Tuesday September 18
I flew from Kansas City to Atlanta and met up with the group in Atlanta. We had to change gates but we made it to our flight to Dublin. I was already exhausted by the time it started. They gave us dinner and some snacks throughout, as well as showing “Georgia Rule.” I was hoping that because I couldn’t hear very well the movie was actually not as ridiculous as it appeared, but I fear that I was wrong. Don’t go see it. I then slept off and on until the flight attendant woke us by turning on all the lights. It was still 3:15 our time!
We landed in Dublin and got our luggage, which thankfully all arrived. We then headed outside to our coach (it’s a bus, but you’re not supposed to call them that here, or they get offended). We kept the bag for Ireland and sent the other suitcase to England in a different van.
We then drove to Trinity College, which is the University of Dublin, where we stayed for two nights. The rooms are fairly big and mine was a suite with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. The bathroom is down the hall. That day we looked at The Book of Kells and then went on a walking tour of Dublin. We saw the Dublin Castle and took some pictures there. The tour was kind of ended by the rain, and was sort of disappointing because Dr. Tullos was leading it, but it was hard to hear him. Of course, once we started walking back to campus, it stopped raining.
I went back to the room and tried to sleep a bit because I was jet lagging really bad, but I couldn’t really sleep.
Later that night a group of us went to a few pubs. The first one had live traditional Irish music, and two people were teaching us some songs. However, they were doing a tour and only stayed at that pub for about 10 minutes. They left to go to another pub, but we did not want to pay to follow and hear more. So went to another pub to watch some rugby and soccer. Chris took us to an internet cafe and we went to a grocery store and some shops and headed back to campus to get some sleep.
It was nice to take a shower. However, when I tried to dry my hair, I think it might have fried the hairdryer, because apparently the converter my parents bought only works for 220-240 volt items. So I guess I’ll be looking for more converters sometime. And possibly a new hairdryer.
So since my hair was wet, I was freezing and could not get warm. I barely slept at all and it was pretty miserable. I woke up every hour hoping that it was 6:30, but since the first time it was only 11:30, I knew it was going to be a long night.

Thursday September 20
I got up exhausted and headed to breakfast, but I wasn’t very hungry since it was only 7:30. We then took a 3 ½ coach ride to Waterford to the factory where they make Waterford Crystal. It was really interesting to watch the crystal being made and hear about the process. The pieces were gorgeous, but also very expensive, and I wasn’t sure what I or anyone in my family would actually use them for, so I didn’t buy any.
We then go back on the coach for another couple of hours to drive to Glendalough to see where the ruins of old monasteries and graveyards are. All of the cravings in the crosses were very neat and our tour guide was very informative. We then drove back to Dublin to finally eat dinner around 7:30. Courtney and I ate at Abrakebra, which is kind of like an Irish Subway/McDonalds. Then we toured some more shops and headed back to campus for the night.
It is interesting that lots of stores in Ireland have a police man standing guard inside at all times.
It is also strange to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road and knowing which way to look when crossing the street. Thankfully, sometimes it is painted to say ‘look left.’

Here are some pictures of Dublin: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053123&l=3f857&id=71005171

Pictures from Waterford: http://harding.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053126&l=84278&id=71005171

Pictures from Glendalough: http://harding.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053127&l=1a5bd&id=71005171