Day 13: I Support the Fine Gael Party

So today we had class.. blah blah blah.. usually morning stuff. This afternoon we visited Carr Communications which was a really cool site visit. They did a case study for us on their road safety project and they showed us a crazy commercial that would never ever be shown on TV in the US. It was pretty shocking. After they showed it to us the guy said "Oops, I probably should have warned you..."
After that we made our way over to the Leinster House, which is home to the Irish Parliament. It was actually pretty cool because they are about to do a Vote of No Confidence to kick the current leadership out so we got to hear some of the debates. We got a tour of the house and got to listen in on both the Dáil (House of Reps.) and the Seanad (Senate). After the tour is where I found my true love: Senator John Paul Phelan... sigh... I am going to move here and be the First Lady!

Day 12: Day of Rest

Once again, nothing too exciting for today. Just class really. After class I decided I needed a day to rest up so I took a nap, did some laundry, and worked on some class work. My group got assigned the Polish community in Ireland so let the work begin!

Day 11: My Feet Hurt

So silly me went on a 4-hour walking tour today. Ouchie! But today was the only day I was going to be able to do it because they start at 11 a.m. every day and I am usually in class. It is this company that offers free tours in most major European cities and I did the Edinburgh and London ones this past Christmas and loved them. Today was just as good. You really learn a whole lot and this tour is aimed at younger people so you get to learn the funny stories too. And what I learned is that the Irish are funny people and half of what they do and their history just doesn't make any sense! But I had a really good time!

Day 10: The Irish Love Their Round-Abouts

Today I went to Cork and it was the first day of real Irish weather.. aka cold and rainy! I miss the sunshine already. Anyway, we took the bus (its cheaper!) which took about 4 hours with all the stops. One thing I learned is that the Irish love their round-abouts which are soo annoying! I really want to introduce overpass exchanges! So once we got to Cork we just walked around a bit and stumbled upon the most AMAZING donut shop ever. We were drawn in by the smell and the guy made us our donuts fresh in front of us! We then went out to Blarney Castle which was soo pretty. Because of our time crunch to catch the bus back to Dublin I didn't get to kiss the stone but I figure I already have the gift of gab so I'm okay!

Day 9: Movie Road

Today we went on a day trip to County Wicklow and Glendalough as a class. It was so much fun. This was the first time I saw how I've always pictured Ireland in my head. We were split into two vans and our van was definitely the party van thanks to our driver Tony. He played us some good ole Irish music! It was also really cool because the road we drove down drove right by where Braveheart was filmed and where Saving Private Ryan and P.S. I Love You had scenes shot. I sat on the bridge from P.S. I Love You!! (see below) All in all it was a beautiful day!

the bridge from P.S. I Love You

Day 8

Sorry, no cool title today. We didn't really do anything. We had class then went to a meeting with the Irish Health Services Executive who we are working with for our class project. After that we just came home and hung out at the dorm until bed. I know, so exciting! I guess not every day can be overly amazing.

Day 7: Boston College Boys

So today we got our group assignment for our class and yay I'm with Torey, Sally, Maia, and Lindsay. We are all in 378 so our project is going to rock! After class we had a site visit to Edelman PR which was kinda cool. We learned that nobody here trusts the government or media or businesses so that sucks just a bit.

After Edelman we popped into "our" pub, The Wellington and had a pint. When we got home we headed down to Chris' room to meet the BC guys who were super cool. We all played cards and just hung out. I am now reconsidering my parents' requests for me to go to Boston College for grad school. :)