The Connecticutian

Has it been this long already? Hoo-boy. We’ve been very busy, as one can imagine. As I mentioned in my last post Jeff and Alex ran, and I mean ran, to catch the bus. On day 3, Alex explained that indeed they were not running to catch the bus but because Alex began taunting Jeff, so Jeff took off to prove he could out run Alex. And again, I was VERY impressed by just how fast Jeff ran! We all were. But here’s the funny thing — as I was walking to get to this internet cafe, lost as all hell in Dublin — I do not know why, but I just do not get the geography of this city. I’m generally pretty good with navigating, but all the twisties and turnies — I’m just really lost in this city — Nonetheless, on my way here, I saw some more damn fast running. This kid came running down the street in my direction. He was carrying a 6 pack of something. He was running at a pretty good pace — teenager, perhaps in his early 20’s. But leaving a trail of smoke in his wake came a thin man running out of the Centra (a convenience store), not only at top speed, but with this amazing determination in his face. This was not just about the stolen 6 pack of whatever, but about the “principal.” I wondered if he was a storeowner or merely an employee. Either way, to chase like such madness after a stolen 6 pack, it seemed extreme. A semi-circle of a crowd looked as the kid rounded the corner and the pursuer began to slow. I peered into the store, because I was now passing, and I saw no other employees. Frankly, that moment would have been the best time to lift whatever anyone wanted.

Jeff and I were just talking about the alpha-male quality that happens, and a student was mentioning alpha-females earlier. It’s funny how this exists. As we were riding up O’Connell this morning on the #10, I was looking at the smattering of people walking down the street. Humans have all these clothes, distinguishing apparatus, bits that make us “human” — but we are animals, and we behave as such. It’s funny to think if we took away the clothes — the distinguishing clothes — how much less “human” we might actually be. Or is this just psycho-drivel after a long day?

Each day, we begin with various writing exercises, and then we go off on our “touring.” So on Monday (day 3), Jeff needed to go to the airport to go meet Heather. I took all 12 kids on a hike between Bray and Greystone — the Bray Head trail. It was such a wonderful hike. Bray is an adorable town, brightly colored row houses, sea coast, narrow streets. It felt like Ireland. The kids seemed to really enjoy the hike. Some of them wanted to climb up alternate trails, but being the nervous Nellie that I am, we stuck to the trail. One student, Zach, has a very good eye for photography. It was fun to watch him shoot pictures. Graham loved the sea, the green, the nature. I was thrilled to see real Irish sheep. (You should have heard their accents.) (Speaking of accents, I’ve heard it parodied so much — especially my old roommate Jonathan. He would always do his wannabe irish accent — that when I hear irish people speaking, I sometimes think it’s one of the parodies.) Views were amazing. I had us sit and write for awhile, which was a great opportunity to take the moment down.

The hike was 9k, and we came into the town of Greystone. It was equally wonderful as Bray. We split up for lunch, though most of us sat in the same restaurant. Finally we caught the bus back to UCD. Some kids went out in the evening. Jeff and I went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. Note to self: don’t order Indian food in Ireland.

Day 4 was museum-laden. In the morning we went to Trinity to go to see the library exhibit of the Book of Kells. It was a very cool exhibit, and I found myself most drawn to the colors in the decoration of the book. It was cool to read about the pigments. One of the book, though I don’t think it was the book of Kells, had this gold pigment that was truly gold (in tone). Amazing. But honestly, my favorite part of that exhibit was that they had a Beckett exhibit as well. There were all of these letters he wrote, texts, manuscripts, notebooks, etc. There was one photo that I loved. It was of a play rehearsal. In the background, two actors were slightly blurred, and silhouetted in the foreground was a sharp image of Beckett (from behind). It was a very cool shot.

After lunch, crepes — yum, we went to either the history museum or the national gallery. I opted to go with Graham, Sam, and Zach to the history museum, a grand museum. It was pretty cool. The others who went to the National Gallery liked that museum, too, though Jeff was heart broken that the Caravaggio that he’d been hoping to see was on loan elsewhere.

That afternoon, I went for tea with all of the girls, which was so much fun. We went to this cute place, The Queen of Tarts, and had very yummy desserts. Finally, I went to a pub for about an hour and just sat and wrote. it was so fun to sit and listen to all of the different accents, languages, and havering. Oh wait — that’s Scotland!

Finally, in the evening, we went to see “A Month in the Country,” a play adapted by Brian Friel from the Turgenev short story. Frankly, I didn’t really like it. Most of the kids really enjoyed it, and I thought parts were really funny, but it did not pull off serious well. It was melodramatic and flat. Though, my dislike of the play led to a great bus ride home discussion with Max, which leads me to the fact that we have really great kids here with us! We really do.

The we split up for the afternoon. I spent another day with the girls and Alex. We had lunch at the Badass Cafe (Caroline suggested it…), and then we went out to Kilmainham. Molly, Alex, Laura, and I went to the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) and Hannah, Caroline, and Heather went to the modern art gallery. We all had fun at our respective places. The jail was really interesting, but the best part came after as we were leaving. I asked this older Irish man if he would take out picture. As Alex was trying to show him how to use the camera, he held the lens up to his eye, ready to take the picture. Alex tried to help him by setting the camera right. After several more turns of the camera, and finally the man once again putting the lens up to his eye, we figured that he HAD to be pulling our leg. But after a long time, we had a successful shot of us taken. He was very funny. He told us he was taking the picture “the irish way.”

We met back at the spire, and we all went out to dinner at Cafe Una, a very nice Irish cafe. We had a nice, slow dinner, though kids began trickling out after a short time. Finally, Jeff and I were left to relax and chat. I left and came here. So here I am. And there you are. Hi.

Okay, bye. More adventures to follow.

Jimmy update: on day 3, Jimmy left the apt. We all miss him and anything that goes wrong — we blame on him. It’s very convenient.

We had a very good day. Can I say it began last night? No, I guess not, but I’ll tell you about last night. The accommodations are, well, if anyone knows the accommodations at Long Beach, Long Beach cottages 18 and 19 have a few more stars. We’re staying at the University College Dublin in the dorms. There is a little grocery store on campus, and they have quite a nice size selection for being convenience store-esque, but the produce was mainly rotten. Nonetheless, we bought potatoes (which Jeff said were picked long before the potato famine), sad iceberg lettuce, semi-sad red peppers, bread, lunchmeat, cheese, and baguettes. We had not cooking utensils (pot/pan), so we made do. ‘Twas a lovely dinner all told. It was like we were one big family. One student, Caroline, remarked, “This evening makes me feel better. We’re more like a family” — or something along those lines. Jeff and I later enjoyed tea and digestives. Yum! MOST of us went to bed early, by 9.

This morning I was awoken by knocks at the apartment door. See, the 15 of us are staying in 4 different apartments. Each apartment has 4 single bedrooms. So beginning at 5AM, knocking begins. Thinking it might be one of the kids, I got the door, and it was some bloke looking for his friend. Ugh, no. I happily went back to sleep. at 6:30, another knock woke me. Same thing. It was a girl looking for a friend. By this time, I was wide awake, so i got up and went for a stroll around and outside campus. It’s out in the ‘burbs, so it feels kind of desolate around campus. I came back and began to get breakfast ready. The kids came in for breakfast, and Jeff led us in some writing exercises, which was fun. We shared pieces, and it was a delicious way to start the day. Soon we piled on the double decker bus (we almost always sit on top), an headed to the Dublin Writers Museum. I really wanted to go, because there was a one man “play” about the writers. I have to say, I was disappointed. it wasn’t bad, but it reminded me of what I used to do at the Edgar Allan Poe house, sans the “voices” he did. The museum was very small, and they said they were going to give us a tour, but it was one of those pre-recorded audio tours. It was a let down.

Then I had lunch with Hannah, Molly, and Caroline. We just went to a sandwich shop, but then we stumbled into the Temple Bar district (Bar was a Viking word for street — so no, I did not take my kids into a tavern), which was this really cool little area. yes, it was littered with tourists, but it was fun. there were tons of little restaurants, shops, cafes, etc. Then, after having lectured the kids on being places ON TIME, we realized we were going to be late, so we booked it back to the meeting spot. Caroline said I could blame it on her. Instead, I decided to teach her something useful — the ol’ set your watch back to the time you should have been there routine. Her parents will LOVE me.

We decided more “wandering” time was in order, because it was uncharacteristically sunny weather. I called Sujal, went into a fancy shop, and then ran into some kids back in the Temple Bar District. We went to an outdoor cafe and shot the breeze. it was a lovely afternoon. Once again, after having lectured the kids in the AM, we we ran late getting back to campus. We had a fun busride back, complete with taking lots of pictures. When we got back to Campus, Brendan and Collin made dinner — and they bought a pot, so we had spaghetti, except they bought tomato puree instead of sauce. After giving them a lot of sh*t for it, we went and got sauce.

Oh — how could I forget! As we were heading to the bus stop, when many of the kids were late, hence he lecture, Jeff and I saw the boys coming. Collin told us there was “some guy” in Jeff’s room. Jeff and Alex promptly ran off to investigate. While they were gone, I delivered my fabled hypocritical lecture. When Jeff and Alex were coming back, the # 10 bus was pulling up, and they started running to the stop. I began as a light jog, but soon Jeff was booking. They kids were beside themselves laughing, and then Alex pulled ahead. It was a beautiful moment of father-son (hee-hee) bonding.

So here was the story. The “some guy” was Jimmy. When they went in the apt, they heard the shower running, so Jeff knocked and asked who was in there. Of course the response of “Jimmy” came back to Jeff. Soon Jimmy came out of the shower in a towel, and Jeff tried to explain that the room Jimmy was staying in was already taken by one of our students. Jeff went to complain, and basically, the Jimmy problem is still unresolved. Needless to say, there have been many Jimmy Jokes.

More soon, as the adventures unfold.

I just wanted to write a quick post to say that we are here, my charges, my co-chaperone, and me.

It was a long and grueling flight, but I survived.  We are all utterly exhausted.  Most of us have not slept at all.  So far, it’s cool.  We’re in Dublin, and at this very moment the big game between England and Paraguay is on.  It’s really fun to see everyone so revved.

Okay, I’ll write more later.

I’m going to Ireland.

I know it has been a wicked long time since I’ve written (how MA of me…), but it has been the end of the school year for me, and that is crazy time. And to top it off, I’m headed to Ireland on a school trip in a few days. It just came up. Hopefully I will have some computer access and I can write a few posts.