In The Swede of Things: Ireland!

Ireland was incredible. I really want to go back and see more of the countryside and do more touristy things, but being a part of the whole environment was so great. The Irish people are very very different from Swedes. The Swedes have this idea that if people need help they will ask, or if they want to tell you about themselves, they will tell you. The Swedes are very good listeners once a conversation is started, but they probably won't offer help if you're standing in the middle of town holding out a map. They'll assume you have it figured out and will ask if you need to. The Irish on the other hand, have no boundaries. Everyone will ask about the scratch on your forehead or where you're from and what you're doing here and they genuinely want to know. You can become good friends with an Irish person in a night. They will get your information and contact you again, even just to say hello...but almost always they have talked long enough to find something in common with you and a need to bring it up later.

I got to the airport Thursday around 6pm, and Casey's friend Damian didn't get off work until 7, and Cole's flight wasn't in until 9pm. So, I sat around and read and ate the Bagel Factory --- OMG SO GOOD. I'm going to attempt to make an eggworks sandwich soon --- and waited for Casey and Damo. I went to the pub in the airport and got a Guinness (cliche, but delicious), and then Casey and Damo were there! We sat around and talked and I was already having a magnificent time, and then Cole got there which made it all even better! We went back to Damian's house where Megan and Melinda were (also SMC girls) and we got cleaned up, pre-gamed and went out to the Roost in Maynooth. It was a Halloween party so a lot of people were dressed up. One girl was even H1N1. I can't say that I remember this in the first person, but I'm told I met these guys that were amazed it was my first night in Ireland and kept buying me drinks. Ireland has Bulmer's, which is delicious yummy cider. The rest of the night is either a blur or completely gone. I woke up in bed with Meg and Mel, though, so the night turned out alright.

Friday we went into Maynooth again and ate at the Bagel Factory for breakfast (again it was delicious) and walked around the town and campus. The church there is really neat and the grass really is greener in Ireland. I don't know how or why, but it is. Then we caught the train to Dublin and checked into our hotel room. Damian works at a hotel, so he got a really good deal on this AWESOME apartment-hotel room. We were right on the Liffey and on the fifth or sixth floor. It was incredible. We hung out there for a while to try to recover a bit more and take in the amazing view. The rest of the day went something like this--Karl, Stephen, and Gavin were around here and there, we bought frozen pizzas and ate them. We drank some disgusting 6 euro wine and went to a place called the Porter House Brewery. There was a guitar man playing there who was pretty awesome. He played covers from all the good songs that you want to hear. It was weird hearing songs I actually knew. Needless to say, the rest of the night was just amazing. It was so great to be hanging out with old friends and new friends and just...being alive. We stayed up until 5 am...but every minute was worth it. We moved one of the couches so it sat right up next to the window-wall and just talked and looked out at the river for hours.

Saturday we got up and had the most AMAZING breakfast at the hotel. It was really amazing just because we were so hungry, I think. Scrambled eggs, Irish sausage, toast, fruit, and coffee. I did try a white pudding and a black pudding --which is no dessert. It's basically oatmeal and, as Damo put it, "pig bits" all kind of wadded together. The black pudding contains pig's blood, too. It was completely edible, but not very good or flavorful when you get right down to it.

We thought about going to the Jameson factory, but after staying up that long, I don't think anyone (except Cole) was really in the mood to walk that far and then drink whiskey. So we walked along Grafton street, which is a pedestrian street that has a ton of shopping and street performers -- musicians and statue-men. And these street performers are crazy-good. Like, insanely. I could have stayed and watched the string quartet for probably an hour or more. But we made our way to the end and laid around in St. Stephen's Green the rest of the day until we caught the train to Clonsilla, where Stephen lives. His mother made us the best dinner and it was so nice being in a home and having home cooked food that isn't made to feed just one. And they have a 4 month old golden lab named Lucy who was freaking adorable.

Then we went back to Maynooth to someone's else place...Sean's I think. And watched some X-factor before going back to Damo's to drop off our stuff and change and shower. We were planning on going to Mantra, which is a new club in Maynooth, but apparently it's pretty upscale. As in, they didn't let John in with vans on. So we went to another bar/pub called Brady's, which was pleasantly not packed, due to Mantra, for the most part. After having an absolute ball and getting thrown around by this guy in a South Carolina shirt, we went to Supermacs and I got my first curry chips (fries). Absolutely delicious. American's are too narrow-minded about fries. Branch out from ketchup!!! It's so worth it!

So it was absolutely wonderful, the next morning we all went to the airport, except Cole, who stayed til Monday, and flew to our respective homes. It made me really sad that Casey and Meg and Mel were all going to the States. But I don't know if it was like a jealous sadness or if I will be sad to leave when I go home. Time will tell.