St Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day.

Mary’s sister Tory came to visit, and Alison and I were talking about going to Munich for a beer fest the weekend of April 17^th, and Alison was saying, “oh I didn’t know how interested you were in going, I know you hate beer” and Tory said, “why did you come to Ireland?!”

Good question.

Lately I’ve been thinking I should have just gone to Morocco and that that would have been better, half as expensive, more academically beneficial—especially in regards to Arabic, which I so intensely want to be fluent in.

Anyway, I’m here and I try not to dwell on anything else too much. “Be here now” and “Where ever you go there you are” as the boyfriend says. :)

But I was very excited for St Patrick’s Day. From what we had heard, Tuesday night (the night of the 16^th) was the night to go out, because everyone has Wednesday off, because it’s a bank holiday, and everyone has to go back to work on the 18^th.

So we went out Tuesday Night after work. Went to a pub in City Centre near Grafton Street. Alison and I talked to lots of friendly Irish and a few Americans. We were accosted by a very sweet 30 year old Irish woman who grabbed Alison and I and another American woman in the bathroom and gave us a hug while proclaiming how much she loved it when the Yanks came to town. I loved her and Alison and I were proclaiming how much we loved the Irish. All in the Ladies room.

After our prolonged pub experience, Alison, Tory and I headed to McDonalds for some Shamrock Shakes. BEST. DECISION. EVER.

Woke up yesterday morning feeling on my B game. Alison and I headed back to City Centre to see the parade. The weather was kinda shitty yesterday, I’m jealous of Minneapolis, I heard you guys had 60 and sunshine there. We ended up being submerged in a large group of people and not really being able to see the parade. Which was pretty depressing. I was bummed. Plus, poor Alison measuring in at a big 5’1” couldn’t see a thing and was feeling smushed and claustrophobic.

Then my camera battery died. Needless to say, I was pissed and pretty depressed that I couldn’t use my camera. After that Alison and I met up with some of the other guys on our programme who were also headed to the Gaelic Athletic Association championships. So we went with them to Croke Park, but they bought tickets by themselves, so we didn’t end up sitting with them. We watched the Hurling match and then the Gaelic Football match. It was pretty cool, but by the end of it I felt exhausted. So I came home and took a nap. I then spent the rest of St Patrick’s Day in my bed. Alison and I were going to go to a small pub near us, but she decided to go to Temple Bar, which I just wasn’t up for. Plus, no one else, and I mean no one, had to go into the Dail today, except for me. And not only did I have to go in, but I had to interact with both Brians.

I feel really lame and disappointing. I think others look at my life and think I’m boring. Which I probably am. It’s hard for me not to care what other people think, but I do. But, I am happy with my life back home.

I’m just not one of those people that enjoys being out until three in the morning, and I cant function on less than eight hours of sleep very well. I feel like I don’t really fit in with the people around me.

But I’m glad I went in today and I’m glad I wasn’t trashed from last night. Besides, I still have a cover letter and four 2000 word papers to write before my mom gets here a week from Sunday.

Ultimately, I’m happy with my internship experience and I really hope I’ll be able to leverage it into jobs and more internships. But I cant help but feel like I made the wrong decision.