R.I.P. Acrylic Nails, More Dublin Adventures and Wicklow

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope this post finds you well. I have certainly been thinking of you all often and fondly!
I apologize for taking so long to write but alas, I have been busy!
I am adjusting to life here in Dublin quite well, but I still sometimes when I find myself standing in the rain, jeans soaked, hair wet, wondering, "What the hell am I doing here?"
I'm only kidding, but that isn't to say that life here isn't an adjustment.
As I noted in one of my earlier blogs, life here is considerably different than in the US but I am making the necessary adjustments on my part.

Now you might be wondering to yourself, "Gee, I thought Kate went to Ireland to study, is she doing any of that?" And quite frankly the answer is no. (insert laugh here) I only started my classes last week so I'm still getting started. When I blog next week I will write a rundown of all of my classes; but I'm still in the add/drop process so I will not really delve into the topics themselves but I will tell you what I have learned thus far. The Irish seem to take a different approach to their academics than we do in the States. One the one hand, I've been told this means; no one really buys the books, answers emails, or does the readings. However, all my classes have all been filled with brilliant students, long and arduous book lists, and challenging homework assignments; so I guess the jury is still out on that one! But because I am a creature of habit, I am itching for routine and for my classes to really get into gear. Mainly, so that I can slip into my nerdy ways of camping out at the library, or snuggled in my room reading the poems of W.B. Yeats or a first hand account of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin!

I'm all, "hey look, I'm literary knowledgeable and cool"

Now this next update may make you frown, roll your eyes, let out a sigh of relief, laugh or perhaps a combination thereof. But after much debate and running of the numbers; I, Kate Chaloux, have removed my acrylic nails. Now let me explain, my nails are something that I have been very proud of for the last 4 years because I have maintained them by working all through high school and college. However, at 40 euros a pop here in Dublin, I must say Adios to the Acylics- at least until December 23rd!

Just another picture of me with my eyes closed in Dublin.

Among my favorite James Joyce quotes this one has particularly resonated with me as I have made myself at home in Dublin, "When I die Dublin will be written in my heart." Dublin is a grand city. It is vibrant, interesting, old, international, yet still overwhelmingly Irish, and above all fun. I love living here and exploring. In the middle of downtown Dublin there is a park called St. Stephen's Green which Joyce writes about famously in his novel, Ulysses. It is basically a beautiful public park in the heart of Dublin for all the Dubliners to enjoy!
I explored St. Stephen's Green extensively last weekend and found myself feeling quite at home walking around enjoying the green!

The old "hand on hip" at St. Stephen's Green

I have also been doing my fair share of museum hopping. This past Saturday I spent several hours pouring through the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. It is the home of many famous paintings by Irish artists such as Connemara Girl by Augustus Nicholas Burke as well as other well known paintings by other famous artists Vermeer's Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid. Those are two of my favorites that the museum houses! There was also an exhibit on paintings by Jack B. Yeats which contained many paintings of life in Dublin that I really enjoyed. My favorite was Flower Girl in Dublin, however; I was not able to find a print in the museum shop for my room so I was a little disappointed. Nonetheless, the National Gallery is a great take and again comes highly recommended by yours truly!

This leprechaun actually reminded me of Chris because he has this bright orange/red beard and is considerably taller than me despite trying to pass himself as leprechaun. 

I have also been sampling my fair share of pubs in Dublin and getting a pulse of the city that way. The Temple Bar area in Dublin is quite popular and the pubs that we usually go to have great live music every night and I must say that my new favorite song is "Galway Girl."

Where there is food, there is Kate Chaloux.

Please note my nails and let's go ahead and just have a moment of silence for my Acrylic Nails.

Now when most people think of Ireland they think of green grass and sheep. I am no exception to this rule so after being in the Emerald Isle for two weeks I finally made my way out to the countryside to see these Irish sights. A few of my friends and I took a day tour on Sunday from Dublin to Wicklow, which is located in the more southeastern part of Ireland. Wicklow is absolutely lovely and I took grand pictures; however, due to my typical bad luck and the general climate of Ireland it rained the whole day.

At Glencree Valley with an interesting Donald Trump/wind inspired hairdo. 

We traveled through the Wicklow Mountains through various valleys seeing lovely sights such as the; Glencree valley, Lough Tay, the Glendalough Lakes, the Meeting of the Waters, and some monastic ruins at Glendalough. As we were on one of those touristy bus tours the whole day we were in the company of people 30+ years our senior whilst listening to a kind Irishman regale us with the history of Ireland. All in all, a lovely day despite the rain and a beautiful take!

At the sight of the film P.S. I Love You. 

Largely, I found no love but I did manage to find my fake smile!

I like to call this one "Crouching Kate, Hidden Lough Tay"

Lower Lake Glendalough and myself. Kind of awkward in that I have that superimposed look but you win some and you lose some. My hair and shoes actually lost this one.

All of these pictures have me in them because Kath likes pictures of people and things; not just things.

Hi Mom! I miss you!

Naturally, this is a photograph of a Feral Goat and I.

As always, a sincere thank you for reading my blog! It really means a lot to me and I hope that you have enjoyed this weeks adventure and me poking fun at myself throughout! 

All my love,

Kate

Dublin Writers Museum and The National Leprechaun Museum

Dear friends and family,

I hope this entry finds you well! I've had an absolutely marvelous weekend!

When I looked out my window on Saturday morning I knew it was going to be a grand day. The sun was shining and I had plans to visit the Dublin Writers Museum. What could be better?

Now we all know I love Irish Literature more than anything, save Shakespeare, so it was bound to be a great experience. As I walked up O'Connell Street and saw the big brick building my heart started to beat a little faster, so fast in fact one might assume there was food involved. After taking pictures outside, because I am a total tourist, we went in and I was mesmerized. The actual museum itself is pretty small with only 2 rooms, but they were chalk full of information and random tidbits about the likes of Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, etc. along with the tales of their respective journeys to becoming the great literary pillars of Ireland.

I especially enjoyed learning about the foundation of the Abbey Theatre or the National Theatre of Ireland as it is also known as. It was primarily founded by Lady Gregory and W.B. Yeats. Of course, being the raging feminist I am, I loved learning about Lady Gregory's plight and how important she was to such a big part of Irish Literature. 

Of course, Oscar Wilde was featured too and I enjoyed reading about him as well. When going through immigration in America Wilde is quoted to have said, "I have nothing to declare, except my genius." Perhaps, next time I go through immigration I will take the Oscar Wilde approach. Just kidding, Dad. Don't worry!

Then, of course, my most favorite exhibit was James Joyce. I just adore him and I cannot get enough of learning about him. I had an audio guide and it played one of the only recordings of Joyce reading an excerpt from Finnegans Wake. Even though I've heard it several times before, there was something so special about hearing his thick brogue in Ireland that made it all the more special to hear. After reading more about Joyce, I took as many pictures of James Joyce memorabilia that I could!

Then my next stop was The National Leprechaun Museum!

So I know what you're thinking and I'll beat you to the punch line- yes, I am a leprechaun sized person and, yes, I did indeed visit The National Leprechaun Museum, and, yes, it was wonderful and absolutely everything I wished it would be!

The Leprechaun Museum was absolutely perfect and so well done. This summer my mom and I kept on encountering places that were so clearly someone's vision incarnate and this wonderful museum was no exception. It was so thoughtfully laid out and I understand that it opened fairly recently and it was quite nice as a result! But I will admit, at first I was skeptical; the thing about a leprechaun museum is that it can go one of two ways; terribly kitschy or terribly boring. However, it was neither of the two; it was a lovely mixture of interesting facts and historical significance coupled with elements of fun to keep people like me entertained. After learning the origins of leprechauns, which is that they were made up due to the great stories of Irish people, we made our way to the fun yet still informative part of the museum! 

We went through this tunnel that was supposed to make us feel like leprechauns, but as Chelsea pointed out earlier today, while standing 5'2 this transformation was perhaps shorter for me than most. No pun intended. Anyways, we then went into this great room where everything was huge, as we were made to feel like leprechauns. Naturally, I went crazy climbing on the big comfy chair, pretending to drink tea from the big tea cup and having my friend take pictures all the while. But then it got not so fun for this leprechaun, I was too short to maneuver myself onto the chair. Largely, one small step for me could have been a giant leap for short people everywhere, but alas, I was terribly unsuccessful as you can see in the picture below where I am grappling for the side of the chair. Chris pointed out that I was using the chair incorrectly when he saw the picture but I still had fun. 

The next part of the museum offered more information about fairy hills and the origin of mythical creatures in Irish folklore that I found very interesting. There was also a storytelling portion where a woman was telling the story of Fionn mac Cumhaill and how he came to be the leader of the Fianna. Naturally, I enjoyed the story more than most of the small children in the room. The staff in the museum was very knowledgeable and friendly which made the experience even better so the National Leprechaun Museum comes highly recommended! 

                                        

I spent the rest of Saturday evening in Dublin exploring the Temple Bar area with my friends, going to a few different pubs. We stumbled upon a pub that had live music and we had a truly wonderful time. I really felt at home in Dublin the other night and really felt like I connected to a place that is so connected to my heart and heritage. Dublin has been wonderful thus far and I am really enjoying myself! Thank you for coming reading and please come visit me soon so you too can experience the wonder of Ireland! 

All my love,

Kate

First Week!

I have been in Dublin for just 5 days now and I feel very far away from Strawberry Lane!
I've been so busy that I haven't had time to write yet so I'll go day by day.

On Monday I arrived into Dublin Airport around 8 am. I didn't manage to sleep on the plane (because I was so nervous) but I did manage to meet two very friendly Canadians.. go figure! After I made my way through customs I hailed a cab and went to meet my GW friend, Caitilin, at her hotel, The Shelbourne, in Dublin's City Centre. After we had a loving reunion in the lobby we made our way to a tasty cafe where we enjoyed a lovely, and I do mean lovely, chocolate muffin! Then we went back to the hotel and took a cab to University College Dublin (UCD) where I will be studying for the next few months. However here is where the journey really starts. Now it rains in Ireland; I know it rains and you know it rains, but this rain is really indescribable. So we arrive on campus with our luggage, naturally I have two 50+ pound suitcases packed to the brim and a carry-on. However, we are informed that the cab can drive no further and we must walk to get to the Student Centre to pick up our Student ID cards before we can drop our luggage off in our rooms. So in the rain we trek to the Student Centre, naturally not knowing where to go and stopping to ask for directions several times. Finally with the help of a nice Italian man we get to the Student Centre where we wait in a two hour line for our Student ID cards. Now here's the thing about Ireland; the Irish have a different approach to life than we do in the States. And let me tell you though it's kind of unsettling as a somewhat structure-loving American I am really starting to get used to this laid back attitude! However, after traveling for several hours, soaking wet all I wanted was an expedient line, but this I did not get. After we finally got our ID cards we began our trek to our dorm. I am living in a residence hall called Roebuck Hall and it's lovely, truly grand. However, the trek across campus from the Student Centre to Roebuck Hall was one of the worst experiences of my life. It is probably no more than a 10-15 minute walk but in the rain, with 100+ pounds of luggage, jet-lagged, this was not such an easy feat for Kate Chaloux. I was kind of in that state between shock, exhaustion, irritation, and overwhelming bewilderment that produces that kind of nervous laughter that is really just suppressed tears. But alas, I did not cry and I made it to my room. Where I promptly called my mother and said that I didn't think this was such a good idea.  However, after putting my room together and unpacking I felt much better. Caitilin and I spent the next few hours introducing ourselves to my roommates and organizing a trip to a pub where I had my first Guinness in Ireland of the trip. It was a very fun night after a day of travel and nothing felt as glorious as my bed!

On Tuesday and Wednesday I went back into the City Centre a few times to get some things that I needed and continued to explore the UCD campus. I've found a pub with spectacular cheesy bread, a fabulous Milkshake Bar and stores which we all know I will be patronizing in the coming months! But let me tell you, Dublin is mighty expensive. So for the first time ever, this shopaholic will be budgeting and reigning in her spending! Stay tuned! In the picture below I am with two of my friends and we are on O'Connell Bridge overlooking the River Liffey. As a James Joyce enthusiast seeing the River Liffey as he commonly wrote about was somewhat of a religious experience. As I find myself walking the streets of Dublin and attending UCD, the college of James Joyce, I cannot help but feel the palpable wonder that is the exploration of an old country with rich history and engaging stories about places such as the River Liffey and O'Connell Bridge!

On Thursday our orientation really started and there were several events that we had to attend. Everyone in Ireland is so incredibly friendly and helpful and quite frankly very funny that each orientation session was pleasant. The common theme was that school in Ireland is different than school in the States. For starters, they go to class significantly fewer hours per week than we do and are quoted to be somewhat "lazy" but we shall see when I start my classes next week! They also warned us of cultural differences despite our common language which I have been surprised about. Even though our cultures are quite similar, they are actually not as akin as I had imagined. I am really looking forward  to exploring these similarities and differences in depth over the next few months!
Later that evening after an Orientation dinner, which really consisted of free wine and finger foods, a group of us, mainly comprised of other American students, went out to a pub in Rathmines, a different part of Dublin. We had a lot of fun dancing the night away while enjoying a few Guinness' and we finally made it home well after 2 am. But it was all worth it..well until I had to wake up this morning to go to registration which brings me to Friday.

On Friday I woke up to register for a classes. Now, like George Washington, I cannot tell a lie. Pulling myself out of bed this morning was difficult but well worth it! We've been going and going for the last few days and my little feet were screaming at me, probably because they could benefit from sneakers. But it was a lovely morning in Ireland complete with a blue sky, and lovely green grass all around! And no rain actually which made it mighty specials! As I walked to the Arts Building (where most of my classes will take place) I thought to myself, 'How blessed am I to be in such a lovely place enjoying such a great opportunity with so many supportive people at home caring about me and so many new friends in my future.' I am a very lucky girl so you must know that I was thinking about all of you this morning as I walked to Registration and will continue to do so while abroad! (A special thanks to my Mom and Dad for making all this possible and Unkie for BBMing me every day to make sure I'm okay.) I managed to get the class I wanted and later attended another orientation session regarding my history class. I am really excited to start my classes. I'm taking 3 History classes and 3 English classes. The majority of them are surrounding all things Irish and as many of my interests in these subject areas lie in Ireland I am very excited to get learning! I am very excited for everything that this semester will offer me and I will keep you all updated with any new developments!

Thank you for reading!
All my love, Kate