First day of SSP lectures

Today was the first day of SSP lectures.  SSP is the semester start-up program that goes for 3 weeks before the term officially begins.  You take essentially a crash course in Irish literature, history, art, architecture, and culture.  We had three lectures today: the history and geography of Ireland, the history and architecture of Trinity, and about Ireland and the classics.  Then I went to the computer help center to get my internet set up so I'm finally reconnected to the world!

Just to give a run down of some of the things I've done over the past few days:

Saturday - adjusted to the time, purchased a few home-ware things to get settled in, and then went out to dinner with a few other people in the program.

Sunday - again, adjusted and settled in.  There was a meet & greet event that evening at at Trinity to meet everyone in the program, so a group of us walked with one of the tutors to campus.  It took about 50 minutes and was my first walk through Dublin and it's a gorgeous city.  Plus it feels like early October and the weather has been absolutely delightful.  I've been able to get by with a t-shirt for the middle part of most days and then just add a sweater later in the evening.  We arrived early and stopped in a pub to chat and see the end of a gaelic football game.

Campus

Monday - we registered (not for classes) and got ID cards at TCD. We had a campus tour, a library tour, and all of that exciting stuff.  I stopped in for a peek at the Book of Kells with a friend.  It's pretty interesting.  I also got a student travel card and took the bus for the first time. After, I ran some errands and made dinner.

Inside of a building at Trinity

Tuesday (today) - I had the first official lectures.  Afterward, I came back and have so far failed to do any of the work they have so generously given us for this class.  My suitemates and some friends all made a very delicious dinner and finally got to know one another.

So that's my life so far.  Now I must go do some of that work. I have an easy bit of reading due by Thursday and an essay due Friday.  It stinks because they assigned 80 pages of a book they had in the library, but there weren't that many copies so I have to figure out how to get it.  Tomorrow night we're going to the Abbey Theatre to see The Plough and the Stars.  I'm pretty excited.  It also means I won't have that much time tomorrow night and I did make a pact with one of my suitemates to be productive tonight.

(Edited: Added pictures 9/5.)

They don't have lucky charms in Ireland...

I'm still settling in and won't have internet Monday, so I have to keep using an internet cafe.  I finally got a cell phone and am trying to figure out how to register for a plan.  I have the SIM card, but I'm not sure which plan to get.

Also,  yesterday when I was making dinner I looked out the window and saw a rainbow!  And it hadn't even been raining.  I was a bit overexcited about it, and I'll post one of the several pictures I took of it on Monday.

My Arrival

I made it in today around 10:30 am Irish time, 5:30 am EST.

I'm finally done packing for at least 3 weeks! It's such a relief after I've been packing for 2 weeks between moving from Georgetown and packing to travel back there and then packing to travel here.  Space bags are a total life saver and I think I have almost everything I need except cooking supplies.  Today I went and bought one bowl, one pot, one spoon, a bag of pasta and a jar of sauce.

But anyway, back to the flight.  Yes Dad, they did serve us dinner around midnight.  The flight was schedule to leave around 10:40 and ended up taking off at about 11:15. They only turned the lights off for about 2 hours in the middle, so I didn't get much sleep.  But it was really pretty taking off over New York at night.  I love watching the cars drive along like little golden dots moving along the highway.  I think it reminds me of Epcot or something.  Flying over Ireland in the morning was amazing.  It was really clear and you could see all these little plots of land and it was just so green!

Once I got my luggage, I took a cab to Upper Rathmines, a suburb south of Dublin where I'm living until the middle of September.  The cab driver took me through Dublin and pointed out all of the major sights and areas for shopping and nightlife, etc.

Dublin is so beautiful and chill, and it smells fresh and crisp.  DC smells like sweat and trash in the summer.  The weather was amazing today too, I think around the high 60s.  It was great, sunny light-sweater weather since I was outside walking a lot.   I was afraid it would be cold and I would miss fall weather but this is simply perfect.  It did rain briefly, but I was inside a store and only noticed that the sidewalks were wet when I came back out.

My room is a single with a bathroom in side an apartment with 5 other roommates.  I haven't met any of the other girls yet.  The room is really nice, large and well lit.  Also our kitchen/living room area over looks these greenhouses and just looks so great.  Pictures to come when my Internet is up an running from the dorm (I won't have Internet until Monday.  I have to use an Internet cafe until then and the d's and p's aren't working the best, so sorry for any typos).

View out my bedroom window

Today I unpacked and went shopping around the main street, about a 10 minute walk from the dorm.  I grabbed lunch at a cheap cafe and had a really weird cheese burger.  They put onions and ketchup on it without even asking and the patty was really thin and just strange.  I literally bought the essentials when it comes to cooking wear - one pot, one bowl, one spoon, one bag of pasta, and a jar of sauce.  Food is really expensive here. The one little jar of sauce was over 2 euros, which is pretty excessive.  And then they charged me 22c for a plastic bag.

I have to go make some dinner now, finish unpacking and write that essay for homework.  I'll try to write again tomorrow.

Rainbow (actually a double rainbow) seen while making dinner.

(Edited: Added pictures 9/5.)