June 28th? Dublin!

I am very tired today. We were up early. Our continental breakfast once again consisted of cereal and toast- I’m really starting to get sick of it. We had to leave early to walk to Trinity University and got there a half hour before the exhibit we were going to visit even opened. At first I was mad because it was chilly outside and I could have slept in longer, but the longer we stood there, the longer the line behind us got and I was okay with it. We went in to see the Book of Kells exhibit- wasn’t very exciting for me since I’d already learned most of those things from my History of the Book class and manuscripts had started to look the same for me. Also, most of the exhibit was just walls with words and pictures on them and when you got to the room that actually had the Book of Kells (which, for those of you who are wondering, is one of the oldest Bible manuscripts in the world) in it, it was full and it was hard to see the book with everyone standing around the table. But it was interesting and I enjoyed it well enough.

the magnificent library!

Following that, we were allowed into the upper part of the library. I wasn’t expecting much, because I didn’t even know anything about Trinity University in the first place, but then I made my way upstairs into the most magnificent library I had ever seen! It is humongous and gorgeous and all these busts line the walls. I had seen pictures on the internet before of this place and I had no idea the library was in Dublin! I freaked out! And then took a picture with Shakespeare. And looked at all the books and the display cases. We weren’t allowed to touch the books on the shelves, but Becca, Nichole, and I were wondering together and Becca asked me if I thought some of the larger books were heavy. We were standing next to a security guard so I asked him, not expecting a reply really, how heavy the books were. And, after he took his music out and I repeated the question, he goes, “I don’t know, why don’t you hold one?” And handed it to me! Just like that! I got to touch one of the books! And I was the only one! He immediately took it back out of my hands, though, because he didn’t want other people to see I got to touch the book. I felt so special.

After that, we went to gift shop, just like any true tourist does. Then we wondered all over for a few blocks trying to find where a free walking tour was meeting. We ended up making like three or four circles and asking a couple of pedestrians and a doorman for directions, but we found it eventually. The tour was great. We went to a lot of political buildings (like the one where 19 rebels went to take over the government, killed the guard, and –finding the place empty—left thinking that they were going to be ambushed by the government who had earlier sunk a German ship housing illegal weapons meant for the insurrection. Really, they were out at the horse race) (or the one where while digging for the foundation, they found an entire Viking village, but only saved a few artifacts and then dumped the cement anyway), musically significant buildings (Christs’ Church where “Messiah” was first performed) (the building where U2 was discovered), and parks and statues of all sorts. My legs were soooo tired by the end of it, but the tour guide was interesting and funny. He made fun of Irish people in the fun way that only Irish people can.

Johnathan Swift's birthplace

bog body

Afterward, we went to yet another gift shop and then went through the free national museum. We saw all kinds of things. My favorite was probably the bog bodies, which were basically mummified bodies they found in the bogs in Ireland. And the pole dancing cherubims- my mind is not always appropriate. We met up with the Gardners and were going to go to the Church where they keep a mummified mouse and cat (they had gotten stuck in the organ) until we found out it cost money to go. So instead we bought a cookie and headed to a restaurant to finally get real authentic Irish food. I was a little afraid to try something new, but I had lamb stew and it was fantastic. Matt got the Irish breakfast- white pudding was intestines and black was blood. He ate all of the white, but not very much of the black. We are all starting to be friends now, and that makes me really happy.

We also had to survey a couple of people for class. The first guy was nice, but he didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t really have too many opinions about the different ways people talk. It was really kind of him to let us interrupt him while he was drinking his tea. For some reason, I wasn’t very afraid to talk to him. The other guy I talked to, I was terrified of, but we had been hanging out by his table awkwardly and had already asked another man if he was from Ireland but he wasn’t so we were running out of options and we made eye contact so I just talked to him and he also turned out really nice. People here are so helpful and friendly.

As a side note, a few things about the buildings; there is no space in between the buildings, like they are literally jammed up against each other. And everyone smokes and drinks, so it doesn’t smell very good here. And the river is absolutely disgusting. It looks the way I would imagine the river in Lehi’s dream to look in real life. Apparently for the millennium, they put a clock in the bottom hoping to shine up a countdown through the water, only when the time came it didn’t work, so they had wasted millions of dollars on it. And it’s still there, because they didn’t see the point in removing it.

It rained a little, but if felt like being under the misters at Harkins theater, except that I was cold instead of hot. And drivers are crazy so sometimes it’s hard to cross the street. They also use the F-word as often as the D-word. The F-word isn’t a big deal for them.

The spire at the exact center of Dublin

            Also, a lot of the people in this group think it’s stupid to use the shortened words (like totes for totally) and so they use the words to mock them. Only, it doesn’t seem like mocking because they do it so often. And now, sometimes I use the words, too. My language is disintegrating into teenage yuckiness.