Vacation in Dublin

As I am sure I’ve said before, this dialogue feels more like a vacation than a study abroad. Since we have been in Dublin, our classes are at the Brooks Hotel and the Irish Writers Center. Neither of these spaces feel like a classroom. In the hotel, we screen films in a small room in the basement with comfy seats facing a projector. We have classes here Monday’s and Thursdays with Patrick Mullins, who typically teaches Irish literature at Northeastern. After watching a film, we have an hour and half long discussion about different forms, tropes, and topics of the films. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have literature classes with Joe Neugent, who also teaches literature classes, but at Boston College. The Irish Writing Center is a gorgeous Geogian style house and our classes are in the music room. The ceiling is detailed with plaster sculptures of traditional Irish instruments and there are beautiful paintings on all of the walls. We have focused on close reading and discussion of Dubliners by James Joyce, Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, and a series of short stories from the literary magazine The Stinging Fly.
My typical day starts off at the University College of Dublin. Most students leave around 9am in order to make it to the city center for class at 10am. Unfortunately, UCD is out of the way from the heart of Dublin, but we have 30-day Leap Cards, which are similar to Charlie Cards, for public buses that take us into the city. We then have class from 10am until about 2pm. Most days we also have some sort of activity planned during the afternoon or night afterward. Last week we had a group dinner on Monday and the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on Tuesday. Our coordinator Claire worked incredibly hard and planned out an amazing schedule for us in Ireland. We have experienced many different aspects of Irish culture and I am so happy that I chose this dialogue!