Meat Balls and Occasional Tables

What do meatballs and occasional tables have in common?  IKEA of course…  Today is the October bank holiday, so all the offices and banks and colleges and schools are closed. Yay!!  Its kind of like Labor Day or Memorial Day or President’s Day or MLK Day.  Except they don’t name it.  My big plans for today are a pilgrimage to the Swedish furniture store, IKEA, that just opened in Dublin.  It was a very big deal to the city.  Means almost as much to Dublin’s status as a “European” city as passing the Lisbon Treaty.  To join in my IKEA fun, take this quiz:  the ikea game

This is also the 6th week of classes at DIT which is what they call “Review Week”  every department does their own thing, for me in electrical engineering, it’s a week to catch up on labs and take a break from lecture.  A guy in my year said his plan was to show up Tuesday and see what’s going on.  I’ve learned that at DIT, that’s the best way to get info.  So I guess that’s my plan too.

Galway Pictures I Forgot to Post

The only oysters I saw at the oyster fest.

 

Except for these kids in the parade, with crepe paper oysters on their heads.

 

The spanish arch

   

America’s oyster shucking competitor.

Lots of sail boats around the bay

  

The Atlantic Ocean

 

 

These last 3 are from Lough Corrib in Connemara.  It’s the second largest Lake in Ireland.  And yes, Dad there’s fish.  Very famous for it’s fishing!!  You’ll be glad to hear that skiing, tubing, jet skis, etc aren’t very common in Ireland, too.

Tipp, Tipp, Tipperary

Hey y'all!

I have to start with a quick story of something that just happened.

I'm sitting on my bed on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon.  Enjoying the breeze coming through my open window, finally logging in to blogger to update everyone.  When all the sudden, a drop of water falls on my laptop screen and then I feel it on my face.  I look out the window, the sun is still shining, but, of course, it's raining.  A few minutes later, the breeze has turned into wind, the sky gets darker, and the rain keeps coming down.  Another typical day in Ireland.

Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled program.

Last Friday I went home with one of my roommates, Clodaugh, to County Tipperary.  Tipp isn't really known for its tourist attractions, but their hurling team was All Ireland champs. It's set in a valley, and stepping into Clo's backyard, you're surrounded by beautiful rolling hills. 

Her parents were  so great to have me.  We had a home cooked meal and I tried to explain where Indiana is.  I was also asked why American TV has so many ad breaks (I had no good answer).  I learned a bit about the Gardai, the Irish police force.  Clo's dad is a Garda and teaches at the national garda college, which is in Templemore. 

Clodaugh was teaching swim lessons that night, so I stayed home and took the dog, Fetch, for a walk with her mom.  That night we watched the late late show, an Irish institution. The next day I had lunch with Clodaugh at the restaurant she  works at, and took some pictures of the town, Templemore. In the park where we walked Fetch there's a really old church, which is  where the name Templemore comes from. 

 

Clodaugh's friend Roisin and I had made plans for her to show me Thurles, a bigger town next to Templemore. Thurles's claim to fame is all about GAA.  The Gaelic Athletic Association was born at a meeting in a local hotel, and there is 55,000 seat stadium in the town.  I got a Tipperary scarf at the GAA shop to mark the trip.

We got the train back to Dublin Saturday night.  This wasn't the most exciting trip, but I met some really great folks, and got a glimpse of "real" Irish life.  The differences are subtle.  The relationship between Clodaugh and her parents is different than mine or anyone I know back home.  The downtowns of tiny Templemore and Thurles were bustling on a rainy Saturday afternoon.  In small town Indiana you'd have to go out to the Wal Mart to see anyone after the breakfast rush at the one local diner was over.  My Irish friends always tease me about how I'm fascinated by the smallest things.  This is why I'm here for a whole 4 months.  I want to see ruins of a church or cute book shop or discuss the fact that Indiana living rooms don't have doors.

Lisbon Treaty

Can you tell I’m trying to play catch up, my dear readers?

On Friday, 2nd October, more than 50% of Irish voters went to their local schools and community centers to “check yes or no.”  It wasn’t quite like this,

Check Yes or No

But, it was more important.  The Irish were voting on whether to allow their government to sign the Lisbon Treaty, which sets up a constitution for the European Union. 

This is the second time the referendum was put to the voters, in 2008, about 16 months ago, they voted it down.  This time around, over 60% voted Yes.  My whole time here in Dublin, I’ve seen the signs and been handed flyers.  I’ve had to tell people I wasn’t Irish so they wouldn’t waste their time trying to convince me of the Treaty’s merits or faults.  Most of my Irish friends are Yesers, so my limited information is a bit skewed. From what I learned, the treaty does give the EU more power and more well defined roles in foreign and economic policy, and it does proportion the parliament according to population, taking away some of Ireland’s votes.  But the EU is the reason for Ireland’s prosperity and the Celtic Tiger.  Had they voted down Lisbon, it could have meant Ireland was on a different tier of the EU, having to ally itself more with the UK, and after centuries of fighting to get out from under Britain, that’s really not a good alternative. 

I went with a friend to check out a polling place, very underwhelming.  No signs, no protestors, nothing.  I later found out that it’s illegal to do so.  The news can’t even have on going coverage.  Such a different atmosphere from when I voted for President last year.  I walked through demonstrations on campus and about 6,000 signs outside my polling place.  Is Ireland the better for that?  I don’t know, but it did make the polling place less crowded. 

Howth, Rhymes with Both

Just drop the W.  Nobody knows why. 

Last Friday, I went with my dear friend Rachel and some of her friends, old and new, to Howth head, a peninsula just north of Dublin city.  The views were amazing!  The sky was typical Irish gray, but the weather was great for a day out. Lots of hills and cliffs and views of the city and the bay.  It’s quite a change to go from the city where all you see is buildings and cars and people, to the country where all you see is God’s amazing creation.  After the walk around the cliffs, we got fish n’ chips and Maude’s ice cream.  Maude’s is a Howth landmark.  All the Irish kids have fond memories of stopping at Maude’s after walking ALL that way around the cliffs.  Rachel swears the place has shrunk since she was a kid.   

Boats, a little bigger than the ones found at Lake Webster.  I was surprised there weren’t more boats out on the water, but what do I know about sailing?

 

 

Rachel and James, discussing the Lisbon Treaty or something. 

 

 

 

 

And we’ll end with me, being my usual dorky self.

Into the heart of Dublin

Took these shots on my way into the city center the other day. It was a crazy good day for weather, notice the BLUE sky. It's usually at least a little cloudy. I've had a couple bad days of rain and such, but really not a whole lot. Rachel, an Irish friend, says I bring good weather to Ireland.... Can't argue with her on that one.

This church is great. Not only pretty, but I use it as a landmark too. Lost? Look for the green dome, my house is about a block down from it.

This graffiti is all right in a row on Camden St.


Says "FOES" not sure what that means, hopefully nothing bad...

This one says "crime doesn't pay, graffiti does"

That's part of what I see every morning. It's a great walk, always people out walking to work and living their lives. Moms and Dads taking kids to school. I always try to smile and say good morning to the lady passing out the free papers. There's a French bakery I walk past, but I make sure I don't walk on that side of the street, or I could be sucked in by the smell. :)