10 Down

Well, this week wasn't too special so I will avoid the boring stuff related to school and skip ahead to the end of the week.  Thanksgiving was this past Thursday and unlike all of you, I spent it in class. In fact, I had a quiz that day.  After class, I made myself dinner. No turkey and stuffing for me this year, just a frozen pizza. This Thanksgiving was the first major holiday I have spent away from family and friends.  It was odd.  Thankfully, I did have a long conversation with my mom and was able to Skype with my dad, uncles, and cousins.  It was strange spending a holiday alone.  But, I guess that is what I am to expect for the rest of my stay here.

On Friday, all the postgrad students had a trip to Dublin.  We were going to visit several places that could aid in our research.  These places included the National Museum, the National Library, National Monuments Services, and the National Archives.  The trip was a huge waste of time for our class.  Nothing about bones was even discussed.  Furthermore, we didn't even visit the location where the human remains collections are stored in the National Museum.  The trip was an even bigger waste for me as nothing of any value relating to mummies was even mentioned.  The museum was at least slightly interesting.  After a very brief tour of the collections stored underground in the vaults of the museum (all the stuff not on display) we were given only a few minutes to tour the museum until our next tour at the National Library.  Our class ran straight to the room with the bog bodies.  Sadly, I did not have my camera so no pictures.  After a brief glace at the bog bodies I went upstairs to see the small Egyptian exhibit.  I was able to spend only a few minutes in the exhibit attempting to learn about 26th dynasty mummification.  I will hopefully be making another trip out there sooner rather than later to spend more time in the museum. I will be sure to bring my camera that time.

The rest of the weekend was spent on a trip with the Archaeology Society.  We left Saturday morning, visited several sites in the south of Ireland, spent the night in a hostel, and traveled to another site on Sunday before heading back.  I will post pictures in a post following this one.  Saturday was spent in and around the town of Cashel. The main place we visited was the Rock of Cashel.  This large hill (actually a limestone outcropping) was the site where Irish kings were crowned.  Nearby, was an large abbey and the remains of an old ring fort.  You can't really make out the ring fort, just the mound it once stood on.  Sometimes archaeology requires a lot of imagination.  After our tours of the sites, we headed back to the hostel where myself and Simon (another member of the society) somehow became elected chefs and cooked dinner for the whole group of 15.  Cooking food for 15 people on a crap stove and using pots with no handles was quite the adventure.  Amazingly, dinner was prepared without any major injuries and no one got sick as a result.  After dinner we headed to the pub and watched the rugby match.  On Sunday, we traveled north to the midlands and visited one of the oldest and best preserved church sites in Ireland, Clonmacnoise.  It was a beautiful place located right on the banks of the Shannon.  The weather was freezing, but it was quite the picturesque trip.  After our tour, we all got on the bus for the long ride back to cork.

So that was my week.  Spent 6+ hours per day on a bus and celebrated Thanksgiving alone with a frozen pizza.  Sometimes I wonder if coming here was the right choice. Sadly, the more time I spend here, the more I lean towards this being the wrong decision.  Sure, I will be getting my master's degree, but at what cost?  I guess this is just a period of doubt and I am sure it will pass.  Just second guessing myself.  Ok, this post just got depressing. I'm going to end it now.  Enjoy the pictures!