Back to School Again, Cork Arts Excursions, and Cobh

The Irish university system is very different from what I'm used to back in the states. Not only did I not know what my class schedule looked like before this past week, I really don't have class until this upcoming Tuesday! What's more is that this is not unique to visiting students, it's something of a norm for Irish students, from "Freshers" to 4th years.


Needless to say, I built a soft schedule and went to introductory lectures this past week, as well as Societies Day and Clubs Day. My final schedule is this:


Monday: Nothing.
Tuesday: Comparative European Government, 5 to 6 pm
Wednesday: Myth and History, 12 to 1 and 3 to 4 pm; The Politics of Church and State (In Ireland), 5 to 7 pm
Thursday: Comparative European Government, 5 to 6 pm
Friday: Nothing.


The classes above are nearly set in stone (at least that government class should be...I spent 5o Euro on the textbook!). I'm trying to figure out a research topic to work with the Department of Government for their internship program, and trying to swing that for poli sci credit back home. I will also find out later this week about when my Gaelic/Irish class is scheduled. Hopefully neither of these will be scheduled on Mondays or Fridays...I'm enjoying the prospect of long weekends!


Other than attending what minimal low-pressure class I had this week, I spent a great deal of time around Cork with Elizabeth. We spent hours in the city exploring and shopping and not buying anything, and I also got a haircut. Although my hairstylist said that she wouldn't cut my hair much shorter ("Because you don't want to look like a boy!"), forty-five minutes later, I came out with the shortest, thinnist crop of hair I think I've had since before I really had any hair to speak of. It's an ok haircut, and fun to style, but the only real good news is I probably bought a few extra weeks in this cut's lifespan...that is, before I need another trim (hopefully by someone else).


Elizabeth and I also ventured to the cinema again. We saw "Michael Clayton," which comes out in the states this weekend. It is produced by and stars George Clooney, hence why I was pretty into seeing it. It was a good thriller/semi-action movie, and has a pretty sound message. And well, it has George Clooney.


On Friday night, we saw a show that has toured Europe and some parts of the states: "Jesus: The Guantanamo Years." The tagline read, "Jesus Christ returns for His comeback tour. But He doesn't get through U.S. immigration because He's a bearded, Middle-Eastern guy, prepared to die as a martyr."


It was a brilliant one-man show that was hilarious! It took some good jabs at organized religion, but not at spirituality, and also had some good comments on American government. It included a paradoy of Queen's "We Will Rock You" and a song called, "Why don't I have any Groupies?" It had its share of shocking humor, but had a nice message about loving everyone and returning to Jesus' true message.


We then ventured from the play to eat and to the Thirsty Scholar (where else?), where we ended up hanging out with some Irish men. One of the men was actually the bartender I first met at the pub, although he doesn't work there anymore. We ended up having a grand time with his group of friends, and even ventured to another pub afterwards. This took us into around 3 in the morning, so I got home way late...which pushed back Elizabeth and my trip to Cobh the next day by a couple of hours.


We still made it, though! We met Luke at about 10 AM and headed to the town on the edge of Cork Harbor, most famous for being the last stop before America for Irish emmigrants. Cobh (pronounced "Cove") was known as Queenstown during the peak emmigration era, mainly during and after the great famine through the 1950s. Millions of Irish emmigrants left on ships bound for the states and other non-European countries. There were also many prison ships, that transported Irish prisoners (mainly of the political kind) from as early as the 1790s, to Australia, to serve out sentences.


We spent some time in the Cobh Heritage Museum, "The Queenstown Story," which took us through the tale of emmigration out of Cobh. The town definitely banks on being the last port of call for the Titanic before it sailed into the open Atlantic on a fateful voyage, as well as having serivced the later torpedoed Luscitania (which was bombed by the Germans during WWI just short distance on the coast from Cobh, near Kinsale, actually).


I was told that I could probably find the O'Malley name on some passenger lists for emmigrant ships, but they actually don't have those anymore. Since the lists were lost in fire some years ago, I was told to look up the lists in the National Museum and Archives in Dublin, or pay a visit to a heritage site in Dunbrody, County Wexford. I had billed the trip as a search for a link in my Irish heritage, but it didn't work out quite as planned.


We also were treated to lunch at a hotel in Cobh (that bartender is now the manager there). I had the best seafood chowder I have ever tasted. I'm sorry, but New England Clam Chowder has nothing on this. I also had some fresh cod with chips, but I was so full I from the chowder I couldn't finish that dish.


We then traveled into the city centre, as the tours we were thinking about doing weren't working out for us. We made it to a beautiful cathederal (St. Colman's), and was able to see all the colorful buildings and parks right on the water. We were all pretty tired and so we also did a lot of relaxing, and then became utterly distracted by the self-timer function on my camera. Hilarity ensued.

Nevertheless, we went home in the evening and are preparing for the week ahead...even though none of us have class on Mondays.

Next weekend, we're planning a trip to the West of Ireland again: Inishmore, The Cliffs of Mohr, and the Burren. We may stay in the little Doolin, but may just make our way back to Galway. We're also just over a month away from a London excursion.


I love traveling.

~MJ


Pictures are by me/my self-timing camera. The very first pic is from campus; children dressed in robes traversing the Main Quad. This is my proof that I really attend Hogwarts.

More pics from Cobh can be found on My Picasa Page.