Exploring Campus

I've spent the last few days exploring the area, figuring out where my classes will be held, and buying groceries. The campus is big - significantly bigger than Tufts - but it's not unwieldy, and you can easily walk from one end to the other in twenty minutes or so. While the village that I'm in is a bit farther from the city center than I'd like (actually, the whole campus is), it's really centrally located to most of the academic buildings, which is really convenient.

The walk to the closest shopping plaza is mostly paved and is full of cars, but at one point you get a really nice view:

A group of us walked part of the river walk which borders the Shannon and ended up spending twenty minutes exploring deteriorating ruins. We have no idea how old they actually were, but it was really cool regardless.

The Living Bridge connects two parts of campus that are separated by the Shannon. It was named as such because it sways and moves as it adjusts to the conditions around it. You can't feel it when you're moving, but as soon as you stop (especially in the middle), it becomes really apparent. It was really cool, but a tiny bit creepy as well.

Eventually I'll take a picture while I'm not actually standing on the bridge because the view is quite impressive.

Grocery shopping is not so easy. For one thing, you have to be super organized and not get many perishable items because six of us - SIX! - share one mini-fridge and one mini-freezer. The second difficulty is watching so many euros being spent at once. While needing food is obviously something I have no choice about, it's hard not to think about the other things (like bus and plane tickets to really cool places) while making my purchases. Plus I still think of everything in dollars, and multiplying by 1.5 is just depressing.

I do manage to still laugh though:

The ones labeled "Irish" are usually 50 cents to one Euro more expensive.

The campus was a full estate at one point in its history, and the Stables pub I've referred to previously is named for what it once was:

The student center that the pub is part of is a complete maze, and has several courtyards, much to my dismay when I first arranged to meet someone "in the courtyard":

Tonight there's another rugby match, and then tomorrow the real work begins with the first classes!

The Rules of Rugby

Last night there was a really important rugby match being played in Limerick, so Laura (the other Tufts student at UL) and I went to the Stables, a pub on campus, to see what the fuss was all about.

We got there right at 7:30 and the place was dead quiet. We got really decent seats near the huge projection screen that had been set up and settled in. By the time the match started, the entire pub was full of people all turned towards the big screen.

An extraordinarily patient Irish student quickly called us out on having no idea what was going on. He spent the entire match answering our questions, most of which were along the lines of "What the heck just happened?" and "What was that all about?". It took me about five years to figure out how American football worked, and I have a feeling it will probably take me as long to fully understand rugby.

A summary of everything I learned during the two hour match: the ball can only be kicked or carried forward, it must be thrown backwards; tackling around the neck is a foul; the ball must be kicked out of a scrum (not touched by hands); kicking a goal gets your three points; the kicker for the Munster team (my adopted home team) is actually American; and American football players wear too much padding (according to our Irish hosts).

I knew that rugby was a rough game, but these guys made football players look like little boys tossing a ball back and forth. Some players wore a padded helmut that seemed to protect their hair more than their head, but most wore nothing except their uniform. And if you thought football stalled a lot because of tackles, then rugby is not for you: the entire game consists of kicking the ball back and forth a bit, someone catches it, everyone tackles him, the ball is gingerly extracted from the pile of bodies, that person runs about two feet, gets tackled himself, and the process starts all over again. Since it was only around 30 degrees F last night, the scrums literally steamed from the heat coming off of the players.

The atmosphere is the pub was probably the best part of the night. It was really intense, and everyone was super-focused on what was going on. There was a lot of cheering and conversation, but when one team set up to kick a goal, the entire place would go completely silent, as would the stadium. It was like watching a set point at Wimbledon quiet.

All in all, it was a really fun evening, and I'm definitely going to try to watch more. At some point several of us are going to try to get tickets to a local match, which should be really fun as well. The next sports that have to be watched at some point are Gaelic football and hurling, though I've been told that there's no way for anyone who hasn't grown up with them to ever fully understand what's going on...

Getting Oriented

Alternate title: the longest post I ever plan on writing.

I’ve been in Ireland for four days now, and what a whirlwind it’s been.

The flight to Dublin started off as more of an amusement park ride than a smooth plane ride due to some pretty rough turbulence. It didn’t last for too long though, and since it was right at the beginning, it didn’t affect much. We were met at the airport by two program staff members, who immediately illustrated the warmth and hospitality the Irish are famous for. We went right to the hotel, but had to wait quite a while to check into the rooms since it was only about eight in the morning. Most of the other students fell asleep in the lounge area, but armed with a few hours of fitful sleep from the plane and a stubborn determinacy to beat jet lag, I stayed awake the entire time.

Since it was a beautiful day, I took a walk around the block once we were able to get into our rooms. The area of Dublin we were in appeared to be mostly offices and apartments, with lots of brick and old glass work. It reminded me of a cross between Boston and London, except smaller and quieter. There was a big rugby stadium right behind the hotel, and I was able to watch a group of teenagers playing through a hole in the fence. There’s a huge rugby tournament going on in Ireland right now; apparently there’s a big game here in Limerick on Friday. I haven’t figured out all the rules yet, but it should be a good time regardless.

Note the palm trees:

Our hotel:

Monday we had orientation meetings in the morning that went over much of the same information we’ve been told for months on end now. It was a bit more bearable since it was all said in Irish accents though. In the afternoon, we went for a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. The entire complex is huge, almost appearing to overtake the city as much as its product rules the entire country. The tour was really interesting though, and ends in the Gravity Bar where you can “enjoy” a complimentary pint while admiring the panoramic view of Dublin that surrounds you. I had a Sprite.

Not to my surprise (but to my disappointment), I did not enjoy the Guinness we were able to sample earlier in the tour. Added to the fact that one pint carries enough calories to count as a small meal and you just have a losing combination. I’m sure in the coming months I’ll be able to find an acceptable substitute.

The view from the Gravity Bar:

Tuesday was more orienting, which included a cooking demonstration, a common sense talk from a Guarda (policeman), and a history lesson on Internet use in Ireland. I took away a few good recipes and not much else, though the IT talk was fun for the sheer fact that we spent most of it trying to figure out what the speaker’s point was.

A small group of us went on bus tour of Dublin that afternoon. It was fun to get an idea of the layout of the city, which is really quite small. We didn’t have enough time to get off and explore most of the stops though, and it was freezing cold, though in large part that was because we were sitting in the open top of the double decker.

The River Liffey:

Late that night another group of us went to the Temple Bar (quick distinction: Temple Bar refers to an entire section of Dublin, but is also a specific pub in that section; we were in the actual pub). We spent a long time just sitting or standing around and listening to the live music. It was definitely the most stereotypical Irish thing to possibly do, but it didn’t feel fake or touristy at all. It’s definitely something I plan on doing quite often.

Today we were bussed from Dublin to Limerick, a three-hour drive through mostly fields upon fields of grass with some cows and horses and even a donkey or two. The University of Limerick campus is almost like a little town within a town: there are stores, pubs, and cafes all over the place. The student housing is arranged into little villages with clusters of apartment-like buildings.

I have five flat mates, but I’ve only met one so far. Apparently three girls are Irish and two are Spanish. At least a few of them are studying biomedical engineering, coincidentally enough.

Tomorrow and Friday we’ll be going through the University’s orientation for foreign students. Since classes start on Monday, I’m assuming I’ll be signing up for those at some point as well. I have no idea how that is going to work, so it should be quite the adventure!

Departure!

T = 0 has arrived! Take off (assuming everything is on time) is in 8 hours. Let the adventure begin!

The Countdown Begins

One week to go.

Current weather in Limerick: 34 F and lightly snowing. Forecast for the next week: mixed precipitation. I guess I'll pack the snow boots after all.