Ireland Maymester (2017)
During the Spring Semester 2017 I took a course dedicated to teaching about the culture of Ireland, which was then connected with a Maymester trip to Ireland in order to visit a few of the places we discussed throughout the duration of the semester, and personally experience the culture we had studied for the previous four months. Throughout the course of the class, each individual created a project focused upon one particular aspect of Irish civilization and life. As I have been interested in mythology and anthropology for much of my life, I chose to write my blogs and conduct my project on the Ancient Druids of Ireland and how they fit into the larger puzzle of their surrounding culture and their interactions with other peoples and cultures. The link to reach these blogs is located down below.
In visiting Ireland, we had the opportunity to see Dublin through the eyes of its people, visit Blarney Castle and its various gardens, see the process through which Guinness products are made (I definitely recommend the chocolate mousse), see if our assigned passengers survived the Titanic, and observe a traditional sheep dog herding demonstration, among many other wonderful cultural moments sprinkled throughout the week and a half like peas in a traditional Shepherd's Pie [Bucket list item: Irish dancing on stage in Ireland? Check.]. Taking the opportunity to try traditional meals, have hands on experiences to learn about Dublin's Viking founders, and take in the natural beauty of the countryside is without a doubt merely the beginning of my story in Ireland. Having the opportunity to visit a few of the universities I am considering for graduate school was simply a plus.
In visiting Ireland, we had the opportunity to see Dublin through the eyes of its people, visit Blarney Castle and its various gardens, see the process through which Guinness products are made (I definitely recommend the chocolate mousse), see if our assigned passengers survived the Titanic, and observe a traditional sheep dog herding demonstration, among many other wonderful cultural moments sprinkled throughout the week and a half like peas in a traditional Shepherd's Pie [Bucket list item: Irish dancing on stage in Ireland? Check.]. Taking the opportunity to try traditional meals, have hands on experiences to learn about Dublin's Viking founders, and take in the natural beauty of the countryside is without a doubt merely the beginning of my story in Ireland. Having the opportunity to visit a few of the universities I am considering for graduate school was simply a plus.