The mayor, the bus, and the Republic

Greetings from Dublin! The group arrived here this afternoon, and will be staying through Saint Patrick's Day (heaven help us all). The Earlham London Programme arrived in L/Derry on Sunday, and did fun 'hey, we're tourists in Northern Ireland things. It's been wonderful to see them. They're here with us in Dublin now, so we get to hang out with them all week.

Last night, we had a gathering at the L/Derry Guildhall, where we did an Irish dance in front of the mayor, played tin whistle, and ate some food. There were certificates involved. This last gave me yet another exhibit in the hall of 'no one ever get's Annalee's !^£%ing name right,' but we'll leave that alone.

The dancing and tin whistling actually went off pretty well. I didn't fall over during the former, and we managed a decent showing at the latter. There were some students from Milkwaulki (sp?) who joined us for the dancing. After that, they mayor said a few words about how Irish culture is Important, and how it's unfortunate that most people don't know Irish, traditional dance, or listen to Irish music. She then admitted that she's no exception to 'most people.'

We left Derry with the London crew at 10:30 this morning, and stopped for lunch at a town a few miles into the republic at about half after noon before continuing down to Dublin. We're staying at a hostel here that's right downtown, in the Temple Bar district. It's pretty much the nightlife area of Dublin. Mervyn and Bob, the London Programme Director, did a bit of an orientation (including the 'Dublin is a big city so don't be stupid' speech), and then took us on a walking tour of the Temple Bar area to show us the way around.

I must admit to being quite charmed by Dublin. It's a lovely city, and I have a feeling I'm going to thoroughly enjoy the visit. I'm rooming with Iona and some really awesome people from the London Programme. And hey, free wireless at the hostel. Beat that.

Things I'm especially looking forward to:
1. The Book of Kells. It's the oldest illuminated bible in the world, and let's face it: I'm a geek about these things.
2. The Trinity College Library in general. For one thing, because of the awesome. For another, because it was the inspiration for the look of the Jedi Archives, and let's face it: I'm a geek about these things.
3. Touristing around the cool historical sights. Because of the pretty.

I've got an ungodly number of photos to offload from my camera, so those should be up soon. And of course I hope to take many more while I'm here.