Day 1-3

So this is my first official blog by yours truly, if you have read the others and know me you would realize that I did not in fact choose pretentiously “the prototype of intelligent” nor did I post the information about me!haha… Anyways, surprisingly it is hard to access the Internet at the hotel due to the current construction, which affects the wires supposedly, and the outlets making it nearly impossible to charge my computer. Thus blogging seems to be the only efficient way to keep everyone updated and allow me to fully digest the rapid activities of the day!
I left Wednesday morning from SFO and arrived in Dublin at 8:45 the next morning. It was a long flight to say the least. I tried staying up Tuesday night so I could sleep on the plane but after 2:30 AM I was knocked out. So for the actual flight itself I was too awake to sleep at all! Instead I learned the life story of the guy next to me from start to finish… how he grew up as an only child and GRANDCHILD..NO COUSINS!.. and how he will be graduating with his degree from Poli-Sci which he will further pursue in either educational law or follow his heart into Teachers For America. Etc etc etc…quite interesting in fact. The customs guy taught me Gaelic and a random woman also taught me words. The Irish are friendly at the very least.
The original plan was for us to head to the hotel then lunch but unfortunately the hotel did not have our rooms ready yet. Instead, we started touring the city right away. I remember when I went to DC in high school I was in awe of the timelessness of the buildings but seeing Ireland made me realize the newness of America and changed my standard of timelessness! The city literally looks like a backdrop for a Charles Dickens story. Thanks to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Ormonde, in 1700, the city of Dublin turned from a colonial looking town to a Georgian—meaning it looked more British. The brick houses face the Liffey River and the cobble-stoned streets are wide. Nearly every house has either a red, green or even blue door. The craziest thing is that you can literally close your eyes and imagine life vividly during the 1700.After touring the city for a bit we went to another hotel for lunch. THE FOOD IS GOOD! I was so relieved. I thought I was going to starve this trip this was further proven by the deli pasta we ate at the yacht restaurant. After taking two Tylenol PM I knocked out only to wake up at 8 the next morning (12 pm ca time)…
The Iveagh House is the meetinghouse for the Irish Foreign Service. We met with Foreign minister Ralph Victory (I think his name was. again note I was too tired.). He spoke of the connection between the US and Ireland. The Irish have been fighting for literally hundreds of years to for their independence from the English. Unfortunately, the fight is not yet over. But the US has helped to continue this process with their money and support, most notably was perhaps surprisingly Bill Clinton. However, Victory was quick to point out that the needs during the 90’s were different from those during the Bush administration yet the Irish still had confidence that if and when there was a need Bush and US would be supportive. Apparently the Irish simply love Obama much to my dismay. But Victory did question whether we thought the expectations of him are too high which would cause many disappointments with time. Of course I agreed. Again the architect was amazing. The Europeans are much more ornate and detail oriented. I took some pictures but the pictures honestly do not do it justice.
We then visited Trinity College, which was founded by English protestant, Queen Elizabeth I that once again alienated the native Irish catholic’s furthering the “troubles.” To give you a picture of this segregation, the school opened in the 1500’s and Catholics were not admitted until 1973.The college library itself contains 200,000 books some of which dating back 6000 years ago. As a whole, in storage as well, the college owns 4.5 million books. It’s almost like the US library of congress. Most notably is the possession of the Book of Kells, which the first four books of the gospel copied by the Irish Monks. The pages are colorful and were meant more for show than actual reading. Unfortunately the actual book was not there at the time but the facsimile is and I wasn’t able to take pictures.
After dinner we went to the National Abbey Theatre and saw a modern rendition of Playboy of the Western World. Of course, playboy for us has a different connotation so I was slightly hesitant. But here in Ireland, playboy means a “ hoaxer or deceiver.” Chris Mahoney is on the run for killing his father. The contained community he goes to is so obsessed with the dangerous edge he presents that they welcome him with open arms. They only reject him after learning that he did not in fact kill his father but instead merely hit him with a shovel. In essence, it spoke of a)do not be so taken with appeance b) be careful for gossip………..hahah
When we got back to the hotel, yani and I stayed up to two in the morning working on our twenty-minute presentation. Jetlagged and frustrated with the Internet connection, I literally wanted to shoot myself. We pulled through and presented this morning after waking up late and missing breakfast…not okay with me. 1916 is a big year for Ireland because it was then that it first proclaimed her independence even if it was more in words than in reality. However with this proclamation came a battle. So today we did a walking tour of 1916.and mahn was it was a walk…after lunch, we journeyed to the national Art Mueseum which many of the famous Irish paintings. It was then I realized just how proud the Irish are as a people. There are two things that you do not ask or discuss with the Irish: politics and religion. It is the most taboo subject you could ever venture—some of this could perhaps be attributed to this same pride. It is important to remember that nearly all if not all of the battles/struggles and neither protestant English or Irish Catholics (both residents here) want to be reminded of the painful disappointments of the past.
On the way to Dublin Castle, there was a rather large protest against the Isrealis and although Ireland is a democracy like the US( freedom to assemble and speech) it made me terribly uncomfortable and it made me want to go home.. for two minutes..hahah
Dublin Castle is where King John resided. Those of you who read Robin Hood would remember him as Prince John. Again the architect was awe-strucking. It was crazy to see the actual throne of Queen Victoria and her dressing room. The castle is still very much in use by the Irish government. The tour guide talked about their capital punishment then: they would hang the convicted for a long period of time without causing death, they would disembowel him meaning cutting him from his throat to the stomach (taking out all the vital organs), still not dead yet they would drag him through the streets only to bring him back and cut off his arms and legs to let him die a slow death. I was literally stricken and it bothered me that many of these people were killed under the supposed banner of Christ. Very few of the battles were lead by “religious men” yet they had no problem killing their fellow men so callously. Even now, religion is still an influential part of Ireland. Part of the reason that Ireland voted against being apart of the European Union is that it is afraid that it will cause moral decay.—kinda ironic. Because of 1986-flood archeologist were able to uncover the original walls and moat of the castle that Dublin castle later was built on. These dated back to 1000 years old.
After going back to the hotel, we went to Gate Theater to see Charles Dickens’ Old Curiosity Shop which I recommend reading even if it’s a bit disheartening.
Anyways its getting late and I wrote literally paper. excuse the errors but it is now past two in the morning… I’m going to try to put up pics but I don’t really know how to do it so it may be out of order. but ill put up better pictures later...Slan!

P.S. btw P.D is petie and its his birthday today! Yay…….