Week 1 Overview

Well it's Saturday afternoon in a cloudy Dublin and I'm taking this opportunity to keep in touch and record a few of the thoughts I've had about the last week since being in Ireland.

The flight here wasn't as brutal as I expected. I was almost sick on the plane, but once we landed and I was able to get some actual fresh air, I felt alot better. I was worried about getting through immigration and customs, but it all went more smoothly than anticipated. I showed my passport and acceptance letter and then collected my baggage. I was petitioned to register with the police before 30 days in the country is up. After I got all my shit together, I went to find customs and the exit...both were easily marked and located. However, there was no one manning the customs desk, just a sweet sliding glass door to the outside world. So I moseied my way on thru and entered the real Ireland for the first time. I met up with some other Bentley students and made our way by cab to the Hostel.

Our hostel is called "The Times Hostel," and is situated right near Trinity College in downtown Dublin. It has a great location and is within walking distance to great areas such as Grafton Street, St. Stephen's Green O'Connell Street, and Temple Bar Area. We have done a lot of exploring, attempting to become acclimated with our surroundings. It has been a success for the most part, only getting lost a handful of times and always finding our way back even in a drunken stupour thanks to Captain Doug! :)

I was able to try a great selection of new beers since being here and let me tell you that the Guinness served in Dublin is definitely not the Guinness that is served in the States. Over here, it is so creamy and delicious, it is almost like drinking a milkshake. Well a beer flavored milkshake. There aren't as many microbrews or variety of beers as I was expecting but there are alot of foreign brands that we don't have back home. So far I have tried Guinness, Murray's Brownfield, Porterhouse Red, a martini, Kilkenney, Smithwick's, Hard Pear Cider, and an Irish Coffee. So far, I have not been turned off by anything or disliked any of the brews that I have tried.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that along with a variety of pubs and restaurants unique to Ireland and Dublin, there are also American foods available such as McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Subway. Now before you freak out, no, I haven't been eating there every night. My roommates and I did try Pizza Hut last night and the portions are much smaller than in the States but the pizza was still good. The garlic bread was a sliced up baguette with fresh garlic and cheese on top, different, but absolutely delicious. They are big on the baguettes, scones, and crossiants over here, which is absolutely fine by me!

We tried out the dancing at Club 21 and I didn't really like it. The boys were a little too handsy for my taste, but the music was all good and mostly American. There was a good atmosphere and a built in bar in the club, it was interesting and different. All the girls were wearing clothes that even the sluts at Bentley would have a hard time stomaching and the hair was crazii teased. It was interesting, but I prefered the pubs to that kind of a show. I missed out on a couple of other bars that were club like and we took over a bar called and Czech Inn, which was a good time. The Bent kids are all sometimes the typical American, but the Irish don't seem to mind our loud and sometimes crude behavior. We had some free wine at a school event and loved that bus ride back. Everyone always seems to have a good time and make the best of any situation, it's very pleasing and surprising.

But that's enough for now I think.