The past two weeks

I've finally pulled myself together enough to update my blog- I decided that even though it was a class requirement, I'm going to keep it going for a while :)

Coming back from Ireland involved hours of travel and a lot of emotion. It was exciting to come home to all the friends we'd left behind and to see our families after a long ten weeks apart. Getting off the bus in Erie to see my three best friends waiting was an incredible feeling. A few days later, my mom picked me up in Erie and we headed out to my family's house in Erie for a little get-together. Then, after almost 12 weeks away, I got to go home! I was so happy to be back in Bay Village, OH, even if I was only there for a week before having to come back to Erie for work and a summer class at Gannon University.

Catching up with all my friends and family after being away for so long was so nice. Now that I'm back in Erie, working at Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill and taking a summer Physics course at Gannon, I'm really starting to reflect and remember Ireland. Every once in a while, a song will come on the radio that reminds me of our sing-alongs that became an almost nightly occurrence, and I'll remember how really special the experience was. I'm sure my friends and co-workers are so sick of hearing about Ireland!

This Memorial Day weekend promises to be a good one- today was spent outside with a cool Bud Light Lime and some great company, and tomorrow will be work and a family get-together, complete with our lakeside cottage and good friends and good food. Then the day off on Monday and the true beginning of summer 2010!

The Lovely Bones

Recently, I was watching the movie "The Lovely Bones," an adaptation from the novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. I had read the novel in middle school, and watched the movie before coming to Ireland. In the film, 14-year old Susie Salmon ("like the fish") is abducted and murdered by her neighbor, George Harvey. Her father and then her younger sister attempt to find her killer, and eventually succeed. While I was watching the film, though, I noticed a parallel between a scene in the movie and a scene from "An Encounter" in Dubliners.

In "The Lovely Bones", Susie is walking home late from a film club meeting when she comes across Mr. Harvey. He has built something in the cornfield, he says, and wants her to take a look at it. He lures her into a hatch that he has built into the ground, and murders her.

This encounter between Mr. Harvey and Susie reminded me of the scene in Joyce's "An Encounter," when the narrator and Mahoney meet the old man during their day exploring Dublin. The reader gets the sense that the man they meet is not to be trusted, just as the audience has a bad feeling about the character of Mr. Harvey in "The Lovely Bones." While the old man in the story might have turned out harmless- as readers we don't know, because the boys leave before the man is finished with his monologue- he may very well have been a bad person, like in "The Lovely Bones."

I found the parallels between two seemingly totally unrelated medias really interesting. Without reading Joyce in class, I don't think I would've thought to connect a very commercial film to his work.

Don't cry because it's over...

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." -Dr. Seuss.

This quote really sums up how I've been feeling today. Last night, a group of us stayed up all night and went to see the sunrise. We found an amazing spot up the hill that overlooks the town of Dungarvan, and settled in on a rock wall (that, I have to admit, was located in someone's driveway!) to watch the show.
Watching the sunrise over the hills, I think we all felt the same thing- leaving this place was going to be difficult indeed. As much as I've missed my family and friends, leaving Ireland seems like an unspeakable thing. These past ten weeks, this place has been my home. I know that I'll return, someday, but right now it's incredibly hard to think about leaving.

Who knows what tomorrow's flight will have in store for us! With the volcanic ash, perhaps we'll get to spend another few days in Ireland? ;)

Final days of Eire

As our time in Ireland is winding down, I thought I would reflect on what made our trip the amazing experience it was. I'll never forget my time here, and I know I'll be back to visit all of the wonderful people who made our ten weeks here as unforgettable as they have been.

Without our friends Tom Keith, Joe Moynihan, Joe O'Flaherty, Fearghal Reidy, and many many others, we wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to come to Dungarvan. We owe this experience to their selfless hard work and determination to bring the students of Mercyhurst to Dungarvan. On the other side of the pond, Dr. Hosey, Dr. Reed, Dr. Synder, Dr. Federici, Dr. McGurk, and Ms. Miller were all so amazing in giving up their personal time and lives in Erie to come to Ireland with us and be our teachers and friends. There are also a few locals who deserve a shout-out. Our best Irish friend-Eoin-did so much for us over our ten weeks here. From taking us to the Blarney Stone to simply being our friend when we were so far from home, his contribution to this experience was awesome. Everyone that we have met here has been so incredible to us.

When we arrived, I was apprehensive about spending so much time away from everything I knew- friends, family, school and work. Now I know that I am more than capable of doing things for myself. Studying abroad has given me the confidence to know that I can be a more independent person. Being in Ireland has also helped me learn to enjoy life, and take things as they come. Before Ireland, I fear that I took everything far too seriously- certainly not a problem in Ireland. In such an easygoing place, it was wonderful to just be able to sit back and be on "Irish Time" for a while.

The friends I have made here will be lifelong. They have really made the experience what it was for me. Without these people- people who I have probably seen around campus hundreds of times without knowing who they were- my personal Ireland experience would not have been as wonderful. Talking to friends who have done their study abroad experience alone, I am so thankful that I could share mine with 25 other Mercyhurst students who have become some of my closest friends.

Bright Star

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art-
Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round the earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors-
No--yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever--or else swoon to death.

In class, we read John Keats' poem "Bright Star" during our study of the romantics. Keats was one of my favorite poets that we read, and "Bright Star" is one of his most well known works. Recently, a book of love letters written by Keats to his lover Fanny Brawne has been published under the title "Bright Star," and a movie has been made based upon the book. Throughout my blog, I'm sure you'll notice the references to and reviews of movies- I am a huge fan of movies and I enjoy connecting them to what we've been studying in class.

I decided to watch the film "Bright Star," directed and screenplay by Jane Campion, starring Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne and Ben Whishaw as John Keats, to see what all the fuss was about. Aside from it using the letters and names of Keats and Brawne, for me it didn't capture the essence of Keats' poetry. His letters to Fanny are beautiful, however. The movie was a good love story, but didn't seem to have the same meaning that his poetry, such as "Bright Star" itself has. The poem itself is a tribute to Fanny. In the poem, he references religion, as well as the north star- perhaps she is his religion and his guiding star?

The Playboy of the Western World

Because of my trip to London, I missed our class discussion of John Millington Synge's "The Playboy of the Western World." After reading it on the bus to Cork on the first leg of my journey to London, I began to think about Ireland and what it means to be Irish. Synge's characters are very distinctly Irish- from the way that they act to their manner of speaking.

This play was one of my favorite pieces we read throughout the class- something about it really attracted me (much like the women in the play are mysteriously attracted to Christy!). When Christy first entered the play, I wasn't exactly sure how to take his character. I didn't want to like him, obviously, because he had claimed to have killed his own father! But then all the women start going crazy over him- who gets to make his dinner, whose house he gets to stay in, etc.- and me as a reader wasn't sure what to think anymore.

In the end, I decided that I disliked Christy, not only because he lied about murdering his father, but he became very clingy towards Pegeen at the end- claiming to be in love with her when he had only known her for a few days, etc. I couldn't understand Pegeen's response to Shawn at the end of the play, when she said "Quit my sight. Oh my grief, I've lost him surely. I've lost the only Playboy of the Western World," I was surprised that she would be so sad about losing a man who was a liar, and possibly even a murderer.

London

I want to preface this blog by saying that it was wonderful to see my best friend again after 5 months apart! Don't get me wrong, London was a really cool city. But I was disappointed by it. I didn't expect to identify with what Blake writes in his poem "London":

I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

But after walking around the city and down the Thames, I can see exactly what he was talking about. I enjoyed my time in the city, but the whole time I'm sure I was talking about Ireland like an infatuated schoolgirl- Ireland this and Ireland that! I said in my first blog about leaving for London that I had hoped to agree more with Wordsworth's interpretation of the city; however, I didn't fall in love with it like I though I would.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon and made my way to Victoria Station where I would meet up with Jeffrey. It probably would've been a good idea to designate a meeting place, but I wandered around for a bit and found him reading in a secluded area of the station. Off to a good start! (At least I found him!) We then got on the Underground (mind the gap!) and went to King's Cross Station. I got signed into his residence hall, and we took off to explore the city a bit.

The next day, after a failed attempt at visiting Platform 9 and 3/4 to pay homage to Sir Harry Potter, we visited Piccadilly Circus (my favorite place in the city) for dinner and some souvenir shopping. We got to see many of the theaters where some of the best shows are held, which was exciting. Plus, I finally got some much-craved Mexican food- which seems almost impossible to find in Ireland! We continued exploring the city the on Saturday- Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye. Walking down the Thames for what seemed like hours, we came across the Tower of London- one of the only places I really wanted to see. It was awesome to see such a historical place.

Leaving London was sad in the sense that I was leaving my friend, but I was excited to get back home to Dungarvan. Sitting on the bus from Cork to Dungarvan, I looked out the window and was struck by the thought that I would soon be leaving this beautiful country. I'm not ashamed to say that it brought tears to my eyes. I can't believe how much Ireland has worked its way into my heart!