the story of individuals: political leaders, artists and workers. He mixes all of the individual stories with a really nice thread of Irish history, politics and economic growth.

To highlight a few lessons...

-I think this quote has interesting links to the American South...

"The British-ruled corner of the island was industrial, urban, secular, and, most important, modern-unlike the theocratic, backward, rural state to its south." Lynch is writing about the rise of the Celtic Tiger and how at one point the average Irishman was better off financially than his counterpart in the UK, something that in the start of the Republic would have been unimaginable. 

-Ireland became an international destination for tech companies (Intel had a huge operation here) during the technology boom of the 90s and early 2000s.

-The extent of the power of the Catholic Church over the country. A great example is the sale of any form of contraception. It became legal to sell condoms in 1978 but only to married couples with a prescription. It wasn't until the early 1990s that condoms became available to the wider public. 

-The contrast between the Catholic Church and the reality of life in Ireland. Lynch portrays a country with two faces. The very Catholic Ireland of the early-mid 20th century has the highest mass attendance in the World and then there is the Ireland that struggles with alcoholism and domestic violence. (Lynch actually highlights Roddy Doyle as one of the people he profiles because of Doyle's critical critique of Irish culture on this matter) Lynch sums it up nicely here, "And beneath the uniform surface of an ostensibly Catholic morality lies an unruly social reality." 

Lynch has a close tie to Ireland and what seems a special love for the country. At the end, he gives his hopes of how the economy and country can return. The full title gives you a hint of his optimism...When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out: The World's Most Resilient Country and Its Struggle to Rise Again. I'm an optimist, so it was an easy sell. 

It's like a guide book for tourists but for Irish history, culture and politics. I highly recommend it if you want to know more about this fascinating place.  And the best part, it's such an easy read you can have most of it read by the time you get to Dublin:) I'll meet you at the airport!

Cheers,

 Chelsea