Black Monday

So it has been a while since I've written and I apologize. Classes finally started this week so it has been very hectic getting from place to place on time. Last Sunday, my friends and I woke up for a historical walking tour of Dublin. It had been sunny and 60 the whole week so I was ecstatic to walk around and see the sites. The morning brought rain, rain, and more rain as we took a two hour tour of the city I now call my home. Despite the less than desirable weather conditions, I managed to enjoy the tour in my raincoat, sweat pants, running shoes and umbrella. Note to self : tourism is much more enjoyable when in comfy clothing. The sites were gorgeous as we walked through St. Steven's Green, Trinity College, The Parliament building and various hotels and pubs along the way. I swear the more I walk around this city, the more I find it's charm undeniable. It has always been hard for me to see the light at the end of a tunnel. Especially here, when outside the cover of that tunnel it seems always be pouring rain. But Ireland as a whole has made me see rainy days in a new light. I have learned to appreciate the sun, and the days when it graces Ireland with its presence. The tour, though rainy and utterly miserable to walk in, was a great experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed my time walking for two hours surprisingly enough. I posted a few pictures on my last post, but I'll add more at the end.

With the end of that Sunday, also ended my first week in Ireland. It was now time to get serious, and for once I have to admit I was excited for classes to start. I was eager to meet people my own age and find friends from Ireland to hang out with. My weekly schedule is pretty laid back, with only a few classes each day, and large gaps in between. I came to find out that the first day of class here at UCD is called "Black Monday". Black Monday consists of and all day drinking extravaganza sponsored by the school itself. It begins in the student bar on campus, and hops to various bars, pubs, and clubs throughout the night. It's a sort of christening for the new year. I had class until 3pm Monday, but met up with my friends at the Student Bar around 4pm. The boys we have been hanging out with from Bentley College in Massachusetts had been there since 1pm. They claimed to have already seen two men fall to the ground, passed out and removed by authority. It was only going to get worse. There was no room to breathe, let alone move because of the sheer volume of people in the student bar. My feet were stuck to the floor because all the spilled beer, wine, and cocktails on the floor acted like glue to the soles of my shoes. My friends and I hung around the bar until 5:30. We didn't even attempt to get a drink because the bar was so swamped it looked like a mosh pit could burst out at any moment if you looked at someone the wrong way while trying to get a beer. At 5:30 we left, to make a group dinner and plan our nights events.
The whole campus was used as a billboard for local clubs as representatives passed out fliers with coupons, drink specials, and promotions of all kinds in every lecture hall on campus. All of us decided we were going to go to this club called D TWO in honor of Black Monday because they had the best deals. We get in line around 11pm and people just start swarming to try and get in. Soon enough we realize there is an 8 euro entrance cover and decide that this is way too much to spend to get into a club that we weren't going to be at for very long (My two friends and I set a 12:45am curfew for ourselves because we had early classes on Tuesday).
We ended up at Flanary's, a bar we had gone to earlier the past week and had a blast. One of the boys from Bentley, Leo, was dancing with this Irish man who had way too many drinks that night. Songs by U2, Whitesnake, and Journey were the cause of some terrible dancing by all parties involved. Needless to say, we did not engage in the 'black' part of Black Monday, meaning blacking out. We ended up going home at curfew and getting a good nights rest before classes on Tuesday. I hear "Black Friday", which is the last Friday of lectures before exams will be a day to remember. Hopefully.

Pictures from the walking tour...
In order : random building, Trinity building, a pub we've been to, old UCD buildings from when the school was in the center of Dublin, and the lake from St. Steven's Green.