Sunny Liquid Dreams

June 8, 2009

My day started at 6:15 AM (which still isn't early enough for some people) and got ready to meet the programme administrators and other related people at UCD. Surprisingly enough, 10 girls were able to use 3 bathrooms and got ready by 7:30.

When we reached UCD, we went through all the introductions, security, and administrative stuff. We finally got the list of trips we are taking on the weekends, the most exciting being Belfast, Wicklow, and Galway. I'm really excited that we are traveling to Northern Ireland because I would have been nervous to make that trip myself.

We also started our crash course in Irish history which plans to cover the major events spanning 700 years since the Norman invasion. The day's topic covered the beginnings of Christianity in Ireland (rumored to be the work of St. Patrick), the Viking and Norman invasion of Ireland, the end of the line of the High King of Ireland, and the attempts of the Normans to colonize or spread "civilization" to Ireland.

Apparently, the book I believed to be required reading for this class was not mentioned at all by the teacher. But I was able to understand a little more of what our professor was talking about because I had read the opening chapters of the book.

After our Irish history class ended, we took a fieldtrip (something I have not done since elementary school) to Leinster House. It was originally the house built for the Duke of Leinster and was later used by the predecessors of the modern Irish republic. It is currently the residence of the Irish Parliament (Oireachtas), which is composed of the Senate (Seanad Éireann) and the House of Representatives (Dáil Éireann). We had a guided tour of the house, which is very beautiful inside (considering it to be a former ducal residence). There were handmade designs of plaster(?) that decorated some of the ceilings, walls, and doors of the house and were quite beautiful. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the house, so I'll just have to remember what it looks like.

The Leinster House was also the inspiration of James Hoban, the architect of the White House. Both houses actually have the same dimensions in width and length and there is also a room which provided the inspiration for the Oval Office.

I unfortunately took only one shot of the house and it came out crooked and ugly. It isn't possible to get a clear shot of the house because of all the signs, security, etc. However, I was able to get a shot of the gates to Leinster House. It is written in the Irish Constitution that the gates must be open at all times, even if there is unrest and revolt.

I would have posted a picture of the entire gate, but the one I took did not look good. So this is all I have.