I’ll start from where I left off and divide into sections. Or something.
OH CRAP.
Real quick, I forgot to mention that the Thursday before the conference I went to a press conference in a swanky hotel and it was amazing and I just want to work in politics for the rest of my life, k, thnx.
Anyway the outline of this post will read like this
I) Internship and class update
II) Family News
III) Everything else
I) In internship and class news, the Dail hasn’t sat for quite a while, but they had a fron bench “shake-up” Did I mention that? It was pretty cool to see, and very ceremonious, but not sure it really means anything at the end of the day. I got “pimped-out” to another TD’s assistant last week too. It was a little funny that I was borrowed like that, but I had a good time. It was with a woman I’d actually met before, her name is Sarah and she’s very cool and had just finished reading Race of a Lifetime: How Obama Won the White House (UK title) or Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. Which I had read a few things about in the Post and a couple other places, but anyway, we talked a lot about the election and about American politics and it was a great time.
I went out to the constituency with Brian last Thursday and helped him stuff leaflets into mailboxes. ! We dropped leaflets updating the constituency on the things Brian has been doing the past three or four months into their postboxes and door slots. I kept getting nervous that an angry and/or disillusioned resident would yell at me, or chase after me and tell me how horrible Brian is, or what a bunch of crooks politicians are in general, or say, “Get off my lawn!”
I have to admit I was nervous. I kept thinking, “What did I get myself into?” and I kept worriedly looking over my shoulder to brace against attack. And I was anxious the entire two and a half hours. But none of those things ever happened. One woman politely shook her head no from inside her house as she saw me coming. But that was the worst of it.
I watched Deputy Hayes talk with a few of his constituents that were walking around or doing yard work, but I didn’t listen in—even though I wanted to. I thought it might be rude if they were talking about personal issues, so I continued on.
After we finished, Brian and I meet up with assistant Brian and another guy who had also been dropping leaflets in another part of the district. Brian Dawson had “six or seven” people angrily chase after him or yell at him. So it does happen here. But I escaped it.
I had my last day, which was mostly uneventful. And this Wednesday I am meeting the two Brians for lunch.
I finished my three papers for my class, plus the journal and additional research paper. I took my three exams, totaling nine in-class essays. I feel ok about all of it, but when you’ve turned in so little to a professor, and had such limited interactions with them, it gets hard to know how things will be graded and how everything will work out in the end. I’m most nervous about history. But, ITS ALL OVER. It is officially my summer vacation.
II) The FAM. My mom and grandparents flew into Dublin on the 28th. They were here for 10 days, until the 7th. It was an adventure! And it was really great to see familiar faces, and I’ve missed my mom a lot, so that was just great too. If only she’d managed to bring my puppy… (Who, we have just determined will turn 5 this November! He’s getting so old!) Lets see… While the family units were here we went out to Galway and County Clare and saw the Cliffs of Moher. Second time a little less exciting for me, but hey, still beautiful and a great part of Ireland. We also went to Powerscourt, which is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you’re ever in Ireland. It’s a big old estate that has a couple ponds, a nice big estate-y yard, and a lot of trees and flowers. We had great weather and it was wonderful. Alison had gone about a month before the fam got here, and I saw her pictures and I thought, “we have to do that” and we did and the fam liked it as much as I thought they would. [I should for sure be a travel agent/guide] We did a hop-on hop-off bus tour; saw a few of the sights, including Book of Kells, always a favourite. Went to the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland (from like the 1700s I think, maybe even earlier). Plus, Michael Collins and the 1916 rising revolutionaries met there! We had dinner and this really cute and great show there, about fairies and folklore in Ireland. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it. Went to Easter Vigil mass, and actually, a couple others. Feigned excitement, haha. I’ve recently come to a pretty staunch stance on the church, more hard-lined that in the past, and even then, not a big fan, but I digress, that’s a different story. We also headed up to Belfast and then Giant’s Causeway, which I will put pictures up of. Absolutely wonderful, and I’ve wanted to get up there so I was happy to do it with my mom. We also took a couple strolls around the Georgian squares, which was nice. AND, of course, a tour of Parliament! I think it was a little boring sitting in the Dail—no one was yelling or interrupting or mocking—but they liked walking around, hearing about JFK and especially meeting the Brians. It was pretty sad to send them home but I think despite some crappy weather everyone was eventually happy they had come.
III) Well, on the other side of my adventures there has been a lot of stress. Especially in the past couple days. But to back it up, the last month or so has been focused on trying to find housing! Which—and it might be needless to say—is highly difficult doing from a foreign country! And another time zone. But I think there is progress being made and I’m hoping to have it done in the next week. I have also been working closely with my loving and wonderful boyfriend to plan and finalize our trip. The current plan is for me to fly to London next Saturday, the 24th, and for Joey to fly to London the same day. We’re spending two nights there, and doing some light sightseeing, depending on Joey’s jet lag. It’s a long trip from Jaipur to the airport, and then it’s a long flight. I think about 10 or 12 hours, but not completely sure. Then we’re flying to Athens Monday the 26th, where we will spend three nights. Then it’s off to Mykonos for another three, and then Santorini for three more. We’ll fly back from Athens to London on the 5th of May, and spend one more night there. Then we’re jetting home Thursday afternoon (the 6th) to Minneapolis.
However, unless you live in a cave, you have heard of Eyjafjallajoekull, the Icelandic volcano sending every European air travel plan into chaos. There are 18 other students in my programme. One, in a miracle, has gotten off of the Island on Friday. And I’m really happy she did because she had bronchitis and she’s safe at home now. There’s at least another 13 stuck and screwed over right now. Several of them just trying to get home—including two of my roommates—and the other’s post-programme trips cancelled and delayed. Alison can’t get to Rome to visit her best friend. Another couple missed their first flight to the first country on their list, which was cancelled, so they scheduled another flight tomorrow to their second country. Also cancelled. This girl was devastated when I saw her earlier. Plus, Alison’s parents are visiting, and it was hard for them to carve the time out to come in the first place. Their flight home was scheduled for tomorrow (Monday) morning, now they wont get out until Friday at the earliest. I literally feel sick about all of this. I feel awful for all these people and their plans ruined. And that isn’t the least of them. That’s 15 or 20 people I personally know, and there’s at least hundreds of thousands more who are making alternate arrangements or giving up.
No one really knows anything. Every day since Thursday there have been good signs and troublesome ones and every morning since then the news has gotten worse. I am very panicky and worried at this point. I’m trying to just breathe and take it day by day, and hope for the best.
On a lighter note because I’m doing everything I can to not think about it, I’ve had a great couple days with Alison’s parents. On Friday they invited me to come with them to County Mayo, specifically, Bahola. Alison’s father’s grandpa was born in Bahola, and they still have relatives there. And! The family cottage, in which Alison’s great-grandpa was born, is still there and has been restored. So I went with them and we drove to Mayo and we saw the cottage and we heard some stories. And it was a bit of a drive, but I had a great time and it was so cool to see that! With my Mid-European mutt status, I’m not sure I could ever find an ancestral home, but I think I’ll try. I know I have a great-aunt on my mother’s side that has done genealogy research and I know my paternal grandma knows a lot that I don’t about that side. So maybe I’ll track down my own cottage in Germany or the Czech Republic someday. Or maybe the Engelharts have one I could borrow.
Yesterday (Saturday) They invited me out with them again. (Really, so sweet of them. Great, nice people.) We went on the ‘Wild Wicklow’ tour. County Wicklow is one south of Dublin, and they have beautiful mountains. It’s also called The Garden of Ireland and Powerscourt is down in Wicklow. Lots of movies were shot there, including PS I Love You and 85% of Braveheart and Excalibur. It was great and Alison’s parents really enjoyed it. She was stressed because the scenery on the way to Mayo wasn’t very exciting and really, when your family comes to visit you on something like this, all you want is for them to have a great time and to be happy. So everything was better after seeing Wicklow, which is very “Irish”—hahaha meaning, what we as Americans, or maybe just non-Irish think of Ireland as.
And finally, to bring you up to today. Or, up to date. Or Update! Oh, I amuse myself if no one else…
Today I headed down to the Dun Laoghaire market, which had many tasty food items. I was disappointed that I couldn’t fit more in me, but my bank account and swimsuit were not. I had some spring rolls and a good portion of a friend’s green chicken curry. And an ice cream cone! I wanted a falafel and a crepe though… There were also little stands selling other things—not too many though. There was a natural foods/gluten-free booth, which my father would have loved, and a new-age, Eastern booth, a couple jewelry ones and a book one. In which I almost bought Ulysses and The Commitments—but didn’t. Instead I bought: Horrible Histories: The Cut-Throat Celts. Not sure if those books exist in the states, but Sarah, the woman I worked with that one day, recommended the series to me and said that event though they’re aimed at kids, the books are fun and interesting. So I picked it up and will flip through it and maybe see if Sean will like it.
Now I’m at home, working through the stress of the volcano and taking it easy. I planned on being around this week and just relaxing, going to see a few sights that I hadn’t and a couple of the free museums, so that’s still on the agenda. Not sure what everyone else is doing though…so we’ll see I guess. And in conclusion, if you could through a positive thought and or prayer out into the universe for everyone who needs to get home and wants to get to their vacations and trips and family, it would really mean a lot to me. I feel a bit helpless and I’ve seen some of these devastated people first hand. And that’s only a mere speck of the current situation.
I’ll keep you all updated here on my current travel situation. Thanks guys.
hang in there!
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