Before I tell you about my day, I need to tell everyone that I have officially had a true Irish experience at O’Shea’s pub last night. What’s the true Irish experience you ask? An accordion, guitar, and banjo playing traditional Irish music, while you drink Guinness, take dancing lessons from old Irishmen, and sing songs of the old country.
I had the time of my life, and the Irish people were warm and welcoming, and loved that we were visiting Dublin. Last night’s experience was something out of a movie, and I know I will never forget.
So everyone, just in case you were worried about my roommates and I, you can rest assure that we all woke up on time, and were dressed and ready for the day and down in the lobby before our professors!
So after our very accomplished morning, we walked up St. Augustine Street to a local café for breakfast with Irish Times, feature writer, Rosita Boland. We had tried to speak with Rosita previously in the year through a conference call, but you know that international reception. Let’s just say that the phone call dropped multiple times and we decided that meeting with Rosita face-to-face on her home turf was better anyway.
The acoustics of the café were terrible so listening to Rosita was a bit of a challenge. Her Irish accent and soft voice mixed with the sounds of coffee brewing, milk steaming for lattes, and clanging of spoons against the inside of a coffee cup. But once I was able to concentrate on Rosita and drown out the noise of the café, she had some interesting points about journalism.
The best piece of advice she gave us was that the best quality a journalist can possess is curiosity. I’m taking that to heart while I’m here in Ireland, and I may just let my curiosity get the best of me.
So after breakfast with Rosita, we hopped on our bus, greeted Vlad, and headed for the Embassy. After going through security, and having to prove to security I wasn’t hiding anything (I forgot I had keys in my pockets..), we walked into the Embassy. We sat in what I will call a common room, right as we walked in. Karen Mullen, the Director of Public Affairs for the Embassy, welcomed us. She spoke with us briefly about what she does, and about how lucky it is that Ambassador Rooney was there for our visit.
And then, there he was. The man of the hour (well more like 20 minutes), Mr. Ambassador Dan Rooney. He walked in with a grin, and the first thing he said was how much he felt at home because he was surrounded by Pittsburghers! After he spoke with us, Nicole and I presented him with the sweatshirts we designed for class as a gift to him and his wife. We wanted to make sure he knew how much we appreciated him taking time out of his schedule to meet us. After Ambassador Rooney left us, we spoke with Press Officer Jon Murphy, and he spoke with us about his job, and all he things that happen at the Embassy.
Fun fact for this blog, Jon Murphy, has accomplished so many things in his life, and has a prestigious job. So you think he has some years under his belt, in reference to age right? Guess his age, I bet you won’t guess it right.
If you guessed over the age of 25 years old, you are so wrong. He is only 23!
Afterwards we headed to Dublin City University again, and ate lunch on campus. A few of us decided to walk around campus to find a student store to buy some souvenirs. On the way to getting lost we found a pub. Yeah, I didn’t stutter, and actual pub inside DCU, with eight beer taps, and a full shelf of liquor. The part surrounding the bar was similar to a student lounge and many students were eating lunch while reading from their textbooks. Pretty interesting stuff if I do say so myself.
Once 2:00 p.m. hit we headed down to room 106 to listen to a lecture by Helena Sheehan about drama in television sitcoms and programs. It was interesting hearing about all the history behind it, and that soap operas get their names because their sponsors were originally soap companies. Helena Sheehan has also written books about television dramas and the history of them. What an interesting field of study.
So the plans for tonight are still undecided, but as you all know by now, just look for the first paragraph in tomorrows blog to find out where I eat and what I do tonight.
I’m looking forward to not waking up at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, but I may get up early and explore Dublin a bit. Who knows? Until tomorrow everyone, where ever you may be, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, and Good Night.
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