Music and good beer:

By far, the best part of coming to Ireland is the music. There are so many talented musicians over here, and the traditional music is intoxicated. Last night a group of us students listened to a great fiddle/guitar duo at a local pub and it definitely became a highlight of my time in Dublin. My friend Allison and I also spent a bit of time in the Temple Bar, one of the older pubs in Dublin, and we enjoyed our first half-pints of Guinness while listened to an Irish Rock band. I had my first whole pint of Guinness at the Brewery this afternoon in their "Gravity Bar" which is perched on top of the Storehouse of the Guinness Brewery.
If anyone is planning on coming over to Ireland, come for music, and plan on being out late to get the full advantage of the jam sessions that occur with local musicians in the less-touristy pubs... it's amazing. I was kicking myself the other night, wishing that I knew how to play the fiddle, the fiddle players over here are incredible.
We're off to the west tomorrow to see some beautiful country, then up to Belfast...
Learning tons about Irish history, it's very complex, but very intersting.
More soon, Cheers.

Dublin: Back in the Emerald Isle

Quite a different experience being in the city rather than the Irish country-side. I'd have to say I prefer the villages and towns to the cities of Ireland. But it's still Ireland, which means there's lots of pubs, street musicians, drunk Hen-Parties (what they call bachalorette parties), a slight haze of cigarette smoke coming from the majority of the local young adults, and did I mention great music! That's definitely a good reason to come over to Ireland: the music. Even the bands on the street at night are pretty good. Our group is staying in a hostel that is literally right next door to one of the most famous pubs in Dublin... and you can guess what that means: the lullaby of cheers, loud music, drunken yells and smashing bottles... not quite as romantic as one would hope, but somehow the dull roar of voices on the street lulled me to sleep... or else I was just exhausted.
I'm definitely hitting the "I wouldn't mind heading home now" stage. Like I said, I'm getting tired of living out of a backpack and wearing dirty t-shirts. In fact, last night, my friend Devin and I tried to go out for a bit and scout out some good pubs near our hostel. Instead, we got rejected from one because we weren't dressed nice enough! The bouncer was only letting in women that were wearing short, revealing dresses... not us Americans in jeans. We also ran into a bunch of pubs that were 21 and over, which was weird, because the drinking age in 18. Some pubs just don't want young adults destroying the atmosphere of their bar. We did go to one bar, but there was no live music... so we left, kind of bummed out about the result of our Saturday night. Next time we want to listen to live music in Dublin, we apparently need to wear dresses and high-heels.
We spend a couple more days here and then go over to the west coast, which will be wonderful!
More later...
Giselle

Preparing to go back over to Ireland.

Our group is headed over to Dublin tomorrow, so today is a free-day filled with laundry runs, post-office visits and re-packing. I have to say that I'm getting tired of re-packing my backpack all the time. It would be nice if I could just snap my figures and all the clothes that exploded out into the room would magically fold themselves and nicely configure themselves in my small pack. This morning I slept in, which was wonderful in itself, then ate some breakfast and took a long shower (knowing that there probably won't be many clean/good showers in the near future). We heard rumors that the Dublin and Belfast hostels are not clean, so many people are buying cheap Duvet covers to sleep in over there. I thankfully brought a sheet-liner that Grandma Maureen made (Thanks Grandma!), so I'll be safe from the gross beds. I'm sure I'll be writing about those hostels soon.

This week has been packed with tons of cool learning experiences. Our group went to the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Winston Churchill museum, the Imperial War Museum, the U.S. Embassy (interview with ambassadors), interview with several members of Parliament at their offices, and the tower of London. So I've been overloading with information about the UK government and UK-US relations. Good stuff!

I posted a bunch of photos on facebook, so if you have access to that you can see them. Otherwise, I will post a couple more on this page.
I miss everyone very much, Lots of love, Giselle.

War and Conflict... Politics in Britain

This afternoon I sat in the Imperial War Museum in London, after spending almost 2 hours making my way through the incredible Holocaust Exhibit they hold on two of their floors. While I've read of events, seen small images, and learned a little of the second World War, the amount of video footage, text, and images supplied in the Holocaust Exhibit at the Museum was shocking. After spending the entire day exploring the Winston Churchill Museum and the Imperial War Museum, I can truthfully say that there is so much that I don't know about the wars and conflict in the last century. There's so much that I don't know about the issues that contribute to the conflicts of today. So much terror, sadness, insecurity and destruction that I'm unaware of.
Also in the Imperial War Museum I saw a film on Genocide in the 20th century called 'Crimes of Humanity', with images that no human being can watch without feeling disturbed, uncomfortable, sorrowful and not being able to understand how such violence can occur. The film went into the questions of how genocide comes about and what are the patterns that have occurred in the last century to create so much violence and suffering. It's sickening and frustrating that I am happily traveling, supplied with food, shelter, comfort and security. It's also difficult to understand where God is in those places. Of course, that's the question everyone asks... where is God in all of this? It's a question that I imagine those who are under the threat of genocide ask as well. So much death, so many people who were mesmerized into thinking that violence was essential, and so many stories. The Holocaust Exhibit was full of stories... ones that were incredibly hard to believe, but true. I am amazed at how blessed I am with my family, friends, freedom to worship, freedom to live.

So after spending some nauseous minutes in the Imperial War Museum restroom following the Holocaust Exhibit (they had to give a warning at the entrance that children under 14 were not allowed because of the film and photographs), I was able to go have dinner and debrief with several friends about what we experienced in the museum. When we go over to Ireland on Saturday with the group we will be diving in the Northern Ireland Conflict, which should definitely open our eyes to more of the recent events in history that us Americans know so little of.

On a positive note, I did write a poem last night... so here it is:

Irish Mist.

None rise as early as the mist.
a blanket that embraces
the green hills.
Filling the twists and curves of each road
leading into one another.
A silent town enclosed in a cloud.
Its floating water enhancing
the color of the fields.
None rise as early as the mist
but the mist does rise,
and the town does wake.
Leaving the the air crisp,
the mist retreats,
allowing a new day to begin.

Misty mornings...

If I could take one thing back with me from this semester abroad, it would be the Irish mornings. The early mornings are cool, misty and the ground is covered in rain from the light drizzle the night before. Most shops don't open until 10 am, leaving plenty of time for morning tea, breakfast and soaking in the real Ireland before it wakes up. This morning mom and I woke up to low clouds out our window (we've been blessed with great sunny weather most of this week, so it was a little surprise to see the clouds). We had tea in the room and a nice breakfast at our B&B. I then packed all of the laundry that needed to be done into my backpack and began the trek down into Dingle. The road was quiet and a light mist fell. The night of rain seemed to intensify the green hills that I could see full well from the hill above the town centre. I walked along the rock wall that lined the road trying to breathe in as much Irish air as my lungs could hold. Half way down I was started by a group of four cows resting their heads on the rock wall above me, intrigued by this new-comer that was out before everyone else. I continued my journey down the hill and into the housing along main street. I saw a man drive up and park along the left side of the road to briefly drop off some package at a shop across the street. His son it seemed, stayed in his car seat patiently, and waved at me when I walked past-- his little 2-year-old wave. His "goodmorning" made me smile and melted my heart. When I reached town, only several shops had been opened, and Dingle was still relatively silent. I loved it. I soaked it in as much as possible before the hustle and bustle of tourists and locals began.

That is what I wish to take with me. Those misty mornings on the small country roads. I will definitely be back here again, sooner than later hopefully.

Mom and I are leaving Dingle tomorrow and going to Kinsale for one night, then flying out of Cork on Sunday to head back to London. It'll be quite the switch to get back into 'Londoner' mode, but I'll manage. I also haven't completed all the work for this upcoming class (UK Politics), so I'll need to get into homework mode as well.
Love... Giselle

Beautiful Southwest Ireland

I'm writing from a computer in an Internet cafe in Dingle, Ireland. Mom and I have been in Ireland for three full days now. Our first couple nights were in gorgeous Kenmare, which I absolutely loved. We took an amazing walk through the hills above Kenmare and along the Kerry way trail back down into the town center. I would love to come back to this area of Ireland again and backpack from town to town on these beautiful trails. The hills are green, the mornings are cool, there are tons of pubs all sporting the Guinness logo, and lots and lots of sheep! We lucked out weather wise and there has been sun almost everyday we've been on this gorgeous island, and supposedly the nice weather is going to continue.
Our B&B in Dingle has an incredible view of the Bay and the green hills beyond. We're a little walk out of the town center, but it's worth it for the view you get coming back down the hill into the town. Dingle is a little more "touristy" compared to Kenmare, but it has some great little shops, and it's definitely a fishing town which is always fun. Tomorrow mom and I are going to rent bikes hopefully and explore a little more of the area around the Dingle Peninsula, which should be lovely.
Love you all--- more soon from the Emerald Isle!

Shakespeare, Spamalot and Mom

The last week has flown by since the our group arrived in London once again. This time we were much more comfortable exploring and getting around town, which made the experience so much better! I just love all the little areas, wonderful restaurants and incredible theatre. As revealed in the title, I went to see Spamalot (for those who do not know, it's a crazy musical based off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Also, our class spent an entire day at the Globe theatre for a tour, an acting class and a show. The acting class was awesome-- taught by one of the company actors. He asked for several volunteers to read a couple different scenes, and my friend Kelly and I got to perform the scene from Romeo and Juliet when they first meet. The teacher coached us a bit and then used us as an example of what a real rehearsal would look like... etc. In the afternoon we saw Merry Wives of Windsor, which was excellent. At the end of the day all I could think was how much I would love to be in another Shakespeare show! I also went to the Globe the next afternoon and saw Midsummer Night's Dream... once again, very good. The very last night of our Arts in Culture course, our whole class had a fancy dinner and attended 'The War Horse' at the National Theatre, then walked back to our hotel together. It was a great way to end the three-week course and say good-bye to everyone before we left for our fall break.

In a short concluding sentence: London is wonderful, and I love it.

So now, it is officially fall break, our group has parted ways for a bit and my mother is here with me!! We're spending several days in London together before heading over to the south of Ireland for the week. I'm not sure what kind of internet opportunities I will have over there, but I will do my best to keep up my blog. It will be a wonderful and relaxing week of B&B's, green hills, reading and sketching.
More to follow...
Lots of love!

Cardiff, one of my favorite evenings...

So currently, I'm in London again. There was a mutual relief from the group when coming back to a city that we were somewhat familiar with. It gets slightly exhausting moving from new place to new place. You can imagine our group of tired, dirty, college-aged American backpackers strolling out of King's Cross station, smiles on our faces because of the recognizable city features. We're staying at the same St. Athan's Hotel (has it's positives and negatives), but overall we looked forward towards clean towels, nicer showers and breakfast that wasn't just toast!!

Between our stay in Aberystwyth and London we made a short stop in Cardiff, Wales. Unfortunately, if you've been in tune to any British news, you would know that Wales and most of Britain is experiencing extreme amounts of rain, causing flooding in citys... such as Cardiff. There was so much rain and wind, it really was difficult to motivate ourselves to leave our little backpackers hostel. But one of the evenings in Cardiff the rain let up and we actually experienced some sun right, which felt wonderful after our week of rain prior. After dinner I went up to the roof of our hostel to have some alone time, just to think and pray, and when I got up to the terrace I found one of my Whitworth friends, Kelly, had the same idea. The hostel terrace had a large hammock that was strung across a corner of the roof, so I sat down in it and listened to Kelly play the guitar he had picked up from the front desk. It was the perfect temperature, and oddly quiet, even though we were close to the city center. Kelly sat on a wooden picnic table while I sat back in the hammock and began to hum along. The song attracted our friend Nick who climbed the stairs up to the terrace and sat along side Kelly. We all traded the guitar around for a while, sharing songs and laughing about experiences that we're had in the last month. Kelly ended up leaving and giving the guitar to Nick, who began to play beautifully. I lay in the hammock curled up while Nick pushed the hammock so that I would rock back and forth. I was so full of peace up in that hammock. It was the first time I felt that I could really relax since we had arrived a month ago in London. A couple other guys from our group ended up sitting on the terrace with us, talking and singing. I asked my friend Jordan to play anything... and amazingly he began to play one of my favorite songs perfectly. He played "Lighthouse" by Nickel Creek, and he and I sang through the entire song in perfect blended harmony. It was amazing... I wish I could go back to that moment when we sang, as I swayed in the hammock (Nick still continuing to push me everytime it came close enough to him) and several other guys listening in to Jordan and I sing verse after verse of beautiful bluegrass. Such a pure moment, and an evening that will always stick out as one of the best evenings I've experienced on this trip.

Aberystwyth, Wales:

We arrived in on Welsh soil three days ago, and while it looks very similar to the rest of Britain's vibrant green hills, it has a wonderfully rich culture that makes Wales very unique. Aberystwyth is a gorgeous little town on the coast of the Irish Sea, surrounded by tall green hills and the beautiful shoreline. All of the buildings and houses are pretty pastel colors and make up a perfect little beach town. Most of the residents speak Welsh in general conversation, but they all know how to speak English, and do so when people like myself ask for directions or try and communicate. The first day we arrived in Aberystwyth the weather was sunny and beautiful, perfect for our hike along the rocky shore over to a neighbor beach village. I took tons of pictures, and unfortunately ended up slipping and falling into a tide pool. Everyone said it was a very graceful fall and looked more like a plee-ay (I have no idea how to spell that) or some ballet move, but I still got soaked. I saved my camera, but not my self of course! I laughed it off and had to deal with soaking wet jeans for the rest of the hike.

We spend another two fulls days in 'Aber' as the locals call it, and I'm so pleased. Although, I am excited to get back to London, which will be quite familiar and relaxing in that aspect. Can't wait to see some more shows and spend some more time in the National Gallery. For now, I will rest and relax! We're staying in campus housing at the University of Wales... which seems like luxury compared to our hostel in Edinburgh!! We all get single rooms with our own sinks (amazing!) and we have high-pressured, warm showers... I never thought I would appreciate such a wonderful shower so much.

I'm having a spell of homesickness right now... or rather whitworth-sickness, because all of my good friends are returning to Whitworth and I'm not! It's been really hard not being there, but I will see them in the spring... and it will come fast. So for those of you at whitworth, give everyone my love, I miss you all very much.

Sending you all my love from Wales--
Giselle