Uncharted

I am SO so sorry that I haven't updated in over a week! My first week of classes (and weekend in Dublin) were SO busy between classes, reading, running errands and visiting with friends that I have neglected my blog. Here's a nice long update, coming straight to you from the Leckey library at TCD :).





Imagine the typical college movie: there are hundreds of students in a giant lecture hall. Some are sleeping, some are passing notes, some are taking notes, and in 2011, some are checking their facebook on their laptops pretending to take notes.

This is not the college life I'm used to. Other than civ, my classes at PC are small, somewhere in the 15-20 student range. Classes are predominantly seminar-style, and even if it's a lecture, students still ask questions and discuss things with the professor. By the end of the semester, I expect that the professor knows my name.

My experience at TCD so far has been the former... and my first class, a giant Geology lecture, was far from anything I have ever experienced. I walked into the "lecture theatre" (that should have clued me in to what I was about to experience) and saw a GIANT room with lots of empty seats. I sat down near a few Irish students, got my notebook out, got myself situated, and then, it was like that scene in the Lion King when the wildebeest are stampeding. Students poured in the doors and filled the lecture hall completely around me. Apparently, being 10 minutes early to class isn't as cool as being exactly on time, and people filled in all the empty spaces, were greeting their friends, and pulled out their computers to take notes.

There I sat with my hot pink notebook and pen, by myself, noting that I should probably bring my laptop to the next class. Have you heard the expression about being alone in a crowded room? That was me. As the lecture started, even more students arrived, to the point that some sat on the floor in the aisles in order to take notes. I realized that I was not the only one with a notebook (and will continue to take notes the old-fashioned way, I learn much better by writing things down!), but it amazed me that a) there were so many people in my class and b) how late they walked into the lecture! I guess if you have a far walk across campus you have a few minutes of a grace period, but walking in 25 minutes late to a 50 minute lecture seems a bit excessive to me.

My other classes were far less overwhelming. I have no class on Tuesday (in five semesters at PC I tried to arrange my schedule so that there would be one day I wouldn't have class, and here I am at Trinity and I have it without even trying), but four on Wednesday, two on Thursday, and one on Friday morning. It's definitely a great schedule, and I'm slowly learning that I have all this free time because I'm supposed to be spending it in the library reading... got it. So now I bring my computer with me to school every day and work on reading for class between lectures.

The library here (have I mentioned that it is three libraries in one, connected by what I like to refer to as an underground city? I have literally gotten lost down there.) is a bit overwhelming-- I absolutely have to use it, but it's hard to navigate, and it has me missing my nights at Club Phil (as I lovingly refer to Phillips Memorial Library at PC).

My drama classes are much closer to what I'd have at Providence- maybe 20 students in a class, sitting in a circle, with one lecturer. They're more discussion based than my other lecture classes, and I'm really excited to be reading so many plays while I'm here! I feel like I am very lacking in the breadth of plays I have read, so taking three text-based classes will hopefully put me up to speed. I'm taking "Theatre and Ireland," which is very interesting but involves a lot of Irish history that I wish I knew more about, "Women in Theatre," which involves a lot of Feminist theory and is going to be taught very differently than I think it would be at Providence, and "American Drama," because I'm interested to see what the Irish perspective on American Drama will be. It does make me a little nervous, though. I hope I'm not the token American in the class who the lecturer asks everything! I think I have a good knowledge of American Drama, but I definitely have a lot to learn as well. I'll be reading a few plays for that class that I've read for others, but like I said, I'm interested to hear an outside opinion on the topic.

I'm also taking a sociology class called "European Societies" for my Public and Community Service diversity requirement, and that's a really interesting class. I'm enjoying analyzing the different societies we discuss, and mentally comparing them to the US, but sometimes I worry I'm being ethnocentric. It's also somewhat frustrating to just discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the societies- the PSP major in me keeps waiting for the professor to ask how we suggest we solve these problems. While I'd like to be coming up with solutions, it will be good analytical experience for me to be thinking about the actual problems and advantages of certain communities.

My first real weekend as a TCD student brought a visit from a good friend from Providence-- Danielle! She was one of my roommates sophomore year and is a fellow Theatre major abroad in Ireland. She's studying at University College Cork for the semester, and it was cool to hear about her experiences there. She has Irish roommates and is more immersed into Irish culture than I am, so it was interesting to compare, and great to have a piece of home with me :). We did the typical touristy things-- Book of Kells, Guinness Factory, Bewley's for breakfast, shopping on Grafton, and we went to what is becoming my group of friends' favorite pub, O'Donoghue's. There was great live music on Friday night, and we were upstairs with a big group of friends from my program and had a lot of fun.

Saturday night was absolutely incredible. We got to see Aragh-Na-Pogue at the Abbey Theatre, the national theatre of Ireland. It's an amazing place and it was a great play, and I was happy to be able to go with someone else who was just as excited as I was to be there. When I spent time in Dublin with my parents in high school, we saw Brian Friel's The Aristocrats, which was phenomenal. It was the same trip (maybe even the same day) I decided I wanted to go to TCD, and I couldn't have been happier to be back.

We also went to breakfast at one of my all-time favorite places in the entire world, a lovely little tea/scones shop called the Queen of Tarts. It is absolutely DELICIOUS food (best scone I've ever had in my life), and wonderful atmosphere. Like most things in Dublin, the only way to describe it is lovely. I would move in there if I could, and I have a feeling that leaving there will be very difficult come May.

Monday was also a day of visitors- I had lunch with another PC friend in Ireland, Maggie, who is studying at University College Dublin for the semester. We had a great lunch and it was good to catch up with her, especially after Danielle left and I was craving some PC in my life. She's lucky enough not to have class on Mondays or Fridays, so she had a day to herself that she could come in and visit me. Monday night I met up with Kathleen, my friend from NDA who's here, and Amy Fizzano, our NDA friend who was visiting! We had dinner in a great pub in Temple Bar and then met up for lunch again today (Queen of Tarts...I'm addicted...), and we hung out while Kathleen was in class. I really hadn't seen Amy in a while, and was so glad to be able to catch up with her and show her "my town" (in her words).

It's been a whirlwind week, to say the least. Nothing like anything I've ever done before.. I'm in uncharted waters, but I think I will be able to navigate them back to some sanity :).

Sorry this post was so long! I promise to update more regularly, and now that I'm getting into some type of routine that should be easier. I have a few billion plays to read, so I'm off... but I'll keep you posted! I miss you all (especially PC friends!), and can't wait to hear from you soon. Please keep me updated on what's going on in your lives, I'd love to hear about it! My Trinity College email is up and running (finally)- jtully@tcd.ie

Love and Prayers,
Julia