Cork Part 1

Ali

Friday began bright and early as the pick up time for the Cork trip was 10am. I sleepily threw my stuff into my bag (you didn't think I'd actually pack the night before did you?) and hustled to meet Maggie and Ali. We stood on the sidewalk in the wind, all frantically calling Seetha, worried she overslept and we would all miss the bus. Luckily she came prancing down the sidewalk a few minutes later, completely unawares. We were on our way! We trekked with our suitcases across campus and out front to four giant green buses and 150 other students. We all had to check in with the ESN (Erasmus Student

Cobh

Network) team leaders wearing bright green sweatshirts, it felt like summer camp. We all piled on the bus, our spirits and expectations high. Our bus driver introduced himself as Conrad, the goodlooking one and as we were driving away said, "I think the best view of Dublin is in the rearview mirror. There is so much more to Ireland". Well put, my friend. I sat next to my friend Ali, and since we have discovered that we have pretty much the same taste in music, we shared our headphones and took turns showing one another our favorite songs of the moment. I think we're gonna trade mix cds. About two hours in we stopped at a rest area which was pretty much a giant food court where we acquired sandwiches. In the bathroom we discovered what looked like gum-ball machines but were filled with single use toothbrushes. Unfortunately I didn't snap a picture. Another two hours and we arrived in the town of Cobh. Apparently there is no 'v' in Gaelic so the bh means you pronounce it like cove. Cobh is a really big port area, and so a lot of people emigrated from there throughout the years. One of the things they claim fame to is that this is the last place Titanic docked "before it docked into an iceberg", according to our bus driver. As we drove in he pointed out the harbor where Titanic would have docked and where many cruise ships come in during the summer months. We spotted an Irish Navy ship and he remarked, "as you can see there we have an irish navy boat. That is like the whole navy. By god, two boats! That IS the entire Irish navy". I don't know about good-looking, but he was amusing. We wandered around Cobh for awhile, first in the visitors center, then up to a beautiful cathedral and then a quick walk around town. Soon after we headed to Cork, what a lot of people
call the "real capital of Ireland".  I instantly like it better than Dublin. It has much more character, much more what I envisioned Ireland to be. I peered out the window as our bus drove through town, while pointing out various landmarks and pubs he described Cork as "a gritty sort of town, but that adds to the flavor. Who wants to vacation in carebear land anyway?". Right again, Conrad. We arrived at our hostel, Kinay House which is right behind a giant old church. Luckily we thought ahead and claimed a room as a group so we piled in from the rain and walked through the maze of hallways and staircases to find our room, 214. Again, I got the feeling I was at summer camp as we all clamored to claim our beds, "top or bottom?" Maggie shouted at me, I chose the top, which I would later regret. As I sat up on my bunk I felt the happiest I have since I arrived in Ireland. (aside from when I laid eyes on Caitlin's familiar face)
We decided it was the prime time for a group nap and after taking a number of photos we turned out the lights and set our alarms for an hour. Upon waking we realized it was only about an hour until the pub crawl and we had neither food nor mixers. A few of us volunteered to find a convenience store and we bought chicken tenders and soda. We huddled around the ipod's tiny speakers and did our makeup and pre-gaming. We met up with about 100 other students in the group and headed to the first pub. A rather large place where I ran into a few other girls I knew from the dorms. Bulletproof by La Roux came on and Ali and I abandoned our drinks and rushed the dance floor. However we were heartbroken to find that NOBODY was dancing. Everyone was staring at a giant screen watching a Rugby match. Literally, an entire dance floor was filled with people staring at a wall. We were not deterred however and danced to our hearts content while old drunken irishmen gave us the side eye.

Stink Eye

We danced for another song and then disheartened, went back to our seats. Luckily we soon left this pub and went on to the next one. This was a two story, swankier place. I don't think I was here for long before tragedy struck. As I was turning around to go downstairs with Ali, my foot slipped on a TINY MINIATURE STEP that had literally NO PURPOSE and twisted my ankle. I crumpled to the floor and started uncontrollably tearing up. About
20 people turned instantly with mouths wide open and a shocked noise went around the room. Kenny, one of the ESN leaders came over with ice for me to put on my ankle, asked if I thought I could stand on it. When I responded yes he told me to, "have a double shot Erin, and then keep having fun tonight and we will deal with it tomorrow" So I did. We went on to the next place where I just sat and rested and then the group finally moved on to the last pub, a place called The Old Oak. I somehow instantly lost my group and found a bunch of people from Roebuck Castle who I proceeded to dance like a fool with for the rest of the night. Not good for my ankle, but I was drunk and couldn't really tell how bad it hurt. Plus we had a darn good time! Late in the night the management brought out free bowls of chips and sausages. Those Irish know what the people want to satisfy their drunchies.
We made a pit stop at McDonald's on the way back to the hostel and proceeded to pass out. There was "breakfast" at 7am the next day which was actually just toast and tea, I tried to get up with Julia but I was limping and when I stood up I got black spots and cold sweats and figured that wasn't normal so I went back to bed. The End of Friday!