The Long Awaited “Harveys Visit Ireland” – Part II, and some other things I've been up to.

December 5, 2007

5:15 p.m.

Kitchen, 24 Fortescue Ln., Dublin

The last couple weeks have been pretty crazy. I got my paper and took my Irish History final, so now that’s all over and I may or may not write about it later. For now, though, I need to finish up on “Harveys Visit Ireland.”

I had schoolwork to do Wednesday night, so I took the train on Thursday morning and met up with everybody Thursday afternoon. The next 72 hours were a total whirlwind. We went to Noreen's for a little while before going out to dinner on Thursday. Friday morning we went to the Knock Shrine and then headed into town for a little bit. James (brother James) was out there, so on top of everyone else, it was great to see him again. We visited Eileen and went to the cemetery in the afternoon, and then the highlight of the trip came Friday night, when almost all the Ireland relatives came together in Ballyhaunis for a big party. The spread of food was both awesome and delicious. I felt bad that I had to catch a train around 7:00 to get back to Dublin that night, but everyone made sure that I ate, and I really wish I could have stayed longer to enjoy all the company, stories, and songs that I apparently missed out on. Even so, the hour that I was there was a blast and it was great to, for the first time in months, and in some cases years, be surrounded by family.

Saturday morning the program had a trip to Belfast to go to the parliament building in Northern Ireland and to drive around the city and look at the murals. On the way up, some kid on the bus that nobody recognized asked our professor if this was the International Students trip to Knowth. It wasn’t, but hey we got to hang out with a French kid all day and he got three free meals. Belfast was pretty cool, and the murals were stunning. It was crazy to drive through the city and see the Green Monster – sized fences that separated the two parts. It was like nowhere I had ever been.

That led up to the past couple weeks. My Globalization project was a giant headache, but I ended up getting to know my professor pretty well, and he offered to write me a recommendation if I ever needed one, so that was cool. I think we both got something out of me having a relatively-uncommon political perspective in an Irish classroom, and overall I enjoyed the course. Now we’ll just see how the final goes.

Since I’ve already finished up with Irish History, I only have 4 more exams to go: Organizational Behavior on Tuesday, Cost Management on Wednesday, Operations on the 17^th, and Globalization on the 18^th. Then I’m all done. Kevin and Len, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned, come in on the 20^th, leave the 22^nd, and then I’m out of here on Christmas Eve. I’m sure I’ll make a few more posts over the next couple weeks as I look for excuses for study breaks, so be sure to stay tuned.

Later.

p.s. I hope the Red Sox get Santana. Even if it means trading Jacoby Ellsbury. This is Johan Santana we’re talking about here. I mean come on.

5:42