Cead Mile Failte- A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Now that we've been in Dungarvan for about a week, I've decided to dedicate some time and energy to working on my blog. It'll be a mix of personal stories and experiences as well as linking in literature used in my British Literature course readings.

Let's see...we arrived in Dublin in the morning on Friday, March 5th. We were met by Damien-the mayor of Dungarvan, as well as assorted Dungarvan town council members. They whisked us away to meet our bus, which promptly drove us about 100 feet to the Dublin Airport Radisson Hotel for "the Full Irish", which, disappointingly, is not what it sounds like. Just a big breakfast, actually. After filling our stomachs with blood sausage, eggs, yogurt, and fruit (yum?), we departed for Dungarvan.

Along the way, we were treated to a tour of sorts, just letting us learn a little history and info about the countryside that we were riding through. It was nice to know what we were seeing throughout the 3-hour ride. Once we arrived in the town, we drove around in the bus a bit, which let us see the city a little better. It was nice to see a few of the signs welcoming us to Dungarvan. They're everywhere!

We were given a bit of time to unload our (almost) overpacked suitcases and settle in to the beautiful townhouses where we'll be living for the next (almost) 11 weeks. Dr. Hosey then showed us around the town a little. I'm sure the locals didn't know what to expect, but seeing 28 people traipsing around their small Irish town sure got us recognized quickly. The rest of the weekend was just as tiring and wonderful as the trip over here. We were welcomed officially on Saturday when we entered the civic offices through a tunnel of schoolchildren waving American and Irish flags and a bagpipe pumping out the tunes. We're not used to being welcomed like this! It was certainly not what we had expected. But any joking aside, the city of Dungarvan has been so welcoming and wonderful to us these first few days. We're all so thankful for the opportunity that they are giving us! There was also a really nice civic reception once we got inside, featuring the mayor, Dr. Hosey and all our favorite councilmen, as well as the Deputy Ambassador to Ireland!

This coming week(end) we've got a lot of activity ahead of us- and a lot of material for this blog i'm sure!

As James Joyce writes in An Encounter, "But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad."