I've been in Dublin for almost a full week now and I'm pretty much in love.
Living in Dublin
Dublin has an incredible amount of traffic so it takes the same amount of time (if not less) to walk everywhere and that has been a great way to get to know the city. I've been getting a minimum of 4 miles in every day and usually rounding out around 13,000 steps by 4pm - which has not only been getting me back in shape but has been a huge mood booster.
I am lucky enough to live in a newer apartment building right next to the Liffy River. This body of water used to be much much wider and the Vikings in Ireland would sail their ships down this river. Now its been contained but still flows fast and is absolutely beautiful to take a stroll next to.
My surroundings, aside from much older buildings, have not been terribly different from the US. The major differences are in the people. The Irish people are incredibly friendly and willing to help out but they are far less worried about being politically correct than people in the US. I shared my taxi from the airport with a girl from my program who is of Asian descent (also my first friend - shout-out to Ming!). She was conversing with our taxi driver and used the word "Caucasian" and he about had to pull the car over from laughter. He asked for a definition because that word simply isn't used in Ireland. The population is so overwhelmingly European and the minorities here come from much older generations who immigrated so most of them still speak their native language. What ensued was an insightful conversation about Irish history with the final word on the matter from our taxi driver being, "Caucasian...that sounds like some kinda fruit."
The people of Ireland are unafraid to speak their minds, there's much less filtering here. While still being polite they're not the overwhelming polite that you can get from some Americans. Our first encounter with this was at a table service restaurant. We were seated and they took our order and the waitress was very kind when catering to my weird vegetarian requests and after we were served our meal, she didn't bother us again until she noticed we had finished and asked if we wanted our check. A ten percent tip for sit down service is the general rule in Dublin but there is not as much of a fuss over the idea of tips in general which was kind of refreshing.
School
I've only experienced orientation so far but I am hugely looking forward to this next month of class which focuses on the Fringe Festival (a festival celebrating new plays, young artists, and new art) in Dublin. We have the opportunity to see six pre-selected plays with our classmates, for which the tickets have been provided, as well as having the freedom to purchase tickets on our own to see any of the other pieces we want to witness. I'm especially looking forward to a site specific, 25 minute piece which takes place in a hotel room. Updates on all of these productions to come.
There are 10 productions Gaiety takes us to throughout the semester as well as any additional 5 that we are to see on our own - I'm so excited to be experiencing so much theatre!
We are also working with one of the professors from Gaiety to create a devised ensemble piece within the next two weeks to not only grow closer as a group but to get a small taste of what classes might be like when we start attending Gaiety on the 1st of October.
Sightseeing in Dublin
We are only here as students in Dublin for a little over a hundred days so making the most of our time is not only important in relation to school but in relation to getting to know Ireland as well. There is so much great history here and people are happy to share it with you if you ask. IES Abroad gave us a walking scavenger hunt through Dublin, taking us around the city and finding famous statues, shops on Grafton street, transportation lines, and even pubs. We ended up at Kennedy's Pub for lunch which just so happens to be where Oscar Wilde worked in his time before he was an author. With everything so close together, it's not hard to find something amazing to see when you only have an hour or two to spare.
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