So I got my PPS number and everything is good. I can open a bank account with this as well, which I have applied to do.
The lovely Muireann came back to Dublin this week. We went out for coffee on Thursday. She showed me nice little shops and neat little places around downtown. It was really nice to see a familiar face. I guess she is here working on getting certification to work as a teacher in Ireland and looking for a teaching job at the same time. I broke my self imposed rule and shopped a little in one of the vintage shops I found. I really need to get a job.
The same day I met Mur for coffee I got a call from the temp agency. They wanted me to interview for a position of a “temporary office junior” for the University of Notre Dame. The reason she thought of me for the position is because the University was specifically requesting fairly recent graduates for the job as opposed to people with loads of office experience. I went in for the interview. It was a little intimidating because the location is in this row of buildings (much like a picture I posted in the first entry, actually) and it is an extremely old building. I had to ring the bell to get in and I was left sitting in a room for a while before they came to interview me. But I felt it went well. The woman who was mainly doing the interview was actually from Toronto and had alot of questions for me regarding the SWAP program and my plans to work and travel my way around. She also said she was very interested to learn more about my experiences in Quebec as well. The tasks involved seem to be a mishmash of everything from door security to telling students they can't drink coffee in certain areas. And I would have to wear business casual clothing, so I guess I will have to go shopping! Hahaha.
That Friday I went out with Mur and her friends to a pub away from the tourist driven city centre. I finally got to meet her sister, Caoimhe and two of her friends, Sarah and Paula. We went to a place called Dice Bar and it was pretty neat. Most of the pubs here are deceptive in that they look small on the outside, but when you get in them, there are several floors and they go deep into the building. Not this one. This one was tiny. But really neat. They played a mix of songs from hip hop, to oldies, to reggae to rock. But there wasn't too much space to really dance or move. The thing I noticed was when they went outside to smoke, they were allowed on the sidewalk with their pints and bottles. It was so weird to me, because back home you usually have to either leave your drink inside or pour it out into a plastic glass. When I mentioned this to the other girls they simply said “Welcome to Ireland”.
Buddha in Dice Bar, reminding me to keep good Karma
After Dice, we went to another bar called Sin é. It was a little bigger than the other one and I actually ran into my roomate there. When I got on the dance floor there was this guy who kind of started dancing with me, holding my hand up and kissing the inside of my elbow. Then he blew a raspberry on my bicep! (a raspberry being what you do to little babies, usually on their tummies making a silly sound) I was highly amused and a little shocked. I said that I didn't even know his name and he drunkenly went off to whatever girl would have him without causing a fuss. Then I went downstairs and a boy named John decided he wanted to have a chat with me. He was asking where I was from, without any of it registering, I am sure. Quite a drunk fellow he was, as he was not respecting my personal space at all and at one point even grabbed my bum! I asked him what kind of girls did he think Canadians were and he tried to blame it on the boy behind me. It was rather amusing, actually. Then when I was done speaking with him I told him it was nice to meet him. He got all galled and affronted that I was just leaving so suddenly so I asked him if he would believe me if I said “I will see you later”. He said he wouldn't so I repeated myself by saying “nice to meet you”.
The following day Mur invited me along to a BBQ at her friend's place for her 30th birthday. I wasn't sure if it would be an issue but Caoimhe said to come along because it would be good “craic” (which means a good time. I have heard that this is an expression, but this was the first time I had heard it in use. I was also educated on how “deadly” never actually means something potentially fatal, but rather something awesome). There was alot of food and alot of people at this BBQ and I had a great time. I met alot of people from Ireland and even people from the US and Belgium. It was indeed good craic. I sent myself home before the others, at 4am. This is when I discovered that the sky starts to get light at this time. Also, all the bars were closed, which I hadn't seen yet here. But there were many people on the streets just making their way home.
The birthday cake. What a wonderful sentiment.
The sky getting bright at 4am.
At the BBQ Muireann mentioned a football match that she was going to on Sunday. She asked if I wanted to go because she had an extra ticket and it was something completely unique to Ireland. See, it was not a usual football (soccer) match, but Gaelic football, which is a whole other thing. What an experience it turned out to be! So I was meeting everyone on the bus so we could go to the match together. What ended up happening is that the bus was full and I was unable to get on. Great. I had no idea where I was going and had to get on by myself. But I did notice that alot of people around me had blue Dublin jerseys, so I figured I could just follow the crowd. I actually ended up befriending a man who knew where I was supposed to get off and he was going to let me know when he left the bus. He was a nice fellow, even giving me his business card to go out for lunch. Not sure that I will take him up on that, but I appreciate him asking anyway. So I got to the stop I was supposed to and met up with Mur and some people from the weekend including her sister and Paula at a pub. It poured down rain. It was insane. They contemplated even not going at all, but in the end someone showed up with extra sweaters (for which I am eternally grateful!) and we went. I am so glad we did. Even though Dublin wasn't winning at first, and there were torrential rains pouring down on us, the sun eventually shone through and Dublin ended up winning the match in extra time! Now at first I was a little confused by Gaelic football. This is basically what I have gathered: many of the rules are similar to regular football (soccer) including when a ball goes out of bounds and such. But what is different is that they can touch the ball with their hands, but not consistently. They need to drop it and kick it back into their hands so as to not incur a penalty. They are also able to be rough with one another. I'm not sure about the boundaries of this, but I did witness a punch to the abdomen that seemed to be okay. The scoring is also a little different. The way the majority of the points are scored are by kicking the ball through the goal posts above the net, similar to American Football. When that happens they are awarded one point. When they get in in the net they are awarded three points. Those are the rules I grasped from the match. Another neat thing is that they display the names of the towns that are playing in Irish. For example, I went to go see Dublin vs. Wexford and it was displayed as Áth Cliath vs. Loch Garman. Pretty neat, eh? We were standing in the area that is apparently known for the Dublin fans to gather. It was quite an experience. Alot of cursing, alot of cheering, and even everyone being disappointed at the same time. It was intense. I absolutely loved it. After the match we went to a pub for a drink. Then I went home. It was an amazing weekend indeed.
Some of the action (notice the rain)
All the blue fans
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