10-11 June 2007

I left home yesterday. I said my "goodbyes" and "so long for now’s" and packed my things for a month away from home, my longest period away from home up to that point. After the long flight and even longer sit at the airport--a six hour layover in Chicago-- I wonder why I don't feel more tired than I do. I meet someone from school in the airport in Chicago, and although the conversation is a bit awkward (probably because neither of us has any idea what we are supposed to be doing), I manage as best I can and when we arrive in Dublin we share a cab to the Trinity College campus. The cab driver is quite funny and polite, and is listening to The RTE, on which we hear a Springsteen song, I think, and "Dreadlock Holiday," a song by 10cc from the album "Bloody Tourists," which I don't think I've ever actually heard on the radio before. Nothing like a song about cricket, reggae, and Jamaica to welcome someone to Ireland.

We pull up to Trinity and pay the thirty Euro cab fair, and lug all of our bags across the brick walkway to the Accommodations Office, where we collect our room keys.

With the help of one of the skinny kids working in the Accommodations Office, I manage to get all of my things across campus to my building, number 34, and up the 47 stairs to my room on the second floor.

I find my room is hot, but comfortable, and decide I liked it very much. Being on the top floor allows me to get the exercise that is long overdue, as well as an excellent view of the campus, and a great breeze that will circulate through my room for the remainder of the month. In my room: a bed, a side table, a desk,—which I will not use throughout my entire time here—a bookshelf, a desk chair, a closet, a sitting chair, and a sink and mirror.

After sitting in my room for about a half an hour, I decide to take a bus tour of Dublin (the cream and green bus line), which is actually far more entertaining than I had anticipated, and, thanks to the bus driver, actually pretty fun. The driver makes jokes about business names such as “Knobs and Knockers,” and after dropping off passengers at the Guinness Storehouse, makes a joke about this being the part of the tour when he starts talking to himself. He swerves through the streets surrounding the Guinness stop and sings a song I’ve heard dozens of times before, but do not know the name of. He asked the passengers on the top level of the bus to stomp their feet to make sure he isn’t actually talking to himself, listens carefully to the stomping, then shouts, “Ah yes…seven,” into the microphone. I have to say, people in Dublin are insane drivers and I am extremely happy that I do not have to attempt driving while I am here. It’s hard enough to brave the city traffic as a pedestrian.

I forget to bring a watch along with me—to Ireland, not just on the bus tour—which creates a bit of a problem, since I am meant to be to class at a nine (I think) tomorrow. At our first class meeting, I am glad to see somewhat familiar faces and meet Tasha, who shows me around Dublin a bit, and brings me to a noodle restaurant, the name of which I can’t remember, but that is next to a Dunnes, which I will need to remember later. We eat noodle soup with chicken out of giant bowls and have to pay for water, but the tea is free, so I guess that’s a plus. We head back to campus and although she has made an effort to try and explain to me where I am while we are walking around the city, I still feel quite lost. We meet up with someone who is looking for the computer lab, and although we do not find the actual lab, we find and use computers in a hallway in a building we don’t know. It feels strange being here, and although I feel I should try to be self-reliant, I’ve also never had to figure this many things out for myself before.
Strangely enough, the thing I’m thinking about most is how much I wish I could bring my mother and sister here with me someday.