Having Great Craic!

Well yesterday was another great day in Dublin- what a shocker! In the morning we had some orientation stuff, which I thought would be a lot worse than it actually was. Some parts of it were pretty cool actually; we had a woman come in to teach us different phrases in Gaelic. I think everyone’s favorite was “Craic” (pronounced Crack). In Ireland if you’re having a good time you would say, “We’re having great crack!” Which of course would have a whole different meaning back in the US!

After our orientation meetings we went down to City Centre for a “treasure hunt” where we split into groups and had to walk around the city answering questions. Before heading to that though a couple of us started off at this place and had some drinks and all talked for a bit.

Great bar we grabbed some drinks at before our afternoon orientation on Friday.

The treasure hunt was kind of cool though because we got to see different sites and what not and learn a bit about the city. We were allowed to use maps and ask the locals (who are all so nice and friendly!)

Monument to James Joyce?

At one point my group was standing around trying to figure out the answer to one of the questions when a local came up and told us he’d tell us the answer if we donated to his charity! Haha. He was probably early to mid twenties and was collecting donations for a children’s foundation- I forget which one. So we all gave him a bit and then wound up talking to him for a little bit.

Remembrance Park.

The thing I love about the locals here is that not only are most willing to give you directions and what not. But then most of them actually take the time to stop and talk with you. Ask where you're from, how you like Dublin, etc. And they all usually have tips for us on what we should check out while we’re here! It’s great!

After the treasure hunt Amy and I split off on our own to get cell phones and do some shopping to get some things for the apartment and what not.

Another side street in Dublin.

We also wound up catching up with a girl from a different suite, Hannah and then another girl Jess joined us on the way back.

We headed back to the apartment and grabbed some dinner, then around 9:30p went back down to City Centre for the night.

Standing on a bridge in City Centre looking out over the river.

By now we were back in our big group of six or seven of us girls. As we were leaving some of our other suitemates were just getting back to the apartment so I guess they were having an early night.

We met Jahna and Megan at a bar down in City Centre but it was a little too quiet for most of us, so we left there and headed down the Temple Bar District. So this is the best part- we didn’t really know where we should go so one of us decides we’ll “stalk” this group of guys in front of us and go wherever they go. Well I guess one of them heard us say that so two of the guys stopped and turned around and was like, “Are you stalking us?” Haha. So we wound up talking with those two- James and Michael. But they were both from England and it was their first trip to Dublin so they couldn’t help us much on where to go. Still, they wound up hanging out with us the rest of the night!

We finally wound up at a place called “Doyle’s”, which I loved!

One of the pubs we went to our second night out.

Let’s see though- by this point Ellie had been talking with Michael the whole time and they were off in a corner, then Denise wound up with James and they were off on the dance floor! Megan, Jahna, and Amy were at the bar talking to some guys too! Haha. It was beginning to look like Noah’s Ark. Lindsay and Kelsey were there somewhere too.

At some point I decided to go outside and get some air, so I was standing outside the bar sending a text on my cell phone when this guy behind me asked if I was okay. I just gave him the brush off because I didn’t wanna deal with it but then he said I looked upset or something, and I was like nope, I’m fine (which I was.) Well I have no clue how, but somehow he actually got me talking. And we wound up standing out there for like a half hour talking. His name was David and he was a native Dubliner and freaking adorable! Haha. He’s a photographer and I was telling him that I wanted to be a history teacher and he asked what type of history I was into. When I said American history I found out that he’s actually really into the American Civil War. I thought this was so cool- because I’d never met someone from another country that was interested in our history and stuff. I don’t know, it was just really cool. He was wicked smart too- he knew more US state capitals than I did, he had me quizzing him! I actually felt a little stupid after talking to him! Haha.

The best part was when he spent twenty minutes trying to guess Chicago’s football team because he couldn’t remember what it was! First he kept saying the Chicago Braves and I was telling him that A. the braves are baseball and B. that’s the Atlanta Braves! Then he said so confidentially, the Chicago Bulls!! And I laughed and said except that’s our basketball team! He did know the Cubbies though, which made my day! Finally I had to tell him the Bears because he couldn’t remember!

So you know in movies when the girl is in a different country and she starts talking with someone and then out of nowhere one of the guys girl friends runs up and starts talking really fast about whatever drama is happening in her life, and then they stop their rambling to turn to the other girl and say hi and introduce herself, and its just all so funny. Okay, maybe you think I’m making this up but I swear in like every movie where some chick winds up in England or something, that’s what happens. And that’s exactly what happened while I was talking with David. One of his friends came up and was going on about how she got locked out of her house, and something with her ex-boyfriends bike being there and her roommate is out of town and now she has to spend the weekend at her ex-boyfriends family’s house or something! Haha, I don’t know but she was so adorable!

The bar was two floors and after talking outside for a bit David and I went to the second floor where I met all his other friends.

We had a couple drinks and I got to talk with all of them, which was a lot of fun. And for all my loser friends out there- no, nothing happened besides him buying me a Guinness, and my family is reading this blog so get your head out of the gutter! :-P hehe.

Finally the night dwindled down and I made my way back to campus with the girls. By now it was past three and I’ll omit how many drinks I’d had (though I will say Denise and I did a couple of tequila shots throughout the night!)

written by

kmr788 on May 31, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland

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