Monday: I took the day tour of the National Leprechaun Museum. The name is a bit misleading — the museum is focused on Irish folklore and storytelling. Although I did learn a decent bit about the history of the leprechaun, the creature is not a major player in Irish lore. Faeries are the stars of the show. After, I went to Bambino’s pizza, which attempts to bring New York-style pizza to Dublin. It was tasty, but was not out of this world.
Tuesday: After work, I didn’t have much energy to do anything on my list. I went to bed at 9pm on Tuesday, and it was incredible.
Wednesday: The well-rested tranquility from my 10 hours of sleep was completely ruined by the huge spider that was waiting for me on my shower mat. I was an hour late to work that day because I was too afraid to take a bath. Anyways, that evening, I went to the Abbey Theatre to watch a production of The Whitehaired Boy. Seeing an Irish play was an early entry on my Must-Do List. The Whitehaired Boy is an early 20th century farce about a family who has put their whole lives on hold to ensure the success of their youngest boy-genius son. I highly recommend it, and I enjoyed myself, even though I did not catch all of the dialogue. The actor playing the mom had a particularly strong accent. Luckily, her physical comedy helped bridge the gap for me to understand the scene.
Thursday: I went back to the National Leprechaun Museum on Thursday evening to hear their Darkland tour. The stories told during this visit were the darker, more intense, and tragic stories of Irish folklore. Whereas Monday’s tour featured a lighthearted story of faeries kidnapping a woman, making her mute and deaf, and convincing her family that she was dead, Thursday featured a story of…faeries kidnapping babies. Fairies do a lot of kidnapping. And you may be wondering why the woman’s abduction was deemed suitable for the regular tour. Easy — she gets returned in the end. The baby does not.
I love folklore because it tells you a lot about what a culture reveres, fears, and its morals. I asked the docents why fairies are always kidnapping babies, and learned that these stories were how parents coped with the loss of sick children. I’ll be honest: I am not entirely sure what my takeaways from Gaelic culture are after some of the other stories. I have definitely found a new interest, though.
Friday: I usually work from home on Fridays, but I went in to watch a performance in Axis’ theatre. One of the perks of my role is that I can sit in on any of the shows. This one, Boss Rob, is aimed at children, but I think the adult chaperones were laughing louder than the kids were. One thing I noticed, with both this show and The Whitehaired Boy, is Irish humor is based in observation. The kids in the audience were being taught to notice what was unsaid. I remember the PSA-style assemblies from elementary school, which were much more obvious in stating a situation or personality. I liked that, at least for these performers, they did not underestimate kids’ ability to understand complex situations.
Friday evening, I attended a birthday dinner for a new friend. Then, early Saturday morning, I took a bus tour to Cliffs of Moher, Ennis, and Limerick. Unfortunately, I planned this trip on the one low visibility Saturday of my entire trip, so I didn’t get to see the actual Cliffs. Are the Cliffs even there? Who’s to say.
On Sunday, my friends and I went to the Limerick v Clare hurling match. I decided to support Limerick based on 1. the fact I was there the day before; 2. Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries hails from Limerick; and 3. none of the blue and yellow clothing was clean. It really looked like Clare was going to win, but Limerick didn’t give up, and eked out a win in the last few minutes! The fans were electric. The stadium played “Dreams” to celebrate. It was a great day to be a Limerick fan. Green and white all the way, baby!
Somehow, I’ve been able to have all of these amazing experiences, while simultaneously working a typical workday. Back home, I work as an Assistant Office Manager, which puts me in a leadership position, especially within the admin side. Truthfully, I think my leadership style is through setting a standard for the quality of work expected, and offering assistance to my coworkers. I also encourage my coworkers to advocate for themselves, and make sure to look out for the staff. Here in Ireland, I am learning that leaders encourage coworkers to prioritize health and a healthy work-life balance. My boss also likes to check in with everyone, and keep constant communication. Last week, we discussed balancing my tasks with what they need help with, and what I’d like to learn this summer. I mentioned that I wanted to shadow the tech manager during a show, and she told me to email him that moment and follow up on this request. Now, I’m scheduled to shadow him for the upcoming theatre program. This experience reminded me to prioritize my interests and professional development. At my regular job, there are areas that I’d like to improve in, and I will definitely follow up with my bosses to ensure that I get those opportunities.
Alright — signing off. Until next week. Dolores Forever.