Welcome to Jo Burger, Can I take your Order?

My second day of class went something like this...


9:30: 2 1/2 Hours of Writing on the Wall: Literature and Art of the Troubles. Irish peace and conflict studies.
I think I'm going to love this class. Not only will I get to learn about the conflict in Nothern Ireland, I will get to see how the people have used art to commemorate, intimidate, cope.... the whole nine yards. What's even cooler is my professor, Ashley Taggart (who doubles as the IES director) grew up in Belfast during the troubles so we'll get his first hand experiences. 


After that class there is an awkward 4 hour break. Instead of going home Jorie, Sofia, Will  and I decided to try one of the restaurants on Rathemines. We asked one of our professors Stephen for any recommendations and he suggested Jo Burger... We figured, we're American... we've had the best of the burgers, but we decided the check it out anyway.


Stephen was right.

Homemade ketchup, tomato, brie and rocket (lettuce) = yum 

It was a bit dear, but so good! And a nice change of pace from the majority of places to eat in Ireland. Take a walk down Rathmines (on any street in Dublin for that matter) and you'll find pretty much the same 4 options... 

1. Pubs: Literally about every third shop. Fish n' chips (fries). Bangers and mash (Sausage and mashed potatoes). Guinness pie (kind of like beef stew). A pint of Guinness. 
2. Cafes: Tea. Coffee. Sandwhiches. Scones. and more tea. 
3. Take Aways: Pretty much the equivalent of fast food. It's fried food and lots of it. Sausages. Burgers. Chicken. Sausage rolls. And of course, chips. 
4. Oriental Restaurants: A surprisingly high number of them... they're self explanatory.

For the most part there aren't many chains which makes it really fun to try new places. Every cafe' I pass I want to go in... mostly to try their dessert... because it always looks So good!... I have seen 2 McDonalds. They have some different menus from what I can tell, like curly fries! But SuperMac's is the place to go I've heard. The Irishman's McDonalds. I haven't tried it yet, but there's still time. 

**Side note: Ketchup is not as common here. Neither is ranch, but I'm not as upset about that one. They have Malt Vinegar and Brown Sauce.... Come on lads, Heinz 57. It's the craic I promise. 

Now that you have the skinny on the restaurant scene, back to class... joy. 


16:00: 2 1/2 Hours of the history of Ireland. Today we got a list of places around Dublin we have to go and do reports on. The places range from museums to cemeteries to jails. Not too bad, probably even pretty interesting!
The rest of the class was not so much an Irish history lesson as much as a present-day Ireland lesson....


Coffee in Ireland... not as strong as coffee in America. It could be because it's not as popular. Irish people drink tea like it's their job. Morning tea, afternoon tea and high tea. Turning it down when offered is right up there with leaving on that darn immersion.


History lesson I was supposed to be learning: Something about penal laws, the 1798 Rebellion, Daniel O'Connel and... ? 
History lesson I actually learned: Red Bull = my new best friend. 


Needless to say, Tuesday's are going to be longgg days. But having no class on Wednesdays is the price I must pay. 


That night we walked into Bernard Shaw and there were huge screens set up playing the Grey's Anatomy season finale. Reason #583 I love that place... But after my long day I just didn't have it in me to bawl (for the second time watching that episode) in the middle of a pub. So we took the show on the road to the Bleeding Horse. 

Jorie, Joe, and I being really good tourists...

Tomorrow Sofia and I don't have class and Kaitlyn (Sof's roommate) has the day off of her internship so we're going to hop on a train and see where it takes us! 

Until Tomorrow... 

Cheers, 

    Becca :)