Dublin Days 3-4 Recaps :)

First off, I apologize for not posting yesterday. The internet in the hostel was down, and I refuse to pay however many euro to use the wifi in the internet cafes.

Secondly, to Ben, I only waited a full day because that was when the whole group planned to go. Mom and dad told me not to go off on my own. I have drank several pints for you, so do not be ashamed dear brother!

The past two days have been busy and exciting! Yesterday began with class in the church grassy courtyard. We learned about the basic differences between American and British media, and how the British perceive Americans through our Media. We moved on to PR in the courtyard of Dublin Castle, where we talked about relationship building, and the process of a good PR campaign.

After class, several of the group members set out to find our first scavenger hunt clue: The statue of Molly Malone. Molly Malone was a fish mongerer by day, and a prostitute by night. When we got to the statue, a little old Irishman sang us "Cockles and Mussles" and took pictures with us all. It was so much fun!

On of the greatest things I'm finding over here is that I have much more free time than I expected to. It's just so fantastic to stroll the streets and see all the wonderful things this wonderful city has to offer.

After an afternoon of site seeing, we took a bus out of the city to watch a rugby game we were invited to by a team of Welsh rugby players staying in our hostel. It was the first rugby match I have ever been to, and I have to say, it gave American football quite a run for its money. After the game, we stayed at what I can only call the Irish equivalent to a country club and drank and talked with the team. One of the guys described rugby as "A barbaric sport played by gentleman." It was very impressive how much sportsmanship there was involved with both teams. They were absolutely hilarious; one of the players could play the piano and knew all sorts of modern popular music. Everyone sang along and danced. It was way better than going out to a pub, and we met so many fun people!

Today we went on a bus tour of Wicklow County, which is about an hour and a half out of Dublin. The bus ride there was crazy! The roads are so tiny here, and obviously, the bus is quite large, and what with the twists and turns in the roads....I am quite amazed we made it there and back.

But, The Irish countryside is absolutely spectacular. There is so much green, rolling hills, flowers, lakes and streams, it's nearly impossible to take it all. The pictures I took really cannot do it justice. There were these little paths that looked like they were straight out of The Lord of the Rings. I half expected Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf to walk up to me at any moment and ask me to join them on some grand adventure! I wanted to just move right in to one of the little cottages on a cliff overlooking a lake. I think I'd be quite content there. It really is quite beautiful...

FYI- it may just be the internet connection at the hostel (and I'm thinking that it probably is) but I have been having MEGA issues with uploading photos to the blog as well as other sites. I am going to keep trying, and as soon as I succeed, every pic I have taken so far is going on photobucket. I'll post the link here, so be sure to be on the look out for it! I miss all of you, and I'm thinking of you all!