My ever-expanding world keeps getting smaller

Do you hear that? That's the sound of having a month off of school.

I submitted the last assignment of the term today, and classes don't resume until January 17th or so. It's really bizarre to have all of this head space now where I'm not constantly reading about, thinking about or watching theatre. Don't get me wrong, my brain still ticks to the peformance clock, but now it's on Jess' terms for a month. Pretty cool. I'm going to update you now on some totally awesome things that I've done this week:

Last week, I met up with the couchsurfing.com Dublin chapter for dinner. Couchsurfing.com is a worldwide organization that provides networking for travellers. Don't have money for a hotel or hostel? Surf a couch instead. It's also an awesome way to learn about a culture from the inside out. I've haven't surfed anyone's couch yet, but my roommate in Palatine and I hosted on 3 or 4 occasions. So anyway, my housemate Quinn and I met up with 12 couchsurfing strangers for Indonesian food.

This is me and Quinn. She's from Vancouver.

And here's our group in a really cool restaurant in Dublin. It's called chameleon. You take off your shoes and sit on some lovely lavish couches. Most of these people live in Ireland, but only one was Irish (actually half Irish, half Dutch). Everyone else was from Russia, France, Poland, Brazil, Czech Republic, and London. I absolutely loved this event, and I can't wait for our next international dinner in January. We're getting Moroccan food :)

I'm going to switch gears into Queer Notions. The Queer Notions Festival was last week as well, and it totally changed the way I think about performance and theatre. Queer Notions isn't just 'gay' theatre, it encompasses that gray area of love and pain and relationships (both to self and to others). I went to a one-man show by the great Neil Watkins, and Irish performer. I had seen him perform once before and fell in love with his energy and performance style. I returned to see him again in his show The Year of Magical Wanking. Just as we were getting to the good stuff in his show, we had a massive power failure and we all had to evacuate the theatre.

This is a picture of all of us waiting to hear any kind of news outside of the theatre:

Alas, to no avail. If we wanted to see Neil perform again, we would have to come back the following day as he was only giving two performances. But in the spirit of an amazing entertainer, Neil came outside, stood on a platform and performed in the dark. He's amazing.

Another lovely highlight was the Leprechaun Museum. At first assumption, you would think the term "museum" connotes artifacts. Well, believe it or not, there were NO leprechaun artifacts, but there WERE pieces of over-sized furniture to make it look like YOU were a leprechaun. I would say it was worth the 7 euros just for the giant room. The rest was bollocks (crap).

Here's Moira looking leprechauny:

And here's me trying to get onto a giant kitchen chair next to the giant kitchen table:

I finally made it up.

This first term has certainly been life-changing. It helped me find an academic passion for theatre I hadn't previously experienced, and I feel as though I will be watching theatre far more objectively for the rest of my life. That isn't to say, however, that I still won't be critical. I KNOW I'm critical, but the way in which I watch performances is through an ever-changing lens.

I also have such a smaller worldview than I once had before. We are so interconnected on this little planet, and while I have experienced things I never could have fathomed, my world seems more at home because I had the opportunity. And if you, dear reader, have ever wanted to travel, please do so. It's life changing.

So, over the next month I will be co-writing a script for my classmates and I for a show that we will be producing and performing at the Samuel Beckett theatre on campus, finding a play to submit so that I may direct next term, and trying to narrow down a dissertation topic. And it feels really really good to be doing this.

It looks Christmasy in Dublin once again with a major snowfall, and I put up some decorations and Christmas lights in the kitchen. Jen Hogue, one of my best friends since Barat, is scheduled to fly in on the 24th to spend Christmas in Dublin. Hopefully Dublin airport will open back up by then! Until then, I wish you all a Happy Christmas (lots of people say Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas here).

Much Love and Peace,

Jessica

Crocco and Moira

Hi all,

I just wanted to quickly add this link. It's an improvised bit that Moira and I did. I play the role of Crocco the Alligator.

This clip has some questionable language, so watch at your own risk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKp0Hh003Iw

Love to all!

Snow Days!

Here I am again to blog about more snow! Never in my life has it been such a topic and cause for concern. Trinity College shut down Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday. The snow is starting to melt, but many people just aren't prepared to handle it. An Irish news anchor called it "Siberian-like weather." It isn't. But it IS pretty neat to be a part of this history-making snowfall, and it was kind of fun to have a few snow days (ah, the dreams of a 10 year old....)

I just wanted to share a few more photos of the snow with you:

This is the view directly outside of my dorm window

And again after another snowfall at night. This photo is untouched.

This is in the Smithfield neighborhood by the old Jameson distillery.

That's the non-working tram called the Luas (like Louis).

Same basic photo, but untouched.

On a slightly more serious note, some people use the snow as a weapon. A lot of neighborhood kids are pelting people with snowballs in hooligan gangs. Old men and women are being ambushed by groups of kids. Last night, a group of male college friends were pelted by a good 20 snowballs, and last week another male college mate was hit with maybe 40 of them. A couple days ago there were kids outside of Trinity Hall throwing snowballs at student's windows for about an hour. Luckily they didn't reach me. I'm on the 4th floor (even though it's called the 3rd floor here. The ground floor counts as zero). It's really remarkable when people react to something they've never really had before. It would be a good sociology study.

But everyone is pretty much safe, which is good. I'm battling the tail end of a cold, which I'm grateful for, and I'm getting increasingly excited for Christmas here. I miss my sister something fierce-like, but I am ever so thankful for the world of technology and the invention of Skype.

Much love to you all. I hope you're all happy and healthy going into the holidays.

Snow in Dublin: When the World Shuts Down

Hi again!

It's only been a few days since I last posted! Aren't you impressed?

I bought a new camera. Did I tell you that already? My last one broke, and it was going to cost MORE to get it fixed than to just buy a newer (and better) one. Guess which option I chose? I Chose Awesome.

On Friday night, the end of the world started to occur here in Dublin. That's right.

It Snowed.

Dublin doesn't typically get ANY snow, much less 3-6 inches in November, much less 3-6 inches in November accompanied with thunder and lightening. It was epic. A group of us had returned from the pub late Friday night so find ourselves listening to the roll of thunder and flashes of light. And then it started to snow. The first thing we could think of was to run outside (bottle of wine in hand) and play in the snow. A snowball fight and pathetic snowman later, we went back inside and went off to bed.

Guess what happened next?! Saturday happened next. You see, Friday comes directly before Saturday. And you know what happened on Saturday? We got more snow. I was in City Centre at this time (the heart of Dublin) and things started shutting down.

Drivers couldn't handle the snow, the buses shut down and stopped running, half the taxi fleet abandoned good money, and hundreds of people were throwing snowballs, frantically hailing taxis, making snowmen, and dancing and singing. Sounds terrifying!

Actually it was pretty cool. What I learned though is that Dublin got a bit of snow last year as well (except that was in JANUARY), and they had gotten just a bit the year before (IN JANUARY), but they hadn't had snow for 20 years before that. The city is completely unprepared to handle snow in any amount, and they certainly don't have stockpiles of salt.

No snow on Sunday, so that was good. But guess what? Today is Monday, and we're getting more snow. Crazy, eh?

Thanksgiving in Ireland

Hi Friends and Family!



HAPPY day after THANKSGIVING!



The Irish don't celebrate Thanksgiving (they didn't really do the whole 'Pilgrims and Indians' thing), but I wanted to take this moment to be thankful for everything amazing in my life.

Certainly family is at the top of that list, and I am definitely missing my family during this holiday. I won't be making it home for Christmas either (I'm excited to spend Christmas in Dublin), but I sure do love and miss my family. The best support in the world.

My friends, many of whom are my familial extensions. I've made some pretty incredible friends in my short time in Dublin, but I am grateful for them. My friends that are still in the Chicago-area (and the rest of the US) have been on my mind a lot. I love you all!

The opportunity to be in Ireland. I'm not 100% sure how the stars aligned to get me here, but here I am. And that's amazing.

Heat. Man, it's getting cold and I sure do like heat.

My sense of humour. No, really. I'm hilarious.

My bike! I freaking love that thing! It's getting pretty cold to be on it though. I need to purchase better riding gear.

Theatre. I have learned SO much about it, and I am looking at productions from different angles all the time. I am so thankful that I have the resources to see some really cool (and not so cool) stuff.

Lush. There's one right outside the main gate of Trinity. I smell delicious most of the time. It really picks up my mood.

Tea. It's just awesome.

The internet. Sounds trivial, I know, but it's really important and amazing. We have the entire world at our fingertips.

There is so so so so so much more to be thankful for, but I'm going to stop there for tonight. I hope you're all happy, healthy, and doing great things. I love you.

Pictures and Adventures

One of my best friends here in Dublin is actually a 25 year old PhD student from Boston (his name is Craig). Lately, we've hopped on the bikes and just taken off into the unknown. We also tend to wander around the city aimlessly. This is the PERFECT way to learn about the city, and today we took some pretty cool pictures that Craig doctored up. Check 'em.

Yes, that's the sun shooting out of my eyes:

Craig:

That's "the needle" in Dublin.

Craig:

The River Liffey in City Centre, Dublin.

That's it for now! Classes start back up tomorrow so I gotta get some work done. Love to you all.

Quite the Random Update

Hi Again!



Here is a quick update on life in Ireland:


I got a bike! It's a purple Jeep Cherokee Laredo mountain bike that was gifted to me from my classmate Moira. Someone had kicked in the back tire a while back and she said I could have it if I wanted to get it repaired. DONE! For only 45 euros I have a bike. I rode it for about 4 miles yesterday. My "pride" is sore today.



This week I don't have classes because of "Reading Week." It gives students an opportunity to catch up on the things they haven't done yet and to prepare for the rest of term. It's been a much needed break from class.



My classmates and I are still in the process of writing a show for next term, and I am getting increasingly excited about it. I can't divulge info just yet, but I will as we become more solid in the process.



I continue to see Irish theatre, and it continue to be a fantastic experience.



I went to an ALL Irish speaking pub last night! Crazy, eh? I joined a friend who is a member of the Cumann Gaelech (It's commonly referred to as Gaelic Society, but the word Gaelech literally translates as 'Irish'). I will be joining them for their weekly gathering next Tuesday. It's amazing that some of these students grew up in households that actually only spoke Irish. Hopefully I'll pick up a thing or two. It's a very old, very interesting sounding language.



The weather has been cold and rainy, and it gets dark around 5:00 already with daylight savings time.



Also, things that I have learned since being here:

Emergency Vehicles pretty much have the same kind of sirens as the US.

Pickle relish does not exist here

"Cottage Cheese" is actually sour cream

There is no Miracle Whip in Ireland, and the Irish like putting mayonaise on almost everything.

Potato Chips are called "Crisps" while "Chips" are pub fries. "Fries" are things you get at McDonald's.

People don't tip out here. The 20% tip rule doesn't really apply out here, and you almost never tip your bartender. Your drinks are already so expensive because they factor that in.

Street signs are actually quite small, and they are located on the sides of buildings (if you're lucky).

Irish people say "like" at the ends of their sentences all the time, like.

Guns are banned here. In fact, not even the police carry them.

The police are called the Garda or Gardai.



OH! And I discovered a waterfall about 7 minutes from my residence hall. I frequent it. It makes me happy. It's on the River Dodder, and there is also a random statue of a rhino in the middle of the river. I love it.



That is all for now. Thanks for reading.

Much Love.

My Trip for Aunt Mary

Well friends,

Here we are again. This blog will be a bit longer than the others because I have a story to tell. Last Saturday, October 23rd I took a train to Westport, County Mayo. The trip was to commemorate a year of my Aunt Mary's passing. Before she died, she had made a request of me to someday go to Croagh Patrick Mountian in Ireland and bury a portion of her hair. She believed that Croagh Patrick was the peak where her father's spirit had ascended a few years prior. She wanted a piece of her to be with her father, so she had given me her hair and asked me to visit Croagh Patrick if I ever made it to Ireland. She died before she knew I was accepted to grad school out here, but I know she knows I'm here.

It was an honour to be able to go there within a year of her death, and it brought a huge element of closure. So, on Saturday I departed for Westport with my friend Courtney with the intention of climbing on Sunday. Here is a picture of the mountain from the train:

When Courtney and I arrived in Westport, we called a hostel to make sure we had a room available. We walked along the river that cuts through the middle of town and arrived at Abbeywood House Hostel. Here's a picture of the town and of the church close to where we were staying:

It was a gorgeous evening, and this was what we could see from the window in our room to prepare us for the next day:

After our 3.5 hour train ride, we freshened up at the hostel and went into town to grab some dinner. We had a gourmet meal at a place called MANGOS. Best seafood chowder I have ever had and then a steak with potatoes, and a raspberry remoulade with coffee. It was amazing. You could taste the love that went into making it, and it was the kind of meal you want to eat slowly because your tastebuds just need time to recognize what's going on. It only seemed fitting for Alison Krauss to be playing over the sound system.

We went to a pub called Matt Malloy's afterward (owned by the Matt Malloy from the Chieftains). Great comapny, great music, great craic.

As we walked back to the hostel, the stars came out to put us to sleep. And I just breathed as deeply as I could.

We woke up the next morning and checked out of the hostel. We quickly swallowed some OJ and coffee and departed for Croagh Patrick via taxi. Because we had never been to the west coast of Ireland, the taxi driver took us on the scenic route with no extra charge. We arrived at the mountain and I purchased two walking sticks for 4 euros, which proved to be the single greatest investment I've ever made. We stashed the rest of our stuff in a locker at the Visitor Centre at the base of the mountain and began the climb.

We were greeted by Mr. Saint Patrick himself. That's the peak behind him:

As you can see from the pictures, we couldn't have picked a better day to climb. I thank Aunt Mary for that. Crystal blue skies and a mild temperature.

The first leg of the mountain shocked my senses, and my muscles were going to get pissed off pretty quickly. This may surprise some of you, but I'm not a mountain climber. But if climbing this mountain wasn't a metaphor for life, then I don't know what is. Between the feelings of doubt, anger, fatigue and victory, I knew I had to keep climbing.

I climbed for Aunt Mary. I climbed because she wanted a piece of herself there.

I climbed because she couldn't.

Courtney stayed a good 5-15 feet ahead of me in the most reassuring of ways. It gave me a goal to the next spot. If I didn't have to catch up to her, I don't know if I would've kept going. We hadn't slept enough, we hadn't eaten anything, and we were climbing at a 60 degree angle most of the way...

About 70% of the way up, we got to the "First Station." There was a gorgeous view, and I thought it would be appropriate to bury some of her hair here, and then the rest of it at the peak.

The 1st Station is that large pile of rock with a plaque in it, and that's me after hiding her hair in the pile:

And here's her view from the First Station:

During the last 25% of the climb, my body and lungs had had enough. I wanted to cry and lay down and stop. A couple times I looked at the sky and yelled to Aunt Mary "Are you kidding me?! You couldn't have picked a smaller mountain?!"

But I didn't stop climbing. I was too close, and even though I couldn't see the peak from where I was at that point, I just kept repeating in my head '5 more minutes, 5 more minutes, 5 more minutes...'

We finally made it to the peak after a fairly treacherous climb:

It was pretty cold at the top, and Courtney and I refueled on some chocolate, fruit and nuts. We drank some water and I found where I wanted to spread the little amount of ashed I had of Aunt Mary's and bury the rest of her hair. There was a pile of rocks positioned behind St. Patrick's bed and the Second Station. It seemed this pile was the highest point on the peak, and that's where I thought she should be. The two pictures below have the pile of rocks from 2 angles. In the 2nd picture, it's the pile in the background and not the foreground.

And I wept. For so many reasons.

This is her view from her Pile on the peak. At one point there was a rainbow.

We started the descent after a while. Going up was hard? You have no idea what coming down was like. Our feet were tired at that point, our legs ached, and the footing of the mountain was more unstable on the way down. I slid at one point in a lunge position and bruised my leg and my pride a little bit. We finally reached a flatter area in the middle and continued down. Our bodies were running on chocolate and adrenaline at this point. One step at a time we made it down. It was sunny, crsip, and near perfect for a late-October day. Here's the shadow of the mountain on our way down:

When we finally reached the bottom, we were greeted with a locked door at the closed Visitor Centre. This was unfortunate since the rest of our clothes, wine, and supplies were locked in there. After a fruitless attempt at finding someone that could let us in, we walked into a packed pub that didn't take credit card. In the shuffle of frustration and exhaustion, we ended up sitting next to three strangers named Julian, Lynn, and Teddy. As Courtney and I got up to leave to figure out what to do, I mentioned our plight to our three stranger-friends. They immediately offered to help, and the five of us piled into the pick-up truck with their dog Denzel so that we could find an ATM to take out cash for dinner and lodging.

Turns out that the town that is at the base of the mountain doesn't have an ATM and no one takes credit/debit cards. So Teddy, Lynn, and Julian took us back to Westport. After making sure that we were okay and had our bearings, they took off and Courtney and I went into the first tavern we saw, bought some food, booked a room at the B&B upstairs, and showered.

We had to wake up the next morning, take a cab BACK to Croagh Patrick to retrieve our stuff from the locker, and then we got on a train back to Dublin. Over our 3.5 hour trip, Courtney and I split a bottle and a half of wine and had a great trip back. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to be in this country and for the ability to climb a Mountain. I plan to visit Croagh Patrick and Aunt Mary in the Spring sometime around St. Patrick's Day. I'll need to bring a little Carolan's Irish Cream with small chocolate cups to share with people at the peak.

It just wouldn't feel right if I didn't....

Me and Courtney:

Tap Tap Tap

Hi friends,

The time in between blog posts is getting longer, but I wanted to check in and let you know that I'm still alive and well.

This past week I did some really great things. I went and saw a production called WERK at the Abbey Theatre, I took a tap dance class, I opened an Irish bank account, I got an Irish debit card, and I bought a new dress and boots!

Tomorrow I leave for Westport, Ireland clear on the other side of the country, but it's only 3.5 hours by train. Two friends and I are staying in a hostel tomorrow night and then we'll climb Croagh Patrick Mountain on Sunday to commemorate a year of Aunt Mary's passing. Weird, right? Time flies.

On another note, I spent the day by myself today. After a quick hour of class, I spent my time walking, shopping and sipping on hot chocolate at St. Stephen's Green in the drizzle. If you ever plan to come visit Ireland, go get some hot chocolate at Butler's Chocolates and then take a walk through St. Stephen's. It's divine.

That's all I have to share for today. I'll have plenty to talk about after my trip to Westport.

Thanks for reading!

WTF, mate?

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

This week I took my first class as a part of the Tae Kwon Do Society here at Trinity. It's been a while since I've been to a class, much less where one tells me to put on sparring pads and get into fighting position. It felt wonderful, actually. It was a beginners class so I ended up fighting with a lot of people that had great power, but no control. I got kicked in the back twice and once really hard on my right elbow. The other interesting thing is that you're allowed to punch AND kick to the head in this program (at my school, we didn't allow punching to the head, only kicking). The techniques were really different, and even the names of kicks varied, but that's because it's a slightly different style of martial art. I studied under the World Taekwondo Federation, or the WTF, and the classes I'm taking at Trinity are a part of the ITF, International Taekwondo Federation. Either way, I go back tonight for my second class, and I'm bringing the heat.

Did quite a bit of studying over the past several days, and I am enjoying my classes more and more. This week, we got to talk about Phenomenology in Theatre. Not only is it amazing theory, but it's also a blasty blast to say Phenomenology and Phenomenologists. It's almost as fun as saying Semiotics and Semioticians (both phenomenology and semiotics are theories of analysis in theatre, and it's been really awesome understanding this world).

My friend Moira and I performed our comedic writing yesterday, got some fantastic criticism, and we will continue to work it through. We also saw a bizarre children's production last night called Goodbye, Mr. Muffin. Spoiler Alert! Mr. Muffin is a guinea pig and he dies. The End. I sat there and watched this play, and I knew within the first 5 minutes that Mr. Muffin was a goner, but what struck me was that a play like this probably wouldn't be acceptable in the states. It was a VERY small scale 40 minute show with a guinea pig puppet and one guy telling this story and acting out Mr. Muffin. It never occurred to me to use theatre to teach children about death and dying in such a way. It was a wonderful concept, but I did feel it was a bit too dark to be called children's theatre.

Anywho, I must be off now. I have to open an Irish account. OH! And people out here don't call the Irish language "Gaelic." They call it Irish. In fact, it's almost a bit offensive to call it Gaelic. I thought that was interesting...

Love you all!

Aaaaaahhhhhhh......

I just thought I would check in today. Not too much going on, and classes are done for the week. I have quite a bit of reading to do over the next three days.

Today, Moira (a classmate) and I started writing a scene for a short story which we will present to our comedy instructor on Monday. I have a feeling it's comedic gold, and I could easily see it being turned into a youtube mini series. I'll keep you posted. It's a little deranged, but good comedy doesn't take place without a few risks, right?

Another beautiful day today. The campus square is magical, and I brought my laptop today so that I could sit outside and write. Blue skies and quickly moving clouds. Thinking about my family a lot this week. It's strange to know that it's already been 3 weeks since I've left, but on the other hand I feel as though I've been here half a year already.

I love you all, and hope you're well. In a couple weeks I'll be making a trip to Croagh Patrick Mountain on the west coast, so I should have much more adventure coming!

Much love.

Week Two/Week Three

I'm going into my third week of living here and my second week of classes. Once again it has been a beautiful day, and we had yet another wonderful Comedy class.

There is a ton of reading, a ton of analysis, and a ton of discussion in these classes. I quite like it. Discussion has always come easy for me (shocking, right.) I love this program because it comes with a whole different cast of characters and we're all going through the same workload and the same trials and tribulations.

Not too much has happened lately by way of adventure, other than the simple fact that I live in Dublin, Ireland. I am really starting to consider purchasing a bicycle though. It was be a much better investment than taking the bus everyday, though I am still eluded by which direction I can expect a car to drive from. The streets are very narrow here, so it would take a bit of practice to get used to it on a bike.

The interesting thing about Dublin is that while it's a city, it's really more like a large village. I have my local butcher that I go to, and the local pubs for the quiet communication. I walked the 3 miles from my Hall to Campus and it was a much less daunting walk than I had anticipated. All-in-all, I love it here, and its only going to get better.

Much Love.

Some good Craic!

So the Irish term for a good time is CRAIC (pronounced crack). If you ever get to Ireland and someone asks you if you've had some good craic, they aren't asking you if you've done drugs recently, they are just wondering if you've enjoyed yourself in any sense.

Last night, I had some good craic. In fact, so far this whole experience has been full of craic, but last night felt extra special.

Yesterday was my first class, and it started off great with a lecture in comedy on a beautiful sunny day. We played some theatre games, got up on our feet and got moving. Felt great. After that, I took a nap and woke up to an amazing sunset. After that, Kelly and I went to Mother Reilly's pub for a pint or two, and had the greatest Irish experience ever. You see, there are a lot less tourists in the area we are living, so we happened upon Tommy, Tommy, Derrick and Ronan. After a brief conversation about daylight savings time, kelly and I were invited to join their table. Ronan picked up his guitar, and magic took place. I got a bit weepy at this opportunity I have to be a part of this culture, to listen to Derrick sing, to realize this was just one of many moments I was going to have in the next year.

It's a traditional Irish pub, older than the US has been an established country no doubt, and it was full of this energy that has been accurately depicted in most stories and movies. They didn't necessarily play traditionals, but the songs were sung with such passion and force that is was hard not to fall in love with everyone around you.

Today has been a full day of class so far, and I've got one more left in the day. It's a bit drizzly today, but fairly mild in temperature. We discussed semiotics in theatre today. Very interesting. Made my head spin, which was a great feeling.

And one thing I would like to say:

If I can pack my crap up and move to Dublin in 2 months time, just think of what we're capable of in life. And be sure to surround yourself with support. It makes all the difference.

Much Love.

The Adventure Has Begun

Well friends,

It's been a week already and I have FINALLY gotten connected to the world wide web. I do apologize for the delay. Ireland is fantastic, and most of what you hear about is true. It IS quite green, drinking IS a way of life here, is DOES rain whenever it feels like it, and Trinity College IS amazing. You may be asking yourself if those are cobblestones. They are, indeed. This is when you first enter the campus through the main gate.

I start classes on Monday and this week has been a transition of getting acclimated to my environment. I live in an "apartment" with 6 other postgraduate females in a building that houses all postgraduates. We have all had an immensely great time together, and we come from so many corners of the world: U.S., Germany, Australia, Armenia, Singapore, Italy, Norway, Ireland, England, Spain, etc. (sorry if I left anyone out). I live with two ladies from Germany, one from California, one from Armenia, and one from Ireland. Some of us are pictured here with a few other fellow classmates.

Yesterday was Arthur Guiness' birthday and the whole city of Dublin raised a pint for him. Pubs here tend to get quite full, but they offer a very special kind of environement that is portrayed fairly accurately in movies. It's interesting how we drink after everything here. I have had more school functions provide alcohol than I know what to do with. Drinking age out here is 18 and that has been quite an adjustment as well.

I haven't been to much of the countryside yet, but a group of us did take a train a little south to the coast of the Irish Sea in Bray, and then we walked about 8 kilometers (miles?) to Graystones. It's pretty far. Check a map. It was really beautiful though.

That's all for now! I'll keep updating as best I can. Check in when you're able to, and much love to you all.

Welcome!

If you are looking for Jess' blog, you've found it!

You can check back in to read updates on adventures, experiences, stories, etc. I will be landing in Dublin, Ireland at approximately 7:50 am Dublin time (1:50 am Central Standard) on Friday the 17th of September. Classes start on the 27th.

I will be studying in a program at Trinity College for Masters of Philosophy degree in Theatre and Performance. It's a dream come true, and it still hasn't hit that I will be boarding a plan in 48 hours.

I will probably be a busy busy girl in school, but if you need to get a hold of me, e-mail will probably be the most efficient way. If you have my phone number, please do not call or text me unless it's an emergency. I will only have that phone for a little while longer anyway, and international fees are a bitch.

Come again in a couple days!

I adore you all! Thanks for reading!