Good Craic

It has been a long week. St. Paddy's day was a lot of fun, crazy, and a very long day. I met up with a friend at 11:30am and well started drinking.  We walked down to see that parade, bottle of hard cider in hand, a guard (policeman) saw us and just smiled and walked away. The parade was great, not like the ones in the States with huge floats, instead most of the "floats" were on contraptions that reminded me of the first bicycles. One big wheel and a small wheel. There were also stilt walkers and acrobats which gave the parade an old time feel. After the parade it was time to eat so we met up with some friends, braving the crowded streets of Temple Bar. I literally ate a huge bowl of chips and sausage (and a pint of Guinness), this seemed a rational meal for someone who intended to keep drinking. And that's what I did! We happily hopped from pub to pub mixing amongst the crowds of Irish and all the crazy tourists. At about 3:00am I scarfed down more chips and called it a night.

On Saturday Ireland played England in a rugby match and won! It was a great match, especially because if England had won they would have won the Grand Slam (when a team beats all of the other five teams competing in Six Nations). This coupled with St. Paddy's made for a weekend of Irish pride.

On Sunday I went on an excursion to Dollymount Strand and Bull Island, a place frequented by James Joyce, which I read about in an excerpt from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.  It was nice to get away from the city and be by the ocean, especially since it only took about an hour to get there. It was a nice day and many people were enjoying the beach and flying kites. From the beach you can see the Dublin city centre and the Wicklow mountains in the background.

Monday I went with a friend to a place called the Cake Cafe, which serves of course, cake! Yum!

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent on a house project with a friend. Apparently there are some disadvantages to Ireland's wet climate, such as condensation. The bathroom in my flat was getting moldy from the condensation so we cleaned it with this special spray and repainted the bathroom with some special paint! How exciting.

On Friday I met up with some friends at an old, classic Dublin pub for some pints and traditional Irish music, my friend knew one of the musicians which was an extra plus. I was invited to come back and dance with them next week, as it was too crowded to dance that day.  Saturday I did about the same, only I substituted Guinness for Jameson. I have to give them both fair treatment.

Sunday was a gorgeous day so I walked over to Phoenix Park, I believe it is the biggest city park in the world. (Even bigger than  NY's Central Park!) The president of Ireland's house is in the park, as well as the Dublin zoo, and a large herd of elk that call the park home. I treated myself to some cake at the Teahouse and basked in the sun for the afternoon while reading Yeates. How posh am I?

We finally had daylight savings time here and the days are getting longer and brighter, which no one is objecting to. I'm told in the summer it will stay light out till around 11pm, that sounds like a lot of fun!

Oh yeah, "Craic" pronounced crack means fun. This lesson in the Irish language brought to you by me. More from our sponsors after these messages!

Erin Go Bragh!

Twas the night before Christmas and all- er I mean St. Patrick's Day. But my excitement is like that of a child before Christmas. Tomorrow I will be living it up in Dublin, you can't have a St. Patrick's day any more Irish than that. Yes, be jealous.The town is packed with people, everything is green and the Irish flag is proudly flying. For a country that has been in a bitter recession and had an unusually cold winter, it is nice that there is this great national holiday.

This past week was quiet. I've been saving my energy for tomorrow. I had pancakes on Pancake Tuesday, if religion was more focused on food like that I could become very devout. It is now the season of Lent and I am giving up...well nothing. I saw another play, unfortunately I cannot give it a rave review like the last one. I did see a film, Rango starring Johnny Depp which I highly recommend. Also went to an "American" style diner but alas was disappointed with the milkshakes. I'll just have to stick to Guinness. Darn. Ireland played Wales and lost. It was a devastating game to see. They will play England on Saturday for their final match of Six Nations. Hoping for a St. Paddy's miracle that they win.

As it has been very lovely out I have been walking around the city more. I am currently reading a book of collected works by Irish writers which details the areas that they reference in their work. It seems that I am relatively close to the neighborhood of James Joyce and have been walking through the streets he was famous for walking down. Maybe this is my ticket to fame? As long as I don't turn out as crazy as he did.

Thoughts and prayers to Japan. I am lucky to be living in a place of practically no chance of natural disaster. Not even snakes!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all! Slainte!

Animal House or Animal Farm?

It has been a busy week with my theatre company as we are applying for grants for the year. I am still really enjoying my work there. My boss gave me a pair of slippers that her mother knitted for me! They are super cute and cozy.

The other night as I was trying to sleep I heard the sound of a distant siren and momentarily mistook it for a lonely coyote, as I am more used to hearing than the sounds of the city. I felt a pang of yearning for the quiet countryside nights I grew up with. So how did I remedy this? Went to the zoo, of course! I know, I am sure you are thinking that I should have gone to Ireland's beautiful countryside (next time I promise) but the zoo was closer. Almost as if the zoo knew what I had been missing, the pack of grey wolves put on a great show of howling. We also saw the seals being fed and got up close to some lovely peacocks. The highlight of the Dublin zoo is their Red Panda which was adorable. Ironically we were most excited about the puppies we see on our walk back through Phoenix Park.

On Saturday night I had dinner with some friends for a friend's birthday. It was a pretty eclectic group; 2 Americans, 2 Irish, 3 Spaniards, 1 person from Poland and 1 person from China. One of the many benefits of living in a large city being able to meet people from all over the world. Great food and great company.

The biggest drama of my time here in Ireland occurred on Sunday. The Smithfield Horse Market occurs ever first Sunday of the month on the square right outside my apartment. This past Sunday the market was especially larger than most because the Dublin city council has been threatening to close the market due to safety concerns and participants wanted to show the council that they would not stand down. Well, I had not been able to see the market before so I decided to brave the crowds. It is rumored that there 400 horses and ponies, I am not sure if that is true because I could not even see the whole square because it was so crowded. Having been around horses before, and having my own donkey, my instincts told me that this was not safe. Too many horses and people and too many spectators who did not know how to safely be around horses. I left and right on time! As I made breakfast in my flat I heard a lot of noise, and horses running around. Then I heard sirens and helicopters circling overhead. I knew something was up. It turns out that two men were shot (with a makeshift shotgun) and had to be taken to the hospital. The gunshots spooked the horses and they ran, causing a stampede of animals and horses. It is a miracle more people were not hurt. Ireland's police force, the Gardai (meaning guardians of the peace), do not carry guns so the Irish army had to step in to secure the scene. The shooting occurred due to a Traveller feud. Traveller's are an Irish ethnic group that are known as "modern-day gypsies". There is a lot of tension between them and Irish people, I know too little and it is too controversial for me to really get into. My theatre company has run programs that work with Traveller organizations, so I have come across the culture through my work there as well.

All drama aside, it has been very nice here with the spring weather and I have enjoyed walking around Dublin, taking in the sights. Also my culinary skills are improving as I am learning to be a grown up and cook for myself. Today I made basil pesto and bread pudding. I am also excited to see what Ireland will be like as tomorrow is Pancake Tuesday followed by Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. I am not entirely sure why I am excited, but I know it is an important part to Ireland's culture and hopefully it will be an interesting experience. Of course I am most excited for St. Patrick's Day which is just around the corner!

After while crocodile!

(Did you see that? I made an animal joke to go with my animal theme. Genius, I know.)