Exams

So I had my first final exam yesterday and it was an experience. UCD has their exams at the RDS Simmoncourt, which we figured was just a large place with a bunch of rooms. Instead it was practically a huge warehouse that had about 4000 seats so kids from about 40 classes were. It was very different, but I didn't really mind.

Kids in Dublin aren't the smartest I have encountered, so I'm not too worried about my exams. Here is an email that one student sent out to the class, which includes our professor.
hey i think i have written about a story i was not aloud to in my moral philosophy essay and was wondering in what way will i be penilised?! please write back soon,
thanks,

rob
I thought that I had poor spelling!

WORK

Well we have finished our classes for the term, but will now have to finally start doing work as exams are coming up in a week. In order to prepare for exams I usually like to listen to music, and listen to a couple cd's over and over during that time. However this year I found a file that had the Top 200 songs of the 90's so that will be music resource of choice over the next couple weeks. Hopefully it doesn't let me down!

UCD Ball 2008

To cap off the end of the school year was the UCD Ball yesterday. Similar to Modstock at BC but a lot better. Me and Bob thought that we could just sneak in since we didn't have tickets and they sold out, but our irish friends thought that we wouldn't have a chance. Boy were they wrong. We were in the student government offices where Paddy had to pick up his pass, and he tried to get us one but couldn't. At this point Bob noticed a box with a sound mixer in it. So we decided to pick it up and carry it outside pretending that we were working back stage, and our plan worked to perfection. We were greeted outside by Paddy and Flopsy who couldn't believe we pulled it off. Here is a video of one of the bands that played, but they were horrible but its the only video I could find. The set up the stage in the parking lot behind the students union and had a huge beer truck, an ice cream stand, and various other food stands. It was awesome!

Sailing!!!

After months of following various regattas online that have been going on in the states that have gotten me anxious to get back on the water, I was finally able to get back out there this weekend. Ronan O'Connell, who worked at Sea Cliff Yacht Club two years ago, gave me a call last week to see if I was interested in doing a J24 regatta this weekend, which was an offer I quickly accepted. After winning our lacrosse game on Friday we had a few drinks at the campus bar, but then I headed home since we were heading up north at 615 the next morning.

We sailed out of Carrickfergus Sailing Club which is located on Belfast Bay just to the Northeast of Belfast. When we got up there we were greeted by John White, who has instructed on the South Shore for the past two summers, and 15-20+ knots. It was really cold too. This was my first time on a J24, and it was surprisingly faster than I would have imagined. I figured it would be a heavy, slow boat since they seem to last forever, but they turned out to be pretty quick and enjoyable. My biggest problem with the boat was the low boom that made it a tad difficult to cross the boat during tacks, and had to watched carefully jibes. Unfortunately we had one jibe where I was not low enough, and got hit by the boom which resulted in a cut above my eye and a smashed lens on my sunglasses, but at least I stayed on the boat and was able to continue racing.

After racing we got the boat cleaned up, and headed back to our hotel to get a little sleep in since most of us were working on only a couple of hours. We then headed back down to the club for a "rum reception" which was enjoyed by all, and was followed by a nice dinner for all the competitors.

After waking up a little sore due to hiking with a toe rail under my thighs, we enjoyed a traditional Ulster fry which is often referred to as a "heart attack on a plate" which consists of bacon, eggs, sausages (either pork or beef), the farl form of soda bread (the farl split in half crossways to expose the inner bread and then fried with the exposed side down), potato bread and tomatoes. It was delicious.

Similar to this but without the mushrooms

Although the forecast was for slightly less breeze, we were welcomed to about 20-25 with gusts up to 35. During the first race these conditions continued, and we witnessed one capsize on the way downwind, but they recovered pretty quickly. J24 capsize rather easily in heavy breeze, and have been known to sink as well.

I haven't sailing in a competitive keel boat one design regatta more competitive than this one. All the boats were bunched throughout the racecourse, and spread between the first and last boat was usually about a minute. It was a blast to get back out on the water, and the crew was great. Brian, Skully, John, Ronan, and I didn't yell at all the entire time, and we all just enjoyed being out there and had a blast.

Lacrosse AGM

The other day we had the Annual General Meeting for the lacrosse team where we handed out some season prizes, appointed new captains and handed out some gag gifts too. The MVP went to our goalie Moffet who only started playing in November and has progressed really well so far. After the real prizes were given out Flopsy started giving out the special awards that were hilarious. Me and Bob got a gigantic candy cane, which really didn't have any meaning behind it, but it was nice to get something that was edible. One of my favorite awards was the tightest shorts award, and that went to a guy who always wears his rugby shorts to practice all the time. Coach Chris got a cane because he's the oldest guy, and it's funny to make fun of old people. He also got a clown costume since that's his favorite word to call us. We then went to the Forum Bar on campus and enjoyed a nice drink outside as everyone helped out eating our massive candy cane.

National Champs!!!

Well after their third consecutive year in the championship game, the BC hockey team finally won the national championship. Although I wish I could've been there a bunch of us went to the BC house and watched it there yesterday. It looks like 2008 is a pretty good year for my teams so far: the Giants won the Super Bowl, and now this, I guess the Mets need to win the series to complete it.


(Globe Staff Photo / John Bohn)

Back to reality..kinda

Well I headed back to class after taking last week off but I don't think I missed much. Lectures aren't mandatory here and they aren't the most exciting ones either. Most teachers will just put up a powerpoint and read straight from it, so there is no need to take notes since they are put online. We do have tutorials which are small discussion groups but those are only once every other week, and are finished for the semester. The only lecture that is really worth going to for me is my Kant class, and my professor is American so it's similar to a class back at BC.

This week also contained one of my favorite things of the year- class registration. I enjoy searching through all the classes and seeing how I can squeeze in all the classes I want into my remaining two semesters. So next semester I will be taking Macro Theory, Capital Markets, Philosophy of Imagination, and Photography. It's a good schedule, and I have Monday and Wednesday off so I will look into getting a job so I can make a few extra bucks on the side.

Yesterday me, Bob, and Flopseye headed to the Epicurean Food Hall which is just on the other side of the River Liffey to get some burritos, and they were very tasty. Bob was not full enough so he bought some nachos which we assisted him on as well, and we all decided that we wanted ice cream so we headed to Burger King and got some there. My stomach didn't feel too well for the next few hours, but it was well worth it.

Dublinfest Pics

Dublinfest!!!!

All semester long I've been hearing about Dublinfest from the rest of my teammates and how crazy and fun it was, and it did not disappoint. Dublinfest is a 4 day event (4 nights out, 3 days of playing) when teams from England come over and play a variety of different sports. Over the past few years lacrosse has grown to be the largest one with over 35 teams and 500 athletes participating. Our UCD team played well and went into the playoff's with a 5-0-1 record, but lost in the semi-finals to eventual winners Nottingham. Although we came close to winning we had plenty of fun during the championship game thanks to a quick ride to tesco. It is definitely an event that I will never forget, and might have to come back next year to play in again. I have to say that the English kids were some of the craziest people i have ever met. Most went out at night with nearly no clothing on, but with their bodies painted instead or insane costumes. The only downside is that their accents are really annoying, trust me.

Spring Break Pt. V & VI

We went to Brussels too and spent a day in Bruges as well which was beautiful. Belgium wasn't the most beautiful place in the world but the waffles, chocolate, and beer made up for it. Got into an argument with an employee from the hostel because I told him that our key didn't work, and he started yelling at me in French for some reason. What good does that do since I had no clue what he was saying. Then we went to Paris which was beautiful but we encountered some problems as the hostel we were suppose to stay at gave our rooms away since we showed up 30 minutes after I said we would be arriving, typical french. Went to the Louvre, it was decent but the Musee d'Orsay was much better in my opinion. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower which was really cool, since it was a lot taller than I thought. We had one nice dinner at this small French place that was amazing, and pretty cheap too. We finished off our time in Paris by going the Easter Vigil at Notre Dame which was amazing as well, and I almost burnt the place down, but I'm trying to forget about that. Although we all had a great time we were not sad to leave and come back to lovely Dublin.

Spring Break Pt. IV-St. Paddy's Day

After arriving back from Prague we had little time to rest as St. Paddy's day was just around the corner. We had a bunch of people staying with us, so each night there was a race to see who would get the blankets or pillows. There were tons of BC people here to celebrate and I think we saw most of them. We went to see the parade which was fun for a while, but was a bit weird as the floats were a little abstract. Instead of standing we decided to spend the afternoon in a pub instead. To summarize I'll say that fun was had by all, and a few pints of Guinness were consumed as well.

Pics from Budapest, Bratislava, Prague

Group in Prague

Bob, Greg, Me, and Dylan in Bratislava

Budapest

Pt. II & III

From Budapest we had the option of heading to Vienna or Bratislava, we chose Bratislava since Vienna seemed boring and more expensive. Upon arrival at the train station we were a little worried that we chose the wrong city to come to, but after a quick ride into the city it turned out to be not that bad at all. The city is clearly broken into two parts: the old city and the soviet city. Once again we met some nice people, and one awkward guy. Jane was this cool Aussie who had just finished up boarding in Whistler for the winter, and was traveling Europe for the next month, and Rory was a really nice Irish guy who was just traveling as well. We didn't remember the name of the weird American guy, but he was weird and that's all that really matters about him. We enjoyed some cheap drinks and food, and stayed at a nice hostel which is about it for Bratislava.

From Bratislava we headed to Prague which everyone was really excited about, and it did not disappoint. It was a beautiful old city, and we had a great time at night as well thanks to Dylan's friend Juli and Mike's friend Dana who are both studying there for the semester. Our hostel was minutes away from the Old Town Square so we headed there every morning since they had a Easter fair set up with tons of food stands that we thoroughly enjoyed. One day we decided to get some lunch and head up a hill that overlooks the city to eat, but within minutes of us getting to the top it started pouring which was a bummer, but it passed fairly quickly. It was our favorite city, and I recommend it as a great place to visit.

Spring Break Pt. I- Budapest

Starring: Mike Keating (Ooch), Bob Kaplan, Patrick Morris, Greg Fox, Dylan Blaney
Guest stars: Lauren, Dolf, Smitty, Terry, Ian
Well we ventured out to Budapest for the first part of our spring break, and what a start it was. We got into Budapest on thursday night, and had a van waiting for us since we're super cool. We stayed at the Mellow Mood Hostel which was a decent place, but it wasn't very crowded. We ventured around the city a bit the first night but didn't do anything crazy. The next day we walked around Buda castle which was amazing, and met up with Lauren, Mike's friend from high school. We then toured the Labyrinths which was really sweet also. We went back to the hostel and then went out to dinner at some place that wasn't too shabby, we did manage to go through about 4-5 loaves of bread though. We then headed back to the hostel and got some drinks to have before going out. This is when we had our first encounter with the Brits. Ian, who is heading to Georgia to work as a peace worker, asked if he could join us since he was scared of his roommates. A few minutes later we invited his roommates to come join us. They happened to be 3 British paratroopers who were on break until they head out to Afghanistan in April. The three of them were some of the craziest people I have ever met, especially Dolf. He amused us with his stories, jokes, and parlor tricks. His specialty being able to drink a pint by putting the glass in his teeth and picking it up with them (I suggest not trying to do this yourself). We had an interesting night with them, which resulted in a late wake up the next morning

We had covered most of the city the first day so we decided to head to the baths for a few hours. We went to the Gellert baths which were awesome. They had about 4 big pools, all with varying temperatures and minerals and stuff. We ended up staying there for about 3 hours, which was probably a little longer than recommended. That night we were joined by Dylan and introduced him to our new friends and showed him some of our favorite spots around the city. Unfortunately I decided to take my camera out for the night, and lost it. Bummer, but Mike takes a lot of pics so those will be put up soon.

Saturday was our last day in the city, and we went to the Parliament building, and then walked to the train station. It was a pretty cool train station, but was a bit sketchy. From Budapest we headed to Bratislava in the Slovak Republic where we met some new friends as well. Part II tomorrow!

SNOW!!

Well I guess the snow that hit the northeast last week decided to come over to Ireland today. It had been cold all day, and then during lacrosse practice we saw some dark clouds coming in. At first I thought it was going to pour, but it just started to drizzle for a few minutes. The rain was then followed by some nice hail, and finally switching to snow. It snowed for about 20 minutes or so, but it was semi-enjoyable. It was still snowing when practice ended, and all my sweats ended up getting wet, but whatever. It snows about once or twice a year in Ireland, so I don't think we'll be seeing anymore soon.

Address

O and my address here if anyone is interested is
Patrick Morris
88 Upper Leeson St
Dublin 4
Ireland

88 Upper Leeson St

I meant to make a post about our place here in Dublin back a month or so again, but then our internet went down so I never did it. So here you go:
Our Building

Living Room

Our huge kitchen featuring Michael Keating

So that's pretty much it. Look forward to a feature on Irish appliances next week!

Housing Lottery

The housing lottery always seems to be one of the worst times of the year. Everyone get all stressed out about it, and fight for no apparent reason. It was nice to be abroad and not have to deal with that stuff this year. Things worked out really well for us, and we'll be living in Rubenstein (I guess BC isn't that Catholic after all). Thanks to group leader Leonard Arabia, our fellow roommates from Braemore were able to get the last mod available. I think Uncle Ed was the one who pulled some strings there. So next year should be great now that we have all that figured out.

Pics from London

London

This past weekend I had my first weekend out of the country to England to visit Kyle. I didn't have the highest expectations for the city, but it turned out to be amazing and I had a great time. On Thursday I headed out, and had my first experience on Ryan Air. It was pretty much what I expected, a crowded plane with little leg room. Once arriving in Gatwick it was really easy to get into the city and was at Kyle's place with an hour. I got to meet Kyle's friends, and we had an easy night.

On Friday Kyle had class, so I walked with him and even sat in on one of his classes. The class was definitely better than the ones at UCD, but it still is different than the teaching style in the states. After that class I set out to discover more of the city on my own. I headed to Trafalgar Square where I saw the huge lions, and the National Gallery. Since the gallery was free I went in, and spent about 2 hours there looking at all the works they had. I then walked down to the Thames and saw big ben, and went by the London Eye where there were a bunch of cool street performers. I then met up with him at LSE and we went to the student bar for a few drinks. We then met up with Carolyn who came in from Dublin also, and we headed out to dinner at Wagamama. We had a fun night out, and ended the night with a great kebab.

Saturday was an amazing in which it seems we did everything. We had a great breakfast at a coffee shop where I had some great english muffins. From there we walked down to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We then headed south of the river to Borough Market which was unbelievable. It's a huge market in the middle of the city with stands that contain all types of meats, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and more. After seeing more of the city we ended up at Hyde Park where we met a few other guys and played some american football. Then we headed to Harrod's which was amazing as well. The food courts were unbelievable, and the store in general was just insane. After a long day we had a nice dinner, and then went to a pub for a few drinks.

Having a 10am flight wasn't ideal, but it was the cheapest option so that's what we decided to go for. Unfortunately we were a little lazy and got up late. We were crunched for time, but since the tube is pretty efficient we thought we could still make it to the train in time. Unfortunately the tube line we needed to transfer to was closed, so we were screwed. We started to walk thinking we could find a cab pretty easily, but there were none to be seen for about 20 minutes. We finally got to the train station 30 minutes before our flight stopped boarding, but it took 40 minutes to get to the airport. Luckily there was a 145 flight as well, and we got on free so everything worked out pretty well.

I had a great weekend, and definitely plan on going back to London at some point.

Exams...boo

So I had my first midterm exam today for my Hume & Kant class. It was a pretty straight forward exam so hopefully I do well. I have another one tomorrow for my game theory class which i know absolutely nothing about, but hopefully it isn't too hard. At least I have this weekend in London to look forward to.

Belfast

We had a great trip up to Belfast this weekend with the UCD/Dublin lacrosse teams. The girls played against Ulster lacrosse, while the game between the men was UCD v. Dublin. We arrived in Belfast around 4 on Saturday so we didn't have much time to look around the city, but from what I saw there wasn't very much. The Ulster lacrosse team arranged for us to go to a club that night, and we all enjoyed ourselves, perhaps a little too much since we had a game the next day. After heading to bed around 4:30 we were up at 9 to get our free breakfast at the hostel. This was my first time in a hostel and it wasn't bad at all (it was nice being with a group though). Once we started to play I think most of the guys were still pretty out of it, and our goalie wasn't up to his best. Overall we had a great time, and I haven't been able to travel with a team in a while so that was really fun as well.

Spring Break

Finally booked our first half of spring break which is coming up in a few weeks. We're flying to Budapest and flying out of Prague, and will probably hit Vienna or somewhere in between. Both the cities i hear are awesome, and it will be nice to go somewhere where the cheapest pint doesn't cost 4 euro.

Galway

This past weekend our BC contingent went on a lovely journey to the west coast of Ireland to the city of Galway. For being the third largest city in Ireland it doesn't really have a lot to offer, but it was a very nice place and definitely a nice change from Dublin. After a three hour train ride we arrived in Galway and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Salthill Hotel right on Galway Bay which would lend itself to some latenight swimming. After checking in we went into town and found a pub where we could watch the rugby match between Irleand and France. It was a great game with Ireland having a strong second half and almost pulling out a victory with seconds left to go, but they just ran out of time. After the match we headed straight to dinner where we did some damage on our budget from BC. We had a fun after dinner to say the least.

On sunday we went on a bus tour around the Connemara region. We had a really funny bus driver that provided us with some laughs to get rid of our hangovers. We had encounters with plenty of sheep and bogs, and even some nuns.Overall it was a great trip, and next week I'm heading up to Belfast with the lacrosse team so that should be an interesting time.

Another great commercial

Here is another great commercial that we are very fond of over here.

UCD Lax

My roomate Bob and I have decided to play lacrosse here at UCD, and it's going great so far. Bob's cousin played here when he studied abroad and said it was a fun time so we decided to join. I haven't played in about 7 years but am one of the best on the team since most of the other kids have only been playing for a year or two. It's not very intense and we have fun so its great. We have our first game on Friday against Dublin, which is basically older guys who live in Dublin. Since Dublin and UCD are the only teams in the country we get to play them 3 times this spring. I'm looking forward to the game, and hopefully we can pull out a victory.

Super Bowl Champs!!!

Well last night was an amazing game to say the least. Never did I think that Eli would lead the Giants to a superbowl victory this season, but he was definitely a different player during the past couple of months. At the bar we segregated ourselves into a Giants table and a Pats table. We had a great time and when the giants won the pats fans were already at the door, just like Belichick. Because the game didn't end till around 4am here and I have a 9am class, I decided to take a few classes off in honor of the victory. It was probably one of the best superbowls that I can remember, especially a good halftime show.

We are also lucky enough to be able to watch Lost over here, and just watched the season premiere. It was amazing.

Kilmainham Gaol

Yesterday we enriched ourselves in the Irish culture by visiting Kilmainham Gaol.Kilmainham Gaol has played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and some executed in the jail. The jail has also been used as a set for several films. The jail was closed in 1926 but reopened to the public in the 1980's after an extensive restoration project. The design of the jail was revolutionary for its day because it featured separate rooms for each prisoner. Previously, all the prisoners were put into big rooms together, and were able to receive food and drink from the street. We were told that most of the prisoners in the old jails would be drunk by 11 am each day. In one of the cells there was this beautiful painting by a woman whose husband had been executed for his action in the Easter 1916 rebellion. It was a really cool place to visit, and recommend it as a place to visit in Dublin.

BC in Dublin

Last night I had my best meal since being here. We had a reception of the BC house, which is right on St. Stephen's Green in the middle of the city, and met all the Trinity students and our program coordinators. After a few cocktails we headed out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. This was my first time having Japanese food and I loved it. We ordered so much it was great. There was about a 30 minute stretch where we had about 10 different dishes come with sushi, dumplings, and scallops and a few bottles of wine too. We then had these huge main courses which were amazing as well, and topped it off with New York Cheesecake. Thanks BC!

Will Ferrell in Dublin

Will Ferrell received the James Joyce Award from the Literary and Historical Society at UCD for his excellence in something. Movies perhaps? I wonder what Joyce would think about him? I really don't know why he got it, but like everything here there was an after party at a Dublin club after. Maybe BC should start doing this too, so when they have speakers come we have after parties with them. I bet Barack and McCain would've been really fun. Anyhow, Will Ferrell actually showed up at the club, stayed for a bit, and then did a lap of the bar which I expected he would do at most.

Today was probably the best weather we've had so far. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the campus actually looked nice for once.

R.I.P. Heath (1979-2008)

On behalf of the Country of Ireland we would like to say that we are all deeply saddened by the sudden death of Heath Ledger. With a great role in "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Brokeback Mountain", Heath was a pivotal part to all of our childhoods. I don't know what Jake Gyllenhaal will do in those mountains without him.

No Rain

It didn't rain today for the first time since we got here. That is all.

GIANTS TO THE SUPERBOWL

Had a great time watching the New York Football Giants beat the Packers. There is only one place in Dublin that stays open for the entire game so we walked over around 8 to the Wool Shed which is an Australian bar on the other side of the city. Saw the Pats win again blah, blah, blah. Then the main event finally started around 1130 over here. Most of the bar was made of Americans so it was fun to meet a lot of people from all over. We met up with our buddy Simon, and some of us were being recruited to play American football here for the Dublin City Rhinos so I guess they aren't very good. At half-time everyone left since today was our first day of class, but I couldn't miss the end of the game so I stayed by myself. I ended up meeting a group of people from D.C., and watched the rest of the game with them. One of the them was a BC class of '01 so it was fun to talk to him. It was a great game, and the bar had these two huge projection screens so it was a great atmosphere. Finally got home around 4am, slept for 4 hours and was up at 8 to go to class which was just amazing. Can't wait till the Super Bowl when the Giants can beat the Pats ruining their perfect season.

Cultural Immersion

Last night we hung out with our new friend Simon whom we met while watching the NFL playoff games last week. He plays American Football so he was glad to have people to talk to about it. He invited us out for the night and we fully immersed ourselves in the Dublin culture. He took us to a few pubs and clubs around the city, and then we capped off the night back at his house where they were having a party since there house was being evicted. It was good craic and it was an experience to say the least.

TV Commercials

Boston is home to some of the worst TV commercials, especially those Bob's Discount Furniture ones featuring those annoying Red Sox players that everyone in Boston loves. Well here in Ireland the commercials are much more entertaining and this is just one of many great ones.

UCD

Today we ventured down to the beautiful UCD campus for our orientation. It was pretty worthless, but we went on a short tour and saw some of the campus. It's relatively easy for us to get around since all of our classes are in this one huge building, but getting around it is a little difficult. In order to find your way they have different colored stripes that guide you to each section. I will post some pictures of the unique architecture of the campus buildings soon.

Howth

Today we travelled outside of the city a bit to the town of Howth (pronounced like both). Howth is a small peninsula northeast of the city and is mainly a fishing town, but it does have some amazing cliffs. After some early struggles finding a restaurant and then the correct path we came to the summit of the town after about a half hours journey. Once we got to the top we met up with a few friends that joined us on the rest of our walk. Our friends were actually three dogs that started following us, and stayed with us for about two hours. There were some great sites from the cliffs and everyone had a good time.

Look right then left

As I was warned by my roommate Chris, it is very different having cars drive on the opposite sides of the street and having to look right first instead of left. On the first day there were numerous times where we thought we would get hit. We have also observed that cars and buses do not slow down when they see pedestrians crossing, and if anything speed up. Both cars and buses drive very close to the sidewalks as well, so that is another concern of ours. 

Everyone's Here

I had the pleasure of being woken up by our last roommates arrival, Bob. So once he put his stuff down we figured he would like to see some of the local attractions, so we went to the closest pub down the street. The four of us enjoyed our first pint of Guinness together and then headed off to the grocery store. Our productivity level really skyrocketed yesterday. We even got cell phones so now we can contact each other which is grand. So after we got our cell phones we took Bob to another pub in the Grafton St area. Later we made our first dinner which consisted of some pasta and garlic bread. We had some minor issues trying to turn the oven on, but being four intelligent Boston College students we were able to figure it out. After dinner we met up with the other BC students and went out to another pub and had a good time. To finish off the night everyone came back to our place in an attempt to watch the Patriots game, but we didn't get it but i really didn't care. Line up for today includes watching the Colts-Chargers game, and then the Giants-Cowboys game, and thats pretty much all we'll do today, not so productive.

Good Craic

So we have all settled into our new home for the next few months, and it's going well so far. We almost burnt it down the first day, but we're moving on from that. We did plenty of walking around the city and had a few pints of Guinness along the way. We watched some quality US tv shows after our naps (Seinfeld, Friends, and Scrubs), but we ended up being a little late going out to get dinner. Fortunately I was able to use my american charm and got us some bowls of stew which was grand. We found some other goods pubs last night, and have plenty to choose from. We plan on doing some more exploring today, and might get something done, but probably not.

What a start

What a great start to my trip! I found out this morning that my flight on Aer Lingus had been canceled and I was booked on a North American Airlines flight instead. I have never heard of North American Airlines, so I figured that the crazy Irish just meant American Airlines. The American flight that left at 6:15 would make me go through London, and get me into Dublin around 12:00pm Friday. This meant no longer meeting up with my roomates Greg and Mike since they were both arriving a few hours earlier. Upon arrival to JFK I found out that a North American Airlines does exists, and that everything was practically the same, but they had moved us to a North American plane. The woman at the Aer Lingus desk was even nice enough to change my seat from a regular aisle to an emergency aisle, which meant plenty of legroom. So now I'm just in JFK waiting to be boarded. So hopefully all goes well and I get to meet up with everyone in Dublin tomorrow morning.