rugby, turk's, naked, irish hills.
things have been so fast-paced and busy. i hardly have time to shower, much less get on the internet. i've taken 2 showers since last tuesday. that's gross, right? tonight's the last night. it feels so weird. i feel like i'm going home tomorrow opposed to traveling to another country.
i'm so very tired. this entry will not be as detailed as i had hoped.
i don't know how the rest of the trip will be internet-wise. i can't keep up with anyone back home. i've been gone for such a short amount of time and i feel like i've been gone forever.
we're just our little community. i've already grown accustomed to where we are and who we're with. i feel like i've figured out the people i like and don't like. i know the streets around us and despite the worries of others, i do go around by myself. which may or may not be safe but i feel pretty safe in dublin.
here's the sum up of the last couple days.
thursday - woke up for the first day of class. we scurried downstairs where i had a piece of toast and jam with a cup of orange juice. then off to the christ church cathedral, where we sat in the grass and held class. it was beautiful.
whenever you cross the street here it actually has pedestrian crossing and it makes a crazy noise letting you know it's "safe" to cross the streets.
after class was the guiness factory. it was different than i expected. it was very modern and very informative i guess. i didn't care too much about it, but it was interesting to see. the best part was the fact that at the end they give you a free pint of guiness and it's at this bar at the top where you see a complete 360 degree view.
afterwards we tried to go to this jail that i can't remember the name of now. it wound up taking about 45 minutes to walk there, only for it to be closed. so more random wandering occurred.
next was going to lunch. yes, day two in ireland and we went to a mexican food place. stupid. so stupid. i had the shittiest margaritas of my life and continued to drinking at a pub close to the hostel. we got a pass for a free drink at this pub because we don't have hot water in our rooms. so i guess that makes up for it.
i am in love with bulmer's cider - despite the fact that i am sure it is the equivalent to smirnoff ice in the states. we sat at the pub for a while then chelsey and bridget were tired. so brandon (the only guy on this trip. poor kid is going to hate all women by the end of scotland.) anyhow, we met up with some california girls he knew and went to the porter house. we met some other people from the group there and danced all night to some live band. afterwards, brandon and i got a picture with the guy. there was this 30 man rugby team from wales at the pub. they had these bells that they would ring and begin chanting - the last person to ring the bell had to chug the rest of their drink. regardless, when brandon and i got back to the hostel and were having a cigarette outside, we met two of the players. apparently other members of our trip had already befriended them. we got invited to see a rugby match the next day.
friday - class again in the morning - this time in the garden next to dublin castle. it was beautiful. then we had a quaint lunch in this place called "gruel" - it was actually very good and i had the feeling of "oh, wow. i'm in ireland."
then we walked across the river to search for thrift stores and vintage shops. everything is so expensive. i keep hearing that dublin is by far the most expensive though. we'll see.
so once back at the hostel we decide to go to the rugby game mentioned the night before by the welsh rugby boys. we put brandon in charge of finding our way there because it wasn't in the city of dublin. it was about a 30 minute bus ride to st. mary's college. we were dreadfully late because about 20 of us girls decided to go. well, after the trouble with trying to board the bus with exact change and everything else - we finally arrived at the game with 2 minutes left. but this is the point when things begin to go a little... crazy. we went up to the college bar and begin drinking with about 40 british rugby boys. there was one guy playing the piano while we all jumped around and sang. i swear, i walked outside to smoke with chelsea and brandon and when i walked back in there was about 4 rugby boys to every american girl. it was hilarious. i felt bad for brandon though because there were not any girls there for him so me and jamie sat with him for a while.
it winds up being around 1am and we can't catch a bus back to dublin. so what happens? oh we're invited to get on the tour bus with the rugby boys. i can't even describe the ridiculousness that occurred now. they began singing "ohhhh father abraham... the many sons he had.. something father abraham! and to my left, and to my left, and to my right and to my right, and right shoe off!!" - with this bit about and right shoe off. um, well. it went all the way to trousers off and knickers off. yes. the entire rugby team was naked dancing and singing in the bus while it was nothing but flashes of cameras and screams of american girls. we wind up back in dublin as they put their clothes back on and we head immediately to the bar.
we went to this bar called turk's head and chop house. it was 3 stories with each level having a completely different music and dance/hang out scene. i ditched the insane rubgy boys at this point because i met a guy at the bar - jed. he's from arizona, but has been living here for the past year or so. he has the irish accent from being he for so long though. he reminded me of someone from back home, but i couldn't place who. we began chatting and then hung out with his brother joey. jed was really interesting. and they were both a lot of fun. so of course we became facebook friends.
walked back to the hostel around 4:30am. i walked into our big community room and saw chelsey and bridget both hugged up to british boys. i'm 95% sure i'm the only one who did not kiss a welsh rugby boy. haha. i finally went to bed around 7am.
saturday - 1 hour of sleep. got on a bus at 8am for an all day tour of wicklow. the ENTIRE group was hung over. at our first stop about 12 girls threw up. brandon missed the bus. haha. he was the only one. we all felt awful. i don't know why we thought it was going to be a good idea.
i can't describe the things i saw though. we traveled about 2 hours into the irish hills. it was the most beautiful sights i have ever seen. i took a million photos. i can't... like there isn't anything to say. we just traveled around and saw lakes and hills and etc. etc. then we went up into the mountains and saw this tower that i forgot the name of an all these graves and walked around the lakes and it was just absolutely beautiful. it was a moment that i can't believe was real. amazing.
too bad i felt like death the entire time though. especially during the 3 mile walk around that beautiful lake.
when we finally got back into dublin, we played drinking games with the rugby boys in the community room and then we went back to turks's. chelsey, bridget and i met up with jed and joey at this pub called mezz. we hung out there for a while but we were all so tired. we wandered around the river walk and then went to a different pub called sine. we split up with some of the other girls who were with us and jed, joey, bridge, brandon and i went and found pizza. then joey and brandon got distracted with irish women, who are all muffin tops, and jed walked bridget and i back to the hostel.
then jed and i sat outside the hostel like bums for hours talking and talking. we agreed on a lot of things and it was nice to be around a guy again, besides poor brandon, because being around this many girls is driving me crazy. we had a really amazing conversation.
sunday - i was supposed to wake up and go to mass with bridget and chelsey, but i did not. i was too tired. chelsey, bridget, jill and i went and toured dublin castle and the national museum of ireland. they were both really amazing.
then we met up with jed in the trinity college park. the girls went to take a nap so jed and i explored the city. we found the original dublin city wall and climbed up to the top of it. then the police yelled at me to get down. but it was crazy to sit up on this wall and just view the whole city. jed and i basically found every park we could. then we came back to the hostel and hung out with bridget and chelsey and laura. then we got some food and we said goodbye to jed. he caught the last bus back to where he lives and we came back to the hostel.
now i've been sitting here writing for the last hour or so.
i have to be up in 3 hours to catch my flight to scotland. this trip has been full of memories and stories thus far.
all for now. try to write again when i can.
i'm so very tired. this entry will not be as detailed as i had hoped.
i don't know how the rest of the trip will be internet-wise. i can't keep up with anyone back home. i've been gone for such a short amount of time and i feel like i've been gone forever.
we're just our little community. i've already grown accustomed to where we are and who we're with. i feel like i've figured out the people i like and don't like. i know the streets around us and despite the worries of others, i do go around by myself. which may or may not be safe but i feel pretty safe in dublin.
here's the sum up of the last couple days.
thursday - woke up for the first day of class. we scurried downstairs where i had a piece of toast and jam with a cup of orange juice. then off to the christ church cathedral, where we sat in the grass and held class. it was beautiful.
whenever you cross the street here it actually has pedestrian crossing and it makes a crazy noise letting you know it's "safe" to cross the streets.
after class was the guiness factory. it was different than i expected. it was very modern and very informative i guess. i didn't care too much about it, but it was interesting to see. the best part was the fact that at the end they give you a free pint of guiness and it's at this bar at the top where you see a complete 360 degree view.
afterwards we tried to go to this jail that i can't remember the name of now. it wound up taking about 45 minutes to walk there, only for it to be closed. so more random wandering occurred.
next was going to lunch. yes, day two in ireland and we went to a mexican food place. stupid. so stupid. i had the shittiest margaritas of my life and continued to drinking at a pub close to the hostel. we got a pass for a free drink at this pub because we don't have hot water in our rooms. so i guess that makes up for it.
i am in love with bulmer's cider - despite the fact that i am sure it is the equivalent to smirnoff ice in the states. we sat at the pub for a while then chelsey and bridget were tired. so brandon (the only guy on this trip. poor kid is going to hate all women by the end of scotland.) anyhow, we met up with some california girls he knew and went to the porter house. we met some other people from the group there and danced all night to some live band. afterwards, brandon and i got a picture with the guy. there was this 30 man rugby team from wales at the pub. they had these bells that they would ring and begin chanting - the last person to ring the bell had to chug the rest of their drink. regardless, when brandon and i got back to the hostel and were having a cigarette outside, we met two of the players. apparently other members of our trip had already befriended them. we got invited to see a rugby match the next day.
friday - class again in the morning - this time in the garden next to dublin castle. it was beautiful. then we had a quaint lunch in this place called "gruel" - it was actually very good and i had the feeling of "oh, wow. i'm in ireland."
then we walked across the river to search for thrift stores and vintage shops. everything is so expensive. i keep hearing that dublin is by far the most expensive though. we'll see.
so once back at the hostel we decide to go to the rugby game mentioned the night before by the welsh rugby boys. we put brandon in charge of finding our way there because it wasn't in the city of dublin. it was about a 30 minute bus ride to st. mary's college. we were dreadfully late because about 20 of us girls decided to go. well, after the trouble with trying to board the bus with exact change and everything else - we finally arrived at the game with 2 minutes left. but this is the point when things begin to go a little... crazy. we went up to the college bar and begin drinking with about 40 british rugby boys. there was one guy playing the piano while we all jumped around and sang. i swear, i walked outside to smoke with chelsea and brandon and when i walked back in there was about 4 rugby boys to every american girl. it was hilarious. i felt bad for brandon though because there were not any girls there for him so me and jamie sat with him for a while.
it winds up being around 1am and we can't catch a bus back to dublin. so what happens? oh we're invited to get on the tour bus with the rugby boys. i can't even describe the ridiculousness that occurred now. they began singing "ohhhh father abraham... the many sons he had.. something father abraham! and to my left, and to my left, and to my right and to my right, and right shoe off!!" - with this bit about and right shoe off. um, well. it went all the way to trousers off and knickers off. yes. the entire rugby team was naked dancing and singing in the bus while it was nothing but flashes of cameras and screams of american girls. we wind up back in dublin as they put their clothes back on and we head immediately to the bar.
we went to this bar called turk's head and chop house. it was 3 stories with each level having a completely different music and dance/hang out scene. i ditched the insane rubgy boys at this point because i met a guy at the bar - jed. he's from arizona, but has been living here for the past year or so. he has the irish accent from being he for so long though. he reminded me of someone from back home, but i couldn't place who. we began chatting and then hung out with his brother joey. jed was really interesting. and they were both a lot of fun. so of course we became facebook friends.
walked back to the hostel around 4:30am. i walked into our big community room and saw chelsey and bridget both hugged up to british boys. i'm 95% sure i'm the only one who did not kiss a welsh rugby boy. haha. i finally went to bed around 7am.
saturday - 1 hour of sleep. got on a bus at 8am for an all day tour of wicklow. the ENTIRE group was hung over. at our first stop about 12 girls threw up. brandon missed the bus. haha. he was the only one. we all felt awful. i don't know why we thought it was going to be a good idea.
i can't describe the things i saw though. we traveled about 2 hours into the irish hills. it was the most beautiful sights i have ever seen. i took a million photos. i can't... like there isn't anything to say. we just traveled around and saw lakes and hills and etc. etc. then we went up into the mountains and saw this tower that i forgot the name of an all these graves and walked around the lakes and it was just absolutely beautiful. it was a moment that i can't believe was real. amazing.
too bad i felt like death the entire time though. especially during the 3 mile walk around that beautiful lake.
when we finally got back into dublin, we played drinking games with the rugby boys in the community room and then we went back to turks's. chelsey, bridget and i met up with jed and joey at this pub called mezz. we hung out there for a while but we were all so tired. we wandered around the river walk and then went to a different pub called sine. we split up with some of the other girls who were with us and jed, joey, bridge, brandon and i went and found pizza. then joey and brandon got distracted with irish women, who are all muffin tops, and jed walked bridget and i back to the hostel.
then jed and i sat outside the hostel like bums for hours talking and talking. we agreed on a lot of things and it was nice to be around a guy again, besides poor brandon, because being around this many girls is driving me crazy. we had a really amazing conversation.
sunday - i was supposed to wake up and go to mass with bridget and chelsey, but i did not. i was too tired. chelsey, bridget, jill and i went and toured dublin castle and the national museum of ireland. they were both really amazing.
then we met up with jed in the trinity college park. the girls went to take a nap so jed and i explored the city. we found the original dublin city wall and climbed up to the top of it. then the police yelled at me to get down. but it was crazy to sit up on this wall and just view the whole city. jed and i basically found every park we could. then we came back to the hostel and hung out with bridget and chelsey and laura. then we got some food and we said goodbye to jed. he caught the last bus back to where he lives and we came back to the hostel.
now i've been sitting here writing for the last hour or so.
i have to be up in 3 hours to catch my flight to scotland. this trip has been full of memories and stories thus far.
all for now. try to write again when i can.