Rugby and Reality

After a day of doing work...well I was at least...my roomies and I decided that a nice break would be to watch the Six Nations Rugby Final in a pub. Granted, they had been planning this a couple of days but still. So I decided to tag along and we went to a nice restaurant/bar called "Break for the Border," you may remember that this is also where we watched the Superbowl back in January. (damn I've been here a long time!)

We got there about 40 minutes before the game started because we wanted to be able to get some seats. We lucky out and found a side booth with a perfect view of the tv for game watching. Once we were settled in, we decided we wanted to order some food. Kara had to run home and grab some money and because the waitresses really wanted our order, we didn't wait for her. Shannon and I both got nachos (she got guac on the side) and Morgan ended up with a Chicken Club sandwich. Kara came back and our food arrived shortly after. It was a mountain of nachos! Okay, maybe not a mountain, but at least a hill. The bowl was the size of about 2 cereal bowls and brimming with chips. Then there was melted cheese and beef chili. One corner had sour cream and the other had guacamole, all topped with a few mild jalapenos which I am damn proud to say that I ate. I actually clean my plate (bowl) and was very proud of that fact and I think my mommy would be too! :D I don't normally eat guacamole but it was all right, a little too much lime according to Morgan who said it was too sour to be good, she would know that silly Californian, but I didn't mind it so much. The chili on top was awesome and I think the chips were made they, nice and crisp and salty, like Eddie makes.

Right, so back to the game. By the time we started eating with our good food and tap water (haha) the game was just beginning. Opening ceremonies including team introductions and warm ups along with commentary banter had all begun. And then it was time for RUGBY. At this point, the bar is getting pretty packed with people and boy was I glad we got there early. The game got off to a bad start for Ireland who couldn't seem to hang onto the ball which was frustrating. Not really to me because I don't really understand rugby and had to keep pestering Shannon with questions throughout the game, but it was irritating to most others. Scotland scored first with a kick and their kicker continued to be spectacular throughout the game, damn that Dan Parks!

Ireland came back not long after with their first goal but didn't manage to keep the lead for long. Scotland was definitely going to be tough to beat. I believe we ended at the half tied 17-17, but that could have come later, I'm not really sure. And by the half there was a group of older men like late 40s who were getting drunk and rowdy, quick annoying really. They were doing shots at the bar and one of them even fell asleep there! But I guess boys will be boys no matter what age they are.

We ended up finishing our food and I decided it was time for a drink, a light beer to wash down the salty taste. However, since all the other girls were going out in another couple of hours, I was the only one who was drinking. So I helped myself to a pint of Carlsberg from the bar for 5euro and resumed watching the game. It was a pleasant experience and the atmosphere was much more relaxing in the bar than I would have expected.

But Ireland ended up losing to Scotland 20-23, a very hardening loss. Mostly we decided it was the Irish kicker's fault being that he went 1 for 4 and got taken out and that the Scottish kicker was ah-may-zing! So it was disappointing but I at least got out of the house and away from my work for a bit! I had to come back and jump right back in but oh well.

And now I'm off to do more this afternoon, while waiting for my edits to come back and I'm getting very frustrating. Honestly I'm kind of ready to go home. I've been on break and this whole experience is like a drawn out vacation with some school work thrown in. Of course it's worth it because Dublin is awesome and Ireland is beautiful and the people are super friendly. But I think 4 months is a little long, it's been fun but now that I have to face reality and actually start turning in more work, I'm missing my north campus room with access to coffee and a library with comfy seating. And of course all my friends and family, it's been tough to be so far away and knowing that I can't just hop on a bus and go home if I want to or if anything is going wrong...But I'm not complaining, I know I'm lucky to be here. And I might as well enjoy it, under 60 days left now. Plus my birthday is coming up! Perhaps I'm just over the whole school work thing...hopefully I can get an internship this summer and not have to think too hard about school or anything else by then.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow :(

PS-awesome dog that was downstairs at the cafe today!