St. Patrick's Day

Well, I’m not going to lie: being in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day was pretty cool. I had heard from so many people that it wouldn’t be a big deal here, and that yeah, people go to mass and that’s about it. I remember when my cousins came to the parade in Manhattan, they were surprised by the big celebration, and told us that it was different from home.
It was definitely a different experience than home, but it was a big deal in the city! A lot of the people who were out in all the green and obnoxious shamrock attire were definitely tourists, but over the course of the day we definitely encountered a lot of Irish people as well, especially at the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The parade was nothing like any American St. Patrick’s Day parade I’ve ever been in or seen, and it honestly reminded me more of a Mardi Gras parade than anything. There were beautiful floats and giant puppets that reminded me of a parade in Disney, and some of them had great bands playing on them as well. The music wasn’t all traditional though, a lot of it was just contemporary Dublin music. There was dancing, but not Irish Step like we have in our parades- it was more like ballet or jazz than anything else. A lot people were clowns and mimes too- a cool but surprising experience.
I had a lot of visitors for the day/weekend, as you can imagine. Danielle came out from Cork with Keely, who was visiting from PC. Brittany, an NDA friend, brought her friend Sarah from St. Andrew’s in Scotland, and they actually arrived the evening of St. Patrick’s Day. We went to a few different pubs over the course of the day, stopping back at my apartment in between to rest and just sit down for a little bit! The city was so crowded, so it was a bit overwhelming at times to be out and about. I have never seen so many people on Grafton Street, it was almost impossible to walk down it! Overall, it was a fun but rather chaotic day. Most Dubliners leave for St. Patrick’s Day, and I don’t blame them! It’s crowded and packed with tourists, and if you don’t have a flat right on the parade route or have plans to go to a party in someone else’s flat, it’s hard to celebrate!
The next day, I had a lot of work to get done, so Brittany and Sarah hung out with Beanie for the day and Danielle and Keely went adventuring on their own. I heard from them that the Guinness factory line was around the corner, as was Jameson, and I experienced the Patty’s aftermath when I tried to walk through front square at Trinity to get to the library- it was completely full of people wandering around the campus, and the line to see the Book of Kells was outrageous! I was happy to get into the library where tourists are not allowed, and I had a very productive afternoon.
That week felt like one giant vacation- St. Patrick’s Day is both a national holiday and a holy day of obligation in Ireland, and I only have one class on Friday, so it was a little weird to go back to school on Monday afterwards! It was, however, so nice to return to some kind of routine and regularity!

Patty’s was almost 2 weeks ago, which I can’t believe-I still feel like I’m recovering, honestly. It’s week 11 of the semester (out of 12!!), and my sophister level classes ended on Friday, that’s 3 out of 6 done! Today I finish my 4th, Art in Ireland, leaving me with 2 more classes to attend for the next two weeks. Sophister level classes are 3rd and 4th year classes, so what we call an “upperclassman,” Trinity calls a “sophister.” Personally, I like sophister better… I feel far more sophisticated. (Just made a vocab connection… sophister, sophisticated… Latin roots, anyone?). I have the extra time these two weeks not to bask in the sun (that’s right- Dublin is actually SUNNY), but to work on my essays! I have three 3,000 word essays due on April 8th, the last day of term. I have started two of them, and I hope to have drafts of all three finished by the end of the week. It’s nice to have more time to focus on schoolwork, but that means that I’ll be practically living out of the library this week.
This past weekend, Lauren and Kara came over from the US with Lauren’s grandmother, and Kaitlin and Anne came from London and Barcelona! We stayed in the Shelbourne, a lovely hotel on Stephen’s Green, and made a visit out to Newgrange to see a burial site/winter solstice marker that is older than the pyramids! I learned a lot about ancient Ireland, and it was SO good to see my ND friends ☺.

I come home exactly two months from today. Sometimes, that seems like a really long time, but other times, it seems so fast! I remember when I realized I had already been here for two months, and that seems like forever ago, but it also seemed like I had just gotten here… it actually still does. So, see you in two months, unless you’re one of the many coming to visit within the next few weeks! My parents will be here in about 10 days (YAY! I’m so excited to see them, this is the longest I’ve ever been away from them), and I’ll also have visits from 3 friends currently studying in England: Kari, Kristy, and Tom. I’ll keep you updated now that I have a bit more free time!

Until later,
Julia