Ireland, Summer 2010.
love, me
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
One Month
I have officially been in Dublin for a month now, and it is feeling more and more like home. I have been awful at updating this blog, I am really sorry to everyone who has been asking me about it! Italy was great, I made it to Rome, Florence and San Giovani and got to see lots of friends! Italy was hot and crowded and much different than during the winter, and I was relieved to get back to Ireland and jump into a new routine! Work has been taking up a lot of time and energy, but the good news is, I have pictures and am going to talk about it here, so everyone knows whats up.
I have been living in the penthouse at the Mount Herbert Hotel in Dublin 4, which is incredibly ironic since I am literally a starving college student at this point, AND because I work in the sketchiest part of Dublin.
Mount Herbert Hotel
This is my apartment for the summer. It is charming in its own little way. I have way too many rooms and too many bathrooms. Not that I mind too much :)
I have GREAT views of the city, and live right next to the brand new soccer/rugby stadium that is set to open in about a week.
Every morning, I wake up at about 7 am, watch BBC, Irish AM or Big Brother (depending on how intelligent I am feeling, really) as I get ready, and walk about 13 minutes to the bus stop. The bus comes whenever it feels like it, anywhere between 1 minute early to 20 minutes late. This determines whether or not I make it to work on time. My bus ride is about 45 minutes, and I literally go from the nicest, richest part of town where everybody is wearing suits and carrying briefcases, to the most impoverished and run down section of Dublin. Most days, the bus starts as standing room only and ends with every single person getting off before me. I have had more than one bus driver ask me if I am sure I want to get off in Ballymun, because in all honesty, NOBODY wants to get off there.
This is a city map of Dublin, I go from
D4 to D11. They might as well be in different countries.
I work at the Rediscovery Centre Eco Store, a scheme under the Ballymun Regeneration Limited project, Europe's most successful regeneration project.
The store is not officially open yet, and I work on different projects from day to day, as any good intern should. I actually feel like an important part of the team, and feel very welcome and needed, and this is invaluable. I am SO happy that I ended up here! The biggest project that I have been working on is a procedures and policy guidebook for the store, basically outlining every detail of running the shop on a daily basis.
Brand new sign :)
This guitar was made out of an old wardrobe
Lovely Ballymun graffiti. Our next door neighbor has had his windows broken twice so far
3-D glasses lamp. I am in awe!
I meet about 7 new people a day, way too many names to remember. I have met a couple of members of the Guinness family, and yesterday I met a tv show host from RTE. Fancy scmancy! We drink tea like its nobody's business, and the atmosphere is much more relaxing than anywhere I have worked in the US.
Today, I took photos of all of the garments in the store and am creating a sort of database for them so that future store employees can be informed on all of the clothing and more able to sell them. The garments were created by Carrie Ann, the head designer, and her kick ass team whom I am getting to know quite well. Their studio is connected to the store, and while I am working on my (beautiful, shiny, brand new) Macbook Pro (thanks daddy :)), and keeping up the shop, they are working away making great new creations completely out of recycled materials.
A wedding dress from completely recycled materials? This girl rocks!
My favorite piece
I feel like I am good at my job and I love working hard at something that I love to do. I also really enjoy working on a project that is helping people, and working with a lot of really GOOD people who are passionate about making a difference. I just found out that the regeneration project was nationally publicized, and, ironically, made it into the Bend Bulletin!! (shout out to Grandma for the link!)
In my free time, I have been spending a lot of time with all of the other American interns, mostly exploring Dublin (Temple Bar district and Grafton St, to be more specific). I love all of these guys and it is great to have a support system here!!
My decision to come here was not easy, and I had to fight really hard to get here. Everyday is a HUGE adventure and it is not always fun and hardly ever easy. But it is worth it, and I feel SO lucky! I was asked to write on the IE3 International Internship Blog, so look out for that! As always, I am missing everybody at home SO much! I am really excited to go to Scotland in the next couple of weeks, and have my mom and sister visit!!!! I still have lots more exploring to do, and a lot more to learn at work, all is well :)
CHEERS!
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