Another Week in Ireland!

Last week I had dinner with some friends at another friend's house. I must say I felt very grown up bringing a glass of wine to the hosts of a fabulous homemade sushi dinner. Afterwards we played Chinese checkers, a game I have not played since I was a child so I suppose I am not completely grown up yet! Last Sunday Ireland played France in their second match of Six Nations. I watched the game with some friends and in true American spirit (and knowing that the Superbowl would be on in the wee hours of the night here) we made onion dip to enjoy during the game. Sadly Ireland lost, though it was a very well played match. I am hoping they will beat Scotland this weekend as I think a win would boost the countries moral as we head into elections this Friday.

I watched the debates for the upcoming election with my flatmate, who tried his best to explain Irish politics to me. There are five parties: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, Labor and Green. Naturally that means there were five people debating each other which lead to a lot of bantering and talking over each other. But that's politics, right? Fianna Fail was the current party of the Taoiseach (prime minister) Brian Cowen who recently stepped down, so it is not expected for them to have a positive outcome in this election. Most of the people I have talked to favor Fine Gael and the Labor Party, who may combine into one party, and are expected to win. (I hope I have all of that right, it is very confusing!) Of course I cannot vote here so I will watch and learn and report back to you. It is very exciting to be living in a country on the brink of change. I watched as the people of Egypt took to the streets of Cairo, streets which I had been walking down only a few years ago, and I felt a sense of pride. As the House and Senate are now meeting in the U.S. I urge everyone to write to their representatives and not to take your freedom for granted. Now I shall step down from my soapbox. Thank you.

On Saturday I got out of Dublin for the day and headed to County Meath, just north of Dublin. I went to the Boyne Valley a place of extreme significance to Irish history. I saw Newgrange, an ancient tomb and  observatory used to mark the winter solstice that was built by the Druids well before the pyramids in Egypt were built. It is built of white stone into a hill, and while very unassuming it is absolutely beautiful. Simply standing inside the tomb I could feel that it was indeed a sacred place. On the winter solstice as the sun rises over the east the ray's of light fall into a box like cavern and lights up the entire tomb. It is believed that this may have been done because the Druids worshipped the sun. Regardless it took an extreme understanding of math and science in order to build Newgrange in a way where to this day the sun still finds its way into the tomb every winter solstice. As we arrived fog was rising from the valley, just as I imagine it had hundreds upon hundreds of years ago. The River Boyne flows through the valley and its banks were the grounds for the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 where William of Orange fought James II for the thrown of England. William's victory caused what has become a great divide between Protestants and Catholics and is still prevalent today.
I also went to the Hill of Tara which was once the site of the home of Ireland's ancient kings. From the hill you can see 23 of Ireland's 32 counties, now a breathtaking view, it would have kept the King safe from enemy attack. The hill is now surrounded by farmland and as I wandered through the mud pondering what it would have been like so long ago I stumbled upon some sheep grazing nonchalantly.  It was truly a lovely sight to see.

Today there was a beautiful rainbow outside my bedroom window. It made a full arch across the whole sky. I was lucky to have noticed because the weather changes quickly and it soon vanished.

Well that's all for now. I'll be back with more soon!