Number 42!

Yesterday we were lucky enough to tour the Waterford Crystal Factory, and see pieces as they were being made!
Probably the coolest thing that I saw was this fireman's helmet, which is still in its early stages of production. It's being made for Mariano Rivera of the Yankees! I don't know the full story behind the helmet, but it was awesome to see and hold something that will end up in his home someday!

Berlin Part One!

I can officially announce that I've been to mainland Europe and its amazing! Nothing like I imagined of course, much better. Monday Morning we landed in Berlin around 10 o'clock, and trekked to our hotel. It's a gorgeous old building, and I get to share a room with Emily, Kellie, and Mary, three of my favorite people on the trip.
Monday afternoon we had a short tour walking around some important parts of the city. We saw Brandenburg Gate (and some great street performers), then walked from East Berlin to West Berlin and saw the Reichstag. It's the site of the German Parliament, and is really impressive in terms of architecture. Eventually we ended up in the Hackescher Market area, and our whole group had dinner together. It was very relaxing after a full day, and felt pretty authentic too! After taking the train back to the neighborhood where our hotel is located, it was great to actually feel oriented. Myself and my roommates did a bit of exploring, and ended up getting some sangria and tapas! Not exactly traditional German food, but very cultural and definitely delicious.

Today (Tuesday) was a long day as well. We got to see part of the Berlin Wall that is still standing, and hit up a bunch of different museums and historical sites. It was really amazing to learn so much about the city's history in a single day. We covered everything from the Nazi regime's rise to power to Checkpoint Charlie- a gate in the Berlin Wall where hundreds of people escaped from Communist East Berlin to Ally-controlled West Berlin. We also saw the Holocaust Memorial, and the site of what is going to be a new multicultural museum! (It was a bit weird to go into a museum about a museum that's still in the process of being built, but the exhibits were really cool!)
One part of our day that I particularly enjoyed was the time we had to explore on our own, at our own pace. It let us prioritize our afternoon, and travel in smaller groups. Myself and a few friends ended up taking a river boat cruise of the city, which was another first for me, and definitely a cool experience. Overall it was a quiet evening, but I certainly don't mind being able to rest up and plan for tomorrow!

 Cahir Castle

 The Swans at Coole Park! (Just kidding, they were outside Cahir Castle. Had to work some Yeats in there somehow though...)

What a weekend!

Thursday:
Finished up midterms and enjoyed an afternoon of freedom with some friends! We stopped in at Ormond's Cafe and had some tea and a scone, which are to die for. It was really nice to be able to relax- no classes or schoolwork for almost a week and a half.
We also got to go horseback riding Thursday afternoon! Eight of us in total traveled to stables that are outside Waterford, got a quick lesson, and got to ride for about an hour. The views were really amazing, including a walk along a quiet, peaceful lake. Afterwards we all had our best cowboy walks going, but there were smiles all around.
Thursday night was a great time. Some of the girls organized a surprise going away party/potluck for Dr Reed, our Irish lit professor who was only with us for the first half of the term. I think (and hope) the surprise aspect was pulled off well, and it was nice to have everyone working together on something. Dr Reed managed to squeeze a 3 credit class into less than 4 weeks time, so he definitely deserved a hand by the end of it.
Friday:
We had a nice quiet day at home, and worked on planning an American themed party! James and Ricardo (the ridiculously outnumbered boys in our group- 30 girls and 2 of them) hosted Friday night, which was a blast. The Mercyhurst kids got decked out in their best red, white, and blue/patriotic outfits, and got to show off for some locals! It was really nice to meet some people from the area who are our age, and we had a lot of fun comparing Ireland to the States. The short walk home across the parking lot didn't hurt either.
Saturday:
We had a fantastic "Tom Tour" that took up most of our day, and included some exciting sights. We started at Mt Melleray Grotto, which is the site of an apparition of Mary to some young Irish people back in the 80's. It was a gorgeous spot, and the sun came out too! We also saw two Butler castles, and got to tour them. Later in the afternoon we toured some caves as well. They go on for miles, and we got to see fossils that were millions of years old. Really exciting stuff. It was a jam packed day and we learned a lot, got to see some beautiful sights.
Sunday:
My first Easter away from home! I walked to mass this morning with some of the girls and heard a nice service, then headed back home and got a bit more sleep. It was a really quiet day, but that's fine by me. Tomorrow morning we're headed to Berlin! It's my first time traveling to Germany/mainland Europe, and I'm so excited to get into the culture. We've got an early start (as in 3am early), which means I probably should have been in bed hours ago. It will definitely be an adventure!

Liffey Swim

 I've been a big fan of the Olympics for a long time, and finding this online while in Ireland was really exciting. It's a cool thought that ties in the Yeats family, which I've learned a lot about in the past four weeks, with one of my biggest interests!

Up the Deise!

We're off to our first hurling match this afternoon!

The Mercyhurst students have a few great connections with the Dungarvan Town Council, and we were lucky enough to score some tickets to a local hurling match for this afternoon! I've only seen videos of the game, so I'm very excited to see it in person.

Many people associate gaelic football and rugby with Ireland, but hurling is the only true Irish sport (or so I've been told). It's extremely fast-paced, and is supposedly the oldest field game known to man. Teams include 15 players each, and the female version is known as Camogie.

If you'd like to check it out, here's a video explaining a bit of the game! I'll be sure to post an update later after the game to let you know how it went.

Scaffolding - Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

"Scaffolding" is one of the first poems our Lit class has been assigned to read by the poet Seamus Heaney. We've covered Edgeworth, Yeats, and Joyce, so far and will spend the next few days working on Heaney. 

I've had a bit of a difficult week, due to unexpected events in Dublin last weekend that were almost completely out of my control (although I'm not blameless by any means). I like this poem in particular because it depicts strong relationships. I consider myself to be extremely interpersonal, and I'm grateful to have strong ties with my family and friends especially in times of crisis. After a crazy hectic weekend, I can really relate with Heaney's words here, and I'm glad to have been assigned the reading tonight.