We got lucky, and this week was so warm! The hottest it got was only eighty degrees, but I was honestly dying. Over the last month and a half, I have become so acclimated to it being consistently overcast and rainy that even the slightest hint of sun feels scorching. This is a bit alarming considering it’s been ninety plus degrees in Pittsburgh every day; I may be in for a difficult adjustment when I get home.
On Monday, my roommates and I went to Mother Reilly’s after work. I don’t know that I’ve written about Mother Reilly’s at all yet, which is truly doing the place such a disservice, considering my roommates and I have been going there since the week we got here. Mother Reilly’s is a pub in Milltown, which is a pretty quick bus ride away from campus, so it’s much more convenient to get to than city center. They play live music every night of the week, and that is why we love it so much. We have gotten to hear some really cool bands play, like The Lines, whom I now listen to on Spotify all the time. Pub culture is a major part of the social scene here in Dublin, and I totally understand why. It truly doesn’t get much better than sitting with your friends, listening to Irish music, and drinking a pint of Orchard Thieves. Here’s a little Mother Reilly’s collage to commemorate.
After finishing up work on Tuesday, I went into city center and got summer rolls, which I have been craving, and then sat in St. Stephen’s Green for a few hours. I love how much green space there is in the city, and I especially appreciate it when it’s warm out. It’s so peaceful to spend the afternoon outside just reading, listening to music, or chatting with friends.
Wednesday and Thursday, I spent my work days drafting a Brainstorm article for RTÉ. This is what I’ll be working on until my internship finishes up! It’s been really fun to get to have my own project, and it’s a nice feeling to be trusted with something so tangible. The only challenge I’ve faced while writing this article has been navigating the relatively vague set of instructions I received, though this does epitomize well the difference in communication style here in Ireland. I’ve written about this already, but throughout my time in Dublin, I’ve experienced a predominantly high-context style of communication. This varies significantly from roles I’ve had in the United States, and specifically from internship roles I’ve had, in which every set of instructions is typically delivered in a detail-oriented manner. In the context of the RTÉ article, I was told to write a piece about pet therapy as a form of animal assisted intervention, but wasn’t given further detail on what research should be included, what the aims of the article should be, etc. It’s, on one hand, fun to have so much autonomy over the article, but on the other hand, it can be difficult to assess whether or not I’m meeting the right goals. I haven’t run into any miscommunications necessarily, but every time that I meet with my supervisor to discuss the piece, she usually gives me more information and expands on her expectations for the content of the article. This means having to consistently go back and revise or add information to the article. This isn’t necessarily an atypical writing process, however, I’m not used to completing journalistic pieces that don’t have a clear purpose, so this has been a bit of a learning curve for me. Regarding the hybrid work environment, I haven’t found that being at home has significantly hindered my ability to communicate with my supervisor at all. Of course, being in person I may get a response slightly faster, but considering my supervisor works in academia, her schedule is very busy and often changing, meaning it’s really no easier to get in touch with her in person versus online.
After work on Thursday, I had a really fun night! I went to CN Dumplings with Kendall and her friend Kyra, who was visiting Dublin for the week. CN Dumplings is my favorite restaurant that I have gone to here, and my roommates and I have gone several times now. After dinner, the three of us headed over to The Craic Den Comedy Club for a show! This was SO MUCH fun! I personally love stand-up comedy, but I have never been to a comedy club, so this was a new and exciting thing to do. The lineup was Ian Coppinger, Eleanor Morton, Adam Byrne, and Dave Hughes. Ian’s act was probably my favorite, but they were all really great! Apparently, Dave Hughes is actually quite famous in Australia, and there were several audience members that had come just to see him, so that was an unexpected surprise of the night.
It is so much fun to discover new places in Dublin every week, like The Craic Den, but it has also been a lot of fun to discover places we loved early on and make a routine of going back to them each week, like Mother Reilly’s and CN Dumplings. It’s made Dublin feel like a sort of home away from home to have these places that feel like they’re ours.
On Friday, the UV was high and the heat was at peak temperature for the week. Kendall, Kyra, and I went to the Forty Foot in Dún Laoighre to go swimming! This is a swimming spot I’d been wanting to try out at least once before going home, so it gave me something to look forward to all week. The highlight of the Forty Foot was the mini rock cliffs that you could jump off of into the ocean. SO MUCH FUN! I even got a bit of a tan (sunburn), which I didn’t think would be possible while I was here.
Then, on Saturday, I headed into city center and walked around all afternoon getting some last minute gifts and just enjoying Dublin!
I ended the week with a quick day trip to Belfast on Sunday. We foolishly almost planned our Northern Ireland trip for July 12th and 13th, and thank goodness we didn’t. Apparently, July 12th is the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, a significant event in regards to the construction of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and a day on which British-identifying citizens tend to show their angered remembrance by setting off car bombs and generally causing mass destruction throughout Belfast city. Everything was completely fine during our day on Sunday, but we couldn’t help but take note of how quiet and empty the streets were for such a warm weekend afternoon.
The Troubles is a topic I’ve been interested in for a while now, so I was honestly really looking forward to getting to go to Belfast and see firsthand where the conflict started. Kendall and I went on black taxi tour around the city, which was a major bucket list item for me. The driver guided us around the city to significant landmarks related to The Troubles. I learned so much, it was so interesting, and just generally surreal to see so much of what I’ve learned about up close. Particularly, it was astonishing to see the differences between the British and Irish sides of the city. I’ve of course heard about the divide, but it’s nothing like seeing it up close. The amount of propaganda on the British side of the wall was ridiculous. On the flip side, the artwork on the Irish side of the wall was so empowering, it was honestly beautiful to see.
After the taxi tour, we went to the Crumlin Road Gaol museum and the Titanic museum. The Titanic museum was incredible, and honestly, my favorite museum I’ve ever been to. It was insanely sad, which was expected, but also just so beautifully set up and so immersive, I loved it.
Now I start my last week in Dublin! I’m feeling so grateful for all of the experiences I’ve had up until this point, and can’t wait for this last week.