The Good Kind of Craic

Photo cred: Thomas (thanks for risking falling off the edge for this picture. Was it worth it?
Hair cred: The freaking wind.

If you are having trouble figuring out what the last word in my title is, I don't blame you. The word "Craic" (pronounced crack, hence the title) is Irish slang for fun, which is exactly what I've been having! If you told me a few years ago that I would be studying abroad, I probably wouldn't have believed you as I was a naturally skeptical teenager and still had trouble going to the post office by myself, let alone studying in another country. But lo and behold! I am here.

Today is officially my second Sunday here and I am still in awe of this city and country (the first time I make a post saying that I'm not, you should slap some sense into me). This was the first week of classes and I have never encountered a more frustrating ritual than what is known here as "Freshers Week" which is basically a period of two weeks where you can try out any class you want before finalizing your schedule. While this may seem like a dream come true for many of you, for an anxious and easily frustrated foreigner, I found this rather annoying. I just want a set schedule (mostly so I can plan trips) but also because I have enough going on in my life that school is my ever constant source of structure and to have that ripped away my first week here was a trial on not just me but the other study abroad students as well.

That being said, I do have to put this in perspective. I'm complaining about the flexibility given to me in the first two weeks of classes in Dublin, IRELAND. Why am I complaining again? I forget.

Moving on, because complaining is for people not living in Ireland for three months. Yesterday we visited one of the most beautiful places I have every been in my entire life, The Cliffs of Moher. Located in County Clare (also where The Oklahoman's ancestors are from) the cliffs are one of the top tourist destinations of Ireland and are known (mostly to me) for being the place they shot the Cliffs of Insanity scene in The Princess Bride (basically my favorite movie, ask me about it sometime, I'll talk for hours).  It is a magnificent and  wonderful place if not a bit deceiving as I walked for close to an hour and didn't make it to the end but thankfully as many can attest to in Ireland, it's not the destination, its the journey.

See the little dot on the last cliff?
That is a castle.
That is also an hour and a half of walking.

Only 30 minutes into walking. I was still pretty chipper at this point.

While this looks like a place of beauty, it has a much darker side as a suicide hotspot, and like I'm sure many other buses were, we were informed of the danger of the cliffs and the sadly increasing number of suicides committed there. Thankfully we did not encounter anything of that nature in our short time while there, I did come across a beautiful memorial upon the cliffs. I would like to applaud our tour guide for his rather blunt invitation to any who may be contemplating this tragic end  to come and speak to him or the bus driver. Unfortunately it is all to easy to ignore this problem but he did not once shy away from the topic, instead forging ahead with his impassioned speech about the benefits of living to his rather captive audience (only he could open the door to the bus).

Something every Irishman will tell you, is that the people of Ireland are a shy and retiring people (almost a direct quote from five different people) but what I have yet to encounter is an actually shy and retiring Irishman.  Every person I have come across has a kind and jovial way about them, not often encountered in the big cities of The States, which I have come to love. While I have so many more stories and adventures to share, I also have more memories to make at the present and so I will leave you with a quote from my Irish History and Culture teacher while telling a story of questionable authenticity:

"Never let the facts interfere with your story dear."

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline '1-800-273-TALK (8255)'

Irish You Were Here

Wow. That is the only word I can manage to say. After my first week in Dublin I am awestruck each and every day as I walk out of my flat into the busy city streets. Accents from all over the world melt together as I attempt (with my poor directional skills) to navigate the curving streets and busy intersections.

Pictured: My view from the plane, after less than 3 hours of sleep my neighbor was less than enthusiastic when I leaned over him to take this picture. I however was ecstatic. 

After wandering around today during the All Ireland Final for close to 2 hours in an attempt to make my way back to campus, I am realizing the importance of camaraderie.

Let me back up; 2 days ago, my group of study abroad students took a trip to Croke Park where this championship game would be happening and our guide continuously emphasized the importance of the teams of Gaelic football in creating a sense of unity throughout the country. While originally this sounded backwards, we learned that Gaelic sports like Hurling and Gaelic Football were emphasized during a time when it seemed that all of Ireland's traditions were becoming extinct in favor of British traditions. This meant that the entire country got behind the sport regardless of  the team, sharing a camaraderie unable to be broken by silly things such as county lines.

Pictured: Me, wishing they would let me walk on the pitch at Croke Park. Something about you have to "earn it." I walked 20 minutes to get there, I feel like I earned it.

 This same attitude can be found in my study abroad group. While we are from all over the country, the fact that we are suddenly in this foreign place with minimal knowledge of customs (you describe your illness to the pharmacist and they tell you which medicine to get? Are they doctors?) brought us together in amazing ways.

So when I chose to leave our group and strike out on my own, and subsequently wound up wandering the Dublin streets in the rain for almost 2 hours, I realized how much I appreciate our little group and the easy camaraderie that formed, allowing us to each utilize the other's unique talent. While someone (me) may not be good at navigating or someone else (also me) may not be good at approaching strangers, there is bound to be one person in the group who is great at it. This balance of give and take is what makes me confident that the friendships I make here both within my study abroad group and without will be lasting and deep relationships.

I'll end this post with an Irish saying that I've found to be particularly true and one of my favorite pictures from my first week in Dublin:

"There are only two types of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were."