I didn’t do anything today. I haven’t even left my dorm. Since I have no class today I decided to relax since I had such a long day yesterday. When I said I didn’t do anything today, well I didn’t do anything worthwhile.

I woke up around 11. Today a few people came to our dorm to check for fire safety and basically they tested the alarm and our smoke detectors, not a big deal. Another thing I accomplished today is setting up wireless internet in my room. You see, you do not need to be fluent in Japanese to set up a router, although it was all in Japanese! Now I have wireless within my room and I can use my iPhone’s wifi instead of my computer all the time, so I am happy about that. Also, now I can play my Wii online too, so that will give me many hours of entertainment and I can play with friends now. (I bought a black Wii last week because you can’t buy one in America and heck, it’s Japanese so it is automatically cool)

On a side note – If you really want to study a foreign language, a very good flash card program for the computer is called “Anki.” I use it everyday and it is an efficient way to keep all of your flashcards together on your computer rather than write them by hand. Also, it uses a space repetition system in which cards you have more trouble with show up more often than cards you already have a firm grasp on. I can to into more detail, but i highly recommend it. You can use it for anything, even topics with no relation to foreign language.

Right now I am actually doing a bit of homework and studying, I figured if I finish most of my homework for the week this weekend, I will have much more free time during the week to meet friends or relax after school. After all, I’m not accomplishing much else. Oh, I am also watching Good Eats Season 13 on Youtube. It is absolutely my favorite show ever, and if you haven’t seen it before you really should. Alton Brown is really good at teaching you not only how to cool the food, but the historical background and significance it holds. It’s a really interesting show and I’m sad I can’t watch the premiere of new episodes while I am in Japan, but at least they eventually show up on Youtube. I love cooking!

Tomorrow I’ll try to post more about my upcoming plans and anything else on my mind. Stay tuned!

My head hurts. I’m tired. This is how I usually feel on Thursday evenings. I wake up at 7, start class at 8:45, and my day is over at 6:00PM. About 9 hours, and I only have five classes.

My first class today was grammar class. It wasn’t really interesting because it was stuff we already covered in Japanese at the UW, so I didn’t pay much attention. I don’t have much to talk about this class at all really since all we talk about is grammar. We were supposed to have a quiz today but he decided to put it off until next week, not like it matters because it is about grammar I already studied.

My next class was my speech class. As I said before, I have speech class twice a week at the same time on Tuesday and Thursday. It was pretty much a repeat of Tuesday, except she told us that we have to write a script for a three minute speech and e-mail it to her before midnight on Saturday. I mean come on, Saturday? Who wants to do homework before Saturday? Ugh. I know what I’m going to write about and I’ll talk about it in detail either tomorrow or Saturday after I write it.

I had lunch and spent my time reading my independent study book, so nothing really happened during that hour, zzz boring!

The third class of my day was about Japanese society. In this class the professor, who is Canadian, teaches us about contemporary society in Japan and we talk about a wide variety of topics such as the low birth rate, women’s roles in Japan, and the aging society. I can go on and on about each of these topics because they are so very interesting, so I will try to talk about one topic tomorrow in detail so you might learn something new about Japan. Today we had a guest speaker, a Japanese salary man who also does a lot of research on his own about Japan’s economy and things like that. Everything he said was interesting and I felt better to hear that it is easier for a North American or European than it is for another Asian to find work in Japan as a foreigner. Also, Japan is trying to make it easier for foreigners to work in Japan, so my future might just be a little brighter if they through with it. I’ll try to talk more about my future dreams later this weekend.

My fourth class is actually an independent study. I told my academic adviser that I am really interested in Japanese women and want to learn more about them, and he did me the favor of finding a book that we can read and study as part of an independent study. The book is entirely in Japanese and it is basically a conservative, older Japanese woman talking about how modern Japanese women have no character and how they should act to acquire this character. I also have to discuss it in Japanese, so not only do I learn a bit about Japanese women and Japanese customs, but it is also good practice for my Japanese and I learn a lot of new words that I would never learn in class. I’ll talk more about the book later too. I have so much to talk about!

My final class is about multiculturalism in the world today. The teacher is a woman from Australia and she really knows a lot about cultures of the world and really gives interesting insight about things that I have never really thought about. Today we talked about the differences between national and official language, secondary and foreign language in terms of government. There are actually differences between these classifications and every country has a unique combination, so if you have time, you should try to find out about this on your own. Surprisingly, she brought up the Amish today and while the Amish don’t sound strange to me since I’ve seen them in Wisconsin many times, the concept of people who live like the Amish is really strange to people from other countries. They might think the Amish is some sort of cult since it sounds so bizarre from today’s perspective, but I don’t think that way at all.

Anyways, I’m quite exhausted from my long day. I made some sort of hamburger dish today and it’s quite delicious. I wish there was a class about Japanese food so I could learn to make food, but this isn’t a culinary school. Of course there are clubs or things like that, but I wish there was a cooking class. In fact, I wish the UW had a cooking class too. Ah well, a man can dream.

One more month left in Cape Town . I am in the midst of exam week; I have completed my African dance final, Marine Ecology final, and Marine Ecology Research paper. On Thursday, I have my last final for my Urban Challenges in South African Cities class. It shouldn’t be too bad, I’ve attended most of the lectures and the material is pretty basic. Sunday I leave for a two week road trip…I’m heading up north to Johannesburg (the home to the Apartheid Museum, gold mines, and the rich economy of RSA) and Pretoria (the capital of RSA and the home to the biggest zoo in South Africa). I will also be staying in the Limpopo and Mpumulanga provinces which are known for their nature and wildlife. Kruger National Park, located in the Mpumulanga province, is the largest game reserve in RSA. It has over 90,000 impalas and 3,700 elephants!

The past weekend I traveled three hours north of Cape Town to Cederberg National Park. As you travel north of Cape Town, the scenery becomes more desert-like and dry. It was about 85 degrees but luckily we went for a hike up to a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall was located in a small town called Algeria; about a year ago, Algeria was affected by a forest fire and now is very deserted. Driving through the park I definitely felt like I was in Africa, gravel, bumpy roads and a lot of random animals crossing the roads. The night after our day hike, we stayed at a hostel in a small town called Citrusdal. The town is known for its citrus groves and is a major exporter of citrus fruits to Europe. The owner of the hostel took us for a small hike up to some rock paintings. The rock paintings were about 500 years old and were made by the Bushmen of Citrusdal.

Last week was also Halloween (as all of you know) and being a true Badger, I celebrated it African-style. Few South Africans actually celebrate Halloween; we only had one group of Trick-or-Treaters stop by our house. But living in a house with 13 other Americans and 5 Europeans, we decided to throw a huge Halloween party. We covered the walls of our mansion with black plastic bags to make it look dark and spooky and also looked all over Cape Town to get the necessary cobwebs. We had a huge crowd come including many South Africans. It was a real treat (or trick?) celebrating our beloved Madison holiday in Africa.

Coming to the end of my study abroad experience, I realize that I still have so much here that I wish I could do. A return trip is necessary. Some things I would still like to do:

1. Chapman’s Peak drive- a scenic drive with a beautiful view of the whole city of

Cape Town.

2. Sky-Diving- although expensive, I figure if I’ve done bungee jumping I should

sky dive as well

3. Spend a night in a South Africa village- not sure how this will be arranged but

I’ve always pictured a huge bonfire and drums

4. Visit the townships of Cape Town- tour agencies do organize tours into the

townships but I feel like it exploits the citizens. I would like to do experience their lifestyle in a more

sincere, natural way if that’s possible.

5. A trip to the Kalahari Desert in northern SA

6. A safari to see all the big predators because I love big felines but hopefully

that will happen in Kruger.

Those are just some of the things I’d still like to do. I’d also like to travel outside of South Africa’s borders. I’d love to go to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia, Okavango Delta in Botswana, and Lake Malawi. But with only three weeks left of travel time, I’ll have to pick and choose. It will be difficult to leave all my new friends here. Through this program, I have met so many other international students and locals. I’ve made friends from all over Europe, Africa, and the US, I guess I’ll have to visit them

Hope the midwest November isn’t too cold…

Best,

Kristine

I absolutely love the province of France I’m living in. In my French 228 class back at UW, we had a short unit on Bretagne; we read poems and stories from the region, listened to several songs by Breton artists and discussed the people’s catholic religiosity and Celtic heritage. But beyond that, I knew little about it before coming here. I admit I did basically no research on the region in particular, besides looking up the weather (which I found to be very rainy but temperate), because I assumed it was similar to the rest of northern France. And while it obviously shares some qualities with the rest of the country, I’ve discovered that Bretagne is completely unique in culture, history and even language.

Some things I love about Bretagne:

1. Gallettes and Cidre. Crepes are common throughout France and are well known to foreigners, but gallettes are particular to Brittany. While crepes are sugared and usually eaten as dessert, gallettes are salted and eaten as the main course. Though the most common ingredient is ham, types of gallettes are infinite since you can put anything in them, from cheese and egg to ratatouille and steak. Besides being delicious, gallettes have become almost like comfort food for me. I will always associate them with some of my best memories from my time here. Every Monday night is gallette night at my house. My host grandparents and sometimes aunt come over to watch my little sister while her mom takes a late dance class, and we eat gallettes with cheese, egg and ham because they are quick and easy to make. I look forward to it every week; it’s nice to return to a house full of great people after a long day of classes. I also associate gallettes with fun nights on the town. I’ve gone to several different creperies in Rennes either with my host family or with friends where I’ve tasted more interesting and complex recipes. Cidre is very tasty and the perfect compliment to a gallette. It’s a sparkling alcoholic cider made from naturally fermented apple juice, and is better than beer or wine could ever be.
2. The music. Traditional music in Brittany is very similar to that of Ireland: jigs, bagpipes and flutes abound. However, the song lyrics are generally in the region’s original language of Breton, which has fallen out of use only since the end of WWII. Earlier this fall, some fellow American students and I went to a “Fest Noz” (night festival) where live bands played and locals danced traditional line dances. I love this kind of dancing (it has such a communal spirit and anyone can easily catch on) and have been known to attend similar events of eastern European music in Madison. Despite all the sweaty people and my uncomfortable shoes, I had a great time and hope to go to another soon.
3. The history. Bretagne’s history is so cool, from its Celtic beginnings to its liberation from Nazi Germany. The region has the most prehistoric monuments relating to ancient Celtic religion (similar to those of Stonehenge) in Europe. Remnants of Celtic religion remain in Breton legends and Catholicism. The region’s history has also always been intertwined with that of England. For many centuries the distinction between Great Britain and Brittany was almost nonexistent. Nobles of Brittany and Normandy often were successors to England’s throne. Many of the stories of King Arthur take place in Brittany, which was considered part of the legendary ruler’s territory. The English and French fought over the region during the Hundred Years War. Bretagne was then independent for many centuries before becoming a part of France and maintains a strong regional identity. It was occupied during WWII and was among the first parts of Europe to be liberated by the Allies. The effects of this period are still apparent; memorials can be found in most cities and older people like my host grandma, who remembers hiding in cellars during bombing raids, are still very much affected by it.
4. The landscape. Lush rolling hills are dotted with cows and rundown stone cottages with flower baskets in the windowsills. It is even more beautiful now that the leaves are turning colors. Bretagne has coasts on both the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean that range from sandy beaches to jagged cliffs. It is filled with little fisher villages and cute towns with medieval neighborhoods. It also really doesn’t rain as much as everyone says, and the clouds only help create the region’s distinct look and feel.

So, in conclusion, Bretagne is awesome. I feel lucky to have traveled a lot in the region and experienced many aspects of the culture first-hand. I’ve developed a weird sense of pride in the region, although not nearly as much as the Breton nationalists. Yes, there are some people here who want to secede from France and form an autonomous state. To those people I say: yeah, have fun with that.

Let me begin with the reasoning behind the title. It is not meant as a criticism in any way, shape, or form of anyone who has ever said that phrase. Instead, I use the expression to represent how I felt while reading about 1,000 pages of el Guzmán de Alfarache—a picaresque novel and a required reading– in the last week. The operative word here is “felt” because as I write these words, I have officially tackled that monstrous reading. The whole process seemed to drag on, partly because of its use of medieval Spanish vocabulary, but mostly because of the hundreds of moral digressions the narrator inserted at various points throughout the story. Now that it is finished, I can relax… oh, wait. I have two more books to read. Oh, well, never mind. 

Despite that little rant, everything is going so well in Madrid! In reality, I’m not drowning in schoolwork, but after I finish the required paper and presentation due on 16 November (which is why I need to get those other two books read—and I have not procrastinated either!), things should be pretty mellow until final exams.

One of my biggest apprehensions since arriving in Madrid has been how to go about making new, non-American friends. I figured the process would be easier once classes started, and after an initial hesitance to greet/talk to other students on my part, I can honestly say that I am finding a good mix (literally) of people to hang out with—Spaniards, Colombians, Peruvians, Mexicans, and even some French people. Don’t get me wrong—I really enjoy hanging out with my fellow program participants but it’s nice to start branching out, especially when the program participants would speak English to one another all the time.

On that point, however, I’m happy to report, that the situation has improved dramatically. Last week, we all had an individual meeting with Amy Olson, our student coordinator, who so kindly offered to be our scapegoat/excuse for why all WIP students had to speak Spanish to one another. The way it was, nobody wanted to be that “one person” speaking Spanish all the time while everyone else spoke English. It would have been odd. Nevertheless, now everyone is happy to be practicing Spanish with one another, even if it requires a little bit more effort. I finally feel as if I have achieved a fairly high level of immersion in the Spanish language, which can only be a good thing for me in terms of achieving the level of spoken Spanish I desire.

Other than that, life has been pretty normal lately. I have no real new adventures to share with all of you as of now (other than a couple of trips around Madrid, but we’ll save that for another day!). This week is what one would call a puente (literally “bridge” or three-day weekend). While some people are going out of Spain for those few days, I most unfortunately will not, mostly because of time restrictions on the above-mentioned presentation. Nevertheless, I do promise to bring you more exciting news in my next post, so stay tuned!

As I had written earlier, I got a job teaching English to university students (it’s an econ-focused university). It has been very interesting and fun teaching English – especially since its the same exact lesson plan seven times over. It is great when I say something in English and someone doesn’t exactly understand what I said so I hear their neighbor whispering in quick French what I just said. That is fantastic.
It has been a while since I wrote, but the past couple of weeks (15th to 29th ish) have been great but not that unique. I have just been hanging out with friends, going out a lot, and going to class. One interesting development has been the discovery karaoke bar right near the dorms. As opposed to a twenty to thirty minute walk into the city, having a bar where one can sing badly and loudly right next door is amazing. Which brings me to the past weekend, which was definitely my most favorite weekend so far. Thursday I had work in Marseille, then that night I dressed up as Tom Cruise from ‘Risky Business’ (more or less, it was just some random stuff thrown together) and sang way too much karaoke.
My throat was dead the next morning, but that didn’t stop me dressing up in a toga and going to a friend’s apartment the next day. I had a tie around my head and it was quite fun. As I was walking to a club after leaving the apartment, many French people were yelling at me “CAESAR!” because I was pretty much the only person dressed up on Friday night. Apparently if you were a toga you get called Caesar in France. It was pretty crazy that night and nearly every French person I ran into wanted to talk to me and ask me why I was dressing up and all that fun stuff. In the grand tradition of Madison, Halloween is a full weekend and not just a single day, although I don’t think I was quite that eloquent when I was saying this Friday night.
Saturday night I went the toga again after having so much success the night before. As our group was going into town, we ran into two guys dressed like Roman gladiators, complete with Speedos. They immediately bowed down before me and started chanting “CAESAR!”. Needless to say, many pictures were taken (one is my profile picture on Facebook). This night passed much the same as the previous one, although there were many more people dressed up. I still had people yelling and chanting Caesar to me; my white toga was very visible that night, whose memories I will never forget (the ones I actually do have).
Here are some random cultural differences that I haven’t pointed out yet: There are stray cats everywhere, middle-aged people actually care a lot about fashion and wear what young people wear (ex. I saw a professor wearing a professional ensemble with nice pants and a nice shirt, while simultaneously wearing purple New Balance shoes with orange shoelaces. That was jarring), and French students are extremely polite (they say ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ upon entering and leaving class). I will try to have a random cultural difference at the end of each one these posts now. Major props to my family for sending me a Halloween card, it is much appreciated.

Two weekends ago I went to the city San Pedro de Atacama, which is located in the northern desert of Chile. The town is inhabited by people, but it is mostly a place for tourists to go and experience the desert. Its necessary to go through tour agencies and obtain guided tours of the region, so the first day was spent shopping around the various agencies to find the best price. Our tour package included three days of activities.

The first day, we went to a very salty lake (called laguna cejar), so salty that you literally don’t have to do anything to float. I had heard about this phenomenon from other people, but I truly didn’t believe it until I was in the water and floating without moving a muscle. You could even float vertically without sinking! The lake has a high concentration of salt because it is between two mountain ranges and when the snow melts, it has no place to filter out and it just collects in this lake. When we got out, we had to be hosed off because the salt crystallized on our skin.

Ofter the laguna cejar, we went to another less salty water hole. There was about a 12 foot drop off you had to fall into before reaching the water. We all had a good time jumping in, even though we all were a little bit nervous to do it at first. The last place we went on our first day was another big salty lake to watch the sunset. It was beautiful because as the sun was setting, it created reflections of the mountain ranges on the water.

The second day we went to a small pueblo and saw some llamas. We were able to pet and feed them and meet the owners. We then went to a fertile region of the desert, where they grow crops such as grapes that are sweeter than usual because of the distinct minerals in the soil of the desert.

In the afternoon, a group of us rented bikes and rode to a place called Valle de la muerte and went sandboarding. Sandboarding is basically like snowboarding, except on sand. After a very rocky bike ride with our boards on our backs, we arrived at a huge sand dune. Climbing the sand dune to get to the top is tricky because each step makes you ascend a little bit, but it also causes you to sink down into the sand. By the time you get to the top you’re out of breath and its time to wax the underside of the sandboard. After waxing, you strap on the board to your tennis shoes and attempt to slide down the hill as far as you can without falling. Its pretty tricky, and when you fall it doesn’t hurt, but sand goes everywhere!

On the third day we woke up very early (around 4am!) to see the geysers. We had to ascend about 4,000 meters to get to them, and the tour guide brought a tank of oxygen with us in case anyone got altitude sickness! They geysers were very pretty and active almost the entire time we were there. After the geysers we went to a hot spring. The water was definitely warmer than the air temperature, but that wasn’t saying much since the temperature at that altitude is pretty cold. I still went swimming in them though and it was a lot of fun. When you touched the sand at the bottom, you couldn’t keep your hand in the same place for very long without burning it!

Overall, this trip has been my favorite trip in Chile so far. The desert is an amazing place to experience the diverse geography that Chile has to offer.

This past weekend, I went on my first trip outside of Chile—to Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza is about a six hour bus ride from Santiago, but this does not include the two hour process of crossing the border! We took a bus that left at 11pm from Santiago, so we were crossing the border during the middle of the night. We arrived in Mendoza around 7am and realized that we didn’t know the exchange rate of Argentine pesos, so we had no idea how much money to take out of the ATM! Luckily, we took out enough to take a cab to the hostel and sleep until we were more rested. We eventually figured out that its about 3.8 pesos argentinos to a US dollar.
One aspect I noticed about Argentina is how much cheaper everything is compared to Chile! I was shocked. Everything from hostels, restaurants and cab rides was cheaper. The first day we met up with some of my friends that are studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We we went out to lunch and walked around to explore the city. We found a very beautiful park with some live music. My friends from Buenos Aires were saying that the atmosphere in Mendoza is much more tranquilo than in the capital city.
The second day, we went on a bike and wine tour. This consists of biking to various vineyards and tasting the wine. I had never been on a wine tour and it was interesting to see how it was made. Most of these vineyards don’t sell their wine in stores, and only sell it locally from their vineyard. One type of grape that is very popular in Mendoza is the Malbec variety. Apparently this type only grows in certain climates, but it thrives in the dry, high altitude region of Mendoza.
I liked Mendoza a lot, but it was hard to get used to the Argentine accent! They would say words like parilla (with means barbecue) differently than in other parts of Latin America. Instead of pronouncing the ll like a y sound, they pronounce it more like a j sound. I also would try to used different Modismos chilenos (slang that is used in Chile) and no one would understand what I was saying. It was hard to get used to at first, and it made me miss Chilean Spanish!

So, I have not written a blog in an unacceptable amount of time, and even this one will be short. My workload was small at the beginning of the semester, but grew quickly once quizzes and projects started popping up. On top of my courses, I joined numerous extracurricular classes (swimming, yoga, dance and choir) and began assisting an English class at a local high school. Much of my free time is spent at university or local events, or hanging out with my host family. I have also been traveling in the region most weekends, and therefore planning said travels. As it turns out, fully profiting from a study abroad experience leaves little time for blog writing.
For all who wish to know, I have discovered the necessary formula for living in a foreign country: a delicate balance of confidence, humility and self-mockery. Be prepared for such misadventures as showing up to the pool, goggles in hand, only to be asked if you didn’t understand that class was canceled; or getting off a bus with around 20 other American students in the middle of a famous countryside only to find that all the sites (chateaux, lakes, etc.) are too far to get to without a car. When things don’t go as planned or you don’t understand something, the only thing to do is laugh and shrug as you say, “Ça va.” When it comes to language, accept that you are wrong most of the time and be grateful people even try to understand you. Yet at the same time, have faith in your abilities; I’ve found that I speak best when relaxed and confident. After all, speaking as much as possible, no matter how badly, is the only way to increase fluency. Don’t let insecurity stop you from taking advantage of opportunities, because it is only after you have met a challenge that you are filled with a great sense of accomplishment and happiness.
Luckily I’ve had many great experiences and successful conversations with French teachers, students and random citizens to make up for the disasters. And what’s more, all the practice has paid off. Last weekend, my friend Nellie was here visiting and told me she saw a huge improvement in my French from two months ago. I hadn’t been sure of my progress, but thinking back on my first few days here, I realized it’s definitely true. Yay!

For those of you who speak French, here is a little blague I read in a children’s magazine, which demonstrates how I sometimes feel:
La maîtresse demande à Toto: “Toto, qu’est-ce qui est le plus proche? La lune ou l’Amérique?”
Toto répond: “La lune, madame.”
“Ah bon, pourquoi?”
“Parce que la lune, on la voit d’ici. Pas l’Amérique…”

Today finds me quite early. It is 7:54 AM on a Friday, and it feels like a good time to once again convert my brain waves into a blog post. It would be so much easier if I could think in html code. I am one of those annoyingly sentimental people, and Ireland’s poor small broadband width would be doomed if there existed some method to upload every experience I have here everyday.

Nothing is more frustrating to me right now than the failings of current technology, or at least my current technology, to capture every moment of this trip in a way that would do it justice. I have a Canon point and shoot digital camera- not ideal for your average person who could tell me what aperture means and why I should be concerned with it, but quite nice all the same. But despite its 7.2 pixels and decent zoom capacity, it can’t really capture something like the unreal depth and vastness of a valley here. I have so many pictures of the mountains, but none can depict the grandness and greenness (or the double “g’s” of Ireland, if you will) in a way that would hold someone’s attention the way a mountain can when you are standing in front of it. The scenery here can be so startlingly gorgeous. I have developed a ridiculous habit of taking pictures of the sky. Lying in the parks here can sometimes border on a religious experience. I kid you not, the grass is softer- it just feels better. The pictures of the sky are an attempt to capture this incredible feeling you get lying in the grass, taking it all in. Unfortunately they translate to twenty random pictures of sky taking up space in my iphoto. I guess my hope is that when I am back in the unforgivable frozen tundra that is Madison in February, I can gaze at a chunk of Irish sky and have it evoke some bit of that feeling I get sprawled out in the grass of Herbert Park.

How about some tangible events. On September 24 something big was happening in Dublin, well all over the entire world, but especially in Dublin. This was of course Guinness Day, the celebration of Arthur Guinness’s 250th birthday. After interning at Parliament that Thursday, we went out innocently for a pint of Guinness, as did the rest of Dublin. In an alley next to a pub I sipped my Guinness and observed the coming together of the Irish young, old, and barbershop quartets. The enthusiasm was electrifying…depending on the group you were situated by. The people I was with from Parliament were moderately enthused, giving a toast to Arthur at 5:59. The group of young lads next to us, taking it to another level, gave a screaming toast to their pal Mr. Guinness every minute for a good half hour. Most pubs ran out of Guinness to serve pretty early, and when the Guinness ceased to flow, the crowds followed suit. All in all, an interesting experience.

That weekend some friends and I visited the Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, which I highly recommend going to. The entry fee is an astonishingly cheap two Euro, and the tour is extensive and gives you an excellent sense of some important aspects of Irish history. In the victorian wing of the jail is the ultimate in Foucauldian prison set-up, with multiple levels of cells and inmates all facing towards the center to the staircase, creating a feeling of constant surveillance. The cells where famous Irish revolutionaries were held are marked out, such as that of Patrick Pearse and Eamon de Valera. The most harrowing place in the jail is outside against a stone wall, the spot where 16 leaders and participants in the 1916 Easter Rising were executed by firing squad. You can literally stand where they stood and see what they saw. It was incredible.

The weekend after that was this brilliant event called Culture Night, which every city should consider having. On Culture Night, all the museums and important historical places open their doors to the public for free and stay open until as late as midnight. My friends and I took this opportunity to go to Trinity College and see the Books of Kells and Trinity library. The Book of Kells is one of the oldest surviving manuscripts. It was hand written and decorated by Celtic monks in the 800s. Leaning up against a glass case along with twenty other people, trying to catch a good glimpse of this book was often an uphill battle, but definitely worth it. Trinity Library is as close to Hogwarts library as you are going to get, save the travel to a movie set. The smell of old books, the winding staircases, the curve of the archways…obviously it lived up to and exceeded my expectations. The other place we went on Culture Night was Christ’s Church Cathedral, one of Dublin’s medieval churches. As a great lover of old churches, I must say personally I prefer St. Patricks in Dublin, but Christ’s Church Cathedral is certainly worthy of a visit. The crypt underneath the church is open to public perusal. Stone archways, low ceilings, and old graves made the crypt the highlight of my visit to the church. You could imagine walking around down there in the 12th century, navigating through the cold, with your torch and a vague sense of creepy…or an intense sense of creepy…

This past weekend we took a day trip to the Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow. Both are a good bus ride south of Dublin. The Powerscourt Gardens are attached to the Powercourt Estate, which was constructed from a castle that dates back to the 13th century. You walk around all the gardens in an hour or so, depending on your pace. Powerscourt features beautifully landscaped Italian gardens with fountains, an old watch tower surrounded by ancient trees, a Japanese garden, a walled garden (filled with wonderful smelling rose bushes), and other assorted paths, ponds and fountains. One of my favorite spots was the Pet Cemetery, where the family pets of the Powercourts have been buried, some dating back over a hundred years. The headstones are lovingly inscribed to loyal dogs, bountiful milk-producing cows, and dependable ponies. The gardens themselves look out to a mountain in the distance, with rolling hills and even a few horses scattered between.

The next stop on our day trip was Wicklow, where we were in Glendalough to see the impressive remains of the monastic community which existed there as early as the 500s. The ruins are in a valley of the Wicklow mountains amidst some beautiful scenery. A round tower made of slate still stands imposingly at around 30 meters high, and the cathedral is impressive and surrounded by graves so old that they have all fallen into a slant. We walked to the upper lake and saw the cave in the mountains that St. Kevin, a hermit priest, is said to have inhabited. Glendalough and Wicklow were both amazing places. I might go back and take more time to hike around and explore more of what they have to offer.

My internship is the real highlight of my trip. Getting to work in foreign government so far has been an invaluable experience. I am extremely lucky to have been paired with my TD (Parliament member) Jimmy Deenihan. He is friendly, encouraging, and has a good deal of faith in my abilities, which allows me to do some really fascinating work. Currently I am doing research for a couple of local projects he is working on for his constituency in Kerry. Just being in the Dail and the Parliament building offers so many opportunities to meet important and intriguing people. Eating lunch with Jimmy I have had conversations everyone from respected Irish journalists to well-known Irish Senators. Watching Dail debates is one of my favorite things to do, especially when there is a controversial bill. Nothing beats questions, when the Prime Minister has to defend himself against passionate attacks from the opposition. In one of my next posts I will try to go more into detail of my day to day work that I do as an intern in the Dail.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it is an insane time to be able to participate in Irish politics. The Lisbon Treaty was passed by a referendum and the NAMA bill has been voted through, but hotly debated at every opportunity. Last week there was a real possibility that the government might fall because the Green Party, in coalition with Fianna Fail, seemed poised to perhaps back out of their partnership over issues like the expenses scandal involving John O’Donoghue, the speaker of the Dail. He was voted out of offices for his spending during his time as Minister of Tourism, and gave a passionate speech against those in the Dail who voted him out. The Fianna Fail party and the Green Party were able to negotiate through their differences, so the government will stay and elections won’t happen quite yet. I think it is safe to say I am solidly immersed in Irish politics, and it is awesome.

I had midterms this past week, so I get next week off. It should be an amazing couple days, as this weekend I am going to Belfast in Northern Ireland and then setting off to Paris for a few days!

Kilmainham Gaol

Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow

Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow

Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow

Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow

Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow

Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow

Powerscourt Gardens and Wicklow