A Rainy Day in Dublin

Hello! Or "Dia dhuit" as you would say in Irish! (Pronounced like "dee-ah witch" as I understood it.)

We arrived safely Sunday morning and were greeted by the wonderful Danielle, who is originally from LA but has been living in Dublin and working for CIEE for several years. She accompanied us by bus to our residence complex in a neighborhood called The Liberties, close to the city center, about a 15-minute walk. The area lays outside of the old city wall that used to surround Dublin, now just marked by stones on the street and sidewalk. Those inside the city gate had to abide by Dublin City laws but those outside the gate were "at liberty" to do what they wanted, hence the name.

Between checking in, unpacking, and taking small naps we went on a short walk down Thomas Street with our Program Coordinator, Tony. He told us about the area, answered our questions, and taught us a few Irish phrases. We learned that the term "Gaelic" is the Gaelic word for "Irish," like calling "Spanish" "español" - so the language is called "Irish" if you're speaking English.

Unfortunately, it was chilly (60 degrees) and steadily raining the whole day so we didn't stay out too long which. After an early dinner of traditional Irish roast - carry-out because we are restricting our movement for the first 5 days - most of the students hung out in their apartment common areas or went to sleep since most of us were feeling pretty knackered - Irish slang for "tired"

We have such a wonderful group who were remarkably engaged considering the jet lag yesterday. I look forward to updating you more about our activities and excursions and I will try to recruit some of our students to guest blog since their perspectives are much more interesting than mine.

All the best,

Julianne