Celebrate Good Times (late post)

"Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)

Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)

There's a party goin' on right here

A celebration to last throughout the years

So bring your good times, and your laughter too

We gonna celebrate your party with you

Come on now"

That fateful day had come. I was no longer a teenage and get to be at the beautiful age of 20. Most people on the program found out it was my birthday, so I got a lot of random happy birthdays from people I barely knew. It was a good feeling, but for the most part the beginning of my day felt like any other ordinary day of orientation.

Oh orientation! Hated doing it freshman year of college and guess what? I still hate it. We got to sit in a room full of 40 people for 4 hours listening to things we have already been told so much about. There were a few interesting presentations about Irish culture. That was one of the main points they wanted to get through our head. We need to immerse ourselves as much as possible in the Irish culture. And they did this by taking us to a Gaelic sports club. 

Now this is where things got interesting. Gaelic sports are extremely fascinating and complex. I did not know anything about Gaelic sports before going to the sports club, so it was really informational. We learned about Gaelic football, which is a combination of soccer, basketball, and rugby, and hurling, which is considered the world's fastest field sport. Hurling is kind of a combination of baseball, lacrosse, and i guess field hockey. Trying to learn the fundamental basics of these sports was a hoot and a half. Gaelic football was easier for me to pick up because my rusty soccer skills gave me an advantage. While on the other hand, my lack of hand eye coordination did not help with my attempt to learn hurling. The last bit of Irish culture that we got to learn that day was some Irish step dance. That was pretty much me seeing if I could not trip over my own feet as I was hysterically laughing. Even with my background in dance, I still found myself stumbling over my feet a little it. I know, very shameful.

After getting a bit of a sweat on, we got shuttled back to the hotel with wanting to pass out. There was still a bit of a jet lag. But, it was my birthday. So everyone know what that meant. We all rallied and managed to get out to Temple Bar which is the most tourist district of Dublin. It was also the most expensive, but hey I was birthday girl, so did I pay for anything? Not at all. The best thing about the pubs was they all had such great live music. They played a mix of old top 40s and Irish folk music. I didn't think I would know any of the Irish music, but come to find out I did. In the movie PS I Love You, there is a song that the main character sings to his love interest. It is called Galway Girl. Now that song is going to become the song for this trip for me.