well, we've made it. six weeks later, we've collected our exam questions, had yet another glass of wine with our advisers, and have settled in to prepare for exams next week.
this week started with a long day of classes on monday which was topped off with a reading by the nobel laureate poet seamus heaney. it was an absolute delight to be able to sit and chat with him and to hear some of his great poems. he took us through what he called his "lifecycle" as a writer, reading seven poems, each of which he had written at a significant point in his life. he's a great man, and it was fantastic to have him with us.
on tuesday, we had an early film class, during which we discussed our final papers and expectations for the remainder of the week. stachu had a hard time explaining what he wants from us, so we've decided to wing it. luckily, we have until next tuesday at midnight to write a six-page paper comparing two films and analyzing the "irishness" and "hollywoodization" of each, so i'm not worried in the slightest. further, i thrive under pressure but have already prepared an outline complete with quotes from our readings, so i'll be writing that paper next week.
after class, we walked to dail eireann, the parliament building on merrion square. there, we had a historic tour of the building and also had an audience with a current TD (member of parliament), who talked to us a bit about his position as a member of the inactive labour party. they are a minority party and, therefore, don't have much say in terms of lawmaking. they are becoming much more popular in the polls, however, and should gain more seats and a more active role in government after the next election. he also fielded questions, a nice thing considering most of our guests have been greeted by happy silence by us (we're not the most curious bunch, i suppose).
after the dail (pronounced "doyle" in irish), a small group of us trekked it to st. pat's to hear evensong. st. pat's has a well-known music school directly across the street from the cathedral, and the kids in the school perform nightly evensongs and masses. we were delighted to be walking through dublin on such a beautiful evening, taking in more of the sights and checking out the city that has become our home.
on wednesday, we had visual culture class at the hugh lane modern art gallery, a field trip that i've been looking forward to for some time. we cruised the exhibits, learned a lot from our professor, and even got to see an exact replica of francis bacon's studio, a current exhibition here. it was so great, and i definitely felt in my element (thanks mom!) i got separated from the group about halfway through the session, so i checked out more of the art and then made my way down the street to the dublin writer's museum, another treat for me. after filling my brain with more useful knowledge about a bunch of irish writers, i ate lunch in parnell square and mosied down o'connell street, making it back to campus just in time for history class. after class, kate, leslie and i walked across college green to the wax museum and had quite a bit of fun there.
last night, we went to the abbey theatre once again, this time to see a production of sean o'casey's "the plough and the stars," which takes place around the time of the easter rising and the beginnings of the war on independence. the actors were hard to understand and the theatre was, once again, unbearably hot, so we were a bit uncomfortable and were glad to leave three hours later. from there, we went to a bar where we had been told we could sing karaoke, but arrived and were disappointed. after that, we made it to another bar and danced the night away.
this morning was an early one, as i had my last literature and gaelic culture classes. we've been prepped and readied for our exams. we had film class in the afternoon, and were lucky enough to watch "once," one of my favorite films and one that stachu decided not to make us write an assignment on. then, we met up with our advisers for our exam briefing and a glass of wine (they've been serving us lots of wine and doritos throughout the program, a combination that i find purely hilarious and absolutely perfect.)
tonight, the girls and i are going to o'neill's for dinner and traditional music. tomorrow, we'll go on a viking splash tour (grandma, similar to the duck tour we took in saugatuck all those years ago!) and also hope to get to the national gallery for some art time. on saturday, we're going to go to phoenix park and rent bikes and go to the zoo, which i'm very excited about. sunday may provide a day trip to sandycove south of the city, depending on how we're feeling. monday is a bank holiday, luckily, so we have a full day to prepare exams.
our exam schedule is interesting, but not unlike things i've done at NMC or UM. we received lists of questions for each class today and will be able to prepare two essays for each class. tuesday and wednesday are each divided into three exam slots of two hours each. luckily, i only have to sit for three exams, so i plan on spending all day tuesday in the gmb writing those essays, so i have the full day wednesday for last-minute souvenir shopping and packing. i'll spend tuesday night finishing my film paper, so i'll be completely done with academics by wednesday. all in all, i feel completely able to get these last few responsibilities out of the way while still having time for lots of fun this weekend.
all in all, i'm really looking forward to these last few days in dub-town. we've a lot planned and a lot to get done in the short amount of time we have left! of course, i'm still looking forward to being home, but i'm still here and still loving it, so i'll enjoy it while it lasts!
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