first week of classes is over! and, might i say, it was a hectic one indeed. lots of classes, lots of outings, lots of alcohol, and not much sleep. oops! i can sleep when i'm dead, right?
monday after classes, we met up with two local actors who work for the "literary pub crawl." we met at the duke, where we were promptly greeted with a scene from "waiting for godot," samuel beckett's most famous play. throughout the night, we went to four other pubs of literary import and, at each, were entertained with recitations, acting, historical references, and camaraderie from our fearless leaders. they recited things from oscar wilde, james joyce, jonathan swift and more. it was an incredibly fun evening, and the group ended up at o'neill's afterwards for some live music and dancing.
tuesday, we had film class in the morning (which should be fun and interesting...we have weekly journal assignments in this class, but otherwise it should prove just as easy as the rest.) in the afternoon, we were taken on a tour of trinity's campus and to see the book of kells and the old library. the old library houses some of the oldest books in europe, including that beautiful book of kells. it was glorious. on tuesday night, most of us stayed in to recover from monday night's revelry.
wednesday was a full day of classes once again, with a 2.5 hour block of visual culture in the morning (which was incredibly engaging, surprisingly), followed by history, critical issues (lecture on ireland in the EU), and drama (which i skipped in favor of getting some last minute book shopping in). afterwards, we went to the theatre to see the world premiere of bookworms, a fantastic new irish play. it was hilarious and creepy at the same time, and getting to see the abbey and to see more of the city was amazing nonetheless. (bookworms review) afterwards, a big group of us went out to a pub close to campus called the porterhouse, which happened to be having ninety's night as well as cocktail specials. this has proven to be my favorite bar so far, with cheap prices, house brews, and the most delicious strawberry beer i've ever tasted. while there, we were bombarded by italian and french men who seemed to be very intrigued by our study abroad program. more likely story? they wanted to get in our pants. it was fun nonetheless, and with drink prices the way they are, we can't complain about getting a couple free ones.
today was another full day of classes. literature (more yeats) and gaelic culture (origins of the irish language) in the morning, film in the afternoon. in between, we had a local travel writer come visit us to tell us what we shouldn't miss while in ireland. he was very intrigued by the opportunities we're being offered during this summer school, because the caliber of professors, guest lecturers, speakers, and other guests is second to none. apparently, we're very lucky to have such a wonderful program ahead of us!
after class, a group of us made some last minute reservations in galway, so that's where we'll be headed for the weekend. there seems to be high contingency from our group visiting galway this weekend, so it should be fun. we'll hop the bus tomorrow, hang out in the city for the day, head to inishmann on saturday, and to the cliffs of moher on sunday. so, an action-packed weekend to be sure, but lots of pictures to be taken!
important buildings to note:
goldsmith hall--where i live
the hamilton--where i eat breakfast
the gmb--where i go to class
the arts building--where i go to film class
front gate--where i go in and out of campus
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