Graveyard Adventures in Co. Cork

Sunny Day Around Campus

Irish Weather

The past two weeks have been a mixture of highs and lows for me here.  Just like the recent weather.  Last week, Ireland decided it was summer for three days. Temperatures were in the high 60s and while that may not sound like a hot day, it was about 15 degrees warmer then the days before.  I guess my body had adapted to the colder weather because I was sweating while walking to class.  Everyone in Cork was wearing shorts and t-shirts and had dragged out any and all furniture from the living rooms into their front gardens to soak up the  the warmth.  Every available section of grass on campus was covered with students lounging about.  The parks were full of people playing rugby and soccer.  Sadly, I was stuck in my lab for most of the days.  To make matter worse, they still had the radiators on full blast within the department as if it was snowing outside, making our lab an oven.  I did manage to escape for a cool pint at one of the local pubs.

Mother nature soon realised that it was not summer and attempted to correct her error.  However, she clearly overcompensated and sent us back into winter.  Temperatures were back to around freezing in the evenings and only reaching the high 40s during the day.  Scotland and other parts of the UK were covered in snow.  Now, we are back to spring time conditions.  The weather reminded me of a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  I thought they were just being silly, but now I realise that they were just accurately depicting the weather in this area of the world.  I included that clip below for you all to enjoy.

Much like the weather, my life this past few weeks have been a mix of highs and lows.  I gave my first public lecture here in Ireland for the UCC Archaeology Society.  The lecture went fantastically well.  It was the largest turn out of people for the entire year.  The event was filmed but there was an issue with the camera so I am still awaiting a copy of the talk.  Once I have a copy I will upload it here so you all can view it.  So that was a major high point for me here.  

Sadly, that high lasted as long as the Irish summer.  Classes have finished but the amount of work I need to complete as increased.  I have several essays, presentations and a massive anatomy exam to study for all in the next 4 weeks.  Stress is starting to set in.  On top of everything, I am still researching and designing a new project for my thesis.  The mummy project has officially been cancelled.  I will still be involved with the project, but it will no longer be my thesis.  I am sick of being reliant on other people when it come to my research.

Lastly, money is becoming a major problem.  I have yet to be able to secure a job and thus have yet to get any form on income.  The government does not consider summer school as part of the academic year and thus I cannot get any financial aid either.  Right now I am looking at about a $2000 deficit that will hit around the middle of August.  I am actively searching for a cheaper place to live for the summer as well as other cost cutting measures.  But I fear it won't be enough.  I was hoping to travel a bit during the summer months and do some touristy things while I was living here, but those are going to have to be put on hold.  Just one more thing to worry about I guess.  I know it will all workout in the end, it always does.  Just don't really need the extra stress right now.

I will upload some pictures from around campus that I took while during the 'Irish Summer' this afternoon.  I also have a 2nd slide show I am working on from a cemetery dating back to the early medieval period.  Those should be posted soon as well.

Thanks again to everyone who actually visits this page and reads my posts.  This blog as been visited over 1200 times since it started back in September!  Really appreciate the views!

St. Patrick's Day

I celebrated my first St. Patrick's Day here in Ireland this year.  I really didn't know what to expect, but my friends gave me some insight beforehand telling me not to get my hopes too high.  The day was not what I am normally used to.

The day begun like any other Saturday.  I woke up around 10am, lazily made my way to the kitchen for breakfast, then finally wondered into the shower.  I made sure to put my mohawk up, threw on my Ireland rugby jersey and headed out into town.  There were a considerable number of people out.  I have never seen so many people in the city before.  The day's events begun in the early afternoon with a parade through the main street in town.  The parade, to be honest, wasn't very good.  The theme this year was the Olympics, which will be held in London this summer.  I found it odd that a country that so despises the English would theme the St. Patrick's Day parade after an event they would be hosting.  While at the parade, I made friends with a group of kids, average age 5 or so, who really liked my hair.  I was known as "cool hair guy" and it was pretty cool.  I also had to pose with a random couple from Japan (I think), they didn't speak very much English, but I understood enough to know that they wanted a picture with the guy with the mohawk.  This happens more then you might expect.  I am frequently pulled into random groups photos while out in the pubs and clubs.  I was also commonly photographed in Hollywood by visiting tourist.  Good thing I am not camera shy or anything.  I seriously wonder how many photos I am in that are floating around Facebook.  

After the parade, I made my way into one of the pubs to watch the rugby matches.  The last round of the 6 Nations Tournament was the same day and featured France v Wales and Ireland v England.  The Wales game was entertaining and got to see them win and achieve a Grand Slam (not losing a single match in the tournament).  The Ireland game was a different story.  Ireland started off bad, got slightly better, then stopped playing.  It was sad to watch the mood in the pub go from joy and happiness to dissapointment and disgust.  England ended up winning by a large amount and everyone slowly left the pub.  I met up with a friend who had just gotten in from Dublin and we went to meet up with her friends at a pub just outside of town.  This pub, The Franciscan Well, has become one of my favorite pubs in Cork.  It is a microbrewery and they produce really good beer!  We spent the rest of the evening there, until they closed.  On my way home, met a random German who played me a song on his guitar while dancing around saying home much he loved Ireland.  Needless to say, as I passed through town, everyone was drunk.  It was like a typical walk home at 2:30AM, except it was only just after midnight and everyone was wearing green.  A girl tripped in front of me and I helped her up.  She asked where I was from and after I told her she explained that she works for Oakley in the Ranco Santa Margarita headquarters.  Small world.

Over all St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is nowhere near the same scale of celebration as it is back in the States. Looking back, I would have to say that I preferred my old routine at Muldoon's in Newport Beach.  This was the first year in 4 years that I did not enter the Sexiest Man in a Kilt contest.  Though I commonly know no one at that event, it was always fun to wear the kilt, get on stage, and have a blast.  Will have to enter again next year, and maybe I will finally win it!

Well, that's it for my St. Patrick's Day post.  Below you will see a small collection of images from the parade.