Take Two

Ok well, not much has happened over the weekend. Or at least since I last posted. Me and Kelsey (roomie...she's so mean, kidding) were so exhausted that we decided to keep it chill and just catch up on sleep, etc. And I require ALOT of sleep. Let's see...on Saturday we got up around noon and went running in St. Stephen's park which is a beautiful 22 acre park in the middle of the busy city. We were definitely the only people running in the park. It was nice to enjoy the fresh air and just people watch.
Yesterday (Sunday) we went to St. Patrick's for church. It was very similar in architecture and service to my visit to Christ Church. The only thing was I felt very separated from the rest of the church during the service. The members were very distant and almost seemed annoyed to have "tourist" visitors there although we were dressed nicely in church clothes.
One thing I found interesting was that they waited until after their service to have communion and then it was held in a separate chapel. It seemed that the only purpose to this was so that the paying visitors could be let in sooner. The organist had not finished the postlude before the covers were ripped off of counters and the tourists began pouring in. Just a little strange to me. The church was beautiful though and even had a little adjoining park to it.
In this park is the supposed location of the well where St. Patrick baptized his converts. This is disputed though. And sorry the picture is so bad.
There were a lot of interesting things inside the church itself. There were stones from this supposed well of St. Patrick. They aren't sure if they're for real or not though. Actually at one time author Jonathan Swift was the dean there or something. He wrote Gulliver's Travels. Him and his wife are buried there. They actually have some death masks of him and his wife. Creepy right? These are like molds cast of his face right before he was buried. But they are buried like right in the entryway of the church.
One of the things that really caught my eye was this very old copy of Handel's Messiah. The Messiah was first performed here in Dublin actually. This is a hand written copy of the Hallelujah Chorus that was owned by some famous singer in like 1700s.
I thought that was really neat. Today we had a pretty relaxed day just walking around the city. I really like it here but I'm excited to get to England!

Taoiseachs, playwrights and monks...oh my!

Cliche title I know, sorry for the lack of creativity. Well, the fun never ends here in Dublin, Ireland. Yesterday was another busy day beginning with a briefing at the Taoiseach's office. 

The Taoiseach is basically the prime minister of Ireland. He or she is appointed by the President. The President here is has much less power and is more of a figurehead like the Queen of England. The President is expected to be neutral so the Taoiseach does more of the actual policy work. We didn't actually meet the guy but some people from economics and foreign policy departments talked to us. I was bored because I don't understand any of that stuff.

After that I got to do something much more up my alley with the English group. We went to a reading of the play The Long Christmas Dinner by Thornton Wilder. This reading was part of a celebration of the 80th birthday of Irish playwright Brian Friel. He was actually there too. We read some of his plays for the trip so it was really neat to see him. He selected three plays that influenced his writings so we saw that one last night and we're going to another tonight.

The reading was held in the Abbey Theatre. It was founded by Lady Gregory among others whose estate we visited earlier in the trip. At one point W.B. Yeats was involved in the theatre. I think it was a controversial place because it was a place for specifically Irish plays that promoted the culture of the Irish. 

Today I got to sleep in and then head over to the Book of Kells. We were able to get in for free (thank goodness) since we're staying at Trinity which is where the Book is held. There was a boring little intro to how the books were made which led up to the actual manuscripts. They really are beautiful.

I can't imagine how long it took these monks to make these things and how meticulous they had to be. They were also very artistic. The thing that I was most impressed with was the Long Room Library.

Yeah, that's two stories of books right there. The library was filled with books by like 1850 so that's when they knocked the roof off and built the second story. You can't see or get near any of the books but you can still take in the impressiveness of the place. The had an interesting little exhibit going on consisting of books and things from different countries about the rise and fall of Napoleon. That wasn't too exciting except they did have a facsimile of one of Beethoven's original compositions. I can't remember the title of the symphony but it was something in E minor. That's not helpful...So tonight we get to go to another reading which I am psyched about. Did I mention how much I love theater?!

For Chuck Beatty...we owe him so much

Whirlwind. As I sit here writing this blog post, I'm having a hard time even remembering what I've done the past few days. I have seen more museums, sights of historical importance, and pretty stuff in the last two weeks than in my whole life, maybe.
So anyways, yesterday we started off the morning with a thoroughly confusing class on how to define culture. I always feel like their trying to trick us into discussions like these were there's no real answer or the answer is simply, you can't define culture. Don't get me started. It makes my head hurt. But after that stimulating class we went to the National Museum of Ireland--Archaeology. If was like a labyrinth in there and they had so much stuff. The early things were just rocks and gold but they had some beautiful chalices, crosses and things like that as we went along. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take any pictures.
Some highlights of the museum:
-some random Egyptian mummies (yeah in an IRISH museum, I know)
-the bell of St. Patrick...I don't think this was actually owned by him but it was still cool
-Mary Helen informing me that I am not allowed to bring my furby in the museum (dang it)
-the bog people...Allow me to elaborate. These are people who were killed for some reason or another and thrown into bogs as a burial. These murders or executions took place as far back as the 1700s. Their bodies have been preserved because of the condition of the bogs. Their skin, hair, clothes, teeth and organs are mostly in tact. It was kinda creepy. Here's a picture of one of the less creepy ones that I found online.
Some of them were definitely terrifying to see. It is fascinating to me how they are so well preserved. Scientists could even see what they ate for their last meal and therefore estimate the time of year of their death because of the types of food they ate. Gross.
Then we went to the National Library. Like my mecca, right? Well you just wait til I entertain you with story's of Chuck Beatty's lib. Anyways, they had this exhibition to W.B. Yeats, who was Irish. I learned cool stuff and really weird stuff about him. Like he was really into the occult. It was just cool to be in there in the presence of things that had his personal handwriting on it. They had early hand written drafts of his poetry as well as wonderful things like the Nobel Prize he won. Not even fair. Unfortunately the reading room and genealogy area of the 'brary were closed but while the economics and poli sci kids peaced out, we English majors had the time of our lives.
So last night we ate at a yummy little cafe down in the Temple Bar area. Temple Bar is one two large areas of town that are shopping centers/restaurant/bar parts of town that are closed to cars so they are very pedestrian friendly. There are street performers EVERYWHERE. You name it someone's doing it on the street. Bands? Check. Rapper? Check. Chalk artist? Check. Sand sculpturerer? Check. Firebreather? Easy, check.
Today half of our group had to go to some economical thing at a bank (HA) so I got to sleep in and then head over to the Chester Beatty Library. Words can't describe...I mean...It was just...aggghh!
Me and MH with our new hero
Ok Chester was an American citizen who was a mining engineer and multimillionaire. Over the years through his travels he amassed a collection of books, manuscripts and artifacts from all over the world that was so large he hired his own librarians and researchers to catalog and research his findings. He became an honorary Irish citizen as he lived here awhile I think. When he died he left his entire collection to the people of Ireland to be preserved as a free museum. Pretty cool right?
Let's just say that the average age of the things in this museum was probably somewhere around 1300 AD at the latest. The collection opened with 900 oriental snuff bottles. There were extensive collections of art and manuscripts from China, Thailand and India. He had so much stuff that the entire collection is not even on display. He has something like 30,000 manuscripts. How does one person gather that much stuff in a lifetime?
Things that were just the most ridiculous:
-Prints by Albrecht Durer
-Korans (as in more than one) dating back to the 9th and 10th century
-Complete Atlas of the world from the 1500s
-a map of Virginia that looked more like South Carolina
And finally probably the most ridiculous was the Egyptian papyrus manuscripts. These fragments of papyrus contain some of the oldest known pieces of the Bible. They date between 100-200AD. OLD. Here's a picture of one that I found on the internet, but it gives you the idea of what I saw.
Some of the oldest fragments were from the various gospels. They also have the oldest copies of Pauls letters. All I saw were fragments but apparently they came in codexes so only a small part of the collection was even on display. That was one of those moments when I just wanted to sit in the room and soak it in. I had finished looking at everything and I just stood there in the presence of such amazing artifacts.
So after we experienced that awesomeness I went back to the room to decompress. And what better way to decompress than to shop! I went to my first H&M and blew so much money (sorry dad)! I've got to keep up with the European fashion here after all!

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah

Huzzah huzzah WHAT?! I forgot to post on the most important event of my week thus far! The Ole Miss vs Memphis football game! (and football like with the pointed ball not the non-contact sport of soccer). Well I tried so freakin hard to find a place to listen to or watch the game. I wasted money even because espn360 would not work on my computer. It seems that espn had like exclusive rights to this game or something because it was nowhere online. Anyway here's my favorite player:
Yeah be jealous of that. Jerrell Powe is my boy. He's slimmed down considerably to a respectable 320 pounds. And he might be 40 years old by now. But who's counting?
Jevan holds his own in my heart though...
Well I found this horrible website called gametracker.com where it updates after each play and has like little cartoon people running all over the field. Hey, it was the best I had. From what I saw we have alot to improve on.
I mean, a win is a win but it seemed like we were a little rusty and the offensive line (I know we've got alot of people hurt) needs to STEP UP. Put me in coach. I am ready to play.
I am waiting for the day little Dex gets pulled down by his hair.
Hey it's Greg Hardy! Guess what? He got hurt again. Careful there buddy, we need you this season. Fun fact: He went to my rival high school and I actually saw him play basketball. I remember him from that more than football because he was really good and annoying because of his little swagger. But I can cheer for him now!

Final Score:
Ole Miss: 45 Memphis: 14

Maybe next time Tigers...oh wait.

By the way, I miss him...

Highs and Lows

In the past two days I have had one of the most beautiful and fantastic experiences of my life and also one of the most disturbing and depressing experiences. First on Sunday we decided to attend Christ Church here in Dublin. It is an Anglican Church, which is surprising considering that's the Church of England and most of Ireland is Catholic. The service was strange simply because not less that five minutes after the service ended the sheets were ripped off of the postcard rounders and the ticket counter in order to let the tourists flood back in. I think it's sad when a church is surviving based on the success of it's ability to sell itself to tourists.
Anyways, we ended up saving 4 euro on the admission fee since we went to the service for free and just hung around to tour the place. And it is an absolutely gorgeous place, both to worship and to observe. The Vikings first built Christ Church Cathedral in 1038 or something like that. It was continually added onto over the years and redone so I don't believe any of the original structure is still standing. But a portion of the walls standing date back to the 1500s. One of the walls actually leans out 18 inches and has been that way since it was built in the 16th century. You can kind of see it in this picture. It's the right wall.
By the way it was super hard for me to take pictures in here because the flash made everything dark but without the flash my camera took really blurry pics. Anywho, after the service we went down to the crypt (yeah that kind of crypt) for some tea and coffee. We met a British man who had lived in Ireland 30 years who talked to us for HOURS about history in general and different things in the cathedral. Literally we were there two hours talking to him. Informative, but overkill. But he was able to point out things to us like the crests of various kingdoms or families that were on graves and things. The place was filled with beautiful stain glass depicting various scenes from the Bible and the lives of Saints.
There were lots of really old relics here. One thing in particular that was interesting and nasty was a little glass plate on the wall with a cat and mouse behind it. Well apparently the cat was chasing the mouse at some point and they both got stuck in the organ pipe and were mummified like that. G-ROSS! But at the same time kinda cool... I didn't take this picture but here it is.
Today we turned to practically the most opposite tourist destination from a Cathedral...a jail. The Kilmainham Gaol to be precise. This was one of those places that you leave feeling almost sick to your stomach from the stories your hear. I'll spare most of the gory details but I took a bunch of pictures. Which it feels weird to take pictures of places where people were in misery, but I guess I am THAT tourist.
This jail was one of the first reform jails where they tried to rehabilitate their prisoners instead of just punish them. It was built sometime in the 1780s. Unfortunately the reform system didn't really work out and the jail became a symbol of political conflict more than anything else.
This is one of the wings of the jail. You probably recognize it from movies like the old Italian Job and the Academy Award winning In the Name of the Father. It's used as a movie set often because it is the largest jail in Europe that is no longer in use. Here's your average cell:
On the opposite of that was this lovely view (excuse the vandalism)
Yes, that is an eyeball. As you can see in the first picture this jail was created in an oval shape. This was so that everydoor could be viewed from a central point. The idea was to make the inmates paranoid that they were being watched at all times (though in reality this was impossible). Therefore, there were peepholes in everydoor for the guards with the eyeball staring at the inmates. Also they placed carpet around the perimeter so that inmates coudl not hear the guards footsteps if they were patrolling, or even be aware that a guard was patrolling at all.
This is a picture of a hall in the older wing of the jail. Long story short the jail was overcrowded because of the strict laws (ex: a 5 year old boy was sentenced to a month in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, a 7 year old girl 3 months for stealing a cloak in the winter). It's capacity was something like 160 and at one point there was 1000-2000 people in the jail at one time. This happened during the potato famine and people would commit crimes purposefully because, believe it or not, the conditions in the jail were better than outside. At least in the jail they were guaranteed one meal a day. Anyways, during the overcrowded times this hall had straw on the floor and had people lining each side so there was enough room to sleep. Crazy.
This is some "grafitti" that was found on the walls of solitary confinement of a famous political leader (who was against the British I think).
The tour guide didn't go into exactly what it was, but it's protected by glass so it must be important right? Right.
This jail is most known for it's part in the execution of the members of the Easter Rising rebellion of 1916. This was an attempt to create a free state of Ireland separate from the rest of Britain. It lasted 6 days but eventually failed with an unconditional surrender of the rebels. It did play an important role in the future of the formation of Ireland as a separate country. When it failed the leaders were taken to this jail (which had become a military jail) and executed. There's alot of heartbreaking stories from that, but I don't feel like retelling them.
The cross marks the place they were killed and a plaque immortilizes their names.

This is the "exercise" area. It shows how high and impenetrable the walls were. No one ever escaped except for like bribing guards and stuff.
On the upside I got to spend a wonderful day running around the town trying to fix my computer! Oh wait...
But we had crepes again for dinner! For like the 3rd time! Crepes and diet coke...breakfast, lunch OR dinner of champions.

I like to take tours of old things aka Dublin Castle

Today we had a free day to sleep in (until noon to be precise) and explore the city. There are really alot of things to see and do here in Dublin. Today we decided to go to Dublin Castle.
I still don't understand exactly who lived here, but it was used a the royal residence in Ireland when it was still under the control of the English. Actually here was where the ceremony took place that made Ireland it's own country (I think). Apparently this castle has been around since like 400 AD and was once a part of the walls surrounding the city of Dublin. Today they use the castle for state ceremonies such as the inauguration of the Irish president which takes place in this hall.
Part of the castle had fallen in over the years and wasn't excavated until the 60s or 70s. You can go down there now and see where the moat around the castle was and where the river still runs underground through it.
We made some new friends along the way...
And enjoyed some refreshing Diet Coke...

"The Country of Whiskey and Love"

I have now taken up residence at Trinity College in the lovely city of Dublin. We are actually staying on campus in one of the "houses." It's fun because our whole group can be close together. Trinity College is a beautiful campus. I'm hoping to take a tour of it so that I can get all the history and everything. Apparently Samuel Beckett and Sir Isaac Newton are among the many famous people who went to school here. Yesterday we were given the day off to get a feel for the city (and catch up with all the work that I had not done). Me and Kelsey explored the town and then met up with a group to take a tour of the Guinness Factory. Yay. For anyone who's wondering, the drinking age is 18 here so I am legal to drink. It was an interesting tour as the place we toured still makes beer for all of Europe and North America. Fun fact: when Arthur Guinness signed the lease for the building in 1759 he signed it for a 9000 year lease. Crazy, huh. This year they're celebrating their 250th anniversary so it's a pretty big deal.
The end of the tour leads you to the "Gravity Bar" where you have an almost 360 degree view of the city of Dublin. Actually this bar is the highest point in the city as they do not have skyscrapers (or anything over about 5 stories). The view was amazing.
This picture actually captures the essence of Ireland as it can rain on you at any minutes. I'll be walking down the street and it will be sunny, then pour for about 3 minutes, and then be sunny again. The temperature changes that drastically too. Included with the tour of the Guinness factory is a free pint of Guinness.Don't worry guys. I took like 3 sips of it and couldn't handle it anymore. Beer is not my drink. And I could never replace Diet Coke as the number one drink in my heart.