O Dublin..... Well I survived St. Patrick's day in Dublin!!! The Belfast group had to get up at 5:30AM to get to the bus station and on the bus by 7AM. We had to get there early because we were told that the bus would fill up quickly to Dublin, which it did so we are happy that we got there early. Me and two others walked to the bus station instead of paying for a cab because we wanted to save our money for Dublin, the bus station is not as far as the City Hall so it was only about a 20 minute walk which was not to bad. But let me tell you Belfast is dead at 6:15 in the morning. The bus ride wasn't to bad it was about 2 1/2 hours long in which I attempted to sleep because I knew that it was going to be a long day. We took an express bus so that there would be less stops on the way there, but at every stop I had to laugh because the people who boarded were decked out in their Ireland gear. Most were complete with wigs, face paint, and all green clothes. Our bus got pulled over on the way their by a boarder patrol cop to check the bus to see if anyone was crossing illegally. Luckily this time I had my passport, but once they saw one of our's they did not look at the rest. Nigel told us they do that because they think Americans are safe and trustworthy, which I still thought was interesting. We finally got to Dublin at about 9:30 and the roads were already packed with people, but we waited in the bus station for the  Derry/Londonderry group to come so that we could make a game plan of what to do. We all decided to watch the parade which was a massive fail because there were so many people watching it that we couldn't see a lot, but I looked at it as it's the thought that counts. I am also barley over five feet tall so that also made it a little harder for me to see anything, because the stereotype that Irish are small is far from true, most of them at really tall. A lot of people had brought ladders to stand on and watch the parade with which would have been a good idea if I wasn't a traveler/student here. I did get to see a little though because I got on a group members shoulders so that I could get pictures for people in our group. A little random fact about St. Patrick's day in Dublin is that you can not go into a restaurant (even fast food) to go to the bathroom unless you area paying customer. After the parade we headed to the Jameson Distillery to check that out, it took quite awhile to get there because there was only one opening to cross the road, so that meant the 600,000 people that were there all had to cross it, I felt like I was at a rock concert again where everyone is body to body. The Distillery was pretty cool, we did not tour it though because as a group we are heading there next week for the whole week. After that then we split up as a group because going places with 12 people is not an easy task especially on St. Patrick's day when there are tons of people out and pubs are not all that big. We visited many pubs both small family owned and larger more popular ones. It was kind of cool to see the different ones and the people that were in them. We did take a break from touring the city and pubs for some dinner, which was an experience all by itself because everyone decided to eat when we were so almost every place was full, and most pubs don't serve food, so that also meant no one was in the pubs. We decided to eat at a little Chinese restaurant, this was a good choice because we got three courses for only 9 pounds, and this was most of our first and last meal of the day. After eating the group that I was with wanted to watch the England vs. Ireland rugby match so we went to a pub that we thought was less full, but looks can be deceiving because it was just as packed as the any other one. This pub had two floors, which was packed on both levels and the stairs, so I don't know how we managed to find a table for 6 of us. The match was pretty intense to watch, but sadly Ireland lost, which did not make to many people in that pub happy. I realized at this pub that there were more Americans, Germans, and French people in Dublin then there were Irish, which was OK because then it was less intimating. After the rugby game got over we decided to start checking out the clubs which was pretty intense again because they were all so full, because they were so full we decided to break off again into smaller groups which was a good idea because only two people could move at once in most clubs and it we were easier to keep track of this way. At about 11PM everyone slowly walked back to the bus station by chance and decided to bus home because we were all so tired. I thought it was funny that we all came to the bus station at this time because our phones were roaming in Dublin so we couldn't exactly communicate with each other without it costing a lot of money. The bus ride back was also full, but I was so tired that I just fell right asleep and didn't wake up till we got back to Belfast, which was at about 3AM because I guess the bus broke down and they had to fix it, but I slept right through that. When we got back to Belfast we tried to call a cab to take us home but at 3AM they were still all booked out, and it would be about a 40 minute wait so me and a friend decided to just walk home, which took an unusually long time because 1. there was a massive amount of people we had to walk through on the street and 2. I forgot that Stanmillis closes is pedestrian gate at midnight so we had to take a roundabout way of walking to the front of the university which I would say is about 2 miles out of the way. Needless to say I was one tired girl and fell asleep instantly when I got to my room. 

Sunday was a beautiful day here when I woke up me and another group member decided to head to Derry to hang out with those people. But first we wanted to enjoy the day (it was t-shirt weather here, which does not happen a whole lot, and yes I know you people in the states have had this weather for a week) so we walked around Belfast looking for a couple of stores, we got a little lost because we saw a sign that said "Train back to Belfast" which we both thought was funny because we only had a little idea of where we were going. Sunday here in the UK was Mum's day which freaked most of us out because we thought that it was back home too, so we were happy when we discovered that it was only celebrated here. The day ended with a bus to Derry and hanging out with the people there.

Monday we had seminar in Derry at a place called the Fountain which is a neighborhood in Derry with about 300 people so it is very small. We learned that most of the people there are treated very poorly by the Derry government and police. The man that was talking to us about the history of the fountain took us on a tour of the area, and every person that we passed he knew (even the kids and babies). I thought that was pretty cool, because even though the community as a whole is not treated kindly they are still pretty close.

Tuesday... well that is today as you all probably know. Well I am at my internship, and no one is here again just like Friday so I am doing a lot of paperwork, and editing their mission statement which is a pretty cool experience. Like I said earlier the group is going to Dublin next week so I will update again after that.

O and in case any one was wondering I come home in 53 days. Which is really sad for me :(  

 Sarah C, Me, Alice, Sarah B, Olivia, Rachel, Emily, and Jackson

 First Photo of the morning. Funny part is after the photo they told me is blinked so I put the hat back on to take another picture. In my defense it was an early morning.

 The masses of people in Dublin

 Green was EVERYWHERE

 Marching band in the parade

 Float in the parade. Not real sure what the significance is.

 Rhea, Olivia, Me, Emily, Alice