Day 23

Today I met the professor I've always wanted.  One who lives for staying after class to help with any questions that could come up in the daunting two hour lecture; one who can crack as many jokes as they can state facts and figures; and one who will meet with students outside of class for a pint and some good 'ol fashion networking...only in Ireland.  Part of the lecture sounded more like my brother's insane "hood" antics than Irish history, but nevertheless, it kept my interest and myself laughing.  And believe it or not, despite the number of times I've heard from the Irish, "Oh I hate Americans," he seemed relieved to meet us and was looking forward to winding down with some english-speaking students after class.  I'm more than excited for this class and really getting down to, I guess, the nitty-gritty of Irish culture.  Plus a pint with the professor isn't a bad way to learn more than what's in the textbooks.

Day 22

Today I met my film teacher, a petite man with gray hair probably aged somewhere in his mid-50s.  He walked in with an urgency to begin class and hurried hands attempted to set up the laptop for our first viewing.  At first I didn't know if I would like him after he addressed us as "children," however his enthusiasm was undeniable and I had to appreciate it.  His stuttering voice suggested that he was too excited to even have the words catch up with him and he spoke about every part of the class in haste detail.  Unfortunately, we didn't even see our first film.  He sighed and rolled his eyes as the fire alarm went off and we were all escorted out of the building which was closed for the rest of the day.  I would enjoy any class that has a passionate instructor and this will be no exception.  I only hope a kitchen fire won't interrupt the class again, although free pizza in the street did make up for it.

Day 21

Today I met John, our fantastic tour guide.  I have to admit, when I heard that John, who had two degrees in Irish history, would be giving us a tour of his farm, I pictured an old man.  An old man with big ears, a hat and slow gait who would reference everything on the tour to his grandfather.  Of course, it's Ireland and John is actually a dashing twenty-something with a knowledge of Irish history only a nerd like me would swoon at.  John traipsed through the farm dressed in jeans, a raincoat and boots with the confidence of years on the farm.  Come to find out, the farm has been in the family for over 200 years and they own two mountains.  You heard me, he owns two mountains.  He continued to tell us all about the farm, the landscape, the history and all the memories involved in his soothing accent that reminded me a lot of our friend Liam.  I was in love halfway through the tour and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I braved the slippery slope of the rock mountain in an attempt to make it look like I was a country girl at heart, which I believe I am anyways.  Even if John isn't my "future husband," as my eight-year-old self would say, I could picture the life I want in the mountains of The Burren.  It was unbelievably beautiful and sitting at the top after the somewhat treacherous journey, I felt at home.  After The Burren, it's going to be hard to leave my discoveries and go home.

Day 20

Today I met Neil.  In fact, I almost didn't meet Neil given the fact that he only spoke to us because Shannon stole his shot of Jaeger.  Despite the theft, Neil and his friends asked us to follow them for what I thought was a bachelor party (later I found out nothing of which they told us at the beginning of the night was true).  The crew was dressed to the nines and were full of life.  They reminded me of my first night I spent in Dublin and I immediately thanked god that we didn't leave the horrific attempt at an American bar earlier.  Neil is a redhead with an equally fiery sense of humor.  The comments and jokes were too funny for me to even remember (or maybe it was the Jameson) and I was laughing/crying every minute that we spoke.  All joking aside, he was extremely intelligent and seemed to love words as much as I do. Shannon and I were hoping to meet some older Irish people and we couldn't have asked for a better group to people to share some drinks, dances and memories with.   

Day 19

Today I met a rather hostile girl who, for the sake of politeness, we'll call Sharon.  She was coordinating a trip for us that turned out to be not so coordinated.  Sharon, an engineering major, seemed, at the start, to be the detail-oriented type who had everything planned out, but it looks like the job may be passed on to me.  Dressed in a sweatshirt, jeans, and no makeup, she found it appalling that we would every bring a hairdryer on a weekend trip and continued to make us feel high maintenance, I suppose.  Sharon turned out to be a very independent person.  She simply left the rest of us alone to explore what she wanted on the trip.  Some who knew her better said that they really enjoyed her before the trip, however, I guess there are just some people you aren't meant to travel with.

Day 18

Today I met Stephen.  It's Arthur's Day which means by 6:00 p.m. everyone in the city has had their fill of Guinness in celebration.  Stephen, an irish lad, was no different.  He approached my friends and I with a smile on his face that only accompanies a glass in his hand.  He was a scruffy guy, dressed casually with an assortment of buddies at his side.  There were no girls in sight, which made me wonder if I ought to feel bad for the guys or admire them for not being "those guys" with girls on each of their arms.  Again, nothing too different from the regular conversation I've had with locals: "where are you from?," followed by "how do like it," followed by "what do you think of Obama?"  I can't wait until someone doesn't ask that question; that will be the conversation to write about.  Luckily, the guys were much more coherent than our previous friends from Cork although I still walked away with a phone number and web address on my arm.  Stephen and the guys were a fun group to talk to, whether they made fun of our voices or not, however, I'm still looking forward to the conversation with a local that doesn't stick to the recipe.

Day 17

Today I met the staff of my new paper, ironically called The Liberty (hopefully this is not hello to a high school repeat).  The students are what I expected: confident, in-your-face journalists who already have a firm handle on the paper, its mission and how to achieve it.  My professor is not what I expected however: an American.  This could be a good thing or a bad thing.  On the one side, he is well aware of the Missouri School of Journalism reputation, but this also means, he's expecting a lot from us.  Shannon and I are up for the challenge and are crossing our fingers that we can once again represent the U.S. and our school well.  The class went very well and the students immediately came up to us to try to catch us up on what the class was all about.  Thankfully, I already have my first story and its something that, despite my lack of familiarity with Dublin, I can manage.  The staff seems great, I trust in their confidence, and hopefully I become as much a part of the close-knit team as the rest of them are.