Berlin (3 weeks late...)

So much for being a devoted blogger. I've wanted to blog several times in the past month, but little things kept getting in the way. Lemme break this down.

BERLIN!

Incredible. An amazing city. Siomha and I really bonded with the kids that came with us--Catie, Christina, and Pat. Traveling in small groups really made getting to know each other easier. When we arrived in Berlin, we somehow figured out what train we needed to grab in order to quickly get into the city. We arrived at the train station with about 8 minutes until our train left. Plenty of time, right? Oh but wait! We couldn't find our platform. We were platform 6, but the platform numbers seemed to skip from 1-3, to 7-9. Not helpful. After studying the train map for 15 minutes to try to figure out which train to take, we ended up just jumping on a train and hoping it got us there okay. Luckily, it did! After our first messy experience with the train, Pat and I mastered the train system and became the group's trusted navigators. We only made ONE mistake for the rest of the trip, and it was easily fixable.                                                                                                    

Sorry to brag.

We had a quick bite to eat at a cute little family-owned restaurant. Schnitzel was a bit weird, but the meatballs and sausages were great. So much for my diet! Then we rushed back to the hostel to get ready for the New Europe pubcrawl. It was a great night--met lots of new friends--a couple from England, a bunch of guys from Quebec, and some Argentinean guys with boundary issues. The Berlin "pub" scene is more like a "dark-smokey-artsy-lounge-with-funk-music" scene. We ended the night at a very hip, slightly stripper-filled night club. I have to say the highlight of the night was when the five of us ended up in a ridiculous cage, dancing to Barbra Streisand. We got a lot of questions about Pat from all the guys we met--"Is that guy gay?" "Is that guy your boyfriend?" "Why is that guy surrounded by four girls?" Some of our answers: "He's the son of an oil baron," "He's related to Hugh Hefner," or simply "We're all fighting over him." To end the night, we had several delicious brats from the vendor outside the train station on the way home.

Pub Crawl!

We started the morning out right with more delicious brats. We decided that there's no point in spending money on meals in restaurants...the street vendor brats were better than anything we could get in a fancy restaurant. Then we hurried to the famous Brandenburg Tor for a 3 hour New Europe tour of Berlin.

Brandenburg Tor

Berlin has such a fascinating history--I wish I could remember it all and spill it out into this blog.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

But most of what I remember are the feelings, the images--staring at the famous Reichstag that Hitler burned down to seize power; seeing the layout of the Berlin wall zigzagging across the roads and sidewalks of a brand new, united Berlin; seeing the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe; passing Checkpoint Charlie; comparing Nazi propaganda murals of Berlin in the 50s to the chilling photographs of the 1953 uprising; standing on top of Hiter's bunker, right next to a trashcan placed rather ironcially over the permanently sealed entrance...

I had a tight, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach for the entire tour. A chilling, heavy atmosphere pervaded rainy Berlin--it was the right kind of weather for such a powerful tour!

Gendarmenmarkt

That isn't to say Berlin doesn't have it's beautiful areas. It certainly does! Gendarmenmarkt is one of the most beautiful squares I've ever seen--in the summer, they have a huge classical music festival. I wish I could go back and see the city in the sunshine!

Berlin Cathedral

One of my favorite buildings was the Cathedral--I took SO many pictures of it. Lots of architects think it's a horrible building--apparently it's a
 poor mishmash of different styles through the centuries. But I really don't care! It's gorgeous! Inside and out!

The famous Berlin greenman! (Ampelmannchen--funny little crosswalk guy created for kids by a "traffic psychologist")

We ended the night at a funky little hookah bar near our hostel--recommended by our extremely indie tour guide Zabi. Pat unfortunately left the next morning--he had to get back for the super bowl (whatever!). The girls and I went to Sachsenhausen, one of the first ever concentration camps, just outside of Berlin.

Sachsenhausen was also one of the original test grounds for the gas chambers--the outline of the shower room still exists. The camp's triangular shape was actually used as a "model" for all future concentration camps, and was a training ground for SS officers. The Nazis took great care in recruiting men with very very low IQs and with strong psychopathic tendencies to train to become SS officers--Hitler definitely knew what he was doing. He knew only ignorant, cruel men would be able to support his cause.

If we thought Berlin was depressing, we were in for a real treat at Sachsenhausen. The day was dark, windy, damp, and cold--very fitting for what we were about to see. We approached Guard Tower "A"--the same guard tower that the prisoners would have approached. Except this time, the time on the guard tower was wrong--it was set to 11:08--the exact minute soviet guards liberated the camp in 1945. We stood in the courtyard where the criminals, gypsies, communists, homosexuals, and jews were stripped down, robbed, shaved, beaten, cleaned, and dressed in jumpsuits with a number. We walked through the same gate they all walked through--on the gate were the words "arbeit macht frei," meaning "Work brings freedom"....yeah. right.

I've never really appreciated the horrors of the concentration camps...I feel like it's something you have to see to believe. And even now, after seeing it, I can't fully believe it. It is so shocking. The guards played psychological mind games on the prisoners by throwing their hats into a "neutral" zone, then ordering them to fetch it. If a prisoner was caught in a neutral zone, the guards were to shoot them, since it was assumed that they were either trying to escape or attempt suicide, and neither were allowed. So, naturally, the prisoner would not go to the neutral zone. But, then again, if they did not go fetch their hat, they would be disobeying a direct order, and would therefore be tortured or killed.

Sick. Disgusting.

The prisoners got 45 minutes to eat breakfast, wash themselves, and make it outside for daily roll call. This proved difficult. At times, there were up to 300 men in cabins built for 60. There were not enough toilets for all the men to go to the bathroom in 45 minutes, and they would be shot if they went to the bathroom on the floor. Three men were drowned by the S.S. guards in the wash basin for trying to rinse their dirty feet. Essentially, the S.S. guards used torture in any way they could, even in simple morning routines. Then, when the men reached roll call, attendance would last at least 2 hours--the men were forced to stand outside in the bitter Berlin winters with only their cotton jumpsuits to keep them warm. One roll call lasted 14 hours--dozens dropped dead of hypothermia. Then when all that was done, they were in for a day of hard labor, interspersed with random torture. The political prisoners were held in a top security building surrounded by a high brick wall, in which they were tortured daily and eventually killed--apparently that was the most dreaded place in Sachsenhausen. The ordinary prisoners never got to see what went on behind that mysterious wall--they only heard their screams.

photograph of roll call

Finally, we checked out station Z. I bet you can all guess what happened there. The execution site began as a simple firing squad, but the all the men waiting in line to be shot got a little hysterical (shocker..) and were difficult to control as they were being dragged to their death. Plus, the S.S. officers dealing with the desperate prisoners, begging for their lives, were experiencing "psychological trauma." We wouldn't want them to feel bad about killing people, now would we? So Hitler and his buddies figured there had to be a more efficient, and less "traumatic" way to kill people. Cool.

They set up a complex building that looked quite a bit like an ordinary doctor's office from the outside. The prisoners would walk into a pleasant waiting room that had loud music playing, and would be asked to sit down. Then, one at a time, they would be escorted to the next room, where they would go through a routine medical examination. First, the "doctor" would check out their teeth--if they had any gold fillings, the "doctor" would draw a little cross on their arm. Then, he would take their height. He lined up the prisoner against one of those old fashioned measuring sticks that you adjust from the top. When he took the prisoner's height, a little hole opened up in the back of the height gauge. In the room directly behind the height gaugue, was an S.S. officer pointing a gun directly into the little hole in the wall. He would shoot the prisoner in the neck, the prisoner would be killed immediately and moved to the next room, and the S.S. officer would never have to see his victim's face. Then the next prisoner would enter, unsuspecting (the loud music covered up the sound of the gun shot), and the whole process would begin again. The prisoner would then get his gold fillings removed (waste not!) and put into the ovens.

 A perfect system, really.

the device they used to take their "heights" 

After four emotionally exhausting hours, we ended our tour of Sachsenhausen. I would absolutely recommend that everyone visit a concentration camp if you can. Definitely not the most enjoyable experience in the world, but it's something everyone should see.

A very busy 2 weeks....

Back in Ireland, and more stressed than ever. Why? Well, all hell broke loose when I found out I had failed to turn in a 2,500 word essay worth 38% of my grade for my Cognitive and Neuroscience Approach to Addiction Class.  Apparently all the emails regarding it went either to my spam folder, or I didn't read them carefully, or I missed the slides because I wasn't there that day, blah blah blah. The point is, go to class, kids. Go to class. I missed 2 classes out of the 12, and those must have been the magic days when my professor told us A) we had a huge essay to do! B) what those essays were supposed to be on!

Anyway. The essay was due December 17th. I found out about it January 21st (and proceeded to flip out). It is now due February 11th, because my professor is a lovely man. How much of my essay have I written? Zilch. I'm terribly intimidated by the essay, and can't seem to write two words down on paper. AND I'm going to Berlin this weekend. Oops.

Okay, enough whining. Quick (kind of) description of what's been happening for these last 2 weeks.

This new crowd is much more willing to come downtown.  Going to Dicey's has become a weekly Tuesday night adventure (except this Tuesday when I was lame and stayed in to write this paper...and this blog).

Last Friday Mike Rodio finally dragged me and Siomha to the PAV.  The PAV is the student bar on Trinity's campus. I'm sure it's a ton of fun if you know a million people that go there, but honestly I just feel a bit left out there.  Crowds and crowds of people that all seem to know each other. In bars, it's a bit more anonymous, with groups of people at their own tables. Mike insisted that he meets people at the PAV, but...I don't buy it. Sorry Rodio. The only way I meet people is through small classes or plays. Or drunk guys at bars. But at the PAV, it's like one giant Trinity party that the study abroad kids weren't invited to. A couple UCD kids wanted to go for a drink, so I encouraged us to leave the PAV, and we went to the Long Stone (recommended by Eimear). I liked it a lot...had a cozy atmosphere, but it was crowded and had party music on.

On Saturday, the Trinity kids took about 10 UCD kids to Howth, a little fishing village about 25 minutes away. After some delicious fish and chips, we took a very muddy and adventurous walk on a hiking path in the cliffs outside of the town.  Really beautiful views.  I fell in love with Ireland all over again. The blog server isn't letting me post pictures up here, but you can see pictures of howth here. When I got back Saturday night, I headed to Rathmines to go to my friend Julia's surprise party.  I met Julia, an American grad student, and Elizabeth, and English grad student, through Dr. Horrible. And I'm so glad that I did! I had a great night at her party. I was very late and missed the big SURPRISE! moment, but I still had a great time. I loved all of their friends...I think it's partially because they were all a bit older. The age group was around 23-26, and I didn't feel out of place at all. Everyone was relaxed and inclusive and friendly. It was actually refreshing...so many undergrad parties just seem like a more drunken extension of the cliquey high school mentality, but I enjoyed this one a lot more. At the end of the night, I caught the Luas back with a wonderful American married couple that decided to settled down in the Temple Bar after they both finished grad school at Trinity. I love getting to know the new UCD kids, but I'm going to try to meet new people like this more often.

That being said, we still wanted to feel like we were a part of the new UCD group. So, we had about 10 kids over for a Mexican night on Sunday. I made some yummy guac and margaritas, and Siomha made her famous enchiladas. My friend from highschool, Rachel Sussman, just got into town the day before, and I roped her into coming to Trinity to eat dinner with me and say hello. She looked impossibly stylish and beautiful and I had a wonderful time chatting with her.

We ended the night at a sports bar to watch the Bears game. All the UCD kids from the Chicago area were there, and they became more and more depressed as the night went on. I had to kind of pretend I was sad... until I got into the bar, I did not know who the Bears were. I tried to keep that quiet....

Wednesday evening the O'Connell house staff took all the Trinity kids out to dinner.  I LOVED the place we went to--Hugo's on the corner of Merrion Square and St. Steven's Green. It was a lovely little restaurant with a huge wine bar, little twinkle lights, lace curtains, and tiffany-blue wallpaper.  I loved catching up with the O'Connell house. I also met a new member, Lisa, from Canada. She's really one of the oldest members, but she was on maternity leave last semester so I never met her. She's delightful! She fell in love with an Irishman, moved here, and married him. So romantic. She kept quizzing me about Kstein, and hinting that I need to meet an Irish guy instead. I told her that though her Irishman fairy tale was appealing, I'm going to stick with Kevin....

The food at Hugo's was DELICIOUS. Since the O'Connell house was paying, I indulged in a little creme brulee.. it was a very good life choice. I wish I'd brought my mom there when she was visiting!  After dinner, Siomha and I went to UCD for a second dinner! All of the UCD kids were having a big pasta dinner to get to know everyone. One of the main reasons I went was to sample Katie Kelliher's famous banoffee pie. I was pretty stuffed when I got home that night....

Friday morning, my friend Dithu told me that one of my friends from high school, Kyle Holton, died in a car accident. It shook me more than I thought it would. I haven't talked to Kyle in about 2 years, but he was still a big part of my life in some way. Most of my experiences with him were from forensics Freshman and Sophomore year....he was such a fun, spirited person, and a really great coach.  Some of my close friends are still so tight with Kyle, and I can't imagine what this must have been like for them.  I called my mom, shannon, and a bunch of other high school friends to talk about it. Then I promptly spent an hour and a half watching Rocky Horror the multiple (Kyle's pride and joy) and skyping with Dithu. Didn't get much homework done, but it was actually great getting to talk to people from high school about everything. I felt a bit like I was in the Big Chill.

That night, one of the UCD girls that I LOVE, Mary Coyne, cooked dinner for the trinity kids and a few UCD-ers. Delicious Ratatouille and garlic bread. After the meal, we headed to the porter house to see the famous Woodsey...all the UCD kids are now big fans. I'm following in your footsteps, Norah.

Saturday the O'Connell house planned a tour for us at the National Gallery.  There was a special exhibition of J.M.W. Turner's watercolors, and we had a tour-guide take us through the Yeats exhibit and the famous Carravagio. After a quick dinner at home, I met up with Adriana, Alice, and Josh, some of the UCD kids, and went to a trad session at Gogarty's in temple bar. It was great! I'm going to try to go to more trad sessions and see more live music while I'm here. I haven't even been to O'Donaghue's since I've been back! It's inexcusable. After the trad sesh, we went to UCD for a "dorm party"...I guess people are already feeling nostalgic for the Notre Dame way of life.

I finally started to work work work really hard on my Psych essay on Sunday.... unfortunately I didn't make much progress. This essay may be the death of me. After more essay-agony on Monday, I went to a talk at 6pm with Rupert Everett!!!  He is just as handsome and charming in real life as he seems in the movies.  And his accent is BEAUTIFUL.  I loved hearing about his past.  From dropping out of high school, to feeling dissatisfied with the techniques and rules in acting school, to being in his first Oscar Wilde production, to his first movie, to his upcoming directing/writing career...he seemed so down to earth about it. Even though the interviewer was asking him some pretty personal questions (i.e.--coming out in Hollywood, his family life, his heritage in the royal family), he never seemed too taken aback and he spoke about everything with such eloquence.

I'm a little bit in love... unfortunately he's gay, otherwise we would TOTALLY be together.

After the talk, I had drinks with rachel and her friend Solvieg at Doyle's. Afterwards, I headed to the place where Rachel goes to school, Griffith College, to meet all her theatre friends. I had SO much fun....it was refreshing to hang out with outgoing, quirky theatre folk again.  The only downside was I had to take a cab home...I didn't want to walk alone in at midnight in relatively deserted streets.

The past few days have been kind of crazy--lots of class, lots of homework...I'm trying to make some progress in this overwhelming paper so I can have a good time in Berlin this weekend! Yes, you heard right...I'm going to Berlin! So exciting.

I won't blog again for another week (aka, until after this paper is done), but I PROMISE next week's blog will be better than this one.

Slainte,
Clare Mairead

P.S. Here are some more pictures of Dublin Round 2! 

BMOC...

When I landed in Dublin, I felt like a complete pro.  To be honest, I think I felt a little too proud of myself for knowing the ropes so well. 

 I passed through customs in seconds with my Irish passport, and received a quick smile and a "welcome home" from the officer. I pranced right by the seating area where I had anxiously waited for my flight to the U.S.A back in January, filled with homesickness and exhaustion. I hopped right on the aircoach headed towards city center, using my "return" ticket that I had saved since December. I was asked for directions in the street on the short walk from the bus stop to Trinity. 

Am I BMOC, or what?!?

After collapsing in my bed for 3 (okay, 4) hours, I stopped by Starbucks to reunite with Siomha and Mike, then we all headed to Kevin Whelan's house for the opening mass. It was bizarre to see an entirely new crew in the cozy house. There were some familiar faces (to be honest, I distanced myself from those faces, since I hadn't really interacted with those people since the awkward days of Freshman year...) but most of them were complete strangers. Being in such a familiar environment without the people with whom I had spent the past four months was disconcerting to say the least. When Kevin Whelan was making a long speech filled with "kinda"s and wild hand gestures, I physically turned my head to look for Thom or Kyle or Caroline to share a knowing smile with, but there was no one there to meet my eye--this was their first time meeting Kevin...his lovable quirks were new to them. The people I used to share inside jokes with are back in South Bend. I'm slowly realizing that Dave or Becky or Stevie won't just assume that we're going to O'Donaghue's after class to share a pint.  I need to explain what O'Donaghue's is! I need to figure out people's names! 

As a result of this odd situation, I'm noticing a problem. The Trinity kids have always been separated from the UCD kids, based on physical space alone. But that physical space definitely affected friendships last semester. Well (and I'm sure (I hope) this will change) this separation is even more dramatic this semester.  Mike and Siomha and I are clustering together far more often than we normally would. I have to drag myself away from our comfortable discussions and ask the girl in the corner what her name is. In addition, Mike and Simoha and I are about 5 times more outgoing than we were the first time around. We're just more comfortable in our own skin. And, unfortunately, I think we're intimidating (scaring) people. I have to tell myself to stop talking so much, and to tone it down when I'm talking to one of the new kids.

Aside from this, things have been great. 

I feel so much more put together. My room is actually CLEAN! I unpacked and organized my room in a mere 3 hours... I think it took me about 3 WEEKS to fully unpack my suitcases last semester. And, I already did all the laundry that had built up through late November and early December of last semester. Aren't you proud of me?!

It is practically spring outside. All you need is a sweater or light coat and a scarf. Birds are chirping, the snow has melted, and the green is greener than ever. There was even a little sun yesterday, turning the dozens of windows in the long room into mirror-like reflection pools. Ireland always has a striking sky, primarily because the clouds are spectacular after a storm (and there's at least a little rain nearly every day), but last night there was a glorious sunset, a sky of pinks and blues and yellows, sprinkled with little wisps of purple clouds.

I'm noticing everything a lot more. That sounds a little weird, but it's true. I think I've given myself a chance to take a breath, unclench my anxious muscles, and open my eyes. 

(Also, it's not getting dark at 4:30pm anymore. It's more like 5:30pm now. Which is a nice change. So, I literally am able to notice everything now because there's more light. But let's pretend the reason is just because I'm awakening my senses and absorbing the beautiful world more now. That just makes it all so much more poetic.)

For example, when I was walking to the O'Connell house today I didn't look at the ground in front of me, or at the people clustered by the bus stop, smoking their cigarettes and looking angry.  I was looking at the buildings, the little european cars, the sky, the moon appearing in the still light blue sky. I realized that W.B. Yeats lived on 82 Merrion Square, just down the block from the O'Connell house.  Then about 4 doors later, I learned that Andrew O'Connor, (some famous sculptor?) lived on Merrion Square as well.  And at 1 Merrion Squre? Oscar Wilde. 

How am I JUST realizing this now? Two possibilities:  1. I'm only now looking carefully at the beautiful Georgian houses I'm passing and finally reading the little plaques on the brick walls. 2. I'm finally able to read the plaques because it's incredibly light outside. 

I'm going to say it's a combination of both.

Slàinte,

Clare Mairead

p.s. Merrion Square is the REAL LIFE Greenfield Village. When I was a little girl (I swear I was like 9, even though Pat tells the story with me being 16) I asked my family "Isn't it a little weird that all these famous people grew up in the same town? Isn't it crazy that all these people were born in Greenfield Village?" I didn't understand that the houses had been moved to one location. And that all these famous people were not all growing up at the same time. Or even during the same generation. I swear, I was 9, not 16. 

p.p.s. I'm already getting a lot of use out of my blue coat, mom. And I have received multiple compliments. So thank you for letting me take it. 

p.p.p.s. In case you wanted to see more of my beautiful room....

I realize this one doesn't look at clean at the others--as Mike put it, there's a
lot of "drapery" and that makes it look messy. I just have so many scarves.
It's SUPER organized, I SWEAR.

Home again home again jiggity jig.

Here I am, over a week behind schedule... again.

Last Thursday night, we went to a show that is supposedly a Dublin Christmas tradition. It's called "Panto," short for Pantomime.  This year's theme was Aladdin. I had no idea what to expect--would they be singing music from Aladdin? Would they be MIMING the story of Aladdin? Would it have a Christmas spin?

Nothing could have prepared me for what was to follow.

It was Aladdin themed--part X factor (Irish version of American Idol), part drag show, part Barney, and part Disney-on-Ice.  It was hilarious for us Notre Dame kids to watch--they didn't sing any Aladdin songs, OR any Christmas songs for that matter. Their set list comprised of: "California Gurls," by Katy Perry, "Tik Tok," by KE$HA, "The Climb," by Miley, "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked, a Justin Beiber number, "True Colors," "Barbra Streisand," etc. etc. YOU GET THE IDEA. So ridiculous. They changed some of the words--ex: California Gurls became Peking Gurls (because it's set in Asia..) and some of the words to TikTok (like "Bottle of Gin") were replaced. I would never allow my children to go to this. I just don't understand. I don't really have a huge problem with the inappropriate jokes (A man ordering from the grocery store: "I'd like to order some sausages. Big ones. No, much bigger! A big sausage and two plumbs")  or teaching kids how to swear ("Let's learn an Asian word, kids. Ahhhs Ohhh!") because the kids probably didn't understand. I just had a problem with how stupid it all was. The stupid, sexual jokes, the drunken behavior, the song choices, the cheesiness of it all. I'm sure it was a kid's dream true...but why would parents want to bring their kids to this show that reeked of everything bad in America? Why not take them to something actually Christmassy, something quality, something that will make them dream of something else besides Miley Cyrus and Ke$ha?

That being said, we all laughed our asses off. We pitied the kids, we were surprised by the choice of all-American songs, and we were disgusted by the closing number of 12 days of Christmas: 12 beer mugs...8 shillelaugh sticks...7 leprechauns...3 rugby shirts...and a bra that was made to fit 3.

COME ON IRELAND.

The rest of my time in Dublin was spent studying and writing papers. I made some time to say goodbye to everyone though. Siomha and I headed over to UCD to have a little Christmas party with all our Notre Dame friends--best night I've had in a long time. Everyone was letting loose from hours studying for exams and everyone was in the Christmas spirit. Stragglers, myself included, stayed at the party after nearly everyone left, singing carols and playing kazoos very loudly until 3 in the morning, when the staff at UCD had to come upstairs and ask the 8 people that were still left to quiet down.

I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not going to UCD to visit the Notre Dame kids more often. I've grown to love all of them. I'm so sad that they won't be returning next semester--I'll have a whole new batch of personalities to get used to and learn to love. I'm already looking forward to seeing all those kids again in the fall of my senior year.

Tuesday night, I forced Mike, Siomha, and my favorite UCD kids to come to the Brazen Head with me and share a last pint, since I was the first student in the Notre Dame program to leave for the states. It was a bittersweet night.

Thursday AM, after getting around 3 hours of sleep, I made my way to Dublin airport, and headed to Philadelphia. I slept a bit on the plane, I think (I hope), and landed in Phili feeling wide awake and happy to be alive! I've never been happier to see Wendys, Chik-fil-A, and all things American. So happy, in fact, that I sent out a mass text "AMERICAAAAA!!!!" to nearly everyone in my phone book. I'm sure a couple people were confused....

Now, I'm home. I'm eating an orange. I'm listening to Christmas music. There's snow outside. The stockings hung by the chimney with care. It all feels so familiar. Feels like I never left. So strange! I'm about to start working on a paper that I didn't finish. Oops. Wish me luck.

Cheers,
Clare Mairead

'tis the season to be nostalgic....

Christmas is coming, christmas is coming, christmas is coming!!!!!!! 

I've had a very musical past few days. Saturday night, a few of us went to see Handel's Messiah at the Grand Canal Theatre. I decided it'd be fun to dress up, so I wore my favorite heels (the ones that I never get to wear, because they're two inch heels, and everyone I hang out with is shorter than I am). That was a bad decision. Dublin had gotten around 3-4 inches of snow wednesday, thursday, and friday. Beautiful winter wonderland, white, powdering packing snow, snowmen and snowball fights GALORE on Trinity's campus. Sounds great, right? Except that the city of Dublin doesn't own any shovels or snow plows, and so they FREAKED OUT. Shut buses, had three snow days, and worst of all, didn't know how to handle the baby-amounts of snow, so they just let it build up on the sidewalks and turn into a 3-inch layer of solid ice. On Trinity's campus, it's relatively shoveled and slushy and harmless. But out there on the streets.... it's a different story. I fell TWICE in the course of the evening. I'm shocked I didn't fall more often. The first fall I handled relatively gracefully. It was more of a "slip." I didn't completely hit the ground. But the second fall... well, it was spectacular. I involuntarily rotated about 180 degrees, one leg flying up in the air, and grabbed a fence next to me in desperation, but I definitely fell. Scratched up tights and knee, nothing more. My friend Kyle tried to ensure me that I fell gracefully, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. 

The show itself was wonderful. The soprano, especially, was mesmerizing. I wasn't so keen on the mezzo though. The best part was, obviously, was the Hallelujah chorus. Everyone stood up for it and sang along. Really powerful. Worth going just for that. I felt very fancy and happy and christmassy. 

Today, at the O'Connell house, we had a program potluck dinner and traditional Irish session. My friends Stevie, Pete, and Becky played the guitar, badhran, and tin whistle, and I sang (and danced). They played a reel, which I Irish danced too (I hope I wasn't too out of practice), a jig, and a slow air called Boolavogue, which I sang. Then the trad sesh turned into a jam sesh, and I sang "The Park" while Kyle accompanied me on the guitar, then Stevie and I sang a duet of "Baby it's Cold Outside." The guys ended the night with a rendition of santa clause is comin to town... the bruce springsteen version, that is. It was really hilarious. Steve on the guitar, Pete on the harmonica, and kyle on the piano (kyle doesn't play piano. but he rocked out on the three repeated chords that the song requires). It was a great time. Everyone in the program was laughing and singing along and having a good time...they seemed to enjoy it. Apparently "The Park" made someone cry...so that's always good! Haha, maybe that's odd, but I think it's a compliment, in some way shape or form. 

I've felt quite nostalgic these past few days, and I can't figure out what for--for Notre Dame, a bit. For Beverly Hills and home and my family, definitely. Very nostalgic for Christmases past. But at the same time I'm strangely nostalgic for Dublin! I'm a little sad I didn't take advantage of getting to know everyone in the Notre Dame program here from the outset. I was so homesick and overwhelmed by everything. But now I know everyone really well, and love spending time with them--just in time for them to leave!! I intend to use every second of next semester getting to know these knew people, soaking up Dublin even more, enjoying my time here. Because I'm never going to have an experience like this again! And I've really only been fully appreciating that, and enjoying Dublin, for the past month or so. I'm so thankful that I'm here a year! 

Thanksgiving and Londontown

Thanksgiving away from home was actually a little bit harder than I thought it would be. I've always been in HUGE Christmas fan, and honestly Thanksgiving was just a fun little part of the lead-up. But on the day of, I really missed the parade, eating zucchini bread and doing massages with Norah, being able to go to MEGA 80s for the first time ever, Pat and his friends hanging out at the house after football, seeing all the family, mom's delicious cooking, etc. Luckily, the Notre Dame center knew how homesick we would all be, and they prepared a truly wonderful evening.

Some of my favorite girls of the program

We had a magnificent four course dinner at the fancy shmancy Merrion Hotel.  Mr. Naughton, one of the owners of the hotel and a huge part of the ND community (he and Dr. Keough bought the O'Connell house for Notre Dame) was there. We had a beautiful little mass before dinner, during which our makeshift choir performed Deer's Cry. I think it sounded pretty good! At least I hit all the crazy high notes. We sang it AGAIN (after stuffing ourselves with salad, pumpkin soup, turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, soda bread, and apple pie) as a part of the post-dinner entertainment. It was a really wonderful night.  I forgot that I was missing Thanksgiving with my family, at least for a few hours, and I really appreciated the Notre Dame family. Yes, I said it. Notre Dame family.  Cheesy, but it really felt like it!  I'm especially fond of the ND-Dublin program. It's going to be hard to see all the kids in the program I've grown close with leave, but I'm thankful that I get another semester in Dublin with with Siomha, Mike, the funny O'Connell personalities of Joe Stranix, Kevin Whelan, and Eimear, along with a whole new gang of Notre Dame kids. I sang the Notre Dame fight song with everyone whole-heartedly. The only downside to the evening was the lack of Thanksgiving leftovers. Unfortunately, the Merrion Hotel did not box up any delicious food for us to take home.

Trinity kids--the dynamic trio.
 (I feel I need to explain this picture. Mike has a theory that at any given time,
 person 1 is laughing at person 2, and person 3 is laughing at both of them. In most cases,
I'm person 1, Mike is person 2, and Siomha is person 3. We think we're really funny.)

I raced home to skype with my family--so much fun! And such wonderful news from Meghan!!!!!! I got to see everyone's smiling faces (including Ollie!) for the first time since I've been abroad. They finally installed a camera! It was good to see the house--I can't wait to be home by the fire. I felt so happy and fulfilled going to bed that night. Seeing them was better than I thought it would be, but unfortunately it did make me feel even more homesick.

I left for the airport around noon, since my flight wasn't until 2pm. Thank goodness I got such a late flight--I was up so late packing and cleaning! Upon arriving in London, I made my way to Farringdon, where the ND-flats are located. I was going to stay at my friend Matt's (one of the canadian guys I met in Edinburgh), but for reasons that are still very unclear to me, he got evicted! So, thankfully, my friend Anne Kaifes offered me a couch in her flat at the ND-center. Getting to the flats was a struggle, since the direct train from Gatwick airport to Farringdon closed just minutes before I arrived--apparently a car hit London Bridge, interrupting the train route. Awesome!! So, I had to do a lot of messing around on trains and the tube to get there. It all worked out ok. That night I went to a Jonsi concert with my friends Kyle and Karyn. Jonsi, for those of you less cool than me (that was a joke), was the lead singer in the band Sigur Ros. Apparently, he's working on a solo career now. And he's doing quite well! The show was incredible. Very cool, otherworldly, energetic vocals. Trippy lights/background affects. I recorded a little video of the show that you can check out here. 

The next day Anne and her lovely friend Erin and I wandered around Portobello market in Notting Hill. I LOVED it! I wanted to buy about a million things, but I settled on a pair of light purple leather gloves (12 pounds) and a new wallet (7 pounds). Not bad. Very pleased with my thrifty purchases. I wanted to search around Notting Hill for the Travel Book Shop (it exists, apparently!) but I resisted. Next we headed to Hyde Park for a Christmas market. It was so beautiful! Although it was much more than your traditional Christmas market.... a Christmas extravaganza would be a more appropriate description. There was a Christmas-themed haunted house, roller coasters, a terrifying talking moose, and a gigantic statue of Santa. Is it just me, or has Christmas gotten a little crazy? We got hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts (on an open fire...) to keep warm.

Anne and a terrifying Santa

It was already getting dark by 4 o'clock, so we hurried over to Parliament so I could see Big Ben, Westminster, and the Thames in the fading light. Spectacular. After seeing the sites in so many movies (namely Peter Pan and WINNING LONDON), it was so surreal to see it all in real life. I went out with Anne and her friends that night, and I have to admit that London nightlife is much more lively than Dublin's. That being said, I prefer the pub scene of Dublin over the clubs and Time Square-like activity of Pacadilly Circus.

Sunday morning, I braved the tubes by myself and met up with a tips-only tour group at 11am in Hyde park. I LOVE the New Europe walking tours. I highly recommend them. In a mere 2 hours, I was able to marvel at/listen to stories about: Buckingham palace, Trafalgar Square, the guards, Green Park, St. James' Palace, statue after statue, and monument after monument. Around 1 o'clock, when the cold had permanently numbed my toes, I ducked out of the tour early (after tipping my guide, of course) and hurried back to beautiful Trafalgar Square to meet Nicole. We made our way to Herrods, the famous London department store. So decadent and Christmasy, packed with shoppers and sparkling with jewels and twinkle lights. After exploring for about 20 minutes, Nicole and I made a fatal error: we separated. In the maze-like Herrods, overflowing with people, the odds of us finding each other again were slim to none. I waited in a nearly 20 minute line for the bathroom, and when I arrived at the designated meeting spot, there was no Nicole in sight. Uh. Oh. After ducking my head into random rooms for 15 minutes, it was nearly 3pm, and I wanted to go to mass at Westminster Abbey at 4. So, tragically, I left. My phone had no service, not to mention it had about 50 cents left on it. After attempting to call Nicole about 40 times, I FINALLY a call got through. Unfortunately our schedules weren't going to match up, since she wanted to shop and head home around 5:30, and I wanted to go to mass.  So I raced to the tubes and met Anne in Leicester Square.

Beautiful Trafalgar Square! 

The Westminster Abbey mass was the absolute highlight of the trip. It was the first sunday of advent, so it was a very special hour and a half long candlelight mass with an entire boy's choir. I wish I could have taken pictures inside, but I probably would have gotten kicked out. It was so magical--the entire congregation holding long, white candles, all the lights in the Abbey dimmed. The clergy and choir stood at the entrance to the church, millions of miles from the alter at the other end of the massive building. After the opening songs and readings, they slowly made their way down the aisle in the most grand procession I've ever seen. After a few moments, Anne and I realized that the congregation around us was standing and moving to follow them. We hadn't seen nothin yet! We had been sitting in just the first half of the Abbey! The alter, the choir section, and the "arms" of the cross-like body of the church had been completely hidden from our view. Anne and I followed the congregation in awe, taking care that our candle wax did not drip on the floor. We passed beneath a spectacular, ornate archway in candlelight, the clergy and choir boys looking idyllic on either side of us, and settled in the arms of the church for the rest of mass.  The readings, the music, the candles, the ornate Abbey itself--what a magical experience! As we filtered out of the great church at the end of mass, Anne and I peeked around hopefully, just in case the queen or the princes had been hiding somewhere. After all, it WAS the first sunday of advent and it WAS Westminster Abbey! But, unfortunately, we didn't see anybody. Maybe next time....

Anne and I spent the night being lazy and attempting to do a little homework. The entire tube system was shut down, due to a workers' strike, and the Farringdon train was still down due to the accident on Friday. SO, I took a bus at 6am Monday morning to Victoria station downtown, where I caught the Gatwick Express to the airport. Luckily, everything worked out. The bus trip took far less time than I expected, and the Gatwick Express was up and running. I was about 2 hours early for my flight! Better safe than sorry.

Now I'm home in Dublin, with two tests and two papers looming ahead of me. I'll get it all done... really, I will. I still remember how to be a student.  I think.

In other news, it snowed about an inch or so last night in Dublin. CRAZINESS. People are freaking out. Snowball fights galore, snowmen in Front Square, rumors that we're going to have a snow day. I find it all very funny. A snow day? Are you KIDDING me, Ireland?? Apparently there's only three snowplows  in all of Ireland, so the city shuts down if they get much snow. I think it would take about 4 feet of snow for Notre Dame to call a snow day. Dublin looks like a little winter wonderland--Grafton street and Trinity especially look so picturesque.  However, I have a feeling this lovely white dusting will look like brown slush within 24 hours....

16 days and counting,
Clare Mairead

Barcelona

I left Friday morning on an early(ish) flight.  I was meeting some of my Notre Dame friends there...Emily Wurz and Annie Gurney, who are in the London program, and Elizabeth Walsh, who is studying in Toledo, Spain for the semester. I was actually slightly nervous about traveling alone and making my way to the hostel alone, but my friends Paul (an American at school at UCD) and Ben (an Australian at UCD) were on both of my flights! So I had some ready-made travel buddies. Lucky I did, since I thought I was arriving in the Girona airport, taking an hour long bus to Barcelona, then taking the metro to my hostel. In reality, I was arriving at the Barcelona airport, taking a twenty minute train directly to a metro stop that was about 2 minutes from my hostel. I would have been wandering around the airport looking for a non-existent bus, except that Paul's friend Larry, who is studying in Barcelona, met us at the airport. After laughing at me for a good few minutes, he kindly directed me to the train I needed. I was at the hostel and reunited with my friends in under a half hour. It was wonderful to see them! We enjoyed a delicious dinner/lunch of paella at a place called Les Quinze Nits Plaza Real, the same square our hostel is in. I LOVED it. I was so smitten with my paella that I ordered it the next day for lunch but was sorely disappointed...apparently Quinze's paella is famous in Barcelona.  SO, if you're ever in Barcelona, make a stop at Plaza Real for lunch and enjoy.

Anne, Eliz, Emily. Reunited! Don't they look beautiful?!

That night we just talked and walked around the water, enjoying the beautiful night. I was just so happy we had good weather! Around 8, Emily, Annie, and I all figured it was around that time when we should get dressed to go out, drink some wine, get going, etc. Elizabeth looked shocked. She said the EARLIEST getting ready to go out began was around 9. And the earliest you could start pregaming is 10. And the earliest people actually go out is 11. I felt exhausted just hearing about it. But she was completely right. People don't go to "clubs" until around 2am in Spain, whereas clubs in Dublin close around 3am, and pubs close around midnight. I'm not in kansas anymore. We told Elizabeth we'd do our best. There were a ton of other Notre Dame kids there, so we began the night by getting some drinks with them. We had some tapas (delicious potatoes in spicy sauce), and visited a tiny (and packed) little outdoor wine bar. After that, we were finally ready to venture to a club. Or, i suppose they're called discotecas in Spain? We did ok that night... I have to admit I was in bed by 2:45am, instead of the Spanish bedtime of 4:30 or 5am.

The next morning was a slow one. Our exhaustion and headaches were matched by a drizzly day outside. We began the day around 11, and wandered into Mercat de Sant Josep. So many wonderful smells, sounds, and colors. After grabbing a few oranges and admiring all the flowers, we were approached by a blonde woman, a man carrying a huge camera, and a man with a huge microphone. She asked us if we could do a little interview for her. For tv, that is. Naturally we all agreed. She showed us a list of artists and asked us if we recognized any of them. The only one we knew was Shakira. So, she told us to tell the camera our names, tell where we're from, and say "The record of the year is Sale el Sol by Shakira!!" And we did. When I say "we," I mean my friend Annie did. I barely looked at the camera, but instead kept smiling at Annie as she spoke. Call it stage fright? Basically, if Shakira wins record of the year, our clip will be playing at some music awards on Spanish TV. Pretty nifty, huh?

We spent the day wandering, slowly making our way to Sagrada Familia. We jumped for joy when the sun came out, making our shots of the church more spectacular. Since it was nearly 2pm and the line was obnoxiously long, we ducked into a little restaurant on a side street to have a bite to eat. I don't have the name of the restaurant, but if I did, I wouldn't recommend it. The food was, well, inedible. I guess that's an exaggeration. But the paella was incredibly dry, and the meat we ordered was so veiny and fatty that we all only ate about three bites. That being said, it was the most fun lunch I've ever had. The waiters all became our best friends (one of them tried to come out with us that night, but it didn't really work out), and we spent the lunch in hysterical laughter as we tried to make a dent in the food we'd been provided. Staff=A. Experience=A. Atmosphere=C. Food=D.

Our new best friends 

Finally we made it to Sagrada Familia around 3:30. It was better than I imagined it. Apparently a lot of Gaudi's inspiration was from nature, forests especially. I could definitely see that. All the tree-like pillars with little windows of light shining through. It felt so heavenly.  I can't believe it's been a work in progress for nearly 130 years, and it still won't be complete for another 15.

Sagrada Familia ceiling

Outside Sagrada Familia 

After an evening of tapas, we went out for a couple of drinks and went to bed relatively early, since we were waking up at 8:30 the next morning. We began the day by visiting Mt. Tibidabo. Annie heard it was part of the old city of Barcelona, and it was supposed to have incredible views. It was QUITE a journey up to the mountain. Basically, we took the metro from our hostel the base of the mountain, then cable car halfway up, then a chairlift type thing all the way to the top. The journey took a good 40 minutes. Tibidabo had a beautiful church on top, and (surprise!) an amusement park! We must have mixed up our mountains. Unfortunately we missed out on seeing the old city, but we got to experience some extraordinary views nonetheless.

We were sort of pressed for time, since we intended on taking part in a go-car tour of Barcelona around 4, but we managed to find our way to Park Guell. It was spectacular! I only got to enjoy it for about 1 minute, since the other 14 minutes of my time at the park was spent waiting in an extraordinarily long line to use the bathroom. Oh well. I'd love to go back there one day--you could spend hours and hours at that park. Gaudi is really a genius.

Park Guell

We ended the day with GO-CARS. Seems a bit bizarre, I know. But it was so. much. fun. I didn't stop yelling and laughing the entire time. Basically, the little two-person go-cars are complete with a gps that tells you where to go, what sites you're passing, etc. It's a really efficient, beautiful, and FUN way to see the city. And it's hilarious. The go-cars are a tourist attraction on their own. People waved, pointed, and took pictures of us like crazy. I loved zooming around the city as the sun set. The only problem, however, was the gps lady took us on the 2-hour tour, not the 1-hour tour. So, after about an hour and 15 minutes of driving, Emily and I started to panic. She had to be back at the go-car place at 5:45, since they had a flight to catch at around 8:30. I had a couple panicked conversations with the operator at the go-cart place that went a little something like this:
"how do we tell the gps lady to TAKE US HOME?"
"um, well. you can't. you need to get close to home, and then maybe she'll tell you how to get back. do you need me to rescue you?"

Through a bit of trial and error and a few more embarrassing phone calls, we finally heard the lovely automated words "Turn right, Let's head home!" Emily and I cheered with joy. Luckily we made in back in time. Whew! It was SO MUCH FUN, and the helmet hair was totally worth it.

The trip was wonderful. I haven't laughed that hard in MONTHS. Seeing those girls brought back so many good memories. I'm so glad I got to see them while we were all abroad. After they all left for the airport I spent my last night with Paul, Ben, and Larry--Larry took us to an incredibly cheap and incredibly fancy and delicious place for tapas. I wish I remembered the name!! Definitely the best food I've had in a very long time. Plus, it came with a delicious bottle of wine that was 7 euro. Spain is amazing!

I have much more to discuss (Thanksgiving, London, the fact that it's snowing a TON tonight in Dublin) but I must go to bed. I'll update again tomorrow!

Love,
Clare Mairead