July 23-First Day of School

First day of school, first day of school! Our day started off with a sort of overall lecture about the goals of the program. They take a very interdisciplinary approach here, because as the speaker said, every discipline gives new perspective to understanding the issue as a whole. So, in addition to our normal classes, the program offers a series of interdisciplinary lectures, film showings, and "for fun" classes in Irish language, singing, and dancing. Maybe I'm just a super nerd, but I'm totally pumped. Anyway, today was basically a day of introductory lectures to get a feel for the courses. I'm taking courses in history and archaeology, which promise to be a very different approach to Irish Studies than the literature classes I've taken at Villanova. Archaeology in particular has a different approach here in Ireland than in the States. In North America, archaeology falls under anthropology as a subdivision in the study of humanity. But here, archaeology existed as an area of study long before anthropology developed. Therefore, our first class was a lot defining archaeology and establishing what the course would focus on and entail. Our professor's name is Dr. Jones, so I'm looking forward to chasing after hidden treasures and running from Nazis when we take our field trips to the Burren. My history class seems really great as well. The professor was educated in Belfast in Northern Ireland, so he took the first day to illustrate how different perspectives can affect how events and the progression of history are perceived. For Northern Ireland, the English conquest was a time of progress and advancement of society. But in the Republic of Ireland, it's a different story. It's really interesting to read the textbook and try to pick up where the bias is coming from. It's also really strange to read a history book that refers to "our" history and have to remember that it's not referring to American history. Of course, our AP Government textbook in high school did compare ever facet of American politics to parliment, so that probably threw me off as well. Anyway, both classes seem really good, and I'm excited to get further into the material.
Other highlights of the day include watching the World Cup! I had a short break between classes, so I popped down to the college bar in an attempt to catch the US. Yes, we have a bar on campus. Apparently that's pretty common for European universities. Anyway, the US game took a backseat to England v Slovenia. Most of the Irish just want England to lose, so it was an interesting crowd. To their dismay, England won, but to our excitement, so did the US! It's so much fun to be in a football-crazed country during World Cup, though one must be careful because Gaelic football is very different from football as we know it (or soccer, I guess). Ireland's other sport is hurling, which I'm told is like field hockey but played by both men and women. I will try to catch a game while I'm here to provide a better description.
Also a highlight of the day: our first Irish rain! It started raining here this afternoon and kept up for an hour or two. And yes, Mom, I had my umbrella.