WOW A REAL BLOG POST

Today (and by today I mean yesterday) I spent 27 euro to see everything a tourist should see in Dublin. IES took us on an optional bus tour, with a fleet of buses that made repeating loops around the city centre, letting you get off and take whatever tour happened to catch your fancy.
I wish I could remember what cathedrals these were.



These streets may look safe, but did you know they are packed with foreigners?



^I like this photo.^


This is the Irish General Post Office (or GPO), which the embattled Irish rebels made their headquarters during the Easter Rising of 1916. You can still see bullet holes on the pillars if you look closely enough.


Huh huh huh.


Jonathan Swift had inner ear problems later in life. Unfortunately for him, inner ear problems were interpreted as a form of insanity in the 18th Century. He bequeathed 7,000 pounds in his will to the building of a new mental hospital, St. Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles. I know.


QUAINT GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE (actually I'm not really sure what Georgian architecture even is)


Guinness was such a mainstay of Irish life, culture, and economy that a power outage at the Guinness factory would have been catastrophic. So what did Mr. Alec Guinness do? Why, build his own power plant, of course!

Guinness:Dublin;Mr. Burns:Springfield


This monument, although held in ill-regard by most Dubliners (who call it creative names such as The Stiletto in the Ghetto, The Spike I Don't Quite Like, and The Spire Everyone Kind of Hopes Will Burn Down in a Fire), seemed pretty neat the way the tour guide described it. It has thousands of light-emitting diodes embedded in the sides, making it a spectacular, yet tasteful light show packed full of symbolism and hope for Ireland's future. Either that or there aren't any diodes and it's just a tragic accident waiting to happen to some unlucky skydiver.


This is the most famous door in Dublin, an example of Edwardian architecture built to greet some king or other (only double-doors were allowed to accomodate royalty).


This is the house of the Taoiseach, the ruler of Ireland.




~~~~~~~~~DUBLIN ZOO~~~~~~~~~

SLOTH!


MONKEY!


WOMAN!


TAPIR!


DOGS!




ELEPHANTS!

I missed them when they were outside, hence the reflection. ugh im such an amateur


PENGUINS!


TIGER!


MONKEY reprise!


I'd like to end this horrendously long and informative post with a clever, heartfelt message summing everything up. Screw that, this took like an hour, I'm going to drink until I fall asleep.

FIELD TRIIIIIIIP

• We went to Glendalough today. It used to be a monastery, but was all converted into a cemetery in order to accommodate the growing amounts of dead people.

• Orientation was two hours long. Tomorrow’s is six hours long. I can’t even sleep thinking about it.
• My roommate Adam’s ankles are sore again. The dark purple spots on his foot have spread almost up to his calf. I think it’s the diabetes.
• 1 Euro steaks are awful.

Arrival

• When I was on Jet Blue I got some animal crackers. However, they were all the same shape (rhinoceros).
• I was first struck by culture shock an hour ago–I’m not sure if it was when the cashier at the grocery charged me 50 eurocents, or when I almost got hit by a car while looking the wrong way and trying to keep my bag from splitting in the rain. I think the most jarring element of culture shock is being lost to the extent that simple activities become insurmountable, simply because you can’t get anywhere.
  
  Also, I visited a quaint pub.
  
  
  
  

So yeah it's finally happening

I am packing! Packing is so fun.
Q: What shirts should I take?
A: Trick question! They will be stolen, so it does not matter.

One of my favorite quotes is that uttered by George Armstrong Custer: “Always be prepared.” With that in mind, I looked up Irish culture in Wikipedia.com so I could get ‘the lay of the land’ before going anywhere. The Irish are a proud race, known for their druidic ceremonies. Here are some Traditional Irish Blessings!

Sláinte!
“To Your Health!”

Croi follain agus gob fliuch.
“A healthy heart and a wet mouth!”

Go maire sibh bhur saol nua.
“May your home not be destroyed by sectarian warfare!”