Student Bloggers

January 5th, 2015: Jet lag was catching up to me by this morning and I barely had an appetite. The hotel served the Arcadia students traditional Irish food, which I would have loved to try, but I just couldn’t stomach it. Black and white pudding didn’t seem appealing to me, and I’m not sure it would even if I did have an appetite. My hotel roommate did give it a try, but after one bite she put it back on her plate. I think that explains how it tasted.

We had another busy day of orientation and I was eager to get to Galway. I could not wait to start my new life and routine in the city I’ll take residency for the next few months. But first, I had to complete orientation.

The group met at the Wood Quay room near the hotel to listen to presentations on academics, Irish culture, and information we needed to know for the semester. A slew of more presentations followed lunch until the group was escorted down the street to a bus taking us to play Gaelic games. I am not sporty in the slightest sense of the word and would rather not play any kind of sport involving a ball. But instead of dwelling on the negatives, I decided to use this as a unique learning experience.

We arrived at the sports center and were guided into a room where the owners explained hurling and showed us videos of how the game was played. Soon after, we were divided into three groups to play each different game: handball, Gaelic futbol, and hurling. Handball was my group’s first activity and as I assumed, I dreadfully failed. The point of the game was to hit the small ball with your had against a ball, for practice, and then to a partner and see how long the ball could stay in play. You can probably guess how long my ball kept bouncing… It was so funny to me that I laughed the entire time at how ridiculous I felt and probably looked.

After our practice with handball, my group walked to the outside field to learn about Gaelic futbol. Not only could I not hit a ball with my hand, but I definitely could not kick a ball with my foot! When we all were gathered in the center of the field, the intense coach explained the game, which related a lot to American soccer, and then gave us each a ball to practice with. The most difficult move was the “solo”, where we had to bend forward towards the ball sitting on the ground, put our hands in front of the ball, and kick it into our hands. I failed epically at this move, but I got a good laugh out of it.

After practicing kicks, tosses to partners, and some more solos, we were thrown together to play a game. I must have not been paying much attention, because next thing I knew people were running on opposite sides of the field and I was running around the center having no idea what to do. Apparently I was a forward, which who knows what that means, and I basically just ran back and forth until the practice game was over. Laughing as I walked off the field at my lack of sports knowledge, I followed my group to hurling.

Two coaches pointed out the hurling masks, hurleys and the sticks used to hit the ball. I looked forward to this game since it seemed to require more balance and coordination than the others. Thanks to my horseback riding experience, I was pretty sure I could handle coordination and balance. We all gathered in around a circle to listen to the coaches instructions on how to play the game. To play hurling, you have to punt the tiny ball off the ground and onto the stick, holding it steadily so it won’t fall off. Then you can bounce the ball, hoping it won’t roll onto the ground. It was harder than it seemed, but I felt that I played this Gaelic sport the best. With little time to learn the complicated game, my group ended with a fun practice between partners. After an hour and a half, the games came to an end and we all gathered back in the group room to hand in our gear before returning to the bus. Though I originally dreaded the idea of playing sports, I am glad I got to try and experience the Gaelic sports of Ireland.

During the drive back to the hotel, I noticed how tired I was due to the dark skies of Dublin. It was not raining, but the grey clouds constantly hovered above the city creating the illusion that precipitation could fall at any moment. The weather was definitely going to take some adjustment over the next few weeks.

After a quick bus ride, we soon arrived at the hotel where we cleaned up for dinner, which was in an hour. Tonight, Arcadia was taking the group to the Brazen Head, Dublin’s oldest pub created in the 1100s.

We all took an hour to get ready, then walked to the restaurant. Inside, we walked up the steps and where the Cork and Galway students were divided into separate dining rooms. The room was beautifully and traditionally set, covered with white table clothes, and supported a full table setting for each place. After we ordered from the gourmet menu, an enthusiastic black haired woman in a flowing maroon and black accented dress greeted our group. She introduced herself and explained that she would be telling folklore stories tonight throughout our meal. When we were told about the storytelling dinner, I felt that it would be childish, but it turned out to be nothing of the sort. The food was wonderful and the storytelling was visual, intriguing, and gave me insight into the history of the Irish.

During our dinner course, two older men came into the room with a guitar and accordion to play us traditional music during our meal. They played “Whisky in the Jar”, “Wild Rover”, and then “Finnigan’s Wake.” I laughed and sang along when they taught the whole group the clapping to “Finnigan’s Wake”. We were all rolling in laughter as we all anticipated the clapping part of the song. The night ended several hours later on a great note, but I could not wait until tomorrow. By tomorrow afternoon, I will be in Galway!