Wednesday began by packing my backpack and saying goodbye to the beautiful town of Wexford. We caught the 9:30 bus to get to Dublin with a little time to look around.
After the super easy bus ride (most of which I slept through) we dropped of our bags at what is to be home base for us for the next 2 days and that is the O'Connel House in Dublin. This is an historic house that Notre Dame bought and maintains and also uses as the offices, classroom, student union, etc. for all of the students studying abroad in Ireland. It was amazing how things then started falling into place. We dropped our stuff off and walked around the city for a bit, just taking in the atmosphere of Dublin on the day before Patrick's Day (most people drop the "saint" over here). We came back to O'Connel House for a music rehearsal at 3:30 and I knew it was going to be a good night when one of the girls walked in carrying an Irish Drum and a flute. I was pretty sure that she couldn't play both at the same time, so there was hope that I could play the drum for a few of the songs during Mass... I did!!
After that, they started talking about the matches that ND got tickets for over here... a Hurling match at 2pm and a Gaelic Football match at 3:45 on Thursday. Sure enough one of the girls who is studying here couldn't go and in an instant I was holding a free ticket to both matches. We then sang for Mass and had a delicious catered dinner, but the fun picked up again afterwards when we had our own Irish "session". Basically it is a time when everyone sits around and different people show off different musical or dancing talents that they may have... kinda like what my friends and I do at school except here it is awesome and everyone can do 4 different things and it is an integral part of the culture.
After rehearsal a couple of the students who were signed up to perform during the session asked me if I would want to play the bodhrán (Irish drum) with them for their two songs. Never one to turn down a drum I said of course and before I knew it I was up on stage playing the drums as people were dancing and jigging!! Apparently this is how things work in Ireland... everything just falls perfectly into place (it probably helps that the Notre Dame family was involved here too).
The night ended with a casual trip to a pub not too far away and an early bed time so that we can be up and awake and ready to have some fun on Patty's Day!
Since right now its 9am here... HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!!!!!!
After the super easy bus ride (most of which I slept through) we dropped of our bags at what is to be home base for us for the next 2 days and that is the O'Connel House in Dublin. This is an historic house that Notre Dame bought and maintains and also uses as the offices, classroom, student union, etc. for all of the students studying abroad in Ireland. It was amazing how things then started falling into place. We dropped our stuff off and walked around the city for a bit, just taking in the atmosphere of Dublin on the day before Patrick's Day (most people drop the "saint" over here). We came back to O'Connel House for a music rehearsal at 3:30 and I knew it was going to be a good night when one of the girls walked in carrying an Irish Drum and a flute. I was pretty sure that she couldn't play both at the same time, so there was hope that I could play the drum for a few of the songs during Mass... I did!!
After that, they started talking about the matches that ND got tickets for over here... a Hurling match at 2pm and a Gaelic Football match at 3:45 on Thursday. Sure enough one of the girls who is studying here couldn't go and in an instant I was holding a free ticket to both matches. We then sang for Mass and had a delicious catered dinner, but the fun picked up again afterwards when we had our own Irish "session". Basically it is a time when everyone sits around and different people show off different musical or dancing talents that they may have... kinda like what my friends and I do at school except here it is awesome and everyone can do 4 different things and it is an integral part of the culture.
After rehearsal a couple of the students who were signed up to perform during the session asked me if I would want to play the bodhrán (Irish drum) with them for their two songs. Never one to turn down a drum I said of course and before I knew it I was up on stage playing the drums as people were dancing and jigging!! Apparently this is how things work in Ireland... everything just falls perfectly into place (it probably helps that the Notre Dame family was involved here too).
The night ended with a casual trip to a pub not too far away and an early bed time so that we can be up and awake and ready to have some fun on Patty's Day!
Since right now its 9am here... HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!!!!!!
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