Longest day of my life

So it's 4 a.m., we're back from our night out and I'm still not adjusted to the time difference. Perfect time to blog.

Today started out with me getting 16 and a half hours of sleep. I went to bed at 7 p.m. and slept until 11:30 a.m. Aside from me waking up at 10 p.m., thinking it was morning and being confused beyond belief as to why it was dark out, I slept like a baby.

A bunch of us got up, I got tea, and we went to the city to get Vodaphone cell phones. We bombarded the store, cleaning them out of all the cheapest pay-as-you-go phones.

Then everyone met at the Irish Writing Center for the start of our scavenger hunt for major monuments around the city. Here's some of my group, trying to figure out the maps.

The first stop was the Garden of Remembrance, which honors fallen Irish soldiers. It was quite breathtaking, but I can imagine that it's even more so in the spring when the plants are blooming.

I think the point of the scavenger hunt was go get us lost, and therefore acquainted, with the city. We certainly did get lost as there are very few street signs and the locals weren't much help with directions. Obviously they all have a heavy accent (which I'm in love with, by the way) and their directions went along the lines of: "Take a left, then a right, then two lefts until you see a red door, then a right, then a left, then it's right there. Pretty easy to get to." Here's a collection of pictures I was able to get along the way. I admit, I don't know the significance behind all of them yet, but we were asked to find them, so I'm assuming they are important.

The entrance to Stephen's Green, a park.

This is a statue of Molly Mallone, who has a song about her selling food on the streets. I'm not sure how that gets someone a bronze statue, but I'm sure I'll find out.

We walked through Temple Bar, which is actually a section of the city. The program director says this is home to many fights as the bars close at night and a decent amount of crime. Except most of the crime is petty, like stealing money and phones. No one is allowed to carry guns here, not even the police, so most of the crime is not as serious as it is back home.

We came upon a row of statues in the city center, and I found my brother's name on one of them.

Again, I'm not really sure who Jim Larkin is (I hope none of these are common knowledge), but I just loved his statue.

And we even had a leprechaun sighting!

Right after this picture was taken, he had to answer his cell phone, which provided for an interesting picture. It just goes to show that even leprechauns aren't immune to modern technology.

After the scavenger hunt, we all went our separate ways for the evening. A bunch of us went to Dunnes Store, which is kind of like a Target, to get some towels and groceries. We also stopped for some delicious hot chocolate.

My friend Colleen and I made whole wheat pasta with red sauce for dinner. She coached me through it, but now I know how to make it. Small victories! Then we went out with I'd say about a fourth of the group to Messrs Maguire, a pub with four floors and a bar on each. I tried my first Guiness, and I don't mean to disappoint anyone, but I wasn't crazy about it. It has this hint of coffee taste, and I can't stand coffee. Maybe it's an acquired taste. We spent the night talking to Irish guys (there were many more men in this pub than women, I don't know if that's the norm) and they made fun of our accents and talked about what to do in Dublin. I may have zoned out listening to what they were actually saying as I was just focused on the accent. Sorry Corey, but unless you can pick up an Irish accent by the time I come home, we may have to reevaluate this whole relationship thing. Haha kidding! Sort of.

Then we headed out to Club Twenty One for some dancing. It was strobe light central, playing all American music (along with the rest of Dublin). It was fun, but definitely not some place I could go all the time. We took a cab home, I sat in the passenger seat, which is our driver's seat, and had mini heart attacks every time the driver took a turn and went to the opposite side of the road. It's so hard to get used to!

That seems to be all for now, and it's about 4:3o a.m. so I should probably get to bed. To end, here are a bunch of pictures I took today of the city.

First, two of the best stores I've seen. My G Superstore--Cosmetics, Afro/Caribbean & Asian Foodstore--Salon/ Braids, Dreads, Weave On-Hair Extensions, Etc.

And Booze 2 Go.

The rest are all various shots of Dublin and the River Liffey. Enjoy!