My Adventure of the Day
Traveling back to Greystones should have been a relaxing 3 hour bus ride. Phantom of the Opera was on the bus TV. The window curtains were closed to block the late afternoon sun. But at 5:30, it all went wrong. A back tire (spelled “tyre” here) blew. We pulled over, and Brian made a call.

We ended up pulling off the freeway to the country roads. Because there are double tires in the back, we could drive with the flat as long as we drove more slowly.

Around 7, we finally pulled off into a bus repair station to wait for a new bus. By now we were all starving. We poured out of the bus, and the remaining bags of crisps and packages of biscuits and fruit were pulled from the back. We attacked the food like famished wolves.

Brian told us where some a restroom was, so a few of us went to find it. We found it—a single bathroom. The repair shop was empty apart from us, so we leaned against the abandoned counter. The door to the bathroom did not latch unless you locked it. The first two girls didn’t try to use the key to lock the door to keep it shut, so one of us just held it closed. But I locked the door, not thinking anything of it. It locked very easily, and the girls applauded my success. I went to the bathroom and washed my hands. Then I tried to unlock the door. Nothing. I tried again.

“Hannah? Are you having some trouble in there?” I heard Emily say on the other side of the door.

“I’m just having some difficulty unlocking the door,” I replied. I was frustrated. The lock was a skeleton key. I think I missed the life lesson on how to properly use a skeleton key. I tried the lock again and again.

“Have you checked to see if anything is stuck in the lock?” Colin asked in a helpful voice from the other side.

“I just locked it. There can’t be anything stuck in it.” I checked anyway. “Which way are you supposed to turn it?”

“Try both ways,” Colin told me. “Take the key out between tries.”

“You can do it,” Emily cheered encouragingly.

I was on my knees now, trying to unlock the stupid door. I glanced around while I was doing this. There was no window. The bathroom was more like a closet than a bathroom. The crack under the door was practically nonexistent, so passing the key to the out to them was not an option. The ceiling tile above me was gone, so Plan B became going out through the ceiling.

“Try angling the key.” Colin’s voice reminded me to focus on the lock and forget about finding another way out. That door was the only way out.

It took another few times, but I finally got the door unlocked.

I started laughing. “I’m a biology major. I should be smart enough to unlock a door.”

“We’re bio majors not mechanical engineering,” Aric told me as he gave me a high five.

Emily, Caitlin, and Jordan were laughing with me.

“I don’t know why they were just telling you what to do,” Caitlin said. “I would have been there telling them to bust down the door! I was thinking to myself, ‘We could take the hinges off…darn it, they’re on the inside.’”

“Are you kidding?” Emily exclaimed. “I was about to bust that door down myself!”

“I wasn’t worried about getting out,” I told them. “I just was embarrassed that you guys knew I couldn’t get out.” I laughed. “I knew I’d figure it out eventually.”

Needless to say, no one tried to lock the door after that.

By the time we went back outside, the new bus had arrived. It was a big bus, so we ech got our own double seat. We were on the road again by 7:30.

Dr. Beulah Baker’s arrival meant that we were traveling to the north for a few days. The first stop on Monday was hiking Slieve League. It was super windy, but the landscape was absolutely stunning. For the three nights, we stayed in Donegal at a hotel.

On Tuesday we went to Station Island and Donegal Castle. The wind from Monday meant that Tuesday was a rainy, grey, tempestuous day. When you’re trying to get over a cough, having to be out in the elements all day means you’re only going to get worth. On top of my cough, I got a runny nose from the wind and cold.

Wednesday brought partly cloudy skies, but it was still cold and very windy. I was destined to not get over my cold anytime soon. We went to an old fortress before heading into Derry. Brian gave us a tour of the city’s sites and history. That night, despite my cold, I went swimming in the hotel pool because I was not going to pass up that opportunity no matter how sick I was.

On Thursday we visited the Yeats sites in Sligo: the Yeats museum, a waterful, a “river,” and a lake. It was still cold and windy. This coupled with the fact that I was sick did not make the day any more enjoyable. We did have an amazing lunch at a café in Sligo.

(I’m sorry this entry is so brief, but we’ve been very busy and I haven’t had the time to keep up with my blog.)

I never thought I’d say that I love crowds, but being crammed in Dublin with 750,000 foreigners plus locals today was one of my favorite memories thus far. I have never been in crowds like the ones I was in today. Let me paint the picture for you: there is a parade going on, so there are people lining the streets. The sidewalks aren’t made for viewers plus pedestrian traffic. There are people in green (tourists and Irish teens) and black (locals, typically dragging along children with green, white, and orange striped faces). The crowd of people is so thick you literally cannot move. There is no turning back. Once you go into that crowd, you are not able to escape until you make it to the other side. People are pushing from all sides. You are up close and personal with people. You’re trying not to be pushy and trying not to crush the children and nice elderly women that had decided to brave the crowd as well.

So how could I possibly find this fun? I really do hate crowds--I will be the first person to say that--but today gave me a new appreciation for being in a crowd of people. First of all, it was an experience. Mary, Alix, Jordan, and I agreed that being in the crowd was exactly what we expected from our day in Dublin, and it was better and more fun than we had anticipated. Second, being in a crowd of people who are there by choice is much different than the usual type of crowd. Everyone is friendly (yeah, surprising, I know) unless they’re having a panic attack or worried about their children. Mary, Alix, Jordan, and I formed a chain to stay together in the flow (not a steady flow) of bodies. A walk that usually takes about a minute took us at least an hour. Third, we had no plan, so we were in no hurry, so we were there solely for the experience.

^ The picture does not do the crowd justice. ^

^ It was hard to get a picture of us because we were so close together. ^

We made it to the first side street in Temple Bar, and finally had a bit of fresh air. There were less people (a lot less people) on every other street. We went back over the river and stopped at H&M to kill time. (At this point we were planning on being downtown until the concert at 7:30.) We wandered around for a while, but we finally decided to go back to Greystones.

So we took the Dart back to Greystones. By the time we got to the house, we only had an hour—just enough time for a power nap. We caught the 6:30 Dart back to Dublin after getting drinks at SuperValu. We made it to the National Concert Hall without a problem. (This came as a surpise to us because we only had a general idea of how to get there.)

The concert was traditional Irish music by Sean Keane and his band. It was really good. There was even a little bit of Irish dancing for a couple songs. The best were the reels they played right before intermission.

At intermission, we learned that the show was going to go on for at least another hour and a half, which would mean we would miss the last Dart back to Greystones. Many of us decided to leave. Mary, Alix, Jordan, Elisa, and I headed to the McDonald’s on Grafton Street for Shamrock Shakes then went to the Dart station to make the 10:03 train back to Greystones.

Today was another gorgeous day in Ireland. We had nothing going on today, so I slept in. Elise, Jordan, and I grabbed blankets and laid out in the grass to soak up the Irish rays. I finished the book we’re supposed to have read for Dr. Baker on Friday. (The bio major in me won’t let me literally lay around and do nothing.) The three of us went on a walk along the coast, and Elise and I ran up to SuperValu to get some things for Lisa for dinner ronight.

The rest over the afternoon I worked on my history final essay…getting nowhere fast. It’s not due until Thursday, so I have time, but I’d like to get it done sooner rather than later.

For small group tonight we stopped at SuperValu for Diet Club and camel/chocolate digestives then spread a blanket on the beach. How many people can say, "Oh, I’m going to go have small group on the beach tonight." Okay, being from Indiana, maybe I appreciate it more than someone who lives anywhere near a coast.

OMG Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day!!

This afternoon several of us hiked Bray Head. It was a beautiful day again, so the view was amazing from the top. The gnats at the top weren't so great, though. The hike did make for a nice Sunday afternoon.

Tonight we finally watched Braveheart, which we've been planning on watching since we got here. We took an intermission for Colin's birthday cheesecake. Chris and Paul cut the cake, and this picture is just too hilarious and priceless not to post. (Hopefully the 3rd West boys don't see it because Paul might just murder me.)

Tonight was also the premiere of Ben's music video that Skala made. It had us all in tears laughing so hard. For his next movie, hopefully learns some new dance moves.

Today was the absolutely perfect Saturday. With no plans, we slept in until 10:30 then took our time getting ready. At 1:30, Jordan, Elise, Mary, Alix and I caught the DART to Malahide. It took a little over an hour to get there, but it was so worth it.

We had heard about the castle and playground at Malahide, but we had no idea how to get there from the DART station besides going to the right out of the station. Well, we ended up taking a roundabout way around a golf course to get to the castle, but it was a gorgeous day so we didn’t mind.

Malahide was just as amazing as we had been told, and we spent the entire afternoon there. I’ll let the video how you what it was like. We decided that we’ll have to go back on a day besides Saturday so that we can play on the awesome playground.

The video is of our trip to Kilmainham Gaol and our daytrip to Wexford, where we visited a museum on the 1798 Rebellion, a famine ship, and a lighthouse.

Our big event today was the booking of our spring break flights. 10 of us girls are going to Sardinia. We decided this today and booked our flights before the afternoon session of class. Talk about spur of the moment. It’s great.

Tonight a few of us went to Supervalu (I needed another phone card) then went down to the beach. Aric and Matt thought it was a good idea to go into the water—mind you it’s barely above 40 outside. The poor boys froze walking back to the house in their bare feet, but it was their own fault.

This morning we had class with Vance. Is it sad to say that I was excited to have class? Okay, I was looking forward to class except for the not-being-able-to-sleep-in bit. Anyway, we had “class” with Vance today, but it was only in the morning. Our class consisted of us updating Vance on all of our adventures thus far (because I can’t post everything that happens here on this blog simply for the fact I don’t have time to be writing non-stop nor are some my stories to tell, like Colin and the Window or Skala Goes to Terminates).

After our 10:30 tea break, we had a crash course in Irish history consisting of the Battle of the Boyne up to the Easter Rising of 1916. When I say “crash course,” I mean we were flying through history so fast that I had to resort to calling some people McDude and completely screwing up the spelling of the names I did catch as I frantically typed notes as Vance spoke.

We had lunch then headed into Dublin by bus to Kilmainham Gaol—Dublin’s old prison. If we hadn’t had our crash course in Irish history, we would have been clueless.

Caitlin and I got up at 6 and made it to the bus stop outside the Angel station by 6:40 to catch the bus to Victoria station. We took the Gatwick Express from Victoria back to Gatwick Airport.

At the airport, we discovered that British security is one of the best in the world. You do the usual scan-of-the-bags, followed by a pat down, and concluded with a separate scanning of your shoes. We got through without complications, luckily. We got breakfast, waiting for them to display our gate on the monitors. Once it was up, we booked it to the gate and made it with time to spare.

The flight back was just as short as the flight to England. We had to wait in a long line for getting back into Ireland thanks to the fact that we are not EU passport holders. Once we got to the counter, we were through in seconds. It was okay, though, because we would have to wait for our Aircoach to Greystones anyway.

We made it back to Greystones by 1:00 p.m. I didn’t even go in and say hi to the few people who had stayed for the weekend; I went straight upstairs for a shower. Elise caught me before I could get to the bathroom and gave me a huge hug. (She had stayed in Greystones, but her dad had come to visit.) I got a shower, and it was definitely in my top 5 best showers ever! I think I washed half of London off of me. I have never been happier to be clean.

It’s great to be back with everyone…well, the 17 that are here; four girls are still in Scotland. Tonight everyone was working on writing their newspaper article analyses that are due tomorrow. I did them before I left for London because I didn’t want to have to do them tonight. And I’m very glad I did.

We got up today and went straight to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard, which started at 11:30. It was definitely an experience that need not be repeated but had to be done once in a lifetime. People pressing up against you to see if you have a better view than they do…we were so ready to get out of there when it was over, but we were glad that we went.

We grabbed sandwiches at Boots Pharmacy on the way to Westminster Abbey. We ate outside the Abbey and enjoyed the still gorgeous weather.

Then we went to the British Museum. Jess and Amy wanted to stay at the museum a little longer, so Caitlin, Rachel and I went to Covent Gardens. The three of us stopped at a little place called Muffinski’s for muffins and tea in Covent Gardens. We met up with Jess and Amy back at Jess’s around 4:45. Around half five we heated up leftover spaghetti for dinner.

Tonight we went to a play called Three Days of Rain, starring James McAvoy. So yes, be jealous; I saw James McAvoy in person! From about 30 ft above, but still. The theatre was really tall and narrow, so we had to lean forward to see the entire stage, but the play was good and well worth it.

After the play, we wanted to go out for dessert, but no place was open or everything was already packed. Our alternative? Have dessert back at Jess’s. We got chocolate madelines, apples tarts, vanilla ice cream, and strawberries and made sundaes. It was great.

We went to bed around 1 because Caitlin and I had to leave by 6 and Amy and Rachel had to leave by 7, so we needed to get some sleep.

Today I got up at 3:30 in the morning (an ungodly hour, I know). I had to wake Caitlin up at 3:45 and Kelly at 4:00. When we were all ready to go, Caitlin, Kelly, Kirstin, Emily, Heidi, and I hurried—in the dark of the early morning—to catch the Aircoach outside the DART station. The bus was supposed to come at 4:30, but it was 10 minutes, so we shouldn’t have bothered rushing. We arrived at the airport about an hour and a half later. Matt, Ben, Caitlin, and I found our counter to check-in with RyanAir, while the other four girls headed to their counter for their flight to Scotland.

We left Dublin at 8 o’clock and landed in Gatwick Airport around 9. (The flight was so short that it seemed like half the flight was reaching altitude and making our decent.) The four of us took the Gatwick Express to Victoria station. From there, Caitlin and I bought our day passes for the Tube and made our way on the Tube to Caitlin’s friend from Messiah College Jess’s place between the Angel and Old Street stations on the Northern line. Jess, Amy (another girl from Messiah studying in Strasbourg), and Rachel (Amy’s friend also studying in Strasbourg) were just heading out, so Caitlin and I dropped off our stuff and joined them. The five of us stopped at the ATM then took the Tube to Notting Hill. We walked along the streets of Portobello Market, but we didn’t buy anything.

The next stop was Kensington Gardens and the Peter Pan statue. The weather could not have been more perfect; it was sunny with a few clouds in the sky, but it wasn’t hot. Perfect for pictures and trekking around the city. We enjoyed walking around the park, and if we had had more than two days to see the city, we could have spent the entire day just enjoying Kensington Gardens and the weather. However, we were crunched for time, so we kept moving.

We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant on James Street off of Oxford Street. I remembered it from when I travelled to London with my parents a few years ago. It was already three by the time we got to the restaurant, so we made it our main meal of the day. The pasta was amazing, so it was well worth the £8 for each of us.

We did a brief shopping spree of Oxford Street. It quickly ended after experiencing Primark, which, in my opinion, is very close to hell on Earth. It embodies the Western mindset. It was huge, messy, cheap, crowded, and overall horrible. The stress of going there made us all ready to give up on shopping.

We made dinner back at Jess’s place. She lived in a dorm, and each floor had a kitchen. We made spaghetti. None of us were all that hungry, so we saved the leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

At night, we took the Tube to the Thames and saw London at night. It was beautiful seeing Big Ben, the London Eye, the Tower, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge all lit up. I think it was my favorite thing of the day.

We started our day early, catching the 9:52 Commuter DART into Dublin. We had a tour of Trinity College and the Book of Kells starting at 11:00. Our tour guide, who is a philosophy professor at Trinity, was hilarious. I would tell you a couple quotes, but out of context, you just wouldn’t be able to grasp the humor.

In the afternoon, I went shopping for a few things and returned to Greystones around 4:30. The evening wasn’t terribly exciting because we have two group papers and newspaper analyses due tomorrow. Because I have those done, I’m just getting excited about London.

Today was our first glimpse at the true Ireland that we have not truly experienced in the first month we’ve been here—rain. Can you believe that we’ve only had a few days of drizzling rain since we’ve arrived in Ireland? I know, strange, huh? Well, today the Irish clouds decided to make up for the past month, and it has been pouring almost all day.

For small group, we decided to go to The Happy Pear—a coffee shop in Greystones where Damien Rice is a frequent customer, but he had the common sense not to trek there today in the rain unlike us. It was only sprinkling when we went, but it was pouring by the time we left an hour and a half later.

Today is definitely the day to stay indoors in sweatpants and a sweatshirt and slippers. I curled up in the big, comfy red chair downstairs in the house with my laptop, history book, and headphones. Yes, I actually worked on homework. For the first time, I was actually toasty warm in the chilly house, and I was pretty diligent with my school work…the only distraction being the new Fray CD that I was listening to because some of the songs I just had to stop what I was doing and just listen to the lyrics. (My favorite song is definitely “Happiness.”) Overall, I felt very productive because I’m not working on stuff that’s due this week; I’m actually working ahead. This goes along with the fact that I’m going to be out of the country for the weekend.

Tonight we had a girls’ night. We did card making with Linda, who cooks here at the Y. We were in there for over two hours, but it was so much fun.

Today was a hiking day for our Hill Climbing PHP. The first hike was up Sugarloaf. The first part was just a typical uphill trek, but the second bit was literally climbing up to the top of the mountain. The view was well worth it. It wasn’t the clearest day, but the clouds stayed at bay long enough for us to see Wicklow County all around us. We had our typical photo shoot: group shot, picture of the girls, picture of the boys, and all of our other random pictures. We laughed about how we were out of breath, but we were probably no higher in altitude than Indiana is, probably lower even. It was a fun hike, but I will say I enjoyed coming down more than climbing up. The climb down was probably more dangerous because one misstep on a lose rock could send you tumbling down. Luckily, we all made it to the top and back down without incident.

The second hike was not as exciting as scaling a mountain. For starters, it was a path for mountain biking, so the path was probably about 6 ft wide. Second, our destination was a lake, but we took a wrong turn… 40 minutes later when we reached an impassable gate, we realized we had obviously gone the wrong way. We turned around and went back to where we started, having seen nothing worthwhile besides pine trees (that are not indigenous to Ireland), the deforestation of said pine trees, and plenty of mud. The bus took us to the loch we were supposed to reach, and we stopped there to take pictures.

Back at the house, Caitlin and I looked over our maps and guidebooks, planning our weekend in London. We’re leaving Friday and coming back Sunday morning, so we have two full days to do a crash course of touring London. We probably won’t completely stick to our itinerary, but that’s half the fun.

At eight o’clock Martin Nolan came and played the Irish pipes for us. He taught us a bit about the history of the Irish pipes as well. Irish pipes are similar to the bagpipes, but instead of blowing into the instrument, there is an air pump under the right elbow and the bag under the left. I suggest googling or Wikipedia-ing Irish pipes because I’m sure my attempt at a description would not even being to do them justice.

Tonight I have papers to write for the two hikes and two papers to edit for our group site visit papers, so I best get to work on those.

Quote of the Evening:
“In order to give something away you have to own it.” –talking about a present
“Not according to Obama.” Proving yet again how anything can be made political.

It’s great to finally be done with our cooking weekend. It was fun while it lasted, but it is quite a job cooking for 25+ hungry mouths. I definitely appreciate the cooking staff here even more.