Day Five: School? During The Summer? Unheard Of!

After four days of bumming around Ireland, all the fun just had to come crashing down with a swift dose of reality, as 25 American students were reminded why they were there in the first place. Not surprisingly, school in Ireland is a lot like school in America (especially when it’s run by an American organization). You’re still sitting in the requisite uncomfortable seat, staring at the professor in the front of the room, desperately trying to maintain your focus. It does help that the professors are all Irish, giving their lectures a bit of a twist. It does not help, however, that you’re in a foreign country that you’ve never visited, and there’s a big, wide world to explore out there, and instead you’re talking about immigration patterns from Ireland to America.

As was explained to us, Irish students don’t really do summer school, so the IADT campus was largely empty save for our program. All the classes operate out of the same small lecture hall, and the structure of classes ensures that everybody has at least one class with everybody else. The classes I chose (one on Irish film and one on the historical relationship between Ireland and America) are the first two of the day, which means I have a solid block of classes from 9:30 am to 1:45 pm. Fortunately, the campus canteen is still open, and for 5€ you can ­­­­­­­get a full on meal.

School’s early start and somewhat long day contributes completely to a pretty strong feeling of fatigue at the end of the day. The two hours between when my housemates and I return home and dinnertime is usually filled with an attempt at reading that results in a solid nap. Ireland is experiencing an unusually warm summer this year, meaning the afternoons are the perfect temperature to sap all your energy and put you in the napping mood. So nap we do, but we always seem to make sure to be awake in time for Ena’s excellent dinners.

Some members of the program had caught wind of a neat local pub known as The Graduate, and invited my housemates and me to join them. Andrew and Carolyn decided to turn in early, so Shelly and I set out with the vague instructions “It’s just up the road.” Our journey “just up the road” resulted in getting lost twice, having taken a wrong turn at two different crucial intersections. This, along with the drizzle that had unexpectedly decided to rear its ugly head 10 minutes into the journey, made for quite an adventure. We were both ecstatic that the gas station attendant we asked for directions told us we were only 5 minutes away. We arrived, damp but still cheery, an hour after we left. Thankfully, our friends were still there, and we enjoyed some quality conversation while imbibing some Irish beer (Smithwick’s for me, this time). For the return trip, Shelly and I had found a bus stop, which resulted in a 5-minute ride. Needless to say, the bus system is definitely the way to travel around Dublin’s suburbs.