So my first week here in Dublin has been very interesting. I flew in on Saturday morning and my cousins Margaret and Tom met me at the airport. After getting through security and such, we went back to Margaret’s house in Naas (about 30 min south of Dublin). At Margaret’s we had some food and I relaxed. I stayed at Margaret’s house until Wednesday when I moved into my apartment here in Dublin, right in Merrion Square.

On Sunday, Margaret took me for a walk around Naas and we watched the All Ireland Hurling Final. After the match, we went to their GAA club.

On Monday, Margaret took me to Ballybunion to go to lunch with Kit. While we were there, we stopped by Owen & Noreen’s house and I met them and their granddaughter, Noreen. They all are extremely friendly. It was raining a lot when we were there, so I didn’t get to see much of Ballybunion, but we drove past the golf course, the statue of Bill Clinton and drove down Kit Ahern Ave. Kit, Margaret and I went to lunch in Listol. After lunch we went into an old church to see an art exhibit that Kit wanted to see. Then we went across the street to some writer place to see another art exhibit that Kit wanted to show us, but it was no longer there.

On Tuesday, while the boys were at school, Margaret, Peter and I came into Dublin to see Margaret’s friend, Missy, play a basketball game as she plays for Great Britain and the GB team was playing the Ireland ladies team. When we got back, Eoin and I played baseball in their backyard and Conor came out to play with us for a little, then the boys taught me how to play hurling.

On Wednesday, Margaret took me grocery shopping, we went to look for desks for Conor, picked Conor up from school and then came into Dublin. After that, she took me into Dublin and I moved into my apartment. We got here, met most of my roommates, then went out to get some bedding so I could be comfortable in bed as the bedding we were given was not very nice. On the way back to the apartment, we stopped for a small bite. Margaret came back to the apartment with me for a little while and then went back home.

I live in the Merrion Square Manor. It is a very nice, old house that has been restored and apartments are in it. I live in apartment #5, it is a 6 person apartment, wth 3 bedrooms. 2 of the bedrooms both have 2 boys in them and I am in the 3rd bedroom with a girl named Alyssa. Alyssa and I have our own bathroom as well, and it is attached directly to our bedroom. Two of the boys, Mike and Mike, are from Bentley, and both live in MA. The other two, Dave and Kevin, are from Fordham. Two other boys, Scott and Tom, live in the same house as us and their room is 1/2 flight down from us.

On Thursday, the four boys from Bentley that I live with and two others that live on campus went out to a bunch of pubs. First we went to O’Donoghue’s, then John Kehoe’s. After that we found another pub and then went to BK for something to eat, it was a very bad idea. After that, we went to a bar called Captain Americas and had a blast. After that we found this one pub around Temple Bar and had an amazing time. We met these 30-year-old women who bought us a bunch of shots. We also met some girls from Missouri that are studying abroad in The Netherlands.

On Friday, we had orientation at UCD. That night I went out with my cousin Tom Allen. First we went back to his apartment to get his banjo, then went to a pub called Cobblestones at the end of his street. We then went to Hughes, which is where he plays his banjo on Monday nights. After that we came back here to O’Donoghue’s where he played the banjo with a bunch of other guys. It was such a fun time.

Yesterday, the boys and I walked around St. Stephen’s Green. It is beautiful. Last night, we went to Porterhouse and had a blast. After we left, Mike and Tom were trying to help one drunk guy we saw wandering in the middle of the street. The guy ended up breaking into our house and apartment. Tom and Scott were able to get him out and our landlord is due here momentarilly to fix the front door for us.