So far, this week has been anything but quiet, and I’ve got plenty to fill you in on. What started off as a rough patch has turned into a pretty memorable adventure. First things first, just a few days before my flight, I came down with a virus and a case of heat exhaustion. That’s what I get for tanning outside for two hours when the UV index hit 9 for the first time in weeks. Luckily, by the time I was ready to go to the airport, my virus had calmed down, and from that moment, I was confident that this would be a great trip. After my flight, me and a couple others had arrived at UCD village relatively early and we were waiting for everyone else to get there.
To someone who has never been to Dublin before, I would definitely consider checking out the Dundrum Town Center. I went here with my friends Anthony and Nathaniel on the day we arrived, and we were truly amazed once we got there. It has everything that there is too offer: ranging from All you can eat buffets to A Grocery store to even us brand clothing stores like Nike and H&M. The mall consists of four floors filled with shops, cafés, a cinema, and even a rooftop dining area. Stepping inside felt like a breath of fresh air and a true sense of community. There was not a single space of the mall that was dead during peak hours. It felt as if it were a US mall back in the 1980’s and everyone was shopping for what they wanted, needed, and whatever caught their eye along the way. Also, Dondrum has a very cool escalator system that makes it very easy to move from floor to floor, they almost look life conveyor belts! When I went with my friends Anthony and Nathaniel, we spent the bulk of our time shopping for essentials at the Tesco, Irelands most popular super market chain.
On Monday, we had our very first lecture of the ACFM 315: Judging Justice course, and I found it very fascinating when we were discussing different types of data privacy and how they all required the government to take different legal and ethical steps. After the lecture had concluded, we went to the EPIC, the Irish Emigration Museum, right in the center of downtown Dublin. We got to see so much of Dublin’s history and how spread apart everyone’s modern-day ancestry is due to the Irish famine. I have a little bit of Irish ancestry myself, with some of my ancestors being from County Cork and Tyrone. Supposedly, they originated form Cape Clear Island. I also found it really interesting when our tour guide talked about the four big sports in Ireland: Hurling, Gaelic Football, Rounders, and handball.
My internship story is a little different. While most people were going in person to get onboarded with their company on Tuesday, my supervisor and his executives were all busy and are currently having meetings till Friday. In the meantime, I’ve been getting up to speed on classwork assignments, studying finance, technicals, and getting my lifts in at the UCD village gym. All in all, it’s been a whirlwind of a first week, full of new places, unexpected challenges, and memorable experiences. If this is any sign of what’s to come, I’m really looking forward to what the rest of my time in Dublin has in store.
A display at the EPIC Museum showing many of the boats used by Irish emigrants as they left the country.
Just after getting settled in, I explored the UCD campus with some of my friends, and we found ourselves at the UCD festival. The festival had many interesting stations and performances, one of them being a milk machine that created soft serve Ice Cream on the spot.
One of the Bus Stops near the center of Dublin.
The view from outside my apartment, typically, this court is very busy and many ages play here at all different times of day.
A quiet Dublin street at dusk, captured from the top of a double-decker bus, with classic brick buildings, overhead wires, and the charm of everyday city life.